False Prophets (Babylon, Five.)

The bow of God’s wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood. Thus all you that never passed under a great change of heart, by the mighty power of the Spirit of God upon your souls; all you that were never born again, and made new creatures, and raised from being dead in sin, to a state of new, and before altogether unexperienced light and life, are in the hands of an angry God. However you may have reformed your life in many things, and may have had religious affections, and may keep up a form of religion in your families and closets, and in the house of God, it is nothing but his mere pleasure that keeps you from being this moment swallowed up in everlasting destruction. However unconvinced you may now be of the truth of what you hear, by and by you will be fully convinced of it. Those that are gone from being in the like circumstances with you, see that it was so with them; for destruction came suddenly upon most of them; when they expected nothing of it, and while they were saying, Peace and safety: now they see, that those things on which they depended for peace and safety, were nothing but thin air and empty shadows.

The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours. You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince; and yet it is nothing but his hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment. It is to be ascribed to nothing else, that you did not go to hell the last night; that you were suffered to awake again in this world, after you closed your eyes to sleep. And there is no other reason to be given, why you have not dropped into hell since you arose in the morning, but that God’s hand has held you up. There is no other reason to be given why you have not gone to hell, since you have sat here in the house of God, provoking his pure eyes by your sinful wicked manner of attending his solemn worship. Yea, there is nothing else that is to be given as a reason why you do not this very moment drop down into hell. ~Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God, Jonathan Edwards, 1741

...

And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.

And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.

How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she said in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judges her.

And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,

Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. ~Revelation 18:1-10

I saw this when I got home from work this morning.

You know how I know Trump is in trouble, and knows it??

My ex-wife used to talk like this when things were going badly. As a Pentecostal, she'd literally try to curse people, and try to "Speak things into being." Yes, I know, anybody with two working brain cells is like "None of this works that way!" Well, she didn't have two working brain cells. So, let me explain; Basically, she was always trying to conjure what she thought she wanted by sheer force of will. In case you wonder why I think a lot of this shit is basically badly attempted Sorcery, and Witchcraft, as in trying to use religious-sounding mumbo jumbo to cheat and manipulate the universe.

The funny part is last I knew my ex-wife wasn't MAGA.

But MAGA is built on the same kind of foundation of emotional and spiritual manipulation as a lot of Pentecostal churches are, including all the ones I saw my ex attend.

It's a Christ-less Christianity, the people who practice and preach it are False Prophets.

As a gamer who plays various editions of White Wolf's RPG Vampire: The Masquerade, let me put it a little more simply; This bitch was trying to make Willpower checks to control the Universe and claiming powers she did not possess.

The Universe of course responded "LOL" the vast majority of the time.

It's the rare times coincidence or fate or raw ability to lie gave them what they wanted, that are what these fucking people hang onto forever.

Donald Trump doesn't even have the faith in Jesus that'd enable him to make such claims as my ex-wife did. Hell, at this point I don't think Trump has faith in Trump.

But, These Fucking People always gotta try that last-ditch stupidity, simply because they don't have anything else left.

I wonder how long it'll be before Trump says "God Told Me...?" or starts Speaking In Tongues at random.

That's these fuckers' very favorite cards to play in these type of situations.

See, once you've dealt with something enough, unless you're emotionally blinded by attachment to it, bad intentions or bad spirits, you tend to crack the code.

And as I've been saying, I don't know what's in the Epstein files, but I think it's bad enough to cause a Revolution all by itself.

Know who's telling me that? 

Trump is.

If it wasn't, he wouldn't be freaking out so bad about it, the government would not have been shut down and we wouldn't be threatening Venezuela with war. I'm serious. It's all distractions.

My newspaper guy at work thinks Trump is a Prosperity Gospel Pentecostal (or has at least bought into all that bullshit without actually accepting Christ) and I can't really say he's wrong, especially not now. 

Why?? Because that is exactly what Trump is acting like.

And here's Mike "Little" Johnson pulling the exact same bullshit.

Again, bro, Communism hasn't even been a thing since 1989. 

I watched the Berlin Wall fall live on CNN.

Reality and Truth happen, I was there, I've seen things with my own eyes. 

 You fuckers ain't gonna Mumbo Jumbo your way out of this one or point and shout "COMMIE!" At least not if you expect that shit to work.

Not least because "Communism" means fuck all to about anybody under 50 at this point.

Like I said yesterday, Sin can become an addiction.

So can religious heresy, which is exactly what the Prosperity Gospel and all this various creepy Dominionist bullshit is.

And these preachers and Republicans, like any petty drug dealer, know they can use addiction to bullshit to control people.

I've personally observed the FOX News bullshit be like a drug to people, typically middle-aged White men.

Only catch is now, they can't control enough people that way.

Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?
Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
~Daniel 3:14-18

These guys know they've been caught, all the distractions have failed. Now, they're hoping they can either normalize pedophilia or find some other way to get enough people to blame somebody else or not give a shit. 

It's not working.

Except on the people that Republican bullshit always works on or who might actually want to live like that.

Among other things, I have my partner and her daughter to worry about now, but that's not the only reason I don't want to live in that kind of world.

For one thing, that shit is wrong. It's disgusting, it's immoral, child sexual abuse scars people for life.

It's one of the few crimes I think is automatically deserving of Death. I'd refuse to execute a murderer under a lot more circumstances than I would spare a child molester, if it was up to me.

I don't know why this is so hard for some people.

And of course these motherfuckers are gonna try to either mimic skeevy religious behavior or use religiosity to try to get out of it...because if we're being honest the Church in America has way too much of a history of tolerating that kind of bullshit.

And then these assholes have the nerve to wonder why people are walking away from religion??

Patriotism and religion are the last refuges of the scoundrel.

In much the same way that macho horseshit is typically the coward's last redoubt.

Yeah, stop and think about that for a second.

You know, I'm starting to think that America is gonna go the way of the Soviet Union just because by the time these fucking people get done with the brand, ain't nobody going to be left that wants to participate in it anymore.

But if you want whatever comes next to be defined by something other than These Fucking People's perversions and insecurities, you're going to have to fight for it.

Otherwise America could go down like a goddamn Church scandal and resulting schism.

You either believe in freedom or you don't.

And you're either willing to fight for it, or you're not.

When the alternative is raising up and worshiping literal Golden Idols of Donald Fucking Trump I think I'd rather go down standing up, yo.

But then I was taught to have standards.

I was taught my Belief had to mean something in terms of my conduct and the real world.

Weren't you??

Which makes me wonder, what the fuck is wrong with all these other motherfuckers??

Слава Україна!

I don't have to tell you, drugs ain't the only things to get addicted to. Some people mainline their work, some people... snort ESPN. Some people needle-pop gambling. There are those that shoot up junk foods, fine wines, Cohibas, baby. Some people get hooked on love. And like any fiend on the street, you always need another bump. Just one more bump, man! Just one more bump! ~Augustus Hill, from the HBO series Oz, S1.E5 "The Straight Life."

Four 

If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. This is the last stand on Earth. And this idea that government is beholden to the people, that it has no other source of power except to sovereign people, is still the newest and most unique idea in all the long history of man's relation to man. This is the issue of this election. Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves. ~Ronald Reagan

Eli Sunday: Daniel, I'm asking if you'd like to have business with the Church of the Third Revelation in developing this lease on young Bandy's thousand acre tract. I'm offering you to drill on one of the great undeveloped fields of Little Boston!  

Daniel Plainview: I'd be happy to work with you.

Eli Sunday: You would? Yes, yes, of course. That’s wonderful.

Daniel Plainview: But there is one condition for this work.

Eli Sunday: All right.

Daniel Plainview: I'd like you to tell me that you are a false prophet. I'd like you to tell me that you are, and have been, a false prophet, and that God is a superstition.

~From the film There Will Be Blood.

You Gotta Want To Be Saved (Babylon, Four.)

And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.

And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.

How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she said in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judges her.

And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,

Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. ~Revelation 18:1-10

...

In Oz, the guards lock the cages and walk away, and the predators rise, take control and make the rules. But in Em City, the guards are with us 24 hours a day. There's no privacy. Everybody sees what everybody's doing. Eyes everywhere. McManus' eyes. See, in Em City, retribution gives way to redemption. Timmy boy believes he can save every one of us, from each other, from ourselves, from the system that dumped us in here. Only thing he don't get is, you gotta want to be saved. ~Augustus Hill, From the HBO series Oz, S1.E1 "The Routine."

...

Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning-hooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord. Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. ~Joel 3:9-14

I saw this last night.

Erika Kirk, telling people to "Make church on Sunday special" so they can "Prepare for battle" the rest of the week.

No.

I did the church thing for most of my life.

You're not going to war, you're there to worship God. By definition, the Sabbath is not about you.

But then, I guess if you're taking religious advice from Erika, Patron Saint of the Leather Hot Pants, you probably deserve what you're gonna get at this point.

And if that sounds mean, too bad. I used to be a Republican back when they had standards. 

I got out when they dropped those standards below what I deemed to be an acceptable level.

If you don't like it, that's a you problem.

These fucking people aren't seriously conservatives by any measurable standard and they aren't  Christians in any real doctrinal, faith-based or historical context either, they're zero sum conflict-driven narcissistic shitheads who can't even get up in the morning unless they have somebody to be shitty to and fight with, it'd be pathetic if this bullshit wasn't turning out to be so dangerous and toxic to our national life.

I mean, seriously, even when these nuts pick the right side of some issue, like what few of them are that way on the Epstein thing they're all like "Pick Me! Pick Me!" about it. I mean, come on.

I'll admit I've been pleasantly surprised by MTG, and by Thomas Massie keeping his nose to the grindstone on the issue of the Epstein Files, but Nancy Mace is just going to ham it up and be...Nancy Mace, apparently.

Did right, this one time. Would you like a cookie, Nancy??

Ya know, if Leftism suddenly became popular again, she'd be touting herself as being to the Left of AOC and Bernie Sanders in about a week, kinda like how that Lindy Li chick switched sides in the blink of an eye this time last year.

I'm so tired of these fucking people.

I mean tired of all of them, alleged-Left or alleged-Right, because the truth is this crap isn't a partisan issue it's a political class issue across the board and these motherfuckers have turned into an addled, inbred, narcissistic nobility that's addicted to bullshit and oblivious to even the slightest bit of normal-people morality. 

It's getting old with me, fast.

And I'm here to tell you, these fucking people's bullshit and their small-dick energy is getting even worse.

They don't wanna be Saved, yo. 

They wanna ride the bomb all the way down like Slim Pickens in Doctor Strangelove, a whoopin' and a hollerin' and waving their cowboy hat the whole way down if that's what it takes to get that last drop of narcissistic fuel out of the situation.

Okay, MTG might be trying to set it up so she has a future. Lauren Blowbert or Nancy Mace, probably not so much.

And then there's this dude.

Andrew Tate has gone so far 'round the bend he's advocating for "Alpha Males" to do gay stuff with other men in their "Inner Circles" to *Checks Notes* "Fight the LGBT Agenda."

Not gonna lie, old straight guy that I am, I'm confused.

Such a thing would never occur to me, I've never had an issue with LGBT folks (as I've noted, my partner is bisexual) and (granted more by accident than design) I've been faithful to her through the 20 years we've known each other.

And for all that, it's the people like Andrew Tate and his followers that try to call me "Gay" for loving my partner and treating her with respect.

Because for these motherfuckers it's Anything but "Love Thy Neighbor."

Anything but respect the consent of consenting adults and leave those who cannot consent alone.

Anything but doing the right thing, even for a moment.

Anything but America.

Sin is their Addiction.

They'd rather do that than do almost anything the right way.

And these fucking people are the ones who can't or won't stop telling everybody else how "Christian" they are??

I mean, what the actual fuck??

They don't care if they wreck Christianity for basically everybody else or even turn the whole world away from Jesus...because the truth is these narcissists think they're the only ones who are going to Heaven anyway.

They think Heaven isn't Heaven if everybody...or even anybody else...gets to go.

Their attitude about America is basically the same. America isn't America if Black folks or LGBT people get a slice, however small.

Their politics and their religion (not that they see any difference between the two) reflects, indeed is, their narcissism.

And if you want these fucking people even to stop bothering us with this shit, it's going to come down to a fight.

You either believe in freedom or you don't.

And you're either willing to fight for it or you're not.

And please, if you want to do something special...do what you want to do, not what Erika Kirk thinks you should do.

God endowed you with a mind, and you're supposed to use that shit.

But like the man said, you gotta wanna be Saved.

That's the whole point of what freedom is, not this Babylonian narcissistic nonsense.

So get after it.

Слава Україна!
I don't have to tell you, drugs ain't the only things to get addicted to. Some people mainline their work, some people... snort ESPN. Some people needle-pop gambling. There are those that shoot up junk foods, fine wines, Cohibas, baby. Some people get hooked on love. And like any fiend on the street, you always need another bump. Just one more bump, man! Just one more bump! ~Augustus Hill, from the HBO series Oz, S1.E5 "The Straight Life." ...

[Cassian plays Nemik's audio diary]

Karis Nemik: There will be times when the struggle seems impossible. I know this already. Alone, unsure, dwarfed by the scale of the enemy. Remember this. Freedom is a pure idea. It occurs spontaneously and without instruction. Random acts of insurrection are occurring constantly throughout the galaxy. There are whole armies, battalions that have no idea that they've already enlisted in the cause. Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward. And then remember this. The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that. And know this, the day will come when all these skirmishes and battles, these moments of defiance will have flooded the banks of the Empire's authority and then there will be one too many. One single thing will break the siege. Remember this. Try. ~From the Star Wars series Andor, S1.E12 "Rix Road."

Three

If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. This is the last stand on Earth. And this idea that government is beholden to the people, that it has no other source of power except to sovereign people, is still the newest and most unique idea in all the long history of man's relation to man. This is the issue of this election. Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves. ~Ronald Reagan

Sucks (Babylon, Three.)

I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky. ~Bill Clinton, televised address regarding the Lewinsky scandal.

...

And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.

And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.

How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she said in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judges her.

And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,

Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. ~Revelation 18:1-10

...

If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. This is the last stand on Earth. And this idea that government is beholden to the people, that it has no other source of power except to sovereign people, is still the newest and most unique idea in all the long history of man's relation to man. This is the issue of this election. Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves. ~Ronald Reagan

I saw this last night.

Not really big news, so to speak.

But apparently Trump sucks, literally.

Whether he does it better than Monica Lewinsky did, or not, I don't want to know.

You have to understand something here, I was a 1990's Republican and I absolutely detested the amorality, moral relativism and situational ethics of Bill Clinton's supposedly "liberal" America.

For all of the exact same reasons as I detest all that bullshit in our current moment in Trump's America.

My arguments against that shit were pretty much the same, if from the other side, and certainly a touch more Biblical.

If you actually believe in anything at all, it's not really about which "side" one is on. I will say though, at least the Democrats can be pushed to clean up their act.

I voted for Bill Clinton the first time I voted, and then spent the next eight years regretting it.

I detest Bill Clinton and Donald Trump for the same damn reasons, as both men are fundamentally dishonest and self-serving slimy scumbags. They are two sides of the same slickly polished coin.

And they famously used to be friends, until Trump had to run against Hillary.

I keep trying to tell people this shit isn't a "Conservative" issue, and it's not a "Liberal" issue either.

Sin is part of the Human condition.

And the less you're willing to face that, the worse it gets.

If you think anything you do is alright, simply because you do it?? You're already Lost.

That's why I say Narcissism is a Biblical-level plague in this country right now.

It's the political class, that incestuous nobility that America was never supposed to have, that is the fucking problem as are its Good Old Boy fuck-fuck games and insider training and secret cocaine orgies.

Sin is not supposed to be what binds us together.

That may work for a small group of people, but it doesn't create a healthy dynamic for a country.

And my creeping suspicion is that the rot of this Epstein Files shit, of sexual abuse in our society, goes way, way further down than just these motherfuckers.

If we want our nation to survive, if we want our families and cultures and shared society to survive the pressures of all this bullshit these evil and feckless and greedy men have brought upon us...we're going to have to face that and deal with it.

If you want to go back to having an America where our daughters (or our sons) are safe, where your money in the bank isn't at risk and you can trust the Word of our leaders?

Yeah, it's like I've been saying, we're going to have to fight for it.

And me? I have a partner and a kid to think about in this whole mess.

Stop and think about that for a second.

What kind of world are we leaving that kid??

You either believe in freedom or you don't.

And you're either willing to stand up or you're not.

Cuz this mess we're in Sucks, but it ain't gonna stop until we make it stop.

Слава Україна! [Cassian plays Nemik's audio diary]

Karis Nemik: There will be times when the struggle seems impossible. I know this already. Alone, unsure, dwarfed by the scale of the enemy. Remember this. Freedom is a pure idea. It occurs spontaneously and without instruction. Random acts of insurrection are occurring constantly throughout the galaxy. There are whole armies, battalions that have no idea that they've already enlisted in the cause. Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward. And then remember this. The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that. And know this, the day will come when all these skirmishes and battles, these moments of defiance will have flooded the banks of the Empire's authority and then there will be one too many. One single thing will break the siege. Remember this. Try. ~From the Star Wars series Andor, S1.E12 "Rix Road."

Two 

You can take a lot of things away from a man. Cigarettes, the gym. You can take his freedom, his legs, but not his feelings. Not his feelings. A man loves a woman. Don't matter what kind of man he is, if he loves her, he wants her. He wants her body. He wants her to want his. So you say to him, "you can never make love again. You will never touch her in that way again. This is the last time. The last time. Forever." If that's not cruel and unusual punishment, I don't know what is. ~Augustus Hill, from the HBO series Oz, S1.E2 "Visits, Conjugal and otherwise."

Q-Anon The Great Has Fallen! (Babylon, Two.)

Think about this; think about how stupid the average person is, and then realize that half of 'em are stupider than that. ~George Carlin

...

The martyrs of history were not fools, and our honored dead who gave their lives to stop the advance of the Nazis didn't die in vain. Where, then, is the road to peace? Well, it's a simple answer after all. You and I have the courage to say to our enemies, "There is a price we will not pay." There is a point beyond which they must not advance. This is the meaning in the phrase of Barry Goldwater's "peace through strength." Winston Churchill said that "the destiny of man is not measured by material computation. When great forces are on the move in the world, we learn we are spirits — not animals." And he said, "There is something going on in time and space, and beyond time and space, which, whether we like it or not, spells duty." ~Ronald Reagan

...

Sex is a mind-fuck. A wad of jizz hits an egg and bing-bam, you're connected to all these people. These strangers, who maybe got the same eyes as you. The same sort of nose. Or maybe they passed you some cell that makes you drink or do drugs, even if you don't wanna. Even if it's killing you. These gene things are like the shackles they put on us here. The chains to keep us from moving freely. You gotta be Houdini to get out of them. You gotta be fucking Houdini. ~Augustus Hill, from the HBO series Oz, S1.E2 "Visits, Conjugal and otherwise."

...

I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do to their fellows, because it always coincides with their own desires. ~Susan B. Anthony

I saw this last night, just some idiot far-right preacher preaching far-right Patriarchy and literally equating women having jobs and lives of their own with *Checks Notes* Prostitution.

Meanwhile, out here in the real world pretty much everybody needs a damn job and most of us are still just barely getting by, and I'm here to tell you there's a lot of us guys out there (like me) who'd really be screwed if our partners didn't have jobs. I have to wonder why these damn preachers never think about that shit??

No, actually I get it, they're only thinking about the rich white guys who they think would be the patriarchs of huge families that would somehow benefit them and rich girls reduced to breeding stock that they might get to sleep with. The rest of us peasants can just go and die and preferably feed Capitalism or the War Machine in some way while we do it.

Meanwhile the goddamned details of what's in the Epstein files are starting to get out and it's not even that it's as bad, or even worse than I thought it was gonna be that bothers me.

It's that the same motherfuckers who are equating normal regular women having jobs with prostitution and weak fathers are *Checks Notes* excusing rich men literally prostituting children for their own debased pleasure. It is the *Same Exact Motherfuckers.*

Bet that's it for a bunch of conspiracy theories, too.

The America that these assholes want is definitely No Country For Young Girls.

And they seem to think of Trump not only as a "Caesar" but specifically as somebody like the Roman Emperor Tiberius (You know, the guy who was Emperor when Jesus was crucified) who had his political enemies and rivals and shit executed at scale while also sexually abusing children. Or at least, that's the rationalizing vibe that I'm picking up.

Bro I'm more of a Christian than These Fucking People and I've been an Agnostic since 2007-2008.

These dudes aren't Christians, they just want to claim the label while doing the most vile shit the Romans thought up. 

Yes, they'd absolutely crucify Jesus all over again, too.

And I think it won't be long before they start replacing Him with a New God.

Yeah, I pretty much don't think it's just "Liberals" or the rest of the world that's waiting for Trump to kick the bucket.

Dudes like Joel Webbon want Trump to be their False Christ. 

Not because they Believe, but because they don't.

Let me tell you what the test of 'Faith' (Read: Political and religious loyalty) is gonna be: Remember all that Q-Anon, "Save The Children" shit we've been subjected to for the better part of a decade now??

Yep, that's DEAD, Dead, dead.

Q-Anon Denialism will be a thing among those who wanna keep following Trump.

There will be no Q-Berty, after all. Q-Anon The Great has fallen. 

It was always expendable.

How long before these assholes in fact openly go the opposite way, and start saying it's some kind of act of utter Capitalistic, Mammonite and Trumpian loyalty for dudes to dump their unwanted daughters so they can be harem-slaves to rich men??

Cuz I'm here to tell you the breeding fetish ain't for decent regular guys like me, yo.

It ain't for people with anything even beginning to approach regular-people morality and shit.

And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.

And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.

How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she said in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judges her.

And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,

Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. ~Revelation 18:1-10

Stop and think about that, for a second.

No, this shit is for dudes like Elon Musk who want to get a bunch of women pregnant in some demented scheme to influence humanity their way in the long-term or something something Gazpacho.

(It's nonsense, but that's what they think.)

If that ain't Babylon, I don't know what is.

If you want to remain free, and more to the point if you want your daughters (and your sons) to remain free as well, it's going to come down to a fight.

You either believe in freedom or you don't.

And guess what, guys?

If you wanna get through this with your own shit intact, you better start believing in freedom for other people, too.

Слава Україна!

His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.

Thou saw till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and break them to pieces.

Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.

Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.

And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.

And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.

And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and subdues all things: and as iron that breaks all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.

And whereas thou saw the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou saw the iron mixed with miry clay.

And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.

And whereas thou saw iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.

And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

Forasmuch as thou saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. 

~Daniel 2:33-45

One

 

[Cassian plays Nemik's audio diary]

Karis Nemik: There will be times when the struggle seems impossible. I know this already. Alone, unsure, dwarfed by the scale of the enemy. Remember this. Freedom is a pure idea. It occurs spontaneously and without instruction. Random acts of insurrection are occurring constantly throughout the galaxy. There are whole armies, battalions that have no idea that they've already enlisted in the cause. Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward. And then remember this. The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that. And know this, the day will come when all these skirmishes and battles, these moments of defiance will have flooded the banks of the Empire's authority and then there will be one too many. One single thing will break the siege. Remember this. Try. ~From the Star Wars series Andor, S1.E12 "Rix Road."

Bonus Content

The dark is generous and it is patient, and it always wins.

But at the heart of its strength lies weakness.

One lone candle is enough to hold it back.

Love is more than a candle; Love can ignite the stars.

~Matthew Stover, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith novelization.

Feet Of Clay (Babylon, One-Epstein Files Edition.)

And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.

And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.

How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she said in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judges her.

And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,

Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. ~Revelation 18:1-10

...

President Laura Roslin: You have committed me to holding elections within the year.

Lee "Apollo" Adama: Madam President, with respect. You are serving out the remainder of President Adar's term. When that term is up, in seven months, the law says, there is an election. I only committed you to obeying the law.

Commander Bill Adama: You sound like some kind of lawyer.

Roslin: This is unacceptable.

Apollo: I swore an oath. To defend the articles. The articles say there is an election in seven months. Now, if you are telling me we are throwing out the law, then I am not a captain, you are not a commander, and you are not the president. And I don't owe either of you a damned explanation for anything.

Roslin: He's your son.

Adama: He's your advisor.

~Battlestar Galactica (2003) S1 E3 "Bastille Day."

,,,

Cassian Andor: What? To steal from the Empire, what do you need? A uniform, some dirty hands, and an Imperial toolkit. They’re so proud of themselves, they don’t even care. They’re so fat and satisfied, they can’t imagine it…

Luthen Rael: Can’t imagine what?

Andor: That someone like me would ever get inside their house, walk their floors, spit in their food, take their gear.

~From the Star Wars series Andor, S1, E2 "That would be me."

...

Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. ~George Orwell, 1984.

With the US House of Representatives back in session yesterday and the shutdown ending, the House (as expected) and on a surprisingly bipartisan basis voted for the next step in releasing the full Epstein files. Something like 23,000 pages of documents were released. I saw that right before I went to bed.

So, again, what was all this shit for, anyway?? What was all this needless suffering inflicted on people all about?? Why in the fuck do we basically not have a functioning government??

I saw this when I got up an hour or so ago.

Megyn Kelly asking *If* Jeffrey Epstein was a pedophile. I mean, WHAT??

Duh.

I swear, there is no dumber creature walking around on this Earth than the purposefully-stupid American media or political elite, and that is not a joke.

And then Trump has a massive fit about it. 2+2 = 4, there's something skeevy to it and he knows it, or he wouldn't be trying to deflect.

Why the hell are We, The People, putting up with this bullshit??

Like, I don't give a shit what you thought you were gonna get out of this, if human trafficking, murder and sexual abuse aren't big, bright red lines for you?? 

Fuck You, you don't get to participate in this conversation.

Like seriously, among other things now I have a partner and a kid to worry about.

Not that I'd have tolerated it before, either.

I don't want to...and I won't...live in a world where this type of shit is Okay. Fuck That.

And if I have to tell you Why, you're unsalvageable as a human being and should probably be treated accordingly.

I've been saying for a long damned time now, that the rot from this type of shit goes way, way further down than the just the political elite or the ultra-wealthy, like, check your Pastor's hard drive, for fuck's sake! My God.

I want an audit of our entire political class, religious figures, pretty much everybody for this type of bullshit.

I say that knowing I've done or said plenty of inappropriate things, but goddamn, I've never done them or even considered doing them to a child.

And, over the summer, because of all the ongoing events in my life, I think that suspicion has been confirmed, especially on the "Conservative" side of things. I literally saw both my partner and her daughter treated like pieces of freaking meat by the dudes who should have been the safe men in their lives, and from men that were supposedly lifelong friends and knew (from having participated in how the culture was at a previous job) or should have damned well known what sort of consequences they could reap.

Seriously?

And the only reason they didn't get it worse was because we basically decided it wasn't worth it and that ostracism was the best policy.

Being that "safe" guy should not have to be my job!

A woman's purpose in life is not to be a safe space for your schwantz, guys.

A girl or woman should not be called a whore or anything like that for simply wanting men in their life to contribute.

Nor does every fuckin' thing out there need to be sexualized. I mean, come on!

Like, Jesus, what the fuck is even wrong with people??

And the longer this drags out, the more convinced I get that it's worse than we think.

We should be wary, too. I've read the Bible. 

God burned cities and struck down whole Empires for less than this fucking bullshit.

We're talking about generational levels of Sin against children and women here.

There's going to be consequences.

Either you believe in that, or you don't.

And I'm tired of excuses, half-measures and rationalizations.

I'm tired of everything being political, I'm tired of moral relativism and situational ethics.

I'm tired of rank immorality and Sin dressing itself up as patriarchy and religion.

And I'm even more tired of the people who 20 or 30 years ago claimed to be the hard-ass moralists (and their alleged political opposition!) having Feet Of Clay and spines of Jell-O when it comes to the same shit they used to preach so hard about!

Things are, or they aren't.

Light has no fellowship with Darkness.

Don't these fucking people even read the Bible or any other Holy Books??

The Truth doesn't magically become not-the-Truth because it inconveniences you or it might negatively effect you or your side.

Truth is the only thing that gives most people a floor to stand on to push back against Power. Anybody trying to distract you from that is not your friend.

That was as true of conservative opposition to Communism in the 1980's East Bloc as it is of opposition to far-right horseshit in today's world.

Of course nowadays too many people want power without morality, rights without responsibility and wealth without work.

I mean, I've literally been on the record for about 30 years saying this isn't sustainable and it isn't working.

For the record the first time I said anything like that, the topic of the conversation was Bill Clinton.

It's not a Democratic problem, it's not a Republican problem.

Sin affects all people. It's part of the Human condition.

And when people, whether it's through base narcissism, political horseshit or simple rationalization, start saying something is not a Sin simply because they're the ones doing it??

You're already Lost, bro. You've already lost.

At that point what's the difference between you and Lucifer during the Fall, or between you and the Beast of Revelations??

You cannot appoint yourself God.

All else is just excuses.

And when the Judgment comes it's pretty clear what the Lord is going to have to say about that.

Why is this so hard for people??

When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats:
And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
For I hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
For I hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 

~Matthew 25:31-45

And what's worse, if you ask me, is that all these dudes out there want to have the enjoyment and the fruits of all this sexual immorality and they don't even want to care for their women or support their own children or take any responsibility for their own actions at all.

To these guys, life begins at and ends at ejaculation.

If you wonder why our politics is such a soup sandwich? Maybe We, The People need to start with fixing ourselves?

I'm tired of these guys, and I'm a guy.

And it's Okay when they do it, but somehow it's "Fornication" and "Sin" when somebody else (including the woman they did it with) does it or wants any kind of accountability or basic respect or social support.

I mean, come on, what the fuck??

And I'm not saying that it's all Men, but goddamn, it sure is almost always a "Man."

The ladies are choosing the Bear for a fuckin' reason.

(And who can blame them?)

We as a society are going to have to start getting a grip on this, before male entitlement (among other things) destroys the goddamned world.

His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.

Thou saw till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and break them to pieces.

Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.

Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.

And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.

And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.

And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and subdues all things: and as iron that breaks all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.

And whereas thou saw the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou saw the iron mixed with miry clay.

And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.

And whereas thou saw iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.

And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

Forasmuch as thou saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. 

~Daniel 2:33-45

I don't know what's in those files, but it sounds like it's bad enough that somebody thinks that shit could spark a revolution all by itself.

I don't give a damn, release the files, let it all out, let those implicated face justice.

And I don't give a damn which "Side" they're supposedly on.

My partner deserved to have a better life and not be abused or treated like a piece of meat.

Like I said, we have a kid to worry about.

And she deserves to grow up in a world where every man doesn't have to be viewed as a potential predator or a threat.

Accountability in these matters starts with us, guys.

It really is that simple.

Either you believe in freedom or you don't.

And either you're willing to fight for it, or you're not.

Слава Україна!

My black face fades,
hiding inside the black granite.
I said I wouldn't
dammit: No tears.
I'm stone. I'm flesh.
My clouded reflection eyes me
like a bird of prey, the profile of night slanted against morning. 

I turn this way—the stone lets me go.
I turn that way—I'm inside
the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
again, depending on the light
to make a difference.
I go down the 58,022 names,
half-expecting to find
my own in letters like smoke. 

I touch the name Andrew Johnson; 

I see the booby trap's white flash.
Names shimmer on a woman's blouse
but when she walks away
the names stay on the wall.
Brushstrokes flash, a red bird's
wings cutting across my stare.
The sky. A plane in the sky.
A white vet's image floats
closer to me, then his pale eyes
look through mine. I'm a window.
He's lost his right arm
inside the stone. In the black mirror
a woman’s trying to erase names:
No, she's brushing a boy's hair.

~Facing It, by Yusef Komunyakaa, US Army Veteran

Last Post

The dark is generous and it is patient, and it always wins.

But at the heart of its strength lies weakness.

One lone candle is enough to hold it back.

Love is more than a candle; Love can ignite the stars.

~Matthew Stover, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith novelization.