some discussion of television treatment of trans peoples’ experiences with regard to the program Sense8 may be triggering.

less importantly: spoilers.

---

i was trying to come up with some important words on the history of television’s use value using my own experiences as a starting off point. i think i was born at the cusp of it becoming a greater “babysitter” as the saying goes, able to only watch my grandmother’s cable outside of our three boring channels. then you grow up and realize they are all the same channels in essence anyway. i think there is a lot to be said on the production of certain shows as the masters were trying to pacify working class relations within from the 70s through the 90s, particularly aimed at audiences of color and (some) women. some good examples that come to mind are the Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Jeffersons. the mid-80s put on display the model black middle class family via the Cosby Show, and while A Different World has stood out in the imagination, looking back i remember moments of the characters mourning and then accepting a montage implanted in the mind of the white audience known as the civil rights era. it has been achieved, all of this equity is quite splendid to see played out before you as wages decrease and children are executed in the streets, now get back to work.

deeply racist themes in “critically acclaimed” contemporary television seem more covert to me now, as if we have entered a new era in programming that has acknowledged its own past in more overt programming and this is what is required now. i don’t know if that is a sound judgment; varying levels have existed all along and depend on the reader’s astuteness.

Continue reading →

to put together the most coherent picture of the relationship between the US intel managed drug trade, military base patrolled brothels, and human trafficking would require a series of books, and it would most likely be difficult reading: many of the books i’ve wrestled with in appreciating the sometimes tedious renditions of the alphabet soup and the sociopathic agents and officers leading the operations really require a “cheat sheet” of acronyms referred to in chapter whatsitsname, section whatever that pop up again and again, in between activities that demonstrate their work in concert.

since the different “organized crime” syndicates and cartels are used as cover, this would require the specifics of relationships between key military players and their leaders. for one example, Lucky Luciano did not provide simply a fortuitous French Connection for the CIA to later stumble upon, as even some researchers digging around in the darkest corners of deep state activity would like to insinuate. presented as a series of fortunate coincidences for the capitalist inside army, this can dissuade one from understanding how these worked toward anti-communism playing out on the international stage and how this activity directly funded militant communist party overthrow.

Continue reading →

i have been working on a podcast series based on some of the research i’ve been doing on the US military’s trafficking in persons and trade in the sexual servitude of many of these persons. i am trying to keep these as succinct as i can to define some terms and home in on the relevant (and damning) evidence to demonstrate the military’s abuses and domination in these fields, and this installment is a comfy 20 minutes.

Continue reading →

trying to keep this updated. any links appreciated.

---

Hungary begins mass arrests, by Robert Samuels and William Booth 

15 September 2015

HORGOS, SERBIA — After shutting down the main corridor for refugees to Central Europe and fortifying its border with 109 miles of razor-wire fencing, Hungary on Tuesday began mass arrests of migrants who tried to sneak across its frontier.

More than 150 were detained as the country drew its line in the sand. Its get-tough approach to the European refugee crisis created an immediate bottleneck and howls of protest.

Within hours, a tent city sprouted on the Serbian side of the border, creating another potential flash point of misery and anger, as refugees scrambled for new routes to their preferred destinations in Germany and Scandinavia.

Hungary’s move was condemned by neighboring countries, humanitarian organizations and migrants, who staged spontaneous demonstrations along the newly erected fence.

Frustrated migrants break through police lines in Hungary, by Arwa Damon

8 September 2015

The people — mostly from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan — had complained about uncomfortable conditions in the camp and not knowing what would happen to them next. […]

They walked and hiked about 4 miles, many dropping their possessions on the ground. Two kids from one family lost the shoes they were wearing. They walked over a train track and rocks barefoot for miles.

Hungarian police raced after the fleeing migrants, some of whom may be refugees, and at some point the group was split in half.

note the recurring theme of apparently random people who are “taking advantage” of countries receiving, or interning, migrants as the case may be.

The migrants said they had been told buses would take them to another area where they would not be fingerprinted. They expected to later get on trains they hoped would take them to Austria and finally to Germany.

Continue reading →

this has got to be one of the most bizarre things i have read yet, resulting from the ever-expanding presidential election campaign extravaganza. sure there are lots more obviously staged “wacky” incidents performed by your villain of choice this season, but in this maddeningly fascist society that many on “my side” are still timid in naming for what it is, the ostensible “left” has my ears aching from recognizing their frenzied barking and growling in response to dogwhistles.

Continue reading →

i really hate expanding on twitter drama since i’m trying to get my head around some heavier stuff lately, but there are some issues from a recent episode that i think are worth expanding on.

so a few days ago, i made this tweet after i saw DeRay McKesson’s in my feed (i’ll get to the reason for my emphasis here later):

Continue reading →

James Corbett is someone whose work i respect although his voluntaryism seems inimical to coordinated resistance en masse, and i truly don’t understand how such an educated and intellectually curious guy can develop such weird ideas on feminism. i mean i can imagine, i just find it very unfortunate for him and what he attempts to speak on. however i do think his pulling of information from various sources prevents him from falling prey to totally limiting ideological blinders, and i use his work as any critical thinker is able to do, even from those they disagree with. he does provide a type of resistance in the work he does and the thought i know he inspires in any case.

that being said, the following video is a really great exposition on Noam Chomsky’s strengths and weaknesses, even with his inclusion of Stephen Pinker’s comments, believe it or not! i find it interesting that Pinker so adeptly summarizes the definition of anarcho-syndicalism within the left spectrum for all his warping of even the existence of sociological meaning and political ideologies, which makes his work in general pretty much unreadable for me.

Continue reading →

western mainstream comedy is shocking for the simple fact that it is so unfunny. the dancing bears propped up to entertain seem to base their entire acts on their entitlement alone. take for instance Amy Schumer’s appearance on Conan O’Brien’s show in April:

Schumer’s entire routine here revolves around being naked on the cover of a trash celeb rag covered in empty booze bottles, extra-super-awkward puberty highlighted by utterly boring animated self-deprecation, vague discussion of hosting an awards show, and of course making fun of other women who haven’t figured out how to sit, apparently, while wearing whatever the hell they feel like wearing. it is supremely unfunny, and the lack of anything resembling substance throughout juxtaposes her as one of the chicks not like all the other girls who is almost cool enough to be a guy with the guys, but with expertly styled blond locks and boobs (can’t forget the boobs that will probably sag soon by her own admission! har har), next to O’Brien and whatshisname — the real funny men after all. rather than an appearance where she demonstrates her talent, she is presented as nothing more than ornament for well-established male showmen.

Continue reading →

this is one of the better interviews of Dave McGowan on his book Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon. i like the way the host leads viewers to conclusions that some have told me are hard for them to grasp when reading the evidence itself. McGowan has stated many times that he thinks there was a coordinated operation to sabotage the antiwar movement although a stronger thesis in Weird Scenes can be tenuous for those who don’t follow him or his other work. he brings up some very logical questions toward the end of this that are worthwhile to consider on their own even if he doesn’t name a larger Operation Hippie or whatever to give people the ultimate “smoking gun” that they have been conditioned to ask of “conspiracy”* researchers.

Continue reading →

i appreciate a sentiment i’ve seen here and there around the net, even if it’s not as fully explored as i would like, that on a larger scale music industry puppets influence their fans more than politicians or pundits do. and with the very obviously controlled scene of the 21st century, this seems to be the case in an even stronger sense than in decades past. of course this has always been a reality as long as record labels and their owners have been determining what the airwaves deliver so it’s not just a matter of old people complaining. in any case it’s perfectly logical that we should be able to make judgments about developments that signal shifts in societal understanding. to imagine that popularized music is just that with purely static meaning in relation to other phenomena and that simply changes as people do from generation to generation is an absurd position to take.

Continue reading →