“Saving” Watersheds and Urbanites

The Prussian “Iron Chancellor” Otto Von Bismarck is often credited with the saying: “To retain respect for sausages and laws, one must not watch them in the making.”

Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) recently introduced legislation to speed forest clearcutting and thinning projects in the Forest Service’s Northern Region.

The “Protect Collaboration for Healthier Forests Act” would adopt a regional approach to disputes over forest management projects that Daines has sought to implement nationally. According to Sen. Daines, “fringe litigators — radical environmental extremists — sue to stop commonsense collaborative forest management projects that would reduce the risk of wildfire.” Continue reading ““Saving” Watersheds and Urbanites” →

Shiny happy people*

The Tiananmen Square “Massacre”

I still watched TV news in 1989 even as I was in the process of breaking free of the American propaganda machine. So I greeted coverage of the events in Beijing, China with wide-open eyes, not comprehending, and not yet aware of the degree to which American news was a manufactured mural of fake imagery. So Tiananmen took up residence in  my mind, though it was neither resolved nor understood.

In or around 2004 I read the book “Killed: Great Journalism Too Hot To Print,” a compilation of articles rejected by major American magazines. I have forgotten most of it, but clung on to this passage by T.D. Allman, who claimed to be present in Beijing on June 3 and 4 of 1989. He wrote (in an article supposedly rejected by GQ Magazine)

“As anyone who was there knows, the ‘Tiananmen Square Massacre’ is a myth. No one was killed inside the square that famous night of June third to fourth, 1989. Instead, when the troops reached the entrance to the plaza, the armored column paused. Following negotiations with the military, most of the hundreds of thousands of people in Tiananmen Square left in an orderly, self-disciplined fashion. But people felt they had to stay… No one was killed right in the square, though from my balcony I saw dozens killed on Chang-Ang Avenue when demonstrators attempted to reenter Tiananmen Square the next day.”

Continue reading “Shiny happy people*” →

A Fact Check Free Zone

This post started as a simple comment to Dave about Amy Carter and an allergy she may have related to metal touching her skin. How I got from that to this pile is as confusing to me as it might be to you.

Regarding Amy and the missing wedding band, she never looked all that, um, what would be the best word…? Libidinous? She looks like her “father”* to a degree, but she also looks like her late uncle, Billy. Her “son” looks like the prop husband but nothing like her.

“Quotation marks” you ask? Continue reading “A Fact Check Free Zone” →

Charles Milles Manson, 1934-2017

MansonAmong the oddities uncovered a well-known researcher was that Charles Lindbergh, who probably faked a transatlantic flight and endured a fake kidnapping that saw a fake-innocent perpetrator fake imprisoned, and who like Neil Armstrong became somewhat of a recluse after his fake accomplishments, was the son of Carl Månsson, who changed the family name to Lindbergh after arrival in the United States from Sweden. Otherwise, we would remember him today as Charles Månsson.

But there is only room in our fake history books for one Charles Manson.

Continue reading “Charles Milles Manson, 1934-2017” →

Two Arrests- No Crimes Committed

The royal Chinese courts allowed parallel histories to co-exist. There was an official history issued by the Emperor which was used to determine the value of this and that (laws and customs) by controlling the nomenclature, and a wild history: a mélange of rumors, superstitions and bald faced lies told with real brio that resonated with the peasants, allowing them head space to dream rather than act out.

The following is neither- It is opinion based on contempt for institutions that used to have my admiration. This is me acting out… based on highly suspect information sources, of course. Take any of it with a sea’s worth of salt- Continue reading “Two Arrests- No Crimes Committed” →

Waiver wire antics?

I don’t know if it is deliberate but Bill Belichick’s demeanor and dress remind me of the Emperor from Star Wars. It could be he is aware of this and likes such a negative image. It could be that the league promotes this image. Having an “Evil Empire” team is good for business. Baseball has done it with the Yankees for decades. It drives up ratings and attendance, as people want to see insult inflicted on teams that consistently win while theirs loses.

Continue reading “Waiver wire antics?” →

Bloody good blood.

” Say what you like about my bloody murderous government,’ I says, ‘but don’t insult me poor bleedin’ country.”   Edward Abbey, A Voice Crying in the Wilderness (Vox Clamantis in Deserto) (1990)

With all the recent focus on peerage and landed gentry of the United States, and linkages back to distinguished, royal families of Great Britain, it seems to me that it all comes down to blood.

But how much do we understand about the blood in our own bodies? For example, which organ of the human body is most responsible for controlling blood pressure? Most people, when asked, simply do not know.  Not surprisingly, this important fact is not part of most public-education curriculum.  Continue reading “Bloody good blood.” →

The Magic Bulldozer

I am grateful to JC, an infrequent commenter (and severe critic), for finding the original of this blog post in the Wayback Machine. I originally published in on 4/13/17, and then like all blog material, it faded into obscurity. I was working on a piece on John Brown, the Civil War agent provocateur, and noticed that part of his public stage play was a hostage event. One of the hostages was Lewis Washington, George’s g-grand-nephew. That does not happen, of course – bloodliners are not taken hostage, not for real. But they do occasionally allow their names to be used in fake events, as with Frank Sinatra, Jr. and Patty Hearst. So too must have Lewis allowed his name to be used.

Continue reading “The Magic Bulldozer” →