I should have been ranting by now. So much wrong. So little time. I apologize for NOT ranting. And I apologize FOR ranting. It seemed only ravens and lady-boys were wanted for a while. But some things need to be said:
ME, TOO! has gone nuts! Way too far. Condemnation without due process is not only evil in itself, cruel and unusual punishment and the very same crime of abuse of power it claims to be against, it is a complete abandonment of the justice system and a major violation of natural justice. Which makes this Me Too movement, perhaps, the third erratic step in a what might be the long-expected revolution. In other words: Me TOO may just be an indicator, a mad canary in the coal-mine.
Think about it: Trump is insane and represents all that is wrong (not right) with politics and the system. I think he represents all that is wrong with men, too but that is incidental and coincidental. He may not be step one of a revolution but he might be the most noticeable step (worldwide). The guy violates the norms of the status quo (not in a good way). Trump is kind of the anti-Christ.
Bitcoin is a surprising-but-necessary-for-revolution step ‘outside the institution of national currency’ as well. That might be step two. It has to rank as a significant internationally rebellious act at the very least. All the international banks think so. Crypto-currency is the anti-currency.
And the aforementioned ‘Me Too’ is not just a reaction to harassment, it is a movement that steps way around the institution of law. Vengeful women are not even satisfied being ‘paid off’, the longstanding traditional compensation for sexual wrongdoing. Now they are taking the money and still exacting life/career destroying revenge. Me Too is literally domestic terrorism, an indiscriminate guerilla action, and it takes no prisoners. Me too is, at it’s root, anti-male.
One woman’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist.
There have been many more manifestations of change or ‘rule-breaking’, but much of that has been done within the albeit well-stretched envelope of the status quo. The northern migration of southern economic refugees may eventually become part of the larger revolution (as many right-wingers contend and fear) but migration, in itself, is just a normal reaction to an unwelcoming environment. Refugees and immigrants have been with us for centuries. Migration is not, in itself, revolution. But numbers will add weight to one.
Climate Change could conceivably be part of the revolution but our definition of revolution usually implies sentient reasoning. Gaia may be real but, so far, there is no evidence of sentient reasoning. The planet may naturally revolt but, once again, that might be coincidental. Climate change becomes the anti-life force?
My point: Most revolutions do not come as expected. Or when expected. Most revolutions do not really have a well-reasoned end-game and, if they do, the planned revolutionary goal never happens. There are too many forces in play for a planned and predictable outcome in a revolution. In other words, revolutions change the status quo in unexpected ways. Revolutions are messy and chaotic. We don’t know what we are doing when we start them.
But they still happen.
Are there more signs? Plenty. Rushing blindly into AI (artificial intelligence) is as lemming-like an action as we could possibly undertake and yet we are doing it. Is there a word for genocide-by-suicide? Many scientists are afraid of there becoming such a word. AI is, by definition, anti-human.
But probably the greatest indicator of revolution or pending revolution is the increased marginalization of millions of people and the increased military police build-up in response to the increased numbers of deplorables. It almost seems as if sides are being taken, allegiances forming, separation happening. We are dividing into factions so that we can fight.
Put another way? If we build it, they will come. And we seem to be building ourselves a lot of weapons and battlegrounds these days.
“Dave, why write about that when you are poolside in Thailand?”
Don’t know. Hairs on the back of my neck keep rising…..trigger finger jittery….spidey sense fully awake….
….jus’ sayin’……..
Our Off the Grid Home 
I think you are thinkin’ WAY too much! Now is not the time to make any sense of all this!
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Less thinking involved than instincts, actually, Paul. It’s my guts and neck hairs doing the talking….
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Dave the wind is blowing in your direction. Currently the FBI is under attack by Republicans. What happens when rule of law is discredited? Investigations are characterized as witchhunts. The media is called fake news. The people of America are told that they have been abused by trade deals and is time to ‘put America first.’ There are lots of examples of what happens when a state turns paranoid.
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If you are saying those ‘winds’ are my instincts, I think so, too. Any one of those ‘flips’ could have been normal evolution. Even a few of them, I suppose. But when so many things we have come to see as bedrock are being smashed to bits, it’s not about any one particular issue of the moment, it’s more likely an indication of a larger and more general overarching mood. I think it is.
As Paul said, I could be wrong and, to be fair, I am usually wrong much more often than I am right (just ask Sal). But, that is the feeling I have. That’s is what it seems like to me…something like a ‘tipping point’, something like a sea-change (and the seas ARE changing, too). We just may be seeing the very early beginning of some major global upheaval.
Or not.
A lot of people are still very much invested, tho. I get that. But so many more are NOT. The USA alone must have close to 25M ‘disconnected’, marginalized, incarcerated, segregated, shunned or voluntarily disassociated people within their borders. Maybe more. And more are added every day. AND, the most basic of partnerships (warts and all), the union of two genders is, itself, now being attacked from within….well, it just seems like a flock of mad canaries to me. And you know what a flock of birds leaves behind?
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The irony is the disenchanted see the exploiter in chief as their champion. Mr racist slumlord, I do not rent to undesirables nor will I bring more of them to the USA. Jingoistic.
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I think you know that these are complex issues. Like you though, I do wonder whether as a species we have the wherewithal to negotiate the rocky road. There are so many f…wits out there who just DON’T LISTEN. Don’t want to know. Maybe that is why we have Me Too, climate change denialists, etc, etc. I note that Margaret Atwood has argued for due process. Women do care about natural justice.
I can also understand the rage behind Me Too. When I was 12 years old, a family friend (a 70 year old man) pashed me (I can translate that if you like). He was visiting us but left quickly after that. Never saw him again. I told my mum, but it wasn’t until 35 years later that I asked her what she did about it. Apparently my father just said to let it go. He certainly never spoke to me about it.
I feel a lot of guilt because I’ve never asked my sister whether that man did things to her. And maybe he was also grooming my childhood friend, as he was a mutual friend. This man also did other things to me above my clothes that I have never told my parents about. So I say these things knowing there is no due process for him and it was always only my word against his.
Perhaps us white folk are just getting a taste of what it has always been like for people of colour and others struggling on the margin? I don’t know, but it feels very uncomfortable and the future is frankly daunting.
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Daunting? I agree. Necessary, perhaps, tho. But perfection is hard to achieve and the catharsis I sense looming will make things worse before they get better. So, are we doomed to keep screwing up, dying off, re-birthing and screwing up again and again? I dunno.
Is there a better way?
As for the ‘dirty old man’…..I have lots to say on the subject but now is not the place and certainly not the time. But to give you a hint: I have been punched in the face, cheated, beaten and generally suffered the variety of slings and arrows slung not so infrequently from the dark side. Life is not a walk amongst the daisies. I am NOT defending those slings and arrows only stating that everyone suffers from something. It’s ugly out there. And, simply because of their desirability and the unrelenting libido of men, some of the ‘nasty’ will show up in that sordid way. In other words: it is bad. It needs fixing. But much of what is being condemned by ME TOO comes from natural impulses rather than from pure evil. Key word: ‘much’ (not ALL).
A lot of things are wrong in this primal-but-evolving world and they need fixing but, to my mind, ME TOO has gone too far in attempting to correct an otherwise legitimate position on the issue.
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I think I should make clear that there is (it seems) NO leadership or agreed-upon conscience of ME, TOO. It’s more like a ‘reactive petition’ than much else. But it is empowering (for better or worse) a lot of women who FEEL wronged (they are still allegations, don’t forget). And those that abuse this new-found power of allegations trumping law, natural justice and due process are perhaps NOT the ideal examples from which to draw conclusions about ME TOO. But that might be hard for Garrison Keillor to hear. Might be hard for Pat Brown and the old-bum-patter and demented ex-president-in-a-wheelchair Bush, too. Old-bum-patter is likely guilty (he admitted as much) but should there be a price to pay for that other than an apology?
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Your point is worth making, Dave. 🙂
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Thanks.
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Dave, the powder keg that you feel starting to rumble is I think much bigger. two examples.
1- D.T.’s Africa shithole comment, the continent has 16.7% of the worlds population, 49% of the worlds poverty(under 1.25) per day, but it also has 42% of the worlds chromium, 88% of the worlds Platinum, 30% of the worlds Gold, 49% of the worlds diamonds. There is a lot of people getting rich while exploiting a lot of people who are getting tired of it, powder keg fuse gets shorter,
2- Chinese scientist have successfully cloned primates now, saying that it will soon be ready for human use, but that they of course would not do that. Now the possibility exists for the rich to own their spare body, forgetting that its a living being.
The fuse just got way shorter.
I have decided to step it up a notch in an effort to not fret the end and instead of getting a cat I’m going to get a dog!
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Wonderful about the dog, please explain in some detail your rational, I support the decision 100%
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I guess I have accepted that the insane species of homosapien will not survive, clues such as 8 people have more wealth than 1/2 of the worlds population, 3.6 BILLION people are abundant and growing daily. It does not cause me the same angst as I see around me, its just natural evolution. This is not happening in my lifetime, but will. What I can do is continue to enjoy my close friends, family, to continue to hide in plain sight and Not watch the TV, and to have the comfort of a good dog who’s only concern is to love, and maybe a cookie and a walk.
Makes no sense I know but look around, what else does?
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Hard to argue with the dog-cat logic (because there isn’t any, you loon!) Still, like Druckle, I prefer dogs so I guess that makes me an ‘enabler’.
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I call it an earthquake kit, but really it’s my bug out bag….!
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The dog-cat logic is to tie you to the ground. I fear that as you let your rants build, every one rips a bit more of you away. The cost is too high, you will in time become just another raging lunatic, look around, we have enough of them already!😊
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Christie Blatchford sums it up rather nicely
http://nationalpost.com/opinion/christie-blatchford-what-happened-to-brown-is-fundamentally-wrong-every-man-in-the-world-is-now-vulnerable
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Some things that did not exist ten tears ago, Uber, iPads, Instagram and waking up each morning with a sense of dread.
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The Australian government reportedly unveiled an ambitious plan to become one of the world’s 10 largest arms exporters.
The Australian strategy will look to several countries, including Canada, as priority targets to achieve significant sales, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. The other nations are the U.S., the U.K. and New Zealand.
READ MORE: Australian man charged with brokering sale of missile components for North Korea
The Australian government will also seek to boost sales to Europe and to Asia and the Middle East, where countries are rapidly building up arms caches.
Like we need this???? Just more proof to our insanity
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I just read an article last night about the ‘new phenomena’ of Brits prepping. They do it differently (emphasis on lighting fires and camping, no guns, dried and tinned foods) but they are doing it in droves. Seems dread is spreading.
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So are the Mormons and people in compounds in Utah and elsewhere.
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about the dog love antole frances’ words
‘until one has loved an animal a part of ones’ soul remains unawakened’
the aussies really are ‘an enigma inside a paradox’ a whole different class then davidicus
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Two Canadian women arrested in Cambodia for fully clothed lewd dancing.in a bar. Several other tourist were also arrested in the same incident.
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