Red Horse (American Revelation XXI, Two.)

And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.

And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. ~Revelation 6:3-4

...

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

...

Nameless One: “Shadow of this life?”

Dhall, Dustman scribe: “Yes, a shadow. You see, Restless One, this life is not real. Your life, my life, they are shadows, flickerings of what life once was. This life is where we end up after we die, and here we remain. Trapped, caged, until we can achieve the True Death.”

Nameless One: “True Death?”

Dhall, Dustman scribe: “True death is non-existence. A state devoid of reason, of passion, of sensation.” [Dhall coughs] “A state of purity.”

Nameless One: Sounds like oblivion, why would anyone would want that? 

~from Planescape Torment

I saw this earlier.

Apparently, no one is picking up the corpses of those killed in the recent flooding in Texas.

Ya know, even in the OG 90's D&D-based video game Planescape Torment, in the city of Sigil which was basically a pretty Libertarian "City at the center of the Multiverse" so to speak, they had guys called Collectors whose job it was to pick up dead bodies and haul them to the Mortuary for cremation or interment in return for a few copper pieces each, in order to check the spread of disease and try to maintain a sanitary environment.

Which, by the way, was a central reason in the real world why humans formed city governments and shit like that starting in ancient times.

Literally, ancient primitives and gamers thought their shit out better than Texas.

I want you to stop and think about that and sit in it for a second.

Likewise, there's apparently been a string of robberies at Army National Guard armories...allegedly by right-wing extremists like militia groups and neo-Nazis...in Tennessee.

I keep trying to tell people, whether it's Trump or just the hardest edge of his followers, somebody is gunning for a Civil War, here.

Actually, I think in the end Trump and various Republicans would end up being just as much of a target of the extremists as the rest of us, simply because there's no way for those fucking people to do what the genuine goddamn neo-Nazis and shit actually want in such a way that such people would actually be happy with the results.

We're talking people that have no use for even most MAGA's or white Republicans, here. Like that one "Return to the Land" community in Arkansas that evidently goes way too far even for that state's Republican Party. Again, think about that for a second.

It doesn't actually take all that many military-grade weapons or pieces of certain kinds of equipment (like night vision goggles) to potentially make an insurgency a whole hell of a lot more dangerous.

And, stupidly, Republicans don't care.

They don't care about their own lives, let alone yours. They don't care about public health, they don't care if worse people than them steal military equipment, the list goes on. All each of these fucking people really cares about is their own (personal) power and profit, and they figure they can get somebody else to do the fighting and the dying if somebody comes at them.

People treat these motherfuckers like they have some kind of god-ordained societal role to crap all over everybody else and start shit that the rest of us end up dying for or paying for.

And Republicanism, especially in places like Texas, has turned into a nihilistic death cult...without the neutral orientation of the Dustmen (the operators of the Mortuary in Sigil) of the D&D Planescape setting and the Torment video game.

Republicans don't care about freedom, especially yours.

And I really believe at this point, that they'd rather support hierarchies of Devils than truly accept a paradigm of one person praying freely to one God that teaches people to love their neighbors.

Again, you either believe in freedom or you don't.

Republicans don't give a shit about you.

Whether you're a Member of the Party or a Republican voter or not.

These Fucking People are simply a very large pack of narcissistic sociopaths.

And when that Red Horse shows up, they're not going to fight, unless they're on its side. If they're targets, they'll hide behind the rest of us.

In fact, they want to start the fight or allow someone else to, simply out of cruelty.

Freedom isn't free, sometimes you have to fight for it.

Remember that.

Слава Україна!

Hess: So what shall we toast to, boys? I can blather on about “To health” or “To success,” but I’d like to do somethin’ a little less rote. Where you from, Brown Eyes?

Migs Mayfield: How ’bout a toast to Operation Cinder?

Hess: Now there’s a man who knows his history.

Mayfield: No, I don’t just know it. I lived it. I was in Burnin Konn.

Hess: Burnin Konn?

Mayfield: Mmm.

Hess: That was a hard day. I had to make many unpleasant decisions.

Mayfield: Yes, you did. Entire city gone in moments, along with everybody in it. We lost our whole division that day. Man, that was like 5-10,000 people.

Hess: Yep. All heroes of the Empire.

Mayfield: Yeah. And all dead.

Hess: Well, it’s a small sacrifice for the greater good, son.

Mayfield: Depends on who you ask, don’t you think?

Hess: [irritated] What you gettin’ at, trooper?

Mayfield: All those people, the ones who died, was it good for them? Hmm? Their families? The guys I served with? Civilians, those poor mud scuffers, died defending their homes, fighting for freedom. Was it good for them?

Hess: But we’ve outlasted them, son. They’re eating themselves alive. The New Republic is in complete disarray, and we grow stronger. You see, with the rhydonium you’ve delivered, we can create havoc that’s gonna make Burnin Konn pale by comparison. And then they’re gonna turn to us once again. You see, boys, everybody thinks they want freedom, but what they really want is order. And when they realize that, they’re gonna welcome us back with open arms. Ah. To the Empire.

[Mayfield chuckles, then fires a blaster at Hess' chest, killing him instantly. He and Mando then shoot their way out of the mess hall] ~From The Mandalorian, Season 2, Ep. 7 "The Believer"

One

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  

White Horse (American Revelation XXI, One.)

And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.

And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. ~Revelation 6:1-2

...

You were just babies then!" she said.
"What?" I said.
"You were just babies in the war— like the ones upstairs!"
I nodded that this was true. We had been foolish virgins in the war, right at the end of childhood.
"But you're not going to write it that way, are you." This wasn't a question. It was an accusation.
"I — I don't know," I said.
"Well I know," she said. "You'll pretend you were men instead of babies, and you'll be portrayed in the movies by Frank Sinatra and John Wayne or some of those other glamorous, war-loving, dirty old men. And war will look just wonderful, so we'll have a lot more of them. And they'll be fought by babies like the babies upstairs." So then I understood. It was war that made her so angry. She didn't want her babies or anybody else's babies killed in wars. And she thought wars were partly encouraged by books and movies.
So I held up my right hand and I made her a promise: "Mary," I said, "I don't think this book of mine is ever going to be finished. I must have written five thousand pages by now, and thrown them all away. If I ever do finish it, though, I give you my word of honor: there won't be a part for Frank Sinatra or John Wayne.
"I tell you what," I said, "I'll call it The Children's Crusade." She was my friend after that.

~From the novel Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut 

...

Tobias Beecher: [Walking up to Vern Schillinger] Whatcha readin'? Mein Kampf? Well, let me tell you how it ends. The Aryans get their asses kicked!

~From the HBO series "Oz" Season 2, Episode 2, "Ancient Tribes."

I saw this last night.

Kristie Noem is apparently mad she got mocked on South Park.

Here's the thing about these goddamned hypocrites; The "Fuck Your Feelings" crowd has big feelings when it comes to their own egos and narcissism. 

Republicans want all that Woke shit too, but only for themselves.

Same as it ever was, I guess.

For example here's Katie Miller, separated wife of Stephen Miller but also Poly-whatever mates with Elon Musk in literally the grossest Menage-a-Vichy ever thought of, trying to slap a "Live, Laugh, Love" symbol over the Swastika tattoo on her ass.

Seriously, fuck these fucking people.

Or better yet, don't.

Don't fuck these people.

It's not like they apparently know how, know anything about the female anatomy (or even care) or even seem to want to know pretty much anything at all.

I guess this is what happens when you turn everything into some kind of ideological construct or let kids write "Jesus Did It!" as the answer to questions on a science exam.

Although I will say at the moment these fucking idiots are doing the Lord's Work all by their damn selves, busily equating "Conservatism" with Fascism in a comparison that's not only likely to stick, it damn well should.

I managed to be a conservative without being one of these motherfuckers.

But then, I also got out in 2008. Conspiracy theories and racism were hard lines I wouldn't cross.

But now, 17 years later, that kind of shit seems to be all Republicans have left (or want to) besides ecstatic worship of Donald Trump that's slouching towards open worship of golden idols of Dis Pater and Mammon.

But when so much of "Christianity" is little more than a mishmash of misogyny and right-wing bullshit where Jesus has been functionally kicked out of His own religion in favor of an ever-expanding list of conspiracy theory bullshit, I'm not even sure what else to expect.

Christian Nationalism is Christ-less Christianity. 

Jesus said His Kingdom is not of this world.

These Fucking People concern themselves with little else except for worldly matters.

Well, that, and their know-nothing hatred.

That's not how one is given Salvation.

Which I'd argue isn't what These Fucking People want, anyway. You have to want to be Saved.

And that's all it takes, really.

I think, at the end of the day, "Conservatives" would actually prefer endless Devilish hierarchies to the simple equation of one God and one person...whether one insists on Jesus Christ as mediator between these two or some other system.

Here's one last thing to consider;

Do you know why the dude on the White Horse at the start of Revelations chapter six goes forth, conquering and to conquer, while carrying a bow...and no arrows??

Because people let the fucker do it, that's why. The fight comes later.

I've never much liked South Park, but if that's what it takes to twist These Fucking People up, I'm all for it.

You either believe in freedom or you don't.

And freedom is more important than how the means that achieve it "look" to some fucking chud, be they supposedly Democratic or Republican.

Remember that.

If we're not free, if all we are is beholden to whichever "side" happens to be in power, none of the other shit really matters, does it??

Слава Україна!

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

Prequel

 [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."

Souls Under The Altar (American Revelation XXI, Prequel.)

And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.

And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.

And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.

And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.

And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:

And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow-servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;

And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:

For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? ~Revelation 6, King James Version.

...

The wind whispers of fear and hate. The war has killed love. And those that confess to the Angkar are punished, and no one dare ask where they go. Here, only the silent survive. ~Dith Pran, The Killing Fields

The Department of Homeland Security is trying to pitch ICE as defending American "Culture" now.

Just sayin' show me where "Conservative" White American "Culture" is anything but racism at this point.

And it's saying something that these assholes apparently can't get or keep enough goddamn people to do the job, whatever the fuck that's supposed to be, and ICE has a severe enough recruiting shortfall that they're now actively trying to recruit old people.

Good.

Yes, I take it as a good sign that there's not nearly as many people willing to fight for Fascism and Privilege as Republican racist scum-fucks thought there were.

And then they had to lower the standards, again.

Like any of the ICE "Agents" I've seen in videos look like anything but beer-bellied Militia Chuds as it is, in other words people who wouldn't make it through the job application submission process in any government agency whatever in any moral or normal times let alone be in a position to be under arms for any fucking reason. 

And then, judging from the training standards I've seen, they got trained half-ass, at best.

When these motherfuckers finally push the rest of us too far, or even the wrong (individual) person, it's not going to go how they think it will.

These racist far-right idiots want a goddamned Civil War, because at this point, I think a lot of them have figured out that our culture and system, even as broken down as they are, won't let them do that shit.

Thing is, I no longer think they care if they win, I think they think if they lose, White Jesus is gonna show up and "Save" them.

Except Jesus ain't White.

Most people, even a hell of a lot of conservatives, don't want this shit and aren't happy with what's going on.

So Republicans are trying to cheat, and still even managing to get roasted by South Park...which is about as far from "Woke" TV as you can get.

If Republicans are getting punked by a show written by a couple of Libertarians that seems to suggest there's an actual problem with current Republicanism.

And now I see there's Chud Bros throwing sex toys at WNBA players. I mean, come on, what the fuck??

If you can't see that something like that is wrong, What the fuck is wrong with you??

There's a reason women chose the bear.

There's a reason the 4B movement is catching on.

Or per the most recent meme I saw going around, there's a reason the ladies are choosing cats and vibrators over men, and guys, if they're choosing a small alpha predator that shits in a box over you? 

That's a YOU problem, guys.

Fascism, racism, misogyny, and toxic masculinity at this point are all basically the same shit. I've yet to see some dude in this current crowd buy into any of this shit without treating all four like holy writ.

But their real religion is Ayn Randian selfishness and a godless worldview where Man's self-satisfaction is the moral purpose of his life.

Thanks to none other that Nixon alum and Prison Fellowship Ministries founder Chuck Colson for that turn of phrase.

Just to use an example here's some dude saying women "Invaded" D&D (As if there haven't clearly been character options for gamer girls since the beginning?) and Star Wars (like the first of the main protagonist characters you see in Episode IV: A New Hope isn't Princess Leia??) and comics (Like Wonder Woman hasn't been a major character in cartoons, comics and TV shows since before I was even born??) and for fuck's sake me and my first little girlfriend mostly just freaking played OG Nintendo every damn day and that was in *Checks Notes* 1986-1987.

In fact (and yeah, I fully confess I'm into nerd-girls and always have been) I don't ever remember a time when the ladies weren't into all the same stuff as I was and it's the same with People of Color, as in my (Mexican) best friend who was a year older than me and his little sister (that first little girlfriend) were both into Anime (such as it was in the 1980's) and all that, too. 

And I've never been in a "Men's Only" club or ever wanted to be. The guy my Mom got with after my dad died was into all that Elk's Club type of bullshit. He, in his 30's, was invariably the youngest member present, and I always thought it was boring and disgusting and the food sucked, like what was even the damn point??

When we went, we went for the fish fry, which is really great when you're a kid that's not into that kind of thing. And it's not like I ever saw most of these fucking people actually socialize with each other all that much. The entire point seemed to be the exclusivity of it, keeping other people out.

Plus it was goddamned boring.

If you're gonna join some fraternal organization or social club, wouldn't you want to join one with people you wanted to be around and fraternize and socialize with??

I mean, while I'm at it, from about puberty on, half (or more) of the entire point of socializing at all for me was *Checks Notes* Girls.

And I'm frankly tired of These Fucking People acting like their outdated political and social bullshit is some kind of holy writ, and Other People's beliefs somehow aren't,  at least to *Checks Notes, Again* said Other People.

Like, sorry, but white "Conservatives" and their hangers-on are not the only people in the room. As my Grandpa used to say all the time "Remember, brothers, there are others."

And here's the thing, These Fucking People would rather rain all the torments of Revelation on the rest of the whole fucking world and themselves become the Bad Guys in their own supposed holy story, an unholy terror, literal Antichrists, than give up one goddamned iota of their mostly-imagined and too often tolerated by the rest of us "Privilege."

This is American Revelation and the Republican Party is the Beast with Trump as its Antichrist and Stephen Miller as its False Prophet.

I'm sick of this shit.

You either believe in freedom or you don't.

And it's not freedom if everybody doesn't have it.

You're either willing to fight for freedom or you're not.

I'll say it again, fighting for Privilege is not the same thing.

But they'll put a million or two more souls under the Altar trying to make it be that way, and still lose.

Welcome to American Revelation.

Where it's our own government that's the fucking bad guys and they think God's not gonna notice it's them shaking their fists in the Lord's face because "Love Thy Neighbor" is too hard, or something.

And they think we're gonna get the Judgements?

I've read the Book. Hell, I was an End Times Prophecy guy.

It doesn't work that way.

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

Never have I witnessed such sincere hospitality and the overwhelming spirit of true brotherhood as is practiced by people of all colors and races here in this ancient Holy Land, the House of Abraham, Muhammad, and all the other Prophets of the Holy Scriptures. For the past week, I have been utterly speechless and spellbound by the graciousness I see displayed all around me by people of all colors...

You may be shocked by these words coming from me. But on this pilgrimage, what I have seen, and experienced, has forced me to rearrange much of my thought-patterns previously held, and to toss aside some of my previous conclusions. This was not too difficult for me. Despite my firm convictions, I have always been a man who tries to face facts, and to accept the reality of life as new experience and new knowledge unfolds it. I have always kept an open mind, which necessary to the flexibility that must go hand in hand with every form of intelligent search for truth.

During the past eleven days here in the Muslim world, I have eaten from the same plate, drunk from the same glass, and slept in the same bed (or on the same rug) -- while praying to the same God -- with fellow Muslims, whose eyes were the bluest of blue, whose hair was the blondest of blond, and whose skin was the whitest of white. And in the words and in the actions and in the deeds of the "white" Muslims, I felt the same sincerity that I felt among the black African Muslims of Nigeria, Sudan, and Ghana. We were truly all the same (brothers) -- because their belief in one God had removed the "white" from their minds, the 'white' from their behavior, and the 'white' from their attitude. I could see from this, that perhaps if white Americans could accept the Oneness of God, then perhaps, too, they could accept in reality the Oneness of Man -- and cease to measure, and hinder, and harm others in terms of their "differences" in color.

With racism plaguing America like an incurable cancer, the so-called "Christian" white American heart should be more receptive to a proven solution to such a destructive problem. Perhaps it could be in time to save America from imminent disaster -- the same destruction brought upon Germany by racism that eventually destroyed the Germans themselves.

They asked me what about the Hajj had impressed me the most. . . . I said, "The brotherhood! The people of all races, color, from all over the world coming together as one! It has proved to me the power of the One God. . . . All ate as one, and slept as one. Everything about the pilgrimage atmosphere accented the Oneness of Man under One God. 

~Malcolm X, Letter following the Hajj.

The Killing Fields (Scenes From A Cold Civil War, Twelve.)

Never have I witnessed such sincere hospitality and the overwhelming spirit of true brotherhood as is practiced by people of all colors and races here in this ancient Holy Land, the House of Abraham, Muhammad, and all the other Prophets of the Holy Scriptures. For the past week, I have been utterly speechless and spellbound by the graciousness I see displayed all around me by people of all colors...

You may be shocked by these words coming from me. But on this pilgrimage, what I have seen, and experienced, has forced me to rearrange much of my thought-patterns previously held, and to toss aside some of my previous conclusions. This was not too difficult for me. Despite my firm convictions, I have always been a man who tries to face facts, and to accept the reality of life as new experience and new knowledge unfolds it. I have always kept an open mind, which necessary to the flexibility that must go hand in hand with every form of intelligent search for truth.

During the past eleven days here in the Muslim world, I have eaten from the same plate, drunk from the same glass, and slept in the same bed (or on the same rug) -- while praying to the same God -- with fellow Muslims, whose eyes were the bluest of blue, whose hair was the blondest of blond, and whose skin was the whitest of white. And in the words and in the actions and in the deeds of the "white" Muslims, I felt the same sincerity that I felt among the black African Muslims of Nigeria, Sudan, and Ghana. We were truly all the same (brothers) -- because their belief in one God had removed the "white" from their minds, the 'white' from their behavior, and the 'white' from their attitude. I could see from this, that perhaps if white Americans could accept the Oneness of God, then perhaps, too, they could accept in reality the Oneness of Man -- and cease to measure, and hinder, and harm others in terms of their "differences" in color.

With racism plaguing America like an incurable cancer, the so-called "Christian" white American heart should be more receptive to a proven solution to such a destructive problem. Perhaps it could be in time to save America from imminent disaster -- the same destruction brought upon Germany by racism that eventually destroyed the Germans themselves.

They asked me what about the Hajj had impressed me the most. . . . I said, "The brotherhood! The people of all races, color, from all over the world coming together as one! It has proved to me the power of the One God. . . . All ate as one, and slept as one. Everything about the pilgrimage atmosphere accented the Oneness of Man under One God. 

~Malcolm X, Letter following the Hajj.

...

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've been hearing all this crap about Sydney Sweeney's "Great Jeans" commercial for a few days now, and honestly the shit just sounded like, you know, typical "Pop Culture" vapidity updated for our current stupid racist political season.

Finally saw a rundown of the whole thing, conveniently provided by the instigators themselves. Turns out, it's worse.

Or more precisely, it is all that. But These Fucking People think they're some kind of adventurers for pulling this shit.

Well, there's millions of people around the world that you can ask about the actual horrors of Eugenics and Nazism. There's millions more who fought and survived and contributed to the historical record before they died. And there's millions more besides that, that you can't ask, that the historical record itself cannot consult because they died in the events themselves as did most of the people they knew, so they are but a name and place of death, mostly...rather than being the people who lived through it and then died 50 or 60 years later.

And These Fucking People think that's some kind of a big joke, a fashion statement, something to smirk and laugh about.

Stop and think about that shit for a second.

All this, While they're busy looking for ever more people to discriminate against.

Speaking of fat people, Lara, have you seen what the average butter-faced Southern MAGA redneck looks like, anymore??

They're all overweight, Bubba The Hutt is a thing that exists.

And here's the thing, between the economy that's kept a lot of people distracted and sozzled for years really starting to come undone, the Epstein list and hell, the fucking weather...we're probably headed for a crisis that's gonna make the September 2008 economic crash look like small potatoes...and very likely along with it a revolution (at least one, likely more) and a Soviet-style collapse of the United States, out of which...yes, the assholes will get something. 

No, you don't wanna live there.

I don't exactly live in the worst place, but places like Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin will be like the Baltic States of our version of the Fall of the Soviet Union (or like Slovenia in the collapse of Yugoslavia.) It could be worse, but it could be better, too...and we'll likely survive or not based on good leadership and willingness to integrate with the rest of the world.

Speaking of clothes, Michigan is giving every family with a Bridge Card and kids $400 per child for school clothes and supplies. That's my state, yo.

As for the United States as a whole? We've already been Oligarch-raided like the late-stage Soviet Union. I think we can expect the bottom to drop out of this mess before too long, in terms of Wall Street and the "economy" which is little more--if you think about it--than constantly measuring and re-measuring how rich people are doing.

The whole mess is getting too top-heavy, it's going to eventually collapse no matter what.

The truth is...and I first made various observations to this effect six or seven years ago on Twitter...that America isn't working out for a hell of a lot of Americans.

The top of the mountain may look impressive, but without the stones that hold it up, it's going to come tumbling down.

And you can throw into the mix that in the middle of this there's going to have to be a fight for freedom.

Otherwise, what the fuck are we even doing here??

Because no matter who you are, or who you think you are, people who turn Eugenics into a joke or sell T-shirts celebrating Concentration Camps are absolutely going to come after you sooner or later.

But they're very likely going to act like it's some big joke, not take it seriously and fuck it up. 

Which means people will still die, very likely more (and also not the people they wanted to, think how more conservatives died of COVID-19 than members of other groups) than would have died if these ass clowns were halfway competent.

But dead is still dead, the Grim Reaper doesn't really care about one's race, sex, social status or anything like that and you don't get to take the money with you. Also, once mass death gets going it has an economy...in effect...all its own, which tends to generate more casualties by way of disease and social collapse over time like some kind of Necro-subprime mortgage being bundled and resold to new sets of suckers creditors by skeevy Wall Street Chuds.

And people like Ashley Schapiro don't care. They got theirs already, fuck you.

These Fucking People's ideal society is basically the Killing Fields of Khmer Rouge Cambodia, but with a goddamned mall.

Against that? You either believe in Freedom...in your own right to Life...or you don't.

It really is that simple.

It's going to come down to a fight.

Слава Україна!

The wind whispers of fear and hate. The war has killed love. And those that confess to the Angkar are punished, and no one dare ask where they go. Here, only the silent survive. ~Dith Pran, The Killing Fields

Eleven

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  

Networked Babylon (Scenes From A Cold Civil War, Eleven.)

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

...

Hess: So what shall we toast to, boys? I can blather on about “To health” or “To success,” but I’d like to do somethin’ a little less rote. Where you from, Brown Eyes?

Migs Mayfield: How ’bout a toast to Operation Cinder?

Hess: Now there’s a man who knows his history.

Mayfield: No, I don’t just know it. I lived it. I was in Burnin Konn.

Hess: Burnin Konn?

Mayfield: Mmm.

Hess: That was a hard day. I had to make many unpleasant decisions.

Mayfield: Yes, you did. Entire city gone in moments, along with everybody in it. We lost our whole division that day. Man, that was like 5-10,000 people.

Hess: Yep. All heroes of the Empire.

Mayfield: Yeah. And all dead.

Hess: Well, it’s a small sacrifice for the greater good, son.

Mayfield: Depends on who you ask, don’t you think?

Hess: [irritated] What you gettin’ at, trooper?

Mayfield: All those people, the ones who died, was it good for them? Hmm? Their families? The guys I served with? Civilians, those poor mud scuffers, died defending their homes, fighting for freedom. Was it good for them?

Hess: But we’ve outlasted them, son. They’re eating themselves alive. The New Republic is in complete disarray, and we grow stronger. You see, with the rhydonium you’ve delivered, we can create havoc that’s gonna make Burnin Konn pale by comparison. And then they’re gonna turn to us once again. You see, boys, everybody thinks they want freedom, but what they really want is order. And when they realize that, they’re gonna welcome us back with open arms. Ah. To the Empire.

[Mayfield chuckles, then fires a blaster at Hess' chest, killing him instantly. He and Mando then shoot their way out of the mess hall] ~From The Mandalorian, Season 2, Ep. 7 "The Believer"

I keep hearing about this half-baked idea for a Cryptocurrency-based "Network State."

Which, considering that I've seen what happens when regular people get too far into all this Crypto bullshit and lose their ass, something tells me none of this shit works that way.

Seems like it's just a retread of Ayn Rand's 1950's-era "Galt's Gulch" horseshit right out of the 1950's, if you ask me. It's just been slightly updated to account for technology and the increasing selfishness of people.

Of course, these fucking people, Libertarians, Republicans or whatever they claim to be now, have coupled this whole idea to Donald Trump...which of course means, in the end it won't work...but the idea isn't for it to work in the first place, but simply for it to throw another wrench into the gears of the existing system and break shit even more.

And the truth is, not a damned one of these fucking people wants to work for a living.

Not even when their job basically consists of wearing a suit and going to meetings all day, which is something I've never considered to be real work.

They think they're gonna have wealth without work and some version of slaves to do their goddamned work for them. Like, what the fuck do you think either this whole craze about AI and robots on the Right is about, not to mention making the lives of poor people even harder than usual or traumatizing immigrants and migrant workers and people of Color??

And lets not forget about all the sexual abuse that's going on. It's not just the Epstein List, I'm rather sure there's many more such lists at this point.

These Fucking People look at Babylon or Rome or any other ancient empire of debauchery and slavery and they don't see a terrible past, they see something to emulate in the present.

Like, I guess I thought humanity was supposed to have learned something in the last couple of thousand years??

Like if they can't get some group of humans to tap out and be their bitches their big idea is to built robots and use the shit out of Artificial Intelligence and I don't know about you but I've seen Battlestar Galactica and the Terminator movies and Westworld. Maybe it's just me, but I don't think, in the end, that will end well either.

Like pretty much the only things modern "Conservatives" seem to believe in these days are "Ideals" of Monarchy and Slavery (and most alleged "Conservatives" fail to understand they ain't gonna be the King.) I'm sorry, but my grasp of history tells me all that kind of shit was ever good for was soaking the world in the blood of the innocent undeserving and you'd fucking think people...especially in America, which the entire point of was that we were the Nation Against Monarchy...have had enough of this fucking bullshit.

Especially with the effects of climate change and various Republican policies at this point being as goddamned obvious as they are.

Of course, I get it, half the fucking problem is that the United States of America is overrun with narcissists who don't give a shit about other people.

Until the problems they've created come for them, that is, then it's a fucking problem.

Politics, collectively, is how we treat each other.

It's no wonder America is a goddamned train wreck, and then These Fucking People want to further parasitize the USA and anywhere else that'll let them with some kind of bullshit "Network State" arglebargle?

Who cuts the grass in the Network State? Who collects the taxes, defends it, fixes the plumbing?

Not Network-Staters, I'll tell you that much. It'll be Americans or Hondurans or whatever.

These dipshits want all the benefits of civilization, but none of the responsibilities.

Like These Fucking People think they're gonna be the Technocracy out of the White Wolf roleplaying games, but the truth is they're more like the Borg in Star Trek: First Contact where that shit was like the Star Trek version of Zombies or something, but it's the Borg, programmed by the Carl's Jr. computer from Idiocracy. Extra Big Ass Taco, now with more molecules!

Or something.

While I'm at it, I saw that Elon Musk has a *Checks Notes* guy in a robot suit that he pays to pretend to be a robot at his "Tesla Diner" like some kind of retread of the extras in circa-1979 Cylon costumes that they had back at the Universal Studios theme park back in the 1980's and goddamn but if he's all that he says he is you'd think Elon could do better than that shit.

The truth is all this crap is gonna come tumbling down simply because these fucking people are stupid, and us regular people are gonna get stuck with cleaning up the mess and footing the bill and the assholes will be waiting in the wings to worm their ways back in the second anybody makes a mistake or, well, does pretty much anything they can scream about.

Like, maybe the human race should just stop platforming these fucking assholes??

Just a thought, but what the fuck do I know?

You either believe in freedom or you don't.

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

And if you don't believe everybody should have it, what you believe in isn't freedom.

I know that much.

You have been warned.

People were warned and they didn't listen.

And now it's going to end up coming down to a fight to make this bullshit stop.

Слава Україна!

John Constantine: You're handing Earth over to the son of the Devil? Help me, here;

Gabriel: [Gabriel sits on top of John Constantine, explaining her rebellion] You're handed this precious gift, right? Each one of you granted redemption from the Creator – murderers, rapists, molesters – all of you just have to repent, and God takes you into His bosom. In all the worlds and all the universe, no other creature can make such a boast, save man. It's not fair.

[Gabriel leans closer to Constantine's face]

Gabriel: If sweet, sweet God loves you so, then I will make you worthy of His love. But it's only in the face of horror that you truly find your nobler selves – and you can be so noble. So … I will bring you pain. I will bring you horror.

[Gabriel lifts up Constantine from his collar]

Gabriel: So that you may rise above it. So that those of you who will survive this reign of hell on earth will be worthy of God's love.

John Constantine: Gabriel... you're insane.

Gabriel: [smiles] The road to salvation begins tonight. Right now.

~From the film Constantine.

Ten

We have become a Nazi monster in the eyes of the whole world, a nation of bullies and bastards who would rather kill than live peacefully. We are not just Whores for power and oil, but killer whores with hate and fear in our hearts. We are human scum, and that is how history will judge us. No redeeming social value. Just whores. Get out of our way, or we'll kill you. Who does vote for these dishonest shitheads? Who among us can be happy and proud of having all this innocent blood on our hands? Who are these swine? These flag-sucking half-wits who get fleeced and fooled by stupid little rich kids like George Bush? They are the same ones who wanted to have Muhammad Ali locked up for refusing to kill gooks. They speak for all that is cruel and stupid and vicious in the American character. They are the racists and hate mongers among us; they are the Ku Klux Klan. I piss down the throats of these Nazis. And I am too old to worry about whether they like it or not. Fuck them. ~Hunter S. Thompson