Yossarian's Roost Resuscitated

Did you know that John Steinbeck's depression-era classic "The Grapes of Wrath" is among the top 100 banned books in America? I can see why....
Here is a passage from the book (Chapter 25)
“The works of the roots of the vines, of the trees, must be destroyed to keep up the price, and this is the saddest, bitterest thing of all. Carloads of oranges dumped on the ground. The people came for miles to take the fruit, but this could not be. How would they buy oranges at twenty cents a dozen if they could drive out and pick them up? And men with hoses squirt kerosene on the oranges, and they are angry at the crime, angry at the people who have come to take the fruit. A million people hungry, needing the fruit- and kerosene sprayed over the golden mountains. And the smell of rot fills the country. Burn coffee for fuel in the ships. Burn corn to keep warm, it makes a hot fire. Dump potatoes in the rivers and place guards along the banks to keep the hungry people from fishing them out. Slaughter the pigs and bury them, and let the putrescence drip down into the earth.
There is a crime here that goes beyond denunciation. There is a sorrow here that weeping cannot symbolize. There is a failure here that topples all our success. The fertile earth, the straight tree rows, the sturdy trunks, and the ripe fruit. And children dying of pellagra must die because a profit cannot be taken from an orange. And coroners must fill in the certificate- died of malnutrition- because the food must rot, must be forced to rot. The people come with nets to fish for potatoes in the river, and the guards hold them back; they come in rattling cars to get the dumped oranges, but the kerosene is sprayed. And they stand still and watch the potatoes float by, listen to the screaming pigs being killed in a ditch and covered with quick-lime, watch the mountains of oranges slop down to a putrefying ooze; and in the eyes of the people there is the failure; and in the eyes of the hungry there is a growing wrath. In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage.”
― John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath

Likely trying to rescue their reputation rather than wanting to rescue any Palestinians. eb

OnePath Network
UK, France, and Canada vow to take action if Israel continues Gaza offensive.
In a rare move, the leaders of Britain, France, and Canada have jointly warned Israel to halt its renewed military offensive on Gaza and immediately lift restrictions on humanitarian aid, or face potential consequences. The statement, issued on May 20, signals a shift in tone from three of Israel’s closest allies, who now say they are prepared to take “further action” if the siege continues. For many Palestinians and their advocates, this warning comes far too late. Over 53,000 lives have already been lost, Gaza lies in ruins, and the vast majority of its population has been displaced. What took so long?
For months, Israel has conducted a relentless assault on the besieged enclave, targeting hospitals, refugee camps, and aid convoys, actions widely condemned as war crimes. Despite international outrage and repeated UN pleas, Western governments largely stood by or offered minimal resistance, often shielding Israel from accountability. Now, after the complete collapse of Gaza’s health and food systems and warnings from UN agencies that thousands of babies could die in the coming days, Western leaders are finally threatening repercussions. But many are asking, is this a genuine commitment to justice, or damage control after complicity?

Eurovision votes are notoriously dodgy and political, but having said that, both Britain and France's public gave the maximum of 12 points to the Israeli entry.

If the public had been that concerned the Israelis wouldn't have got any, let alone come top in both countries.

That would suggest something more than damage limitation on the part of Macron and Starmer.

Israel's war has been armed by America. The other Ŵestern nations lent material support which is important, but America gave the weapons.

America is still arming Israel while various arms related Israeli exports have been stopped by European governments.

Not enough has been done. All arms deals including aircraft parts should have stopped long ago. This is all too late, and we still don't know what the "concrete proposals" are.

I appreciate the irony of an American criticising other western governments, while his own continues to fund a genocide.

Dr. Allison Wiltz
queenie4rmnola
So Black people can buy machine guns?
Quote
Common Sense 🇺🇸💙
commons96055467
·
12h
Why did trump just legalize machine guns to be purchased by regular citizens? Is it because he wants to arm his MAGA base to be battle ready? AR-15 wasn’t enough. Machine guns? Is he two steps ahead of us?

Our Revolution
39m ·
When Trump convenes his dinner to reward backers of his cryptocurrency at his golf club Thursday, they will revel in more than just their corrupt access to the President. They’ll also be cheering the crypto bill advancing Monday, aided by 16 Democratic Senators.
The bill will open the door for Trump to cash in on shady crypto ventures like his $TRUMP meme coin and the World Liberty Financial stablecoin — schemes that invite foreign influence and brazen corruption.
As Illinois Democratic Rep. Sean Casten said: “I didn’t find a single Democrat who disagreed with me that this was terrible policy. No one pushed back on it. But I heard a lot of them saying, ‘Look, you know I’m in a vulnerable seat. I don’t want to have a bunch of crypto money [donated to my opponent]. That’s really scary.”

Following developments in Gaza is like observing the Titanic moments before the final plunge. As politicians from around the world make their phony pleas to Israel to stop, the final stage is underway, and only the brave Houthis seem to really care. There are millions of us who sympathize with the Palestinians, but all the power centers support the ethnic cleansing.

Shaun King
·
Fascinating.
The diplomat that was shot and killed last night was not Jewish.
Every single article says he was Jewish and that it was an attack against Jews.
He said he was a Christian and his mentor said he was a Christian.

Normal Island News
NormalIslandNws
BREAKING: The IDF has explained it fired at Irish diplomats in the West Bank because it thought they were Palestinian civilians. How the **** am I supposed to parody this ****? I quit 😭😭😭

https://brainsandeggs.blogspot.com/

Robert Inlakesh
falasteen47
·
BREAKING: A major civilian massacre next to the US aid distribution site in Gaza

10 Palestinians killed, 50 injured, so far in Rafah. Toll will rise.

The US-Israeli privatised aid distribution plot, which uses military contractors to herd civilians like cattle, is a war crime.

rof Zenkus
anthonyzenkus
·

The top 5 oldest members of Congress have a combined age of 436 years, Three of the five were born before the start of WWII and all 5 of them were born before the Wizard of Oz was released.

As Dorothy said to the Scarecrow:
How can you talk if you haven't got a brain?
The Scarecrow: I don't know! But some people without brains do an *awful* lot of talking, don't they?

There's wisdom for you.

Dick Gregory was a fairly successful Black comedian in the 60s. He worked hard at solving the problem of dealing with hecklers. His way of dealing with a white heckler calling him the n-word was to laugh and say the club owner promised him an extra $10 for every time someone called him that.
"Hey," he'd say, "Let's make this place go broke! Everyone call me a n*****!"
The entire audience would then shout the word, they'd all laugh and Dick would continue with his routine, knowing the moron who'd heckled him was left feeling foolish and impotent.
What a lot of Black people fail to realize is that the purpose anyone would have in using that word is to upset who they're shouting it at. The very last thing they want is for their intended victim to laugh back at them and dismiss their verbal assault. By being upset over the word, you empower it, and the moron shouting it. Empowering morons is never a good thing.

Brings to mind.

Mark Twain — 'Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.'

Insterding take:

little grey mouse 🐭
mouse_math
unpopular opinion: humanity passed the optimal point of sustainability long before historic record, and at present our scientific, technical, and industrial "progress" is clearly creating more problems than it solves.

even more unpopular opinion: this process is irreversible.