Tom Schmitz

anyone unaware that cops are not their friends ought to have figured it out by now...

18 dead for empire -- but as much for Israel -- and today the house votes to merge significant parts of our military with Israel's -- and.....how bout them Dodgers....no one seems to care much - circling the drain....

better than 50/50 that there are no elections in Nov worthy of the name -- what's your guess?

is character important? sure. can people change? sure. Is character more important than policy, no? If Dems coordinate him withdrawing in favor of someone charismatic who'll energetically push the same polcies, he should go. If they wanna replace him with a corporate Dem, f them, I hope he stays in.

Fm a 16th c. church near Oaxaca. A bit earlier the colorful packs were shed by children who donned simple white robes cinched w/ lengths of jute. Minutes later they led an incense-infused procession into a well-attended mass w/ a priest proudly behind - serene, joyful moments fm Southern Mexico.

important post about the future of higher education...ps it is here

Suzanne Vega releases “Luka” 39 years ago this weekend. She said she once received a fan letter about it: “Dear Suzanne, Luka is the most compelling piece of music I’ve heard in a long time. There are no words 2 tell U all the things I feel when I hear it. I thank God 4 U, Prince”

I don't understand why people like to read opinion pieces in the NYTimes -- they're nearly all apologists for the people who are destroying society and the planet...what do people get out of it?

I wonder if there's a correlation between people excited about AI/in favor of data centers and those who are in favor of the genocide in Gaza or our kidnapping of Maduro or our bombing of Iran....

In Turkey, an elderly man who earns his living by shining shoes is visited every morning at the same time by a cat that asks to have its fur brushed. The man never turns down this little friend.😍👍💙

Disaffiliated fm the Dems. Party elites r welded to neo-liberal imperialism, corp America & the genocidal agenda of the Israeli gov. Dems lost in 26 cuz of who they are, not cuz of racist/misogynistic/stupid voters. And, by and large, the grassroots stands for it. It's not a place for me anymore.

who can splain why Trump isn't firing the TSA agents who are not showing up for work -- Reagan fired all the air traffic controllers -- is it that he's just a wimp....

hmm...he prolly wouldn't be the super rich dude if he hadn't sold us all out that way...so, I'd be surprised if the POS has any regrets....

we're watching thousands of troops, whose only purpose is to fight on land, being readied for that action. If what's highly likely to happen happens, at best, hundreds will be killed. And we're watching it unfold - just watching.

This is real. Again, this stuff has been around a long time—but never at this level of official power. This is Army of God — the old clinic bombing militia — style rhetoric. Worth noting that in January Potteiger moved his operation to DC, or, as his church puts it, “Babylon.”

truth schoolsforchiapas.org/the-devils-d...

a lot of my go to sources for global happenings are saying we're getting our asses handed to us and Israel is getting beat to hell. don't believe what the MSM is saying.

90+ % of new cars in Norway are EVs - in other Nordic countries and in China it's near or a little over 50% -- the US is 10%. The ravages of predatory capitalism are making the planet uninhabitable - but those 401ks are doing ok.

Cuba lost 32 soldiers when The US abducted Maduro -- what happened to them? DId the US simply execute them?

108M people eligible to vote in the USA stayed home in 24 - 77M voted for the OD and 75M for Harris -- it doesn't seem like the US whould be doomed to continue to elect war mongers from the uniparty.

Obama led to Trump and Biden led to Trump...corporate Dems will always fail us -- but they make a lot of money for their donors.

they carried out a genocide and we thought they did pretty well -- but we can't vouch for them at running shuttles.

I've noticed that a fair number of folks bitching about people that didn't vote for Kamala are quite fragile and have limited who can comment on their posts....on the nose for VBNMW types who are generally supporting the Dem leadership...who can do that....baffling.

are people in major cities in the US worried about Iranians attacking....folks gotta live their lives...but,I'm damn glad to not be living in a major metro area in the US about now -- target rich environments are not the best places to be in the short term.

most Americans - whether Dem, GOP, Ind or unregistered have no empathy for the people our actions kill -- none -- America is the land of sociopaths - discuss.

disgusted that any olympic athlete would go to the white house --- Trump is a war criminal as was Biden and every president before them -- but Trump put storm troopers on American streets -- for me, anyone bending the knee to him is a traitor.

Abraham Lincoln & his favorite Stratocaster. Photo taken by Keith Richards. 😎

I asked a smart friend today what he thought about AI and he said it had great potential - I said ok but asked if he believed it could be harnessed for the public good and not just used to enrich the oligarach...oh, absolutely not -- it must be nationalized... -- then it made sense.

The people supporting what we are doing to Cuba are _______________ - fill in the blank

I imagine this will be an unpopular take with a lot of people. The Olympics' organizers failing to prohibit Israel - or the USA for that matter - from the games is as bad as the Nobel folks giving Machado the Peace Prize. Once admired institutions no longer even have the sheen of respectability.

I found it really interesting to hear that the local Dem party where I'm registered decided to start holding some meetings at the local Starbucks...totally out of touch.

who are the leaders....here's one...at least on this issue.

The Governors of the free States of America, particularly Democratic states, need to hold a summit to create a deliberative body and as a framework for collective action against those who would wage war against those states

I think the only thing that stops the madman is if those countries holding our treasuries go to our congress and tell them clearly that either they impeach and remove him or they start dumping treasuries. He won't care, He is mad. But just maybe our congressional reps will care.

If you need a better reason to turn your back on the Democratic Party than their leaders praising Trump for kidnapping the head of another country and his wife...just mildly critizing him for not asking them first.....congrats, you're a lifer. And Newsom is silent too - he'll be the perfect nominee

One of the standout lines from Mamdani's inaugural speech for me -- 'We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.'

What if Brazil, Colombia and Mexico joined hands, asked China and Russia for their backing and told the OD hands off of Venezuela.

No other nation experiences anywhere near the number of mass shootings as the U.S. because no other nation permits, nay, encourages the same of firearms as Constitutional and social right. It’s the guns.

Is there 1 person running 4 office saying that if they r elected they will use the cops/troopers/NG at their disposal to push ICE off the streets of their jurisdiction? that elected officials at state/local levels are not doing this is an obscene dereliction of their duty to protect their residents.

I've been thinking lately that I have to rethink what I always thought about Germans in the 30s and 40s. I always thought they were somehow flawed for having allowed what happened. Or perhaps it's that I need to rethink what I think about Americans.

good one attributed to M. Jochum

40 yrs ago today I was commissioned. I had 14 wks of training & I don't recall anything on rules of war etc. I'm ashamed that I probably would have cheered dropping bombs on a boat if those above me told me it was ok. Our military has been abused by leadership 4 longer than I've been alive.

If taking time to contemplate the Ukraine situation is something you're up for -- think about the fact that the greatest power in the history of the planet didn't stop Putin in his tracks on day 1. And ask yourself why.

When the OD got elected I was 90/10 equity to fixed income. I've been shifting over time to what I am now - 55/45. The first time he got elected I lost because I thought the market would dive and it didn't. Those who have 401k/IRAs - are you changing your outlooks and asset mix?

not an Obama fan at all -- but this is pretty cool