BartBlog

Between Christmas and New Years Day this year, I get one whole week off from taking care of baby Sofia and I want to make my plans early. But where to go? Good question. Any suggestions?

I would really love to go to Yemen and visit the ancient, unique and irreplaceable World Heritage Site at Sanaa. Plus my war-correspondent DNA is also dying to go there too. “The key word in that sentence, Jane,” you might say, “is DYING.” Everyone in Yemen is dying these days. The House of Saud wants Yemen’s oil — and by gosh they are going to get it even if it means killing every man, woman and child in Yemen. When it comes to genocide, Saudis are never shy. http://www.democracynow.org/2016/8/18/green_partys_jill_stein_us_should?autostart=true

Trout fishing in Yemen has obviously been replaced with baby-killing.

But I still wanted to go there — so I went to Expedia and typed in my dates and the destination airport “SAH”. Nothing. I got nothing. Not deterred, I then tried typing “SAH” on Travelocity, Kayak, CheapoAir, Priceline and a bunch of other travel sites. Still nothing. So I Googled Sanaa International Airport. “Sorry, it doesn’t exist any more. The House of Saud blew it all up.”

And apparently even the city of Sanaa itself doesn’t exist any more either. Rats. Where is UNESCO when you need it.

So where else can I go during my one week off this year? All suggestions are welcome. But it looks like I’m just going to end up taking an overnight MegaBus down to Disneyland instead. Hey, the Pirates of the Caribbean is a war-zone, right? http://blackagendareport.com/obama_clinton_created_isis

PS: “Yemen is bad! The Saudis are good!” we constantly being told on the evening news. “Saudi leaders are saints and Yemeni leaders are war-mongering terrorist despots!” But, hey, weren’t we also told that about popular leaders in Vietnam, Chile, Palestine, Kuwait, Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Ukraine, Honduras, Russia and on the USS Liberty? http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-14/true-story-how-war-broke-out-syria

And pretty soon we will probably be hearing the same thing about, say, California or North Dakota — any excuse at all to sell guns. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pducRLyDmiY

PPS: The MSM is really going completely whole-hog out on this “Syrian boy in an ambulance” stuff! Obama and Kerry must REALLY want to steal Syria’s oil — except that little transparency-freaks like us (who only want the truth to be told) keep getting in their way.

But this intensive media campaign of lies does tell us two things — First, that Russia, Syria and Assad are winning their boots-on-the-ground war against ISIS. And, second, that the boy’s face paint is getting all smeared and he needs to be sent back to hair-and-makeup ASAP. http://www.moonofalabama.org/2016/08/the-wounded-boy-in-orange-seat-another-staged-white-helmets-stunt.html

Time, the Wall Street Journal, CNN, Huffington Post, etc. should all be truly embarrassed by all this immoral reporting but I bet that they’re not — just sorry to get found out so fast.

I just attended the 31st annual national Veterans for Peace convention here in Berkeley and was truly inspired by the hundreds of vets who attended it, and by their organization’s heroic stand for peace. As one vet put it, “Been there, done that — war doesn’t work.”

And while wandering around the grounds of the convention center before the festivities began, I ran into Helen Caldecott, an Australian doctor who has bravely spoken out against the use of nuclear weapons ever since the terrible days of America’s Cold War. I’m not sure what I was expecting that she would look like — perhaps Super Girl in a cape? But she was just an ordinary-looking person, like someone you would meet on the street. Until she started speaking to an audience of 300-plus veterans. And then her eyes flashed, her voice rang out like a warning bell and her passion came alive.

“I am a pediatrician,” she told us, “and if you love this planet, if you love the next generation of babies, you will change the priority of your lives — because right now, America’s top priority seems to be for us to come as close to nuclear war as we possibly can.”

“A baby is a baby is a baby — born with that beautiful purity of soul. We have to tap into that. But instead our political representatives have become corporate prostitutes. Americans hold the golden key to the future. But instead, Americans are holding the world for ransom with their guns and their bombs.” And according to Caldecott, what a lot of bombs we do have!

And as if all those mega-stockpiles of bombs we have now aren’t enough, “the government is currently planning to spend one trillion dollars more on replacing every single bomb, tank and missile we own.” http://www.smirkingchimp.com/node/68527 And if that’s not scary enough for ya, America still thinks it can fight and win a nuclear war. No no no and no! The powers that be think that dropping 100 nuclear bombs on 100 cities will win the current war-de-jour for us. “But all that will do is end life on earth.”

And the most scary part of all is that, “It could happen tonight. It could happen right now. We are closer now to nuclear annihilation than ever, even closer than we were during the Cold War. North Korea and Iran cannot end the world. But the sociopaths in charge of our nuclear weapons can. For instance, Clinton has never seen a war that she doesn’t like.”

And Americans don’t clearly understand what a nuclear war will be like either. “Everything throughout the world will be vaporized and burned.” If we understood this, we would all be taking to the streets in protest right now. Perhaps we think that American exceptionalism will save us? “What exactly are Americans exceptional at? Nothing. They don’t even have kangaroos.”

Every single city in America is targeted by the Russians right now. “Twelve H-bombs are targeted on New York City alone. Every city in America is targeted with at least one nuclear missile. And Russian cities are targeted the same way by America. And all this insanity is at the mercy of human fallibility too.”

And fighting with Russia is crazy. Continuing to stock Europe with nuclear weapons pointed at Russia is like waving a red flag at a bull. It would be as if Russia was arming Canada with nuclear missiles aimed straight at Washington DC. Not cool at all. “The Russians will fight to the last person to defend themselves, just like they did against Hitler. Putin is being set up as the evil one in this scenario, but it is the USA that is the evil one,” by even thinking that they can actually win a nuclear war.

Caldecott spoke passionately about her motivation for trying to stop nuclear war — motivated by her love of our babies who will grow up to be our next generation. And we can only hope that these babies will grow up to be wiser than us. Or at least that they will even get a chance to grow up!

Next up to speak at the convention? Andrew Bracevich, Oliver Stone, Roy Scranton, Rhodessa Jones, Ann Jones, Antonia Juhasz, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Patrick McCann, Gerry Condon, Col. Ann Wright, David Cobb, Brian Willson, Kathy Kelly, Zahra Billoo, Jonathan Hutto and Daniel Ellsberg — among others. Dr. Caldecott is a hard act to follow but let’s see what they have to say.

It seems like almost nobody in the Middle East these day dies peacefully in his or her sleep. If you live anywhere between Afghanistan and Libya right now, your chances of getting blown up, beheaded, starved, raped, tortured to death and/or “disappeared” are really really good — almost as good as any chance you might have of dying of old age.

But let’s just take a look at who is doing all this killing.

The Taliban? You would think that the Taliban was an evil creation of weird Islamicists that go bump in the night — but you would be wrong. It was an American creation — born from cohesion with Pakistan, “Charlie Wilson’s War” and all those Northern Alliance training camps that flew red, white, blue and greenbacks for years. http://emperors-clothes.com/docs/pak.htm

Gaza? Almost every bomb dropped there is stamped “Made in America”. And the rest are financed by American taxpayers, AIPAC and various Las Vegas shills. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/08/04/under-american-bombs-in-gaza.html

That hell-hole Libya? Another American creation. http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/04/united-states-libya-qaddafi-worse-presence

“But what about ISIS?” you might ask. Nope, ISIS is made in America too. http://www.globalresearch.ca/america-created-al-qaeda-and-the-isis-terror-group/5402881

Iran today is merely a product of years of American foreign policy gone horribly wrong. http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2006/01/americas-devils-game-extremist-islam

Pakistan? Egypt? Saudi Arabia? Israel? America is ultimately at fault for financing and glad-handing the dictators there who help make all this bombing possible, thank you very much.

And don’t even get me started on Syria. The Goebbels-style propaganda war of lies that Washington is forcing down Americans’ throats here in the MSM makes me ashamed to even turn on the TV. http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/08/10/pers-a10.html America’s scary-bad propaganda lies have resulted in over 200,000 dead Syrians so far — and still counting. Not to mention all those American-made bombs. http://jpstillwater.blogspot.com/2015/07/syria-where-america-drops-barrel-bombs.html

Yemen? The chances of dying of old age in Yemen are especially bad right now. Thank you, Saudi Arabia and the 1.5 billion dollars in weaponry that America wants so badly to sell you even as we speak. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/08/11/the-u-s-will-rearm-saudi-arabia-to-the-tune-of-1-5b-as-airstrikes-resume-in-yemen/

And then there’s Iraq. The 1991 Gulf War was a trumped-up American lie that left thousands dead. The 2003 War on Iraq was a trumped-up American lie that left millions dead — and Iraqis are still being killed right now by American bombs. http://www.globalresearch.ca/syrian-army-captured-major-isis-daesh-warehouse-weapons-made-in-usa/5539123

How many millions of tons of American bombs have been dropped on the Middle East since 1945? You cannot even begin to imagine. Terror? If you or I lived in the Middle East instead of here, we’d be terrified 24/7 — multiply our terror during 9-11 by a thousand at the very least. And you can rest assured that every man, woman and child in the Middle East all know exactly where all this terror comes from. “Made in the U.S.A”.

We Americans may be fooling ourselves with all this talk of our being Good Guys and White Helmets and Humanitarians. But every single person who lives in the Middle East knows the truth. To paraphrase Pogo, “They have met the enemy and it is us.”

It was one of the main events of the convention. FBI Director James Comey strides up to the microphone and starts telling a sea of attorneys, a wall of media guys and a bunch of special agents in black suits all about the FBI’s new plans for combating cyber crimes and its newly-discovered love of transparency.

“Regarding cyber crimes, we have two policies: Imposing costs and shaming. We shame the Chinese to get them to stop criminal activity.” Sounds like an unlikely plan — but go for it. And perhaps if the FBI also shames the American military-industrial complex, said complex will stop its war crimes in the Middle East as well. But that’s really unlikely.

“Regarding the Clinton e-mail issue,” he says, “Our process was unprecedented — to show such transparency regarding our facts and our recommendations. We wanted to reassure the American people.”

And then the moderator asked for questions from the floor, thus creating a dilemma for me. Imagine you were me — in a huge auditorium with the Director of the FBI himself, national media, a lot of special agents and over 250 attorneys in suits. Then imagine that you had a burning question to ask Director Comey. What would you do?

a) Shrink down in your seat and be quiet (like most of the rest of America);

b) Realize that you have a very important question to ask Director Comey but are too shy and embarrassed to ask it;

c) Struggle into your Big Girl pants, take a deep breath and raise your hand to ask the Director, “How come you gave Hillary Clinton a pass on her cyber crimes against Americans, but didn’t even try to give a pass to Chelsea Manning, Edward Snowden and Julian Assange — who actually were trying to make our corporate-controlled government more transparent?

d) None of the above.

If you had chosen d), none of the above, then you would be right. Only two people in the audience were selected to have their questions answered — and both of them appeared to be obvious plants. Your question will never get answered.

PS: On a happier note, I also got to attend an excellent break-out section at the convention — on the Ferguson question and what attorneys can do to help level the playing field for racial minorities. “We don’t need more jails. We need more education and jobs. America cannot incarcerate itself out of this problem. We’ve had 100 years of incarceration already and it hasn’t worked,” said one speaker.

“Lawyers have always been leaders,” another speaker pointed out. “We have to step up and make changes ourselves. We have a moral duty. Blacks have always had to depend on the court system in America, and our court system has failed them since Day One. It is time to humanize people — all people. And to also get the ABA to take a stand.” http://shop.americanbar.org/eBus/Store/ProductDetails.aspx?productId=227839539

It was then pointed out how much power the American Bar Association actually wields — and how they can use their power for good. For instance, the ABA could advocate for a national standard for the use of lethal force by police only if less deadly forces aren’t available.

The ABA also gave a really nice reception after Director Comey’s speech — and it involved shrimp cocktails from Fisherman’s Wharf, antipasto from North Beach, quesadillas from La Mission and spring rolls from Chinatown. Now that’s a level playing field for minorities that I can really get behind. I’d advocate for that. And next time perhaps they will serve soul food from the Fillmore as well.

Author’s note: I wrote a draft of this article over a week ago — but after reading Yahoo News today, it looks like I was either actually right all along — or else someone out there is playing an awesome practical joke on The Donald before he can play one on us!

According to a Charlotte Observer article reproduced in Yahoo News, “In a turn of events that shocked the political world and threw the presidential race into unprecedented turmoil, Donald J. Trump announced yesterday that he is quitting the race and endorsing Hillary Clinton. Trump said the only point of his campaign was to show how stupid and gullible many Republican voters are. ‘I’ve been a Democrat all of my adult life,’ Trump told a packed and boisterous news conference. ‘But I knew if I ran as a Republican and said increasingly ridiculous, idiotic, racist and sexist things that I would get a lot of votes.’” http://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/op-ed/article94019107.html

In any case, here are my own thoughts on the subject:

Trump, a shill for the Clintons?

Even after all of that highly-televised sincerity at the RNC and DNC conventions recently, why do I still get the feeling that we are all being conned? All of us. Again. “Americans are so easy to fool, best suckers yet!” There’s one born every minute. That’s us.

And I bet you anything that this year’s biggest (and most successful) political con job at the DNC convention was to make Donald Trump look so scary, insane and freaking nuts that everyone in America will vote for Clinton instead. And I bet you anything that Trump is in on the con too — he’s that bad of an actor.

Then when Clinton wins by a landslide, both the Trumps and the Clintons will laugh themselves all the way to the bank.

Not since John McCain picked that scary Miss Alaska as his running mate has a con job worked so well — when Americans ended up with a Nobel Peace Prize winner who stuck us with a deadly and bloody quagmire in the Middle East which is now spreading to Europe. http://www.moonofalabama.org/2016/08/the-larger-context-of-the-jihadi-attack-on-aleppo-.html

Not since we American suckers all became convinced the Goldwater was so much worse than Johnson — and then we ended up with the Vietnam War (which was also totally scary).

People are probably gonna hate me for saying this, but I wouldn’t vote for Clinton for dog catcher — even if she was running against Attila the Hun. There is just far too much blood on her hands. But then it really doesn’t matter who any of us vote for, does it? Not really. Our votes will be sliced and diced by the highest bidder no matter whose name we place a check-mark next to on our ballots. The blank-checks have already come in.

But the biggest con of all is that American democracy has already been plundered and no longer exists. And you know what they say about con jobs. “The bigger they are, the easier it is to pull them off.” So long, suckers. In 2016, it’s gonna be a Hillary/Trump win. And guess who is gonna lose. That would be us.

PS: Here’s a poem by Steve Fournier that pretty much sums up what we Americans are gonna be stuck with after the Clintons and The Donald finish with us:

Trump don’t owe the Kochs nor Richard Cheney or George Bush
They’re all backing Clinton now that shove’s come down to push.
Trump could make an entrance with his trophy decked in bling,
Or Clinton’s randy Billy could launch one more bawdy fling.

Bernie says he’s frightened that a clown could get elected.
“Stop the revolution! This chump’s got to be rejected!”
Screams the crowd of bankers, pols and weapons profiteers.
They’ll stir up your basic mix of hatreds, dreads and fears.

She’s amused to talk about the odd assassination,
Willing to drop bombs on any dark-skinned population.
She’s a snarling pit bull. Her opponent’s more a terrier.
Which of these two snarling mutts unleashed is likely to be scarier.
http://www.currentinvective.com/wp/?p=208

PPS: Still think that the Clintons are our saviors from the evil Trump and his bad hair? Then just ask the Haitians about that. Everyone in Haiti despises the Clintons for what their Foundation has done to that nation. If Hillary dared to run for Prez in Haiti, she would lose bigtime. And now the Clintons are set to do the same thing to us that they did to the Haitians — make hecka bling while the con shines. http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=16427

About two years ago while covering student unrest at the University of California in Berkeley, the World’s Laziest Journalist took a break and in the process of visiting the men’s restroom was confronted with several coeds protesting … something.

Now this year the issue of access to restrooms is a wedge issue that has gained a great deal of traction.

A candidate in Hawaii seeking a seat in the US Senate may become the first transsexual to be elected to the US Senate.  We wonder where the Democratic incumbent’s stand on this issue is.

Is it true that that Gender Verification Agents will be appointed to inspect  all patrons as they come?

The candidate who was an intern at the Amalgamated Conspiracy Theory Factory has hinted that there is some secret polling results showing that she has a 15% lead over the Democratic incumbent. At election time does anyone ever fact check polling results?

Apparently Trump does not know the difference between a Medal of Honor and a Purple Heart.

Not a single one of our classmates, in the college class of 1965, wanted a Purple Heart.

Did The Donald who was not going to be drafted with his 1-Y classification want a million dollar wound to get out of combat or did he really want a few fingers, a hand, an arm or a leg or foot or … blown off?  The highly paid pundits seem to have issued The Trumpster a pass regarding questions about this inexplicable claim.

Trump blunders egregiously and a serious effort to win a net gain of one senate seat in Hawai’i goes unnoticed.

If saint Hillary trounces Trump the Republicans will wallow in guilt and the blame game.

Oh, well, elections are not supposed to be funny but it sure seems that the 2016 presidential election will be the funniest ever.

Perhaps voting has become irrelevant in the golden age of spin with lookism providing the tiebreaker.  The shame of it is there are many pressing issues which deserve debate and fact checking but Americans are easily distracted.

(Note: the photos from the past  with the encounter with the coeds were unavailable as this column was being prepared for posting.  We used a photo illustrating a low-tech method of gender verification which should be familiar to all adolescent boys.)

Now the disk jockey will play the Che Guevara song ” Hasta Siempre Commandante” and we will flip a coin to decide between the Lady and the Tiger.

We hope the voters in Hawai’i seize this historic moment in history and write a new chapter in the saga of the Senate-Good luck, Karla!

“Whatever you do, always avoid the corner of Third and Howard!” my mother used to warn me when I was a little girl. “It’s the worst skid row in all San Francisco.” Not any more.

Now the intersection of Third and Howard is the site of the fabulous Yerba Buena Gardens, the chic Museum of Modern Art and the deluxe Moscone Center — and is also my current destination, the American Bar Association convention, a huge annual gathering of attorneys from all over the U.S.

All I originally knew about the convention itself was that, after signing up for it, I suddenly started getting bunches of e-mail advertisements for BMWs, top-of-the-line golf courses, bespoke tailors and luxury resort hotels. Way above my pay grade.

So how did I end up here? That’s easy. Worked for a law firm for 20-odd years. Began to miss seeing all those guys wearing grey flannel suits.

I registered, ate a complimentary breakfast, snagged a handful of free ballpoint pens and waited around for FBI director James Comey to speak. That man surely has a lot of ‘splaining to do. I wish somebody would ask him, “Why did you give Clinton a free pass and not Chelsea Manning?” Or Edward Snowden or Julian Assange? And if Comey answers that it wasn’t his job, perhaps someone should mention the Nuremberg trials. After all, the ABA’s slogan is “Defending Liberties, Pursuing Justice”. And many attorneys actually do that. However, not so sure about the FBI.

But first I wandered around San Francisco, checked out the flea-bag hotel I was booked in for Saturday night to make sure the elevator still worked and then attended a seminar for insurance-defense attorneys at the historic St. Francis Hotel (its elevators work nicely). What could be more fun than that! San Francisco is a wonderful town.

PS: If the American Bar Association is sincerely interested in defending liberty and pursuing justice, I would highly recommend that their members all vote for Dr. Jill Stein for President instead of those two funny clowns who are also running. http://www.jill2016.com/ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7mpnkgYrX8&feature=youtu.be

In 1970, Nixon bombed the hell out of Cambodia. Absolutely no good came of that. In 2003, Bush bombed the hell out of Iraq. Nothing good was accomplished there either. In 2011, Obama bombed the hell out of Libya. Another disaster as well.

And now Trump and Clinton are both claiming that if we elect either one of them to the presidency and give them a chance to bomb the hell out of Syria, Russia and Dallas, everything in America will magically become totally chill. http://johnpilger.com/articles/silencing-america-as-it-prepares-for-war

In 1970 I found a twenty-dollar-bill on the ground and was elated. “Should I take all my friends out to dinner at Sizzler or just pay half my rent? Or both?” I asked myself.

In 2003, I made twenty bucks at a garage sale, enabling me to buy a nice steak at the Berkeley Bowl and go see “Whale Rider” at the Shattuck.

In 2011, I lost twenty dollars. It must have slipped out of my back pocket when I reached for my library card. $20 gone? No big deal.

In 1970, the UN and NATO at least pretended to be working toward world peace. In 2003, the UN and NATO finally showed their true colors as pawns of the American wannabe empire. In 2011, it was crystal-clear to anyone with even toosh knowledge of American foreign policy that the UN and NATO were merely minions of Wall Street and War Street.

In 1970, 2003 and 2011, America continued to spend at least half of its national budget on the defense of corporate interests. But did that huge amount also include paying for keeping NATO and the UN running too? And for all their overt and covert military operations as well? And also for their humongous shopping list of bombs, tanks, bribes and who-the-freak knows what all else on the side? Probably not.

I think that it’s fairly safe to say that America’s “wars” of empire have pretty much gutted our economy in the past 35-odd years — but do we Americans really need to spend all that extra money on supporting the pretense that the UN and NATO are impartial peacekeepers who are benefiting mankind — and not just gross tools for corporate interests, war dogs and gun clubs?

Just think of what all else we could have been spending all those billions (or even trillions) of dollars on for all these years.

“Buyer beware!”

My Syrian friend just sent me this new update from Aleppo — and as usual it reads like some Cold War CIA noir plot to destroy yet another democracy somewhere else in the world (as well as our democracy at home of course — but that goes without saying).

Here’s the report:

“The news from Aleppo is really good, all about capturing that notorious district of Bani Zayd, where [US-supported terrorists] used to shell innocent civilians daily with mortars of their handmade rockets that we Syrians call Hell Cannons. Video clips show the huge amount of shells that were kept in their storage that the terrorists were planning to use. No more shells and bombs from that district.

“The eastern part of Aleppo city is under siege now, and [US-supported] terrorists are preventing civilians from leaving. From one side the terrorists are using them as human shields; and from the other side they want civilians to suffer in front the mainstream media so they can blame it on the Syrian army and Assad. Ch. 4 News and many other news outlets have already started to twist reality and show only all-propaganda news, where the real good guys are shown as the bad ones, and vice versa. They are sympathizing with the terrorists and playing all the media games and tricks of claiming the [terrorists'] losses to be civilian losses, and ignoring any humanitarian accomplishments by the Russians and Syrians.”

Ah, the Democratic National Committee — they have just overstepped their mandate. Again.

Ever since the Repubs blatantly stole the 2000 election for George W. Bush and his posse of snobby elites, we’ve totally come to expect all sorts of flat-out shameless hanky-panky from the Grand [snake-Oil] Party. But to see hanky-panky coming from the Dems as well? Not so much. Those were our guys, playing for the home team, supporting the salt of the earth, defending the working class. We used to think that the Democratic Party was above that kind of stuff.

But not any more. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article45092.htm

Now we’ve got the DNC fudging up elections from New York to California just like they were GOP corporate-fascist shills riding into town on elephants instead of donkeys. Who would have thought?

“But give us an example, Jane,” you might say. Here’s a good one. The guy in charge of voting in San Diego has just admitted that ballots cast for Bernie Sanders have been changed to ballots cast for Hillary Clinton — and they were changed by using White-Out. Yes, you read that correctly. White-Out. Really? http://sourceplanet.net/politics/sanders-ballots-covered-with-white-out-confirmed/

And then there is the strange case of Congressman Alan Grayson, the people’s choice for Senate in Florida. Grayson does all the things that we Democrats love — stuff like supporting America’s working class and keeping Wall Street from throwing us out of our homes. Booyah for him! But does the DNC support him? Hell, no. That would be too obvious. Instead it supports his rival in the primary, Patrick Murphy. Even President Obama is now campaigning for Murphy. Huh? http://trofire.com/2016/07/20/dem-establishment-afraid-alan-grayson-potus-makes-campaign-ad-opponent/

Murphy used to be a Republican until he re-registered as a Democrat in order to run against Grayson. No wonder the DNC loves Murphy!

Not to mention all those WikiLeaks e-mails detailing how the DNC eats Bernie Babies for lunch. http://observer.com/2016/07/wikileaks-proves-primary-was-rigged-dnc-undermined-democracy/

And now we are going to be stuck with either a Clinton Dynasty for president or Donald Trump. Greatest nation in the world? I think not.

But by far the worst of all this Democrat hanky-panky is how DNC is now eating its young — happily chomping down on the Millennials like they were gummy bears or Fritos. All we had to do was watch its convention to know that. Bon appetite, DNC. https://news.vice.com/article/new-york-lawsuit-voter-registration-problems-primary

And now the Millennials also hate you, DNC — as well they should after the DNC has done everything it can to disenfranchise the “Bernie Babies”. But twenty years from now, when the Democratic National Committee is some sort of decrepit non-relevant dinosaur and all alone, only then will it be sorry that it ate its young. http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/07/14/dont-call-him-bernie-anymore-the-sanders-sell-out-and-the-clinton-wars-to-come/

PS: The DNC isn’t the only one to be eating its young these days. Congress, NATO, bankers, Israeli neo-colonialists, US-backed ISIS, Exxon, etc. are also really good at eating our young too. Did you know that Exxon was aware of the dangers of climate change as far back as 1968? To these elites, our children are just so many gummy bears. http://usatoday.ddns.net/news/brave-pols-take-the-right-stand-20-lawmakers-demand-human-rights-and-justice-for-palestinian-children

PPS: In early August, I’ll be attending the American Bar Association convention in San Francisco. Which reminds me that a hecka lot of young lawyers newly minted from law school are Millennials too — and they are devoted to upholding the Constitution. So, DNC, you had better watch out. And, GOP, you too have been warned. No more free lunch for either of you. http://www.americanbar.org/calendar/annual.html

I’m currently reading Sebastian Junger’s book, Tribe, and on page 110 he says that the difference between human beings and other primates is that we humans systematically share our food and “altruistic” defense — whatever that is.

According to Junger, “The earliest and most basic definition of community — of tribe — would be the group of people that you would both help feed and help defend.” Now where, exactly, does America lie on that particular spectrum? Apparently, we’ve gots almost no community at all! Apparently national unity is dead in America.

If we are ever going to make America great again then, according to Junger’s criteria we need to include feeding and defending our fellow Americans in that equation. And, boy, is that never gonna happen! Just look at Ferguson, Dallas, Katrina, Baltimore and Philando Castile. Just look at all the cuts to food stamps and attempted cuts to Social Security.

Just look at all the starving and homeless people we Americans pass on the streets of our cities every day. http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/07/14/dont-call-him-bernie-anymore-the-sanders-sell-out-and-the-clinton-wars-to-come/

Just look at how America spends its wealth “defending” people in Ukraine, Syria, Libya, Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc. but doesn’t spend hardly anything defending poor people or Black people or old people who are living right here at home. http://www.mintpressnews.com/us-led-economic-war-not-socialism-tearing-venezuela-apart/218335/

Would anybody in White America feed and defend a Black man or Black woman these days? Or even a Black child? And now our corporate-bought Congress is trying to do away with MediCare, has already foreclosed on our homes and wants to cut Social Security all to Hell too. Face it, guys. Almost no one with any power here in America is going to defend or feed you if you are Black or if you are Old or if you are Poor. Get over it. You are not part of the tribe. http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/37851-lost-in-the-military-industrial-complex

Black people get attacked by police. Old people get attacked economically. Poor people are being chased out of town. Only rich people in America seem to belong to a tribe. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article45092.htm

Junger goes on to warn us that “Modern society has gravely disrupted the social bonds that have always characterized the human experience.” What? Now Americans aren’t even human either? Apparently not.

PS: On a personal level, who would you yourself feed and defend? How far does your own tribe extend? Would you feed and defend a woman? A child? A senior citizen? How about a Muslim? A Jew? A Black person? An Asian? Someone who lost their job to corporate outsourcing? An American? Any American?

PPS: On a national level, voters in this election cycle are finally stepping up to defend old, Black and poor Americans — finally realizing that they could be next in the corporate cross-hairs.

Remember how traditional conservative Establishment Republican candidates used to fear that angry Tea Party candidates would steal their seats? Well, now traditional conservative Establishment Democrat candidates are starting to fear that grassroots movements like the Bernie Babies are going to steal their corporate-owned seats too.

For instance, Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, who has sold out to Wall Street and War Street on just about every level, is now being seriously challenged by Tim Canova https://timcanova.com/. And Alan Grayson, a friend of you and me (not Wall Street), has taken on Dem kiss-ass Patrick Murphy — and Grayson has tremendous grassroots support from grateful Americans who still love their country more than $$$. https://senatorwithguts.com/

Establishment (sell-out) Dems, you had better watch your backs too. There are still a lot of us Americans left who can’t be bought out by Wall Street and War Street. Yay!

Don’t Harsh My Bliss

Donald Trump is either “on the bus” or about to be thrown under the bus.

In 1964, Ken Kesey proclaimed “either you’re  on the bus or off the bus”. Tom Wolfe chronicled this for “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test” so if the Republicans who have long opposed the use of LSD pull a switcher and don’t nominate Trump, Republicans will suddenly know how an LSD trip feels. Things are not what they seem.

How can someone with enough delegate votes to cinch the nomination be cheated out of what he has earned (feel the burn?).

The establishment according to the Merry Pranksters was evil and corrupt and to be completely distrusted and subverted. Trump may soon concur.

If a real estate huckster gets stung by a slick political maneuver…will then, the hippies who may still be alive say “turn about is fair play!”?

If Cleveland 2016 is a replay of Chicago 1968, will some anti-Trump activists become the equivalent of The Chicago Seven or will they be hailed as the ultimate pranksters.

Recently, KCBS news radio ran a story informing listeners that preparations are being made to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love. They said the festivities would be held in 2018. WRONG!

The Summer of Love was 1967 and the 50th anniversary should be held in 2017, if correct math is applied.

If the next president sends US troops to Syria perhaps the new Summer of Love festival could feature massive Stop the War demonstrations?

We’ve noticed recently that radio stations using the talk show format are giving away concert tickets. Maybe top 40 radio will make a come-back?

Would Trump see a switcher as being “pretty trippy”?

Would real veterans of the Merry Pranksters think such a con job on Trump was very funny?

If Trump does get the nomination would Republicans be “on the bus”? Or would they proclaim Trump as a modern freaked-out outlaw?

Will Trump use a psychedelic painted bus to campaign and travel?

Would he promote it as the Magical Mystery Tour 2.0?

Have Republicans used profiling to determine that Trump must be thrown under the bus and be denied the nomination?

If San Francisco makes the Summer of Love 2.0 into a tourist attraction, how many original members of the Merry Pranksters will participate?

Is one of the Merry Pranksters an alum in the process of attempting to become a US Senator from Hawaii?

We have it on good authority that Trump is using a lottery system to dole out all expense paid trips to the Republican National Convention.  Have you seen anything in the mainstream media about that?

We have predicted numerous times that JEB would be inaugurated in January of 2017.

If we are right … you read it here first.

If we are wrong … this column will not matter one bit.

And now, the disk jockey will play Janice Ian’s “Society’s Child” for all the Black Lives Matter supporters.

We have to go watch the movie Bus Stop.  Have an end of the line type week.

I understand that, in times of war, soldiers might sometimes get their legs blown off — but did you know that soldiers can sometimes get their souls blown to bits as well? And that sometimes it can hurt as badly as any open wound to the body? Yes, this is actually true. http://jpstillwater.blogspot.com/2016/06/home-soldier.html

Recently I attended a talk by Marine chaplain Fred Tittle. His subject was “Moral Injury” and apparently he now sees a lot of that kind of suffering at the VA clinic where he works.

Here’s what Google says about it: “Moral injury is now being recognized as a signature wound of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but with roots as old as war itself. Veterans who have participated in or witnessed intense human suffering and violence may experience moral injury which extends beyond psychological effects to a veteran’s spiritual, emotional, and social belief system. This has a major impact on veterans’ mental health and their interactions with loved ones, community, and service providers.”
https://www.swords-to-plowshares.org/2015/08/05/moral-injury-and-veterans-symposium

Apparently places like Mai Lai, Abu Graib, Haditha and Bagram are as bad for the souls of our soldiers as IEDs are for their bodies. Power may corrupt — but fighting in an immoral “war” corrupts one’s soul absolutely. http://ericmargolis.com/2016/07/send-our-war-criminals-to-the-hague-court/

When Bush lied through his teeth in order to destroy Iraq and Afghanistan, he forced a moral injury down the throats of America’s soldiers as well. When Obama lied through his teeth in order to destroy Ukraine, Libya and Syria, he too forced moral injuries down the throats of America’s soldiers. And now those same soldiers, having now returned home as vets, are suffering deeply for these leaders’ gross abuse of their powers.

What to do about it? How about saying, “Never again!” and finally putting an end to gross and immoral “wars”. That’s a start. http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/war/just/what.shtml

PS: Let’s also consider moral injuries on a larger scale. Did Eichmann suffer a moral injury when he ran his Nazi concentration camps? Does Netanyahu suffer a moral injury when he sends young Israelis to kill women and children in Occupied Palestine? Did Clinton suffer a moral injury when she came, she saw, he died? And did that Roman soldier suffer a moral injury when he stabbed Jesus with his spear? And what about the corporations who pollute our air — because they are legally “persons” too — will they suffer moral injuries as well?

If you are a cold-hearted bastard and do evil deeds, are you committing a moral injury to yourself? Or is it only a moral injury to those under you, the ones who are forced to carry out all this evil? And is “I was only following orders” really a valid excuse for landing a mortal blow to your soul?

And when the entire human race is extinct due to “war” and pollution caused by “war,” will it be too late for anyone to suffer a moral injury?

PPS: Veterans for Peace is holding its national convention in Berkeley, CA this year. Oliver Stone and Helen Caldicott will be speaking. Be there or be square? Be there — and be in the ranks of some of the most moral people in the world. http://www.vfpnationalconvention.org/

I just love going to book conventions — and I bet you would too. As many free books as you can carry home in your suitcase? Visiting a city that you would never otherwise consider going to? Meeting interesting authors and hearing what they have to say? What’s not to like!

Plus, as a war correspondent, I can easily visit many of the places where all these “wars” are actually originating from. Why go all the way to Syria or Yemen or Gaza and get shot at when it’s much easier to go to the very places where those bullets that the neo-colonialists shoot are actually being made and the bombs they drop are actually being paid for instead — the United States of America. Plus it’s a hecka lot cheaper and you don’t have to fly as far.

The American Library Association convention was in Orlando, Florida this year — and it was Big Fun. Almost every major publisher was represented in its huge exhibit hall and there were librarians everywhere, the salt of the earth. Surprisingly, a main publishing theme this year seemed to be books about fleeing North Korea. And fleeing Afghanistan. And fleeing K Street.

One especially interesting freebee was Julissa Acre’s new book, My (Underground) American Dream, a page-turning story about how Acre rose from being an undocumented immigrant to becoming a Goldman Sachs vice-president. She also talked about how undocumented immigrants pay over 20 billion dollars yearly in various taxes and Social Security charges — for services that they can never receive. https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/julissa-arce/my-underground-american-dream/9781455540242/

And my favorite publisher of all time was at the convention too — Soho Press. Always the best. Best books, best authors, best after-parties! https://sohopress.com/

I also spent time flogging my latest book, the library edition of Mecca & the Hajj: Lessons from the Islamic School of Hard Knocks. High point of my efforts? When some distinguished curator of a Middle Eastern collection at a well-known university library actually showed interest in it! “This book reads as if Mark Twain had gone on Hajj and then written up his adventures. It’s deep, meaningful — and hilarious,” I said. He promised to read it. Yay! https://www.amazon.com/Mecca-Hajj-Lessons-Islamic-School/dp/1533396159/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

And speaking of war, don’t let anybody fool you about Br-exit. The Brits didn’t leave the European Union because they were racist. They left because they were sick and tired of paying for Bush’s wars, Obama’s wars and possibly Trump and Clinton’s wars. “NATO? I’ve got better things to do with my money than use it to support Nazis in Ukraine and ISIS in the Middle East.” It’s the wars, stupid.

And speaking of Br-exit, a whole bunch of Californians are also starting to feel the same way about the good old USA. “Why do our schools have to deteriorate and our bridges crumble just because Obama or Clinton or whoever wants to sell us yet another war?” Why indeed. http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/37536-the-pentagons-real-trategy-keeping-the-money-flowing

Perhaps it’s time that we consider a “Cali-exit” election too.

But then I read Andre Vlechek’s article on Br-exit and, as usual, he nailed it. “Everybody in Europe now wants more, more and more. Screw austerity! ‘Give us more benefits! Provide us with better wages, job security, and shorter working hours!’ What is shocking is that (oh so innocently!) those demands are only made for the chosen bunch – for the Europeans and North Americans – not for the rest of the globe that is actually paying the bill…. And has been paying it for hundreds of damned years, suffering horribly from everything, from slavery, colonialist plunder, genocides triggered by Europe, terrorism against its liberation struggle, to the multi-national corporate looting.”

According to Vlechek, nobody mentions the cruel “austerity” programs that Syrians, Libyans, Yemeni, Ukrainians, Africans, Indonesians and Latin Americans are now suffering at the hands of Europe and America.

Nobody mentions that Europeans and Americans are complaining about their “austere” standard of living, but that it is actually based on the fact that the rest of the world is barely living at all so that Europeans and Americans can have what they have now — only by sucking the rest of the world dry. http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/07/01/brexit-let-the-uk-screw-itself/

Perhaps we lucky ducks of European descent should just stop whining and make sure that everybody in the entire world has the same standard of living as us — whatever that may turn out to be. Let’s work to make the entire world “great” again.

How to do that? You’ll find all the ideas and instructions you would ever need just by going to your local library and checking out some books. And of course you can always order my book Visions of a Lost and Future World from Amazon. That too will help. https://www.amazon.com/Visions-Lost-Future-World-Stillwater/dp/1532803850

July 4th in Damascus: Syrian lives matter

July 4th in Chicago: Senior citizens’ lives matter.

July 4th in Kabul: Afghan lives matter.

July 4th in South Bronx: Homeless lives matter.

July 4th in Benghazi: Libyan lives matter.

July 4th in Jakarta: Sweatshop workers’ lives matter.

July 4th in Juarez: Mexican lives matter.

July 4th almost everywhere: Women’s lives matter.

July 4th in a Florida prison: Leonard Peltier’s life matters.

July 4th in Saigon: Vietnamese lives matter.

July 4th in Ferguson: Black lives matter.

July 4th in Congo: Miners’ lives matter.

July 4th in Nigeria: Oil workers’ lives matter.

July 4th in West Africa: Child slaves’ lives matter.

July 4th throughout the world: Babies’ lives matter.

July 4th in Port au Prince: Haitian lives matter.

July 4th in Arizona: Immigrants’ lives matter.

July 4th in Odessa: Ukrainian lives matter.

July 4th in Sanaa: Yemeni lives matter.

July 4th in Orlando: Gay lives matter.

July 4th in Sandy Hook: Students’ lives matter.

July 4th in Texas and Oklahoma: Young women’s’ lives matter.

July 4th at Wounded Knee: Original Americans’ lives matter.

July 4th in Honduras: Ordinary lives matter.

July 4th in Berkeley: My life matters.

July 4th in Flint: 99% lives matter.

July 4th in Baghdad: Iraqi lives matter.

July 4th in Warsaw: Jewish lives matter

July 4th in Gaza: Palestinian lives matter.

July 4th in Tibet: Buddhist lives matter.

July 4th in Mecca: Muslim lives matter.

July 4th in Bethlehem: Jesus’ life matters.

July 4th in Europe and America: Yes, even imperialist neo-colonialist fascist lives matter too — but only to the extent that they honor the lives of others as well.

All humans have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness — not just American and European demi-god wannabees.

When you fly into Orlando and your plane is coming down out of the clouds, the very first thing that you see is total greenness — and lots and lots and lots of lakes. There are lakes everywhere in Orlando, even mini-lakes right in the middle of downtown.

After arriving at the airport, the first question I asked at the information counter was, “How do you get to the Pulse nightclub?”

“You take an Uber.” Can’t do that. Gotta have an iPhone to call an Uber and all I have is a bedazzled go-phone. “Well, then you pay $60 for a cab.” Can’t do that either. “Then you’d better take the # 38 bus.” Done. And it only took me two hours to travel ten miles. But it was worth it. Totally. You have to actually be there for the immensity of this tragedy to really sink in.

The police had just opened up the crime-scene street the day before and already there were hundreds of balloons and bouquets of flowers on the site. So sad. Such a waste. I’m not even going to go out on a limb here and mention my conspiracy theory that the increase in homosexuality in America, like the increase in autism, is chemically-based, happens to us when we are babies and that somehow Big Pharma is involved. Because this horrendous crime isn’t about homosexuality. It is about hate.

I’m just going to say that hate and haters have no business spewing vitriol all over the shirts, pillowcases, skinny jeans and towels of America. Haters need to take their dirty laundry someplace else.

I wish that the Pulse nightclub massacre had never happened. And that no other such useless, unproductive and scary massacre in America will ever happen again.

Then I went off to Walt Disney World. Disney has four kingdoms in Orlando. Which one to choose? I wanna go to Small World again! I’m an idealist. That’s the kind of world that I want to live in, not the real world — where we have two forms of fascism to choose from in November, each one worse than the other. Clinton or Trump? Has America really been forced to come to this?

Anyway, I decided to go to Epcot because I’d never been there before. And it’s a good thing that I did — because otherwise I’d never have gotten a chance to meet Elsa, the Snow Queen!

But, unlike Elsa, America has now become frozen with hate. But there is hope. Elsa was able to change. Perhaps America can too. But we all have to work at it. It’s so much easier to kill than to be nice.