Sunday Stuff

Beau of the Fifth Column does a bit of a “compare and contrast” exercise with U.S. and Egyptian peace plans over the Israel/Gaza slaughter...and yeah, wondering who the “Palestinian experts” would be is indeed a high hurdle, but as Beau says, this is progress, and it also sounds like, on balance, the Egyptian plan could work out better than the U.S. one...



...and Ana Kasparian of TYT brings us more horror stories from Israel’s incursion into Gaza, including IDF dogs attacking an elderly man in a wheelchair at a hospital, all within the view of kids needing treatment (and sure, they won’t grow up to be terrorists, will they, assuming they live)...as bad as this stuff is, and it is that, I believe we also need to address the sickening Hamas atrocities documented here (and John Fetterman gets a completely deserved shot in this clip also)...



...and when it comes to barbarism, Thom Hartmann tells us that Alabama is threatening to kill Kenneth Eugene Smith with a method deemed to be too cruel for euthanizing animals; sounds like asphyxiation...yes, Smith was a bad guy as Thom points out, but really? As Thom says, at this point, if you’re going to go this route, just crucify him and send a message to the world that we’re no better than, say, Iran...



...and Ben Gleib of Rebel HQ informs us that the usual right-wing creatures are losing what’s left of their minds over a “lesbian Virgin Mary”!! And of course, Fix Noise is ALL OVER IT, PEOPLE...and it looks like the human race was saved by a Times Square Christmas display from the Mormons – trying desperately hard not to sacrifice any brain cells over this...



...and Vox News gives us the top stories of the year that is about to end; I was hoping for something kind of upbeat here, though I guess that’s not possible at the moment...



...and Mike Figueredo gives us the Humanist Report awards for 2023...yeah, I would say “Bibi” being the biggest scumbag is completely deserved, but I honestly don’t know why Biden was a nominee in that category – no disrespect to the MVP winner, who was a fine choice, but I also would have selected Shawn Fain (NSFW/H)...



...and whaddaya say to rockin’ in the New Year a bit with this newer tune?...



...and in accordance with my annual custom, I want to thank anyone who has spent any time at this site over the prior year; I hope some of this has been enlightening and/or informative. I know it’s a broken record to point out that I’m simply not able to author longer-form posts full of content and links, so I rely on other folks (and their video clips basically) who are at least as knowledgeable on the topics in question, and often more so. My goal all along has been to promote informed dialogue and thus a deeper understanding of the most important issues we face and not necessarily to shove my opinion down anybody’s throat. Yes, this site definitely is liberal/progressive, but as far as I’m concerned, that’s because people of our ideological bent live in the reality-based community more do than the other side (or I try to anyway, as much as possible).

As a bit of self-promotion, I just want to note that, if I’m able to keep doing this next June, it will mark the 20th year of this site, believe it or not. I never expected it to last this long, seeing as how I started it to find a way to bitch over George W. Bush and the lowlifes of his regime, and that was my only goal way back when. This really is a week-to-week thing, and I‘m just lucky more than anything else that I’ve been able to keep it going. If anything ends up affecting that in ’24, I’ll let you know as soon as I can.

Most years at this time, I say, “Next year is going to be a big year,” and I’m saying that again now because, yeah, 2024 is going to be a big year. We need to hold the Senate somehow, take the House and hold the White House, and that means ALL OF US getting off the sidelines and doing what we can to elect Democrats, even some who don’t deserve it to be honest (and that doesn’t even take into account the battles for state and local government going on across the country). To me, it’s not hyperbole to say that if we end up giving control to the “party of Lincoln,” this could be the last open election that we actually have (and anybody who thinks that, say, Nikki Haley would govern differently than #45 must be living under a rock). The other side has been creeping towards fascism and authoritarianism for about the last 40 years, and voters looking to reward that either don’t have the intellectual capacity to care about it or are too busy living their lives to properly understand what’s going on (and no, I don’t think that’s an excuse either). This means that ALL OF US need to find a way to engage these folks somehow...and I’m not calling for confrontation by saying that, but only for a patient, peaceful resolve in discussing the issues. Of course, if someone doesn’t want to be bothered but only seeks confrontation, I would just walk away and let them stew in their own rage, since that will eat them up faster than anything we could ever do on our own.

I wish all good things for you in the new year and the ability for all of us to keep up the fight, and though it may seem trite to include this tune given all of the wreckage going on in the world right now, I still believe in its message, and I hope you do too.

Onward!