Occupation of Independence

  If your news-intake is limited to the legacy media, you might not yet have heard of a young Air Force guy named Aaron Bushnell burning himself in protest in front of the Israeli embassy.  He died. Perhaps the legacy media will accuse Mr. Bushnell of being anti-semitic.  Or they might claim that setting yourself on fire in front of the Israeli embassy is an example of hate-speech. At least a hero of the Deep State was there to hold a gun on the burning and nearly dead body of Mr. Bushnell.  Gosh, wouldn't you love to have a chance to personally 'thank the cop for his service.' I am being satiric of course.  It is better than lashing out with anger.  Anger burns itself out.  Mockery is a better long-term approach.  There is no way to "over-mock" American foreign policy, the Biden administration, the War industries, or the Israel Lobby. From bitchute.com

Every year at this time of year I feel relief at having escaped the cholla of southwestern Arizona and moved into southeastern Arizona, a land of dry grass, mesquite trees, and oaks.  A local person told me how, in a good monsoonal summer, the grass grows green and reaches up to the belly of a cow.  It would be fun to see that  --  you would only have to tolerate a lot of 95 F heat.  Even that is too much for me.   This part of Arizona is not all that popular with standard snowbirds, looking for iconic Arizona desert scenery.  It won't be all that colorful here like it will be in southwestern Arizona when the cacti bloom.  It is surprising that I have learned to appreciate the austere tawny beauty of a spring morning in southeastern Arizona. Of course a person can also learn to appreciate the opening of Brahms Piano Concerto #2. Today I will drive with my friend to the semi-metropolis of the area.  It is only a month from the solstice, so I suppose the sun already has enough stren

I had a second surprising piece of luck in my first foray into buying DVD disks at a thrift store.  Roman Polanski's "The Pianist" was available in perfect condition.  I remember watching it years ago.  It was excellent.  I especially liked the Chopin music.   But I didn't use the disk.  It will be given back to the thrift store. I simply don't have an appetite for any book or movie about the crimes commited against European Jews in World War II.  It's not that those crimes have become any less criminal.  But I have gotten sick and tired of the crimes against Jews 80 years ago -- mostly by German Nazis -- being used as a blank check for covering the slaughter of Gazans being commited today. So there you have it: my puny little protest vote.  This is the best example I can think of of the old saying 'It is better to light one candle than curse the darkness.'  My own insignificance is astonishing.

I was hoping to see more DVD and Blu-Ray disks showing up at thrift stores, and that it would be an interesting hobby to look for them.  After all, a traveler has a chance to visit many thrift stores, strewn across several states. The other day I actually put that idea into practice.  After ripping my box of scratched DVD disks to my computer, it made a real impression on me to find a disk in the thrift store in perfect condition.   The thrift store charged only one dollar for it. And what a lucky choice:  "Tosca" by Puccini, performed by top-rated people.  I felt like a prospector in the Old West who got lucky. Let's hope this serves as a real inspiration.  Previously I had disliked the loosely organized clutter of thrift stores.  Here is a chance to see practical life on the broad canvas of human history: the frugal habits of our Depression-era parents, free range grazing in the American West, and the craze that followed chance discoveries of gold. Even more broadly, s