February 14, 2023

Reading that Trump mulled over televising executions reminded me of my message to Trump that "24" isn't real.

 By Hal Brown

I originally posted this on Daily Kos. I am reposting it here after reading this in Raw Story:

Trump mulled televising executions of death row inmates: report


By way of introduction: This revelation is entirely consistent with Trump being a sadistic malignant (sociopathic) narcissist. He may not have acted out his sadism in violent ways (aside from sexually assaulting women) but I have no doubt he has violent sadistic fantasies. This report is similar to his asking about whether immigrants trying to cross the border could be shot in the legs (reference link). We also know he envisioned a border moat filled with snakes and alligators (reference link). He seems to have relished putting children and families in cages and separating kids from their parents.

The original story:

24-waterboarding.png

We know Trump lives in world where alternate reality and reality gets mixed up on what seems to be a daily basis. We know he doesn’t read and loves to watch TV. We know it seem like he lives in episodes of The Twilight Zone. He also may live inside TV shows which play on his paranoia. After all, he considers the clinically paranoid Alex Jones (of InfoWars and Prison Planet) one of his pals. Watch his “explosive” 2015 interview with Jones. Or don’t, just check this out:

Alex Jones, a voice of the so-called "alt-right" and perpetrator of conspiracy theories, told listeners that he received a call from President-elect Donald Trump over the weekend thanking Jones and his supporters for aiding in his victory. 

The online radio host, who casts doubt on the 2012 Newtown elementary school shooting that left 26 people — mostly children — dead, told listeners that he had received a call from Trump, who also spoke with world leaders from the United Kingdom, Russia, France and China in the days following his win. 

Considering Trump’s emphatic belief that torture works, I think it is vital we remind him that TV shows where the heroic anti-hero saves the world by brutally getting a terrorist to reveal where the nuclear bomb is hidden (within a time span of just one day) — if you were a fan you know how many times Jack Bauer did that from one season to the next.

24-not-real-089n.png

Attention Mr. President, Jack Bauer wasn’t real. He was  a fictional character. Don’t believe me, look it up on Wikipedia. He was played by Keifer Sutherland.

Of course Bauer only resorted to torture when he absolutely had to. Cut to the timer on the bomb: 75 minutes 12 seconds, 11 seconds, 10 seconds, and counting.

compassionate-jack-baue.png
Jack showing his compassionate side. From 24 Redemption Behind the Scenes – Kiefer Sutherland and Siyabulela Ramba on www.24spoilers.com/...

Jack wasn’t bad. He wasn’t a sadist. He wasn’t a bully. Mr; President, you could learn that from him.

 He did what he had to do to save the world or the country, and did it eight times over 192 episodes. He was loyal to his friends and had a compassionate side. But then, all of this was penned by talented screenwriters. 

Mr. President, you ought to catch up on Keifer Sutherland’s latest TV series where he plays the “Designated Survivor” who becomes president when terrorists blow up the Capital building during the State of the Union address. He’s be a perfect role model for you to follow as president. He know he’s unprepared, he is willing to admit that there are many things he doesn’t know… and eager to learn.

He’s a reluctant president. Modest, sincere, smart but not a genius.

You could model yourself on  “The West Wing’s” Jed Bartlett (even though he also has a Wikipedia page, alas he’s really Martin Sheen); but that would be too much to hope for.

Related from 2017: 

Donald Trump Wants To Make America Waterboard Again in HUFFPOST

“But do I feel it works? Absolutely, I feel it works.”

Stop calling these airborne objects UFOS until we know they are UFOS

 By Hal Brown

One of the first depictions of a "flying saucer", by illustrator Frank R. Paul on the October 1929 issue of Hugo Gernsback's pulp science fiction magazine Science Wonder Stories. Although the term wasn't used before 1947, fantasy artwork in pulp magazines prepared the American mind to be receptive to the idea of "flying saucers". Public Domain

It was amazing to me to see White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre explaining that the objects shot down weren't sent by outer space aliens. I am not suggesting she shouldn't have said anything about this although to me the 39 seconds she talked about it seemed too long. It seemed like a riff. 

She could have said simply that the three yet to be identified objects originated from a so far undetermined country. No matter how much she denied that they "things" were alien vessels there would be those who believed it was a deep-state coverup. 

I think that the use of the term UFO in reference to them was unfortunate because in common parlance it is synonymous with what used to be called flying saucers carrying aliens from other planets. 

"Mystery objects" is another I think more fitting term which is being used. General Mark Milley said that he'd just call them objects. Good on him...

Click above to enlarge.

Each time someone, whether a pilot or someone on the ground, sees something in the air they can't identify they call it a UFO and a segment of the public speculates whether it is extraterrestrial in origin. 

Only the first object was identified as a Chinese spy balloon. The three others weren't and they have not yet been identified. Moreover, none of them were flying. They were floating. Obviously all of them were objects.

Some, though not all, of the hysteria over an alien visit, incursion, or invasion could probably have been avoided it these objects were called something like  unidentified airborne objects and then shortened to UAO's. The change of merely one letter might have made a big difference.

Those who watched TV saw UFO on every chyron under reports about the objects.

If a UFO turns out to be an alien vessel what will be call it? It will be an identified flying object, and IFO, but then if and when it lands and isn't flying what will it be called? Alien spaceship or vessel would work. 

If or when aliens actually arrive we can only speculate as to why they came here. Perhaps they are Zorons from planet Xenos on a Star Trek kind of mission: 

To explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no Zoron has gone before

Maybe the want to save humanity from itself, put us out of our misery because an advanced civilization deems us irredeemable I am pretty sure they won't announce themselves by floating objects in the atmosphere. 

I could be wrong about this. Perhaps the last three of these things are a big test to see how humans respond to mysterious objects in the sky and it is just a coincidence that this happened right after the Chinese balloon was discovered.

On the other hand, maybe the aliens have already met with the Chinese and are in cohorts with them.

Click above to enlarge

You can see her assure the viewers that these objects weren't sent outer  space aliens in this 39 second video clip. She did this more or less seriously although there were a few snickers from the reporters in the room and she did end smiling and saying that she loved the movie ET.

I won't bother linking to articles about this. You can look them up by clicking here.

Click above to enlarge

Today's other blog is about Trump wanting to televise executions, here.

February 13, 2023

Who is the mystery man with four pistols pictured all over the web?

 By Hal Brown

This photo was posted on the Duty to Warn Facebook page:

Click above to enlarge

Update: A poster on Mastodon found what may be the first post of this photo here. It is titled "Larry Croft spotted at a Subway in Marion, Iowa." I don't know who this Larry Croft is supposed to be. A search of his name isn't helpful. There is one Larry Croft listed as living in Iowa with previous addresses in Texas.

It could be this real person or this one. This post was viewed over 95,931 times since it was posted in 2020.. It led to 979 comments.

This Reddit post suggests the store is in Marion, Iowa. Note it was posted 14 days ago showing that a photo posted in 2020 has once again become controversial. 


Original blog story:

I did a Google Image search to see where this originated and learn more about it. It has been on Reddit, Twitter, and Facebook and a couple of websites. I can't determine who took it and who the person might be.  Whoever took the photo deserves some kudos because this guy might not have appreciated being photographed.


Above is from Google Lens, a part of Google Images, click here to see how it works.

He isn't a cop because he's not wearing a duty belt which would have a radio, handcuffs, a taser, flashlight, collapsible baton, pepper spray, and bullet magazines.


Even a security officer would have more accessories on the back of his belt.

I would find it interesting to interview him to end the speculation about his reasons for carrying four pistols. From the four magazine clips visible he has at least between 80 and 84 bullets on his person.

He has to know people will be looking at him. Is he trying to get liberals to react? Does he really feel he needs these weapons to protect himself? Perhaps he has fantasies of being Rambo.

I live in Oregon where open carry is legal. I have only once seen a civilian carrying a firearm. He had a pistol in a holster on his belt. I This was in the grocery shop checkout line so I waited and followed him out. He got into a pickup truck with a big Confederate flag on the back.

If anybody can track down the identity of the person who originally posted this photo it might help solve part of the mystery. I doubt we'll ever know who is in the photo. 

Because this post is on a closed Facebook page I won't add the comments to this photo. It led to some excellent ones, some serious and others snarky.

There were at last count 29 comments including several of mine. Hopefully those who posted them will give me permission to add them to this blog.

Comments:

From the Duty to Warn Facebook page

I'm trying to figure our a few practical matters.
He has at least 4 pistols. Unless he has simian powers (ability to use his feet like hands for firing pistol 3 and 4), what is he going to use to control 4 pistols ?
Unless he is in habit of dropping his pistols and loosing them, he would be much better to have multiple clips. (the extra pistols do him no good). But them is the question, how many rounds will fit in each of the clips he is carrying (and what about the understandable fear of extended clips ?)

Say the cops were called to the Sandwich Shop. Wouldn't his appearance make him an instant target to the cops ?

...  how very fearful this man must be in his life that he has to gear up like this. How sad for him. My thoughts were that he must have real problems with his own masculinity. In short, I called him a "pussy" with no disrespect to pussies.

Tribel website Comments:

Y.M.C.A. (on Tribel)

He must really be a eunuch to need four guns.

There is someone out there that recognized that ass, a man or a woman. :D And chances are they are 1.Just like him, or 2. too embarrassed to admit they know him. :D 

He's in a Subway. 

Bottom compensating.

Addendum: 

I was an auxiliary police officer for over 20 years in two cities. In those days we carried a revolver and six or twelve extra bullets. Here with one of our cats I am on the balcony at home with our cranberry bogs in the background.

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