People commit suicide when they want to stop the pain more than exist another minute in their world of shit. It is, therefore, a very sensible thing to do. After all, when our pets are in pain, we sometimes “put them to sleep” to save them from a long suffering. Humans are often not granted the same right for ourselves. Continue reading
Now that Donald Trump has announced his candidacy for a return to the White House, the Republican mainstream, under the assumption that Trump is the only Republican who can lose a general election, are hinting largely at two opponents with a shot at beating him in the primaries—Ron DeSantis and Glenn Youngkin. Continue reading
After all the breast-beating by the mainstream press about the Democrats losing seats in the House of Representatives, you would think the Republicans had nothing to fear. Continue reading
Mainstream media make it their task to keep Americans ignorant about socialism. Because American mass media are under the control of capitalists, mainstream media do not allow what they see as inconvenient facts competing with leftist economic systems to reach the masses. Continue reading
When the Russians invaded Ukraine, the Western establishment and its obedient press opined that it would be a short-duration incursion, a quick defeat, and Russia would control the entire country in short shrift. Continue reading
I had a daydream in which I envisioned the creation of the first god by the first human to do so. The human’s name was Oog, and he lived 200-thousand years ago—an early homo sapiens living in a band of about twenty nomads. Continue reading
You don’t have to go to a gun shop or even a gun show to find a gun in the USA. You don’t even have to leave your house, just do a web search like “guns for sale.” Continue reading
Right now, you’re probably asking yourself, “What does Jack think would likely happen if a shooting war broke out between Democrats and Republicans?” Continue reading
Most women have girlfriends, but most men don’t have boyfriends. Most women go to beauty shops, but men don’t go to handsome shops. Continue reading
In a British film called Never Let Me Go, our world exists in a parallel universe in which second class children are raised to become organ donors. They will donate organs for the needs of the ruling class until they die, and willingly, since they are taught by doing so that they are thereby making a better world. Continue reading
When we think of those who harm children, we usually think of men. Child molesters of various stripes are overwhelmingly male. Continue reading
Of the misogynist myths propagated to the children, none is more damning than the legend of Eve’s act in the Garden of Eden. For this, the folklore tells us, she, together with all females, was condemned by god to forever bear children in pain and suffering. From such myths, generations are raised to believe that within the female gender lies malevolence. Continue reading
Most people we call “African American” have more European ancestry than African, Black friends have long informed me. Continue reading
My friend, Carl Sagan, used to talk about the first major war we fought. In the age of reptiles (Mesozoic era), our warrior-ancestors were tiny mouse-sized creatures, the first of our mammalian class to exist, eventually evolving into humans. Continue reading
Earlier this year I felt I was going blind and decided that I might have to give up the love of my life, writing, since I could no longer stare at a computer screen. Living alone, I would not be able to drive a car and thereby get groceries or take care of the many other things necessary for survival in the modern world if my eyesight diminished further. I considered suicide. Continue reading
The most important thing one may know, in order to function with minimal comprehension amidst the constant shot and shell of contemporary misinformation, is that mainstream media are controlled. Continue reading
Our hearts go out to all the families who’ve lost a loved one to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are well over 500,000 dead and more than a thousand continue to die daily in the USA. Continue reading
The USA became an empire November of 1956, when British Prime Minister MacMillan, bogged down in a Suez Crisis from which he could not emerge victorious, sent a telegram to President Eisenhower containing only three words, “Over to you.” Continue reading
Since the pandemic began, people of color have been dying at higher rates than those with lighter skin tones. Black, Indigenous and Latino Americans all have a COVID-19 death rate of triple or more that of White Americans. Continue reading
We’ve waited patiently to find out what would be the Trumpster’s October Surprise. Would he fake a video of Joe Biden in bed with a sheep? Would he wag the dog in starting a war with Canada, citing Canukistan’s icicles of mass destruction? Continue reading
People wonder at times, “Why am I here? What is my purpose? What am I destined to do before I die?” Continue reading
I have leftist friends who are going to vote for Biden in November, to my surprise. These are people who would never have voted for a Democrat in the past. This is because Trump is arguably the most disgusting president we’ve ever had. Sure, we’ve had slave-owners, slaughterers of the indigenous, war mongers and some of the worst scumbags ever to lead a nation. Continue reading
Addressing the horror of police officers who kill innocent people will get nowhere until we find a better way to identify and eliminate psychopaths who apply for work in law enforcement. Continue reading
We are a nation that loves its heroes, even if most fade unknown to their deaths, protecting capital in a laissez faire system. When we flip a light switch, we take it for granted that the room will be illuminated, without understanding that people die for that to take place. Continue reading
Unless we make changes in the direction our medical scientists and computer engineers seem to be headed, mankind may be doomed to extinction either from robots using careless artificial intelligence, or genetic engineering of the human genome. This may be the end of us even before destroying ourselves with nuclear weapons or by polluting our environment. Continue reading
On the occasion of the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., I think it’s important to compare his accomplishments to that of others lionized in our culture as heroes. Continue reading
The traditional Christmas story is about an unmarried, pregnant, Jewish girl named Mary who, on a freezing night in Bethlehem, seeks a warm place to rest and give birth. Nobody would allow the girl a bed. Today, it is unlikely that such a person would not be shunned as much as the Biblical Mary, as we allow people to die in the Land of the Free when they fall to the bottom of the capitalist ranks where there is a dearth of mercy. Continue reading
I used to think $200,000 was a good salary for a president, who, after all, has a mansion, servants, resort home and a great many other benefits at public expense, leaving the 200 grand as spending money. But Congress decided to double the presidential salary to $400,000 in 2001. Continue reading
The bullet that came through my front window, some thirty years or so ago, told me I have every right to keep a gun for self-defense. I’d received four death threats in the weeks preceding, from someone opposed to my anti-nuclear weapons writing. At the time I was writing for Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), and editing a monthly PSR publication for which I received an award at their national meeting in Washington. Continue reading
Whether the Democrats or Republicans had the congressional majority, the conservatives have ruled for decades. The system is rigged by having conservative Democrats vote with Republicans for an enduring majority. Continue reading
I suppose I could have been dreaming it, but my conversation with Donald Trump was as real as anything. He walked into my bedroom like he owned the place, and startled me, still in bed but I felt wide awake. Continue reading
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A Christmas story from Hell
Posted on December 23, 2022 by Jack Balkwill
The traditional Christmas story is about an unmarried, pregnant, Jewish teen named Mary who, on a freezing night in Bethlehem, seeks a warm place to rest and give birth. Nobody would allow the girl a bed. Today, it is unlikely that such a person would not be shunned as much as the Biblical Mary, as we allow people to die in the Land of the Free when they fall to the bottom of the capitalist ranks where there is a dearth of mercy. Continue reading →