scathing

 this might also be titled george carlin politicians, for it's link to a youtube video of that title. as is my way, i like to refer readers to views other(s) have articulated as well or better than i could in which i'm in near complete agreement. carlin in his comedy expressed a scathing indictment of our species, our ignorance, bigotry, irrationality, brutality, hypocrisy, deceit, and delusion in many areas including politics:

George Carlin Politicians

more scathing carlin, this time taking 'conservatives' to task:

George Carlin: pro-life, abortation & the sanctity of life...

a more serious carlin displaying intellect, wisdom, and gratitude in an interview with jon stewart:

Jon Stewart Interviews George Carlin | George Carlin | 40 Years of Comedy (1997)

to no one for nothing!??

 the title of this means this writing may be to no one (unread) for nothing (what's the point of doing it if no one else ever reads it?).

i'm deeply closeted in my worldview and it's basis. i've tried my best to share it with a few select small groups (a pair of local progessive groups with a few dozen email contacts) and individuals, by among other things providing them with a link to this blog with an invitation to check it out and provide feedback regarding their thoughts on doing so. and i've tried to do so with some sheeple i've been close to, like family. in no instance that i'm aware of has anyone taken me up on this offer. no one has encouraged or praised me (except for a few from a doomer blog i used to be involved with, whose relatively few participants were scattered all over the english speaking world, so none that were near me).

i do not feel free to share my views on important matters / issues because they're so very out of sync with my fellow americans across just about the whole political spectrum. 

there was a national protest this weekend against the horrible policies of wannabe dictator trump, which included several hundred locals. i'm quite friendly with one of them; i walk her dog regularly as she can't. we talk politics a bit. we're in agreement in hating trump, but beyond that, i have to keep my mouth shut around her, because she's a very moderate democrat who thinks genocide joe biden (she would never call him that) was an 'excellent president'. she likes to listen to very lamestream news sources like cnn because she thinks it's quite fair and balanced. and of course she's a christian, a catholic of all things, so she's about as far from being a radical as one can get. i could have gone with her to be a part of the anti-trump protest but i don't like being overtly aligned with sheeple whose views i find ridiculous if not repulsive.

the political views of americans in general are ridiculous and repulsive. how can one say this publicly, especially in an area like mine with lots of 'conservatives' of the ilk that think: 'america: love it or leave it!'?

i feel so frustrated, isolated. like i was born into this nightmarish dystopia which i should resist but feel i can't, think it would be foolish, the situation is hopeless, the ignorance and stupidity of the public, in conjunction with how evil, mendacious, and ruthless tptb are (who are largely responsible for misleading the sheeplike public who can't think for themselves) makes it so. i feel isolated in feeling so hopeless. i think i'm virtually alone in my area in my dystopian and doomed worldview, in my utter hatred and contempt for this dystopia i'm enmeshed in. i think about leaving the usa in hope of living in a saner, less dystopian place, but i fear such a place may not exist. or at the very least, that while some other places might be better, they can't be all that much better, given our common humanity and foibles.

MY OWN LITTLE PROTEST: today on a whim (i'd often considered doing so) i visited a cousin who i used to be close to, an older cousin who was very good to me when i was a child. after my own political and philosophical maturation, and after living away from family for a few years, on my return i now saw them in an entirely new and unflattering light. this particular cousin was or had become a right wing christian who's now a very 'conservative' 'pro-life' trump supporter. i visited him to give him 'a piece of my mind'. it didn't take long, as i knew it wouldn't, since we see eye to eye on nothing.

too much trivia?!

 i have a potentially useful bit to share. it's taken almost 6 decades for me to learn that it's a lot easier (also painless) clipping toenails than it is cutting them. i imagine mine are normal in that they've thickened with age, making them very resistant to cutting with scissors (and a bit painful sometimes), last time i cut them i used toenail clippers instead, which made the job a relative breeze.

funny isn't it that such simple basic useful (if trivial) knowledge could have evaded me, a relatively intelligent and curious soul, for so long. i figure if it evaded me, maybe it has u too.. i've lived alone a great majority of my adult life. spent most of my time alone. such social isolation probably precludes learning much similar useful trivia. a topic little thought of or discussed is how different modern social life is from our prehistoric ancestors whose very survival depended upon being part of very inter-dependent, communicative, and cooperative small groups. this radical change in social life no doubt has much to do with the prevalence of mental illness, depression, and loneliness modern civilized humans experience. i'm fortunate in having been able to adapt well to my isolation. i tend to prefer it now, particularly as i've learned more and my opinion of humanity has taken a dive.

this part may be too much trivia. curious to learn how often i cut my fingernails, i marked my calendar last time i cut them, 23 days ago. just noticed today they're getting long enough to trim. so i guess i do so about every 4 weeks. estimated growth these 23 days: about 2 mm, or 1/12 of an inch! 

russian disinformation?

great analysis from breakthrough news of how u.s. corporate media serves as pro establishment propaganda and seeks to discredit dissident anti imperialist voices with the charge that they're spreading disinformation. this video is 78 minutes long. liberals especially who still trust 'liberal' lamestream media like the ny times (war crimes!) could learn something from it, if only they could admit that their present worldview is wrong. i think they're rather like religious conservatives in being resistant to having long cherished views shown to be wrong. plus, if they did so they risk becoming alienated from their liberal friends and having to make new friends as outcasts, social outcasts. perhaps if one is not used to such a role, it could be too difficult to try coming into it relatively late in life. i've felt like an outcast for so long that i'm used to it, it's no big deal.

 War on ‘Russian Disinformation’ is the New ‘War on Terror’ and Equally Fake w/ Ben Norton

Why U.S. Elites Support Israel No Matter What

the first link below describes in just one minute the purpose of breakthrough news. the second link is to a very concise information laden video of their's which purports to answer the question posed in the title of this post. the answer being that israel serves as a powerful outpost for or proxy of american imperialism in a very strategic energy rich part of the world. i think there's a lot of truth to this conclusion but i don't think it's the whole truth. the fact that israel can militarily attack the u.s. and get away with it as it did in the attack on the USS LIBERTY in 1967 suggests that tptb in the u.s. are hardcore zionist. why this is so i don't know. and to speculate is to invite an accusation of being antisemitic and a 'conspiracy theorist'. anyway it's very good and only 6 minutes long.

What is Breakthrough News?

Here’s Why U.S. Elites Support Israel No Matter What

trump's dystopian dictatorship

 

we're well on our way to what may become the most dystopian dictatorship under trump-musk and the rest of the bigoted bullies who support and provide the 'muscle', the violence, intimidation, the 'authority' that 'legitimizes' his rule... in world history, which is saying a lot, to say the least, considering the sordid record of dystopian dictatorships this world has known. they are very boldly and effectively usurping such power with very little resistance from the other branches of government or from civil society. this isn't coming out of the blue; it's been developing for decades, the groundwork, the empowerment of authoritarian forces and the disempowerment of the rest of us, probably ever since the backlash to the 60s took hold going back to that time of COINTELPRO and the initial ramping up of the war on drugs under richard 'law and order' nixon and his conservative republican party, soon to fall under the spell of christian conservatives, at the same time the democrats were also becoming more conservative and abandoning much of it's progressive agenda. good article detailing some of this slide into this abyss, i came across thanks to a commenter on the website 'common dreams' , who frequently recommends reading articles from the world socialist web site (wsws.org):

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2025/03/20/lhzt-m20.html

another great article from the same author detailing the horrors of the atomic bombing of japanese cities at the end of ww2, why it wasn't necessary, and how the american establishment has been deceiving the american sheeple about it ever since:

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/05/27/hiro-m27.html

excerpt from this article:

"There is a certain naïveté on the part of the American people with regard to the utter ruthlessness of the American ruling class, particularly in relation to the Second World War. That war has long been presented by the American media and political establishment as a great war for democracy, against fascism and tyranny. In fact, the principal reason that the United States entered the war—and the underlying motivation behind all its actions in prosecuting the war—was to establish itself as the dominant and unchallenged world power. In pursuit of this aim the lives of hundreds of thousands of Japanese were of little consequence."

how am i?

'how are you doing?' a question i'm commonly asked by acquaintances greeting me. it often annoys me because the easy and expected answer is a lie. i'm not doing well. how can one be well in a sick society of ignoramuses sleepwalking their way to extinction? of obstinate irrationality and political dystopia? oligarchical greed and ruthless ambition,  numbing inequality and injustice, corruption and abuse of power, cruelty and indifference to the suffering of others? a world in which one must become numb to such suffering, since it's always in the news. wars, famines, refugees, ecological collapse.

one must be an ignoramus or a lunatic to not know or care about such things. i'm a part of this world. if it's fucked up, i'm fucked up (my shersonal life is deeply fucked up as well but that's another story). so i'm not doing well.

i'm most disturbed by the growing perception / conviction that my species is very stupidcrazy, something not taught in schools because the teachers are part of the problem. and that i'm virtually alone in this awareness, so i have no one to share it with. thus this lonely unread blog. the thought that eventually i will attract readers is weakening if not dying.

irrational to ludicrous optimism by supposedly rational and well informed sheeple deeply disturbs me. they're in complete denial. this characterizes the supposed 'radical left' of the democratic party led by the likes of bernie sanders. he's currently touring the country with aoc rabble rousing progressives with empty promises like how we're going to have universal healthcare. no timetable. sometime between now and when hell freezes over, i guess.

nobody wants to know how bad things are. nobody but me, it seems.

nefarious activity!?

just been watching an episode of the award winning documentary series on pbs EYES ON THE PRIZE titled ANATION OF LAW? which covered among other things how the FBI under j edgar hoover was dead set upon destroying the radical elements of the civil rights movement, such as the black panther party, which among other things developed programs designed to promote the well being of poor black people such as providing free breakfast to kids. regarding this particular thing, hoover wrote a memo to be distributed to his offices in which he claimed that these free breakfasts were being used to brainwash black youth ( of course the biggest brainwasher of american youth then as now was/is hoover's government, which via public schools has kids reciting every morning a 'pledge of allegiance' to that government which supposedly gives them 'liberty and justice for all'! absolute bs!). hoover wanted his agents to do everything they could to stamp out thus 'nefarious activity', referring to the free breakfasts...

with history, the devil's always in the details, and it's details such as this which reveal the true nature of the truly nefarious government of the usa.

 https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nefarious

it's well documented that hoover's FBI was involved in the assassinations of martin luther king jr. and up and coming 21 year old black panther leader fred hampton. check out the book by jeffrey haas:

The Assassination of Fred Hampton: How the FBI and the Chicago Police Murdered a Black Panther

Stand Up About Religion

good little compilation of very logical views very highly critical of dogmatic religion:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWD25A7VW7Y

Ina May Gaskin / midwifery

 i thought i'd posted an entry already in this blog about the work of Ina May Gaskin, but apparently not. acclaimed as a leading light of american midwifery, she's written seceral excellent books on this and related topics. i've read a couple of them and very highly recommend them!

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=ina+may+gaskin&i=stripbooks&crid=1VYZ61N60IV7N&sprefix=ina+may+gaskin%2Cstripbooks%2C91&ref=nb_sb_noss_2

JFK assassination: the mafia angle

 I like watching educational tv; on weekends, this includes checking out book tv on c-span, in which the authors of new nonfiction books are interviewed. Thus i came across louis ferrante, an ex mafioso whose life was transformed by going to prison, becoming an avid reader and eventually a highly acclaimed author of a memoir and a book series on the history of the american mafia. In part 2 of this series, among other things he delves into the relationship between the kennedys and the mafia and how it soured, eventually leading to JFK's assassination. According to ferrante, this assassination was primarily a mob hit. He may actually believe this, although he also acknowledges that 'rogue' CIA officers and FBI director gay edgar hoover also were involved. My own extensive research into this assassination has led me to believe that the mafia's involvement was secondary to the CIA's involvement, which was at the highest level (of course LBJ was also in on it) with director allen dulles, whose central role on the whitewashed government 'investigation' warren commission afterwards made sure to place all the blame on the 'patsy' 'lone nut' supposed shooter, lee harvey oswald.

link to this fascinating c-span interview. the part pertaining to the kennedys is towards the end of part 1:

https://www.c-span.org/event/qa/author-louis-ferrante-on-the-history-of-the-american-mafia-part-1/430594

this link is just to the audio of this interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MbgBV5LChw

For a different angle on the assassination, more focused on how JFK's desire to end the cold war upset the war establishment and CIA, this interview of jeffrey sachs by chris hedges, which i posted in a previous blog entry:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wqm9Yl1gGEY

And of course there's this excellent series the history channel did on the 25th anniversary of the assassination, also posted elsewhere on this blog, which quite extensively covers many facets:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2agPurqFJk&list=PLy4tRfNwO8cxuDX65cpj_qJ-9m2jzC7pn

maturity and mortality

 now that i'm old, i think about mortality a lot more than i used to. thoughts like i'll likely be dead in 20 years, or i likely only have perhaps 20 more years of relatively robust mental and physical health. this makes me more aware of fleeting time and the necessity of trying to use it well, wisely. by doing or trying to live my best life, focusing on what's most important to me, and also by trying to maximize pleasure and fulfillment (which is quite frustrated by living in a dystopia of puritanical prohibitions and inhibitions).

do u have such thoughts?

like i've written b4, i think practically every aspect of our society/culture is insane/irrational. for example we don't appropriately value the wisdom that comes with age. we don't encourage older adults to share the most valuable lessons they've learned by experience. one such lesson i've learned is that we should prioritize the pursuit of pleasure and fulfillment throughout life, particularly when we're young, healthy, vigorous, in our primes. because with age, everything goes downhill, everything deteriorates. i think the idea that we must wait til our so called golden years to prioritize our own well being and fulfillment is absurd and tragic. i feel like my own youth was sacrificed on the altar of being indoctrinated with puritanical dogmas which instilled much fear, shame, and inhibition (the primary reason i've become very critical of religion in general and puritanism in particular).

in becoming a (mostly closeted) advocate of what i'll call youth liberation, i've come across some interesting scientific articles regarding human brain development and shrinkage as we age. according to one of these articles, by age 70 our brains have shrunk back to the size they were when we were 3 years old! this was an article which presented evidence in favor of youth liberation, of treating post pubescent teenagers like adults (in science, 'puberty' delineates between juveniles and adults, at least for other species. once an animal can reproduce, it's considered an adult). it was published in scientific american. i posted about it in my blog a while back. it's author is quite distinguished and has also written a book making the same argument.

https://dystopiananddoomed.blogspot.com/2023/05/the-myth-of-teen-brain.html

https://www.amazon.com/Case-Against-Adolescence-Rediscovering-Adult/dp/188495670X