Willfully Horn

I am all for efficiency, so I back that, too. Saying Republicans are for tax cuts just means they benefit from exploding budgets. I support both social security and Medicare, and I also am wary of the financial instability the national debt represents. I acknowledge the need for a strong military while also believing it is the military budget that needs painstakingly rational scrutiny. The batshit crazy I blame on football placing the ball on the 25 yard line after a touchback.

Flynn’s military service, and especially his terminal rank, brand him among the top evil doers of election liars and insurrectionists. That the military has not sought to discipline him itself unsettles the fuck out of me. It also disturbs that someone can rise to the level of general while having such a flawed understanding of their oath, and of their duty, not to mention their professed religion. His death cannot come soon enough.

With Powell pleading and Jordan crashing, I’ll file today under gruntled..

Not much but the purchase of our machines of war. It’s a big business, lots of lobbyists.

I doubt she is that worried. Few can play Hide the Lectern as well as she.

“… to die in a fire.” Fucker can’t even finish a thought.

Yeah, no. The idea is to make it work, so that the olds and the poor don’t live in abject misery. As long as it works, I won’t begrudge paying more.

We should carve out a piece of desert for a true and pure Polish nation. There’re deserts down under, right?

I’ve been listening to Terry Allen quite a bit this week. His shows with drunken frat boys celebrating as they sing along to songs like “Big Ol’ White Boys” reminds me of Hannibal Lector feeding Ray Liotta’s character his brain lining. Just chilling. Anyway, thanks for opening a door for these lyrics: ”Sitting here on the banks of the riverLooking out at the other sideWondering if we’re ever gonna get thereWondering why we’re never satisfiedBig ol’ white boys cross the oceanOn little bitty ships the whole world roundGot no notion of where they’re goingWhat they’re doing, or what they’ve foundWhite boys tame the mountains and the prairiesMaking rules and building townsIf it’s alive, it’s better off buriedIf it stands up, better knock it downWhite boysWe’re not Mexicans, Blacks, or IndiansWe’re white boysWe’re not Arabs, Jews, or AsiansBig white boysBig ol' white European CaucasiansAnd white girls tooSitting here on the banks of the riverLooking out at the other sideWondering if we’re ever gonna get thereWondering why we’re never satisfiedBig ol’ white boys fat with plunderSatisfied, our every needRule the world while we get dumberIn the name of the luck, our lord, and greed”

Stonekettle’s latest essay, “Sides,” is appropriately cautionary. Here’s a quotation, and the link. ”I went to war myself, once upon a time, because it was my sworn duty to do so. I willingly went to fight those who committed atrocities against mynation, against those who murdered my people and threatened my family. I did it. I did it for my own reasons and I'd do it again, and I would never be so crass as to deny you a similar choice. Here's the thing though: we won our war, but we lost the peace. We won our righteous war and we made the world all the worse for it. I would caution you to learn from our bitter mistakes -- though you probably won't. America can't end this fight, but we can for damn sure make it worse.” https://www.stonekettle.com/2023/10/sides.html?m=1

Used to have to shell pecans at Nanny Bush’s place. One afternoon, Walt joined us. That was years after he retired from football. Those were the days of Copenhagen. Horses. Beer, fist fights, and quaaludes.

нарцисс, eh comrade?

Attended the funeral of a man with whom my parents had a decades long friendship. He was a respected lawyer, and his kids were college educated. I ought have known to just bail when the oldest tells me he was a flat earther. Hell, I knew they were nuts-religious. But, I was seeking to shed light of my own. After hearing disparaging remarks about government, I made the statement that government actually designs, builds, and maintains roads more cost effectively than does private business, because I knew a spouse of the second son was the assistant executive of infrastructure for the North Texas Tollway Authority, and she would back up my claim. Which she did. Didn’t make a shit. Those folks, as a group, were hopeless. They weren’t about to acknowledge any benefit came from society acting on behalf of all.

This sucks. My wife tells stories about her from their college days. Get well, MLR. Not having insurance, and insurance not covering her illness, are not the same thing. I wouldn’t put it past bean counter types to decide that breathing on her own, without the help of a machine, is “not medically necessary.” At least, that’s what Blue Cross and Blue Shield wanted to say about paying for cataract surgery: not medically necessary. I had one good eye. How many does it take to see? Single payer.

Imagining the pretzels shapes to come makes me laugh.

Nvmd

Rage emoji seems appropriate.

Velvet rut, ftw.

This is the video that gets me.

And we will love their food.

That is indeed the gist of the piece I linked. A response to having their sense of strength and safety shattered. Edited to say that the destruction of one side has already been declared as essential to the other. Now the Israelis might be saying the same thing. That land is considered ancestral to both Israelis and Palestinians, and for good reasons. The Israelis feel they have no where else to go. I don’t know if Palestinians say the same thing.

This piece speaks to the intent behind the live streaming of violence and humiliation. And it makes a case for how Israel will cast aside whatever restraint they believe they have used with the Palestinians. https://www.timesofisrael.com/a-wounded-weakened-israel-is-a-fiercer-one/

Didn’t see this posted. According to this NBC report, today’s attack was meant to exploit political divisions within Israel, and to derail peace talks between Israel, SA, and the U.S. Israel is guilty of crimes against the Palestinians, including the mentioned attacks by Israeli settlers this year. But seeking peace with the Saudis isn’t among them. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/significance-hamas-chose-attack-israel-now-rcna119351

And Bush, the shrub.