war

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Wednesday, February 19, 2025
February 19, 2025

The Pot Simmers

Let’s start this morning by everyone waving at the Chinese bots that routinely check every new post except for Sundays. Why bots need to take Sunday off, I don’t know, but they do. Smile and say “Xi is a criminal” as you wave. We don’t want them to get the mistaken assumption that we’re going to be friendly with them just because we’re pissed about our own government.

There’s a lot of fake news running around and, sadly, much of it is coming from the White House. Here’s some of the top bullshit.

There is so much that is bothering me this morning. Were you aware that DOGE Reportedly Cuts FDA Employees Investigating Neuralink? This is the company that wants to implant chips in people’s heads. The FDA previously found Musk’s company was engaging in “objectionable conditions or practices.”

Gaby De Vale has an interesting take on the DEI purge. She’s of the opinion that all the DEI talk is a smokescreen for a war on the Civil Rights Movement itself using WWI-era eugenics principles. After reading her article this morning, I’m not seeing any major problems with her claim. This should be alarming on an incalculable scale.

This just happened: French President Emmanuel Macron called a second emergency meeting of European allies on Wednesday to devise a united response to President Punk’s remarks embracing Vladimir Putin’s narrative that Ukraine is to blame for the war. All of Europe is now of the opinion that Felonious Punk is in Putin’s pocket and they’re adjusting policies accordingly.

Threats of a 25% tariff on cars, drugs, and chips are causing a lot of people to begin stockpiling items they fear might be affected. Even Walmart is affected, though don’t worry, the Walton family is still making obscene amounts of money.

I’m bothered that the West Texas measles outbreak isn’t getting more attention. The count is now up to 58 cases and includes vaccinated people for the first time. This is not something that anyone needs to ignore. Outbreaks like this can explode exponentially in just a few days’ time.

All of this is overwhelming and that’s exactly what the administration wants. Fighting on multiple fronts is exhausting and most of us have neither the time nor the energy to fully engage in any of it. Sure, people are upset. Yesterday, a Southern Indiana man was arrested for making threats online against the Muskrat. The dude happens to own an AR-15, so he’s being held without bail. That’s where we’re at.

But then, one can argue that the whole of society is in the shitter. One local school is being charged with claims that it cultivates an ‘atmosphere of violence.‘ This is the same school from which Kat graduated. It hasn’t been a great school ever, but when bloodshed becomes an everyday occurrence then we have to question not only what is wrong with government, but what is wrong with us.

This is not the life we wanted. If we want it to change, we have to start acting in uncharacteristically aggressive methods. I’m over anyone telling me to ‘let it go’ or that ‘love will find a way.’ That might work in your personal relationship, but it’s not going to cause the world’s three strongest dictators, Punk, Putin, and Xi, to back off their atrocious plans.

Can I get real for a second? Canada was already making plans for war with the US over the whole statehood question. Now, all of Europe is banding together to prepare to take on the Axis powers of the US, Russia, and China. We are no longer the good guys.

Inevitably, this leads us to the question: What are you willing to do to get our country back?

I encourage you to think outside your comfort zone. Being comfortable will get you killed.

We are at war.

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Sunday, February 16, 2025
February 16, 2025

Everyone Wants To Be Emperor

First published on Caglecartoons.com, Feb. 13, 2025 | By Graeme MacKay

There are times when news spreads especially fast across all social media platforms. One of those times came yesterday when Felonious Punk tweeted,  “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.” Responses came fast, the most damning comparing the statement to those of similar intent made by past dictators, including both Napoleon and Hitler. The linked NYTimes article gives plenty of context as to just how deep the shit runs in that statement, which is now pinned at the top of Punk’s Truth Social account. I’ll let you read that separately.

I hadn’t gotten past Friday’s statement by RFK, Jr. that said, “The government would assess the prevalence of and threat posed by the prescription of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, antipsychotics, [and] mood stabilizers.”  Kennedy said he planned to dedicate money generated from a sales tax on cannabis products to “creating wellness farms—drug rehabilitation farms, in rural areas all over this country.” He added, “I’m going to create these wellness farms where they can go to get off of illegal drugs, off of opiates, but also illegal drugs, other psychiatric drugs, if they want to, to get off of SSRIs, to get off of benzos, to get off of Adderall, and to spend time as much time as they need—three or four years if they need it—to learn to get reparented, to reconnect with communities.” The farm residents would grow their own organic food because, he suggested, many of their underlying problems could be “food-related.”

This is exactly why 15,000 doctors signed a letter against Kennedy’s confirmation.

Rain turned into snow overnight. That’s not the non-sequitur one might think. Bear with me. It was raining hard enough last night that the dogs refused to go outside for their last potty run. They both went to the door and backed up as if the rain might damage their fur. That meant there was no delaying taking them out this morning. Coffee was still brewing when I coated up and took them out into the white stuff. The wind was strong enough that facing North hurt my face. The neighborhood looks other-worldly in this environment. To a limited extent, it looks like something out of a Star Wars movie that Lucas/Spielberg have yet to make.

There’s just one big plot hole: there’s no emperor pulling strings in the background. Felonious Punk may want to be that emperor, but he doesn’t have the backbone to stand up against his Darth Vader (Musk), much less anyone with fierce determination. Neither does Putin nor Xi; both derive their power from shadowed puppet masters in their individual regimes. Remove any one of them or all of them, and another version pops up in their place. The only way to get rid of them is to completely destroy the empire. Sounds scary, doesn’t it?

Unofficially, European heads of state are meeting in Paris tomorrow to discuss a response to all the chaos. UK Prime Minister Starmer has confirmed he’s attending, but no one in Paris is confirming that the meeting’s actually happening. European countries will not create one united army, says Poland’s Sikorski, but Finland’s leaders still insist that the EU needs a seat at the table for any discussion of a Russia/Ukraine solution. Everyone has an agenda and unless they can all get on one page, there’s not much chance they’ll be a viable rebel alliance.

The following image popped up in my BluSky feed this morning. There was no originating attribution so I can’t make any claim as to its accuracy. Still…

11.7 million divided by 50 states gives us 2.34 million people protesting in each state. It’s winter. That’s not going to happen. Alaska wouldn’t be able to produce that many protestors even in good weather. Does that mean we’re screwed?

Not necessarily. Protest comes in many forms. What’s important is that we not give the administration any sense that they might have stable footing. Share the memes. Block right-wing posters on every platform. Block ads (all of them). Defy stupid laws (you’re just ‘saving the country,’ right?) Challenge Republican authority on every level. If you have hacking skills, use ’em. Bring back the rebellious anti-establishment music of the 60s, or write new stuff. Use any platform you can find, not just for one day, but over and over and over and over and over again until the sounds of the protest are so loud, the vibrations are so strong, that we knock this wanna-be empire off its feet.

And yeah, I’m still holding the door open to using violence. If they build ‘wellness farms,” we have an obligation to break people out of them and destroy the farms. I’m of the opinion that we should already be disrupting those flights taking immigrants to Cuba or Venezuela. We have to be willing to kill the stormtroopers that stand in our way. Don’t think for a second that we can do this without getting messy.

I know, that’s big talk from a guy who doesn’t drive and can’t walk without a cane. I don’t have a light saber and I can’t float or evaporate into thin air. Lame, isn’t it?

I have faith in you, though. You can do what I can’t. Be strong and of good courage. History is on the side of justice and freedom.

Thank you for your service.

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Saturday, February 8, 2025
February 8, 2025

Off With Their Heads!

Coffee may not be enough to keep me going this morning. I had wanted to sleep late but Jack Jack, our mane coon mix, decided to not only wake me up at 5:45 AM, but both dogs as well. The dogs woke up and realized they were hungry and needed to poop. Going back to sleep wasn’t an option. My head feels as though it is about to implode. Today shows no sign of being as relaxing as I want.

I’m picking up on a couple of items that may have flown under everyone’s radar in the past 24 hours. Let’s start by acknowledging that Flu season in the US is the most intense it’s been in at least 15 years. This isn’t political so if you go trying to blame one side or the other I’m going to slap you. This year’s flu is bad to the bone, literally. While one can speculate on the effects of climate change being responsible, the bottom line is that flu strains have been growing in strength for a while. If you’re as old as I am, get the damn flu shot. The rest of you, be honest with yourself about how you’re feeling. If you’re showing any signs of the flu, stay the fuck home.

I’m also aware that claims about USAID funding are spreading online. Many are not based on facts. What bothers me most about this situation is that much of the misinformation I’m seeing isn’t coming from this insane federal administration. Instead, it’s the idiots sitting next to us who are spouting lies amidst gleeful vitriol over “burning this hellhole of a country to the ground.” They’ve yet to realize the effect that all the cuts and canceling of services are going to have. By the time the pain starts hitting home, it may be too late to do anything about it.

Sure, there was some rejoicing when a judge blocked Punk from placing thousands of USAID workers on leave and giving them a 30-day deadline. A different Federal judge blocked Elon Musk’s DOGE from accessing sensitive US Treasury Department material. However, a US judge declined to block DOGE from Labor Department systems. And late yesterday afternoon, Punk said he’s firing the Kennedy Center board of trustees members and naming himself chairman. No, he does not have the power to do that, but he’s certainly making it an issue.

Both MSNBC and CNN have reported about a defiant letter from someone within the FBI. Here’s the full text of the letter. Please, read it carefully.

Uncommon Sense was a Common Vice

Those with knowledge of the United States Marine Corps will recognize the irony of this title. I wish its words were not true, but as I write this, I believe they are.

Currently, there is an effort to cull a significant number of career Special Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This is an unthinkable action that will gravely undermine the security of the nation well beyond what many of our citizens are aware. For those seeking to raise their awareness, I offer this vignette, free of political bias or moral judgment. It is not about any one person, but an amalgamation of multiple FBI Special Agents.

I am the coach of your child’s soccer team. I sit next to you on occasion in religious devotion. I am a member of the PTA. With friends, you celebrated my birthday. I collected your mail and took out your trash while you were away from home. I played a round of golf with you. I am a veteran. I am the average neighbor in your community. This is who you see and know. However, there is a part of my life that is a mystery to you, and prompts a natural curiosity about my profession.

This is the quiet side of me that you do not know: I orchestrated a clandestine operation to secure the release of an allied soldier held captive by the Taliban. I prevented an ISIS terrorist from boarding a commercial aircraft. I spent 3 months listening to phone intercepts in real time to gather evidence needed to dismantle a violent drug gang. I recruited a source to provide critical intelligence on Russian military activities in Africa. I rescued a citizen being tortured to near death by members of an Outlaw Motorcycle Gang. I interceded and stopped a juvenile planning to conduct a school shooting. I spent multiple years monitoring the activities of deep-cover foreign intelligence officers, leading to their arrest and deportation. I endured extensive hardship to infiltrate a global child trafficking organization. I have been shot in the line of duty.

Something else about me, I was assigned to investigate a potential crime. Like all previous cases I have investigated, this one met every legal standard of predication and procedure. Without bias, I upheld my oath to this country and the Constitution and collected the facts. I collected the facts in a manner to neither prove innocence nor guilt, but to arrive at resolution.

I am now sitting in my home, listening to my children play and laugh in the backyard, oblivious to the prospect that their father may be fired in a few days. Fired for conducting a legally authorized investigation. Fired for doing the job that he was hired to do. I have to wonder, when I am gone, who will do the quiet work that is behind the facade of your average neighbor?

How long are we willing to let this mess continue? Why are we ‘waiting to see how it all plays out’ when by the time it all plays out hundreds of thousands of people could be in foreign jails without any access to justice? Why are we content with temporary blocks on illegal power grabs? When Democratic members of Congress were denied access to the Department of Education, why did no one knock down the damn door? Where’s the real anger and outrage?

The entire world is in trouble. Right-wing extremism is growing everywhere and I’m not seeing anyone, anywhere, who has a legitimate chance of stopping it. We’re too content with making phone calls, sending letters, and threatening to vote against people who may not let us vote at all.

This is a call to arms. This is the moment when we have to decide whether we are going to defend our country and our freedoms against fascism and tyranny. That critical moment is here.

THIS is what real resistance looks like:

Prepare the barricades and let’s see who joins in the fight.

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Saturday Morning Update: 12/28/24
December 28, 2024

Feels Like Spring [2012]

The dogs let me sleep late this morning and I enjoyed a long conversation with Kat before taking the dogs out and making coffee. It was an interesting night with two of the cats temporarily escaping, high winds and rain, and more than enough noise to keep a person wide awake. I slept through all of it. Kat slept through everything except the wayward cats making noise as they came back inside. We are both in a position where exhaustion dominates our days. That also means our tolerance for nonsense is pretty much at zero.

When the first headline I see in the morning is, “Man accused of attacking TV reporter, saying ‘This is Trump’s America now’,” it discolors my attitude as I look through the rest of the news. First of all, no, it’s NOT a felon’s America now and it never will be. Second, the attacker told the reporter, who is a Pacific islander, that as a Marine he had taken an oath to “protect America from people like you.” No, no one takes such an oath. The Marine Corps oath is to “protect and uphold the Constitution of the United States.” Attacking someone based on their appearance violates that oath.

I worry that incidents like this could increase in 2025. If January 6 protestors are pardoned, as the felon-in-chief has promised, that will be a signal that all politically motivated crimes could be excused. I’m concerned that we’ll begin seeing more headlines such as “18-year-old arrested after being shot inside Castleton Square Mall,” “‘There is someone with a sword in your parking lot’ | Indy man arrested after allegedly pulling out machete at Family Dollar,” and “Pregnant woman stabbed by pizza delivery driver over $2 tip.” The new administration, whether intentional or not, has emboldened its supporters to use violence as a means of getting their way even in the smallest of confrontations. This puts more people on edge and increases the possibility of the US becoming a nation at war with itself.

Fighting back against bad government, which is what we’re facing, is a matter addressed through court filings and public protests. Countering the blatant stupidity of people who are bent on getting their way is more dangerous. This isn’t like the Civil War where the conflict was organized, North vs. South. This is a perilous situation when, at any point during any day, some idiotic mother fucker is likely to turn a gun on anywhere for any reason.

What kind of company does that put us in? Consider that in Kenya, a country known for its fast athletes, four women were murdered because of their athleticism. We are at risk of becoming just like them. Israeli soldiers burn a hospital in Gaza and the US gives them a pass because “they’re fighting terrorism.” Afghan forces target Pakistan in retaliation for deadly airstrikes.

We are at risk of becoming just as debased as Kenya, Israel, and Afghanistan, especially if the Felon insists on keeping up this stupid conflict with bordering and nearby countries. Empire building is wrong. Forcing your beliefs, religious or political, on other people, especially at risk of violence, is wrong. If we do not stand up loudly and publicly against such crimes, we will die because of them.

There is already enough death just through natural causes. Olivia Hussey, star of the 1968 film ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ dies at 73. Sportscaster Greg Gumbel dies from cancer at age 78. Warren Upton, the oldest living survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor, dies at 105. Even Mother Nature is working against us. Climate change added 41 days of dangerous heat around the world and Hurricane-force winds bear down on California, in the latest stretch of extreme weather. We have more than enough ways to die without trying to kill each other.

As we face the end of this less-than-stellar year, we have to face the fact that 2025 could easily be worse. Hold your loved ones close. Tell people you love them. Never assume that anything you do, anywhere, anytime, is going to be routine. Next year is going to be a battle against some of the most evil philosophies we’ve ever faced. We have to be ready.

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United War Machine
May 22, 2024

United War Machine [2012 with AI enhancements]

Let’s just go ahead and change the name of the country from the United States of America to the United War Machine. Let’s be real. The one thing that really unites this increasingly third-rate country is that we like war. We like war a lot. It doesn’t even have to be our war. Let someone else go to war and we’ll happily supply them the bombs, guns, planes, tanks, bullets, and in some cases even personnel necessary to fight their war. We just can’t imagine the planet without a couple of wars going on. Imagine how much it would tank our economy if we didn’t have any reason to build the implements of war!

One of the many hundreds of problems with war is that the people engaged in it seem to think that there are no rules. Take Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for example. His response to some of the horrible things Israeli troops have done since October 7 has been, “That’s just part of war.” The problem is, he’s wrong. There are humanitarian rules to war and everyone’s being very good at breaking them.

Who attempts to take the rule breakers to task? The International Criminal Court. The court was originally created after WWII to try Nazi officials for the unspeakable crimes they had committed during that war. Located in The Hague, Netherlands, the court is responsible for holding everyone accountable for war violations. The goal is to prevent the kind of atrocities experienced in WWII from ever happening again. Sounds like a good thing, right?

Sure, we think it is up until our best friend has a warrant out on their head. Earlier this week, the court applied for arrest warrants for a number of people related to the Hamas/Israel war in Gaza. The way the ICC works is that, unlike warrants here that only need the signature of a friendly judge, prosecutors must first gather a substantial amount of evidence that violations have occurred, a whole freaking panel of judges has to approve the application, or else the warrants are rejected. There is little chance for error. The rules are unfathomably tight. Here are a couple of critical accusations made in the application:

On the basis of evidence collected and examined by my Office, I have reasonable grounds to believe that Yahya SINWAR (Head of the Islamic Resistance Movement (“Hamas”) in the Gaza Strip), Mohammed Diab Ibrahim AL-MASRI, more commonly known as DEIF (Commander-in-Chief of the military wing of Hamas, known as the Al-Qassam Brigades), and Ismail HANIYEH (Head of Hamas Political Bureau) bear criminal responsibility for the following war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of Israel and the State of Palestine (in the Gaza strip) from at least 7 October 2023: 

  • Extermination as a crime against humanity, contrary to article 7(1)(b) of the Rome Statute;
  • Murder as a crime against humanity, contrary to article 7(1)(a), and as a war crime, contrary to article 8(2)(c)(i);
  • Taking hostages as a war crime, contrary to article 8(2)(c)(iii);
  • Rape and other acts of sexual violence as crimes against humanity, contrary to article 7(1)(g), and also as war crimes pursuant to article 8(2)(e)(vi) in the context of captivity;
  • Torture as a crime against humanity, contrary to article 7(1)(f), and also as a war crime, contrary to article 8(2)(c)(i), in the context of captivity;
  • Other inhumane acts as a crime against humanity, contrary to article 7(l)(k), in the context of captivity;
  • Cruel treatment as a war crime contrary to article 8(2)(c)(i), in the context of captivity; and
  • Outrages upon personal dignity as a war crime, contrary to article 8(2)(c)(ii), in the context of captivity.

My Office submits that the war crimes alleged in these applications were committed in the context of an international armed conflict between Israel and Palestine, and a non-international armed conflict between Israel and Hamas running in parallel. We submit that the crimes against humanity charged were part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Israel by Hamas and other armed groups pursuant to organisational policies. Some of these crimes, in our assessment, continue to this day.

That addresses the crimes committed by Hamas. You’d think everyone would be happy about that. But wait, the prosecutor had more to say, and this is the part that has US politicians miffed.

On the basis of evidence collected and examined by my Office, I have reasonable grounds to believe that Benjamin NETANYAHU, the Prime Minister of Israel, and Yoav GALLANT, the Minister of Defence of Israel, bear criminal responsibility for  the following war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of the State of Palestine (in the Gaza strip) from at least 8 October 2023:

  • Starvation of civilians as a method of warfare as a war crime contrary to article 8(2)(b)(xxv) of the Statute;
  • Wilfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health contrary to article 8(2)(a)(iii), or cruel treatment as a war crime contrary to article 8(2)(c)(i);
  • Wilful killing contrary to article 8(2)(a)(i), or Murder as a war crime contrary to article 8(2)(c)(i);
  • Intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population as a war crime contrary to articles 8(2)(b)(i), or 8(2)(e)(i);
  • Extermination and/or murder contrary to articles 7(1)(b) and 7(1)(a), including in the context of deaths caused by starvation, as a crime against humanity;
  • Persecution as a crime against humanity contrary to article 7(1)(h);
  • Other inhumane acts as crimes against humanity contrary to article 7(1)(k).

My Office submits that the war crimes alleged in these applications were committed in the context of an international armed conflict between Israel and Palestine, and a non-international armed conflict between Israel and Hamas (together with other Palestinian Armed Groups) running in parallel. We submit that the crimes against humanity charged were committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack against the Palestinian civilian population pursuant to State policy. These crimes, in our assessment, continue to this day.

These allegations are backed by substantial evidence and interviews with people involved, deep with corroborating witnesses on both sides. This isn’t a witch hunt. This is how a fair investigation transpires. After months of work with prosecutors looking at both Hamas and Israel, taking everything into consideration, came to the conclusion that these crimes were and continue to be committed. How is this not a no-brainer?

Yet, the US, regardless of political affiliation, has one hell of a blind spot when it comes to Israel. I fail to understand it at all. Yes, what happened to Jews during WWII was unprecedented, but it does not equate to a blank check for the future. And, if we’re being fair, Netanyahu was never the dominant choice for Prime Minister in the first place. Israel had to hold five elections within a four-year period before the old fart could cobble together enough of a coalition to form a government. This is not the same young “Bibi” Netanyahu that won the election for the first time in 1996. This is an old, authoritarian prick who wants to dominate simply because he thinks he has a right to dominate. He needs to go away and let someone more reasonable guide the people of Israel.

But no, he’s not going away and the US, being the country ever obsessed with war, is doing their best to prop him up. President Biden called the allegations “outrageous,” and then followed with, “Whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas.”

US Secretary of State Blinken added, “Hamas is a brutal terrorist organization that carried out the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust and is still holding dozens of innocent people hostage, including Americans.”

Okay, Mr. Blinken, as of May13, only 1,478 Israeli citizens have been killed compared to 35,562 Palestinian civilians, according to UNWRA. Uhm who, precisely, is carrying out a massacre? Are you fucking listening to the nonsense coming out of your mouth?

Oh, but it gets worse. GOP Senator and relentless asshole, Tom Cotton, wrote that “My colleagues and I look forward to make sure neither Khan, his associates nor their families will ever set foot again in the United States.”

Hey, jackass, guess who assisted in the ICC’s investigation: none other than Amal Clooney. You know George’s wife and one hell of a fucking attorney. Here’s what she had to say:

“More than four months ago, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court asked me to assist him with evaluating evidence of suspected war crimes and crimes against humanity in Israel and Gaza. I agreed and joined a panel of international legal experts to undertake this task. Together we have engaged in an extensive process of evidence review and legal analysis including at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

The Panel and its academic advisers are experts in international law, including international humanitarian law and international criminal law. Two Panel members are appointed as expert ‘Special Advisers’ by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. Two Panel members are former judges at criminal tribunals in The Hague.

Despite our diverse personal backgrounds, our legal findings are unanimous. We have unanimously determined that the Court has jurisdiction over crimes committed in Palestine and by Palestinian nationals. We unanimously conclude that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, including hostage-taking, murder and crimes of sexual violence. We unanimously conclude that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity including starvation as a method of warfare, murder, persecution and extermination.

I served on this Panel because I believe in the rule of law and the need to protect civilian lives. The law that protects civilians in war was developed more than 100 years ago and it applies in every country in the world regardless of the reasons for a conflict. As a human rights lawyer, I will never accept that one child’s life has less value than another’s. I do not accept that any conflict should be beyond the reach of the law, nor that any perpetrator should be above the law. So I support the historic step that the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has taken to bring justice to victims of atrocities in Israel and Palestine.

Today, my colleagues and I have published an op-ed and a detailed legal report of the Panel’s findings. My approach is not to provide a running commentary of my work but to let the work speak for itself. I hope that witnesses will cooperate with the ongoing investigation. And I hope that justice will prevail in a region that has already suffered too much.”

Amal Clooney
Barrister and Co-Founder of the Clooney Foundation for Justice

Shut the fuck up, Tom.

Here’s the thing, neither the US nor Israel signed onto the Rome Statute under which the ICC was established. Why? Because both countries (and several others) are fucking scared of the concept of non-biased justice. No US politician wants to be held accountable for their actions (hence, the chaos over someone’s multiple indictments). All we want is the freedom to support war, no matter how horrible it is, wherever we want, whenever we want. We don’t want anyone telling us that the wars we’re supporting are unjust.

However, as bloated as our national ego is, we’re not the only ones on the planet. Earlier today, Norway, Ireland, and Spain recognized the State of Palestine. Other countries are considering the move, such as France, though they’re not quite ready to commit. This is a big deal. The rules of engagement change if Palestine is recognized internationally as its own country. As that begins to happen, UN rules start to apply making the continued aggression by Israel all the more illegal and could potentially open the door for UN troops to fight on behalf of Palestine against Israel.

Understand, there are a truckload of steps that have to take place before anything like that can happen and we can all hope that a permanent cease-fire can be negotiated before there’s any reason to insert UN troops in the region. However, the possibility is there and will grow closer with each country that decides to recognize Palestine.

And for every day that there is no cease-fire, who do we blame? Look in a fucking mirror. The US, the United War Machine, is the country standing right next to Israel encouraging them to keep up their illegal and inhumane tactics.

I haven’t recited the Pledge of Allegiance in several years. This is why. I cannot, in good conscience, pledge a damn thing to a country that actively courts and provides for the global extermination of our own species. That I was born here and live here does not obligate me to support such idiocy. Rather, my citizenship requires that I yell, scream, and do everything within my power to stop it. Legally.

The problem with this situation is that when the bullshit is spread so thick in every direction, who the hell am I supposed to vote for? None of the major candidates will stand up to Israel. None of them have a spine.

Maybe you have an idea.

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War = Starvation
April 10, 2024

I hadn’t thought of this angle before. All the more reason to end conflicts NOW.

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Morning Outrage
April 2, 2024

Rubble and Wreckage [2006]

ISRAEL HAS COMMITTED A WAR CRIME

Early this morning, EDT, while those of us in the Midwest were sheltering from the storms, seven members of chef Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen were murdered by an Israeli air strike. DESPITE HAVING COMMUNICATED APPROPRIATELY WITH ISRAELI AUTHORITIES, the caravan was leaving a warehouse where they had just delivered more than 100 tons of food via maritime routes. The workers killed include a Palestinian and citizens from Australia, Poland, United Kingdom, and a dual citizen of the U.S. and Canada.

The organization’s CEO, Erin Gore, put it this way: “This is not only an attack against WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable,”

Enough with US tolerance of Israel’s fucking war crimes. World Central Kitchen has found ways to peacefully deliver food all over the world, including war-torn Ukraine, without any issue. They are a highly effective and respected organization that takes to heart the need to address the tragedy of hunger and famine in hard-to-reach places around the world. And who the fuck ends up bombing them? Israel, whom the US refuses to recognize as a serial war criminal.

Israel issued a statement saying they would investigate the matter, but good money is on getting back a statement saying something to the effect that “This was a horrible tragedy as sometimes happens during war. Oops, we’re sorry, but we’re not going to stop.”

Please understand, I’m not antisemitic. I’m anti-Zionist. There’s a difference. I believe Jewish people, as well as everyone else, have the right to live wherever the fuck they want to live.

What is Zionism? According to the Anti-Defamation League, “Zionism is the movement for the self-determination and statehood for the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland, the land of Israel.” In short, skipping over several thousand years of history, it is a group dedicated to the formation and protection of the Jewish homeland as defined before an ancient Babylonian captivity.

Why is Zionism wrong? Because nationalism is wrong. Let me be very clear, for those in the back:

Everyone has the right to live peacefully wherever the fuck they want to live regardless of pretend borders, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.

If you disagree, please kindly step the fuck off the planet. Humanity would not exist today were it not for multiple, free-roaming migrations of our ancestors, all of them, looking for hospitable and reasonable places to live without fear of the danger posed by natural resources or greedy idiots. The freedom to exist and the freedom of movement is an inherent right that no country has grounds for limiting. Telling a people, “You cannot live here and we’ll kill you if you try,” is anti-human and in violation of international law. YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO EXIST.

What no one has is a right to govern where that government is not wanted. “The consent of the governed” is an extremely powerful clause. No one is obligated to recognize the authority of a government that actively denies the individual right to exist.

Yet, here we are, not only telling Palestinians to get out of Gaza and then killing them when they try, but now we’re killing the people who are simply trying to make sure no one starves to death in the process. Please, someone, reset that courtroom in Nuremberg. We have some crimes that need to be addressed.

The support of these activities by the US government is critical as well. While Israel is doing its best to exterminate all of Gaza, US states such as Florida and Texas are putting limits on who can travel in/out of their states in search of medical care such as abortions. We’re just as bad, if not potentially worse, than Israel so no wonder we’re supportive of the crimes they’re committing.

Wait, don’t we inherently have the right to travel between states? Sort of, but not really. The right to travel is generally covered under the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the Fifth Amendment. The specific portions reads: “The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.” Since 1823, that has generally been taken to include freedom of movement. However, since then, throughout the 19th century, the Court continued to let the states have the authority to decide who could move back and forth across state lines. So, if a state decides it doesn’t want people traveling to a “safe” state for medical care, precedent would indicate that they have the right to limit that travel and impose penalties.

In case you’ve not been keeping up, Texas is willing to impose the death penalty.

All of these actions are anti-freedom, anti-human, and grossly immoral by any standard. We’ve put up with far too many of these crimes and we’re past the time when people like you and me need to object and flood both the Internet and the halls of Congress with the noise of our opposition.

Consider this my first volley. ENFORCE A CEASE-FIRE IN GAZA NOW! Let’s make humanity more important than anyone’s nationalism.

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Morning Update: 03/29/24
March 29, 2024

George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic [2009]

Do we have to crucify someone to make Friday good? Asking for a friend.

Judging by the way alleged Christians are behaving this year, I don’t think the whole sacrificial thing worked like it was supposed to.

There’s not anything significant to write about yesterday; it was what it was, nothing out of the ordinary. That’s a good thing, though, because that means nothing horrible happened, either. No one in our family was shot. No one was in an accident. No one accidentally let the dogs out. Given the way things are going around the rest of the world, that has to count as a win.

If you think combatants in the Israel/Gaza war are going to take a break this weekend, you’re not paying attention. Do you think anyone in the Russia/Ukraine war is going to go to Good Friday services? (You do realize this is NOT Orthodox Easter, right?) The violence still continues because when it comes right down to it, no one’s religion is enough to keep bad and stupid things from happening. Talk about love all you want, it’s not atheists who are going to war. You don’t see lines of bagpipers leading a Celtic army into battle. Transcendentalists are not leaving their meditative positions to topple a government. I even checked and made sure that Zoroastrians weren’t arming themselves to take on the world.

Belief systems are inherently, and necessarily judged by what they do to help the world. On that scale, the Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Islam, and Judaism) continue to fall at the bottom of the list. They’re the ones perpetuating hate in the name of their holy book. You find them at the core of every major military conflict. You find them at the heart of crimes against women. You find them leading the charge against immigrants (especially in the state of Georgia). You catch them perpetuating outright lies about elections and political contenders.

How does any part of Good Friday help the world? It doesn’t, because a couple of hours at church doesn’t override all the years of hate and murder that are perpetuated in the name of the one crucified. Nowhere does your holy book tell you to bomb anyone. Nowhere do they tell you to support political causes and protest in their name. No scripture tells you to mistreat people looking for a peaceful home.

Suppose you are going to claim that religiously and politically motivated murder of an innocent person somehow brings grace and love to the world. In that case, you have to take a stand against the people fueling hate, division, partisanship, and corruption, not pay their fines for fraud. If the priests and ministers standing before you today are not accepting of LGBTQIA+ people, then they’ve totally missed the message. Should a worship leader proclaim that any other group of people should “return to where they came from,” they are definitely following someone other than the one whose death is being remembered.

What makes a Friday good? Spending time with a friend. Helping someone in need. Feeding the poor. Housing the homeless. Protecting the weak. Standing up for everyone’s rights. Loving someone different than yourself.

And a big plate of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and greens. That’s a GOOD Friday.

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10 Reasons 2016 Sucked
December 31, 2016
charles i. letbetter - 10 Reasons 2016 Sucked

Anyone who says otherwise is a complete moron

 

charles i. letbetter - 10 Reasons 2016 Sucked

For the past 365 days we have suffered through a hellacious year. 2016 hasn’t been fun. 2016 hasn’t given the world a reason to cheer. 2016 has sucked from one end to the other. Period. Every morning I come in, look at the headlines, and immediately want to go back to bed, hoping it’s all a dream. A nightmare. I’m ready to wake up anytime, but that doesn’t seem to be happening. We’re stuck with this stupid year.

Is this the worst year ever? Well, no, not if one counts all the hundreds of years where some sort of plague was running rampant, or the dark ages, or pretty much any year prior to 1790 when the Industrial Revolution finally got around to making our lives just a little bit better. This wasn’t any 1929, either. The vast majority of us have jobs and some of them even pay a decent living wage, or come close. We don’t have the spending power we once did, but we’re still finding ways to keep a roof over our heads and those of us in the US are still putting way too much food in our bellies. So, you have that if you really want to embrace it.

Still, just because all of history pretty much sucked before our great-great-grandparents started doing some cool shit doesn’t mean that this wasn’t a bad year. This was a bad year and I don’t mind taking a few minutes out of my day to make sure you understand just exactly why this was a bad year. This year is a warning. We can turn ourselves around now, or things can get worse in 2017. And 2018. And the foreseeable future. We need to learn from this year before it’s 1837 all over again. Trust me, you don’t want to mess with 1837. The only thing good about 1837 was Worcestershire sauce.

So, here, in no particular order, are ten damn good reasons that 2016 sucked. You are free to disagree, but if you do we’re locking you away where you can’t hurt intelligent people.

 

International Issues

charles i. letbetter - 10 Reasons 2016 Sucked

The Rio Olympics

Talk about a cluster fuck. Even before the games started we knew this was going to be a bad one. Venues were incomplete. The water where athletes were supposed to swim was littered with trash. Corruption was rampant at every conceivable level of the games, including within the IOC itself. Russian athletes were prevented from participating because of a doping scandal and a number of athletes refused to participate because of the threat of the Zika virus. Then, just to give the games a WTF label, there was Ryan Lochte pretending to get robbed when he was the one being a punk. The world would be better off had these games never happened.

The Refugee Crisis

21 million people. Stop and think about that for a moment. TWENTY-ONE MILLION PEOPLE. That’s how many refugees have left war-torn countries across Europe and Africa looking for a place where they could live peacefully without someone trying to blow their heads off just for existing. They flooded into Europe for the most part, creating crisis there because not only was there an incredible strain on already strained resources, but because terrorists hid in their midst, causing many people to not want to help people with extreme and genuine need. This was a humanitarian crisis unlike anything we’ve seen in the past 60 years and for the most part, the majority of us sat on our fucking hands.

Syria

Far too many of those refugees came from Syria, where the government military of President Assad battled with a number of different rebel groups for control of the country. The entire country has been devastated by the war, but the worst atrocities came in the city of Aleppo, what had once been Syria’s largest city. The world watched in horror as the entire city was reduced to nothing but rubble. An untold number of civilians, especially children, were killed by barrel bombs employed by government forces. There was no relief until the city was completely empty, a mere shell of its former self. Making this tragedy worse was the failure of the US and its allies to successfully intervene. Blame bad policy and an unreasonable fear of pissing off other stupid little Middle Eastern dictators.

Venezuelan Food Shortages

Americans have really enjoyed lower gas prices this year, but the low price of oil has a human toll. As oil prices sunk, the country of Venezuela went further and further into crisis. By May, there were long lines for food, assuming you could find a store that actually had anything edible in stock. By the end of summer, most food was gone and even staples such as bread and dairy products were nearly impossible to find. As the country’s economy collapsed, creating corruption involving bank notes, the government made a bad situation worse by changing currency in November, making old money worthless. A warehouse full of 4 million toys was found in early December, but it’s still hard to have a happy Christmas when you don’t even have enough food to make a sandwich.

Brexit

For all the really incredible displays of stupidity, voters in the UK set an early score to beat when they voted to leave the European Union. Political analysts around the world were stunned. While the topic had been a matter of discussion for over a year, no one in their right mind thought the numbskulls would actually vote to separate themselves from the EU. Not that it’s actually happened yet. Politicians there have spent the rest of the year trying to decide whether a full separation is actually possible (they’re still unsure) and if so, how to actually make it happen without creating a full-scale economic disaster. Most people thought that this would be the biggest political disaster of the year. Unfortunately, the US took it as a challenge.

 

Domestic Disaster

charles i. letbetter - 10 Reasons 2016 Sucked

A country without drinking water

The water crisis in Flint, Michigan actually began in late 2015, but it came to a head in early 2016 with the city being declared one giant fucking disaster area in January. Both state and federal politicians then proceeded to spend most of the rest of the year arguing about who to blame. Here we are at the end of the year and there are still large populations within Flint that, at the very least, have to boil their water. Many are still having to use bottled water. Several politicians, including the mayor of Flint and the governor of Michigan, have been indicted for corruption, but the people most directly affected are still suffering. Worse yet, the problems are spreading as the national infrastructure of lead water pipes is crumbling.

Standing Rock standoff

Oil. Our dependency on fossil fuels has become a national disgrace, one which spineless politicians refuse to address because of the number of jobs associated with the inefficient and quickly depleting fuel system. Since we can’t produce enough oil to cover domestic requirements, we have to bring it in through any means available, including pipelines. Pipelines that leak. They always have. They habitually create environmental problems everywhere they are laid.

So, when yet another greedy oil company wanted to run a stretch of pipeline across an area that would have contaminated the water supply for native tribes living there, they said, “Hell, no.” As word spread of the tribe’s protest, others joined the cause. The protests were peaceful, but police still decided they needed to fight back with attack dogs and water canons. For now, the matter is calm as the Corp of Engineers refused the pipeline company’s request for easement. However, there is tremendous fear that the oil companies will try again once the new president is installed.

Pulse Nightclub shooting

We have wrestled long and hard with tremendous amounts of hate across this country both toward people of color and people of varying gender identities. There have been random acts of violence scattered all across the country this year, but none were so horrific as the events at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando on the night of June 12. That was the night Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old security guard, killed 49 people and wounded 53 others. The particular details of what motivated him and whether he pledged allegiance to some terrorist group are irrelevant at this juncture. Hate was at the root of the problem, as it has been at every other racial and/or gender-identity-motivated crime in the country.

This one makes me particularly nervous because it inevitably carries over into the new year. One of the worst anti-LGBT politicians in the country is now Vice President and he markets in hate as though it were a valuable commodity. Already there are those trying to sweep the tragedy of the Pulse Nightclub under the rugs. This is a stain not only on the year, but all of the US.

Anti-Intellectualism

We did a fantastic job of showing the world our stupid side this year. Anti-intellectualism has always been present in the undercurrent of American society. This year, however, it came to the surface and repeatedly inserted itself into public discourse with statements so astonishingly stupid that the rest of us could only shake our head and wonder how much Flint, Michigan water they were drinking. Just how bad did it get? Consider some of these quotes from this disgraceful year:

  • the government is “hyping Hurricane Matthew to sell climate change.” – Rush Limbaugh (in spirit with Matt Drudge)
  • “[D]o we need government-funded research at all[?]” –  Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.), Donald Trump’s choice to head the White House Office of Management and Budget,
  • [climate change is] “the perfect pseudoscientific theory” to justify liberal politicians’ efforts to expand “government power over the American citizenry.” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas)
  • “My own personal theory is that Joseph built the pyramids to store grain.” Dr. Ben Carson
  • “I’m saying people have gotten things wrong throughout the 5,500-year history of our planet.” – Anthony Scaramucci

Mind you, that is just a small collection from people who’ve made the most media noise over the past year. There are MILLIONS of other quotes from equally ignorant people all over the world. I mean, stop and think about it, A full-scale replica of Noah’s Ark opened in June in order to further the mythology known as “creation science,” which actually contains little valid science at all! When it comes to matters of science and advances in intelligence, 2016 may have actually seen us move backward, that’s just how bad it’s been.

The Presidential election

Oh. my. god. No, this one is so horrible I’m not even going there. Scratch this one out. If I try writing anything about this piece of insanity I’m going to throw up and miss the New Year’s Eve party.

Deaths of Notable Persons

No, contrary to popular belief, there have not been more deaths of celebrities this year than any other year. In fact, if one is looking purely at numbers, then this year was a little below average in a few categories. However, that approach is assuming that all lives are equal. Uhm, no. If I die before midnight (which I’m definitely not planning on doing), I wouldn’t make anyone’s list. In fact, I might not even make the obituary in the Indianapolis Star. However, the deaths of people we really care about, people whose contributions to our lives, people whose work directly affected who we are and shaped are personalities, is what has made this a horrible, horrible year unlike any that we remember.

Look beyond just the number of bodies. David Bowie alone is worth at least a thousand mere mortal souls. Merle Haggard? C’mon, you just can’t rank the Okie from Muskogee with all those commoners. And then, there’s Prince. Seriously, he’s a three-hour “In Memoriam” reel all on his own. The numbers themselves are irrelevant. What matters is that we lost people of note with whom we felt as though we had a connection, and we lost them one after another after another after another after another. There was no break. What started as a shock in January just kept causing us pain right up until this very last week. Everything else this year could have been sunshine and daisies and the people we lost would still leave us feeling as though we’d had our hearts collectively ripped out and stomped upon.

NOW do you understand why this year sucked so horribly? And we didn’t even get into things like automobile recalls, stupid stalking clowns, phones blowing up, Russia hacking the election, or anything else that might have been a really big story most any other year. Nope, 2016 sucked bilge water.

So, please understand if our celebration tonight is rather muted. We’re not just saying goodbye to 2016, we’re shooting it in the head and burying that fucker 30-feet deep and covering it with rebar and concrete to make sure it doesn’t rear its ugly head ever again. And we’re going to make the baby 2017 sit there and watch so it will know what happens to a year that fucks up. Little squirt better get these next twelve months right.

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Things That Make Me Want To Scream
November 9, 2016
charles i. letbetter - things that make me want to scream

I have yet to actually lift my head up and scream, but after yesterday’s staggering results I reserve the right to do so repeatedly

 

charles i. letbetter - things that make me want to scream

I had to take a break from my vain attempt to keep up with world reactions to yesterday’s disgusting election results. Not only have we elected the embodiment of hate to both the positions of President and Vice President, we have armed them with a Republican-controlled Congress and an increase in the number of Republican governors scattered across the nation. While I know that some see this as a good thing, for people of reasons this is a very dangerous event with global ramifications. However, I had to take a break.

You see, we have a dog. We recently put a fence around the entire yard so that the dog, who is a mix of hunting breeds, would have plenty of room to run without having to be on a leash. He loves it out there. The downside is that he tends to be a little aggressive toward anyone who isn’t me. While he’s never bitten anyone hard enough to break the skin, he does have an awesome takedown move. Once you’re down, he’s not letting you back up until I come to your rescue. So, I needed to put “Beware of Dog” signs out on the fence, just to be safe. This is part of being a reasonably responsible dog owner.

Given yesterday’s election results, I’m wondering if we might not do well to place a series of “Beware of Politicians” signs around our country to other countries, businesses, and would-be immigrants can be informed and take evasive action if necessary. Such a move would seem to be the responsible thing to do.

Beware Of Falling Economy

 

charles i. letbetter - things that make me want to scream

Not everyone had finished voting last night before the global markets started getting the jitters. When the Asian markets opened around 10:00 PM Tuesday evening, currency was what took the biggest hit as both the dollar and the Mexican peso suffered on the uncertainty that the election might introduce a slew of unknown factors to the market. Markets prefer to maintain the status quo. Disruption is met with negativity and values decline sharply as a result.

Among the biggest points that have global analysts screaming is the fear that the new President could embolden Iran’s hardliners.  This could lead to further instability in the Middle East and might possibly threaten the fragile Iranian nuclear deal. Continued instability worries investors as the price and availability of energy resources, specifically oil, has the ability to immediately impact markets, driving costs well out of anticipated range with no warning.

At the same time, Wall Street economists are concerned that the new administration might make changes to the Federal Reserve that would remove its autonomy from political influence. Such changes would further erode trust in and the power of the Fed, which in turn could trigger yet another global recession. Stability, again, is what the markets need and the threat of significant change at the Fed could send much-needed investment funds looking elsewhere.

While we’re over-simplifying some very detailed topics, the screaming point is this new administration has absolutely zero experience in monetary policy and the President himself has a proven record of failed business dealings and bankruptcies that erode faith in his ability to appoint staff capable of keeping things calm and moving forward. Recession could hit quickly and painfully once he is in office.

Danger: War Is Knocking

 

charles i. letbetter - things that make me want to scream

The concerned was raised in Europe a couple of days before the election. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) put 300,000 ground troops on alert as fears of Russian aggression are growing significantly. The move represents a return to Cold War status for European NATO troops as Russian propaganda, a build-up of Russian forces along NATO borders, and aggression in places such as Syria remind long-memoried Europeans of the Soviet threat after World War II.

Now, add in that whole Iran nuclear deal thing, the situations in Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, Egypt, and other hotspots, and mix those with campaign rhetoric that has threatened to not honor the NATO treaties while making friends with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and one can see where our allies might not be feeling all that confident about our ability to keep the peace. In fact, there is more than a little worry that a shift in US policy might actually support Putin rather than trying to keep him and Russia in place.

All this comes on top of concerns about Daesh and Al Queda having possibly infiltrated the United States. As the father of an active-duty U.S. Marine, the proximity to war we now face has me worried not only for my safety but that of my son as well. Should something happen to him as the result of an unjust or politically-motivated war, I will not be forgiving.

Warning: Freedom of Expression At Risk

 

charles i. letbetter - things that make me want to scream

The back-stepping has already started. A number of news and media outlets did not take it easy on the Republican campaign. The Huffington Post even went so far as to include the following statement at the end of each article about our new President-elect:

“Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S.”

Care to guess what is being retracted today? HuffPo’s editors claim that their move is an effort to start the new Presidency with a “clean slate” and give him a chance. However, in a campaign that was filled with direct threats to members of the media, insults toward reporters, and a general lack of cooperation with and respect for the press, There aren’t too many people feeling as though criticizing the new President and/or his administration is going to be met with the usual denials and rebuttals. Just a few weeks ago, National Press Club president Thomas Burr criticized the Republican campaign for “journalist intimidation.” The insults and direct attacks against the news media and press have been unrelenting.

Now, the person at the heart of those attacks is, somehow, President-elect. Does anyone trust that the rough rhetoric of the campaign will just go away? Of course not! Instead, what we anticipate is a lack of journalistic access to the White House that we’ve not seen since the Nixon administration. Our reasonable fear is that anyone who dares to openly criticize the President might face a personal lawsuit, which, justified or not, no journalist can afford to fight.

We have fought long and hard for freedom of expression. The right of citizens to know everything their government is doing is inalienable. Without the press, a democracy quickly falls to a dictator. We are in grave danger.

Beware: Hate Is Claiming A Victory

 

charles i. letbetter - things that make me want to scream

This one may be what causes me to tear out my hair and do damage to my vocal cords. The instant media outlets declared that the Republican nominee had more than the required 270 electoral votes, former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard, David Duke, said, “Make no mistake about it, our people have played a HUGE role in electing Trump!” Never mind that the President-elect’s campaign officially distanced itself from the KKK and any other recognized hate group that tried to ride campaign coattails. No one ever believed those denials were sincere in the first place. Hate has always been standing right next to the Republican nominee as evidenced by his choice of running mates.

Of course, not all hate groups look like hate groups. The Washington Post ran an article this morning regarding the overwhelming role of specifically white evangelicals in electing the new President. They may not look like a hate group, but these are the people who have marginalized LGBTQ people for years. Evangelists such as Pat Robinson have vilified any and every Democrat they’ve come across. These are the same people who have spent the past eight years ridiculously attempting to accuse President Obama of being a Muslim. They are bigoted, homophobic, xenophobic, nationalistic, racist, and classist in the worst possible way.

Understand, none of these radicals may actually take an official seat in a cabinet post, but be sure that they are there, talking, advising the new President, and making sure that hate remains a part of the new administration’s agenda.

Who does this put at risk? Women. People of color. Immigrants. Children. The elderly. The poor. The homeless. Science. Reason. Our allies. The planet.

We have given power to the most ignorant, the most hateful, the most prejudiced, the most selfish, and the most diabolical group of people to ever set foot in our nation’s capitol. The dangers are very real. Ignore the warnings at your own peril.

I think we’re going to need more signs. And I still reserve the right to scream.

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Dear World: Your Actions Are Unacceptable
August 27, 2016
charles i. letbetter - dear world your actions are unacceptable

I’m not sure I’m trying to communicate a message. I’m just trying to be part of the movement away from the unacceptable present. —Wole Soyinka

 

charles i. letbetrer - dear world you actions are unacceptable

The world gets a giant middle finger for all the nonsense it has generated as well as a shit load of unnecessary pain.

I am not a happy camper. In addition to dealing with eight tornadoes hitting the area on Wednesday and flooding in our own yard yesterday, most of the rest of the world seems to have come off its hinges with actions and events that are wholly unacceptable. Making matters worse, the biggest failures of the week are not merely unacceptable for their own anti-human deviance but are indicative and symptomatic of much larger problems that we’ve attempted to address before.

Maybe I should just stay away from the news. Reading through my feed every morning makes my blood pressure soar even before the normal frustrations have a chance to piss me off. I find that too often I’m already in a terrifying mood before I get to my second cup of coffee. That situation on its own should be unacceptable, but it is becoming a daily ritual: Drink coffee, read news, lose temper, make more coffee. I swear, if it weren’t for the coffee I might do something dangerous.

Instead of directly endangering lives, though, what I’m doing this morning is attempting to exorcise these demons of society by exposing their unacceptable behavior loudly and publicly. We’ve seen more than once this week where social media backlash can turn into genuine dissent that results in positive action. We need more of that. If yelling and screaming make a difference, then I’m ready to participate. Here are the most unacceptable issues.

Complete Ignorance

Offender: Michelle Backman. Why anyone still puts a microphone in front of this woman’s face is beyond me. The pandering crackheads over at Breitbart News (a misnomer from the beginning) are responsible for the latest tirade. The level of ignorance shown is unacceptable on its own. What’s scary is that there are millions of people who actually believe this nonsense. Here’s what she had to say this time:

“I don’t think all of the suffering of African-Americans during the period of slavery can ever equate to what’s been done to white conservative Americans in the past 8 years …”

Yes, she actually said that. She is of the opinion that giving everyone else in America what white people already had is somehow oppressing white people. You and I both know that’s a goddamn lie, but it’s one that keeps being repeated over and over and over. White people are not victims. They probably deserve to be, but they’re not. It’s time to push back against this claptrap and put an end to such unacceptable behavior.

Religious Criminality

Offender: Bishop Ken Adkins. Like so many right-wing pastors, Adkins has been very vocal against LGBT rights. He is on record as saying that Orlando PULSE victims “got what they deserved.” That right there tells you this is not a good person, despite his self-anointed title. What we found out this week, though, is that the Bishop has a thing for molesting children. The press release from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation was tweeted by a Jacksonville news outlet:


In addition to the Bishop’s actions and words being unacceptable, what gets my goat is that THIS KEEPS HAPPENING and no one is doing anything about it! How many more times are we going to endure headlines like this before we start looking more carefully at the men behind the pulpit (and yes, it is exclusively men who have been the problem)? Sure, it’s only a few bad apples, but those apples keep poisoning barrel after barrel of innocent children. While the Catholic church has its own mechanism through which such behavior is supposedly handled (though there are plenty of questions there, jackasses such as Adkins have no oversight, no one to whom they are accountable. This is unacceptable. PASTORS MUST BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS! We cannot allow more children to be placed at risk.

Male Domination

Offender (this time): France. France’s prohibition against women wearing the burkini on public beaches is an example of how social media can actually do some good. After more than a week of pressure, France’s Supreme Court overturned the anti-burkini laws that were in place. The problem is that the attitude behind those laws hasn’t changed. In fact, Nicolas Sarkozy announced his bid for President yesterday by insisting on a national ban on the garment.

While the attitude of male domination is unacceptable in of itself, the whole thing about men trying to tell women what to wear, and then turning around and shaming them, has gotten out of hand. We’ve been putting up with this nonsense far too long and it’s time that men, again, were called out on their behavior. I’ll be honest, women have been saying something for a long time. What we need are more men standing up and calling each other out in this shit. I find this behavior offensive and any man who has an ounce of respect for women should not tolerate it.

Editorial cartoonist Anna Telnaes of the Washington Post has been all over this issue for a while and no one has been paying attention. Yesterday, the Post published several of her cartoons on the subject to Twitter. Here are a couple that really define the problem:


Women have been saying something for over 100 years. It’s time men not only started listening but started changing.

A Preference For War

Offenders: the United States and Russia. Let’s be honest: the two super-powers started the mess in the Middle East by interfering with their politics back in the 1950s. They have done a good job of keeping that region in turmoil ever since.  This week, they had a chance to stop the nonsense. They didn’t. That is unacceptable. After all this time, leaders of both countries are afraid to do anything that might put the other in a positive light. The US belittles Russia. Russia degrades the US. They could end the violence in Syria. They could keep refugees from having to flee. But they’re not. Instead, we get quotes like this one from US Secretary of State John Kerry:

“We don’t want to have a deal for the sake of the deal. We want to have something done that is effective and that works for the people of Syria, that makes the region more stable and secure, and that brings us to the table here in Geneva to find a political solution.”

Anyone else want to call horseshit on this? They’re not interested in lives. They’re not interested in war. Instead, both countries are trying to make themselves look good to their allies. There is absolutely no concern for humanity in anything either leader has said. This is unacceptable and we need to make a LOT of noise to get the nonsense to stop.

Using Children For Terror

Offender: Daesh.  First, they sent a child to a wedding with a bomb strapped to his chest. 50 were killed, mostly other children. This week, the band of idiots released a video showing children executing hostages.  No, I’m not linking to the video. No one should. This nonsense is unacceptable at the very highest order. As unacceptable as terrorism is on any level, using children to commit their despicable acts is beyond inexcusable.

Here’s the thing: bombing Daesh back to the stone age, as some of our own right-wing radicals have suggested, doesn’t solve the problem. If we want to stop Daesh, we have to stop giving people a reason to want to join them. We have to stop marginalizing Muslims both here and around the world. Daesh is already using the rhetoric of the Republican presidential candidate in their recruiting efforts. They see the world as us against them, that we are trying to eliminate their culture and replace it with ours. They look at our 60+ years of constant interference in the region as an imperialistic power grab.

As much as we abhor their tactics, we cannot fire with fire in this instance. At least, not yet. When we bring Muslims into the Western mainstream with acceptance and inclusion, we take away Daesh’s power. When we support real Muslims, not the wannabes who strap bombs to children, we give them strength to stand up and fight against those who usurp their religion. There are enough moderate, peace-loving Muslims in the Middle East to drive out radical terrorism completely. We must support them, not just with weapons, but by welcoming to participate in the world alongside us. Until we do, more unacceptable acts will happen.

Speak Up

I’ve had my turn at yelling and screaming.   Now it’s your turn. We’ve seen that mass public pressure can have a positive effect on world events. You have to say something. Share this article. Tweet your displeasure. Make your voice heard. Your options are many. Find a way.

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Current Issues  /  PotD  /  Social Commentary
Fair Doesn’t Get Personal
May 22, 2016
charles i. letbetter - fair isn't personal

The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made. —Groucho Marx

 

charles i. letbetter - fair doesnt get personal

Complaining about life not being fair is immoral when you’re already so close to the top.

I could be very frank with you and say that life isn’t fair. Ever. I could end this article here and go back to bed, which sounds so very tempting. But to do that would be missing the entire point this morning. You already know life isn’t fair. You feel how unfair life is everytime the car doesn’t start, or someone else gets the girl, or the baby throws up on you just as you’re about to walk out the door. You don’t need me to tell you that life isn’t fair. What I want you to hear this morning is that nothing to do with fairness, the good, the bad, or the indifferent, is personal. The universe is not picking on you.

From the earliest point in our lives, we look for fairness. If we see a child with a lollipop, we want a lollipop. If one of our classmates has new shoes, we think we deserve new shoes  as well. Someone gets paid a given amount for a certain job, we think it’s only fair that everyone be paid the same amount for the same job. This concept of what is fair seems to be universal. Even monkeys understand equal pay for equal work. We want everything in our lives to be fair, or so we say.

The fact is, if you’re living in the United States, Canada, or most of Western Europe, the scales are already tipped in your favor. Those little inconveniences you consider unfair are little more than a minor balancing of the universal measure of right and wrong, and chances are you’re still coming out much better than the vast majority of  people. Consider some of the following comparisons:

Why? What’s fair isn’t a personal thing. Shit happens on a universal basis. There’s no cosmic calculator that is keeping tabs on the number of good things you get versus the bad. There’s no mystical figure in the sky or below the earth who is waiting to reward you for being nice, or punish you for being a total bitch. Instead, what we consider to be fairness has more to do with where on the planet you were born, whether your parents were (comparatively) rich, and whether you had the opportunity to go to school. If you had those things, life is likely to be overly fair to you. If you were born with those factors against you, life is more likely to feel like the bottom of a global shithole.

Whether you want to admit it or not, if you were born in the US, regardless of any other factor, life for you is more fair than 85% of the rest of the world. Here’s another list:

  • While you complain about slow internet speeds or lack of wifi in a given location, 60% of the world still has no internet service at all.
  • When you complain about the long wait times at the doctor’s office, consider that 27% of the world’s population has no access to modern healthcare at all.
  • If you are tempted to complain about your job, remember that over 200 million people around the world have no job and few prospects for ever getting one.
  • Before you gripe about the assembly instructions being in more than one language, know that 750 million people in the world can’t read at all.
  • As you’re complaining about the slow service at that restaurant, over 795 million people will go hungry today. Most of those will go hungry tomorrow as well.

Are any of those statistics in any way fair? What is fair about children in one part of the world sleeping soundly at night while those in a different region huddle together in fear as they listen to bombs falling around them? What is fair about women in Africa walking multiple miles each day to collect water when all you do is turn a tap and then complain because you don’t like the way it tastes?

In the past week, I’ve heard people complain that they didn’t think it fair that someone was prettier, someone had bigger boobs, someone had a better spouse, someone had a better job, someone had a bigger house. Each one of those people specifically said they didn’t think their current condition was fair.

I don’t think the real problem is one of fairness at all. Life isn’t treating you mean, the universe doesn’t have a target attached to your forehead. You’re just greedy, and perhaps lacking in perspective. Your desire for more blocks your ability to see just how much you already have.

Life is treating you just fine. So not every little detail goes your way. So someone else gets the promotion at work. So Brad Pitt will still be hotter than me even when he’s 98.

You’re alive. That’s fair.

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Advertising  /  Current Issues  /  Fashion  /  Mythology  /  PotD
Predicting The Future
May 2, 2016
CHARLES I. LETBETTER - predicting the future

Never make predictions, especially about the future. —Casey Stengel

 

charles i. letbetter - predicting the future

Sure, trying to guess a future that is, at best, blurry is risky, but some things are more certain than others.

I’ve met a lot of shysters and con men over the years. I hate to admit I’ve even been taken in by a couple of them. Those who know how to read people well can easily manipulate them. One of the most common, and obvious, cons is predicting a person’s future. We know when we sit at the small, sparsely-adorned table that what we’re about to hear is fake, but still there is a part of us that wants it to be true, especially when the fortune teller says things we want to hear.

There have been a few times, though, I have come across people who seemed to have an unusual amount of insight, and at least a couple of them were wearing suits. They had an uncanny sense of  the future; where markets were heading, which technologies would live, which would die, and the unexpected ways in which those technologies would affect society. The business world prefers to call them futurists. Then, there was that strange person who walked up to me at a Starbucks in Atlanta, unprovoked, and said, “You’re going to lose everything.” Yeah, that’ll leave an unsettling feeling in your stomach.

Even futurists don’t get everything right, but I think there are some things that are more certain than others and we can tell simply by watching trends and adjusting our actions accordingly.  While there is still no accurate indicator of when you’ll find love (scam, every time), we stroked the fur of our black cat this morning and came up with some predictions for the future we think we pretty accurate.

  • Men’s Fashion Week is doomed and androgyny will slowly take over fashion. In some ways, the handwriting would almost seem to be on the wall with this one. An article in this morning’s WWD discusses yet another major label, Gucci, combining both men’s and women’s fashion on their runways. To some degree, the move just makes financial sense. However, over the next few years what this is likely to set up is a greater amount of androgyny across fashion. We’ve already started seeing it in some of the younger, more “street” labels such as Public School and Alexander Wang, but don’t be surprised when the transition reaches the point that couples can shop not just at the same store, but off the same rack.
  • A major South American war seems inevitable and the US will largely ignore it. Yeah, that’s a little vague, because there are multiple countries where revolution seems ripe. At the moment, food shortages in Venezuela have that country high on my list. People who are hungry do desperate things and Venezuelans seem to be reaching that tipping point quickly. They’re not the only ones, though, as both Brazil, for whom this summer’s Olympics may be an economic bust, and Columbia, where unrest among cartels and the government is simmering, could erupt as soon as this fall. Unfortunately, and somewhat inexplicably, the United States has never taken the interest in South American humanitarian conditions that it does with Europe and elsewhere. One might almost think we’ve forgotten our neighbors to the South. I don’t see that attitude changing.
  • Straight, monogamous sexual relationships will become the minority preference. We’re already well on our way toward this one. As social acceptance of gay, lesbian, bi, and transgendered lifestyles reaches a sense of normalcy, other “alternative” sexual preferences inevitably begin to rise as well. New York Magazine published an article last week with findings from a Kinsey Institute study, the largest of its kind, showing that roughly 21 percent of adults in America have engaged in “consensual non-monogamy and kink” at some point in their lifetime. Kat and I talked this one through a bit and feel that this surprisingly high number is tilted toward younger generations where alternative lifestyles in general face less social stigma than they do with those my generation and older. Combine these people with the LGBT crowd and, even allowing for some overlap in the two groups, that number is likely nearly 40% already. Upcoming generations are likely to embrace that trend and grow the numbers even more. The social and political impact of this will be considerable.
  • Children currently under the age of ten are most likely to be affected by a full-scale cyber war during their lifetime. Yes, it’s easy to make such projections on the very young, but the future almost seems inevitable on this one. If you’re not familiar with the term “Internet of Things (IoT)” then you might want to start reading. The basic concept is that soon everything will be connected digitally, including manufacturing. While that may be a challenging concept to comprehend, one of the side effects is that wealth and power and likely to become even more concentrated, which means when they are primary targets in the future of warfare. Those who successfully hack the IoT will be able to disrupt food supplies, access to basic services, and completely shut down banking, leaving people stranded from their money. Traditional warfare with Marines landing on beaches goes out the window and a handful of people will have the ability to bring mighty countries to their knees.
  • Religions will fall out of social favor and will be seen more as cults. This is a pendulum swing that seems to happen every few hundred years and we can see it coming. Nearly 30% of Americans now list themselves as religiously unaffiliated. Again, the trend is being driven by younger generations who are less accepting of religious precepts and totally deny any religious authority. Historically, this ushers in a period of severe secularism where those espousing any form of visible religious observance are labeled as extremists and religions themselves as cults. This trend isn’t just among Americans, either, as similar trends have been noted in Europe and Australia and is driven not only by violent extremists in the Middle East but right-wing political involvement as well. The arc historically takes 200-300 years to complete and by my estimation, we’re still at least a generation or two from that arc reaching its apex.

Now, all that being said, we are obligated to add the caveat that the future is never written until it is past. Are there actions that could disrupt these predictions? Sure, but these are strong trends and I’m giving these predictions around a 90% chance of coming true. If I’m wrong, you are more than welcome to remind me. However, when I’m right ….

Yeah, I’m going to say I told you so.

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Current Issues  /  Photography
Pulitzer Prize Depression
April 19, 2016
charles i. letbetter - pulitzer prize depression

The Pulitzer Prize is an idea; it’s a vote of confidence. Like literature, it exists purely in the mind. —Jeffrey Eugenides

 

charles i. letbetter - pulitzer prize depression

I’m not eligible for a Pulitzer Prize, but if I were I’m not sure I’d want the honor

The annual Pulitzer Prizes were awarded yesterday and, as with every year for the past 30, I had just a momentary touch of jealousy. There was a very brief period in my life where I thought I wanted that particular recognition, or at least, the money that goes along with it. The cash would always come in handy, but I no longer truly desire that prize because what one has to photograph to win the damn thing doesn’t suit me particularly well.

If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, let’s take a look at the Pulitzer winners in the photography categories for the past ten years. Stop me when you notice a pattern.

2007 Breaking News Photography: Oded Balilty of Associated Press For his powerful photograph of a lone Jewish woman defying Israeli security forces as they remove illegal settlers in the West Bank.

Feature Photography: Renée C. Byer of The Sacramento Bee For her intimate portrayal of a single mother and her young son as he loses his battle with cancer.

2008 Breaking News Photography: Adrees Latif of Reuters For his dramatic photograph of a Japanese videographer, sprawled on the pavement, fatally wounded during a street demonstration in Myanmar.

Feature Photography: Preston Gannaway of Concord (NH) Monitor For her intimate chronicle of a family coping with a parent’s terminal illness.

2009 Breaking News Photography: Patrick Farrell of The Miami Herald For his provocative, impeccably composed images of despair after Hurricane Ike and other lethal storms caused a humanitarian disaster in Haiti.

Feature Photography: Damon Winter of The New York Times For his memorable array of pictures deftly capturing multiple facets of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.

2010 Breaking News Photography: Mary Chind of The Des Moines Register For her photograph of the heart-stopping moment when a rescuer dangling in a makeshift harness tries to save a woman trapped in the foaming water beneath a dam.

Feature Photography: Craig F. Walker of The Denver Post For his intimate portrait of a teenager who joins the Army at the height of insurgent violence in Iraq, poignantly searching for meaning and manhood.

2011 Breaking News Photography: Carol Guzy, Nikki Kahn and Ricky Carioti of The Washington Post For their up-close portrait of grief and desperation after a catastrophic earthquake struck Haiti.

Feature Photography: Barbara Davidson of Los Angeles Times For her intimate story of innocent victims trapped in the city’s crossfire of deadly gang violence.

2012 Breaking News Photography: Massoud Hossaini of Agence France-Presse For his heartbreaking image of a girl crying in fear after a suicide bomber’s attack at a crowded shrine in Kabul.

Feature Photography: Craig F. Walker of The Denver Post For his compassionate chronicle of an honorably discharged veteran, home from Iraq and struggling with a severe case of post-traumatic stress, images that enable viewers to better grasp a national issue.

2013 Breaking News Photography: Rodrigo Abd, Manu Brabo, Narciso Contreras, Khalil Hamra and Muhammed Muheisen of Associated Press For their compelling coverage of the civil war in Syria, producing memorable images under extreme hazard.

Feature Photography: Javier Manzano of Agence France-Presse For his extraordinary picture, distributed by Agence France-Presse, of two Syrian rebel soldiers tensely guarding their position as beams of light stream through bullet holes in a nearby metal wall.

2014 Breaking News Photography: Tyler Hicks of The New York Times For his compelling pictures that showed skill and bravery in documenting the unfolding terrorist attack at Westgate mall in Kenya.

Feature Photography: Josh Haner of The New York Times For his moving essay on a Boston Marathon bomb blast victim who lost most of both legs and now is painfully rebuilding his life.

2015 Breaking News Photography: Photography Staff of St. Louis Post-Dispatch For powerful images of the despair and anger in Ferguson, MO, stunning photojournalism that served the community while informing the country.

Feature Photography: Daniel Berehulak of The New York Times For his gripping, courageous photographs of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa.

2016 Breaking News Photography: Mauricio Lima, Sergey Ponomarev, Tyler Hicks and Daniel Etter of The New York TimesFor photographs that captured the resolve of refugees, the perils of their journeys and the struggle of host countries to take them in. Also receiving the prize is the Photography Staff of Thomson Reuters For gripping photographs, each with its own voice, that follow migrant refugees hundreds of miles across uncertain boundaries to unknown destinations.

Feature Photography: Jessica Rinaldi of The Boston Globe: For the raw and revealing photographic story of a boy who strives to find his footing after abuse by those he trusted.

There you have it: ten years worth of Pulitzer prizes for photography. Every one of those entries represents not only amazing photographs, but unbelievable amounts of pain, sacrifice, loss, and incredible risks, including their own lives. One doesn’t get the pictures awarded here without going where no sane person would want to go and taking pictures that, in a perfect world, would never need to be taken.

Therein lies the reason I don’t want a Pulitzer. If I’m winning a Pulitzer prize for photography, it is because someone else has suffered to such an extent that their suffering is visible through the photographs awarded. Of all the pictures on the list above, only the 2009 award for images of President Obama’s first presidential campaign didn’t come with someone facing death, disease, and/or destruction. Yes, we need to see those pictures, and they almost certainly need to be pushed to the front so that we have to visually confront the horrible reality that faces people other than ourselves. We need to know that while we’re complaining about a WiFi signal, Somali refugees are dying by the hundreds in cold ocean waters. We need to see the suffering caused by a pandemic such as Ebola. Without those pictures, we are not able to appreciate the horrible conditions and we are not as inclined to help rectify those problems.

I’ve known Pulitzer prize winners over the years, though, and those people don’t come out of long-term assignments like that without a few scars, both physical and mental.  Not all of them are able to continue. Ghosts of their subjects, some of whom have died in the photographer’s arms, haunt them every time they raise a viewfinder to their eye. Nightmares of bombs going off or people in need tugging at their clothes prevent them from being able to sleep. Some winners refer to the prize as a curse for they can never shake those images and the heart-wrenching emotions that go with them.

Maybe my pictures of a little girl sitting on a stump and being silly are not earth-shatteringly important. Maybe my pictures don’t open people’s eyes to horrible conditions around the world. Maybe my pictures are sometimes simplistic portraits of people who hold no other significance than just wanting to have their picture taken. I’m okay with that.

There are photographers whose pictures are frightening, whose pictures bring your worry, and whose pictures maybe even induce some level of guilt. Those are the ones that win Pulitzers. But if my pictures make you smile, give you a reason to feel confident or good about yourself, or bring back a happy memory, then is that not its own prize? And most the time, I’m not at risk of contracting a deadly disease and dying six months later. I’m good with that.

However, should you feel the need to give me $10,000 for my effort, I won’t turn it down.

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Current Issues  /  PotD
Shaking Feelings Of Impending Doom
March 23, 2016
charles i. letbetter - shaking feelings of impending doom

A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom. —Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

charles i. letbetter - shaking feelings of impending doom

Between terrorists’ bombs and bad politics, feelings of impending doom are difficult to shake.

I hate to admit it, but yesterday’s bombings in Brussels hit me extra hard. I was sitting here yesterday morning, looking for a picture in the archives, when the news flash came across my screen. I wasn’t surprised. Police have been focusing on Belgium since the Paris attacks in November. At the moment, it seemed just another sad facet of the increasingly violent reality in which we live. Push forward. Keep going.

There was something different this time, though; something I have more difficulty explaining. Kat and I were having a rare quiet lunch at one of our favorite Mass Ave. restaurants and instead of enjoying the brief moment without children I couldn’t shake the feeling that something in the universe had changed that morning, and not for the better. There was an emotional shift toward that feeling of impending doom. This was before I heard of the Peruvian mother of three-year-old twins who died at the ticket counter. Neither had I seen the pictures and videos of broken glass and strewn bodies. Brussels, somehow, was different.

Be sure, security forces around the world are on heightened alert and I don’t expect they’ll be too friendly with anyone they see wearing only one glove as yesterday’s suspected bombers did. At almost exactly the same time, without knowledge of the Brussels attacks, the US military conducted an airstrike against an Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula training camp in Yemen.  If we’re counting body bags, we killed more of them than they did us. Is this feeling of doom really necessary and warranted?

Politics isn’t helping. The US presidential primary race has done a very good job of demonstrating the Dilbert principle of the least qualified rising to the top. If Scott Adams were to illustrate the current nominees, he’d have nothing but a row of pointy-haired bosses lined up making excuses and blaming everyone else for all the world’s problems, making the most bizarre and nonsensical statements, each trying to outdo the other’s stupidity. Given that from this set of clowns we are destined to choose our next president, it is difficult to imagine the next four years going in a positive direction.

Top that with tensions in East Asia. Every time North Korea lobs another set of missiles into the Sea of Japan or China sends warships into portions of the South China Sea claimed by Japan, I get nervous. I have a son stationed on one of the bases in Okinawa. It doesn’t take a great military strategist to figure out that should tensions escalate into actual fighting, our first line of defense, and offense, is going to come from those bases. Marines have a history of being the first into a situation. That does not give me any comfort at the moment.

My dreams last night played off this feeling of impending doom. In my dreams, I was supposed to be on a multi-city European photography tour, but I missed my flight at one of the stops and was stuck in, of all places, Brussels. The dreams weren’t necessarily horrific in any way; they centered on the frustration of not being able to find anyone who could help me catch up with the group. But that challenge of not being able to find help when it was needed lasted all night long. I was rather relieved when my alarm went off.

So, how do we shake this feeling of impending doom? We all know that we can’t be productive with such negative emotions dominating our lives. Is this just common anxiety run amok? If so, Kat’s continual charge that I need to chill would seem to be appropriate. Oh, but did you know that physical issues such as cardiac arrhythmia and myocardial infarction can also cause one to have feelings of impending doom? Ah, and apparently too much Nutmeg can cause hallucinations and feelings of impending doom. Anything that interrupts the natural, steady heart rate can result in us feeling as though the entire world is about to end. I’ll be sure to take my blood pressure meds this morning.

Beyond all that, though, I think we have to take control of the information we receive and how we respond to those things we cannot control. I have a list of things that I think might help. Mind you, I’m not a medical or psychiatric professional, but a quick survey of materials didn’t give me much faith in the ability of professionals to address the situation, either. So, let’s go with this and see what happens.

  • Limit the amount of news intake. I’ll admit to being a news junkie and there are times when I can stayed glued to news feeds for hours. Now is not a good time to do that. I’m limiting myself to twice a day, no more than 30 minutes each time. Your limits may vary.
  • Spend time with people, live, in person. Now is not the time to be a social hermit. We see the worst in people when our only exposure to them is Facebook. Having real conversations with people helps restore our faith in humanity as a whole.
  • Give a pet a rub, unless your pet is a goldfish, in which case just watching is probably enough. Pets have a wonderful way of absorbing our anxieties, giving us a chance to relax a moment, get our breathing back on a normal pattern, and giving us a positive feeling.
  • Indulge in a comfort food. Singular. One. Mine will be chocolate. While this isn’t a good time to overeat, the pleasure of a comfort food releases happy little endorphins that boosts our moods and gives us a more hopeful feeling.
  • Go for a walk. Again, it’s that combination of removing yourself from those stressors, getting some exercise, and being out in nature. Precautions might be appropriate for those who have allergy issues this time of year, though. Sneezing and runny noses don’t help.
  • Smoke ’em if you’ve got ’em. I know, every health professional on the planet just screamed in anguish at that one.  Let’s get real, though. If we’re all going to die (and we are), we want to feel in control of what takes us there. The pain of lung cancer is preferable to being a bombing victim because we’re the ones in control. Yes, it’s a bad habit and you really should stop. But a couple of puffs of a pipe or a good cigar can be therapeautic. And if you’re smoking green rather than brown, all the better.

if none of those work, then perhaps it’s time to consult a professional. I would recommend starting with your family doctor. Cardiac issues really do impact our emotional state and feelings of impending doom. We can shake this, though. If we don’t, we seal our own fate.

Good luck.

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Current Issues  /  PotD
Wishing For The Apocalypse
March 6, 2016

The probability of apocalypse soon cannot be realistically estimated, but it is surely too high for any sane person to contemplate with equanimity. —Noam Chomsky

 

charles i. letbetter - waiting for the apocalypse

Our society has reached a point where the disasters of apocalypse are viewed as preferable to the fallacies of the status quo.

12 I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth [made] of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. 14 The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; 16 and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” —Revelation 6:12-17 NASB

My late father, the preacher, held certain views of the Bible more because of tradition than actual academic understanding of scripture. One of those views was that there is a coming apocalypse from which Christians would be spared by the second-coming of Christ. That, in a nutshell, is the essence of a pre-millennial view. Popa likely held that viewpoint because when he was growing up and going to school in rural Arkansas there was no other viewpoint. It would not be until many years later that he would even be exposed to alternative theologies and when, as an adult, I first approached him with the concept of amillennialism, that there was neither a second coming nor a god-appointed apocalypse, he considered such a thing unbiblical.

Regardless of one’s millennial approach, the universal opinion was always that the apocalypse was bad. That whole thing about hiding in caves and begging to be caught in an avalanche doesn’t need a lot of translation. Regardless of its literal or metaphoric details, an apocalypse was something to be avoided. Worse than any war we have ever experienced, an apocalypse would leave few alive and those few would rather be dead.

Christianity isn’t the only major religion to have an apocalyptic scenario in their cannon. Islam teaches that Isa will return and be accompanied by Mahdi to destroy Christian innovation and convert the world to Islam. Listen carefully and you’ll hear Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speak often of the return of Mahdi. Ancient Mayans had an apocalyptic tale as well, though theirs may have come true with the arrival of Cortez on the continent. No matter where one finds such prognostication, the end results are always the same: nearly everyone dies.

When I look at contemporary society, though, the way it has transitioned over the past five years, it seems that we have gone from fearing an apocalypse to actually wanting one to happen. As evidence, let me offer the popularity of the movie, Mad Max: Fury Road, which won six Oscars. It wasn’t all that long ago that such tales were seen as cautionary, a warning to avoid such calamity. With this movie, though, the dangers of the apocalypse and its social fallout are preferable to a tyrannical government. Audiences cheer on those who cause chaos against a status quo in which they feel they have no control.

We would be short-sighted, however, if we blamed everything on government or expected a presidential candidate to have any hope of adequately addressing our situation. Government, like it or not, is a reflection of the people it represents. If there is corruption it is because we, as a collective society, are corrupt. If the government behaves immorally it is only because we have given it permission to do so on our behalf. We cannot blame government for our ills when we are the government.

There was a new article posted to Psychology Today this morning warns against the dangerous lack of empathy in our society. Attorney David Niose makes an interesting observation:

It’s noteworthy, and undeniable, that two antonyms of empathy—disdain and indifference—have become cornerstones of American politics. When outsiders are routinely reviled, targeted for blame by an impulsive population that isn’t capable of rational thought, bad things can happen. Add doses of anti-intellectualism, nationalism, and militarism to the mix, and you have a formula for disaster. Just ask Germany.

The reference to Germany and, by extension, the crimes of World War II are troubling. Granted, we’ve heard such mean-spirited diatribe in political circles during every election cycle of the past two decades. I find it interesting that the further we get away from having leadership that actually remembers and participated in that horrible war, barely preventing an apocalypse of our own doing, the more willing we are to accuse those who disagree with us of harboring the same sentiments as war criminals. Still, yanking the conversation out of the political realm for a moment, Mr. Noise’s observations regarding the lack of empathy are accurate. Without empathy, we are far too eager to destroy our fellow man and we are less likely to care by what means we do so.

I once laughed out loud at the religious fear tactic that one needed to “get right with God” because the apocalypse is surely coming and the Anti-Christ is sure among us and all those who don’t believe are going to DIE or wish they could. Not only did I not believe in an apocalyptic event forecasted by a crazy man on an island some 1900 years ago, but I couldn’t believe that society would collapse to such a point as to allow it. I was young. I was naïve.

Now, I’m scared. Religious extremists have shifted from wanting to avoid apocalypse to embracing it. Those disenchanted on both ends of the political spectrum no longer believe a solution can be found within the system and are willing to scrap everything and start over with whatever remnant survives. Marginalized populations made economic slaves by the greed of corporate demagogues stand ready to blow up factories and sacrifice their fellow workers in order to make their voice heard.

Those wishing for the  apocalypse are almost certainly those who understand the consequences the least. Real life is not like the movies. Charlize Theron, as beautiful as she is, is not going to save anyone. When the apocalypse comes, the majority of us will vanish in a flash and it won’t be because some demi-god suddenly returned but because nuclear annihilation is a real thing. The only thing good to come of an apocalypse is that the overpopulation problem will be solved.

I dislike any policy or authority based on fear, but the pressing threat of apocalypse should cause us all to be very frightened, consider very carefully for whom we vote, and think more empathetically about those around us. If we don’t all thrive together, we shall surely die together.

Boom. Flash. Bye.

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Advertising  /  Photography
War Photography: Now More Than Ever
January 15, 2016
charles i. letbetter - war photography

I became a photographer in order to be a war photographer, and a photographer involved in what I thought were critical social issues. From the very beginning this was my goal.—James Nachtwey

 

charles i. letbetter - war photography: now more than ever

United States Marine Corp Color Guard on parade, Marine Corp Recruit Depot (MCRD), Parris Island, South Carolina

Some jobs are tougher than others. Surgeons, Diesel mechanics, coal miners; those are tough jobs full of stress and hard labor. Generally speaking, when one tells someone that they’re a photographer, people think of a life of fun, beaches, pretty girls, and wild parties. But for some of my colleagues, nothing could be further from the truth. Dodging bullets and improvised explosive devices, risking your life, being considered a burden, and editors demanding more are just a few of the things a war photographer endures on a daily basis. War photography is the most dangerous, but also the most necessary way to wield a camera. Without these pictures, we give ourselves over to despots.

Now, Paris ad agency BETC takes up the cause of war reporters and photographers on behalf of Reporters Sans Frontières (Reporters Without Borders) at a time when both are in short supply and those who are in the field more directly in danger than ever before. The 80-second ad makes a stark comparison between nationalistic propaganda, all pretty and shiny as armies march on parade, versus the harsh realities of war: mass graves, bombed-out buildings, and homes, children crying for lost parents, troops struggling to survive.

The timing of this ad, which is meant as a fundraiser for the non-profit supporting and protecting war correspondents, is important. This is an election year in the United States and of the massive group of presidential contenders, only one, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, has any actual military service. Yet, when the topic of terrorism is raised, out come the verbal swords with Senator Sanders the only one of the group not advocating an over-the-top military response. As someone else has said, it is easy to send troops to war when it’s not the asses of your own children you’re putting on the line. Politicians can make war sound really attractive when all we’re seeing is state-manufactured propaganda.

War photographers, however, keep it real and that is exactly why their work is so very important. They show us the reality of war; the pain, the suffering even for our own troops. Thanks to war photographers, we come closer to understanding the horrors of concentration camps such as Auschwitz. War photographers remind us that war is something to be avoided at all costs, not something to be embraced.

The late photographer and poet Susan Sontag wrote in Regarding The Pain of Others:

“As objects of contemplation, images of the atrocious can answer to several different needs. To steel oneself against weakness. To make oneself more numb. To acknowledge the existence of the incorrigible. ”

We need war photography, even though they unquestionably risk a society that is increasingly desensitized to pictures of skulls being crushed by tanks or the bullet-ridden bodies of children lying in the streets. And we don’t see the worst. Editors at the Associated Press regularly tag some of the most violent images as “Not for US release.” The thinking is that if we saw war at its most grotesque we might turn away from the images completely.

As a photographer myself, I am also aware of the number of photographers who have been outright murdered by terrorists over the past several years. Few photographers are hired by the military anymore, and they really don’t like embedding them with troops. Many of the images you see are taken by freelancers who willing put themselves at risk in order to tell the truth. They have little protection should they be captured. Governments are rarely willing to risk any resources to save their lives. This is where Reporters Without Borders steps in and does their best to provide mediation and assistance. Their work is invaluable. War photography is critical to keeping us informed of what is really happening around the world.

War photography, in my opinion, is work best left to those who don’t have familial responsibilities here at home. The risks are severe and the lives lost are too many. Part of my admiration for these colleagues is the fact I don’t think I could ever take the pictures they do. The pictures you see here were taken in the relative safety of visiting my Marine son at his graduation from boot camp; downtown Indianapolis is more dangerous. So, take a look at the ad. Notice, especially, the very last image. This is real. This is important. And to all those who risk their lives to keep us informed, thank you.

 

 

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Current Issues  /  PotD
The State Of The Union Through Tinted Glass
January 12, 2016
charles i. letbetter - the state of the union through tinted glass

We know how to save the Union. The world knows we do know how to save it. We, even we here, hold the power and bear the responsibility. In giving freedom to the slave we assure freedom to the free–honorable alike in what we give and what we preserve. We shall nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope of earth.—Abraham Lincoln, State of the Union address, 1862

 

charles i. letbetter - state of the union

Young Kennedys (2012). Models: Erin Rowe and Joel Hoffman. Hair and Makeup: Christopher Thompson

This is a reality check. If you look at this picture and think this represents the United States as it is now, the state of our union, you’re living within a pipe dream. For that matter, if you think today’s picture ever truly represented who we really are, you are a poor student of history. The idyllic, white-bread, everything-is-wonderful world so often attributed to the Kennedy administration never really existed. Just as this photograph is a work of fiction, so is the concept that somewhere back there, between the Eisenhower and Kennedy years, everything was fine and America was perfect.

We are reticent to realize that the state of our union has never been as perfect as it appears when we look back through rose tinted glasses. That era of your parents or grandparents wasn’t nearly as cheerful and happy as some today would make it seem. Theirs was a generation that lived in constant fear, jumping at every sound, constantly diligent in watching the skies and regarding with suspicion anyone who spoke with a non-coloquial accent. Children of that generation, myself included, would have bomb raid drills at school where we would hide under our desks in the vain hope that would prevent us from dying in a nuclear attack. Segregation was real, and inforced. I was in eighth grade before I didn’t have the darkest skin in my classroom. Millions were hopelessly addicted to the cigarettes their doctors told them to smoke for their nerves and they dropped dead in equal number between the ages of 65-70 without understanding why. Retirement was feared because it meant death wasn’t far off.

Do we really want to go back to those days? No, I didn’t think so. America wasn’t as great as we like to pretend.

When the framers of the Constiution decided it would be a good idea for the President to annualy update Congress on how the nation is doing, there was almost certainly an implied sense that if the country wasn’t doing well the Executive just might be replaced. While the impeachment clause was never used until 1868, the threat was always there and with feelings between the Legislative and Executive branches having often been contentious the habit was quickly developed wherein the State of the Union address was made to sound as positive and cheerful as possible, while also being used as a tool for laying out the President’s agenda for the next year.

When President Obama speaks this evening, he’s not going to give us a hard-edged look at reality. He will tout his considerable accomplishments, mention that unempoloyment is down and that manufacturing is up, that the automotive industry is no longer on the brink of collapse as it was when he took office eight years ago. He’ll take about civil rights advancements, specifically the rights of gays and lesbians to marry. and he’ll talk about health care. He’ll give a nod to gun reform but he won’t say anything there he hasn’t said before. Instead, he’ll try to make a case for making his replacement a Democrat so that the country might keep moving forward. In some form or fashion, he’ll say that the state of our union is good, and strong, because that’s what we want Presidents to do: give us a cheery, tinted-glass view of a reality we know doesn’t exist.

Were the President to lay it all out on the table for us, here are some of the points he would have to address:

  • We remain a nation steeped in racism just as severely as we were in 1860. We don’t like to think we are, but our actions prove differently not only in Ferguson and Charleston, but in the very way we’ve treated this President from the moment he was elected. Anyone who says this country isn’t racist is a fucking liar and deserves to be slapped.
  • The gains we’ve made economically are being undermined by global forces larger than we are. Our mistake is a mounting debt, primarily owned by China, at a time when the Chinese economy isn’t doing so well itself. We’re not alone. The EU, Russia, and most of South America is in exactly the same condition if not worse. We’re looking at a pending global economic collapse the like of which we’ve never seen, and we’re largely powerless to stop it.
  • The United States is the most violent industrialized nation in the world. Let’s be clear that we’re making a distinction among industrialized nations. What that designation means, though, is that we should know better. We don’t have any reason to be killing each other at the rate we are. This is more than a gun issue, which is a significant matter on its own. We are actually stupid enough to think that violence solves anything. We teach our children, if not through our words then through our actions, that violence is a solution. Not only is our murder rate inexcusable, incidents of domestic violence and rape are even higher, and we still have some members of Congress who think those matters aren’t really crimes at all.
  • We still pay and treat women as second class citizens. If it happens at all, it happens too much. We should be beyond this.
  • 17.5 million households, approximately one in seven, are food insecure. In 2014, there were 46.7 million people in poverty and that number has been rising steadily despite decreasing unemployment numbers. What that tells us is that the jobs people have are not enough to pay for housing, food, and clothing, let alone transportation, education, Internet service, and other things necessary to actually improve one’s condition. Even some members of our own military live well below the poverty line.(Source: World Hunger Education Services Associates)
  • We remain stuck in the Middle East with escalating situations not only in Syria but in Iraq and Saudi Arabia, Palestine, and Israel. We talk big, but the frightening reality is that we’ve tried solutions from both Republican and Democratic administrations and neither have worked. One has to seriously wonder if anyone in Washington actually has a viable solution.

With all due respect Mr. President, the state of our union is not good, is not strong, and it hasn’t been for a very, very long time. What’s important, though, is that this is not a nation that gives up. We may get things wrong more often than we get them right, but at least we keep trying, we keep tilting with that windmill with all the conviction of a knight convinced he can slay any dragon.

We actually think we can improve our country, and perhaps we can. But first, we must remove the tinted glasses through which we’ve been looking, recognize this picture for the myth it is, and then flood the polls this year, including the primaries, with an attitude that we have no choice but to progress and move forward.

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