War, Politics, and Life by Bruce Maulden
“But February made me shiver With every paper I’d deliver. Bad news on the doorstep; I couldn’t take one more step. — ‘American Pie,’ Don McLean Surfing Internet news sites can be overly-depressing. Any kind of news nowadays is depressing — beware of those bearing glad tidings, they either don’t want to upset you, or…
Warmongering sonofabitches. Instead of the number 11, US military officials actually meant the number 14 — President Obama on announcing his so-called ‘Afghan surge’ last year blubbered US troops would begin a drawdown in July 2011, but now it seems he was some three years off. Defense honcho Bullet-Bob Gates and a warmongering warning to…
Veteran’s Day 2010 — A continuing, seemingly-never ending festival of sad. (Illustration found here). Adieu to a Soldier — Walt Whitman Adieu O soldier, You of the rude campaigning, (which we shared,) The rapid march, the life of the camp, The hot contention of opposing fronts, the long manoeuvre, Red battles with their slaughter, the…
War-making equipment down through history has on many occasions been transferred to civilian uses, some of these shifts have been bad, some good and some creepy-dangerous. George Orwell would blow chunks nowadays at the direction military technology is taking, making an eye in the sky a normal every-day part of modern life. (Illustration found here).…
One of the things I’ve always wondered about is how do people who’ve done obvious shitty stuff in public handle themselves? How do they view themselves in a mirror, how do they sleep at night knowing they caused needless horror and suffering — despite my disbelief, I have to keep in mind a lot of…
‘Cause suicide is painless it brings on many changes and I can take or leave it if I please. …and you can do the same thing if you choose. — Johnny Mandel, (M*A*S*H lyrics) (Illustration found here). The suicide rate for the US military is staggering. From CBS News last Friday: The Army’s suicide rate is…
Time, time, time is on my side, yes it is –Â “Time Is On My Side,” The Rolling Stones Wrong — time instead is on an extremely short leash. There’s a scene in the movie, “The Matrix,” where Morpheus explains to Neo the sheep-like nature of humanity: You have to understand that most of these…
Thirty years ago today Steven Terrence McQueen died. McQueen was only 50. He died one day after an operation to remove several metastatic tumors in his abdomen, the end result of a fight against mesothelioma. An avid McQueen fan as a youngster — I even had a toy replica of John Randall’s featured armament, a…
In the short run (one must remember there’s no long run here), the most dangerous and gruesome aspect of last Tuesday’s elections is the asshole defiance of GOPers to climate change — not only are they turning their brains inward, they dragging the world down with them. (Illustration found here). Anyone with any shred of walking-around…
Hypocrisy, from Wikipedia: The act of pretending to have beliefs, opinions, virtues, feelings, qualities, or standards that one does not actually have. Hypocrisy involves the deception of others and is thus a kind of lie. Hillary Clinton telling Cambodia to confront its tortured past: “It’s a very disturbing experience and the pictures — both the…