Saturday, July 02, 2011

An old story, perfect for July 4 weekend

Posted by Mickey Z on 07/02 at 05:16 AM

  2. Advancing to the Rear Dept: MZ, just yesterday I told a ‘sound of freedom’ (sic) anecdote, but mine was the sound of boots and not jet engines.

    If we lived in a sane country: “That’s the sound of...”
    - your brother ending up in a VA hospital.
    - DU poisoning an infant.
    - health care, education, and housing budgets being torched.
    - women on Okinawa being raped.
    - generals deciding whether the president is speaking out of turn.
    - cluster bombs that look like food packets.
    - deafening obedience.

    Happy Le Quatre Juillet, everyone!

    Posted by Zen Prole from Pac NW  on  07/02  at  12:39 PM

  3. The way other kids used to love cars and trains, I used to (and still do) love aeroplanes. My favourites are the TSR.2 and Avro Vulcan. A prototype nuclear bomber and an actual nuclear bomber. I still can’t square that with myself. Answers on a postcard please.

    Because I foolishly took a .com rather than .co.uk email address back in the day, I am now getting 4th July Offers I May Be Interested In (in addition to Canadian Medz - my dad’s £20,000 cancer drugs cost him £0.00). U.S.A! U.S.A!

    Posted by Mew from england  on  07/02  at  08:27 PM

  4. thanks for this re-run, Mickey!  Words fail - at the reaction of the waitress.

    And thanks for the excellent comments, Zen Prole and Mew!

    Happy 4 July to all of you!
    Helga from a wet Daylesford

    Posted by Helga from Daylesford, Australia  on  07/03  at  12:52 AM

  5. Mew 2..., I think some airplanes look neat, not because they fly, simply the art.

    I was in a bomber squadron during the Vietnam era. Our airplanes were not graceful looking because the nose section was filled with all kinds of radar A6A Intruder. Intruder is certainly a great name when you announce yourself with 26 tons of explosives and lots of noise and 2 stupid people at the controls.

    I don’t dislike airplanes because they are air freighters for war, I dislike them because I think they are a symptom of a sick society who thinks they must travel/escape very quickly, a process that I think would be quite unnatural to a sane society. I know there are people who enjoy recreational flying, as if a bird, in space, weightless. It might be a better idea to take some good LSD and listen to Klaus Shultz.

    I feel nuts because I still like certain motorcycles as an art form. Driving is so insane, a motorcycle is too victim of this recklessness. Cars who need to speed because they must be at the end of their 5 mile trip in 6 months.

    Posted by Joe of Maine from The Window  on  07/03  at  01:43 AM

  6. I was at a London train station the other day, there was a table where a bloke was selling things. Selling badges of teddy bears wearing camouflage!...to raise money for the “Help for Heroes” charity. If there’s a hero in the British military, they must be AWOL.

    Posted by Rick (the Cartoonist) from England  on  07/03  at  05:00 AM

  7. Hi Zen, Joe, Helga, Mew, Mickey, Rick. and all…

    Mew...I, too used to have a love of airplanes.  I logged a few hours at the controls and enlisted in the Air Force. I wanted to be out there “in the wild blue yonder”. Then I learned more and now I don’t think there should be so much traveling. It hurts the planet. A friend just recently gave up sky diving because he now agrees that the environmental issues are more important.

    I happened to see a broadcast of ‘1984’ the other day.  It was many years ago that I read the book and had never seen the film before.  The dialog included the statement that we don’t fight wars to win them - we fight for the sake of fighting. War is the ‘end’ - not the means. 

    About fireworks - seems to me - seen one, seen ‘em all.
    Sad that so many municipalities are spending a lot of money for the fake bombs bursting in air, while there are homeless people.  In Burlington the town officials have ordered that the trees and shrubs be cut down and trimmed so that the homeless who gather there would no longer have any shade or privacy.

    I actually remember what I did to celebrate last 4th of July. I re-read one of Mickey’s books...might repeat that again this year. Seems like the patriotic thing to do.

    Posted by RMJ from Ward Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts  on  07/03  at  10:39 AM

  8. A survey found that 26% of Americans didn’t know which Country they declared Independence from.
    I assume these are the people who support the military actions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Libya (Yemen and Somalia if they’ve heard of them)...despite not being able to mark any of these countries on a map.
    The “sound of freedom” is a can of Coke opening as a child starves 10,000 miles away.

    Posted by Rick (the Cartoonist) from England  on  07/03  at  04:20 PM

  9. Driving is definitely insane and I for one will be glad to see the end of private car use.

    I just had to put down a cat that was hit in a residential street by some idiot driving too fast and who couldn’t be bothered to stop.

    I found the cat lying in the middle of the road, where it had apparently been for at least half an hour in the blazing sun (people came up to check out what I was doing, and told me they had seen it there earlier!), and drowning slowly in it’s own blood. So I cut the supply to the brain off at the carotids and held him until he died. Then held him some more.

    It’s f**k**g ruined my weekend. The cat...well no more weekends for him :(

    I can’t wait for gaia to kick the human race into touch. At least the “civilized” portion of it.

    Posted by subgenius from hell-A  on  07/03  at  05:47 PM

  10. Subgenious 8..., I’m saddened by your experience and I’m sorry you and the cat had it.

    Posted by Joe of Maine from The Window  on  07/04  at  02:58 AM

  11. Oh, man, subgenius. That’s awful on all counts. Thanks for doing what no one else would.

    Posted by Zen Prole from Pac NW  on  07/04  at  03:27 AM

  12. I echo the sentiments above, subgenius. Thank you for being a true Earthling.

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  07/04  at  07:14 AM

  13. Totally (In)Appropriate Dept: Here’s some comic noir for the 235th anniversary of America’s national psychosis. From England: http://tinyurl.com/6yrx4tu The comments are hilarious.

    The locals have started with the fireworks. I’m heading for the mountains.

    Posted by Zen Prole from Pac NW  on  07/04  at  03:36 PM

  14. Hello from hot and humid Astoria. I’ve just put up a new post. Hope to see you all there.

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  07/05  at  05:14 AM

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