underdogs triumph in Rio

They went into it at 50:1 longshots and after six dives, Sam Dorman and Michael Hixon (from Amherst) came away with an Olympic Silver medal in synchronized diving:

Duke of Westminister dies

Billionaire landowner and philanthropist the Duke of Westminster has died aged 64, his family said.

Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor died at the Royal Preston Hospital in Lancashire on Tuesday after suddenly becoming ill on his Abbeystead Estate.
The duke's fortune was estimated at $10.8bn (£8.3bn) by Forbes magazine, making him the world's 68th richest person and the UK's third.

I don't know about anyone else, but "wealth" is something I generally assess according to the behavior of the one assessed as "wealthy." Seldom do I parse the particulars of the physical holdings that constitute "wealth." But as the BBC map above indicates ... some wealth can take your breath away.

Judging by the perilously polite news story, Grosvenor was not entirely at ease with the manna he managed.

and, on the 'terrorist' front

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Following a lengthy tug-of-war with Capitol Hill, the Pentagon has given a senator the first-ever, unclassified report detailing the suspected militant backgrounds of more than 100 detainees at or recently released from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay - a report that will likely spur more debate over shutting it down....
The report, however, also tells the stories of low-level militants released after being detained for more than a dozen years without charge - cases that support those who have long argued that indefinite detention runs counter to U.S. values....
The dispute between the White House and Republicans in Congress got especially heated this spring when Paul Lewis, the Pentagon's special envoy for closing Guantanamo, told a congressional committee that Americans have been killed by detainees released from Guantanamo. Lewis did not say how many or offer any other details. 

[BBC]

A 16-year-old French girl has been placed under investigation, accused of planning a jihadist attack using the Telegram messaging app, judicial officials say.

The girl, who has no criminal record, was detained at her home on Thursday, after an anti-terror raid near Paris....
The security forces raided her family home in Melun, south-east of Paris, but found no explosives or firearms there, and took her into custody.

happiness and sorrow

In this moment I wonder: Since happiness and sorrow are frequently juxtaposed, and hence inextricably linked, what impact does it have....

Happiness relies on nothing else
Whereas
Sorrow invariably relies on something else.

And since there is nothing else, what the heck does sorrow think it's doing?

Or happiness either, for that matter?

villagers save leopard

A leopard, clinging to a pile of sticks deep inside a well in India, is rescued from drowning by a group of villagers. The footage, published by Wildlife SOS, shows the group from Pimpalgaon Siddhanath in the nation’s central west lowering a cage into the 20m deep well before the big cat jumps into it and to safety. Source: Youtube/Wildlife SOS Tuesday 9 August 2016 21.16 EDT

Since leopards might reasonably be expected to eat the villagers' livestock -- not to mention, perhaps, a lunch-sized child -- does this act come within the purview of the Preserve Your Enemies gene? 

you've got the clocks....

A keeper from "Hyena Road" ... attributed to the Afghans as they survey the military meddlers who have repeatedly infused their country:

You've got the clocks, but we've got the time.

cat people vs. dog people

I chalk it up to utter scientific crap and yet it's the kind of crap that is hard not to peruse and compare and find out where my prejudices come down, statistically speaking, when it comes to dog-lovers and cat lovers.

Cat people are more often single ... yeah, I coulda guessed that. But they are also more discerning.

Dog people are more out-going and brash and likely to wag their not-always discerning tails ....

Oh lord, the scientific trash just piles up and piles up.  It's utter and complete crap ... sorta like potato chips, right?

READ IT FOR YOURSELF.

summer's price

Dunstable, UK

A Eurasian brown bear at Whipsnade zoo tries to keep cool in the summer heat

Photograph: Tony Margiocchi/Barcroft Images

"Hyena Road"

Some movies linger in my mind as being very good at what they try to do. Such a one was passed along the other day -- a war movie about a Canadian unit in Afghanistan. By actor-recognition, it was below the radar: I recognized none of the actors and for that reason was more open to it. But its principle strength lay, for me, in the attempt to depict the wars within the war that is now America's longest: tribal interests stitched with western intentions mixed with the overarching question, "what the fuck are we doing there?"

The movie is "Hyena Road" and I recommend it. Not as I would recommend "Apocalypse Now," which I think of as arguably the best movie about the Vietnam war, but in the same neighborhood as "The Hurt Locker" -- a quiet look at conflicting and interwoven interests. It lingers with me.

more tears, less sorrow

I wonder if it's true. I really don't know.... that in an age when information seems to well up exponentially on the Internet there are more tears and less sorrow.

More tears.

Less sorrow.

In the late 1940's and early 1950's when my mother was doing much of the writing at which she was pretty good, there were times when she would hit what was then referred to as "writer's block" -- a stony place all writers are familiar with. Suddenly, in the midst of some project, there is a great blank -- an inability to see the next step, much less take it. An invisible internal sign reads, "I've got nothing." And the feeling is a maelstrom of confusion and sorrow and despair ... I've got nothing.

When I asked my mother about how she coped with writer's block, she gave a simple answer: "When I run into it, I kill off another character. That seems to kick-start the machine."

In a fictionalized universe, well, just kill someone. Reader and writer were as one in the fictionalized universe. They shared the air and they shared a humanity. Part of the humanity they shared was that death was poignant and powerful. Perhaps because my mother's times were close enough to World War II so that death was far from being hypothetical -- when every family had lost someone or knew someone who had lost someone. Death was to scream and fall limp ... and it was shared. Gawd! The sorrow was all over you like a malicious fog. The sorrow was encompassing. Tears came when things got a bit easier; for now, sorrow claimed the scene.

But with the Internet, death is not so near. Nothing human is quite so near. The social media that claim to connect people is so jam-packed that it is difficult to find the sorrow and easier to weep. Dead men and women return to Dover, Delaware, and, besides the soldiers' being hidden from the media's curiosity, are too many. The messages on Facebook say, "I love you," and drive the wedge deeper and deeper between love and "love," between sorrow and tears.

Is there any longer a shared sense of what may be horrific to one and all or wondrous to one and all?

Further along in this blog is a picture of a French track athlete who broke his leg. The image, the BBC web site said, was too graphic to display. And so, of course, the first thing I did was to look it up and find out if it were really too graphic, too painful, too sorrowful. Sorrowfully, it was not. On today's horror meter, it rated, perhaps, a "tsk! tsk!" It was sad ... and I am getting old, so perhaps others agreed with the BBC.

Gautama, the Buddha most frequently alluded to in Buddhism, was quoted some years after his death as having said, "All fear dying./ All fear death." Is it so? I suppose so, but there seems to be a writer's block about what "all" might mean.

Just advancing age, I suppose.

Leonard Cohen remembers an old friend

Leonard Cohen penned a poignant final letter to his dying muse Marianne Ihlen, a longtime friend of hers revealed on Canadian radio.
Ihlen, whom Cohen wrote about in So Long, Marianne and Bird on a Wire, died in Norway on 29 July, aged 81.

Cohen met her on the Greek island Hydra in the 1960s and they became lovers. So Long, Marianne appeared on his 1967 album Songs of Leonard Cohen.

 

Olympic glory, Olympic grief

Not everything is gold medals and national anthems at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as this French gymnast demonstrated with a severely broken leg Saturday.

it's b-a-a-a-a-c-k!

As what seems to be usual, the pivotal information is buried at the bottom of a story that concerns the arrest of six men accused of plotting a rocket attack on Singapore. The story itself is rife with words like "plan" and "police believe" and background links between members of the six and nefarious Islamic State plotters of the past. The line:

Police said they had not yet discovered any physical evidence of preparations for a rocket attack. [emphasis added]
"We are currently studying what materials they had and I cannot say that a rocket was found," Batam District Police Chief Helmi Santika told Reuters. "Among other things, several weapons were seized including arrows, long-rang firearms and pistols."

And then the obligatory public frisson suggestion:

If the plan for a rocket launch on Singapore is confirmed, it would suggest that militants in Southeast Asia are preparing far more sophisticated attacks than those of recent months.

Is anyone else sick of these what-if stories that can frighten but fail to enlighten? Of course if you scare people enough, the likelihood that you'll be re-elected rises ... and as a dividend the public will not focus unduly on the other social pains with which they are beset.

Do these government agitators have a secret play book translated into a hundred languages? What-if, what-if, what-if ... what if there really were something lurking under the bed?

where newspapers once flourished

The Kardomah Cafe remains open for hungry journalists behind a mountain of sandbags. The area was a prime target for the Luftwaffe during the second world war

Photograph: Fox Photos/Getty Images

A fond photographic look-back at London's Fleet Street of yore from The Guardian. Strangely, or perhaps not, it was Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi minister of propaganda, who best foresaw the usefulness the kind of complicit press we enjoy today. 

the particulars of combat

From the "chicken gun" to special ops units that make sure to bring kitty litter to a hot zone to the pros and cons of ear plugs, this audio interview is a pretty interesting overview of some combat necessities.

a serious silly

Over time, I suppose everyone comes up with personal yardsticks or touchstones for gauging people and events that occur. One of mine, in the realm of spiritual adventure, is this: Steer clear of the gurus and philosophies that lack a sense of humor -- or, more precisely, a sense of humor dipped gently in a batter of common sense.

In this regard, I think the Hindus have probably got the best track record. That's not surprising when you consider that their spiritual adventures are arguably the oldest in the world and they have had plenty of chance to collect the experience and texts that would allow them to smile or ... who knows ... perhaps laugh.

Take Ramakrishna. Sri Ramakrishna was a 19th century guru. Some revered him as an avatar or emanation of the gread god Vishnu. But Ramakrishna was not intent on buying up great swaths of the United States. He didn't wear crowns. He took care of his devotees and gave what he could ... and sometimes whatever he gave had a smile on its face.

There was a time, for example, when Ramakrishna corralled a very devout following and instructed him with some seriousness: Please take the holy texts you revere and put them in a room. Bar the shutters, lock the doors and make dead certain nothing could get in or out of the room.

Wait two days.

Return to the room.

Unlock to doors and windows.

See if anything had changed.

A pretty serious silly, I'd say.

Tokens and talismans, texts and robes, oils and unguents ....

Marilyn Monroe for Buddhists

Attributed to movie actress and pin-up girl Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962) in today's Daily Hampshire Gazette:

The truth can only be recalled, never invented.

political correctness I guess

Seen elsewhere and boosted without regret:

ruffling marital feathers

He's one of Nigeria's most influential and well-respected pastors in a country that is fervently religious, so when Pastor Enoch Adeboye speaks, people listen. Although sometimes a little later than intended.

In the past few days a YouTube video (which was posted over a year ago) has set digital tongues wagging. It began as a simple sermon from the pastor advising young people on marriage. But one line sparked a social media fire.
"Don't marry a woman who can't cook," Pastor Adeboye said to rapturous applause. "A girl who cannot cook will not be a good wife."
He went on to issue his decrees for those on the hunt for a husband too.
"Don't marry a man who has no job…A man is to provide for the house, not the other way around."

Simplistic, sexist, or spot-on, there is always something consoling about old saws that still have sharp teeth. This one reminded me of the old American saying, "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach." Setting aside the rapturous outrage ... well, how about it? I know I would love not to cook.

beware the abysm

Yes, Virginia, things certainly can be abysmal.

But, lest we forget, there is also such a thing as an "abysm," -- a peculiar-looking word that may be imagined oozing and pustulating, the dark pinnacle of mediocrity.

Beware the
                                      ABYSM ....     

dental floss bites the dust

    This is the way the world ends
    This is the way the world ends
    This is the way the world ends
    Not with a bang but a whimper.
                                   --T.S. Eliot

Well, shit! Just about the time I get the assumptions of this life ironed out, someone comes along to debunk the whimpering worldly wisdom of it all.

Eg.: Everyone needs eight hours of sleep each night. And then... shazzam! ... There is no convincing science to prove it.

And now dental floss is revealed as another poseur ... another lazy man's assumption that turns into a clarion call from the dentally-inclined. There's no very good science to prove that dental floss does much good.

One study review in 2011 did credit floss with a slight reduction in gum inflammation – which can sometimes develop over time into full-fledged gum disease. However, the reviewers ranked the evidence as “very unreliable”. A commentary in a dental magazine stated that any benefit would be so minute it might not be noticed by users.

I don't know about anyone else, but I worked pretty hard to acquire the dental-floss habit.

And now this!!!!!

Obama unloads on Trump

About damned time:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- In a searing denouncement, President Barack Obama castigated Donald Trump as "unfit" and "woefully unprepared" to serve in the White House. He challenged Republicans to withdraw their support for their party's nominee, declaring "There has to come a point at which you say enough."

While Obama has long been critical of Trump, his blistering condemnation Tuesday was a notable escalation of his involvement in the presidential race. Obama questioned whether Trump would "observe basic decency" as president, argued he lacks elementary knowledge about domestic and international affairs and condemned his disparagement of an American Muslim couple whose son was killed while serving the U.S. Army in Iraq.

I am no lock-step Obama fan, but I confess to feeling a jolt of relief that someone in a 'leadership' position would step out and lead in a way I could honestly endorse. It all may have a political aspect to it, but beneath that -- or behind it somehow -- it has nothing to do with politics. America has some pretty good principles, however haltingly they may be displayed, and Donald Trump has shown himself to be a man without principles. Someone needed to draw a plain-English line in the sand and, from where I sit, Obama did it. He gets my thanks.

Donald Trump rant

This is a half-assed Donald Trump rant that, like all the others these days, is about as effective as a fart in a wind storm.

Forgetaboutit!

The other day, my wife picked up a bacon, tomato and lettuce sandwich from one of those restaurants that uses the term "hand-crafted" without embarrassment. She had half and I had half and I have to say that the bacon was scrumptious -- full of preservatives, I have no doubt, but meaty, salty and yum on the tongue. Hot damn! If bacon is going to kill me, this is the kind of bacon I was willing to succumb to.

In a more decorous and less-loud era, "swine" was a class A pejorative description of a bottom-feeding fool. Nowadays, with the volume up and pejoratives at a dime a dozen, "swine" is no longer on anyone's radar. And insulting the pigs which offer up scrumptious bacon hardly seems right. Why would anyone insult a pig when trying to wrap up the case of "Donald Trump?" Pigs deserve better.

I dislike standing in the liberal chorus and whining when it comes to the Republican nominee for president in 2016. The Trump phenomenon reflects poorly on the American electorate in one sense. The man is a sociopathic swine. And yet rightfully and understandably, he has tapped into the anger of those deprived of slops from well-heeled tables. Many are sick of getting fucked by people who have hand-crafted the machinery to fuck them with. Even those who despair of Trump's volume and irrationality are surprisingly nimble when it comes to drawing a line: Republicans who fashioned much of the fucking machinery really don't like Trump's lies and other antics, but they betray their own complicity by not simply saying, "Nope. I won't support him." Who knows, there may be some need for this madman someplace in the future.

Trump pounces on such two-faced-ness and brings the only argument he is adept at making: Without me, you're screwed. I know how to fix things. I know how to get things done. I am the who-is. To date, I have not heard a single policy statement from a man who claims to want to run America. No where has he answered the do-what-how questions that affect the country. It's enough that he has the answers. You do not need to know them.

A swine and his swill.

But every now and then, I really do get irritated. The man is indecent and unkind.

Indecent.

The latest kerfuffle involves a Muslim lawyer whose son died in combat.
The lawyer made a statement at Hillary Clinton's nominating convention. Trump pounced. The peanut gallery erupted: No one gets to diss soldiers who laid down their lives. Of course no one gets to question why or how that soldier should have been necessary in the first place. The myth will be maintained: If you die, you're a hero. The alternative would be too destabilizing to a war-making government. Anyway, Trump pounded on the "gold star" family that lost a son. He is getting criticized for it ... but not too loudly. And that, like every other topic he embraces, is fine: All roads lead to one conclusion: He is the answer, the focal point ... he does not esteem the country he would lead. And it is indecent. He lies (eg. says crime is up when crime is demonstrably down) and then is forgiven when he says "Wait a minute. I didn't mean exactly that...." And why is he forgiven? Because the anger he has tapped into is real.

Look at this blog post. It leads vaporously and ineluctably to the one topic Donald Trump prefers: Donald Trump. If he were a member of the Mafia, someone would have long since knee-capped him; his daddy would have taken him out behind the wood pile for a good ass-whuppin'. But there are no dons to do the work, no dads to know just where the whip is stored. And Trump knows it.

Does anyone else wonder what will happen after Trump loses the election? Will he pay someone to assassinate him and assure the status of some sort of martyr? Will he stand along the sidelines whining, "see! I told you so?"

Indecent. And the country goes begging. Hillary will be president -- the first woman president -- yay! another good ol' boy in Angela Merkel hand-me-downs -- oh shit! -- and Trump...? No doubt he will find a way to claim the laurals even after they have been awarded to another.

Whatever the case, I am ashamed to link a bacon-rich swine with someone whose swine credentials are as inconsequential as his political ones.

An indecent man.

A pig rich in bacon.

executed "with dignity"

At least 80 skeletons lie in a mass grave in an ancient Greek cemetery, their wrists clamped by iron shackles.
They are the victims, say archaeologists, of a mass execution. But who they were, how they got there and why they appear to have been buried with a measure of respect - that all remains a mystery....

"They have been executed, all in the same manner. But they have been buried with respect," Dr. Stella Chryssoulaki, head of excavations, said.
"They are all tied at the hands with handcuffs and most of them are very very young and in a very good state of health when they were executed."

"for free"

True then.

True now.

When someone tells you something is "for free," grab your wallet.

living is nice

In the deeps and shallows, I think it is true...
and maybe it is -- who knows:

All my life I have loved beauty.
What is beautiful is what breaks my heart
And hence brings me to life.

Living is nice.

photos from The Guardian

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

A child plays in front of work by the Brazilian graffiti artist Eduardo Kobra, who hopes to set a Guinness world record for the largest wall graffiti created by a single artist.

Photograph: Lukas Coch/EPA

 

California, USA

Skydiver Luke Aikins lands safely in a net in Simi Valley, north-west of Los Angeles, after jumping 25,000ft from an airplane without a parachute or wing suit.

Photograph: Mark Davis/EPA

Brzegi, Poland

Nuns from the United States dance as they wait for a holy mass with Pope Francis at Campus Misericordiae.

Photograph: Marcin Obara/EPA

Texas campus guns

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Texas will allow concealed handgun license holders to carry their weapons into public university buildings, classrooms and dorms starting Monday, which is also the 50th anniversary of the mass shooting at the University of Texas' landmark clock tower.

The campus-carry law pushed by Gov. Greg Abbott and the Republican legislative majority will make Texas one of a handful of states that guarantee the right to carry concealed handguns on campus.

a little rain

As by the magic that was once simply called "nature," the goopy, gloppy, viscous humidity of the past week has transformed into plopping, wallowing rain today. The cool that comes with it eases my sense of being hopelessly hand-cuffed ... the old fart whom the weather man advises to stay indoors when the humidity and air pollution reaches certain levels.

Perhaps it's too old-fashioned and smarmy, but...

fallen soldier's father addresses DNC