History In The UnMaking...

And "The Most Transparent Administration in History" has covered the removal with a giant
Tarp of Shame!!!

I-Don't-Know.

I used to think Joe Rogan was kinda your Joe Everyman with an extra dollop of curiosity who was just trying to figure things out like any dumb SOB (ie- the rest of us). Lately, particularly with his enthusiastic Trump support (after emphatically proclaiming he wouldn't), I just gave up on the guy- he's just a forever one step forward, two steps back kinda guy!

However, this woman (this doctor) seems to make sense (least to me), but truth is- I don't know. When it comes to the whole vaccine debacle, I have my doubts either way, so that in the end... I-don't-know!!! I just don't have the scientific chops to say which side is (in part or in whole) right, or wrong! And I don't think most people do; they just pick the side their politics or friends are on- and go with it! Pretty much what I first did- but I always had the lingering doubts, sometimes louder, other times... not so much. And after considerable pondering (they're right- no, they're right; well, they're wrong about that, but they're right about...) and bouncing about from one end of the paddle to the other (and finding temporary homes in each camp without feeling totally comfortable in either)- I've finally reached a solution. That is, I'm absolutely comfortable in saying... I-don't-know! And I'm perfectly fine with saying that- I've even grown to like the sound of it! 

How did I reach this unenviable non-conclusion? Basically, I just don't trust either side for the life of me! I've always loved science, but science actually has a rather long history of not always getting things right; well, Stan- you can't compare faux science like Phrenology to real, modern day, 21st century science. Agreed. But I've read enough "science" from nutrition to cosmology to realize that the science on either and everything is constantly changing, sometimes reversing and always evolving. Science is as good as our: experiments, measurements, current technologies and final conclusions and interpretations of data... based on the questions we ask. That said, science usually gets it right... Just don't get me started on Big Pharma, their history (despite whatever legitimate achievements they can, in fact, claim) is one of purposeful deceit and subterfuge whenever in conflict with the pursuit of The Almighty Dollar- and unfortunately, science makes its bed with Big Pharma. So here are some questions, statements, points of contention and legitimacy on either side when it comes to Covid, and vaccines in general:

Photo: © Stan B.

Anti-vaxxers claim that more people died/are currently dying from the consequences of the Covid vaccine than people who died from the virus at the peak of the pandemic- they're just being listed as dying from other diseases. My counter is- during the peak of the pandemic we had temporary morgues sprouting all over major cities world wide, if more deaths are resulting from the vaccine itself, then we should be seeing even more of those temp morgues post pandemic, no matter what they labelled cause of death- a dead body is a dead body, and I just ain't seeing it. 

I remember Dr./Sen. Rand Paul (who I can't tolerate) arguing with Dr. Fauci- Paul argued he didn't have to get the vaccine since he had already contracted and survived the disease, and was therefore naturally immune. Fauci insisted he should still get vaccinated, which doesn't make sense, he already had the best immunity possible (if memory serves, this was before it had... mutated)!

A good, healthy immune system is the best defense against disease- undoubtedly! But American Indians exercised and ate organically each and every single day- we all know what happened when they met European bacterium and viruses... 

No vaccine is completely safe- there are always those who will react badly and suffer complications, sometimes serious, sometimes deadly. The Covid vaccine received much less testing time, using a smaller sampling of the population than most other approved vaccines (using a technology which, while not untested, was not traditionally used for vaccines). That alone should demand even more stringent testing and follow up examination!

Then there's China, Fauci and the Wuhan lab- all notoriously tight lipped about the dangerous gain of function research being funded and conducted there. The only time they did speak was to deny (ie- outright lie about) the existence of said research (and it's possible consequence of leaking deadly viruses into the environment)- that research has now been confirmed, and the possibility of Covid originating from said lab has gone from impossible to probable, if not downright indisputable... It's that level of self inflicted denial, obfuscation and outright falsehoods that science willingly imposes upon itself that causes such massive, public doubt! Admit mistakes- it may cause embarrassment short term, but it actually serves to enhance public trust in the long run!

Do vaccines cause autism (at least in some cases)? Doubt it, but I honestly don't know- and I'm definitely not comfortable with a program that injects multiple vaccines into our youngest of children in just one shot! But Stan, we're subjected to hundreds of potential pathogens every day- exactly, so why add multiple disruptors intravenously injected at such a tender age when our immune systems are just developing for Chrissakes? Space - them - out; let the body develop and recuperate!

Unfortunately, the medical field, like politics, is filthy with well connected financial donations (ie- corruption). Big Pharma and our pitifully anemic, massively overpriced and mediocre (at best) health plans and coverage in the US are testament to this. Dr. Humphries is well worth a listen- and I'm a three time Covid vaccine recipient.* Is she correct? I-don't-know, but I wish another doctor/scientist (several actually), not in any way connected with Big Pharma (is that even possible?) would explain in laymen's terms why she is wrong, right or anywhere in between... Capisce?

*I really didn't want to get that third shot (mandatory for work)- each time it made my arm sore as hell, along with a headache and fever- don't ever recall experiencing that with other vaccines.

Foto Fun w/AI

 

The Perfect Slice!

Photo: © Sean Poremba

Pizza was a way of life in old school NY- 15¢ a slice plus 10¢ for a small coke (mid-sixties)... yeah, you read right (subway an additional 15¢- OW)! Now, I ain't got nuthin' against a good taco, but good (cheap) pizza was what I grew up on, it was the universal lunch or dinner food when ya didn't have much scratch. Practically every neighborhood back in the day had a coupla good (ie- really good) pizza joints- now, it's hard to find good pizza by the slice most anywhere... even in NYC! And with all the miserable pizza chains that have proliferated, most people have no (and I mean no) idea what good pizza even looks like, let alone tastes like! Some of the stuff I've personally seen passed off as "pizza" is simply unconscionable...

So yeah, the last 20+ years have been a bit rough here in SF- at first, I figured I could find a decent slice somewhere in North Beach, the traditional Italian section. No such luck! I once sampled a slice at a new place that opened there a few years back- looked great, took a bite, not bad, took a second, what the... they put spaghetti sauce on pizza!?! Who does such a thing!?!?! 

Most places now a day don't even serve pizza by the slice, gotta get a whole freakin' pie, and granted, the quality at some restaurants can sometimes even rise to... mediocre. But what if you don't want a whole goddamn pie? What if you just want a couple of slices for lunch, ya know, so ya don't pass out on a park bench mid-day somewhere as we old farts tend to do... 

Last year, I did find a place that serves exceptional whole pizzas (Pizza Hacker- yeah, the name does not inspire confidence)- alas, it's on the other side of town. But this year, this year I found... the exception- PIZZA PONTE! Now, it's true I have to jump on the train and go under the bay to the city of Oakland just to imbibe... but this is the real deal- a true blue New York slice at its very finest!!!

Bought a regular cheese slice and it looked picture perfect, garnished with a basil leaf and gently shaved cheese. But screw the adornments, if it don't taste right... I pick it up, fold the center starting from the back and I hear and feel the bottom of the crust crack just so- a heart warmingly good sign! Take my first bite, and then another, and another- everything is in perfect harmony: sauce, cheese, crust... everything working together as it should to form the greater good! And you actually look forward with glee to eating the outer crust! I then order a pepperoni slice- oh, yeah! And I'm left contemplating a third... My friend had a Sicilian slice, which are thicker and rectangular (not to be confused with Chicago deep slice shit), said it was not the least bit heavy or doughy... Next time, a Sicilian and a regular slice it is- and I won't be left wanting (or passing out). Yeah, this is well worth the train ride!!!

The Handkerchief Salesman

Photo: Raoul Minot

Talk about guts! A lot of would be photographers remark how they fear incurring the wrath of strangers on the street should they point the camera their way- a wayward glance, an uncouth comment... This guy risked it all every single time he pressed the shutter- and it cost him. Special ops agent? A goddamn department store, handkerchief salesman! 

It's Either Right, Or It's Wrong

Every once in a (great) while you get that rare someone who speaks with such clear resounding intellect (usually backed by righteous moral outrage) that it leaves one transfixed in awe and wonder. It's an ability to cut to the chase, not just for brevity's sake, but to calculatingly eliminate the subterfuge that lesser minds (as my own) would get needlessly bogged down in before possibly, hopefully climbing out. Two people who immediately come to mind in my lifetime are Malcolm X and Edward Snowden. Whatever the topic you come away less confused, more enlightened and forever amazed at your own innate ignorance...

Ta-Nehisi Coates exemplifies that exact level in this exchange:

The Promised Land

 

What a joy it was to see this film! Bleak, barren, unforgiving... That is what we must endure throughout the vast majority of this film that depicts a life as unforgiving as the very soil that our protagonist must somehow tame and cultivate. And then there's Mads, the Nordic, thinking man's version of Charles Bronson. 

And, of course, you sit your butt down and wait for him to set things right- and wait, and wait, and wait... But every little particle of hope that is so meagerly vetted out is met with an avalanche of oppression and despair. You begin to doubt a decision making process that seems to yield only more pain and woe. Maybe he's just more stubborn, than wise.  But in the end, he finally does achieve what he originally dreamed- only to throw it all away to regain that which made the journey worthwhile... 

Origin

 

Origin is director Ava Duvernay's riff on Caste: The Origins Of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson (played by Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor). It's not quite what I expected as a film, which is a pretty dumb thing to say since I had no idea what to expect going in. The film certainly does touch one emotionally,* but most of all, it challenges you to... think.

Isabel Wilkerson's thesis is that what we take for granted as racism in America is actually a system of caste. Not everyone buys in, but she makes quite the compelling case, and I think it has a lot going for it, even if, the end result is just a rose by any other name. Wow, that was the shortest summation dismissal possible- which is why you really have to read the book/see the movie!

Slavery, systematic racism, critical race theory, segregation, Anti-Semitism, Jim Crow, colorism, caste, class... all the aforementioned have their place in said discussion. But the movie also goes further, or perhaps I should say detours into... the writing process, life itself and how one perseveres through it all- while experiencing the loss of your: spouse, mother and best friend.

Wilkerson closely studies the caste system in India, the Holocaust in Nazi Germany along with racism in the good ol' US of A. And I do love the analogy she uses when confronting those who proclaim, Well I didn't own any slaves! No, you damn well didn't, and no one's saying you did. But it's like growing up in a house that shelters you, protects you, and also comes with its own faults: leaky plumbing, roof that needs mending, etc, etc. You might not even have been around when those problems started showing, but they're your problems now- and you acknowledge the good with the bad, and deal with the problems you may not have created, but nonetheless have to address. Yeah, damn good analogy- what should simply be called common sense, what so many Americans today actively refuse to even contemplate, let alone practice...

*if seeing that human beings have to clean out human refuse by going into pits unprotected and up to their very necks in it for a scant daily living in the very same year that we have assholes walking the streets donning $4,000 computer goggles doesn't affect you...

The Curse Of The Middle Class

The Zone of Interest is probably the most imaginative and utterly banal movie ever made. It follows an aspiring young couple and their family (did I mention their utterly lovely black pooch) as they strive to achieve and possibly surpass their destiny of middle class success. They have a small but comfortable home with a large backyard that also contains a: small pool, a vegetable/flower garden and a picnic area. They're a fairly contented lot, but as with any journey of success, there is always the free floating anxiety between doing even better, or having it all disappear...

Their yard is bordered by a rather obtrusive, oversized wall; behind said wall one can sometimes make out the occasional sounds of random gunshots and the harrowing screams of those either begging for their lives, or perhaps pleading for an end to them. And, of course, there's also the matter of those smokestacks further in the distance that never seem to stop, I'd guess one would want to take note which way the wind blows before setting out the laundry....

Celebrate!?!

Tourists posing and celebrating on 6/2023 at monument of death and avarice.    Photo: © Stan Banos

I must admit, I'm kinda obsessed with... The Vessel! The ultra gaudy, $200 million 'art' monument to suicide and man's narcissistic indifference that has been indefinitely closed since summer of 2021. Its ultimate outcome has yet to be decided (far as I know)- though I can't imagine it will get to forever flaunt its legacy of infamy center stage. When I last visited it's vacant, ever winding series of stairways in NYC this June, it seemed the ultimate monument to irony, the circular pathway to nowhere that can no longer be trod by anyone at any price. Said stairs are blocked, locked and secured; no one is getting inside or upside the Vessel proper- and still, no one knows what to do, other than wish they had never risen to the level it never achieved. 

Actually, my 'obsession' is a healthy diversion to everything else that is happening throughout the world- politically, socially, environmentally. In a word, it's... not good; people throughout the world seem more divided than ever, very much as we started the previous century- and we all know how well that worked out and unraveled. And yet, here we go all over again, many of us looking no less... to strongmen, and wannabe strongmen for answers, safety and security- as if we've learned nothing, nothing at all in the previous hundred years. All this occurring as we plunge full steam ahead into a 3 degree Celcius increase (kiss 1.5... Goodbye!) in temperature worldwide, continuing a record setting two decades of unprecedented, unabated, man made global warming culminating in the warmest year on record- 2023! And all the while, we continue to discuss all the things we know we should be doing- while continuing to burn ever increasing amounts of fossil fuels!

Did I mention that there'll be more plastic (by weight) than fish in the oceans by 2050? So yeah, best keep those higher level Vessel stairs closed up tight- and in the meantime...

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Lying By Omission

I hesitate posting this simply because, as I previously stated, I don't want to get into a tit for tat, back and forth about who's the worst player, the biggest abuser in the never ending see/saw of bloodshed that is the Middle East. I also said that there was no doubt as to who gets the short end of the stick as far as news coverage bias in the US of A (and Congressional financial and rhetorical support takes that to a whole 'nother level). But as to the media, these two little known and vastly underreported facts are definitely of public interest and emblematic of the ongoing lack of parity.

MTG In All Her Glory!

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...

Well, That Was An Ever So Brief Respite!

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!

It's Hardly Prophetic...

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 sides need 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.

It Is What It Is...

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.

Got Ya Last!

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. 

For rational, insightful coverage... Democracy Now!

A Brief Disagreement

 

Without comment...
(actually, make sure you click on Man, at end of video)

To Be, Or…

I’m a fairly big history buff, a good part of why I’m partial to documentary type photography. So I was fairly intrigued by this historical mystery/puzzle of a film. Honestly don’t give that much a damn about the hierarchy of English royalty, but I’m forever fascinated by how history is recorded for the ages in all its grandeur, infamy and... inaccuracy.

The heroine of The Lost King, far from a professional academic, is looking for that something larger to give meaning to her pedestrian life. She establishes an interest in King Richard III upon seeing the play and gradually becomes obsessed with his life and legacy, particularly- what the hell became of his remains?

So she stops working, starts researching, and through sheer force of conviction (and procuring official funding) manages to commence an archaeological dig for his centuries deceased royal highness in a… parking lot car park.

Long story short, they do indeed find the body, her primary role in achieving said feat is minimized for posterity’s academia’s sake, and discover that said king was not a hunchback, but a survivor of scoliosis!

History In Review

One of the great things about history is that if you study it long enough, it can sometimes teach you things on a much more personal level...

Remembering 2 Minor Icons

A quick search of The Guardian last Sunday revealed the passing of a sublime guitar hero, and the examination of a noted photographer and documentarian who went to his grave with a very sobering secret...

I still remember the utter thrill upon first listening to Tom Verlaine's album Marquee Moon and being transported to rock & roll guitar heaven! The album was transcendent, a proto-punk who could actually play, a guitar virtuoso who delivered the goods tenfold, and still kept you wanting for more...

Meanwhile, Ernest Withers compiled an enormous body of work of a time and community that he alone was positioned to have such access- while at the same time compromising that very legacy with every shot he took, every life he documented, every secret he exposed...