Today’s “news”
10/25/2019
Let’s start
with the “good” news first. On awakening tomorrow, I will have turned 77 years
old. Twelve days after that, I will get a new right hip. Growing old ain’t for
sissies, but it definitely beats the alternative.
There is no “Florida
Oddity” labeled as such in today’s local paper, but the entire back page full
color ad makes up for it. You see, there is this guy, Norman Lee, a mediocre singer
who found Jesus and became a graduate of the “close cover before striking”
school of theology. He still performs, at times, at a local venue, Katie Belle’s,
since apparently the scam he’s running doesn’t pay all the bills. He has established
a “church” called The Garden, with himself as pastor (someone has to fleece the
sheep) and his wife as co-defendant. OK that’s a bit harsh, let’s try “accessory”
instead. The garden has, in addition to (one supposes), some place of worship,
a petting zoo, a gift shop, and the subject of today’s full color, full page ad
– the just announced "Holy Cow Ice Cream Shop." No, really! And I thought Elsie was contented.
The advert
shows the pair with their camel, goat, and sheep, in some sort of enclosure,
which I guess is “The Garden” in question, as in “Eden”. This operation is like Ken Ham’s “Ark Experience”
lite. Not to be outdone, of course Orlando still has the abominable Holy Land
experience replete with “crucifixion du jour.”
On a more serious
note and far more distressing to anyone with a brain, is the notice of the Russian
summit with a number of African nations. These are, of course, the “shitholes” referred
to by Donald Trump last year. The vacuum created by Trump’s back turning on African
interests opens the door to Russia's gaining wider access, followed one might
guess, by control of a vast storehouse of largely untapped natural resources,
since the continent holds around 30% of the world's
known mineral reserves. These include cobalt, uranium, diamonds and gold, as
well as significant oil and gas reserves. It must be noted that these are only the identified
and proven reserves, not the entire potential treasure trove which Russia
covets.
This is far worse than first glance might
indicate, since a mine in South Africa is now producing the highest grade rare
earths (scarce minerals critical to electronics) in the world at a time when
Trump ill- advised tariff/trade wars raise the specter of the world’s largest
producer (China) throttling back US deliveries. Should Russia establish a
foothold in Central Africa a squeeze of White controlled South Africa (And crucial
resources for US tech) could well ensue.
This is simply
the latest (Syria anyone?) blatant action to allow Russia the opportunity improve
the status of their oligarchy at our expense. If Trump truly is seeking a
return to isolationism, he’s making a very poorly concealed and fatally flawed
effort to do so. There is a difference between support and interference, which Trump
apparently can’t comprehend. Putin plays Trump like a Stradivarius, and Trump
is apparently unaware, as long as his spawn can continue building in Russia, Turkey,
and elsewhere.
And, finally, while
this may not mean much if anything to most readers, Spain, after almost half a
century, finally has done the right thing. Following the death of Spanish Fascist
dictator, Francisco Franco (who, SNL fans may remember, is "still dead"), there was built in
the side of a mountain outside Madrid, near San Lorenzo de El Escorial, a huge
and grandiose mausoleum, named “The Valley of the Fallen.” Vast and impressive,
the underground structure extends from the front wall about 270 yards into the
mountain and is constructed as a basilica. The thousands (actually about 40,000)
of Spanish Civil War casualties buried within are stacked outside the inner
walls behind chapels with no mention of name or even acknowledgment of their presence.
Franco, however, the true architect of all the violence was, until recently,
interred under a marble stone at the altar on which flowers were always present.
40,000 nameless are buried under this mountain. Only one grave had a marker
Franco, on the other hand, remained a visible object of adoration by Spain's wealthy (or at least some of them) and an object of revulsion for most of the rest. In a final slap, prisoners and convicts did the bulk of the work.
This was a source of contention at the time when it was done
and has been ever since. Removal of Franco’s corpse to be re-interred next to
his wife is what amounts to the last vestige of “de- Francoisation” of post-Fascist
Spain, where about half of today’s Spaniards still regret that they weren’t
allowed to piss on the grave first.
And finally: James Bond walked into a bar. He sat down next
to a sweet young thing and ordered (what else) a martini, “shaken, not stirred.” As he sipped, the young lady noticed his very
stylish watch and commented on it. 007 explained that “Q branch” had made it
exclusively for him and it was capable of amazing things. “Really, like what?” “Well,
love, I can tell by this watch that you aren’t wearing any underpants.”
The young lady smiled and said, “Oh but I am!”
Frowning, Bond shook his wrist and muttered “The damned thing's
running fast again.”
Enjoy your day!
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