400 Tons!!!

Four hundred tons of radioactive contaminated water leak out of the Fukushima power plant into the ocean each and every day...

The Pride And Cost Of Techdom

Photo: © S. Banos

“The wealthy working people have earned their right to live in the city. They went out, got an education, work hard, and earned it. I shouldn’t have to worry about being accosted. I shouldn't have to see the pain, struggle and despair of homeless people to and from my way to work every day."
 -Justin Keller
     

There is some kernel of truth in what Mr. Keller says- the homeless population in San Francisco has reached insanely ridiculous levels... and it has remained so for at least the fifteen years I've lived here. It was made more than blatantly obvious this past Christmas season (ya know, that time when Christians the world over celebrate the birth of their homeless god) when many a native was outta town and its major streets were left with what appeared to be an SRO crowd of homeless street inhabitants milling about en masse in post apocalyptic, zombie, sci-fi fashion. I-kid-you-not.

Of course, there's a myriad of explanations as to why this continues to be such a plague in this tale of two cities. But computer avatar Keller chooses to simply place all the blame on the homeless themselves. Case closed, problem solved- jail 'em, ship 'em out, and crucify the whole bloody lot if all else fails...

Actually, some of San Francisco's homeless denizens are in fact shipped in from other cities (eg- Las Vegas). But even those numbers are but a fraction of the total that compromise the walking wounded and their cardboard/tent encampments that can be seen throughout certain portions of the city. Many of these people clearly exhibit mental health problems and/or long term drug dependency issues. And this country's major answer to both those problems are twofold: a) have them wander the streets until they're finally... b) incarcerated.

Those with mental disorders  have been increasingly incarcerated during the past three decades, probably as a result of the deinstitutionalization of the state mental health system. Correctional institutions have become the de facto hospitals, and there are more seriously and persistently mentally ill in prisons than in all the state hospitals in the United States.

Photo: © S. Banos

Long term, drug rehab/mental health programs are every bit as critical to solving the homeless situation, as the lack of living wage jobs and affordable housing. Of that there is little doubt or argument. These common sense solutions for this ongoing plague are both proven and effective, should anyone, anywhere care to seriously employ them to the degree needed.

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee insists the multi-million dollar tax incentives these software giants and start ups have received are offset by the extra income trickling down to this fair city, while: Google, FB and Genentech buses crowd public bus stops to ferry their private passengers to and fro in luxury; the giant block long Twitter citadel on Market St. remains a totally self contained and self serving bastion of exclusion from the neighborhood beneath its unbreachable walls; and the community give backs for those massive tax incentives remain the cosmetic, unkept promises they were always meant to be. Meanwhile, longstanding residents and neighborhood businesses continue to be booted out to make room for their high end "needs."

San Francisco rent has skyrocketed to obscene levels. Median rent in San Francisco is over $3,000 a month, with some neighborhoods in the $4,000-$5,000 range. Average rent is in the same range. 

So what is the viable alternative to self serving twits like Justin Keller- socially involved and emphatic human beings like... Justin Keller. 

Photo: © S. Banos

Remembering The Fall Of Rome (And It's Batshit Crazy Leaders)

As a kid I always wondered how mighty, kick ass Rome pretty much allowed itself to fall apart and rot from within as the barbarians trolled the gates. Of course, once you start reading just how insane its Caesars really were, you soon start asking yourself- just how was it that Rome managed to survive as long as it did?

Of course, our modern, interconnected world experiences everything at a considerably accelerated rate. And I have been amazed at what this country has been able to endure just in my lifetime, including a President who (while definitely not insane), at least kinda knew he was dumber than a rock in some round about, dry drunk kinda way- and didn't give a damn how many people lost their lives in his little macho military fantasies. Now we got someone running who not only doesn't have the slightest clue, but who actually thinks himself more intelligent than all human life combined. And even scarier, if such a scenario is even plausible (and it is)- there are people who actually think believe he is, while others simply revel in the fact that he'll forever be the ever lovin' dick that he truly is... (just like them- except w/o his $).

Civilizations in the final stages of decay are dominated by elites out of touch with reality.

          -Christopher Hedges
 

Season's Greeetings!

Nevada Assemblywoman Michele Fiore's (R) interpretation of Matthew 5:5.

Currently clocking in at about 40% of capacity from my most recent loss to the flu (think Rousey/Holms, the extended version), I was aching to return to normal society- but alas, that feeling for human vitality and normalcy were cut short with last week's insanity. A sickening, deadening insanity that has metastasized into what now flauntingly mocks normalcy. Ignorance, fear and neglect begetting a violence so mindless that it in turn erodes the sanity and response of those of good will still remaining. So we never address the root cause(s), never attempt to dialogue, never ever dare to even consider a reset.

It's so easy to point at those 'dumb' kids shooting hell outta each other in every inner city in this country. They never learn, it's just their lot- just don't dare make same said and simple observation when it comes to the world at large... the one adults roam and rule.

So we will continue to threaten and arm ourselves for: prevention, protection, retaliation. Our planet is dying all around us, but not to worry: kick back with your Big Gulp, Supersize that Happy Meal, and make sure ya got enough hollow points to outlast your fries- You're Good To Go!!!

Amen...

Lies, Lies, Lies... Very popular these days. On the news, the internets, the mouths of the pettiest of Presidential candidates. As true now as it was then- make them big enough, repeat them often enough... and people will fall in line to follow.

Not as loud, or convenient or as popular, there are always the facts. And for that, we can always give thanks, thanks for that increasingly rare opportunity to glimpse through the window of sanity...

Addendum: And speaking of truth in advertising...

Trumped

1) Yes, people like Trump gave our jobs to China.

2)  Yes, Latinos are the hardest working people in California (not to mention every kitchen of every restaurant in NYC)...

The Trump Coward Family

No matter how much money I've inherited and made on the backs of others- I'm still a little shit... And look- I can prove it!!!

I have nothing against hunters who actually eat what they kill- I'd be some kinda hypocrite otherwise, since I eat meat. As far as these Big Bawanas who wanna prove how big theirs are by shooting defenseless animals for... sport are concerned- if you want to prove your manhood with a gun, there's many a government sanctioned organization that will happily send you off where you can "be all that you can be." But these Trumps, Nugents and lying dentists are just cowards to the core.

The Black And White Of It

After seeing this photo of a Black officer aiding a White supremacist on Yahoo "News," had to see the sorry ass excuses and explanations that racists would be falling over themselves to make in the commentary. And certainly wasn't disappointed, the very first I read accused him of being a... Nationalist Socialist! Get it? No, that's not a Nazi Aryan White Supremacist- he's a Socialist- a Communist, like Lenin, Stalin... Barack Obama and Bernie Sanders!!!

You-can't-make-this-shit-up...

"I Was Appointed To Be Duped."

The Hoffman Report- How the APA, the CIA and the US Military colluded to excuse, allow and practice torture...

SOB Robs Wounded Vets

This SOB bastard started a totally needless war based on the lies he had manufactured to sell it, had thousands of our boys killed and maimed for life so that his Dick friend could make millions, performed a "comedy skit" about not being able to find any WMD, and is still not satisfied until he can reach into their pockets and make a few bucks off what's left of their bodies.

The man knows NO shame...

"We Need To See Them...

Because we created them."

Army Spc. Jerral Hancock sits for a portrait with his son Julius. It is believed that Hancock was trapped under the wreckage of his Army tank in Iraq for half an hour before he was rescued.

Courtesy of David Jay/Unknown Soldier

And for what? We're all made to feel guilty for not "supporting our boys" once the shit hits the fan- but we're never, ever asked to question why we put them in harm's way to begin with.

There are now countless people in and around Iraq who hate us; perhaps because they had nothing to do with 9/11, and yet had to suffer the revenge and full onslaught of the world's foremost military might. An yet the thousands we killed and maimed there for no good (or sane) reason will never get even this most perfunctory of acknowledgements.


Addendum:  David Guttenfelder also has an amazing essay on the plight of vets w/PTSD who are taking their own lives at home- an alarming 22 suicides each and every day! (via: PetaPixel)

The Lies The Rich Feed Us...

And that too many Americans, like The ("Git the govmint outta my Medicare") Tea Baggers like to gorge themselves on ...  Pssst- Ever feel left outta the conversation?

Traitor or Hypocrite?

The Daily Show
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Operation Tomodachi

The Fukushima catastrophe changed the world. Nuclear reactors melted down on live television and twice as much radioactive material was released as during the Chernobyl accident in 1986. The disaster drove 150,000 people from their towns and villages, poisoned entire landscapes for centuries and killed hundreds of thousands of farm animals.

AFP/US Navy

There's an old Saturday Night skit in which a Black janitor (Garrett Morris) is ordered to get his mop and bucket and clean up... a radioactive spill at a nuclear power plant. It was one funny skit- it's also basically what  Navy Captain Thom Burke told his crew to do on the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan when they entered the radioactive plume dispersed by the critically damaged Fukushima nuclear plant. Not so funny...

Many of those sailors lived and worked well within that radioactive plume for days, cleaning radioactive fallout without protective clothing, drinking contaminated water. Hundreds of them are now suffering from advanced cancers and "unexplained" debilitating diseases that the Navy says they cannot explain, and for which they take no responsibility and admit no accountability. Of the 500 sailors stricken ill, 247 are now attempting to sue Tepco (the Japanese power company that ran the plant in question), they're legally prohibited from suing the US Military itself due to the Feres Doctrine).

 

 How much of this have you heard or read about on the news???

The Face of Arrogance- Personified

  

Come on, look at that mug- would he try to deceive you??? 

How Good Ol' Boys...

...remind someone that he's only the "House N'##@r."

Man Of Valor, Man Of Honor!

Cartoon: Mike Luckovich

Being the modest, humble, utterly truthful, and self proclaimed hero, that he is- be it in the heart of the relentless Falklands War or the protest march under his hotel, don't forget this man has also shed his blood in our name in the battlefield called... The War on Christmas. While we routinely celebrated the holidays safe and oblivious, Bill has stood his ground and survived a bloody onslaught against all odds, single handedly fighting the good fight against every imaginary foe and attacker he can possibly hurl at himself, at home and abroad!

God Bless Him! There is no quit in this man!!!
(no shame or humility either- but, what the hey!)

Self Serve

Earl Sampson-  arrested over 40X at the same store for trespassing... the place where he happens to  work.

Yes, I know that policing is a difficult job, one of the most difficult- no doubt. But clearly there are those who think that while the vests they wear may protect them from bullets, the uniform itself provides impunity from consequence and responsibility.

Some people to this day still refuse to believe how badly a police force can behave (with a particular segment of society). Usually they'll chalk up such "baseless accusations" to hearsay, exaggeration, ("reverse") prejudice, or the tried and true standby- "It's just a few bad apples."  

This well documented example in Florida was not about a rogue cop, or a few of the aforementioned wanton fruits of decay- this was about an entire gang of thugs in police uniforms repeatedly breaking the law to advance their own careers. And just as this wasn't a case of a covert few who did what they willed with those they are meant "To Serve and Protect," you can bet this is but one of many uniformed, criminal enterprises operating in plain sight throughout the country...

The Limited Edition Street Leica Avec Documentary

As recently chronicled, seems my whole approach towards achieving photographic fame and immortality has been ill advised at best. More and more these days, one now makes the self congratulatory, self aggrandizing pseudo documentary first and foremost, well in anticipation of actually becoming either famous or deserving. After all, who knows your own inherent greatness better than you, and waiting for other people to recognize just how great you are is, ya know: wasted time, over rated, and iffy at best. And there's always the chance that half those idiots will be so busy hatin' on ya- and working on their own documentaries about how great... they are!

It's just the new order of things; and when all is said and done, the whole photo greatness thing just falls naturally into place like a well worn... Leica (another thing these guys haven't yet earned themselves either).

Lords Of Secrecy

Why did 4X deferment Dick Cheney allow Pakistan's evacuation of key Al Qaeda operatives from US jurisdiction? And other outrageous and essentially unpublicized and unaccounted for acts of complete security insanity...