Send in the Clouds (Updated - July 19)

 

Cloud formation over the Sandia Mountains - cellphone photo - June 30, 2025, DS.
(Note that the bird - left of center - appears to be a raptor.)

"I'm glad to be with you, Sam Gamgee, here at the end of all things."

- Frodo Baggins speaking to his closest companion, Sam, on Mount Doom while Mordor is consumed in flames, via this scene (also here) from The Return of the King, Peter Jackson's cinematic retelling of J. R. R. Tolkien's classic trilogy. 

The saga of Middle Earth from The Lord of the Rings was the first thing that came to my mind at the beginning of this year, when someone had apparently sent in a swarm of menacing clowns to replace the government here in the States.

In Tolkien's tale, the Great Eagles, led by the wizard Gandalf, saved the day for Frodo and Sam.

But, who will save the day for those of us in the West, who are currently suffering under the escalating Republican Reign of Terror?

Monstrous cloud over the Sandia Mountains - cellphone photo - July 27, 2025, DS.

I'm thinking... clouds. 

But, no, don't get me wrong. I'm not talking about the little fluffy clouds drifting by on a sunny day. I'm talking about the massive, icy thunderheads that spell doom for an unwary pilot.

(More below the jump...)

Go Tell it to the Olive Tree (4/4/2025 - Post Abandoned)

 

A living historical record: the olive tree of Vouves, Greece.

The Olive Tree - A Living Record

Oldest olive tree in the world is located in Crete

"The ancient Olive Tree of Vouves (Elia Vouvon) is located in the village of Ano Vouves on the island of Crete. It is believed to be the oldest olive tree in the world which still produces highly-prized olives.

Although its exact age cannot be verified using radioisotopes as the tree’s heartwood has been lost through the centuries, scientists from the University of Crete have estimated it to be 4,000 years old. It is presumed that the tree first appeared in 1100BC, in the sub-Minoan period of Cretan history." (2020, Andriana Simos of the Greek Herald)

Meet The 4,000-Year-Old Olive Tree That Saw The Rise And Fall Of Alexander The Great’s Empire—A Biologist Explains

"Deep in the heart of Crete, where myth intertwines with natural wonder, stands the legendary olive tree of Vouves. For millennia, this 2,000-year-old ancient sentinel has silently witnessed the rise and fall of civilizations, outlasting even some of Greece’s most famous historical figures.

Olive trees have long been revered not only for their fruit and oil but also for the resilience encoded in their DNA. These trees symbolize endurance, wisdom and continuity. In a landscape where nature’s secrets are often obscured by time, the olive tree of Vouves reminds us that life can sometimes persist against all odds."

- The Olive Tree of Vouves was my initial inspiration for this post. It is a protected historical monument in Greece and has possibly witnessed over 4000 years of human history.

Ironically, less than a week later, what should appear in new's headlines, but articles about a different historical tree.

White House to remove magnolia tree dating to Andrew Jackson

•

Historic tree planted nearly 200 years ago to be cut down at the White House

_____________________________________________

One American Political Party Attempts to Censor Natural History, a Nation's History and the History of the World

“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.”

“And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became truth. 'Who controls the past' ran the Party slogan, 'controls the future: who controls the present controls the past."

- Excerpted from George Orwell's novel, "1984", and sourced from this sobering article.

•

Trump targets 'anti-American ideology' at Smithsonian museums

"Trump has set out to radically reshape American culture, which he says has been contaminated by "woke" left-wing ideology. He has signed several orders that are intended to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programmes from the federal government - some of which led to legal challenges."

•

Trump Executive Order Targets ‘Anti-American’ Content at Smithsonian

"President Donald Trump has signed an executive order on Thursday directing the Smithsonian, a federal consortium of cultural and research institutions, to eliminate “divisive” and “anti-American” content from its exhibitions and restore “monuments, memorials, statues, markers” that have been removed from public spaces since 2020.

The “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” order gives Vice President JD Vance the authority to determine what content is “improper” at the Smithsonian Institution. A fact sheet from the White House describes the order as opposed to “anti-American ideology.”

•

Unabashed Fascism': Trump Executive Order Targets 'Improper Ideology' at Smithsonian

"First Trump removes any reference of diversity from the present—now he's trying to remove it from our history," wrote one Democratic lawmaker. "You cannot erase our past and you cannot stop us from fulfilling our future."

•

US orders French companies to comply with Trump's diversity ban

"American interference in the inclusion policies of French companies, along with threats of unjustified tariffs, is unacceptable," France's Ministry of Foreign Trade said in a statement sent to Reuters.

"France and Europe will defend their businesses, their consumers, and also their values," the ministry, which is under the authority of the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, added."

______________________________________________

Aphroditus - Gender in the Ancient World

"There's also a statue of Venus on Cyprus, that's bearded, shaped and dressed like a woman, with scepter and male genitals, and they conceive her as both male and female. Aristophanes calls her Aphroditus, and Laevius says: Worshiping, then, the nurturing god Venus, whether she is male or female, just as the Moon is a nurturing goddess. In his Atthis Philochorus, too, states that she is the Moon and that men sacrifice to her in women's dress, women in men's, because she is held to be both male and female."

(Continued below the jump...)

The Man Who Sold the World (last update: 2/3/2025)

"Oh no, not me

We never lost control

You're face to face

With the man who sold the world

- Lyrics from The Man Who Sold the World, 1970, David Bowie.

***

Amusingly, the day Donald Trump was inaugurated this song trended on YouTube. The Man Who Sold the World was an early Bowie tune which never received much airplay till British pop-diva, Lulu - whom DB adored - brought it to the top of the UK charts several years later.

Nirvana covered the song in the 90s - above is an MTV performance - and totally nailed it. But, meanwhile, hiding in the Saturday Night Live archives is, perhaps, DB's most definitive interpretation of the "man" who is revealed to be an eerily puppet-like figure. (Also see.) Featuring the German performance artist, Klaus Nomi, the full video can be found here.

***

"I was saved by God to make America great again."

- A grandiose (delusional) statement attributed to Donald Trump on the day of his inauguration sourced from USA Today's Donald Trump sworn in as 47th president, declares 'America's decline is over'.

America's "decline" is over? No, judging by the news headlines over the past 8 days, many, both here and abroad, secretly fear the alleged "decline" may have just begun.

Moreover, America may be losing the support of friendly nations and allies due to the present administration's seemingly pathological disregard for diplomacy. (See article here and videos of officials from Germany, Ireland, and Denmark.)

Observe: 

• Trump is withdrawing from the Paris Agreement (again), reversing U.S. climate policy

• Trump administration launches nationwide immigration enforcement blitz

• Trump’s new gender rules gut a key part of the Prison Rape Elimination Act

• Trump uses mass firing to remove independent inspectors general at a series of agencies

• What is US birthright citizenship and what does Trump’s executive order do?

• Brazil slams US after dozens of deportees arrive handcuffed

• Trump imposes tariffs, sanctions on Colombia after it refuses deportation flights

(Update)

• US freezes foreign aid for almost all countries including Ukraine, except Israel and Turkey

• Trump offering buyouts to all federal workers

• Federal judge temporarily blocks Trump administration freeze on federal grants and loans

***

The news is coming fast and furiously these days. I've never seen anything like it. Every day introduces a new abomination... with the leader of the new administration shooting out executive orders with machine gun-like rapidity. If this is an element of his strategy then it's effectively disabling us, leading some Americans to wonder: has there been a coup?

Seriously...

(Continued below the jump...)

Higher Ground - A Meme

Devi Vijaya Lakshmi - the Lakshmi of Victory - a colorfully painted statue - G - DS - 2024.

In the Hindu understanding of the cosmos, the female counterpart of Vishnu - Lakshmi - is the Devi, or goddess, of prosperity... "who is the guiding light for the world - who has obtained the sustained (continued, everlasting) glance (Grace) from Brahma."

Also: "She is often depicted sitting upon a lotus and adorned with lotus at her hands and feet. Many of her names, Padmā, Kamalā, Ambujā, refer to the lotus. The lotus has powerful symbolism in Hinduism. While its roots are in the mud, its stalk rises clearly through the murky water, with its petals blossoming above, untouched by the mud. It is a symbol of rising above the material world through divinity, of being good in the midst of negative influences."

You will note how precisely the figure of the Devi fits within the Golden Egg I transposed over it. I have seen this phi configuration often in depictions of Hindu goddesses, reminding us that the pentagonal golden spiral is very prominent in ancient Near & Middle Eastern art. See my Paisley post.

Lakshmi was first introduced on this blog in this post. (Shyamala Gopalan didn't name her daughter Kamala Devi for nothing. She saw the future.)

(For more images of this beautiful Devi, try here.)

***

prosperous (adj.)

synonyms: thriving, doing well, fortunate, successful, lucky, rich, vigorous, roaring, strong, productive, flourishing, booming, opulent, golden...

antonyms: depressed, poor.

- Via Google/Oxford Languages. Prosperous is a word few of us can really wrap our heads around. Why is this?

I see them every day now in southwestern Albuquerque... more of them, and more frequently: the misfortunate nomads - the darker side of the American dream - wheeling their life's belongings in shopping carts down the vacant streets with no destination... no protection, no peace. They appear to be American refugees of every description. While I was never one of them, I, too, was homeless - and, theoretically, still am - but the emergence of the new Traveler or Nomad and the plight of the disenfranchised is not a recent development. I began living in my car the year following Trump's inauguration. And, then, came the Black Hole - the Pandemic. We all know the rest.

It is true: we - none of us - can "go back"; "back" no longer exists as we once knew it.

(Continued below the jump...)

"Looking into a Mirror Sideways"

Laurie Anderson, Absent in the Present: Looking into a Mirror Sideways, 1975 © Laurie Anderson

(I know it seems like I'm on a roll this week... and maybe I am... and maybe I'm not. This is my second attempt to put up this post. So, while it occurs to me that I may be slowly retrieving more of my voice after (its) long absence, it is equally as possible that I'm deluding myself...

Or, trying to communicate with a mirror bisecting my face.)

***

Laurie Anderson: "I think Donald Trump changed my relationship to reality more than virtual reality did. The second people started chanting “Lock her up,” my sense of reality shifted in a major way. I wish I had more distance and I wish I could just see, “This is really an insane person trying to get attention.” He’s very, very good at what he does. Sometimes I’m kind of lured into his world, even though I recognize it as one of attention-seeking and deeply, deeply disconnected from reality. I still get fooled by it. So, I try not to see it as a disintegrating phase, the last phase of our system. But I would have to say I’m more influenced by his vocabulary of fake news than I am by any art concept of what’s real and what’s not real, or what’s virtual and what’s not virtual, because those things I understand. I understand that art isn’t real, already. But I thought that the real world was real. Silly me, you know?"

- From a 2018 interview with Laurie Anderson found on this MIT page. Keep in mind, 2018 was a deep-shit pandemic year... illusions/delusions/fear were rife in those days... and, quite possibly, still are.

(Correction: the Pandemic - as we know it - wasn't in full swing until 2020. "Illusions/delusions/fear" were "rife" in 2018, but the doo-doo had yet to hit the fan. It merely nourished invasive weeds...) (re: the original green-blooded cast from A Little Shop of Horrors.)

“Nothing, nothing mattered, and I knew why. So did he. Throughout the whole absurd life I'd lived, a dark wind had been rising toward me from somewhere deep in my future, across years that were still to come, and as it passed, this wind leveled whatever was offered to me at the time, in years no more real than the ones I was living. What did other people's deaths or a mother's love matter to me; what did his God or the lives people choose or the fate they think they elect matter to me when we're all elected by the same fate, me and billions of privileged people like him who also called themselves my brothers? Couldn't he see, couldn't he see that? Everybody was privileged. There were only privileged people. The others would all be condemned one day. And he would be condemned, too.”

- Albert Camus, from The Stranger.

“Man is the only creature who refuses to be what he is.”

- Albert Camus.

***

This is, yet, another Addendum to the Camus post. It seems he and I continue to dance in the multiverse of the Absurd.

As it was, I just happened upon another artistic contribution by American artist & musician Laurie Anderson; one which seemed to reflect my ongoing Absurdist theme.

Regarding her 1975 photo (above), at a rapid glance, the little girl in the mirror looks like a googly-eyed monster... or the product of a very bad (chemical) trip. In reality, she's no more than a playful little kid who has learned a new trick, an illusion involving a mirror. She wasn't really a monster. But she surely loved appearing like one.

The illusion she created, however, is the central theme of this post. That is, when things start getting scary, wonky, weird, or a little out-or-sync we might ask ourselves: is this just some trick with mirrors?

Take loose cannon (and Republican pawn), Donald Trump, for instance... quite a lot of distortion there. Quite a lot of mirror tricks all the way around. One "sideways" mirror trick makes America appear like a divided nation. A similar mirror trick makes thieves look like clowns. Another mirror trick allows the most marginalized and ineffectual people to appear gargantuan and menacing. It's amazing what can be accomplished with a few strategically placed mirrors.

What's more amazing is that anyone is sane... 

"So, I try not to see it as a disintegrating phase, the last phase of our system."

Laurie Anderson may have been envisioning the future with that line... the pandemic and beyond. (See this related thought experiment.) However, "the last phase of our system" is (most likely) farther away than it appears in our present mirror. But, maybe I'm not looking in the right mirror.

Then again, maybe it's time that you and I dragged ourselves away from mirrors altogether... giving both ourselves & the mirrors a much-needed break (pun intended).

To the Moon, perhaps?

Dancing With the Ghost of Albert Camus

Dancing with Ghosts - cell phone photo - 2023, DS.

“At that time, I often thought that if I had had to live in the trunk of a dead tree, with nothing to do but look up at the sky flowing overhead, little by little I would have gotten used to it.”

- Albert Camus, The Stranger

(I am being inundated with politics these days... and politics is not my place. My place is culture. My place is my artist's meditative Zone... where politics with its conflict, chaos, ignorance, violence, tyranny, & lies are, in general, not welcome.

Unfortunately, politics are as inescapable as the current heat wave this summer.

 I am now staying in Albuquerque. It appears to be a strangely unpopulated place... or, rather, a thinly populated ghost town. There are rarely people on the streets unless they're homeless. And, yet, there are lines and lines of cars on its dusty roads... passing through? I don't know. I'm still a stranger in New Mexico... a refugee although I've lived here for 8 years. There are places in the world in which you can never be anything but a stranger, but, there are people who can never be anything but strangers, too.

On the other hand, 3 nights ago, the 4th of July (Independence Day), I couldn't get to any official pyrotechnic events, but the locals put on their own unofficial fireworks display - the People's Display - with some fairly sophisticated rockets... which lasted for hours. I watched from a window over the patio as they shot up across the horizon... and I felt quite patriotic; a feeling I rarely have...especially these days... that is, unless disgust and anger are symptoms of patriotism. Maybe, in a sense they are. It means you care. 

My current "backyard" - which really isn't mine - consists of a small fenced-in patio with very little green to be seen... but, upon closer inspection, enough green to support a small colony of grasshoppers! It's these little bits of natural life which anchor me to the corporeal world. Like the juvenile grasshopper - inset left - they bring me joy and, unlike everything else clamoring for my time and effort, they're refreshingly tangible and real. And, if you pay attention to them, they'll reward you in many ways. For instance, you can learn things. I learned that grasshoppers grow in a similar way to caterpillars. That is, they shed their skins to become much larger creatures... which somehow were illogically enfolded inside their former selves; a magic trick more interesting, more satisfying than you might imagine.

(7/24/23 Note: After a number of moults, the grasshopper became large, brown... and developed wings. While not as attractive as a butterfly it, too, transforms into a flying creature.)

In the photo, posted above, I am standing in the center of the patio on what is fondly referred to as the "launch pad." I appear to be dancing with myself. In reality I'm dancing with ghosts. Perhaps, I, too, have become a ghost... unconsciously haunting my own past...)

In this (brief) dream  I am in the house of my childhood... but, it is not not exactly the place I lived, for it has changed. Or, I should say, it has changed again. The first time it changed - in a long ago dream - a hidden room was revealed... positioned between my old bedroom and what was (in reality) a fairly unusual hallway featuring an array of closets, recesses, drawers and other enclosures. It was a phantom room but, in my sleeping mind, seemed both valid and logical.

I dreamt about this phantom room several times over the years. Its dimensions became an actual memory, as if it had always existed... somehow tucked away... enfolded in the recesses of a closet or at the bottom of a cluttered drawer.

In the latest dream, however, a screened-in porch had been added to the second floor of the family house...  in the front and, once again, where my bedroom was once located. It was accessed indoors from a newly created hallway... call it an Escher hallway, because it's position in the corporeal house was not (logically) possible. It was a phantom hallway... with another phantom construction nearby: the previously-mentioned "hidden room." I vaguely remember passing what may have been its potential doorway as I walked down the phantom hallway towards the phantom porch.

Now, the actual house was surrounded by tall trees: silver beech along the back, two enormous red maples in the front and a wall of massive pines. In the dream, they still existed. But, through the floor-to-ceiling screened apertures which composed the new porch, the trees were now fully visible, as if viewed from a treehouse.

The dream ended just as I entered the bright doorway and stepped into the screened enclosure. This, too, had a door, with stairs leading down to the ground below... a feature I may have consciously added in the process of waking up.

- From a note file created in May of this year. The addition of the porch was a fine dream-construction; an economical plan to let the outdoors in while also providing a third door - the house had two already - from which to escape. When I awoke from the dream, I felt refreshed. Perhaps, it was a metaphor for a new unconscious development and it felt like a positive one.

Which, is to say, it represented no part of my present-day physical reality but, rather, a vacation from it.

***

“Find meaning. Distinguish melancholy from sadness. Go out for a walk. It doesn’t have to be a romantic walk in the park, spring at its most spectacular moment, flowers and smells and outstanding poetical imagery smoothly transferring you into another world. It doesn’t have to be a walk during which you’ll have multiple life epiphanies and discover meanings no other brain ever managed to encounter. Do not be afraid of spending quality time by yourself. Find meaning or don’t find meaning but 'steal' some time and give it freely and exclusively to your own self. Opt for privacy and solitude. That doesn’t make you antisocial or cause you to reject the rest of the world. But you need to breathe. And you need to be.”

- Albert Camus (1913-1960), Notebooks 1951-1959. Camus was a French-Algerian writer, journalist, playwright, and philosopher and is most often considered an Absurdist. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1957.

My first introduction to Camus was in my art school days. I read The Stranger and it depressed me. Maybe I glimpsed my own future. Recently I read an online article regarding absurdist philosophy and in it I rediscovered Camus. I spent that night reading pages and pages of his quotes which exhilarated me; astoundingly, I could relate to just about everything he said. Via the Wiki entry for Absurdism:

"Absurdists, following Camus' formulation, hesitantly allow the possibility for some meaning or value in life, but are neither as certain as existentialists are about the value of one's own constructed meaning nor as nihilists are about the total inability to create meaning. Absurdists following Camus also devalue or outright reject free will, encouraging merely that the individual live defiantly and authentically in spite of the psychological tension of the Absurd."

The odd thing is, while I feel sympathetic towards Absurdism, my personal experience would require something a bit beyond it... Uber-Absurdism? I'm not sure.

"The modern mind is in complete disarray. Knowledge has stretched itself to the point

where neither the world nor our intelligence can find any foot-hold.

It is a fact that we are suffering from nihilism." - Albert Camus

When in Hell, Pop Some Corn

It is now officially Autumn; that spooky time of year which (normally) precedes winter. Unfortunately, this year, the same description is inadequate; our entire year has been spooky regardless of the season. Moreover, here in the States, we seem to be recklessly segueing from one circle of Hell to the next like loose cars on a roller coaster. The Pandemic, of course, continues to take its toll (one way or another), but, over the summer - that is, if you can call it a summer -  a virulent outbreak of Racism amassed its own casualties. This nightmare, in turn, lost its headline-news status when a blazing inferno began taking out large portions of the Pacific coast. Even here in New Mexico the skies continued to be a bit grey with the fallout for over a week. (Scarier than that, my friends on the east coast - 3000 miles away - report that the smoke was in eastern skies as well. One wonders how far and fast other pollutants can be transported.)

Ah, but there's a new circus in town. Yes, it's getting perilously close to Election Day again and although, in a visual sense, it seems our Presidential choices are not all that diverse - i.e., for the most part: old, male and pale - Democratic hopeful, Joe Biden, proving that he's no slouch, chose a vivacious female running mate - both African-American and Native American *- and, in terms of entertainment value, she's just about everything he's not. And that's the good news. The bad news is that, unfortunately, many Americans (both male and female) are firmly misogynistic; a fact not lost to Biden's foes whose agenda is to keep misogyny thriving. Therefore, the cunning Man from Mordor (who cannot be named) - and his creepy, bleached-out sidekick, (whose name can't be recalled) - continue to hold a large segment of the Kingdom of the West in thrall, and, while this phenomenon has never been sufficiently explained we might assume either the Dark Arts are involved or, perhaps, the many toxins now present in water supplies.**  Regardless, the present administration continues to produce damage and will do so, apparently, till the "fat lady sings"***; assuring American citizens that regardless of future election results, we'll be wading in muck for years to come.

However, after one very long year of Deep Muck, I think we might all agree that, while it's been advised to make lemonade when presented with lemons, it is equally advisable that, when in hell, make popcorn. Seriously; the conditions are optimal (and give new credence to "Hellzapoppin.") And, what goes better with popcorn than a movie? And, really, what kind of movie pairs better with politics than Walt Disney's 1940 animated film, Fantasia?

This is a wrap. Enjoy the film-clip... and pass the popcorn.

Incidentally, if you're in need of more laughs (and who isn't?) - and can read English - here's some outrageously stupid news headlines.

__________________________________________

* Correction (10/11/20): Kamala Harris was born in Oakland, California, to two immigrant parents: an Indian-born mother and Jamaican-born father, but was raised primarily by her Hindu single mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, a cancer researcher and civil rights activist. (Also, see here.)

Sorry for the mistake; apparently even legitimate sources can be inaccurate these days... and I've been ignoring all things (and people) political for several years +. And we know why.

BTW, Kamala's middle name is Devi (how cool it that?) and her birthday is 20th of October. Inset right is an image of the Devi, Lakshmi, as is the one inset left below. Both can be found here. (Click to enlarge.) (Later note: source link has been broken.)

 

Interestingly, although there are a number of Indian Devi (Goddesses), it was the images of Devi Lakshmi that resonated with me the most. According to Wiki, she is the goddess of wealth, fortune, love, beauty, Māyā, joy and prosperity. She is both the wife and divine energy (shakti) of Vishnu, one of the principal deities of Hinduism and the Supreme Being in the Vaishnava tradition.

 

She represents the material world of the earthly realm as the mother goddess and "is depicted in Indian art as an elegantly dressed, prosperity-showering golden-coloured woman with an owl as her vehicle, signifying the importance of economic activity in maintenance of life, her ability to move, work and prevail in confusing darkness. She typically stands or sits like a yogin on a lotus pedestal, while holding a lotus in her hand, symbolizing fortune, self-knowledge, and spiritual liberation. Her iconography shows her with four hands, which represent the four aspects of human life important to Hindu culture: dharma, kāma, artha, and moksha."

 

**  Oh, and you thought I was kidding, eh? Read this from the BBC: Brain-eating microbe: US city warned over water supply.

*** And, then again, maybe this Lady...

Vale, Notorious RBG

 

I confess, I haven't devoted a great deal of attention to Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the recent past. I'm afraid I took her position in the Supreme Court for granted. But, while her career was not foremost on my mind, her presence in the world still seemed crucial; I somehow felt safer knowing she was there... which really hit home when I learned she had died last night. (See here and here.) Not only did I feel truly bereft, I also felt frightened; certain that, even before her body grew cold, reactionary forces would begin plotting to replace her with one of their own.

And I wasn't wrong. (See here.)

RBG was a force to be reckoned with; one suspects she stoically held death at bay till the last possible moment, if only to confound the present administration. It is reported she said to her granddaughter several days before she died:

"My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed." *

She was a modern Athena and a true feminist, in that she supported and fought for both the concept of gender equality and, in some cases, individuals who specifically suffered from the lack of it... which often included men. But, more importantly, she was a truly intelligent human who used her position of power to bring some clarity to the world.

Her death has brought another terrible loss to this planet at a time when we have already lost too much. But, I hope her spirit remains for awhile; encouraging and inspiring young women to continue fighting where she left off. And, with any luck, as she was so driven and passionate in her convictions, she'll return long enough to haunt a few politicians... specifically the buzzards currently circling around the Supreme Court.

Vale, RBG, and more power to you. You fought from the standpoint of love... love for the people you served and a love for the truth. There is no greater standpoint.
 

(Note: Inset left in the text portion of the post is a photo of RBG taken by Kevin Wolf (AP) and found here.)

________________________________________________

* This just in (9/21/20): Not terribly surprisingly, the leader of the present administration is in denial about this statement and wishes to cast doubt (his favorite evil seed to plant when he's cornered or presented with any obstruction to his agenda) on its authenticity. He has, instead, "suggested" that the statement allegedly made by RBG's granddaughter was, in his (woefully deficient) estimation, contrived by the Democratic party.

"But while repeatedly proclaiming his respect for Ginsburg, Trump dismissed her final statement, that her wish was not to be replaced until a new president is installed, saying it sounded like 'it came out of the wind,' and suggesting with no evidence that one of his Democratic opponents could have made it up.

'I don't know that she said that, or was that written out by Adam Schiff and Schumer and Pelosi?' Trump said, referring to Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. 'I would be more inclined to the second, OK, you know? That came out of the wind. It sounds so beautiful, but that sounds like a Schumer deal, or maybe a Pelosi or Shifty Schiff.'"

- Via this article. (Note: The use of audacity - and disrespect - to achieve his objective is, yet, another favorite ploy of our "fearless leader" If he was a child he might be excused... but, perhaps, not even then.)

 

Also:  Ginsburg became the first woman to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol.

 

No, this isn't only "racism."

A blatantly racist and sexist billboard in North Carolina which reads:
"The 4 Horseman Cometh are Idiots - Signed, the Deplorables (sic)
CHEROKEE GUNS - 1 MILE ON RIGHT"

The Chosen One.

"In a tweet on Wednesday evening, Tlaib asked how the billboard could not be considered an aggressive inducement.

'How the hell is this not inciting violence?' she wrote.

Pressley tweeted: '#Racist rhetoric from the occupant of the @WhiteHouse has made hate our new normal. We are still vulnerable.'

But appeals for civility appear to be falling on deaf ears. Wacholz amped up his attack when the store posted a statement on Facebook that said it planned to produce clothing with the billboard’s image.

'Alright my fellow Infidels for Trump … due to OVERWHELMING demand … you may come by the shop (next week) and get your very own FOUR HORSEMEN COMETH STICKER … simple … eat a piece of bacon … tell us you’re voting for Trump in 2020 … then get your limited edition bumper sticker! (While supplies last!) Snowflakes and Liberals are not eligible … sorry ...'"

- Quote sourced from this Guardian article.

(Update - added August 21/22, 2019) Inset left (above and below) is the current "occupant of the White House" who now refers to himself as the "Chosen One." The graphics were inspired by a photo found at The Daily Beast; I make no copyright claims on either version. Also see: 'I am the Chosen One': with boasts and insults, Trump sets new benchmark for incoherence. BTW, isn't this whole Trump thing beginning to remind you of that old Christopher Walken movie: "The Dead Zone"? Seriously.

"An advertising company has announced it will take down a billboard in Murphy, North Carolina, calling Reps. Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley "idiots." The billboard was promoting a local gun shop, and the shop's owner said he wants to go to court to keep it up.

The billboard received national attention after Cherokee Guns posted a picture of it on Facebook. Cherokee Guns stood by its ad and even sold bumper stickers of it for those who wanted to show support...

...The president tweeted earlier this month that the "'Progressive' Democratic Congresswomen" should "go back" to where they came from, even though three of them were born in the U.S. and the fourth has been a citizen for two decades. Since then, they've been singled out repeatedly by opponents on the right.

On Tuesday, the owner of Cherokee Guns spoke to WTVC-TV. He said the billboard had only been up for a few days, but it had already brought him more business."

- Excerpt from this CBS online news report.

"A shattering weekend in which two mass shootings left at least 29 people dead and injured dozens put Donald Trump at the center of a storm of outrage over racism and the failure on gun control in America.

Even as the president said “hate has no place in our country” and blamed the shootings on mental illness, investigators in El Paso confirmed that a massacre at a Walmart superstore on Saturday that left at least 20 people dead in the Texas border city had been preceded by the suspected gunman publishing an anti-immigration screed via the darker recesses of the internet.

And in a mass shooting in the early hours of Sunday, just 13 hours later, a gunman in Dayton, Ohio, was wearing body armor and carrying 100-bullet magazines to arm his high-powered rifle, with law enforcement warning he could have killed many dozens of people if he had not been shot by police within 30 seconds of opening fire.

The shootings were carried out just a week after a 19-year-old, also armed with a high-caliber rifle, opened fire at a popular annual food festival in Gilroy, northern California, killing three and wounding others."

- Sourced from this August 4, 2019 Guardian report. Also see CNN's Another weekend, two more mass shootings in America. Actually there were 4 mass-shootings in the States this weekend: 2 were in Chicago.

"Gun Violence Archive, frequently cited by the press, defines a mass shooting as firearm violence resulting in at least four people being shot at roughly the same time and location, excluding the perpetrator. Using this definition, there have been 2,128 mass shootings since 2013, roughly one per day.

The United States has had more mass shootings than any other country. Shooters generally either die by suicide afterwards or are restrained or killed by law enforcement officers or civilians. Studies indicate that the rate at which public mass shootings occur has tripled since 2011. Between 1982 and 2011, a mass shooting occurred roughly once every 200 days. However, between 2011 and 2014, that rate has accelerated greatly with at least one mass shooting occurring every 64 days in the United States. According to the non-profit Gun Violence Archive, there were 250 mass shootings between January 1 and August 3, 2019 - the 215th day of the year.

The majority of perpetrators are white males who act alone. According to most analyses and studies however, the proportion of mass shooters in the United States who are white and male is not considerably greater than the proportion of white males in the general population of the US."

- From the Wiki entry for Mass Shootings in the United States. I'm not exactly sure what that last line in the quote proves, but, well, whatever. Another article addressing the mass murderer is this NY Times offering from 2018: "Mass Shooters Are All Different. Except for One Thing: Most Are Men". There is also a short listing of mass shootings in the U.S. found here.

***

"In Ancient Rome, the Dog Days extended from July 24 through August 24 (or, alternatively July 23-August 23). In many European cultures (German, French, Italian) this period is still said to be the time of the Dog Days.

Dog Days were popularly believed to be an evil time "when the seas boiled, wine turned sour, Quinto raged in anger, dogs grew mad, and all creatures became languid, causing to man burning fevers, hysterics, and frenzies" according to Brady’s Clavis Calendarium, 1813."

- "Dog Days" entry via Wiki.

(Note: I began writing this post Monday, August 6. The Sunday I'm referring to fell on August 5th.)

I woke up in a weird, crappy mood Sunday. Not that this is or was front page news... but,  then again, for some individuals, waking up in a crappy mood means they have to go out and shoot a few people before breakfast, thereby creating the day's Top Story. And, as it worked out, competition was fierce for the top spot this past Sunday with the exploits of four psychopaths clamoring for our attention. I grew more upset than usual, over the sort of "news" which has become so common these days it's like, well, no news at all. But, something about the 4 shootings occurring so close together was oddly familiar... bringing me back to September of 2001, and the utter horror and disbelief I felt while helplessly watching the TV screen as one of the massive Twin Towers began to collapse while, at the same time a plane was surrealistically flying straight into the other (inset right). (BBC video.) While the tragedy of 2001 differed in many ways, the tragedies of this past weekend somehow had a similar effect on me.

Terrorism is, after all, terrorism. One doesn't need to qualify it; its effects are the same regardless of the weapons involved, the perpetrators responsible, or the number of casualties. Presently, in the U.SA., terrorism is an existential scourge brought directly from hell to earth by an emotionally-dead, sociopathic minority: primarily young men who are so out-of-touch with reality that death might be no more than the temporary handicap it is in their virtual worlds. But, is this the whole picture?

Of course, we can always blame recent insanity on the folklore effects of the Dog Days of summer. I have in the past. But, as it was, just as I was following up on the various massacres via the internet that same morning, I came across the billboard (introducing this post). More incredulousness on my part... because on the billboard were the faces of 4 women... 4 members of Congress who were recently disrespected by possibly the most disrespectful President this country has ever seen. Moreover, the billboard seemed to be an odd advertisement for CHEROKEE GUNS (those words beneath "idiots" and "deplorables" in big block letters). Alarmingly, the billboard's purpose seemed to imply that CHEROKEE GUNS had just the solution for removing the four problematic "horsemen"... forever.

The thing is, I was always under the impression that publicly advocating the murder of members of Congress was, in fact, a felony, or, at the very least, a form of sedition. Certainly, I can't recall ever seeing anything like it before. Had there been four male members of Congress on that sign, we can rest assured that the reaction would've been a bit more extreme... and CHEROKEE GUNS wouldn't have gotten as far as the T-shirt/bumper sticker phase. So, what gives? Boys will be boys... eh, Meryl?*

You do realize, of course, that singling out four women in this way is not very far from the "Burn witch, burn!" mindset of the not-too-distant past. So, for those who feel women have made immense, unassailable strides across the board and need fight no further... well, the billboard informs us that this is not the case... certainly not in the States. In global terms a recent World Bank study concluded that there are only 6 countries which have equal rights for men and women: Belgium, Denmark, France, Latvia, Luxembourg and Sweden. But, I'm not convinced that any country is a truly safe haven for women. And, obviously, in the States, nobody is safe, regardless of gender. And this malaise increases exponentially if your skin isn't white enough, your gender is ambiguous, and/or your path through life diverges in any way from the mainstream.

But, it wasn't always like this. There was a time - and it truly wasn't all that long ago - when, at the very least, kids could go to school in most places without the threat of being shot and killed. As late as the early 1980s women could walk alone in downtown Manhattan at night without being raped... or knifed on the subway when they went home. A family outing wasn't necessarily an invitation to the Grim Reaper. A trip to a department store to buy curtains was not a suicidal proposition. Mass shootings had yet to become the norm...

We the People Have Risen - the Women's March on Washington

Women's March, January 21, 2017
"Hear Our Voice"
(Click on any image for a larger view.)

"On Saturday, January 21, 2017, millions will gather in Washington D.C. and in hundreds of cities around the world. This is a local event for those that will be unable to travel to Washington D.C. - instead, we will march in solidarity with the Women's March on Washington here in Albuquerque.

We stand together in solidarity with our partners and children for the protection of our rights, our safety, our health, and our families - recognizing that our vibrant and diverse communities are the strength of our country.  The rhetoric of the past election cycle has insulted, demonized, and threatened many of us - women, immigrants of all statuses, those with diverse religious faiths particularly Muslim, people who identify as LGBTQIA, Native and Indigenous people, Black and Brown people, people with disabilities, the economically impoverished and survivors of sexual assault. We are confronted with the question of how to move forward in the face of national and international concern and fear. In the spirit of democracy and honoring the champions of human rights, dignity, and justice who have come before us, we join in diversity to show our presence in numbers is too great to ignore.  We call on all defenders of human rights to join us."

- Excerpt from the Women's March website - the Albuquerque page.

"Come gather around people

Wherever you roam

And admit that the waters

Around you have grown

And accept it that soon

You'll be drenched to the bone

And if your breath to you is worth saving

Then you better start swimming or you'll sink like a stone

For the times they are a-changing

Come writers and critics

Who prophesize with your pen

And keep your eyes wide

The chance won't come again

And don't speak too soon

For the wheel's still in spin

And there's no telling who that it's naming

For the loser now will be later to win

Cause the times they are a-changing

Come senators, congressmen

Please heed the call

Don't stand in the doorway

Don't block up the hall

For he that gets hurt

Will be he who has stalled

There's the battle outside raging

It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls

For the times they are a-changing"

- Excerpt from The Times They Are A Changin', 1963, Bob Dylan. (A version of this song - sung by Tracy Chapman - appears at this post's end.)

***

Women's March, January 21, 2017
"Same Shit, Different Century"

I would not be a human - let alone a woman - if I did not somehow commemorate this day.

It rained the day Donald Trump - our reigning patriarch - took office. But, that was yesterday. The good news is that today the sun shines on millions of women and men around the world who have risen against all that he represents.

What a difference a day makes.

And, it only took one woman posting on her Facebook page to awaken this sleeping giant... one Facebook post, my friends, to start a virtual war. But this is a war we can all rally around.  When one half of the worlds population finally frees themselves from an oppression that has lasted centuries, then all of us are made free and whole again.

For a live feed of this world-wide event, click here. For more images, try here, here and here... or there and there.

I've posted some images recently found... including a drawing of my own* from 1979 (below, and after the jump). Nothing defines a movement like its art! ;-)

* Drawing added January 22, 2017.

(This just in: Apparently Trump  is still in denial. He did not win the popular vote, nor were the participants in the Women's March on Washington exclusively from the States... but: "President Trump tweets on Women’s March protesters: “Why didn’t these people vote?”)

Los Angeles, January 21, 2017
"We the People are Greater than Fear"

Los Angeles, January 21, 2017
"We the People Defend Dignity"

A tribute to Carrie Fisher - another casualty of 2016
"A Woman's Place is Leading the Resistance!"

Women's March, January 21, 2017

More photos (and videos added 1/24/17) after the jump...

The Man on the Throne

Study after Veláquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X - oil paintimg - 1953, Francis Bacon

And, what does this painting have in common with the unfortunate news of this sad day? See my short PMB post here.


(Note: I've just posted a video on the sidebar you might find unusual. Actually, it's an Egyptian Zār band*: primarily female musicians who utilize ancient ritualistic music to heal and purify their listeners...

... because it's never too soon to begin the healing process.)

_________

* "The purpose of the Zar ceremony is to cure mental illness through contact with the possessing spirits which cause maladies. Though there are several methods for dealing with psychological disturbance, the Zar is the last resort which is supposed to have powerful therapeutic effect for several kinds of ailments," writes John Kennedy in Nubian Ceremonial Life. It should be noted that this ceremony is not widely practiced in Egypt. The Zar ceremony is most prominent in southern Egypt and is practiced further south into the Sudan, though in fact it may be performed anywhere in Egypt. This is a region that was least exposed to the many invaders from Greece, Rome and the Middle East, and the ceremony can be considered as a holdover from older African religions when older women were frequently priestesses. 

Regardless of the fact that Zar is a trance religious ceremony that uses drumming and dancing to cure an illness thought to be caused by a demon, it is technically prohibited by Islam as a pagan practice. However it continues to be an essential part of the Egyptian culture. It provides a unique form of relief to women in strict patriarchal societies.

The phenomenon of Zar can be best described as the "healing cult". It involves hair tossing and swaying and it also acts as a means of sharing information among women of these cultures."

-  From an Egyptian tour page; more information about Zār can be found in the Wiki entry.

***

The day this post was created, a less controversial (but more important) event had recently occurred: the world lost a great treasure: songbird, poet and Lover, Leonard Cohen.

Farewell to a truly great man.