BartBlog

Being a tourist in Washington DC can be a truly glorious experience — or not.

The area known as the Federal Triangle features a collection of magnificent granite buildings, and tourists and locals alike are in awe of such splendor — until I realized that the crown jewel of all this architectural awesomeness is a building now named after a war criminal. Ronald Reagan. http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=15924

In the early morning light, I went out to see the breath-taking Iwo Jima memorial. It was large and impressive and humbling and brought tears to my eyes — until I noticed that all around the base of the statue, etched in gold letters, were listed some of the many many many “wars” that Marines had participated in, including disgraceful and bloody actions against the Philippines and Haiti. But the list stopped at Somalia. Guess there was no point in adding Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine and Libya, seeing as they are still on-going money-pit “wars” and still a source for the incubation of terrorists. To paraphrase the Marines’ anthem, “From the Halls of the Munich Olympics to the shores of 9-11, London, Madrid, Paris, Beirut, Baghdad, San Bernardino, Brussels and Kabul”.

To quote journalist Finian Cunningham, “More than grieving, European [and American] citizens need to get a grip and hold their governments accountable for not just Europeans [and Americans] suffering terrorism but for suffering under the same terrorism in many other countries as well. Maybe when the Eiffel Tower displays the national colors of Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Mali, Yemen or other unfortunate victims of terrorism, especially state-sponsored terrorism, then the grieving process might acquire a more constructive purpose.” http://sputniknews.com/columnists/20160324/1036899417/brussels-atatcks-europe-grief.html But I digress.

In Washington DC, the Metro subway system is amazing, taking you everywhere that you need to go — until at the Rosslyn station I experienced deja vu as I took an escalator down down down, three or four stories under the ground. This was just like the escalator to a subway station at Pyongyang, North Korea — which was built to also serve as a bomb shelter. Apparently DC is also ready for war. If you happen to be in the Pentagon area at the time of an attack from any of the long list enemies that the Pentagon has created, no worries. Just head for the Metro.

At the Pentagon City Metro stop, they have a fabulous mall and I was also impressed by it, clearly a mall worth fighting for — until I saw an electronic billboard that said, “Congratulations, Marines. The F-35B is now operational!” Now there is a picture worth a million lives. Plus Lockheed Martin can now blame Marines for the 391 billion taxpayers’ dollars that have been wasted on the F-35A-Z.

Then I saw the U.S. Capitol’s shining dome from afar — oops, no longer shining. It was covered with what looked like black garbage bags. Huh? Since all of America’s money is now going to “war,” even one of our most treasured national infrastructure icons has come to this?

Then a friend took me to the most beautiful mosque in the District — but if the current crack-down on freedom of religion continues apace, then before we know it, Christianity, Buddhism and Judaism could easily get cracked down on too. That’s a very dangerous precedent to set. But then the Christianity of Jesus that I have come to know and love, already no longer exists either, having been replaced by bigotry and hate. http://www.investigaction.net/Brussels-attacks-no-Mr-Prime.html?lang=es

Then I visited the Newseum, a heart-warming tribute to American journalism. It was housed in a beautiful new and modern building — but its displays were truly depressing. Its display of Pulitzer-Prize-winning photos only reminded me of war, war and more war. The exhibit on Vietnam reminded me of all the abject horror that America is capable of creating in foreign lands. And the exhibit on civil rights in the 1960s reminded me of America’s excellence in producing injustice. How can we even dare to export claims of “Humanitarianism” and “Democracy” after seeing this exhibit of what life was (and still is) like for minorities here at home.

But I should have known from the start that Washington DC was going to be a contradiction and a conundrum when I flew into “Ronald Reagan Airport” — named after a man who almost single-handedly started our country on a downward spiral of cruelty, inhumanity, lies, “war” and economic collapse. Does this mean that Congress is going to have to change the airport’s name again too? To the “Reagan Bush 1 Bush 2 Obama Clinton 1 Clinton 2 Trump War Criminal Airport” — just to keep our list of war criminals real?

Guest Article by Karla Gottschalk

Waiting in line to buy the basics for dinner I noticed the new Scientific American on the stands. The cover proclaims it is on the sexual mind.

A teaser on the cover asks “How Gay are you?” and offers “Transgender and Young” articles. Food for punditry if not for thought.  Is this really the Scientific American of the last 100 years or more? What has happened to science?

How gay are you, really? This must be an April Fools joke. No, the cover proclaims a special issue for spring and it should be on the stands until May. Titillating, so lets look inside.

“The greatest obstacle to an antidote for anorgasmia (sic) may be squeamishness about masturbation in the presence of a stranger”, from the article Lust’s Reward.

I am “squeamish” in front of anyone.  My fantasies are private and I don’t need you voyeurs to share the experience. Better to play the maid upstairs being taken in a frolic.  Much better and less work with more pleasure.

And what about the rewards of LOVE? IMHO masturbation sucks rotten eggs compared to Love. When did sex become 24/7?

We are not Bonobos but I am willing to listen to them lecture on mediation as a way of conflict resolution. According to the Bonobos a little dalliance brings resolution without violence and, um, with honor. (See page 42.  The answer is 42?)

And now what is : Transgender and young?

I  can hardly wait to be sterilized.? A teenager is quoted as “ It makes me sad when I realize I can’t have my own children. But sometimes in life, when you really want something, you have to accept things you don’t like.”

The child starts high school next Fall.

Oh, really?  Can a child really understand a life of sterility at 14? And who really has the right to make such a choice for a child? This is not a property issue.

I did make a sperm deposit that was intentionally destroyed by the California Cryobank . It was front page news in San Francisco 6 years after my sex reassignment surgery in 1974.  It was done for my wife. She left after the possibility of children evaporated.

Now, as to what you want-is that enough?  I never wanted to be a transsexual but I know from my first thoughts I “knew” I was female and prayed to be changed, then fell in love and prayed to be healed.

Do you know what the future will bring? NO.  But you are willing “forever” to live a lie and be sterile at fourteen? A eunuch or a spayed female?

As your older sister (or brother) erotic transvestism cannot be transsexual but can be transgender.  You don’t need to mutilate yourself.  You have already seen how much hurt and suffering it brings you and those who are close to you and love you.

Are you aware of the number of transsexuals that no longer accept sex change as the answer? Do you really want to never really be female (or male) but fool people by passing because it makes you feel better to parade an affliction adorned with deceit?

Really, WHAT is gender? Is it S-E-X? Let’s cut to the chase.

Hi!, What are you? I’m a 66 year old transsexual! I am a person of color: white hair with some kinky black hairs, blue eyes, light brown skin and my mother was Spanish/Italian, my father was a non-privileged white man with ethics.

A gender changer is something that allows a bolt to bolt connection or nut to nut. Gender is a thing not a person.Gender is not sex. My affliction was the drive to be sexually fulfilled without having to be a stereotype.

Anyone can pretend to be a stereotype but it takes courage to be authentic.

There has to be a better way.  I was a peer as well as contemporary of Christine Jorgensen. Let’s talk and solve this for the betterment of all.

Isn’t writing propaganda for sex role adjustment by sex change just as fraught with danger and as irresponsible as giving a child a revolver and a single bullet and teaching them the game of “Russian Roulette”?

It is the Spring Solstice and these are the fertility rites of Spring. Why is Scientific American celebrating masturbation and gender mutilation?

Well, I finally did it. After thinking about it for many years now, I finally sent off to http://23andme.com for a DNA testing kit. First you send them some spit and then they test it for DNA — so that you can find out who your ancestors are.

“We will send you the results in six to eight weeks,” they told me. Goody! Now I can actually find out once and for all if our old family legend is true or not — that my great-grandmother Mary Elizabeth Ballard Johnston was a full-blooded Cherokee. If so, that would make me one-sixteenth Original American.

And speaking of dead ancestors, I just flew off to attend a conference in Washington DC entitled “Israel’s Influence: Good or Bad for America” http://israelsinfluence.org/video/default.html and that got me to thinking about Israeli neo-colonialists and how they are always bragging about the size of the Jewish holocaust in Germany under the Nazis, and using that sad and terrible event as propaganda to justify creating a whole new Muslim holocaust too — like the Jewish holocaust gives them the right to kill as many Muslims as they want.

That’s just plain bull-dookie.

That would be like saying that just because 80 to 100 million Original Americans were killed by European colonizers, descendants of Original Americans now have the right — no, even the duty — to go out and kill as many Chinese or Chileans or Canadians as they want and steal their land too.

But guess what? I really don’t want to kill anyone or steal anyone’s land, no matter how the http://23andme.com test results come back. Does that make me a self-hating Cherokee? I like to think not.

PS: The DC conference was a big success, giving me hope that perhaps there might someday be an end to the wholesale slaughter of Palestinians. I certainly hope so. Don’t you? Doesn’t AIPAC too? Apparently not. https://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/trumps-islamophobia-racism-go-hand-hand-aipacs-agenda/

But always remember, AIPAC, that my holocaust is bigger than your holocaust — and then just shut up about it. Why? Because the horror that happened in Germany sixty years ago isn’t even your holocaust to begin with. It belongs to the Jews, not to some Israeli neo-colonialist fascist hypocrites, racists, bullies and thugs who pretend to be Jews.

PPS: Here’s a link to Hillary Clinton’s speech to AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee) this week — where she practically gives away the whole American farm. Gag me with a spoon! http://time.com/4265947/hillary-clinton-aipac-speech-transcript/#4265947/hillary-clinton-aipac-speech-transcript/

But I do agree with one statement that she made. “If you see bigotry, oppose it. If you see violence, condemn it. If you see a bully, stand up to him.”

When the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee holds their annual convention in Washington DC this March, who are they gonna endorse for the Democratic presidential nominee? Bernie Sanders, who is Jewish — or Hillary Clinton, the ultimate war hawk who will support anything that Israeli neo-colonialists decide to do with regard to making “Greater Israel” a reality?

Will AIPAC choose to support the Jewish race and/or religion by going with Sanders, the ultimate Jewish grandpa?

Or will AIPAC go with neo-colonialism and choose Hillary Clinton, the goy who will obviously support attacking Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Lebanon, Jordan, the Gulf States, Egypt, Turkey, Iraq (again) and anything else that might get in the way of creating the “Greater Israel” neo-colonialists’ wet dream — even if the USA gets in the way?

This is gonna be very interesting to see how AIPAC’s choice turns out.

I’ll bet you a bagel that they’ll choose Clinton.

PS: I’ll be in Washington DC on March 18 for the “Israel’s Influence: Good or Bad?” conference. http://israelsinfluence.org/default.asp

Some very serious questions will need to be considered after an unfortunate incident involving a security guard occurred this week in the SF Bay Area.

Family dog named Roscoe is dead after being kicked by the security guard at an outlet for a well-known supermarket chain.

Ultimately a jury may have to determine the value of the victim and supplying a code of conduct for security guards.

A snarky columnist  who is usually content with snide remarks and sarcastic comments is  bamboozled by this heartbreaking family tragedy.  Weekend protests are planned and they might bring the topic of animal cruelty to commentators around the country.

Out of respect for the family who describe themselves as lifelong customers of that supermarket chain we will try to limit ourselves to “just the facts, Mam” approach to our coverage of this tragedy.

The family will receive suggestions as to what legal path to be followed and what amounts for compensatory and/or punitive damages.

As a former dog owner, we sympathize with this family’s loss and know that such a death can be a crushing blow.

We have always endeavored to observe, analyze and then comment, however, the relatively new concept of “vicarious trauma” might be applicable in this particular case.  Money and/or cliche’s cannot heal the emotional wounds related to this family’s tragedy.

We only hope that the well-known homeless lawyer in The Bay Area can use the events of this week to bring the subject of animal cruelty to a national audience as well as companies and security guards aware of their responsibilities and duties.

If it were a child instead of a dog who died, the guard might well be facing first degree murder charges.

With all the election year mud-slinging, perhaps radio talk show hosts will be grateful to have a change of pace topic available.

The DJ will now play, “Dead Puppies aren’t much fun”, “How much is that Doggy in the Window” and Elvis’s extremely tear jerker ballad “Old, Shep”.

Have a “Remember Man’s Best Friend” kind of week.

For more goto SFAwareness at Blogspot

     I shouldn’t even be posting these reports from my friend in Aleppo, Syria, because I surely wouldn’t want him to get into trouble with the US, Turkey, ISIS and the Saudis — just for telling the truth. But. I just can’t resist because these are such excellent and authentic on-the-ground eye-witness reports. My bad.

From today:

The water situation:  “Water started to return to Aleppo city yesterday, after around two months of a lack of water supply to the city. It was a deal between the Syrian government and Da’esh [derogatory term for ISIS], where each side was controlling the flow of water to the other side. Da’esh in al-Bab village can’t have water because their water lines comes from Aleppo city. However, Aleppo water comes from the Euphrates which is under Da’esh control. So they finally reached to a deal.”

The power situation: “Red Crescent is helping with the power generators to pump the water as well, because there is no power in the city for five months. We didn’t have water yet at home, but other areas started to have it.

“And electricity! We’re finally having power at home now for the first time in five months! It came for one hour last midnight, and for an hour (so far) today at 6:00 am.”

From yesterday:

The ceasefire situation: “On the 2nd of March, we thought that the ceasefire was over. Heavy clashes started mid-day in Aleppo city and didn’t end till evening. First the government-held sides had been attacked several times by mortars, then the ambulance sirens were heard for some time, before hearing the first artillery retaliation from government side. Then it developed to hear some airstrikes later on.

“What happened?

“According to news and other witnesses, the fighting was at Castillo junction village, to the north of Aleppo city. That village and axis were the last smuggling arms way to the [ISIS] terrorists, coming from Turkey. The clashes were between the YPG Kurds vs. The Nusra Front [al Qaeda] and other armed gangs. The aftermath of the fight ended by liberating that northern village, and therefore the [ISIS] terrorists in the city are surrounded and have no supply anymore from the Turks.

“The ‘rebel’ activists said that the Kurds started the fight and violated the ceasefire to help the Syrian ‘regime’ in besieging the ‘rebels’. But the YPG sources said that what happened was the opposite. ‘First, neither the Nusra Front or Chechen fighters had signed nor agreed on the ceasefire agreement, so the fight with them never stopped,’ said the YPG [Kurd] source. ‘We didn’t start the fight. They started targeting Sheikh Maqsoud district — the northern one in Aleppo city under the Kurds control — with nonstop mortar shelling, and they tried to occupy al-Mesherfé Hill, coming from the Castello village. So we were defending our areas’.

“It seems that the Syrian Arab Army had backed the YPG and together they made the terrorists under siege now.

“The Russians recorded five violations to the ceasefire agreement in Aleppo the next day (yesterday) from the Nusra-held areas against the YPG in Sheikh Maqsoud district. Other sources mentioned casualties of two killed civilians and 25 injured ones.

“However, yesterday was in general a calm day. Funny jokes started to pop up amid all the merciless fighting, saying that people who used to sleep on despite the bombs, shelling and shooting noises each night for such a long time, are now having difficulties in sleeping in the calm atmosphere of the ceasefire agreement 😃!

Somebody out there needs to step up to the plate and save the world from total destruction — and do it right now! But almost nobody else seems to be doing anything about saving our world. Nobody seems to even notice or care that just the single factor of “war” alone (and the pollution it causes) is heading us straight towards Doomsday. So if I want my world to be saved at all, looks like I’m gonna have to do it myself.

And so I went off to a murder-mystery readers’ and writers’ convention in Phoenix AZ last week in order to get some ideas. The first question I asked, of course, was “Who done it?” Giant corporations, weapons manufacturers and crooked politicians. The usual suspects.

“What?” exclaimed a local Tea Party member. “You’re saying that it’s not the homeless, food stamp recipients, undocumented workers and welfare queens who are destroying the world?” Sorry, no. Just look at your average homeless person — cold, hungry, unhealthy and sleep-deprived. Capable of destroying the world? Hardly. So if I’m determined to save the world, it’s clearly not gonna happen by me hanging out on skid row!

But I did score some free crime novels at the convention and planned to get some ideas from them. http://www.leftcoastcrime2016.com/

Timothy Hallinan has a new book which is about to be released called “King Maybe” (I got an advance copy!) and its about an anti-hero burglar who steals from the rich. Now there’s a great idea for saving the world. http://www.timothyhallinan.com/junior.html

Lisa Brackmann also has a new book in the works that’s about to be published. “Go-Between” is its name, and the heroine takes on the for-profit prison system at one point, another great idea. I would love to be able to save the world one prisoner at a time — starting by putting as many corporate CEOs, evil banksters and weapons manufacturers in jail as humanly possible. Alcatraz, San Quentin, Attica, Sing Sing, Leavenworth, Rikers Island. Just throw out all the prisoners now in there for stupid crimes like smoking weed and replace them with corporate jailbirds. Great idea! http://www.lisabrackmann.com/books/

Phoenix, for some reason, is a very easy city to get lost in because it’s so flat and nondescript. So I walked five miles east instead of five miles west (or was it north?) and ended up in front of the infamous Maricopa County Jail. Yep, Sheriff Joe Arpio’s bailiwick.

“But we love Sheriff Joe!” cried one Phoenixonite. “There’s almost no recidivism on his watch!” Booyah. Let’s send him to Washington so that he can put our corrupt politicians in pink jump suits instead. Then let’s send him to Wall Street to make corporate CEOs live in prison tents in the hot desert sun. Works for me.

At one point, Hallinan’s anti-hero burglar quotes some guy describing the USA after World War I. “America is the great unspanked baby of the world.” No one should ever spank a baby. Ever. But Sheriff Joe is obviously spanking the wrong crooks. Paraphrasing Hallinan’s burglar, “Senators are just crooks with better healthcare.”

And to quote the blurb on the back of Brackmann’s soon-to-be-published book, “An all-too-realistic thriller about for-profit prisons, big-money politics, shady non-profits, the War on Drugs — and the people who would kill to keep the system intact….” Why isn’t Sheriff Joe out arresting them?

PS: Here’s another report I just received from my anonymous friend in Aleppo, Syria — this time about the water, power and ceasefire crises there. His report is entitled, “Yesterday, today (and hopefully tomorrow) in Aleppo, Syria,” and can be read at http://jpstillwater.blogspot.com/2016/03/yesterday-today-and-hopefully-tomorrow.html.

There’s good news and bad news from my friend in Aleppo this week. The bad news is that ISIS terrorists and their pal Turkey are breaking the ceasefire left and right. But what can you expect from liars and terrorists?

About the ceasefire agreement: “Aleppo city is much more calmer since the beginning of the agreement, besides some violations that took place the first hours of the agreement, and yesterday at 21:50, when two mortars were shelled onto the government-held area, followed by ambulance sirens around 22:00. In general so far, however, Aleppo city is so calmer than before. No shells, no jets in the sky, no clashes. 80% better than before.”

Aleppo province: “The situation in Aleppo province didn’t change much, according to the news. The terrorists attacked the liberated villages of Nobbol & az-Zahraa with rockets, but there were no casualties. In other areas of the province, fighting is still on-going: Syrian Arab Army vs. Nusra & Da’esh; Kurds vs. Turks from the borders; Kurds vs. Terrorists; terrorists vs. other terrorists… Violations of the ceasefire are from the terrorist groups and Turkey.”

More ceasefire violations: “Russians recorded 15 violations in Syria in the last 24 hours. Russia said as well that Nusra terrorists were shelling mortars in Latakya province from the Turkish borders (from Turkey). The Turks are targeting the Kurds in Tell Abyad border town, claiming fighting Da’esh on the media!”

On the road to Aleppo: “Aleppo road had been finally liberated, but needs a lot of repairing. It had damaged so badly. Aleppo was isolated for almost a week of tough fighting to take it back. There were snipers and a lot of mines.”

High prices resulting from the illegal invasion: “Prices, obviously, started to jump up because nothing was coming in to the city. Goods and fuel became expensive, partly because of the road battles, and partly because of the dollar rising price. The crisis traders and merchants were the happiest group of the situation! Prices will take some time till they go down, when goods and fuel start to enter the city, after repairing the road.”

Corruption vs. Heroism: “There is news — or gossip — about treason that has happened at three checkpoints on the road to Aleppo that has caused setbacks and the loss of hundreds of lives among the Syrian soldiers. The morale is down regarding such news.

“While Hezbollah brave fighters and Syrian special forces paid a high price to liberate the long road, others are bribed because there are also corrupted, rotten members in the body. The war had exposed the worst things in us, but it had motivated others to do the best they could do. From one side you see the traitors, opportunists and corrupted ones; on the other side there are the brave heroes and martyrs who are defending millions like myself.”

Electricity in short supply: “The thermal station of Aleppo that had been liberated lately by the Syrian Arab Army, needs billions of dollars to start working again. Before leaving it, the terrorists made sure to loot everything they can, and sabotage the rest. Even its fuel, they loot as much as they could, and burn the rest. Aleppo is without power (electricity) for 5 months now, and without water for more than 1 month. Repairing that station will needs a miracle.”

And then my friend tells me to take care. How brave is that.