Bi Polar People

 Almost sixty years ago I was an airman in Seville Spain. The double exposure shows Morocco in the background. One of my favorite times in life.  Favorite quote:  Cogito, ergo sum.  Or you learn a lot when stupid! Four children and two grandchildren and two step grandchildren later with many many jobs that I enjoyed or was forced to endure to keep a family:  Aircraft parts stockman, Telephone co. central office tech (I didn't like climbing poles), military Radar electronics school, Microwave engineer, computer help desk support for Home Shopping Club and IBM.  The final job was to automate a helpdesk for my son and his cousin.  That was interesting to say the least.  I survived all the stuff in between because I was to young to  know better. // i.e.  youth as corporate fodder.  Of no particular significance :  Paid no taxes this year.  Thank you Mr. T.  You should be ashamed for letting people die in the interest of ...

  Galileo Galilei once said,  “You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself.”  Even centuries later, this idea feels strikingly relevant. At its core, the quote suggests that real learning does not happen when information is handed over. It occurs when a person is curious enough to explore, question, and arrive at understanding on their own. Galileo wasn’t dismissing teachers, books, or education. Instead, he was pointing out something more subtle: knowledge that lasts is discovered, not delivered.

Today’s cartoon, by Ivan Ehlers: “Want to watch coverage of the politicians encouraging fascism or the politicians doing absolutely nothing to stop it?”

  My boss just got fired   and his boss is an idiot A constitutional crisis that has shaken Washington Repost from May 2017 Graphic   Andy Warhol https://www.trumplibrary.gov/trumps/president-donald-j-trump

In 1978, the Czech dissident Václav Havel wrote an essay called  The Power of the Powerless . In it, he asked a simple question: how did the communist system sustain itself? His answer began with a green grocer. Every morning, this shopkeeper places a sign in his window: “Workers of the world, unite!” He does not believe it. No one believes it. But he places the sign anyway — to avoid trouble, to signal compliance, to get along. And because every shopkeeper on every street does the same, the system persists. Not through violence alone, but through the participation of ordinary people in rituals they privately know to be false. Havel called this “living within a lie.” The system’s power comes not from its truth but from everyone’s willingness to perform as if it were true. And its fragility comes from the same source: when even one person stops performing — when the greengrocer removes his sign — the illusion begins to crack. It is time for companies and countries to take their sign...

  The Latin Mass

Blogger alteration                          " ICE is  reportedly  investing $100 million on what it calls “wartime recruitment” of 10,000 new agents, in addition to the 20,000 already employed. Its recruitment is targeting gun and military enthusiasts, people who listen to right-wing radio, who have gone to Ultimate Fighting Championship fights or shopped for guns and tactical gear, live near military bases, and attend NASCAR races. It’s calling for recruits willing to perform their “ sacred duty ” and “ defend the homeland ” by repelling “ foreign invaders .”" credit: substsck.com/@robertreich

Graphic Matt Mistretta "You could almost detect the clenched teeth and pursed lips in Tulsi Gabbard’s social-media post. “President Trump promised the American people he would secure our borders, confront narcoterrorism, dangerous drug cartels, and drug traffickers,” the director of national intelligence  wrote on X yesterday afternoon , days after the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.   “The United States needs to stay out of Venezuela,”  she posted in January 2019 . “Let the Venezuelan people determine their future. We don’t want other countries to choose our leaders—so we have to stop trying to choose theirs.” The Atlantic Daily By  David A. Graham  

Never shoot at a moving vehicle Ice person shoots and kills the driver of a moving vehicle in  Minneapolis  " A truck with flashing lights pulls up; the driver and a second agent jump out and rapidly approach a burgundy SUV blocking the road, and the driver appears to tell a woman to get out of her car. The SUV reverses briefly, then starts to move forward. A third officer then fires several shots. The car veers away before crashing." By  David A. Graham

  "The U.S. Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government, responsible for making laws, controlling spending, and overseeing the executive branch, consisting of two chambers: the Senate (100 members, two per state) and the House of Representatives (435 members, based on state population). All bills must pass both chambers to become law, and Congress plays a vital role in the American system of checks and balances, balancing power with the President and the Judiciary." The definition of US Congress no longer applies to the current state of American government  If you are able to vote you can change this abuse of presidential power 

Be Silly Happy New Year to all BP people and the few that aren't  

The Herculaneum scrolls, over 1,800 ancient papyrus scrolls, were discovered in the 18th century at the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum, Italy, after being carbonized by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. They represent the only surviving library from antiquity and contain significant philosophical texts, primarily associated with the Epicurean philosopher Philodemus.   Philodemus  is persuading the people who are listening to him to sort of relax, find good friendships, spend your time living in the moment and enjoying pleasures,” said  Roger Macfarlane , a professor of classical studies at Brigham Young University, Article provided by CNN Watch on Secrets of the Dead PBS Networks  Making headlines around the world, Brent Seales and his team of computer scientists set out on a mission to read the 2,000-year-old carbonized scrolls found in the remains of a villa in Herculaneum. Mt. Vesuvius’s eruption in 79 AD transformed the papyri, fusing together the la...

America can survive without a “60 Minutes” it can trust, just as we can survive without trustworthy editorial pages of the  Washington Post.  But at some point, as Trump continues to repress criticism of him and his regime, American democracy is compromised beyond repair.  We are coming to the end of only the first year of Trump II. He and the lapdogs and sycophants around him have done more damage to this nation in less than a year than I thought possible. Written by Robert Reich

  Be yourself to unhinge enemies and delight loved ones T shirt from grand daughter stationed in    " Al Udeid Air Base a major military facility located southwest of Doha, Qatar, serving as a key base for the Qatar Emiri Air Force and the United States Air Force. It plays a crucial role in U.S. military operations in the Middle East and has been operational since its construction in 1996." Thank you for your service Jasmine

   satellite service is reliable when those little things don't bump into each other Starlink Outage Map Unprecedented Global Threat

  "Reversing the United States’ slide into authoritarianism will require democracy’s defenders to recognize the twin dangers of complacency and fatalism. On the one hand, underestimating   the threat posed to democracy—believing that the Trump administration’s behavior is simply politics as usual—enables authoritarianism by encouraging inaction in the face of systematic abuse of power. On the other hand, overestimating   the impact of authoritarianism—believing the country has reached a point of no return—discourages the citizen actions required to defeat autocrats at the ballot box." Read full article here: Quote from foreignaffairs.com Graphic   Warner Bros. Entertainment

 The Rule of Law  By Many Men  Not One Man

Our neighbor across the pond built everything you see, deck, windowed addition, metal roof and the bonsai collection     Bonsai is the Japanese art of growing and shaping miniature trees in containers, with a long documented history of influences and native Japanese development over a thousand years, and with unique aesthetics, cultural history, and terminology derived from its evolution in Japan.  Similar arts exist in other cultures, including Korea's bunjae, the Chinese art of penjing, and the miniature living landscapes of Vietnamese Hòn non bộ.  The loanword bonsai has become an umbrella term in English, attached to many forms of diminutive potted plants, and also on occasion to other living and non-living things   Continued in Wikipedia

 another prediction came to mind

  I can look back and judge my actions, thoughts and intentions. Moving back and forth from one state of mind to another was precarious at first because I didn’t know whether I was remembering or experiencing. Most of the time it’s just a hassle, when not trying to forge some forsaken purpose. It’s hard to tell when engaged full blown~ You said I need the medication. Well, I blow off everything as a joke when I can’t fully accept it. You’re right I need the meds and can tell if the prescriber's meds  manufacturer  have been changed to supposedly save me money. You are a very strong person, or someone capable of fighting the good fight without chemical alteration. I personally find it easier to live with some tweaking of the psyche with a little help from my friends. It does take an awful long time with many pitfalls that lead to near tragedies in order to know what works. Roberta is a cousin who is about my age.  She is intelligent, hard working and agnostic.  M...