Repent, for the End is Near

Saw the God-Man on the street He was cooking in the temperate heat Sign read: "Repent, for the End is nigh!" Said I, "I suppose that you are high - since Christ was Jewish, as you know!" Said he: "Of course he was!, now blow!" I ended with "Thank you so much.... You've really got that honest touch!"

Vietnamese

Always found Vietnamese to be one of the more fascinating SE Asian languages. Especially as I can get at least a remote idea of its pronunciation from "reading" it. I favour "my own" Latin alphabet, of course, though I can, with some difficulty, read Greek and Cyrillic. Vietnamese obviously uses a fairly extended version of the Roman script, in order to visually express a number of sounds you probably won't find in any European language. http://www.omniglot.com/writing/vietnamese.htm

May 2014 Ed Snowden interview

I've only heard excerpts so far, but I liked what Edward Snowden had to say. Brian Williams is, needless to say, just another corporate stooge doing his "job." http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2014/may/29/edward-snowden-nbc-interview-video

USA+Pakistan, forever

It's entirely fitting that the United States - the world's foremost rogue state - counts Pakistan as an important ally. It's entirely predictable that Pakistan - home to so much militarism, repression and injustice - counts the USA as a major ally. Of course the two countries differ in profoundly striking respects, be they cultural, linguistic or religious in nature. And they've had a number of highly publicized geopolitical policy disputes in recent years. But with the US gliding gradually down that slippery slope toward "Christian" theocracy, USA and Pakistan have come to resemble each other in a number of unsurprising ways. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-27599325 The public floggings and stonings have yet to occur, to the best of my knowledge. But with the Pat Robertsons of America more and more in charge of the culture, it's probably just a matter of time.

That late great National Lampoon!

The "National Lampoon" was a contemptuous, terrible, irreverent, sadistic and highly misogynist publication that would probably make "The Onion's" editors blanch. It was also drop-dead hilarious, on a frequent basis. I pity those who don't have access to its archives, or those who neglected to save their dog-eared copies, precious as fresh rainwater in a Saharan barrel. Ellin Stein's book is great fun, too; it brought back many vulgar and comedic memories. http://books.google.com/books/about/That_s_Not_Funny_That_s_Sick_The_Nationa.html?id=lVm78dQpmw4C http://www.marksverylarge.com/images/7411cover_l.jpg

REMEMBER TO REMEMBER REMEMBER RE......

Did you REMEMBER to remember ALL "America's" IDIOTIC WARS? 1. The War of 1812 2. The "Mexican War" 3. The "Spanish-American" War 4. The "War to End ALL Wars" 5. The Second World War 6. The "Korean" War 7. The "Vietnam" War 8. The Gulf War 9. The "Afghan" War 10. The "Iraq" War (Notice how I exempted "The War Between the States;" That one, arguably at least, was necessary, a war to end a great evil called slavery. And some folks say the Second World War was also a necessity, fought by the "Greatest Generation." HUH! That generation was only as great as every other 20-year batch of humans.) As for the rest, they served our country and the World poorly, at best.

Under The Elms of Edgar Allen Park

"UNDER THE ELMS OF EDGAR ALLEN PARK" Why do you sing the way you do, Birds? The Whole of Humanity hears you believes you express exalted Joy A WONDER But I only hear your sweet mockery OF ME - It's always the same, laughable! You invite me to awaken, greet the vulgar SUN Silly birds But I prefer the NIGHT, you see The ENDLESS night A perfect meditation I don't hate or resent you Silly birds I mock you right back! Because you CAN'T know What's so damn prizeworthy About the DAY, anyway? At night, ALONE, AWAY, APART from Humanity's frenzied brood At NIGHT In my Alien WEIRD I KNOW what the HUMANS Think of me What they MUST think of me It's not YOUR fault, birds It's not YOUR fault Stupid daylight I simply prefer the comforting anonymity No problem have I Greeting the Dogs and Rabbits They, at least Are my FRIENDS

HAPPY!

When I first heard the "Happy" song, which they play here in the states pretty frequently these days, I found it a bit annoying. By now I've begun to like it. Considering the Iranian Theocracy is ARRESTING people for exercising what should clearly be their freedom of expression, I'm now PROMOTING "Happy." Let this be a warning to all - the Christian Right Wing is busy trying to implement a theocracy here in USA, too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZAZZ5fIGYo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6Sxv-sUYtM

A bit of colourful commentary

Some of you may be wondering why I've adopted certain British spellings in place of the usual American orthography. Though naturally most of you couldn't care less. But I'm doing it 'cos: "Flavoured" looks more savoury than the American variant. Colour is more colourful than "Color." It takes slightly more work to write "labour" than it does to write "labor," and as we all know... "A little hard work never killed anybody:)" OK, I will now proceed to shut up and play a few games of chequers for the rest of this lovely day.

Nigeria

I'm sorry, Nigeria, for your recent and appalling troubles. But I steadfastly disagree with those who think US intervention, in its usual form of "advisers," drones and other military hardware, is any kind of remedy. The US Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines have a "Reverse Midas Touch," and exacerbate every civil war they meddle in. In a very uncanny way, everything that the US War Machine touches turns to BLOOD. If you don't believe me, just think of Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/21/world/africa/nigerian-explosions.html?src=me http://reason.com/archives/2014/05/11/four-reasons-us-intervention-in-nigeria

Reading "In Retropect"

Reading another autobiography, this time former US Secretary of War Robert McNamara's. You can learn a lot from your political enemies, especially those who have sought some degree of redemption. But I'm struck by the fact I can never muster enough patience to read about the author's childhood - I always begin the book at the point where the author describes his/her time in high school at the earliest, college days at the latest. I suppose this is because - except in the case of those who were confirmed child prodigies - it's just not interesting, the story of how and with whom they grew up. That goes for kids who had a good childhood, and those who were miserable alike. I don't know why this is; much less do I expect anyone to give a care. Gotta keep my keyboarding skills sharp, that is all.

Support fast food workers' one day strike, today

I'm gonna patronize a decent restaurant today, one in which I may have to wait a bit for the food to arrive. But it will be worth it. I try to avoid fast food joints whenever my wallet allows it, or my stomach isn't on "Emergency Empty" status. Because these people, who work so VERY hard under often times excruciating conditions, CANNOT survive on seven twenty-five. Hell, in New York, they cant survive on ten, eleven or twelve dollars an hour. Many of them have families to support, for crying out loud. These folks need a MEANINGFUL raise, decades ago! http://www.democracynow.org/2014/5/15/we_have_to_stop_this_inequality

To the point of no return...?

And to think that virtually every intellectually honest or capable person who's studied the issue knows this moment would arrive. "The point of no return." Those dinosaurs among us shall have much to explain to generations yet to come - they're a bunch of pathetic obstructionists whose own grandchildren will pay the price! Global climate change is for REAL, and the dull-witted majority of Americans being polled these days better learn that's true. http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-27381010

"Town of Greece v. Galloway et al."

I'd especially like to hear from religious people on the following topic. One need not even address the unconstitutionality, IMO, of the Supreme Court's recent "Town of Greece, New York v. Galloway et al." decision that further erodes the Separation of Church and State. Not right now, at least. Much as it grieves and sickens me, this decision is a fait accompli, and will remain so until the balance of the court shifts WAY leftward. So which, dear people of faith, are you planning on doing? Will you now RELUCTANTLY or ENTHUSIASTICALLY embrace the practice of reading Hindu, Muslim and Jewish prayers before the start of city council proceedings? Are you reluctantly, or enthusiastically willing to allow Santeria chants in the same setting? Any problem with civic-minded Satanists who also want to propagate their lovely beliefs in town halls coast to coast? You really can't have it both ways, of course. If Jesus people are to be accommodated, to the detriment of the necessary and vital Establishment Clause, they better get ready to accommodate every other faith. That would be inconvenient to say the least. Not to mention unconstitutional. http://iacknowledge.net/christian-conservative-group-heckles-hindu-prayer-in-us-senate-video/