The Conspiracy for Today

Greetings, gentle readers.
I'm tired, achy, and cranks, so I'm just going to belch out my disgruntled complaints in an unadulterated fashion before I have a nap.  What injustices are the world neglecting?  Let's start with the United States, the global equivalent of Azathoth. 
For those of you not acquainted with Lovecraftian lore, Azathoth is the master of the universe, but he is a a dumb and blind idiot, dancing through the cosmos of his own design to the tune of thin, monotonous flutes.

Harm the Poor

To give substance to the metaphor, this year marks the sixteenth anniversary of the United States' involvement in Afghanistan.  2,386 American military personnel and 1,173 American civilian contractors have been killed in that time.  I am not going to criticize, just ask:

• What has been accomplished?
• What provisions have been made for the children made parentless by these deaths?
• How have the 20,049 wounded Americans been treated upon their return from this theatre of operations?
• How much longer must the United States occupy Afghanistan to "complete" its mission?
• Would anyone volunteer to guard the poppy fields in Afghanistan if it were possible to earn money for a family locally?

Economics

Enlistment in the U.S. Military is dropping.  Word is getting out that poor people are being told that their military wages can pay for a home and a health plan for their families.  Word is also getting out that these are bald-faced lies.  Would you like to buy a cheap home?  Get one that is foreclosed on a veteran's family.  The Department of Veterans Affairs sells them off HERE.  Or you can click on this  https://www.hudforeclosed.com/government-foreclosures-info/va-foreclosures
Here is the lie - sign up for a tour of duty, and we can get you a mortgage at a cheap rate.  We pay you while you shoot little Afghan kids for a year, and then life is free and easy for you and the next generation of soldier.  Problem:  when you get injured, you are no longer considered part of the war against terror/drugs/al-qaeda/ISIS, you are part of the problem that holds America back from fighting whichever one of those problems threatens democracy this week.
Wounded, disabled, and handicapped soldiers return from combat to find that they are no longer eligible for the sub-prime mortgage rates that are issued to soldiers in active rotation.  Suddenly, boom.  Your family lives out of the car if you've got one, and you can't get a job.  Why not?  Click HERE or copy and paste this address: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/sudy-bharadwaj/veterans-employment-discrimination_b_3347752.html
Bottom line: for decades, the U.S. Military has been selling people a bogus product.  If you serve your country and defend America against... erm... stuff like Nazis and terrorists, serving freedom and liberty and the like, you will end up better than you started.

Poor Shame

People that are one leukemia diagnosis away from complete bankruptcy look to the military as a way out because their families have always voted for autocrats that made decisions for them and absolved them from the awful weight of freedom..  That demographic is shrinking because they are dying.  Literally.  With no health insurance, and with no employment in increasingly useless industries like coal-mining, buggy-whip-making, or slave-manacle-manufacturing, large numbers of people thought that the military would pay them enough to get their family into a house that had heat and possibly water.
That dream is falling apart.  Now, instead of sparing Ma and Pa from a serving at the dinner table every night and coming home with enough to save the family farm, a young man or woman leaves and comes back missing a limb or two and needs help going to the bathroom.
What price are we paying for freedom, and... wait.. how are we defending freedom again, exactly?
The entertainment industry has been working overtime to make sure that mutilations in Afghanistan are justified because of 9/11 and xenophobia,etc.  "Designated Survivor" and other prime time television shows are packed with messages that U.S. military troops are needed all over the world (that have valuable resources) and must rescue all sorts of confused people that would much rather have lived their lives in peace.
How many tens of thousands of displaced, maladjusted, disabled, and emotionally unstable people must this militarist state create before it undermines itself?
The movement to create a mental health service within the military has been afoot for years and can be found HERE.
Please watch the film.  This is not a political issue - it is a humanitarian one.
http://www.thankyouforyourservicethefilm.com/

Yemen

One of the few places where American military boots are not seen on the ground is Yemen.  Millions are literally dying as we speak.  Please look at this article [HERE]: 
https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/millions-yemenis-days-away-losing-clean-running-water
Cholera, starvation, and dehydration are killing millions.
Why don't we hear about this?
American weapons destroyed all of the hospitals and water stations.  President Trump declared the missile and drone sales to the Saudis as a tremendous deal for American workers.
OK.  Some of you are indifferent toward human misery.  That's fine.  How about the animals that have been affected by Saudi Arabia's embargo against Qatar and Yemen? 
Here is an article detailing the number of poor, dumb animals that have died a horrible and miserable death because some piece of thousand-year-old manuscript has more validity than another thousand-year-old parchment.  HERE.
And because I know none of you will click on the link, I'll attach some pictures.

These camels were denied permission to migrate because of Saudi border patrols.  But the Saudis are awesome because they buy a load of American-made weapons.

Shower stuff

Now that I've depressed you, here is the music that accompanied my last washing-up.

• Friends, by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant
• Tell the Truth, by Derek and the Dominoes
• Science and Love, by Cheapskate 
• American Beauty, by the Grateful Dead

When I return, I am going to try and write a scathing attack at Stephen Colbert, and the way in which his show tried to marginalize the relevancy of Walter Isaacson's latest book on Leonardo da Vinci.  Academia has a place in the world, and any sniggering attempt to reduce it to some sort of ivory tower speculation is part of the decay that has made truth a negotiable currency, rather than an absolute aspiration.
I apologize.  I have begun to figuratively froth at the mouth when discussing the intersection of ideology and life.
Please let me rest.  Good night England, and the Colonies.
—mARKUS

The Life of Frustration

Greetings gentle readers.
At risk of sounding like a whinging hypochondriac, it seemed appropriate to moan about how much my life is terrible, and thus to provide evidence for anyone to create standards of comparison.
"You've got it easy comparative to third-world children."
Response:  Yes. Yes I do.  I also object to the deployment of "first-world" military forces around the the globe to assist in the extraction of resources for multinational corporations.
Oh.  I'm one of those kooks.  Yes, most people are able to ignore bits.  Like the American soldiers who kept being delivered to their families in flag-covered coffins for two decades.  Suddenly, those same coffins start returning from Mali, Mauretania, Chad, and Yemen.  Why are American servicemen and women in those countries?  Where are those countries?  Who authorized those deployments?
Answer:  Americans are, by and large, ill-informed and inappropriately prepared to process information.  Their educational system has been undermined for decades such that only the rich can afford qualifications, and the poor resign themselves to manual labour.
Side note:  Manual labour is not a dropout option.  A serious carpenter can be more inspiring than a structural engineer.  My grandfather's friend built his whole house from the ground up - the entire thing - and it is built with such love that I doubt any cathedral coold encompass such emotion.
I'm getting weak, so I'm going to hit one more point, splash out some song titles and artists, and then come to a close.
Having watched snippets of television over the past week, I've noticed that the propaganda for the American presence in Afghanistan has been intensifying.  Why are troops in Afghanistan?  Drugs.  What reason is given by five primetime TV shows, two films, and innumerable pres conferences? 
"Defend Liberty"
"Protect Democracy"
"Build/Help/Establish/Create/Verb -- Freedom/Honesty/Equality"
Whatever.  If people want to support their triops, they ought to support political movements to bring them home and away from bizarre ideological conflicts supported by money interests.
To the people of the United States:  please do not send your children overseas unless they are part of an internationally sanctioned peace mission.  Do not allow your government to do so on your behalf.
And now, the music from my last shower.

Music:

• Rhiannon, by Fleetwood Mac
• Jump Around, by House of Pain
• Make Believe, by Matthew Sweet
• Since You've Been Gone, by Aretha Franklin
• I Know You Rider, by Max Creek, written by the Grateful Dead

In short, Americans have been told that public service = military service, and that shooting an Afghan orphan is morally equivalent to feeding an Iowan grandma.
The United States has long ago forfeited any claim to a moral high-ground on foreign affairs.  Berta Caceres would have spoken to the United States' handling of Honduras, and many women would have spoken to the U.S.'s handling of Libya, Syria, and Myanmar under Secretary of State Clinton.
The United States is not the world's policeman.  It is a fascist jackbooted enforcer that squeezes resource extraction from banana republics that ignore human rights.
May the logical extension of my model never become replicated in reality.
My optimism can only reach so far.  Until the sun rises on a world that makes sense to  JohnLeCarré, I bid adieu.
Until next time, for England and the Colonies,
—mARKUS

Irritation Nation

Greetings gentle readers.
Just a quick note to indicate the latest news from Zimbabwe, now that Emmerson Mnangagwa has been sworn in as the new president of the country.
CBC managed to find some bloke from the University of Johannesburg to give his commentary on the transition, and the result sounded like a Trump-esque mishmash of sentence fragments, incomplete thoughts, redundant and relentless self-paraphrasing, and blurry conclusions.  Somehow, the fact that he was standing on the same continent was supposed to give his opinions a greater significance, but you wouldn't know it from his meandering and incomprehensible babbling.
When asked about the history and importance of free and fair elections, he beat his gums for around seven minutes with something that sounded like this:
"Well, you know, South Africa, which has a large interest in the economic situation in Zimbabwe, and indeed in all of southern Africa, has been working with the West, or whatever you want to call the development agencies or the international community that involves itself with the affairs of countries in the developing world.  And they've put together a package of something like sixty million... billion rand, rand which is what South Africa is using for currency, and there was a time, particularly in 2006 when there was an election where Mugabe used the usual election things of coercion and violence, but that was because he wasn't a clear winner, and there was a runoff election.  So now there might not be violence because there is a clear winner and then we don't know where the package is going to come from.  We don't know about the package in a situation where if the election is in doubt or is not free and fair.  There might be violence and torture, you know. But we're not very certain about all of it.  We're just going to have to wait and see because we're not sure about the package and what that means to the people who are dependent on the results of either an interim government or an election of some kind."
If all political correspondents spoke in this manner, I would expect a lot more violent reactions - mainly from people telling this talking head to shut his mouth.
Bottom line:  Mnangagwa is 75 years old.  He has spent the past 37 years operating within the Mugabe régime.  Don't expect sweeping changes and reform during his reign, but we can predict that some of the more draconian Mugabe governmental dictates will be relaxed in anticipation of the next generation's incoming policies.  Why?  The next set of people to take over the country will be chronologically unlikely to claim status as a veteran of the War of Independence, and thus will have to appeal to a different segment of the population.
Side note:  Veterans of the War of Independence refers to members of ZANU and ZAPU that actively terrorized and murdered people in the 70s and demanded recolonialization by Great Britain.  Those that struggled for independence legally and constitutionally, like Josiah Gumede, Jeremiah Chirau, and Bishop Abel Muzorewa, have all been wiped from the country's history and have no political value.
Which leads us to the music.

Shower Songs

• Since You've Been Gone, by Melanie Chisholm and Bryan Adams
• Zodwa, by Juluka
• Life's Too Short, by the Lightning Seeds
• Veronica, by Elvis Costello and the Attractions
• Father and Son, by Cat Stevens
• Till the Morning Comes, by the Grateful Dead
• Sky Blue, by Peter Gabriel

And that's it for me.  I'll try and get back after I finish some report writing with my doctors and insurance account representatives.
Until then, goodnight England and the Colonies.
—mARKUS

Degrees of Separation

Greetings, gentle readers.
With so many things afoot at home and abroad, it's often difficult to know where to start.  The beginning seems like a good place, and where do most tales of confusion and controversy begin but in high school?
Before we go there, let's quickly address the songlist that accompanied my last soapy and sudsy adventure.

Showering Songs

• Jacqueline, by Franz Ferdinand
• Dance Hall Days, by Wang Chung
• Purple Haze, by the Jimi Hendrix Experience
• Rock and Roll is King, by the Electric Light Orchestra
• Hey Little Girl, by Bad Manners
• Twilight, by Jon and Vangelis

Looking at the above list, I can see certain areas of relevance, particularly to the Roy Moore election campaign and its revolting candidate, who recently described scoping out his future wife while she was at a dance rehearsal.  She was fifteen years old at the time.

Archbishop MacDonald High School

I went to a Catholic academic high school on the west end of the city of Edmonton from 1988 to 1991.  As my scholastic career advanced, I began to start coaching and volunteering for the various extracurricular clubs and activities, like debating, public speaking, and Reach for the Top (general knowledge trivia).  One of the younger ladies that I advised was named Darya, and her mother was on the faculty as one of the senior maths teachers.  It was not surprising in a high school environment that she wouldn't want to carry her mother's name around, so she used her father's surname.
What is the point of all of this?  Try and follow my logic.
Darya Fustukian was born in the mid-1970s in Edmonton, Alberta at around the same time that Bryan Fustukian was headlining a country rock band in the area.  One of the more notable band members and creative influences in that band was Billy Cowsill, of The Cowsills. 
It is entirely feasible, therefore, that I went to high school with a girl whose godfather was the inspiration for the character of Keith Partridge, played by David Cassidy, who just died yesterday at the age of 67.
It's a stretch, but one should always work to make current events relevant.

Zimbabwe

At this point, it looks as though it is all over bar the shouting, but the 37-year despotic reign of Robert Mugabe has come to a close.  The doddering old bastard has finally called it quits, amid rumours that he has done so in exchange for complete immunity for himself and his family.  He, his wife, and their children have been emptying the till of the diamond-rich country for decades, and I'm sure they'll relinquish the absolute power they enjoyed in exchange for a lifetime of exorbitant and decadent luxury.  They'll no doubt purchase some penthouses in Dubai and while away the years racing expensive supercars and drinking bottles of exquisite champagne.
While the history is somewhat muddled, the present is eerily clear.  Zimbabwe's independence, first as Southern Rhodesia declared independence from the UK, and then later, as black militant nationalists forced Southern Rhodesia to temporarily recolonialize in order to declare independence again as Zimbabwe, is a bit tough to understand.  Some historical figures, such as Zimbabwe's first black Prime Minister Bishop Abel Muzorewa have been erased.  The legacy of political moderation has been washed away as surely as the thousands of Ndabele that Mugabe tortured and murdered as soon as he had pushed aside the last remnants of the Lancaster House constitution.  The massacres of the Ndabele has become known as the gukurahundi - the rains that wash away the harvest chaff.
So the dictator has successfully expunged most of his atrocities with his bombastic thunderings about colonial exploitation, and his reign has come to a close with a relatively simple whimper.

Cherchez la femme

This whole situation came about because the young, attractive, socialite, fashionista wife of old Robert Mugabe was about to take over the country.  All of the old-school, gun-toting thugs that could claim favours from the old despot could not rely on "Gucci Grace" to dispense the same sort of treatment.  For months, Mugabe's sons had been bragging about their wealth and possessions on Instagram and other social media platforms, while the image of Grace in the eyes of the public came to resemble that of Marie Antoinette - indifferent to the plight of the unwashed masses.  As sycophants who fawned on Grace were promoted to higher positions of office, worry began to spread throughout the ranks of the military and the "war veterans" associations.  When vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa was abruptly booted from his position, Mugabe had finally made one move too big, and too soon.  Before Grace or one of her surrogates could replace Mnangagwa, the army stepped in, suspended government and forced the old bastard to resign publicly.

So, with the situation in Southern Africa looking as though it will settle down into some mild electoral froo-frah, it looks as though there should be some stability and perhaps a bit of prosperity in the region before the next power-crazed lunatic seizes power and declares himself king-for life, just like:

• Amin in Uganda 
• Mobuto in Congo
• Hastings Banda in Malawi
• Charles Taylor in Liberia
• Nguema in Equatorial Guinea

Until we know the name of the next insane, torturing, paranoid, kleptomaniacal, genocidal dictator, we'll just consider Zimbabwe steady for now.
I will launch into what I hope will be a lengthy tirade against subhuman pervert Roy Moore that will spill into a generalized condemnation of all people who value adherence to a political party or ideology greater than the concepts of decency, morality, and compassion.
I will do that at a later point, however, as I grow weary.
I shall return with more vigor.  Until then, good night England and the Colonies.
—mARKUS

Spinal Rap

Greetings, gentle readers.
It was recently brought to my attention that I don't talk about myself enough.  For example, I managed to put together a solidly semi-coherent ramble about how I was unable to attend the entirety of a concert presented by one of my favourite acts in history HERE.  But what I may have neglected to mention in context is that my spine is a bit crocked.  I mention it in passing every so often, and I misguidedly think that means everyone is already aware of my Facebook posts and other social media channels.
In a nutshell, my spine skewed itself in such a way that it squished the cartilage protecting the bundle of nerves that leaves the central spinal column and branches off to my right side.  Let's deal with this the way my pharmacist did.

What Happened?

There wasn't any "bang" or accident of some sort.  This was the result of years of lousy posture, particularly working in an office environment where I was perpetually hunched over in a very non-ergonomic way, doing a lot of repetitive stress activities.  Namely mouse-wrangling — a sort of wildlife-related hobby peculiar to tier-2 IT specialists.

Did It Hurt?

It sure did.  But it took years of headaches, neckaches, backaches, wrist, elbow, and shoulder problems before we finally nailed it down.  Around a year ago, the upper back and neck pain was so bad that I couldn't sit properly and part of my hand went numb more or less full-time.  The pain was so blinding that I would black out, and I had to abandon driving a vehicle.

How Was The Surgery?

That was the easiest part.  The neurosurgeon and his staff are total pros and had me taken apart and riveted back together as shown below in just a couple of hours.  The procedure is called a C7 radiculopathy. If you take the goofy-looking vertebra at the base of the skull as number one, count down the spine until you reach number seven.

The two little white things to the right of the "L" in the picture are the screws.

Does It Hurt Now?

It didn't.  For about a month or two, I was doing great.  Then I started trying to push the bounds - to get stronger, to do more.  I think that I may have tested those boundaries a little too thoroughly, though, and now I'm in a lot of pain unless I take the analgesic medications on a VERY strict schedule.  Now I can't stand for extended periods, and sitting requires an odd posture.

What Happens Next?

More doctor's appointments.  Just went for a GP appointment and more x-rays yesterday, and am seeing my neurosurgeon on Monday.  We'll see what we shall see.

In the meantime, I'm going to be watching the Alabama senatorial race and the developments of the Mugabe Family, featuring Gucci Grace and her sons.  Apparently, they "keep on rolling" as reported on their Instagram feeds, which were reported HERE on The Citizen.
In the meantime, Goodnight England and the Colonies.
Cheers,
—mARKUS

There But By The Grace

Greetings, gentle readers.
While the African continent slumbers, I thought that I would take the brief respite in edifying news updates to take some more cheap shots at itty-bitty-titty groper, Roy Moore.  You remember him - the former Alabama justice who is now running for the Senate seat vacated by nightmare pixie Jefferson Beauregard Sessions.  The one who loves talking mothers into letting him babysit their daughters, and who trolls shopping malls for unripened forbidden fruit. 

Moore takes great pride in calling himself an evangelical and boasts proudly about setting his interpretations of the Bible as greater legal standards than dinky little documents like the United States Constitution or the Bill of Rights.  There are a number of problems with staking your entire moral fibre on a pastiche of desert proverbs.  Like paying yourself a million dollars from your Biblical charity, Foundation for Moral Law.  Or when you can't pick if you like the Old Testament or the New Testament better.  The New Testament doesn't say anything about homosexuality, but it does tell womenfolk to shut up (1 Corinthians 14:34-35).  On the other hand, the Old Testament hates gays (but not lesbians) in Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13, while the New Testament has some hippie love stuff in it.
Then there are friends and allies that try to help.  Alabama State Auditor Jim Ziegler, in an attempt to justify a grown man molesting pre-adolescent girls, drew a Biblical parallel to the parents of Jesus Christ, saying that "Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus," apparently forgetting about the whole immaculate conception, and Virgin Mary mythology in his zeal to normalize Roy's behaviour.

Since my last mention of Roy Moore's campaign for the Senate, the number of females accusing Roy of sexual offences against women has risen to seven.
One wonders - what if Moore had been molesting little boys?  Would his evangelical base in Alabama continue to support him with the same fervour?
That's about it for me.  I am still watching the Zimbabwe situation with interest and shall return shortly.
Good night England and the Colonies.
—mARKUS

Evader Zim

Greetings, gentle readers.
Just when I thought that the sleaziness of Judge Roy Moore was going to fill my column inches for weeks, news arrives of events unfolding in Zimbabwe, where nonogenarian dictator-for-life Robert Mugabe continues to cling to power, despite the fact that the army has seized control of Harare, stationed troops at all significant points of transportation and communication, and has made broadcasts over national television that the old scumbag is alive and well.

Quick Zim Summary

In order to understand what's happening in Zimbabwe right now, let's walk through the last 50 years there really quickly.  I imagine something significant will happen in the next few days, and we should make sure that we're all up to speed.  Then when something actually does happen, I can discuss it full in the knowledge that everyone is conversant with the overall context.

History

• In 1964, the British colony of Rhodesia splits in two, becoming the northern independent state of Zambia, and the southern, still-colonial Southern Rhodesia.
• In 1965, Prime Minister Ian Smith and the Southern Rhodesian parliament universally declared independence from the United Kingdom.  UK PM Harold Wilson tried to strangle to country with economic sanctions.  Zimbabwe reacts by becoming more self-sufficient and grumpy.
• After years of negotiating a new constitution that would allow black African voters a greater share of government without creating fear amongst the White Rhodesians, two sets of political dissidents arise and with the help from predominantly communist countries, establish military insurgencies.  The two rival revolutionary groups are:

• The Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU)
• Predominant ethnicity is Ndabele
• Led by Joseph Nkomo
• Philosophy is Marxist/Leninist
• Military wing: Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA)
• The Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU)
• Predominant ethnicity is Shona
• Led by Robert Mugabe
• Maoist political philosophy
• Military wing:  Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA)
• In 1972, ZANU and ZAPU begin The Bush War.  It rages for seven years, killing loads of people.  The black nationalist revolutionaries, armed with Soviet and Communist Chinese weaponry, wreak havoc on the country.  ZIPRA nauseate many when they shoot down two commercial passenger aircraft, and then hunt down and kill the survivors of the crashes.  ZANLA become known for careless dispersal of landmines.  The image of an elephant shrieking in agony with a blood-spurting stump of a front leg seems to be an accurate metaphor for the country.  Abandoned by its former colonial overlords, the Rhodesian government turns to mercenaries and to South African advisors for help.
• In 1978, Prime Minister Ian Smith crafts a new constitution in concert with a number of non-militant black leaders which appears to satisfy the majority of people.  The "Internal Settlement" would result in multi-racial elections in the new "Zimbabwe-Rhodesia."
• In 1979, the new Internal Settlement elections are held and elect a cabinet of 12 blacks and 5 whites, but the United Nations calls them a "sham."  Robert Mugabe calls all non-militant black leaders, like Bishop Abel Muzorewa "neocolonialist puppets." Nationalist revolutionaries reject the Internal Settlement, and the old colonial masters, Great Britain, are called in to settle the Rhodesian problem.  The unilateral independence declaration is wiped out and the country is declared an independent Zimbabwe, with new electoral conditions.
• In 1980, ZANU absorbs ZAPU and renames itself ZANU-PF (Patriotic Front).  It wins a majority government in the new constitutional parliament.  Things start off well, as all of the trade embargoes are lifted, but over the next 37 years, new President Robert Mugabe turns the country into a tinpot dictatorship, calling for a one-party system, jailing dissidents, seizing white-owned farms for his increasingly numerous group of "war veterans."  GB had set aside money for the Zimbabwe government to purchase farms for black groups, bu Mugabe took that money and then had armed troops take the land and murder and displace white landowners regardless.

Current Events

So what we have is this - Mugabe for 37 years has been unilaterally changing the constitution, creating a militarized youth force committed to himself personally, extorting money from Great Britain and blaming every economic downturn on the "colonial masters."

At last report, he's under house arrest, but has been declared "fine."

The point is - the old bastard is going to die at some point, and because he's set himself as the god-president-for-life, no one knows ow to replace him.  The constitution is as worthless as used toilet paper, and all of his government are military thugs with armed groups behind them.  

Last week, Mugabe sacked his vice-president, shrieking something about "disloyalty."  The ex-VP, Emmerson Mnangagwa, is a long-serving general in the army and holds considerable sway over the army, the Zimbabwe Defence Force (ZDF).

At the present time, here's what it looks like:

• Senile, paranoiac Mugabe thinks his #2 is going to overthrow him, so he kicks him out.
• Mnangagwa flees the country, knowing what Mugabe has done to disloyal people in the past.
• With Mnangagwa gone, Mugabe's wife smells power, and she starts purging Mnangagwa's army friends from high-ranking government positions.  She prepares to be named the new President.
• The army takes over the capital and the broadcast and communication stations.  They declare no harm to Mugabe, but want to deal with "criminals" around him.
• Mugabe's wife Grace flees the country, knowing how presidential hopefuls are treated in a Mugabe system.  She is reported to be in both Zambia and Namibia.  The former seems more likely.

So, is the old bastard finally going to kick it, and if so, will the military unilaterally declare Mnangagwa the new president, to the horror of the old thugs who had coalesced around Mugabe by doing him little "favours" like adding some muscle to election polling booths, scaring white farmers off their land, and smashing up businesses owned by people thought to support people like Morgan Tsvangirai?  

The new army government would most likely "deal with" people who spent the last few years currying favour with Grace Mugabe.  How the legions of Hitl-... I mean Mugabe Youth will react is probably up to the propaganda skills of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Network.

What will the international community do?  I dunno.  Ask me after the biscuits and tea we'll have as we celebrate Mugabe's demise.  I personally hate the bastard because of what he's done to Salisbury... I mean Harare.  It's heart-wrenching to wake up in the morning, look at the blooming jacaranda trees, feel the warm morning breeze, and then smell the smoke and hear the gunshots from the new food riots.  Or walk through the shadow of the steel-framed skyscrapers on the way to an internet café while listening to the blaring sound of the modified Blaupunkt radios of the Mercedes-Benzes owned by Chatunga Bellarmine or his friends.  They are advertising that not only are they rich, they are connected enough to get petrol to fuel their vehicles.  Robert Mugabe Jr. takes very good care of his buddies, as his social media profiles attest.
Right.  I will keep watching for future developments.  The life and livelihood of a lot of people depends on what happens next in what the ZDF is calling "not a coup d'état."
Meanwhile, here's the last series of songs that punctuated my ablutions.

Showertime Serenades

Rain Dance, by the Guess Who
I Know You Rider, by the Grateful Dead
Inside, by Matthew Sweet
Tangerine, by Led Zeppelin
I Want You Now, by Big Sugar
Strange Magic, by the Electric Light Orchestra
Bitterblue, by Cat Stevens
Gear Jammer, by George Thorogood
634-5789, written by Eddie Floyd and Steve Cropper, performed by Wilson Pickett, Eddie Floyd, and Jonny Lang

And that's it from me.  Next, I've got some pictures that I think summarize Roy Moore adequately, and I'll update you all on my perspective on the Southern African Situation.
Until then, good night England and the Colonies.
—mARKUS

Grounds for Dismissal

Greetings, gentle readers.
Trevor Noah said it best when he said that Sean Hannity seems to have a permanent seat on the wrong side of history.  Hannity really locked on the safety belt this week when he interviewed a Republican senatorial candidate who has been substantially accused of multiple accounts of indecent sexual behaviour with adolescent girls while acting as the District Attorney.  I would really like, as Trevor often says, to get into it in terms of Judge Roy Moore. 
Speaking of the honorific title "Judge," Moore seems like the kind of character that would be deemed too sleazy and revolting to appear as a villainous corrupt official in "Judge Dredd" or its parent comic "2000 A.D."  Those types of adult graphic novel-style comic books were dark, morbid, and horrifically violent, but when it came to sexually explicit, kiddie-porn level smut, they ran away shrieking.  Judge Dredd's niece Vienna was held hostage and threatened with all manner of horror, but never molestation.  The decadent and thoroughly debauched rule of Judge Cal depicted all sorts of improprieties, but never interference with a minor. 
That level of sick crime was never addressed in any of the Mega-City chronicles.  Whether that be because of publishing censorship restrictions that precluded even discussing that sort of sex crime, or the personal aversions of the authors is irrelevant.  In a narrative about the relationship between justice and enforcement, where punishment is so disproportionate as to deter all but the incurably insane from attempting to commit crimes, Roy Moore's despicable predatory behaviour would have an obvious and unimpeachable repercussion.
I must collapse into bed, since the aches and spasms are getting the better of me.  First, I want to remind myself that the Keurig coffee company, which I often ridicule as the purveyor of 1950s-esque inefficient household technology, actually decided to yank its advertising sponsorship of Sean Hannity's TV show after his disgustingly awful interview of Roy Moore.  In response, people supporting the bible-thumping child-diddler have started destroying their environmentally scornful coffee machines in protest of the advertising suspension.
So... if I like the idea of a District Attorney stalking high school football games and shopping malls looking for teenage girls, and then manipulate situations such that he can aggressively molest them... them I should smash coffee machines.  Conversely, if I think that paedophiles should stay out of publicly-elected positions of power... I should drink coffee from an expensive machine that uses non-disposable "pods"?  There's too much here to unpack at a single setting when I'm far too sore to cope with the mental gymnastics.  Besides, it's possible that the following random playlist may shed a light on the whole affair, if such it can be called.

Stochastic Sudsy Songs

Teenager in Love, by Bad Manners
Gloria, by Them
Cordelia, by The Tragically Hip
I Looked Away, by Derek and the Dominoes
Eat My Brain, by The Odds
Europa Geht Durch Mich, by The Manic Street Preachers

And that's all from me.  After another round of x-rays, renewing my driver's licence, and another round of GP and specialist appointments, I'm running on empty.  Back at you as soon as I can concatenate more than three thoughts successfully.
Goodnight England and the Colonies,
—mARKUS

Giant Glucose

Greetings, gentle readers.
I need to preface this bit of digital self-indulgence with an apology to Gordie Johnson, founder and core of the act Big Sugar.  I went to his concert last night, and despite enjoying myself thoroughly, had to beg off early and head home before the conclusion of his first set.  It was rude of me, and my only explanation was that I managed to remain standing on the dance floor throughout the entire set of Lex Justice, the opening act.  Throughout the 90 or so minutes of Gordie's performance, I was leaning heavily against a ledge near one of the bars on the side of the dance floor in considerable discomfort.  I was dizzy, perspiring heavily, and the lumbar section of my spine was on fire. Three times I tried to move my neck, and three times I blacked out and nearly collapsed.  All three times, my knees went out from under me and I lost consciousness, only to recover it moments later.  The first and second times, I managed to convince myself that I was under control, just staggering and sagging against the wall.  When I found myself stumbling and clutching other people's clothing on the third blackout, I realized that it would not end happily.
And thus I left, defeated and ashamed of the fact that I has mistreated one of my heroes - a man who, despite being clean and sober for almost two years, hasn't turned into the milquesop, god-bothering asshole that Van Morrison became after a similar life-change.  Please forgive me Gordie.  I still remember that time in 1993 when I deserted my post at work to cycle to the People's Pub on Whyte Avenue to watch part of a couple sets and got you to autograph my "Five Hundred Pounds" CD.  I still hold and cherish that CD with your red-inked inscription.  I've driven to Calgary for gigs, attended workshops at the Edmonton Folk Fest, hung out at the stage during an Edmonton "First Night" festival, and bought stacks of CDs and merchandise.  Over twenty-four years of watching gigs and listening to albums, and my bum vertebrae knocked me for six in a little hometown venue.  I behaved rudely and disrespectfully.  Gordie, if you read this - for what it's worth - I'm sorry.  I truly did not intend to harm yourself or your reputation in any way. 
On top of my embarrassment at leaving the gig was my appreciation for the music on offer.  Lex Justice and his international ensemble gathered around the core of what was once Econoline Crush
had some very danceable reggae/calypso/blues/rock grooves.  His cover of Eddy Grant's anti-apartheid anthem "Gimme Hope Joanna" made even the most jaded cynic bounce around the dance floor.  The set concluded with a tribute to the lead singer's father, felled by cancer this past January - a subdued reggae interpretation of the Eagles' "Hotel California."
Gordie trumped this excellent performance by demonstrating virtuosity in blues guitar coupled with studio sound replication on stage.  He dual-neck guitars allowed him to play lead and rhythm, twelve- and six-string, distorted and chorus instruments simultaneously.
In addition to playing some of his most powerful, driving, high-tempo 12-bar major key numbers, he surprised certain members of the audience (okay, me) by playing Pink Floyd riffs in the middle of his solos.  Some noodled melodic asides raised eyebrows, but there were some very knowing and winking looks around the venue when Gordie not only flared into Floyd's "Fearless" in the middle of "She Left Ashes," but did it again before the final chorus.
This was a demonstration of a musician at a new zenith of his artistic powers, reinventing the most emotionally charged and energetic works of his catalogue into a soaring solo performance with a little help from some accompanying bass and percussion.
And my spine was too weak to allow me to stay the full course.  More the loss for me.
Strangely enough, despite the ridiculous amount of Big Sugar songs that appear in my shower playlists, this entry contains none.  Maybe the shuffle-demons knew that I would embarrass myself going to a Big Sugar show later that day.  Here's what the stochastic view of the future has to say.

Shower Songs

• Vindaloo, by Fat Les
• Green River, by Creedence Clearwater Revival
• We Need a Filthy War, by DJ Earworm
• And We Danced, by The Hooters
• You Don't Love Me, by Matthew Sweet
• Tsunami, by Prozzäk

I just popped a pack of painkillers, and I should be dead to the world for a while.  My eyelids are stinging me now because they long to be closed, and I can't stand on my feet regardless of intent of determination.  I'm slithering into bed.
Good night, England and the colonies.
Cheers,
—mARKUS

In The Beginning Was The Word

Greetings, gentle readers.
One thing that I've noticed is that a large number of people who are unable to understand or use a priori argumentation tend to rely on textual support for their arguments.  The general idea would be that if the words written on a page are old and people still read them, the ideas behind those words must be unassailable.  When asked if something is right or wrong, a lot of people will rely on old books to derive an answer rather than any innate sense of justice or morality.
For example, given the question, "Is it right for a government to execute a citizen for the crime of murder?" you may get people appealing to:

• some sort of religious text.  An eye for an eye turns another cheek and chops the hand off the perpetrating offender who is shamed in the eye of god, blah, blah, blah.  Old Testament, New Testament, Talmud, Torah, Pentateuch, Koran, Hadith, Vedas, Upanishads, whatever. 
  For example, "As the (good/holy/last/only) book says, 'God hath dispassionately presided over the painful and lonely expiration of every living thing throughout eternity, and has never given a fig about any of them.'"
• some sort of political text.  Americans in particular will trot out the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Federalist Papers, or the dissenting opinions of Clarence Thomas (see page 40 HERE).  For example, "The Founding Fathers were absolutely 100% in favour of the death penalty, as Alexander Hamilton demonstrated after he was shot by Aaron Burr and wrote 'Ah, fair fucks to him' in the margins of his diary."
• the writings of another philosopher who attempted to use anything other than a priori thinking, generally a reductionist whose works have been published in easy-to-read print.  For example, "Spinoza thought that capital punishment gave the state too much power in an ethical realm.  That sort of power is better left in the hands of the pogroms."

As you may have guessed by this point, I suggest that the only authentic response is an existential one.  An individual must make that moral judgement and assume the responsibilities alone.
Right.  That's morality, all summed up in a tidy package.

Mass Shootings

In the wake of the latest mass shooting (at time of writing, it was the one in Sutherland Springs), I would just like to throw my four comments at it.

The President

Speaking from Japan, the President of the United States blamed the most recent slaughter of innocents on a "mental health problem."  Interesting to note that the President himself signed a bill in February 2017 (H.J. Res 40) that killed a regulation (81 Fed. Reg. 91702) that would have restricted access of the mentally handicapped and violently diagnosed to firearms.  In short, the current administration has vigorously lifted restrictions and regulations on firearms, SPECIFICALLY as it applies to mental health issues.  Oh, and the sitting House of Representatives and Senate majorities have, over the past 3 years, cut $4.3 billion from mental health services budgets. 
Conclusion:  don't look for any help here.  Start shopping for the "bargain-sized" coffins for your kids now.

The NRA

From NBC News:

Everytown For Gun Safety President John Feinblatt said he expected more gun control rollbacks from the Trump administration. In a statement to NBC News, he called the action "just the first item on the gun lobby’s wish list" and accused the National Rifle Association of "pushing more guns, for more people, in more places."

The NRA are going to do two things with this massacre:  twist the narrative, and exploit paranoia.  First, they are going to claim that the "good guy with a gun" actually saved the day here and protected the happy people of Sutherland Springs.  There is some evidence to suggest that AFTER 26 people were shot dead and 20 others wounded, a guy with a rifle chased the perpetrator away.  In a fwe days, some segments of the media will praise this person as a hero.
Second, the NRA will link any attempt to impose some sort of regulation on firearms as a draconian rescinding of the Second Amendment, and will only lead to to government seizing everyone's guns.  The elected government will become a tyrannical totalitarian police state, and resistance without firearms is futile, so all free will and democracy will perish.
Conclusion:  Let the propaganda wars begin.  You need guns to protect your freedom, and your freedom is in danger.  Be very afraid and purchase more ammunition.

The Media

This is the war of sociology and terminology.  Can white people be termed "terrorists"?  How much of a factor does gender play in the motivations for these acts?  Are white, anglo-saxon, christian males "at risk" for annihilist tendencies?  This is a wonderful smokescreen.  While media talking heads debate for hours on end whether it is appropriate or culturally acceptable to label, generalize, stereotype, or demonstrate sufficient awareness of any person or group involved in any element of the event.  Entire column inches will be expended, glowing with righteous indignation at the fact that a reporter mentioned a witness's weight, and is therefore an example of institutional rape-culture that only addresses gender through body-shaming.  The fact that all involved were ankle-deep in blood and amniotic fluid will be dismissed as incidental to the more germane social issues.
Conclusion:  Whatever news outlet gets the most retweets wins.  The families of the corpses lose.

The Church

More hopes and prayers.  As a matter of fact, all entities involved should endorse this course of action, since it doesn't harm anyone's profit margins.  In fact, the more hoping and praying that actually takes place inside church structures, the easier it will be for the next AR-15 wielding lunatic to find his Thanksgiving crop and rack up a sizable harvest of mutilated and twisted bodies.
Conclusion:  At time of writing, looking to any organized religion for help is the same as using a daily horoscope to raise your children - it's worse than trying to find your own answers.

What do I reckon?  I think that health care is a human right to which all American citizens are entitled, as enshrined in the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States.  If one considers the Second Amendment of that same constitution to be similarly binding, then I say that we should extend it logically.  As all Americans should be guaranteed welfare by its government, all American citizens should be issued state-of-the-art killing weapons.  Multiple weapons.  And ammunition.  Every citizen in the union should be armed to the teeth, even those that think that an armed war of secession against that union is somehow justified and patriotic.
Those that wish to blur the distinction between church and state and have prayer in science classrooms, political rallies, nuclear reaction chambers, septic tanks, and meetings of the National Audubon Society should be encouraged to do so, provided that they wear big symbols consisting of concentric red and white circles on their backs.

Playlist

• Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner, by Warren Zevon
• One of Those Rivers, by Dodgy
• Look Out There's a Monster Coming, by the Bonzo Doo Dah Dog Band
• Bus Stop, by the Hollies

Hmm.  Actually, those song titles almost add up to a coherent narrative all by themselves.
In any event, that is about all that I've got energy to type out today.  I'll be back soon to discuss the awful train-wreck that was Hillary Clinton's network of Super-PACs, beltway insiders, State Department contacts, DNC toadies, and the lickspittle hangers-on waiting to suckle at the withered teats of the presumed 45th President of the United States.  That's right, they created and "elevated" Donald Trump as a "pied piper" candidate on the ASSUMPTION that they would beat him in the general election.  Who made the monster?  Hillary, queen of regime-change, did.
Back at you with all of the evidence from the WikiLeaks vaults.
Cheers,
—mARKUS

Film Reviews and Escapism

Greetings, gentle readers.
To start off, I recently watched the film "Shrink" from 2009 and was thoroughly nonplussed by the ridiculously narcissistic view that Hollywood thrusts mightily at the world's face in such a rough and unsophisticated manner.  Strangely enough, Kevin Spacey's performance was the only thing that stopped me from turning the thing off at numerous points.  His strange sexual accusation situation exploded the very next day, and suddenly mentioning the man as a competent actor is no longer acceptable in casual conversation.  Not to defend him, and not that I ought to do so, but I have already mentioned in this very blog that Hollywood has known about sexually abusive indiscretions for decades now, but no-one has done anything about it because too many people were gaining advantages from it.

Why I Hate "Shrink" and Films Like It

In any event, my problem with this film is not Hollywood's seedy backstage manoeuvering, but with the inflated messianic complex that it seems to convey.
To summarize: 

• people problems like grief cannot be addressed unless through the medium of Hollywood film, and certainly cannot be resolved until the theatrical release.
• scriptwriters are the impoverished and authentic truthtellers of the world, suffering for their art and toiling through disenfranchisement and marginalization to define the human condition so as to enlighten the masses.
• actors are the martyrs of humanity, actualizing their childhood traumae to realize the creative visions of people who truly understand struggle and conflict.
• producers are the true humanitarians and servants of society, who select the noblest of causes before choosing to bring them to the greater attention of the world's population for the betterment of us all, without word or whisper of any recompense.

Weep, o weep yearning voices for the torment of these wretched and lost souls, wandering without any reward or release from their unending torment. 

Shower Songlist

• America, by Bree Sharp
• If I Had My Way, by Big Sugar
• In the Hall of the Mountain King, performed by the Electric Light Orchestra
• Ordinary Average Guy, by Joe Walsh
• Blister in the Sun, by the Violent Femmes
• It's the End of the World as We Know It, by Great Big Sea.

Gosh.  The song titles almost read as a narrative by themselves.
Finally, I'll mention that I'll review "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets" in my next installment and that I shall endeavour to spare neither the rod nor the riches in my assessment thereof.
Until the next time I run my unworthy self under the water, I bid thee adieu.
Good night England and the Colonies,
—mARKUS