This thing keeps uhhhh... popping up on all sorts of web pages. I'm pretty sure I know what it's for, the thing is- does it go inside, outside, alongside? And which sex claims the actual physical accommodation? I'm really not getting the ergonomics here...
But here's the thing- I don't wanna know! So don't be telling me how the thing is inserted, utilized or activated. I'm sure it works just fine doing what it does however it does it- I'm just tired of it following me around the internet is all...
A dangerous, vindictive cartoon character with a long, long legacy of destructive inanity. These people have always existed- in the crevices and margins of societies worldwide throughout our existence. It is only in times of ignorance and desperation that they rise to our attention, only in times of widespread apathy and confusion that they rise to power...
Killers of the Flower Moon* explodes on the screen like gangbusters, the energy of the entire universe on display in one miniscule but rollicking Boom town in the dusty plains of Oklahoma. The attention to detail is almost overwhelming, like a Hieronymus Bosch painting come to life. At least at the beginning... before gradually focusing its grip on a specific few lives that accentuate the society as a whole- one based on and dominated by the inherent, systematic racism of the era, which in this case was also fine tuned to the very specific situation, a very specific people found themselves in a very specific area. That is, a system of laws and subterfuge that made it possible for Whites to kill, connive and steal the money and property away from their rightful indigenous owners.
I remember first finding out about this particular bit of American history a couple of years ago... you just couldn't make it up! What's harder to fathom, the deceit and skullduggery on the macro, societal scale, or the micro, personal scale: a man who supposedly loves his wife as he slowly poisons her, or the wife who so knowingly suspects and allows him to do it? Unfortunately, the film drags us through this slow arduous process at such length until I too felt I was ever so slowly succumbing, feeling my life force ever so methodically drained... Mollie Burkhart, portrayed by Lily Gladstone, looks every bit the Mona Lisa- the enigmatic smile come to life, hiding a secret strength and wisdom well beyond mortal man. But alas, it is not to be... And Leonardo DiCaprio spends the last third of the movie with this prominently featured scowl, looking for all the world as if he's sucking on a quarter of a lemon rind.
The surreal and historically accurate closing scene is one of almost comic relief, and much needed energy- but way too little, way too late. Despite it all... recommended, if only for the history lesson. Bring your stadium buddy!
*Seriously, how could you possibly read a movie review without the realization that it contains spoilers by its very nature? And I will spare you the insufferable amounts of explosions and gaudy special effects in the super hero trailer nightmare I had to involuntarily endure...
Last week on Bill Maher's show, one of his (expert?) guests volunteered that if the Palestinians had just one person the likes of an MLK, all their problems would be solved, all injustices settled, and peace and love would reign throughout the land! Or something to that effect...
That guest was very much correct- just not exactly the way his mighty intellect envisioned. An MLK like figure would unite Israel/Palestine... in an unprecedented effort to share intel and resources in a race to cap his ass ASAP! The last thing any of the major players in any faction on either side would tolerate was some idealist with a following threatening to end their particular piece of the pie. File this insight of the century in the same cabinet under other 'Bright Ideas' (that would never be allowed) such as free energy and a cure for cancer. Didn't think it possible but he actually made Jared Kushner (our previously appointed Middle East Saviour) look kinda smart- at least he had sense enuf to stay the hell out of it to the tune of a cool... $2 B-B-B-Billion!
Haven't even commenced the main attack on the most crowded place on earth and we already got a direct hit on a hospital with over 500+ dead! Couldn't see that comin'! That's right folks, that's just an appetizer on the death and dismemberment scorecards- we are keeping score, no? Cause this is supposed to be the game of games, the one that is finally gonna decide who gets to take the ball home forever and ever. That's why it's so important to know your sides; and whoever gets blamed (the most)... there's still slaughter a plenty to come for everyone!
Remember: When they kill innocents, one side openly celebrates- they're... The Savages. The other launches an investigation just long enough for most to forget, before admitting... absolutely nothing- they're The Civilized. So pick your side! Everybody's gotta have a side- can't get REVENGE unless ya gotta side!
to state that the opportunities for even greater massacres, war crimes and atrocities are about to be launched in Gaza as the whole world simply... awaits the inevitable. And that's just the point- it's all pretty obvious: "smart bombs" that somehow miss their mark, misidentified targets, and the general chaos and confusion of war that result in the most tragic of needless deaths. Sympathy for Israel over the inexcusably heinous, terrorist acts committed by Hamas this past weekend is both understandable, and justified. But the hundreds (probably thousands) of avoidable civilian deaths that will now inevitably follow is beyond folly or justifiable righteous indignation. An intensive military action staged in one of the most crowded places on earth (without recourse to evacuation) guarantees untold collateral damage- and most that will die will not be Hamas terrorists, they will be innocent civilians, many if not most... women, elderly and children.
No food, no water, no medicine- that alone is enough to overcome, that alone will cause substantial suffering, and death. Israel is describing this upcoming retaliation as something different, something much more all encompassing, but it is in fact, just the latest tit for tat, eye for eye retribution writ large; one that will only induce yet another Palestinian retaliatory round of mass murder and mayhem. Israel is smart enough to realize that they have to offer a carrot to their forced diet of constant sticks, land grabs and military actions. Both sides should realize by now that each is every bit as stubborn and committed as the other! Both sidesneed to ditch the scorecards, grow the fuck up and learn to share since neither is going away. Yeah, easier said than done... but easier than cursing the future of their own children.
Both sides in this seemingly never ending conflict lost their moral prerogative long, long ago. Both have committed unspeakable atrocities, both are solely committed to an eye for eye, both are now blind to condemning their own children to the fate of their own creation.
I remember listening to my mother's radio getting ready for school- listening to news reports of the Jews and Palestinians playing the nastiest game of 'Got Ya Last' imaginable. Even as a kid I thought it weird hearing adults behave like a bunch of bratty kids- over and over and over again, seemed like every other week. There they go... the kids are at it again! Even now I'm tempted to dismiss this ongoing schoolyard insanity of death and destruction with a flippant... didn't Jared, our most skilled diplomat, solve all this?
Except, here we are some fifty plus years later, same game, just a whole lot nastier. The slaughter of civilians by Hamas was absolutely despicable, and what Israel continues to do to the Palestinian people is every bit as sick: the illegal occupation and settlement of Palestinian territory, the tyrannical oversight of Palestinian homelands, the indiscriminate demolition of Palestinian homes (which will increase exponentially in the immediate days to come)...
Make no doubt, both sides have acted and will continue to act with absolute savagery. The thing that pisses me off is that (at least in this country)- only one side gets bad mouthed, only one side reaps the bad publicity, only one side gets to publicly be called "savages." When Hamas shoots innocent families in their cars, they're "horrendous animals." When Israel obliterates innocent families in their homes with high tech, push button weaponry- hey, that's the breaks folks! No surprise whose lives score higher both in the halls of Congress and the studios of our press...
Israel has been humiliated by their security lapse, that will make the body count of their retribution historically vindictive in an attempt to save face. They've already sworn as much, they're finally going to teach the other side a lesson they won't soon forget... by doing exactly what they've always been doing for decades! The Jewish people are renowned for their smarts worldwide- and yet they continue to blindly repeat the popular definition of insanity.
It was a freakishly warm day as the temperature broke ninety in the city by the bay which somehow continues to defy the worldwide onslaught of manmade climate change, while slowly rotting from within. In a town where one must wear a light jacket no matter the time of day or month of the year, I felt as if the only man alive who savored a good evening's heat. Walking home from Henry Horenstein's presentation, I savored the night air walking about in a short sleeved button down shirt, stogie in hand. I remembered hot summer evenings in New York with friends, sitting on a park bench beer in hand- the entire city your living room. I remembered first moving to San Francisco, the promise of love and a new life. And although no longer young, in the warm night air, I remembered youth. Everyone deserves their snoop...
Rare image of Nordic Warrior Jesus sans his AR-15 seated next to his hero, Donald J. Trump! Despite the usual flowing robe uniform, seems pretty obvious that Jesus H. Christ is not skipping shoulder, back and chest days at his local gym- just like his svelte, 215lb. earthly counterpart!
Always wondered about implosion ever since I heard about the USS Thresher. This video is, in a word, mesmerizing- equal parts macabre and fascinating, as it uhhh... artfully depicts what happens both to vessel and human body.
The deaths incurred in the Titan were both tragic and needless, to say the least: the DIY submersible was not inspected or certified by any regulating body for any safety standards whatsoever, the hull was made primarily of carbon fiber- a material not specifically constructed to withstand pressure, and this particular carbon fiber tube was bought cut rate since it was already past its prime! Did I mention the main viewing porthole was certified only to one third the required depth!?
Mad inventor risk taker Stockton Rush was literally daring the gods not to kill him and his... unknowing test subjects each and every time they descended. It's one thing to throw caution to the wind with your own life and safety, quite another to repeatedly place the life of others in such grave and wanton danger.
