more parenti

this guy is just great. though this talk is nearly 30 years old, it's just as relevant today as it was then.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9Zkw2oUWlY

straight talk

Esmaeil Baqaei, a spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, also condemned the attack on social media, blaming “the American-Israeli aggressors.”

“Heartbreaking, cruel, despicable, and utterly outrageous,” Baqaei wrote. “This is not merely another war crime committed as part of an illegal war; it is a barbaric assault on basic human core values.”

the above was copied from a Common Dreams article on one of the latest american war crimes committed against iran in it's war of aggression against another relatively defenseless nation. what prompted me to copy it and comment on it is the fact that such straight talk, such honest blunt criticism of the barbaric wars and foreign policy (and for that matter the domestic policy too) of the USA is never to be found in it's mainstream corporate media, which is too busy demonizing america's imagined enemies to take the time to notice the depravity right here. what surreally gets my goat is this propagandizing works in large part because most americans act as though they too, like the establishment media, are allergic to such straight talk criticism of the nation they've been indoctrinated to love, support, and defend.

one might think that most americans would have learned by now that the first casualty of war is the truth, and that it's simply a matter of course that the enemy du jour is going to be dehumanized and demonized by their establishment media, as was perhaps most notably done last century during it's two world wars when the germans were barbaric 'huns' and the japanese were subhuman 'japs'. but of course, and very sadly, one would be wrong to think such a thing, because most sheeple never learn or take to heart such historical lessons.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/pasteur-institute-iran

more dumbfounded

Just watched part of a pbs program titled 'Local, USA', episode titled 'Inundation District' about some incredibly expensive and foolish real estate development in the city of Boston on tidal bay land that was filled in over a century ago with garbage and earth taken from nearby hills, to just above high tide level. For a reason that went unstated, this manmade land was not developed until recent decades, when many skyscrapers have been built upon it. The speakers in this doc. never say this aloud, but it's made very clear that this enormous investment in buildings on land soon to be flooded regularly due to rising seas due to climate change (which my barbaric idiot president Donald Dunce calls a hoax) is one hell of a boondoggle, a case of more  dumbfounding stupidity. One must ask again; what the flock's wrong with America? Is everyone in power incredibly stupid, crazy, or what?

This program went on to make the very valauble points that climate change is here and only going to get worse for a long time to come, and our failure as a society to honestly acknowledge and deal with it is a humongous calamity which future generations will have to pay dearly for. But remember this documentary is on PBS World, a tv channel very few Americans watch. Thus the clueless masses' ignorance goes on, as will 'business as usual' in the clueless USA, until mother nature says enough!, and puts a stop to it.

dumbfounded

Jeffrey sachs is a hotshot political economist, apparently well connected in terms of having relationships with quite a few world leaders and other influential sheeple. he's also become a very outspoken, fierce, and articulate critic of american politics and foreign policy, making him a darling of the political 'far left' and a very popular guest on many intellectual independent 'far left' internet forums. I've been a big fan for years, more so even recently, for his criticism of the horrid trump presidency and of a u.s. congress and corporate media which do nothing whatsoever to impede his deranged xenophobic autocratic narcissistic arrogant war criminal governance. As he says in the video linked below, it's become completely normalized by these institutions which are supposed to serve the public, but which have been thoroughly corrupted and now only serve a criminal elitist agenda.

Listening to him, i'm dumbfounded because i agree with him completely as i'm plagued with thoughts of how this man has no chance of appearing in lamestream corporate media, and of seemingly somewhat intelligent and rational sheeple i know who for reasons which completely escape me prefer the bs of corporate media, the normalization of war criminality and support for genocide, imperialism, and wars of aggression, over someone like sachs who bluntly tells the truth and questions the sheer insanity of the political climate in america today, including how the american public, following the lead of it's government and media, normalize war criminality and support for israel's genocide of palestinians and it's supportive arab neighbors, all of whom are demonized by the american establishment as terrorist groups supported by it's current leading bogeyman, iran.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk46DNszJBw

Reject Authority, Trust Yourself - Terence Mckenna

I couldn't have promoted anarchy better myself, so i'll have Terence McKenna speak for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WXroiXWfcI

unprecedented chaos and collapse

population and resource use must be cut back. Fossil fuels, metals, potable water, arable land, ocean fish, are all at or near their limits compared to the demands being placed on them. If we fail to scale back, he warns, “this new century will not grow very old before we enter an age of chaos and collapse that will dwarf all the dark ages in our past.”

the above quote was taken from this nearly 13 year old post:

https://boryanabooks.com/humanity-caught-in-a-progress-trap-again/

which i came across at the collapse of industrial civilization blog while reading the following entry:

https://collapseofindustrialcivilization.com/2026/03/22/the-war-that-sinks-the-lifeboats/

this blog is written by xray mike. here's his brief self description from there:

I’m a social critic, political/cultural commentator and artist. The modern industrial world is sleepwalking towards the cliff of economic and ecological ruin. Most are oblivious to the paradigm shift that is occurring, but some are starting to awaken to the false stories our culture has told itself. My objective is to highlight important news stories and essays to find the hidden truth behind what Joe Bageant called the American Hologram. www.collapseofindustrialcivilization.com

what the flock is wrong with sheeple?

more thought on the false flag 9/11 terrorist attack: there couldn't be a more glaring, strong smoking gun evidence that it was an inside job than the obvious controlled demolition of WTC-7, so why is it that only a handful of relatively obscure individuals and small powerless organizations like AE911 have done so much as bat an eyelash at it in the u.s.??? and what about 'enemy' nations which have come under attack since under the very broad rubric of 'the war on terror'? why haven't their leaders been trying to make a great international stink over it? exactly what the flock is wrong with sheeple???

empires

first a couple of observations re. the video linked below. as noted at the opening, it's of a speech given back in may 2007, 19 years ago when george w. bush was president and the u.s. was at war in iraq and afghanistan, so it's a little dated. for example, the speaker michael parenti (who died earlier this year age 92) observed indignantly that the u.s. had 380 military bases overseas (now it's over 800) and that the bloated defense budget was over 400 billion (now it's about 1 trillion (1,000 billion) and if trump gets his way it will be 1.5 trillion very soon). but besides that, the observations he made then are just as relevant today: that empires are rather admired and respected by the american establishment, and the fact that they're built upon imperialist aggression, war and intimidation, and that they enrich oligarchs and are harmful to most everyone else, including the lower classes residing in the empire (in this case, the u.s.), is largely ignored or obfuscated by our mainstream corporate media. in short, this is the sort of in depth, intelligent, and well informed analysis that is anathema to our mainstream corporate media, which seems designed to provide just the opposite sort of analysis, shallow, poorly informed, and frankly often misleading, making it seem as though the imperialists are the good guys and their victims (the 'terrorists') the bad guys.

i can't vouch that every claim made here is true, but i'm pretty sure the gist of the argument is. to have developed this view one must have previously done independent reading and research far off the beaten path of mainstream discourse, read books like Manufacturing Consent and learned that it's supported by facts.

about 20 minutes in he draws comparisons between iraq and iran and how both of these countries resisted american-israeli regional dominance and imperialism, and thus had to be crushed. perceptive and prescient.

although this talk was given 19 years ago, this video wasn't posted to youtube until 14 years ago, according to the info. provided. interestingly, the vast majority of the comments to it have been posted in the past 10 days, suggesting that it's viewing was suppressed until quite recently when it hasn't been, for some peculiar reason.

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

more on american empire from the incomparable abby martin ("the mask is completely ripped off"):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBA8EfQ-wYA

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

a couple of great memoirs from robert mason dealing with his experiences in the vietnam war as a helicopter pilot, CHICKENHAWK, and how the severe PTSD he suffered afterwards affected him for decades afterwards, CHICKENHAWK: BACK IN THE WORLD

beyond the choir?

i have a friend who i think is basically a very good person, very opposed to Trump and his administration. but we couldn't be further apart in how we view mainstream media and the Democratic Party. They don't believe that 'liberal' corporate media like CNN and MS-now are propaganda and they think that Biden was 'an excellent president'.Oth I have long viewed these entities with a very jaundiced eye, seeing the media as CIA controlled propaganda (manufacturing consent for American imperialism and militarism, as Noam Chomsky pointed out in his magnum opus), and the leadership of the democratic party as utterly corrupt, beholden to the same capitalist zionist agenda as their opposition.

i'm not sending this to them, mostly because i don't want to strain our relationship to the breaking point, but also because  i see that they have a very happy and fulfilling social life, engaged with others who mostly share their worldview, and i don't want to upset and ravage that. this is something i've been cognizant of for a long time now: radical change can't be achieved without major upheaval, disruption of individual lives, families, communities, and so on up the chain of social arrangements. what do u think?

but i do feel somewhat secure in preaching to the choir as it were, sharing this radical assessment of the state of America with u, This video from the Real News Network, which includes analysis and outrage from Abby Martin, the independent journalist behind the production of Earth's Greatest Enemy, the documentary film we have tentatively planned on viewing at our next meeting in April. I hope u enjoy it.

(5) Abby Martin: Western Media's Complicity in US-Israeli War on Iran - YouTube

this is also very good from Breakthrough News:

‘Iranians Want to Be Bombed’? Inside the Propaganda Campaign for War

damned

there's an old saying: 'damned if u do, and damned if u don't'. i think this applies to living currently in the usa, which along with it's zionist partner israel is the world's leading source of state sponsored terrorism and genocide, for those of us vehemently opposed to it. a little over 2 years ago aaron bushnell courageously or insanely set himself on fire outside the israeli embassy in washington d.c. to protest the ongoing genocide of palestinians by israel which was fully funded and supported by the usa. it created a sensation in the media that lasted a few days and then was quietly memory holed. nothing changed. the slow going oppression and genocide of palestine continues, and now the zionist alliance has once again attacked iran, the leading opponent of zionism in the region.

i feel like crap about being an american under such circumstances, but i feel justified in keeping my feelings mostly to myself since protest, no matter how vehement, changes nothing in this sordid world.

Self-immolation of Aaron Bushnell - Wikipedia

and to be perfectly honest, i'm not very inclined to put my ass on the line with fellow 'progressives' on this and other progressive issues considering most progressives if they knew of my 'perverted' empathy for 'pedophiles', would not hesitate to condemn and isolate me. as long as they insist on adhering to their brainwashed notions of 'morality' regarding sex between 'minors' and 'adults' (as if this is abnormal and something which hasn't been commonplace throughout our species existence, and well supported by sound logic, i.e. the biological urge to have sex regardless of current 'moral' standards), this will be my 'moral' stance.

sextinction

According to Stephen Colbert on THE LATE SHOW last night, 1/3 of american men and 1/5 of american women reported not having had sex in the past year. I'm assuming this is true and that by having sex they mean having it with a partner, not masturbating. This rings true with my own experience. It's been at least a decade since i had partner sex, and from what i see of American life, virtually no one who isn't married or in a (supposedly) monogamous relationship is getting any either. I think this is because American culture despite all claims to the contrary remains extremely puritanical, obsessed with imposing 'purity' on it's youth ('age of consent' laws make this clear, which are routinely justified by the bogus 'scientific' claim (see link below) that teens are too immature to make 'adult' decisions, and with further greatly restricting the sexual freedom of 'adults' with things like the total prohibition and demonization of prostitution.

It's also obvious that the establishment and lamestream culture are obsessed with vilifying 'pedos' like Jeffrey Epstein who have the balls to admit (as i also do) to a preference for young women, the younger the better, down to the age of puberty, which is when they become capable of reproduction, which is also the time in non-human animals when they are deemed to be adults, no longer juveniles. Every day in the local news amongst the police reports of 'criminality' (which dominate American 'news') are reports of locals arrested for such 'crimes' as possessing 'child pornography' (which may just be having nude pictures or videos of 'underage' teens) or solicitation of 'underage' 'children'.

As i've written before, from a scientific or rational pov it only makes perfect sense for men to be attracted as 'perverts' such as i admit to to being most attracted to teenagers, because they are most attractive then before aging (which starts at puberty) begins to erode their natural beauty and also decreases their natural fertility. There's no doubt in my mind whatsoever that this is as nature intended, for we are programmed to reproduce as soon as possible and when the prospect of doing so is greatest, rather than waiting several years until some arbitrarily determined age at which one supposedly finally becomes an 'adult' and is deemed mature enough to actually be able to 'consent' to sexual activity. Of course i've long believed that the actual intent of such laws and such attitudes is to simply greatly inhibit our natural desires, deeming them as inherently 'immoral' and utterly beyond the pale. And why is this done? Why, it's to make us all feel ashamed of our human nature, our animal nature, and also extremely fearful of the legal punishment and social punishment we will face should our 'perversion' come to light and be exposed for all the world to see and to vilify, as has been done posthumously to Epstein and all the other 'perverts' associated with him.

This is all sheer insanity in my view, a view which seems to be extremely rare, although i'm inclined to believe it's much more common than we're allowed to be aware of, thanks as always to the ubiquitousness of extreme puritanical repression in America. America, a nation which should be if it isn't already notorious for it's hypocrisy, it's very high tolerance of or embrace of (often state sponsored) violence, such as police brutality, mass shootings, and employment of it's bloated military to kill or terrorize millions of sheeple outside the U.S. who have the great misfortune to live in countries deemed to be 'enemies' by the utterly corrupt capitalistic American establishment, which is hell bent on maintaining extreme economic inequality at home and spreading this contagion abroad, especially engaging in economic warfare on socialist countries, especially those which have valuable resources such as fossil fuels which greedy American corporations seek access to.

So basically what we have is a culture which condones limitless degrees of state sponsored violence and oppression both at home and throughout the world, while also doing everything it can to vilify eroticism and drive it underground, or in other words, supporting 'sextinction', which is what the humorist colbert on THE LATE SHOW labelled this statistical paucity of sexual activity currently in America.

This would be funny if it wasn't so awful. At least it is to me, living in such a society, which in my view is worthy of the label 'perverted' by such repression, violence, and hypocrisy.

I've also long contended in my writing that if humans truly care about living in a more peaceful world, instead of vilifying and criminalizing consensual erotic behavior, we ought to be encouraging it. We ought to be more like our close biological relatives the bonobo chimps, whose notoriously promiscuous sexuality is believed to facilitate their also notorious (perhaps i should say famous, since that phrase, unlike 'notoriety', conveys no negative stigma) way of living in societies characterized by great cooperation, and virtually no violence amongst themselves. It is thought, quite logically, that by having frequent sexual pleasure and release, they're too satisfied and happy with their lives to feel motivated to fight with one another. Again, sex is well known for inducing mellowness, and mellow beings aren't inclined to fight with one another. only sexually deprived and frustrated beings are so inclined.

I don't know what to do. A part of me thinks i should try to move abroad hopefully to a culture more conducive to erotic freedom and less conducive to violence. Another part of me thinks sheeple are sheeple no matter where they are, and by fleeing America i may simply be trading one devil (the one i know) for another (an unfamiliar one).

Ultimately, i blame god for this conundrum. A decent god if such existed would never have created such a perverse world such as this one, or a perverse species such as ours, wherein the most powerful nation on the planet seems hell bent on endlessly and mercilessly vilifying, punishing, and repressing human sexuality, which of course is in sync with it's passion to create a world in which all violence including the ultimate expression, genocide, flourishes, all so that a culture of extreme inequality and injustice may not only be maintained, but propagated everywhere. This is how i see the world, but as stated above, it's an extremely unpopular view, at least to the extent that anyone has the temerity to admit to it.

dystopian and doomed: The Myth Of The Teen Brain

Genetically Modified Skeptic

this former christian fundamentalist has some very interesting insider observations on evangelical christianity and the role the christian right has had in countering the christian left in latin america and in furthering western imperialism historically.

My Childhood Cult Took Over My Country

Evangelical Christianity Is Literally a PSYOP - YouTube

Zeitgeist

'the religious myth is one of the most powerful devices ever created, and it serves as the psychological soil upon which other myths can flourish.'  -robert ingersoll, 'the great agnostic', as quoted at the end of part one of the documentary film, zeigeist, which examines the origins of religion, debunks christianity, and, as the quote illustrates, describes it's function in modernity.

i've posted before about this film here. i like to revisit from time to time, to sort of regain some big picture perspective on this crazy dystopian world (particularly in contemporary MAGA america).

btw, the ingersoll quote above appears 39 minutes into Zeitgeist.

part 2 is titled all the world's a stage, and begins with quickly debunking the official narrative of what / who was behind 9/11, referring to it as a myth, and goes on to place it in the context of an ongoing history of grand official conspiracies that have been covered up by other official narratives (lies).

the last part of zeitgeist is titled 'pay no attention to the men behind the curtain'. it draws a parallel to the false flag and propaganda ops of nazi germany and contemporary (in 2007) america. and as george carlin did on stage with his comic act, it asserts that 'the last thing the power establishment wants is a conscious informed public capable of critical thinking'.

Zeitgeist: The Movie (2007)

it is in my opinion a masterpiece of independent documentary film making. peter joseph is the creative genius behind the Zeitgeist documentaries, and is interviewed about it here:

Who is Peter Joseph? - Top Documentary Films   "either we change or we die" -peter joseph

sickening

in the news today: ICE, trump's gestapo anti-immigrant police force, detained a 5 year old, taken from his family, sent out of state. tonite on the PBS newshour the superintendent of the public school system he attended was outraged, saying that ICE agents have been swarming around her schools and school buses. this is in minneapolis, a democratic city which has been targeted by the hyper partisan republican bully president trump for anti immigrant policing, as has been done to other democratically led cities. there have been many protests against this policy; not long ago a woman was shot to death in her car by an ICE agent for protesting, others have been abused, arrested, tear gassed, beaten, shot with 'non-lethal' ammunition in the face from close range.

it's clear that ICE has become a rogue agency even by the lax standards of police state usa. under the republican trump led government it's funding has ballooned enabling the rapid hiring of new agents whose main qualification appears to be sharing the same racist xenophobic far right police state mentality of their Fuhrer. they are literally getting away with murder and many lesser crimes, supported by a republican infested judiciary which gives it's blessing to all they do, as does trump's political base, which includes many if not most of my male cousins on my father's side of the family (i don't know about my mother's side, having lost touch with them).

i cannot fathom how anyone can support the vicious cruelty and criminal unaccountability of the trump regime, and i want as little to do as possible with those that do.

FBI Agent Resigns in Protest as Trump DOJ Investigates Renee Good—Not the ICE Agent Who Killed Her | Common Dreams

requiem for a revolution?

the link at the bottom of this post is to a breakthrough news report on the great peril the cuban revolution now faces due to the trump administration's unhinged militarist imperialist foreign policy against socialist countries in latin america. it lauds the generous peaceful spirit of it that may be about to be violently shattered, which made me think of it in terms of the title of this post.

here's a comment i posted to the video:

the quote below comes from the last paragraph of bill blum's anti empire report #75 (link below). if i recall correctly, somewhere else he wrote (paraphrasing) 'the real reason the usa wants to destroy the cuban revolution is because it can't tolerate having a successful socialist country in latin america to serve as an example for others to follow'. now for the quote:

"On April 6, 1960, Lester D. Mallory, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, wrote in an internal memorandum: “The majority of Cubans support Castro … The only foreseeable means of alienating internal support is through disenchantment and disaffection based on economic dissatisfaction and hardship. … every possible means should be undertaken promptly to weaken the economic life of Cuba.” Mallory proposed “a line of action which … makes the greatest inroads in denying money and supplies to Cuba, to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government.” Later that year, the Eisenhower administration instituted the suffocating embargo."

https://williamblum.org/aer/read/75

Trump Says Cuba Is Next After Venezuela Attack. Population Armed to Defend Country

The Collapse of International Law

this video is excellent! featuring former senior united nations human rights official craig mokhiber talking about how the usa and it's little buddy israel get away with genocide and all sorts of other egregious violations of international law, with the always pertinent rania khalek of breakthrough news.

Iran, Venezuela, Palestine: The Collapse of International Law | Craig Mokhiber

fascism has come to america

donald trump, his administration, and his followers are the scum of america. brutal, racist, mendacious hypocrites, as bad as any right wing authoritarian nationalist movement there has ever been.

'NSPM-7 is a declaration of war on anyone who does not support the Trump administration and its agenda'

Trump’s NSPM-7 Labels Common Beliefs As Terrorism “Indicators”

god's bastard child

a literal reading of the bible informs us that jesus christ was god's bastard child. the spirit of our heavenly father impregnated the virgin mother mary without first marrying her makes jesus his bastard. this divine conception also must explain how it was that jesus managed to live a sinless life, the only human to ever do so.

what does this say about the rest of we sinful humans? it strongly suggests we are not god's children, not even his bastards, for we are sinners, and how could such flawed and evil children be the offspring of a perfect and righteous deity?

so we are obviously lower than bastards in god's view. i think 'he' clearly has disowned us.

of course, i regard christianity and all dogmatic faiths as utter nonsense, and as george carlin has previously opined, concocted to control us 'commoners', 'peasants'. just a part of dystopia.

"The Fundamental Issue - Overshoot"

 i think it's well worth reading some of william e. rees writing here:

standstoreeson | William E Rees | Substack

here's a 70 minute video featuring mr. rees:

Overshooting Earth's Boundaries | Bill Rees

then there's this 2 hour long conversation with him on youtube:

William E. Rees: "The Fundamental Issue - Overshoot" | The Great Simplification #53

finally, this excellent comment to that video from CitizenK1969 :

there is something sort of "mathematically inevitable" (note the quotation marks) about our predicament. Human cultures that are rapacious simply out compete those that are restrained in resource use... so without pan-species behavioral changes, we can't escape our "fate." I think this is why Nate started out looking at energy and the environment, but has arrived at a place of increasingly talking about human motivation, human nature. We either have to transcend our nature, or literally transform into something different, a species less inherently competitive, more in tune with its ecosystem... I'm reminded of the end of Vonnegut's novel /Galapagos/, which sees humanity survive, long term, by regressing into a kind of sea lion species. I want to believe we can overcome out nature, but history puts that in serious doubt.

what is education for?

 i came across this article linked below thanks to another source of wisdom and knowledge i recently became reintroduced to, a blog by a professor named william rees, another 'doomer'. i'll likely post a link to one of his posts soon. below are a couple of little excerpts from the article link posted here:

'What might be managed is us: human desires, economies, politics, and communities. But our attention is caught by those things that avoid the hard choices implied by politics, morality, ethics, and common sense. It makes far better sense to reshape ourselves to fit a finite planet than to attempt to reshape the planet to fit our infinite wants.'

'A fourth myth of higher education is that we can adequately restore that which we have dismantled. In the modern curriculum we have fragmented the world into bits and pieces called disciplines and subdisciplines. As a result, after 12 or 16 or 20 years of education, most students graduate without any broad integrated sense of the unity of things. The consequences for their personhood and for the planet are large. For example, we routinely produce economists who lack the most rudimentary knowledge of ecology. This explains why our national accounting systems do not subtract the costs of biotic impoverishment, soil erosion, poisons in the air or water, and resource depletion from gross national product. We add the price of the sale of a bushel of wheat to GNP while forgetting to subtract the three bushels of topsoil lost in its production. As a result of incomplete education, we’ve fooled ourselves into thinking that we are much richer than we are.'

What Is Education For?

intelligence and stupidity

 if i had any devoted readers they should know by now that in my worldview humans are idiot savants, which is to say we , both collectively and individually, to some extent exhibit both extreme intelligence and extreme stupidity, depending on the subject. link below to an interesting article which sort of makes this point: 

The Evolution of Stupidity (and Octopus Intelligence)