The Last Of Us (Reason For The Season, Twelve.)

The Holy Quran says it, "Pilgrimage to the House [of God built by the prophet Abraham] is a duty men owe to God; those who are able, make the journey." (3:97) Allah said: "And proclaim the pilgrimage among men; they will come to you on foot and upon each lean camel, they will come from every deep ravine" (22:27).Every one of the thousands at the airport, about to leave for Jeddah, was dressed this way. You could be a king or a peasant and no one would know. Some powerful personages, who were discreetly pointed out to me, had on the same thing I had on. Once thus dressed, we all had begun intermittently calling out "Labbayka! (Allahumma) Labbayka!" (Here I come, O Lord!) Packed in the plane were white, black, brown, red, and yellow people, blue eyes and blond hair, and my kinky red hair -- all together, brothers! All honoring the same God, all in turn giving equal honor to each other. . . .That is when I first began to reappraise the "white man." It was when I first began to perceive that "white man," as commonly used, means complexion only secondarily; primarily it described attitudes and actions. In America, "white man" meant specific attitudes and actions toward the black man, and toward all other non-white men. But in the Muslim world, I had seen that men with white complexions were more genuinely brotherly than anyone else had ever been. That morning was the start of a radical alteration in my whole outlook about "white" men. ~Malcolm X.

...

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. ~Luke 2:1-14

...

When men stop believing in God, it isn't that they then believe in nothing: they believe in everything. ~Umberto Eco

I saw this shit a few days ago;

Patriot Front or whoever holding up a banner saying "Race Mixing Is Communism." Then the other night at work, I saw exactly the same shit but with a bunch of Elks Club looking pinch-faced racist assholes from the early 1960's, I guess? 

But now the fucking Chuds have to cover their faces, so, progress I guess?

Also, Communism hasn't been a thing since 1989.

It's the Christmas season.

You know, Christianity, that religion that famously describes people "Of Every Tongue, Tribe And Nation" proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord and serving Him. I'm just saying if "DEI" or diversity or "Race Mixing" isn't implied somewhere in there to you, you're probably doing it wrong.

Likewise, what's next, saying that women having jobs is "Communism" too?? I'll note the woman they keep putting front and center saying this bullshit about the State trying to replace a woman's "need" for a husband has at least like two jobs and multiple degrees herself and finds time to be on TV all the time and ends up rubbing up on about every famous "Conservative" white dude she sees.

Traditional, you ain't, Erika.

My partner doesn't need a husband, she's been pretty vocal on this point. I'm lucky she wants me

The world doesn't work that way anymore, that she needs me just to live.

Now everybody needs a job, or at least to have had one at some point.

The world doesn't have to work that way anymore.

Nobody wants it to but these assholes.

And honestly, most of us can't afford to live like that anyway.

And the thing is, people like Elon Musk are in fact proof that none of that shit has to work that way. Whatever his attachment to the Nazi bullshit of the past, it's long been clear that Elon doesn't actually hold to any beliefs that would be "traditional" in the American (or current British Commonwealth including South African) context.

I'm tired of These Fucking People.

I'm tired of it being the same fucking shit every damned time.

Most of the world stopped wanting to live in 1952 on *Checks Notes* January 1st of 1953.

I'm extremely tired of them holding up progress and making life difficult for the rest of us because they don't care if they live or die or get to eat, just so they can hate and steal and wield petty power like a club.

And I'm tired, most of all, of the fact that these sons of bitches will abandon anyone and anything that doesn't help them with whatever they think they want right now.

I mean you'd think they themselves would know that they individually have no loyalty, and that they would be repulsed by it same as the rest of us.

But no, that's obviously too much basic intelligence and logic for these willfully stupid motherfuckers to understand.

This is no way to have a goddamned society.

If Ilhan Omar, a Congresswoman, somehow isn't an American...then none of us are, not really.

I am Andrew Ryan, and I'm here to ask you a question. Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow? "No," says the man in Washington, "it belongs to the poor." "No," says the man in the Vatican, "it belongs to God." "No," says the man in Moscow, "it belongs to everyone." I rejected those answers; instead, I chose something different. I chose the impossible. I chose... Rapture. A city where the artist would not fear the censor; where the scientist would not be bound by petty morality; where the great would not be constrained by the small! And with the sweat of your brow, Rapture can become your city as well.

~Andrew Ryan, Bioshock

Because if you leave it up to the Chud Mob...they would end up deciding that the only "Real" American is Donald Trump.

Imagine people functionally declaring that Donald Trump was The Last American.

And doing it on purpose because they thought they were gonna get something for it.

What's that say about us, what's that say about people?

And why the FUCK can't these idiots stop blowing the narcissist??

If he's the last of us, we aren't just fucked as a society, we always were.

Thus, the hierarchy itself will eventually crumble even if they did get it in the short term. This crap fails every time you run the experiment because all that has to happen is people say "No."

And I'm here to tell you, these motherfuckers only see Others, whether they be other conservatives who don't share their hate, liberals, moderates, etc. as people to exploit.

I see some people going to amazing lengths (or just plain ignoring every damn thing) to try and pretend that all this stuff is OK when it's very clearly not.

And I'm here to tell you when those Groypers and Patriot Front types make their move the first thing they're gonna do is go after the lily-white pasty-ville "Bad stuff like that doesn't happen anymore" milquetoast "Conservatives" because those fucking people are easy and will fold up like an origami crane.

I've been some places and I've seen some shit and Those Fucking People want to do worse than that.

More, there's a reason they keep putting Trump...who is obviously in full-on later-stage dementia at this point...out in front even in spite of that.

We've got to take the neighborhood back. We've got to go in there. Just forget telling your child to go to the Peace Corps. It's right around the corner. It's standing on the corner. It can't speak English. It doesn't want to speak English. I can't even talk the way these people talk. "Why you ain't where you is go." I don't know who these people are. And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. Then I heard the father talk. This is all in the house. You used to talk a certain way on the corner and you got into the house and switched to English. Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads. You can't land a plane with "why you ain't…". You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth. There is no Bible that has that kind of language. Where did these people get the idea that they're moving ahead on this? Well, they know they're not, they're just hanging out in the same place, five or six generations sitting in the projects when you're just supposed to stay there long enough to get a job and move out. ~Bill Cosby, the "Pound Cake" speech.

Dementia makes people be piss-mean for no goddamn reason, especially later on.

And both today's version of the 1955 Segregationist Bros and the people pulling the strings behind Trump love the fuck out of that part.

The thing is, Trump and his hate and nonsense-talk are not the cause of this, they are a symptom.

These Fucking People have no fear of the Lord, unless they can be induced somehow to think Trump is The Lord.

But he isn't, he's just a man, and not even a very good one.

Trump is an Oracle for their grievance; Their actual grievance being that "Other People Exist."

Like I said the other day, I can't even talk the way these people talk, and no, I don't know who these people are.

It's like The Last Of Us or The Walking Dead out there, but with idiots instead of Zombies.

Remember that, like, eighteen years ago or so when an obvious racist was automatically considered an idiot?? 

I sure do.

I believe this foolishness is bringing God's wrath on America.

And yes, I do specifically say that as a White Man who is a former conservative Christian Republican.

And yes, I absolutely do believe it's going to come down to a fight to even stop it, much less resume anything even close to how anything was before.

And I am well aware that this set of circumstances and events may well break America.

Maybe we deserve exactly that.

Because we've had 250 years to get with the program and some of us have outright refused.

The Bible talks a lot about what happens to those kind of people.

Just sayin.'

Слава Україна!

When I was sixteen I won a great victory. I felt in that moment that I should live to be a hundred, now I know I shall not see thirty. None of us know our end really, or what hand will guide us there. A King may move a man, a father may claim a son. That man can also move himself. And only then does that man truly begin his own game. Remember that how so ever you are played, or by whom, your soul is in your keeping alone. Even though those who presume to play you be kings or men of power. When you stand before God, you cannot say "but I was told by others to do thusly" or that "virtue was not convenient at the time." This will not suffice. Remember that. ~The Leper King, from the film Kingdom Of Heaven.

Eleven  

[In a 1968 talk show, two scientists are interviewed about what could be the next form of viral outbreak in the future, and when one of them, Dr Newman, postulates that it could come from a fungus...]

Dr. Newman: [notices audience murmuring] Yes, that’s the usual response. Fungi seem harmless enough. Many species know otherwise. Because there are some fungi who seek not to kill, but to control. Let me ask you, where do we get LSD from?

Host: Where do you get it from? [audience laughs]

Newman: It comes from ergot, a fungus. Psilocybin? Also a fungus. Viruses can make us ill, but fungi can alter our very minds. There’s a fungus that infects insects. Gets inside an ant, for example, travels through its circulatory system to the ant’s brain and then floods it with hallucinogens, thus bending the ant’s mind to its will. The fungus starts to direct the ant’s behavior, telling it where to go, what to do, like a puppeteer with a marionette. And it gets worse. The fungus needs food to live, so it begins to devour its host from within, replacing the ant’s flesh with its own, but it doesn’t let its victim die. No, it... it keeps its puppet alive by preventing decomposition. How? Where do we get penicillin from?

Host: Fungus? [points at host]

Dr. Schoenheist: Oh..

Host: Dr. Schoenheist, you’re in distress.

Schoenheist: Fungal infection of this kind is real, but not in humans.

Newman: True, fungi cannot survive if its host’s internal temperature is over 94 degrees. And currently, there are no reasons for fungi to evolve to be able to withstand higher temperatures. But what if that were to change? What if, for instance, the world were to get slightly warmer? Well, now there is reason to evolve. One gene mutates and an Ascomycota, uh, candida, ergot, cordyceps, aspergillus, any one of them could become capable of burrowing into our brains and taking control not of millions of us, but billions of us. Billions of puppets with poisoned minds permanently fixed on one unifying goal: to spread the infection to every last human alive by any means necessary. And there are no treatments for this. No preventatives, no cures. They don’t exist. It’s not even possible to make them.

Host: So if that happens?

Newman: We lose.

~From The Last Of Us, S1.E1 "When You're Lost In The Darkness."