Lauria Bible was sleeping over at Danny and Kathy Freeman's mobile home that evening to help celebrate the 16th birthday of her best friend, Ashley. Sometime in the middle of the night a nightmare happened and they both disappeared into the darkness as the place was burned to the ground.
The investigation was botched from the beginning. Of course it didn't help that Ashley's father, had a serious ongoing beef with the Craig County, Oklahoma sheriff's department. That would be very people who were the primary investigators looking into the brutal murder of his wife and the disappearance of his daughter and her friend.
When deputies arrived at the smoking ruins of the Freeman home in Welch, OK, located in the northeastern corner of the state, they found Kathy Freeman dead in the ashes. She had been shot in the head prior to the fire. Feelings on the law enforcement side toward the missing Danny were so antagonistic, he was immediately and publicly blamed for his wife's murder and the kidnapping of his daughter and friend.
The cops had a problem though. The next day, Lauria Bible's family arrived at the mobile home to poke around themselves. Since the crime scene wasn't particularly important to the Sheriff's Department they waded right into the wreckage. Within minutes they found the body of Danny Freeman buried in the debris. Later it was determined he had also been shot in the head before the fire was set.
Since their only suspect had been cleared of any wrong doing, because even the Craig County Sheriff in all his angry might couldn't pin a kidnapping on a dead man, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation was called in. These monstrous events occurred during the last two days of 1999.
Publicly, the case quickly went cold. In reality two private investigators, Tom Pryor and Joe Dugan were digging up some evidence on their own, not that any of the authorities cared. According to Pryor they discovered an automobile insurance verification card in the drive leading to the Freeman place within a couple of days of the murders. Shortly afterward they managed to locate the vehicle. It belonged to the girlfriend of a guy named Warren Philip Welch, a known connoisseur and purveyor of meth.
Pryor claims they notified the OSBI of their discoveries, but the agent in charge of the case immediately dismissed their findings and refused to follow up on either the card, or the automobile. Later, after Dugan died his family offered to hand over a box full of evidence gathered by the PIs to the Craig County Sheriff's office. Pryor maintains the Sheriff declined the offer and after a while Dugan's family threw the box and the evidence out, although he might be wrong about that.
Whatever the case Tom Pryor insists the OSBI told him to drop the private investigation and went so far as to threaten to revoke his law enforcement certification if he didn't.
The disappearances of Ashley Freeman and Lauria Bible and the murders remained unsolved for nearly two decades, despite a couple of confessions which proved to be hoaxes.
In 2017, the new Craig County Sheriff, Heath Winfrey discovered a box of evidence stashed away in the office of the previous Sheriff, Jimmie Sooter. Whether it came from Dugan or not remains unknown, although it did contain the insurance verification card. Winfrey only described it as having, "some information pertaining to Phil Welch, David Pennington, and Ronnie Busick as being involved in the murders and missing girls." He added it also held, "names of individuals that may possess information."
Busick has a list of drug related convictions running back to the 1980's. Welch, a Vietnam vet, had done time for burglary, assault and making a terrorist threat. Pennington was allegedly the sous chef in the meth kitchen.
In April 2018, Busick was arrested and charged with four counts of first degree murder, two counts of kidnapping, and one count of arson. His lawyer went with a Tommy Chong defense. He claims that because of his habitual drug use his client has no memory of anything during the time frame of the crime. Welch, who later became an ordained minister died in 2007. Pennington, who went on to work at various jobs, including a welder, passed away in 2015.
After interviewing some of the, "individuals," who might have information about the horror which occurred on December 30, 1999, it turned out a dozen of them had either dated, or lived with the three men. They all said Welch, Pennington, and Busick talked about the murders, but had threatened to kill them and their family members if they ever went to the cops with the information.
More than one of the witnesses said they had seen photographs of the girls which were taken as gruesome mementos, or even worse, as an inspiration to whack off. They were either duct taped to chairs, or bound and gagged lying next to each other on what one witness described as Welch's bed. Another said she saw a picture which showed Welch on the bed with the two bound teens. All of them, she claimed, were taken at Welch's place in Picher, Oklahoma which is now a ghost town in neighboring Ottawa County, OK.
One of the witnesses told police when she confronted the future Reverend Welch about the photos she had accidentally found, he said, "Don't you ever tell anybody, or you will end up in a pit in Picher like those two girls."
To this day the location of the damning images and the remains of the victims are a mystery.
The latest working theory is, Welch masterminded the attack because the Freemans owed him money for drugs. He was the trigger man the tale goes. The girls, who were witnesses, were taken to silence them, not to mention all three of those wild and crazy guys had a twisted taste for rape and torture. It is unknown how long they were kept alive before they were killed and their bodies disposed of. Busick and Pennington torched the mobile home after the murders and yes, the car used during the horror show was the same one owned by Welch's girl friend at the time, just like Pryor and Dugan suspected.
This week authorities from as far away as Tulsa have descended on Picher to search for the bodies of the two girls. It won't be easy. Beneath the town is a labyrinth of old zinc and lead mine shafts and pits. They have weakened the foundations of every building there. In addition there are small mountains of toxic waste from those mines piled high all around the burg.
It's uncertain, after all this time and the size of the area, if they will be found. All we do know for sure is Welch and Pennington died peacefully and were buried in their home towns. And, Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman, with cruel savagery, weren't afforded the same opportunity.
sic vita est
7-30-19
Tuesday, July 30, 2019
Friday, July 26, 2019
The Clinton Crime Family, Russian Agents and Bots, and Twitter Run Amok
Once more unto the rabbit hole, dear friends, once more...
With apologies to Bill Shakespeare
On Wednesday former Special Prosecutor, Robert Mueller testified in front of two different congressional committees. The talking heads and their analysts on MSNBC promised he would provide revelations which would shock and appall even the staunchest of Trump fanatics.
Although that wasn't what happened--FOX claimed the appearance was a disaster for democrats--Mueller's dead pan presentation, painted the portrait of a presidential campaign willing to accept whatever Russian aid it could get, then a chief executive who has gone to huge lengths to cover it up. In fact, according to Mueller's most assertive testimony, despite two plus years of presidential denials, the Russians had done everything they could to interfere with the 2016 election in order to get Trump into the Oval Office. In addition, at one point, Mr. Mueller went so far as to say the President of the United States could be indicted by the DOJ once he is no longer running it and the country.
It was hardly, as Dandy Don Trump likes to say, complete exoneration.
On Thursday morning, as dueling panelist claimed Mueller had confirmed exactly what they believed before he testified, it was reported, Jefferey Epstein had been found semi-conscious in his Manhattan jail cell. The news was vague. He had been discovered sometime in the previous 48 hours, but the information had been held back for reasons unknown.
There were marks on his neck, although the damage was not serious. Speculation was all over the place. Epstein either tried to hang himself, was attacked, or faked the whole thing to land himself in more, let's say, pleasant circumstances. He currently remains in the joint on suicide watch.
One article on the internet indicated Mr. Epstein, who is looking at least 45 years, was absolutely shocked a federal judge had denied him bail, despite his offer to put up $559 million in collateral. Another said an inmate in Epstein's unit had been questioned, but vehemently denied having anything to do with the injuries. We are friendly, the former cop charged with multiple murders said.
By Thursday afternoon it became obvious scores of people on social media had taken what was left of that brown acid which proved so foul at Woodstock 50 years ago. On Twitter, #ClintonBodyCount and #EpsteinSuicide began trending.
An updated list of people supposedly murdered by the Clinton, "crime family," began to circulate. The names ran the gamut from Vince Foster, to John F. Kennedy Jr. and DNC staffer, Seth Rich. The original list was compiled by Indiana attorney Linda Thompson who later proved her extreme stability by committing suicide in 2009. Others tweeted Epstein would be offed by the Clintons long before he ever reached a court room because of what he knows. Why Bill and Hillary missed him this time around went unexplained.
The other side struck back immediately. They alleged most, if not all, the Clinton conspiracy posts were being generated by Russian agents and, "bots," hell bent on diverting the American public's attention away from the damning testimony of Bob Mueller. In other words, the conspiracy theorists were, in truth, a conspiracy.
Actually some of them might have been since more than a couple of the anti Clinton posters went out of their way to say liberals are ignoring the facts because of, "Russiaphobia." It is a term one doesn't normally associate with your average ultra right wing wanker tweeting out of a den in Broken Arrow, OK.
Even our old pal, Alex Jones got involved. He posted elsewhere the Achilles' heel of The Deep State, which he maintains, Jefferey Epstein is a part of, is its members insatiable lust for pedophilia.
Yes, it was weird to the nth degree. Epstein was, depending on who you read, either targeted for murder by The Deep State, or an integral part of it. By the time the angry back and forth slowed the only thing missing was the unmistakable thumb print of ancient aliens.
Luckily America has the collective attention span of a five year old on a sugar rush. Today on Twitter, the hysteria has subsided and exchanges have returned to the normal level of political vitriol, reserved for those of us not convinced Bill and Hillary run a 21st century version of Murder Incorporated.
Buy hey, there is always tomorrow and as we know, the future is fertile ground for mass insanity. At least it has been ever since the internet was born. Think not? Just look at what transpired yesterday.
sic vita est
7-26-19
With apologies to Bill Shakespeare
On Wednesday former Special Prosecutor, Robert Mueller testified in front of two different congressional committees. The talking heads and their analysts on MSNBC promised he would provide revelations which would shock and appall even the staunchest of Trump fanatics.
Although that wasn't what happened--FOX claimed the appearance was a disaster for democrats--Mueller's dead pan presentation, painted the portrait of a presidential campaign willing to accept whatever Russian aid it could get, then a chief executive who has gone to huge lengths to cover it up. In fact, according to Mueller's most assertive testimony, despite two plus years of presidential denials, the Russians had done everything they could to interfere with the 2016 election in order to get Trump into the Oval Office. In addition, at one point, Mr. Mueller went so far as to say the President of the United States could be indicted by the DOJ once he is no longer running it and the country.
It was hardly, as Dandy Don Trump likes to say, complete exoneration.
On Thursday morning, as dueling panelist claimed Mueller had confirmed exactly what they believed before he testified, it was reported, Jefferey Epstein had been found semi-conscious in his Manhattan jail cell. The news was vague. He had been discovered sometime in the previous 48 hours, but the information had been held back for reasons unknown.
There were marks on his neck, although the damage was not serious. Speculation was all over the place. Epstein either tried to hang himself, was attacked, or faked the whole thing to land himself in more, let's say, pleasant circumstances. He currently remains in the joint on suicide watch.
One article on the internet indicated Mr. Epstein, who is looking at least 45 years, was absolutely shocked a federal judge had denied him bail, despite his offer to put up $559 million in collateral. Another said an inmate in Epstein's unit had been questioned, but vehemently denied having anything to do with the injuries. We are friendly, the former cop charged with multiple murders said.
By Thursday afternoon it became obvious scores of people on social media had taken what was left of that brown acid which proved so foul at Woodstock 50 years ago. On Twitter, #ClintonBodyCount and #EpsteinSuicide began trending.
An updated list of people supposedly murdered by the Clinton, "crime family," began to circulate. The names ran the gamut from Vince Foster, to John F. Kennedy Jr. and DNC staffer, Seth Rich. The original list was compiled by Indiana attorney Linda Thompson who later proved her extreme stability by committing suicide in 2009. Others tweeted Epstein would be offed by the Clintons long before he ever reached a court room because of what he knows. Why Bill and Hillary missed him this time around went unexplained.
The other side struck back immediately. They alleged most, if not all, the Clinton conspiracy posts were being generated by Russian agents and, "bots," hell bent on diverting the American public's attention away from the damning testimony of Bob Mueller. In other words, the conspiracy theorists were, in truth, a conspiracy.
Actually some of them might have been since more than a couple of the anti Clinton posters went out of their way to say liberals are ignoring the facts because of, "Russiaphobia." It is a term one doesn't normally associate with your average ultra right wing wanker tweeting out of a den in Broken Arrow, OK.
Even our old pal, Alex Jones got involved. He posted elsewhere the Achilles' heel of The Deep State, which he maintains, Jefferey Epstein is a part of, is its members insatiable lust for pedophilia.
Yes, it was weird to the nth degree. Epstein was, depending on who you read, either targeted for murder by The Deep State, or an integral part of it. By the time the angry back and forth slowed the only thing missing was the unmistakable thumb print of ancient aliens.
Luckily America has the collective attention span of a five year old on a sugar rush. Today on Twitter, the hysteria has subsided and exchanges have returned to the normal level of political vitriol, reserved for those of us not convinced Bill and Hillary run a 21st century version of Murder Incorporated.
Buy hey, there is always tomorrow and as we know, the future is fertile ground for mass insanity. At least it has been ever since the internet was born. Think not? Just look at what transpired yesterday.
sic vita est
7-26-19
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
Jeffrey Epstein and the Great Leap From Pizza Joints to Zionist Schemes
It all began, sort of, in late October and early November of 2016. According to a Twitter account which had previously been posting white supremacist propaganda, the New York Police Department had discovered evidence of a ring of pedophiles while searching through Anthony Weiner's emails. The tweet alleged all sorts of prominent democrats were involved in the nefarious business.
At about the same time Wikileaks began releasing stolen emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign manager, John Podesta. The ultra right wing loons who inhabit the murky internet worlds of 4chan and 8chan immediately seized on them as proof the ring existed. Podesta's emails, they claimed, held coded messages to other depraved democrats, including Clinton herself, regarding child trafficking, sexual abuse, and satanic rituals.
Fake news sites on the internet, who were all avidly pro Trump, began reporting, things like, the NYPD had raided Clinton's residence in New York and the FBI had confirmed the ring was real.
It was all bullshit of course, but for months alt right yahoos, including at least one member the Trump transition team, Michael G. Flynn, were saying it was true.
The main victim of the social media lunacy was restaurant owner, James Alefantis. He operated a pizzeria called Comet Ping Pong in Washington. For some reason the conspiracy proponents named his place headquarters of the evil goings on. They went so far as to claim children were being held in cages in the back room of his establishment.
Alefantis' business began receiving threatening phone calls. Then came hordes of fake, negative, reviews on Yelp and worse, a gun toting vigilante from North Carolina who popped off a couple of rounds in the place. As the hysteria grew other businesses were accused of being part of the horror show. They included Besta Pizza which is three doors down from Comet Ping Pong and the book store, Politics and Prose among others.
Even East Side Pies in Austin, TX was accused of selling more than, well, pies. They had a delivery vehicle vandalized as the conspiracy morphed beyond mere democrats and into a vast global cabal involving The New World Order and, you guessed it, The Illuminati.
Meanwhile the actual pedophiles were hiding in plain sight. George Nader, who is a consultant to the Crown Prince of United Arab Emirates and the security firm, Blackwater, was convicted in the 1990s of transporting child pornography. In 2003 he was convicted of sexually abusing up to 10 boys in the Czech Republic. Last month he was arrested and charged with transporting pornography depicting sexual child abuse and bestiality. Last year he was questioned by Robert Mueller multiple times because there were suspicions he'd helped the UAE hook up with the 2016 Trump campaign in an effort to assist it one way, or the other.
Then there is Jeffery Epstein. He is a convicted sex offender who really likes underage girls. He also has boat loads of money and has hung out with a lot of big league people including Prince Andrew of the UK, Donald John Trump, and famed litigator, Alan Dershowitz.
Epstein was convicted of a sex crime in 2008, but his juice was such that then U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta struck a plea deal with his lawyer--that's right, Mr. A. Dershowitz--which went beyond the word lenient. When the Miami Herald detailed it this year (unlocked cell, out on work release 12 hours a day) the public and media threw a fit--one so fierce Acosta, who by now was Secretary of Labor in the current administration, was forced to resign.
It goes without saying, neither George Nader, or Jeff Epstein have ever been to Comet Ping Pong, or East Side Pies.
So what are white supremacists to do? Obviously Hillary and Podesta are out of the picture, as are several defamed businesses. The answer is simple.
While Don Trump is howling about the anti-Semitism of Ilhan Omar and the other three members of, "The "Squad," his pals on the ultra right are tweeting things like this question, "I wonder, did Jeffrey Epstein abuse any Jewish girls." The answer came quickly from a fellow traveler, "It would seem not. If Epstein only targeted 100+ Gentile children, aren't those all hate crimes?" And then, the clincher, "Jeffrey Epstein is middle management in a broader Zionist scheme to impact American-Israeli policy."
How the molestation of, "100+," underage American girls, Gentile, or not, by a Brooklyn born Zionist agent would impact U.S. policy toward Israel in a positive way remains a mystery. But, as we know, logic always remains elusive for those on the extreme right. However, you do have to give them points for making the great leap from pizza joints to international Zionist schemes.
Ladies and gentlemen, as you may have guessed, the bar is open.
7-23-19
At about the same time Wikileaks began releasing stolen emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign manager, John Podesta. The ultra right wing loons who inhabit the murky internet worlds of 4chan and 8chan immediately seized on them as proof the ring existed. Podesta's emails, they claimed, held coded messages to other depraved democrats, including Clinton herself, regarding child trafficking, sexual abuse, and satanic rituals.
Fake news sites on the internet, who were all avidly pro Trump, began reporting, things like, the NYPD had raided Clinton's residence in New York and the FBI had confirmed the ring was real.
It was all bullshit of course, but for months alt right yahoos, including at least one member the Trump transition team, Michael G. Flynn, were saying it was true.
The main victim of the social media lunacy was restaurant owner, James Alefantis. He operated a pizzeria called Comet Ping Pong in Washington. For some reason the conspiracy proponents named his place headquarters of the evil goings on. They went so far as to claim children were being held in cages in the back room of his establishment.
Alefantis' business began receiving threatening phone calls. Then came hordes of fake, negative, reviews on Yelp and worse, a gun toting vigilante from North Carolina who popped off a couple of rounds in the place. As the hysteria grew other businesses were accused of being part of the horror show. They included Besta Pizza which is three doors down from Comet Ping Pong and the book store, Politics and Prose among others.
Even East Side Pies in Austin, TX was accused of selling more than, well, pies. They had a delivery vehicle vandalized as the conspiracy morphed beyond mere democrats and into a vast global cabal involving The New World Order and, you guessed it, The Illuminati.
Meanwhile the actual pedophiles were hiding in plain sight. George Nader, who is a consultant to the Crown Prince of United Arab Emirates and the security firm, Blackwater, was convicted in the 1990s of transporting child pornography. In 2003 he was convicted of sexually abusing up to 10 boys in the Czech Republic. Last month he was arrested and charged with transporting pornography depicting sexual child abuse and bestiality. Last year he was questioned by Robert Mueller multiple times because there were suspicions he'd helped the UAE hook up with the 2016 Trump campaign in an effort to assist it one way, or the other.
Then there is Jeffery Epstein. He is a convicted sex offender who really likes underage girls. He also has boat loads of money and has hung out with a lot of big league people including Prince Andrew of the UK, Donald John Trump, and famed litigator, Alan Dershowitz.
Epstein was convicted of a sex crime in 2008, but his juice was such that then U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta struck a plea deal with his lawyer--that's right, Mr. A. Dershowitz--which went beyond the word lenient. When the Miami Herald detailed it this year (unlocked cell, out on work release 12 hours a day) the public and media threw a fit--one so fierce Acosta, who by now was Secretary of Labor in the current administration, was forced to resign.
It goes without saying, neither George Nader, or Jeff Epstein have ever been to Comet Ping Pong, or East Side Pies.
So what are white supremacists to do? Obviously Hillary and Podesta are out of the picture, as are several defamed businesses. The answer is simple.
While Don Trump is howling about the anti-Semitism of Ilhan Omar and the other three members of, "The "Squad," his pals on the ultra right are tweeting things like this question, "I wonder, did Jeffrey Epstein abuse any Jewish girls." The answer came quickly from a fellow traveler, "It would seem not. If Epstein only targeted 100+ Gentile children, aren't those all hate crimes?" And then, the clincher, "Jeffrey Epstein is middle management in a broader Zionist scheme to impact American-Israeli policy."
How the molestation of, "100+," underage American girls, Gentile, or not, by a Brooklyn born Zionist agent would impact U.S. policy toward Israel in a positive way remains a mystery. But, as we know, logic always remains elusive for those on the extreme right. However, you do have to give them points for making the great leap from pizza joints to international Zionist schemes.
Ladies and gentlemen, as you may have guessed, the bar is open.
7-23-19
Thursday, July 18, 2019
July, 1969 in Madill, Oklahoma
A half century ago this month I was spending my summer working for some oil company subsidiary. The father of a guy I had become friends with during my freshman year at the University of Oklahoma landed us the gig. Most of our time was spent traipsing around south central Oklahoma on the eastern side of a bunch of rocky hills known as the Arbuckle Mountains.
We were on a survey team. Our job was marking the trail for a crew of guys who would drill holes in the ground, stick dynamite down them, explode it, then, through a system of listening devices, analyze the resulting vibrations in the hopes of finding deep pools of crude.
We worked out of a town called Madill which was and still is, as the local Chamber of Commerce liked to say, "nestled in the arms of Lake Texoma." At the time the burg had a population of not quite 3,000 souls, one main drag, which was a section of state highway leading straight to the aforementioned lake, two gas stations, one drive-in restaurant with car hops, a national guard armory, and two coffee shops/diners located at the north and south ends of town.
The second biggest thing that happened in Madill during the summer of 1969 was someone lit off a tear gas canister in the middle of the armory. At the time the building was crowded with high school kids dancing away during a, "sock hop." When the fire department arrived most of them were outside the building puking their guts out. The biggest thing, on the other hand, was far different in nature. Like just about everyone else in the nation, if not the world, Madill was transfixed by three Americans headed to the moon.
Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin, and Neil Armstrong lifted off Wednesday, July 16 at 8:32am central time. Our team's chief surveyor had let us hang around one of those diners longer than usual because of the launch. We were grateful for the gesture, but none of us actually saw the first moments of it.
This was long before the days of televisions in restaurants, high on the walls, or any place else. The diner's owner had put a portable TV on a spare table so customers could see some serious history with their coffee. Unfortunately the table was near the front door.
At the very instant the Saturn V's massive engines burst to life a woman walked in, saw the screen, exclaimed, "Oh look, they're taking off!" then planted her fat ass directly between the TV and everyone else. The room erupted, demanding her to move. She turned and looked at us, utterly puzzled by the uproar for a few precious seconds. By the time the reason for all the yelling dawned on her and she stepped aside, Apollo 11 was soaring high above the launch pad.
The Apollo 11 mission lasted eight days and some change. That summer if you had asked the 19 year old history major temporarily living in Madill, OK what things would be like in 50 years, he would have told you, with complete certainty, there would be a manned base, or bases on the Moon. He would have even speculated about the possibility of full blown mining operations. He also wouldn't have had any doubt that at least one American flag was planted firmly on Mars.
Man, was that naive fucker wrong.
Barely two weeks after Apollo 11 returned to earth, Charles Manson sent Tex Watson and three other members of his deadly posse to a house on Cielo Dr. in Los Angeles. The war in Vietnam was still chewing up casualties and Richard Nixon's, "peace plan," was to, bomb the North Vietnamese back to the stone age. Protests against the whole bloody experience in Southeast Asia were growing in number and intensity. In other words, the good news was we made it to the Sea of Tranquility and back. The bad news was, when it came to everything else, we had gone bat shit crazy.
Within a scant few years going to the Moon was deemed not only too expensive, but even worse, boring. In the death throes of the Apollo program it became clear to even the most ardent proponent of the space program the nation had no taste for true exploration, we just wanted to say we beat the Russians there.
On December 7, 1972 Apollo 17 lifted off for the Moon. Six days after the launch, right before he climbed back into the landing module, Gene Cernan told the world, "I'm on the surface and as I take man's last step from the surface back home for some time to come--but we believe not too long into the future--I'd like to just say what I believe history will record--that America's challenge of today has forged man's destiny of tomorrow. And as we leave the Moon at Taurus-Littrow, we leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind."
What history has actually recorded is Gene Cernan remains the last human to walk on the surface of the moon. And, he was wrong too.
7-18-19
We were on a survey team. Our job was marking the trail for a crew of guys who would drill holes in the ground, stick dynamite down them, explode it, then, through a system of listening devices, analyze the resulting vibrations in the hopes of finding deep pools of crude.
We worked out of a town called Madill which was and still is, as the local Chamber of Commerce liked to say, "nestled in the arms of Lake Texoma." At the time the burg had a population of not quite 3,000 souls, one main drag, which was a section of state highway leading straight to the aforementioned lake, two gas stations, one drive-in restaurant with car hops, a national guard armory, and two coffee shops/diners located at the north and south ends of town.
The second biggest thing that happened in Madill during the summer of 1969 was someone lit off a tear gas canister in the middle of the armory. At the time the building was crowded with high school kids dancing away during a, "sock hop." When the fire department arrived most of them were outside the building puking their guts out. The biggest thing, on the other hand, was far different in nature. Like just about everyone else in the nation, if not the world, Madill was transfixed by three Americans headed to the moon.
Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin, and Neil Armstrong lifted off Wednesday, July 16 at 8:32am central time. Our team's chief surveyor had let us hang around one of those diners longer than usual because of the launch. We were grateful for the gesture, but none of us actually saw the first moments of it.
This was long before the days of televisions in restaurants, high on the walls, or any place else. The diner's owner had put a portable TV on a spare table so customers could see some serious history with their coffee. Unfortunately the table was near the front door.
At the very instant the Saturn V's massive engines burst to life a woman walked in, saw the screen, exclaimed, "Oh look, they're taking off!" then planted her fat ass directly between the TV and everyone else. The room erupted, demanding her to move. She turned and looked at us, utterly puzzled by the uproar for a few precious seconds. By the time the reason for all the yelling dawned on her and she stepped aside, Apollo 11 was soaring high above the launch pad.
The Apollo 11 mission lasted eight days and some change. That summer if you had asked the 19 year old history major temporarily living in Madill, OK what things would be like in 50 years, he would have told you, with complete certainty, there would be a manned base, or bases on the Moon. He would have even speculated about the possibility of full blown mining operations. He also wouldn't have had any doubt that at least one American flag was planted firmly on Mars.
Man, was that naive fucker wrong.
Barely two weeks after Apollo 11 returned to earth, Charles Manson sent Tex Watson and three other members of his deadly posse to a house on Cielo Dr. in Los Angeles. The war in Vietnam was still chewing up casualties and Richard Nixon's, "peace plan," was to, bomb the North Vietnamese back to the stone age. Protests against the whole bloody experience in Southeast Asia were growing in number and intensity. In other words, the good news was we made it to the Sea of Tranquility and back. The bad news was, when it came to everything else, we had gone bat shit crazy.
Within a scant few years going to the Moon was deemed not only too expensive, but even worse, boring. In the death throes of the Apollo program it became clear to even the most ardent proponent of the space program the nation had no taste for true exploration, we just wanted to say we beat the Russians there.
On December 7, 1972 Apollo 17 lifted off for the Moon. Six days after the launch, right before he climbed back into the landing module, Gene Cernan told the world, "I'm on the surface and as I take man's last step from the surface back home for some time to come--but we believe not too long into the future--I'd like to just say what I believe history will record--that America's challenge of today has forged man's destiny of tomorrow. And as we leave the Moon at Taurus-Littrow, we leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind."
What history has actually recorded is Gene Cernan remains the last human to walk on the surface of the moon. And, he was wrong too.
7-18-19
Tuesday, July 16, 2019
Donald Jumps into Mr. Peabody's Wayback Machine
The numbers break down this way. There are 435 members of the United States House of Representatives. 235 of them are democrats, 197 are republicans, one is an independent, and two seats are vacant. When the 116th Congress cranked up for business in January, 2019, 86 members of the house began their first terms. In other words they are and will be, until re-elected, considered, "freshmen."
Over the last two hundred plus years there has been a traditional distribution of political power in Washington D.C. The president is at the top of the pyramid, followed by the Speaker of the House, the Senate majority leader and then others scattered throughout the executive and legislative branches. Each level is less influential than the one above it. At the very bottom of this whole massive pile are those 86 freshmen members of the House of Representatives. When it comes to the great game known as national politics they have just a tad more juice than congressional pages.
Which, of course, begs the question--why the fuck is everyone, especially the current resident of the White House, going stark raving bats over four freshmen congresswomen, no matter how left their politics are?
It certainly isn't because they've accomplished anything of note, other than attracting an undue amount of media coverage. It isn't because any of them are a threat to become President, at least not any time soon, or Speaker of the House. In fact none of them, at this point in their careers, chair a committee which could initiate a bill, or investigate, let's say, Paul Manafort's former housekeeper.
In reality "The Squad," as it's known, which consists of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, Rashida Tlaib, D-MI, Ilhan Omar, D-MN, and Ayanna Pressley, D-MA, are so legislatively insignificant they can't even jam up democratic measures which they consider too corporate, or conservative. In short, middle of the road democrats don't even need their votes.
There are a couple of theories rolling around like dice on a craps table about what caused The Big Orange Guy to go off his nut the other day. The most sophisticated is that DJT told the four congresswomen to go back to where they came from because he wants the main stream democrats to publicly defend them.
Perhaps. After all Trump and the GOP in general are busily trying to label all democrats as radical socialists who are out to destroy The American Way of Life. Putting Nancy Pelosi and other democrats in a corner where they are defending, "The Squad," even if it is from overtly xenophobic tweets allows republicans to go to their base and say, See, they're all in it together.
In support of this, House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, ignoring every poll and demographic in the land, has already tweeted that The Squad is representative of the new socialist majority in the democratic party.
There are, however, those of us who believe such subtleties are beyond Donald Trump. Indeed, the thought process could well have gone along the lines of, Those bitches have been sucking up too much air time and in a political campaign the media must always be focused totally on me.
Well, if that was the motivation, as always, he immediately got what he was going for. God only knows how many times his name has been mentioned on MSNBC, CNN, and FOX the last couple of days.
Or, in the end, maybe those bombastic, racist, tweets were sent to the world simply because he woke up rocking out on Red Bull, and Frosted Flakes dusted with cocaine. Within moments the massive early morning rush let that insanely crude, Mr. Hyde which dwells within him to suddenly come alive and grow furious and obsessive. His mind, like Morrison once said, began squirming like a toad--then came the twisted revelation--Hey, they don't like me, they are women, they aren't white, and they are here.
Whatever the case he jumped straight into Mr. Peabody's Wayback machine and turned the dial to the late 1960's when the fashionable car accessory for conservatives was a bumper sticker which read, "America, Love It or Leave It."
Isn't it nice to know the more we think things have changed, the more they've actually stayed exactly the same.
7-16-19
Over the last two hundred plus years there has been a traditional distribution of political power in Washington D.C. The president is at the top of the pyramid, followed by the Speaker of the House, the Senate majority leader and then others scattered throughout the executive and legislative branches. Each level is less influential than the one above it. At the very bottom of this whole massive pile are those 86 freshmen members of the House of Representatives. When it comes to the great game known as national politics they have just a tad more juice than congressional pages.
Which, of course, begs the question--why the fuck is everyone, especially the current resident of the White House, going stark raving bats over four freshmen congresswomen, no matter how left their politics are?
It certainly isn't because they've accomplished anything of note, other than attracting an undue amount of media coverage. It isn't because any of them are a threat to become President, at least not any time soon, or Speaker of the House. In fact none of them, at this point in their careers, chair a committee which could initiate a bill, or investigate, let's say, Paul Manafort's former housekeeper.
In reality "The Squad," as it's known, which consists of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, Rashida Tlaib, D-MI, Ilhan Omar, D-MN, and Ayanna Pressley, D-MA, are so legislatively insignificant they can't even jam up democratic measures which they consider too corporate, or conservative. In short, middle of the road democrats don't even need their votes.
There are a couple of theories rolling around like dice on a craps table about what caused The Big Orange Guy to go off his nut the other day. The most sophisticated is that DJT told the four congresswomen to go back to where they came from because he wants the main stream democrats to publicly defend them.
Perhaps. After all Trump and the GOP in general are busily trying to label all democrats as radical socialists who are out to destroy The American Way of Life. Putting Nancy Pelosi and other democrats in a corner where they are defending, "The Squad," even if it is from overtly xenophobic tweets allows republicans to go to their base and say, See, they're all in it together.
In support of this, House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, ignoring every poll and demographic in the land, has already tweeted that The Squad is representative of the new socialist majority in the democratic party.
There are, however, those of us who believe such subtleties are beyond Donald Trump. Indeed, the thought process could well have gone along the lines of, Those bitches have been sucking up too much air time and in a political campaign the media must always be focused totally on me.
Well, if that was the motivation, as always, he immediately got what he was going for. God only knows how many times his name has been mentioned on MSNBC, CNN, and FOX the last couple of days.
Or, in the end, maybe those bombastic, racist, tweets were sent to the world simply because he woke up rocking out on Red Bull, and Frosted Flakes dusted with cocaine. Within moments the massive early morning rush let that insanely crude, Mr. Hyde which dwells within him to suddenly come alive and grow furious and obsessive. His mind, like Morrison once said, began squirming like a toad--then came the twisted revelation--Hey, they don't like me, they are women, they aren't white, and they are here.
Whatever the case he jumped straight into Mr. Peabody's Wayback machine and turned the dial to the late 1960's when the fashionable car accessory for conservatives was a bumper sticker which read, "America, Love It or Leave It."
Isn't it nice to know the more we think things have changed, the more they've actually stayed exactly the same.
7-16-19
Saturday, July 13, 2019
The Social Media Summit Without the Social Media
The word weird doesn't even apply to the current presidency any more. Donald Trump and his administration have become rather like a bizarre real time piece of performance art produced by Salvador Dali.
On this past Thursday Mr. Trump held his much ballyhooed "Social Media Summit," at the White House. According to Deputy Press Secretary, Judd Deere the meeting would, "bring together digital leaders for a robust conversation on the opportunities and challenges of today's online environment."
It actually sounded like a good idea. Then news came that representatives from both Facebook and Twitter wouldn't be allowed on the premises during the, "Summit." That's rather like having a meeting about American automobile production without anyone from Ford, or GM at the table.
Not to worry though, in their place, The Big Orange Guy made sure several prominent ultra right wing hacks made appearances. Among them was cartoonist Ben Garrison whose work has been called, "blatantly anti-Semitic," by the Anti-Defamation League. Also on hand was Twitter user, @CarpeDonktum, who creates memes El Don likes to retweet. One of the latest is a cascading series of Time Magazine covers each of which proclaim Trump's re-election every four years into perpetuity.
My favorite attendee, however, was internet broadcaster and compulsive tweeter, Bill Mitchell. The titles of his shows include ever so subtle hints as to where he stands. Like the episode named, "Donald Trump has been given to us by God." Then there is, "Democrats really have become the party of Satan." Bill maintains he knows this one for a fact because he has tweeted the statement several times and not a single democrat has ever responded to him denying it. It goes without saying, he is also believer in the QAnon school of conspiracy.
Ahh yes, digital leaders indeed.
As promised things did become sort of robust for a moment or two. Tempers flared after CNN contributor and Playboy White House correspondent, Brian Karem announced that the crowd assembled in the rose garden was, "Eager for demonic possession." Sebastian Gorka, the Hungarian neo-fascist and former Trump advisor, confronted Karem, calling him a, "punk." After Gorka's immediate retreat someone else in the gathering told Karem, Gorka, "would kick your punk ass." This drew a small round of applause and some muted cheers, although it is unknown at this time if they were for Gorka, or the stunning revelation Playboy Magazine still exists.
The keynote address of the meeting was, of course, delivered by Donald John Trump. According to the President of the United States, leader of the free world, and the man with the nuclear launch codes at his fingertips, social media outlets are deliberately fucking him by blocking his vast public from following him online. Mr. Trump complained he used to be able to pick up 100,000 new followers on Twitter every few days, now it takes forever. It is, he said, a plot.
In Trump's words, "Many, many people have come up to me and said, Sir, we want to follow you; they won't let us."
Just prior to his election in 2016, DJT had 13 million followers on Twitter. On Inauguration Day 2017 he had 23 million. As of Thursday, the day of his speech, he had 61.9 million. Ever think you might be at a market saturation point, Don? Hey, let's face it, despite what your ego might tell you, even your popularity and influence has it's limits.
As several sources have pointed out there is absolutely no proof Twitter is blocking anyone from following Donald Trump. Personally I can confirm I just did, at least momentarily, without any problem at all. It took three steps. Go to Twitter--type in his name--then click on the follow button.
This whole exercise in absurdity served two purposes for the current resident of the White House. First, it gave aid, comfort, and encouragement to the ultra right internet trolls who come up with crazed shit like QAnon and other conspiracy nonsense. Second, and most importantly, it was another play to the almighty base. The whole day was a confirmation of their deepest fears. They are trying to control me and you by not letting us connect, or speak our minds on the internet. The Deep State and the liberal social media owners hate the country and are out to defeat not only Donald Trump, but you. Fuck the immigrants in cages, white America we are the ones being persecuted around here!
Yeah, this is what we've sunk to--surreal wailing in Washington and concentration camps on the southern border. No one should be surprised. After all, he promised this sort of shit from day one.
7-13-19
On this past Thursday Mr. Trump held his much ballyhooed "Social Media Summit," at the White House. According to Deputy Press Secretary, Judd Deere the meeting would, "bring together digital leaders for a robust conversation on the opportunities and challenges of today's online environment."
It actually sounded like a good idea. Then news came that representatives from both Facebook and Twitter wouldn't be allowed on the premises during the, "Summit." That's rather like having a meeting about American automobile production without anyone from Ford, or GM at the table.
Not to worry though, in their place, The Big Orange Guy made sure several prominent ultra right wing hacks made appearances. Among them was cartoonist Ben Garrison whose work has been called, "blatantly anti-Semitic," by the Anti-Defamation League. Also on hand was Twitter user, @CarpeDonktum, who creates memes El Don likes to retweet. One of the latest is a cascading series of Time Magazine covers each of which proclaim Trump's re-election every four years into perpetuity.
My favorite attendee, however, was internet broadcaster and compulsive tweeter, Bill Mitchell. The titles of his shows include ever so subtle hints as to where he stands. Like the episode named, "Donald Trump has been given to us by God." Then there is, "Democrats really have become the party of Satan." Bill maintains he knows this one for a fact because he has tweeted the statement several times and not a single democrat has ever responded to him denying it. It goes without saying, he is also believer in the QAnon school of conspiracy.
Ahh yes, digital leaders indeed.
As promised things did become sort of robust for a moment or two. Tempers flared after CNN contributor and Playboy White House correspondent, Brian Karem announced that the crowd assembled in the rose garden was, "Eager for demonic possession." Sebastian Gorka, the Hungarian neo-fascist and former Trump advisor, confronted Karem, calling him a, "punk." After Gorka's immediate retreat someone else in the gathering told Karem, Gorka, "would kick your punk ass." This drew a small round of applause and some muted cheers, although it is unknown at this time if they were for Gorka, or the stunning revelation Playboy Magazine still exists.
The keynote address of the meeting was, of course, delivered by Donald John Trump. According to the President of the United States, leader of the free world, and the man with the nuclear launch codes at his fingertips, social media outlets are deliberately fucking him by blocking his vast public from following him online. Mr. Trump complained he used to be able to pick up 100,000 new followers on Twitter every few days, now it takes forever. It is, he said, a plot.
In Trump's words, "Many, many people have come up to me and said, Sir, we want to follow you; they won't let us."
Just prior to his election in 2016, DJT had 13 million followers on Twitter. On Inauguration Day 2017 he had 23 million. As of Thursday, the day of his speech, he had 61.9 million. Ever think you might be at a market saturation point, Don? Hey, let's face it, despite what your ego might tell you, even your popularity and influence has it's limits.
As several sources have pointed out there is absolutely no proof Twitter is blocking anyone from following Donald Trump. Personally I can confirm I just did, at least momentarily, without any problem at all. It took three steps. Go to Twitter--type in his name--then click on the follow button.
This whole exercise in absurdity served two purposes for the current resident of the White House. First, it gave aid, comfort, and encouragement to the ultra right internet trolls who come up with crazed shit like QAnon and other conspiracy nonsense. Second, and most importantly, it was another play to the almighty base. The whole day was a confirmation of their deepest fears. They are trying to control me and you by not letting us connect, or speak our minds on the internet. The Deep State and the liberal social media owners hate the country and are out to defeat not only Donald Trump, but you. Fuck the immigrants in cages, white America we are the ones being persecuted around here!
Yeah, this is what we've sunk to--surreal wailing in Washington and concentration camps on the southern border. No one should be surprised. After all, he promised this sort of shit from day one.
7-13-19
Thursday, July 4, 2019
John Adams and His Highness, the President of the United States, and Protector of the Rights of the Same
Yesterday was decided the greatest question which was ever debated in America, and a greater perhaps never was nor will be decided among men. The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America."
John Adams writing to his wife Abigail on July 3, 1776.
Mr. Adams got that one wrong, even if he was technically right. The Declaration of Independence was initially passed on July 2nd by a vote of 12 yeas, 0 nays, and 1 abstention. However, over the next 24 hours, or so members of the Continental Congress not a part of the Committee of Five who drafted its language did some heavy editing. The final version of the document, which was missing a fairly large chunk of the original, was passed and dated the 4th of July, which quickly became the official, "birthday," of the United States of America.
Adams was so pissed off at this turn of events he refused to attend any 4th of July celebrations for the rest of his life, which was considerable. He lived for another 50 years before dying on, you guessed it, July 4th, 1826.
It wasn't the only time he got things wrong. Later, during the first session of the First Congress of the United States, Adams, the nation's Vice President, proposed to the Senate the President should always be addressed as, "His highness, the President of the United States, and Protector of the Rights of the Same." As James C. Alexander wrote in 2008, "The suggestion enraged many, amused some, and was supported by few."
Despite this considerable step back toward a monarchy, even if only in title, John Adams was elected the second President. Being from Massachusetts, he was the only one of the first five chief executives not from Virginia and the only one not to own slaves.
So, he was a great progressive right? Not really. Just because he never owned a slave in his life it didn't mean he was actively against slavery's cruel existence. After his presidency ended Adams was approached by abolitionists looking for support. He refused because he believed the movement was, "...dangerous and potentially destabilizing." According to the Lehrman Institute, Adams wrote he would not support abolitionism unless it was done in a, "gradual way, with much caution and circumspection." He went so far as to say radical abolitionism could, "...produce greater violations of Justice and Humanity than the continuance of the practice."
He also predicted slavery would die out on its own in a short time and we all know how that worked out.
A few years earlier, while he was still President someone came up with the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, or what now days would be called, Donald Trump's wet dream. The Fifth congress was in the firm control of Adams' Federalist Party. In a nationalistic and some would say paranoid frenzy, it passed and he signed into law four measures.
The first, the Naturalization Act, stated that to become a citizen of the republic you had to live here at least 14 years instead of five. The Alien Friends Act allowed the president to imprison and deport any non-citizen who was deemed dangerous. The Alien Enemy Act allowed a president to do the same to non-citizens who were from hostile nations. Finally the Sedition Act made it a crime to make false statements which were critical of the federal government.
Although historians point out there isn't a shred of evidence Adams actually deported anyone deemed dangerous, they do admit his Federalist administration tried and convicted a bunch of people using the Sedition Act. They were mainly the owners of newspapers who were critical of John Adams and his policies. Whether they published falsehoods, or not, seemed to have had little bearing on their imprisonment.
Unfortunately for The Big Orange Guy, after Thomas Jefferson defeated Adams in the next election he let three of the four acts expire within a couple of years. The Alien Enemy Act, in revised form, still exists to this day.
Yes, all this insane shit came from a guy who was on that Committee of Five who wrote the first version of the Declaration of Independence--a man who has been called, "a giant," among the founding fathers.
Well, at least we know if John Adams was still alive he wouldn't show up on the mall in Washington tonight to listen to the current resident of the White House.
Maybe that fact alone is worth celebrating today, the 4th of July, 2019. There certainly isn't much else to honor in this age of immigrant concentration camps, overt fascist tendencies, and an endless flood of despicable lies.
7-4-19
John Adams writing to his wife Abigail on July 3, 1776.
Mr. Adams got that one wrong, even if he was technically right. The Declaration of Independence was initially passed on July 2nd by a vote of 12 yeas, 0 nays, and 1 abstention. However, over the next 24 hours, or so members of the Continental Congress not a part of the Committee of Five who drafted its language did some heavy editing. The final version of the document, which was missing a fairly large chunk of the original, was passed and dated the 4th of July, which quickly became the official, "birthday," of the United States of America.
Adams was so pissed off at this turn of events he refused to attend any 4th of July celebrations for the rest of his life, which was considerable. He lived for another 50 years before dying on, you guessed it, July 4th, 1826.
It wasn't the only time he got things wrong. Later, during the first session of the First Congress of the United States, Adams, the nation's Vice President, proposed to the Senate the President should always be addressed as, "His highness, the President of the United States, and Protector of the Rights of the Same." As James C. Alexander wrote in 2008, "The suggestion enraged many, amused some, and was supported by few."
Despite this considerable step back toward a monarchy, even if only in title, John Adams was elected the second President. Being from Massachusetts, he was the only one of the first five chief executives not from Virginia and the only one not to own slaves.
So, he was a great progressive right? Not really. Just because he never owned a slave in his life it didn't mean he was actively against slavery's cruel existence. After his presidency ended Adams was approached by abolitionists looking for support. He refused because he believed the movement was, "...dangerous and potentially destabilizing." According to the Lehrman Institute, Adams wrote he would not support abolitionism unless it was done in a, "gradual way, with much caution and circumspection." He went so far as to say radical abolitionism could, "...produce greater violations of Justice and Humanity than the continuance of the practice."
He also predicted slavery would die out on its own in a short time and we all know how that worked out.
A few years earlier, while he was still President someone came up with the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, or what now days would be called, Donald Trump's wet dream. The Fifth congress was in the firm control of Adams' Federalist Party. In a nationalistic and some would say paranoid frenzy, it passed and he signed into law four measures.
The first, the Naturalization Act, stated that to become a citizen of the republic you had to live here at least 14 years instead of five. The Alien Friends Act allowed the president to imprison and deport any non-citizen who was deemed dangerous. The Alien Enemy Act allowed a president to do the same to non-citizens who were from hostile nations. Finally the Sedition Act made it a crime to make false statements which were critical of the federal government.
Although historians point out there isn't a shred of evidence Adams actually deported anyone deemed dangerous, they do admit his Federalist administration tried and convicted a bunch of people using the Sedition Act. They were mainly the owners of newspapers who were critical of John Adams and his policies. Whether they published falsehoods, or not, seemed to have had little bearing on their imprisonment.
Unfortunately for The Big Orange Guy, after Thomas Jefferson defeated Adams in the next election he let three of the four acts expire within a couple of years. The Alien Enemy Act, in revised form, still exists to this day.
Yes, all this insane shit came from a guy who was on that Committee of Five who wrote the first version of the Declaration of Independence--a man who has been called, "a giant," among the founding fathers.
Well, at least we know if John Adams was still alive he wouldn't show up on the mall in Washington tonight to listen to the current resident of the White House.
Maybe that fact alone is worth celebrating today, the 4th of July, 2019. There certainly isn't much else to honor in this age of immigrant concentration camps, overt fascist tendencies, and an endless flood of despicable lies.
7-4-19
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