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| Photo: © Stan Banos |
I can't for the life of me imagine why a fully grown man would ever contemplate parading himself about as... a Power Ranger- jeez, even nine year olds are long weaned of such an infantile super hero. Then again, it's infinitely more sane and practical than "open carry" proponents promenading about with their AR-15's on their way to the local grocery store. Or as one 'enthusiast' proclaimed, "Ya never know when you'll be confronted by multiple attackers."
Life, of course, is a constant, non stop struggle, one requiring unremitting amounts of patience, ingenuity and persistence- and all ever the more so as one ages, gracefully or not. It never let's up, never gets easy, never apologizes; every day the same length, every trial without guarantee of severity, repetition or reward.
In this case, parking the car is just the start of the process (the second comment by Knocky9Doors is gold):
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| Photo: © Stan Banos |
I've always liked Thanksgiving- for what it's supposed to be... an appreciation and celebration of life, as the cooling temps and turning colors announce the annual cessation of nature's bounty to await rebirth the following year. For some however, it is quite rightfully... a National Day of Mourning for the life and land stolen beneath their very feet.
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| Photo: © Stan Banos |
Saw this graffiti exiting the subway and thought it just the wild ramblings of yet another of our myriad of wildly delusional, street denizens. So I go home and google, not expecting to find much, if anything- and although I must admit I had zero knowledge of any of this... apparently, it does actually appear to be quite the thing!
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| Photo: © Stan Banos |
Lawdy, Lawdy- This is one of the most amusingly gratifying scenarios I ever did set to picture in my mind's eye!
And it only makes me further wonder how they went about describing it to The Don himself- 'Well, uhhh... he was so taken aback by the gravity of our presentation that he was literally dumbfounded! Never got one single word out! I tell ya, the guy never saw it comin'!'
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| Love the sarcasm- that is sarcasm... no? Photo: © Stan Banos |
The APEC summit is coming to town and the downtown area is in the process of being dehomelessized. They're definitely being scattered to the winds (well, at least their sidewalk blocking tents are) this week- whatever public safety/sanitation laws couldn't be applied previously, are now being applied... until they no longer are the following week! 8ft security barricades are also being deployed all around the Moscone Center as the Biden/Xi Jinping Express is scheduled to come barreling into town. It's gonna be one royal mess of crowds and security as yet another part of the world gets exposed to the embarrassment of vacant storefronts and vacant faces that is present day, downtown San Francisco.
And then it all reverts back to our now normal, everyday abnormality of filth, garbage, homelessness and insanity once the crowd returns home regaling their peers of the Dream once called American...
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| A "classic" I well remember going back to Viet Nam... |
It's pretty ironic(?) in a sick sorta way, that something so horrific that is happening literally halfway across the world would provide me with the opportunity to partake in what I most... enjoy- photography. That is, the horrendous deaths of thousands of innocent civilians in Israel and Gaza has stirred worldwide condemnation and protests for either side, some of those protests occurring right here in San Francisco, long known for its endless procession of protests.
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| All photos: © Stan Banos |
Such as:
1) The slaughter of innocent civilians (particularly children) is never 'a good look' for either side. Hamas slaughtered 1,400 civilians on Oct. 7; as of today over 4,000 innocent children alone have been slaughtered in Gaza in retaliation. Some will argue that the Israeli children were killed intentionally, while the deaths of Palestinian children are "collateral damage," the "consequences of war." I would argue that dead children are dead children, both sides very much aware of the direct consequences of their actions- whether by bullets at point blank range during a concert, or at distance by push button munitions deliberately aimed at the most crowded place on earth.
2) Hundreds, indubitably thousands, more children (not to mention women and elderly) will be slaughtered in Gaza before Israel succeeds in "wiping out every last member of Hamas," an objectively impossible 'objective.'
3) I'm going to stop, I'm going to stop- restraint must be exercised if others are expected to follow, or the usual tit for tat, back and forth ensues ad infinitum... Each side arguing and fighting as only those with God on their side can. And I am bloody well sick of the hypocrisy, the madness, the ceaseless slaughter...
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| Both sides now. |
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| No, not a phone- a booklet on... Palestine. |
Always amusing hearing MAGAites complain about Biden's gubs and gaffes. And, in all fairness, they're absolutely 100% Right (as in correct)- but they never (ever) mention (because they're never exposed to) the incessant and ever increasing myriad of verbal guffaws by Dear Leader. We currently have a POTUS verging on senility, who (if fate will have it) may well be replaced by one who is equally senile- as well as deranged!
As scary as the latter is (as in 'kiss any semblance of democracy goodbye' scary), and as ridiculous and numerous as Trump's mental/verbal farts may be- the absolute funniest thing in this clip is at 9:30!
I see this pretty much daily, and as bad awful as it is to experience live, it seems even worse on video. And while every store isn't closed, this shopping district isn't anywhere near as empty as the financial district directly next door,* and keep in mind you're not seeing the slew of: homeless tents, piles of garbage, mentally ill behavior, feces, drugs and general filth and squalor** of the neighborhoods of SOMA and the Tenderloin directly adjacent!
All this in a city with sky high fuckin' rents that compete with... New York City!!!
*All of pre-Covid downtown San Francisco was one helluva hustlin' bustlin', crowded and thriving part of town for a city barely reaching 1 million....
**(not to mention the stench)
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 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.
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.
For rational, insightful coverage... Democracy Now!
