The Pied Piper & Rats (2016)

Posted on March 22, 2017 by admin

The black rat, also known as the ship rat, roof rat or house rat originated in tropical Asia, and has spread worldwide via man. Rats are generalist omnivores, meaning they eat anything, including their own. The rat is a complex pest, defined as one that influences the environment in both harmful and beneficial ways. In many ways rats are a barometer of human civilization. That’s what makes Morgan Spurlocks’s latest film, Rats (2016) so intriguing, while being taboo for political apologists.

Black rats are largely confined to warmer areas, having been supplanted by the brown rat in the cooler climates of Western civilization. Brown rats are larger, more-aggressive, eating a wider variety of food, while being more resistant to weather extremes (favoring burrowing), making them ideally-adapted to northern urban environments. The black & brown rats, along with mice, are the most widespread mammalian species on earth.

Rats have a very high birth rate, quickly adapting & reproducing to take advantage of their food supply while eliminating competitors. For instance, rats will feast on the eggs & hatchlings of forest birds, which on isolated islands often have no other predators. Rats are believed to have caused between 40-60% of all seabird & reptile extinctions, with 90% of those occurring on islands. [1]

Rats reached all these remote islands as stowaways on human-carrying vessels, so thus it is man who is actually responsible for these mass extinctions. The rats are simply doing what they do, which is dominating their domain during nocturnal hours. Rats forage after sunset by sampling all available food. This maintains a dynamic diet, balancing nutrient intake, while avoiding over-intoxication of lethal compounds. Their ability to handle trace amounts of toxins has led to increased genetic resistance.

When traps & poison are set out, the rats act as an organization, as the alpha-male will send a weaker rat to investigate. If this rat dies, the area is marked in urine, and the rats will thereafter avoid it. This intelligence & adaptability ensures species survival. Rats use an acute sense of hearing & smelling to detect danger and quickly evade predators. Rats are the ultimate mammalian survivors, something homo sapiens need a lesson in.

It is primary to understand that rats will never be completely exterminated, as long as this planet is habitable for life. Therefore, humans must learn to coexist with rats, in a way that respects hygiene & health concerns, as well as the reality that rats exist. Also, it would be helpful if more people understood that there are places in the world where the rat is revered. Karni Mata Temple in Deshnoke, India is known as the Temple of Rats, for the ~25,000 black rats that live in there.

In much of India & southeast Asia, rats have been eaten as a meat/protein staple for millenia.

Who is to say they are wrong? Everything has it’s value.

Here in North America, urban brown rats live in the sewers, and carry ectoparasites such as fleas, which often contain pathogens such as bubonic plague, typhus, leptospirosis, toxoplasmosis and trichinosis. Rat infestations occur around pipes, storm drains, inside walls and ALWAYS near food garbage. Rats have the ability to swim up sewer pipes into toilets, and can tread water for three days. Each litter has 8-12 kittens. Rats can mate at age two months, produce a new litter every two months, and live for about a year.

Effective rat control requires rational city planning & adequate funding. Too much of major US-city (mafia run) waste disposal is under the catch-all of ‘garbage pickup’ which really needs to be separated into composting, recycling, and trash disposal. Composting reduces curbside food waste, which always attracts rats, and is the first sensible step in urban pest control. These sewer rats are living in human urine & feces, and are being brought into human proximity on a daily basis; leading to a public health crisis, with harmful bacteria spread through rat feces, saliva and urine.

Littering, along with curbside-overnight garbage disposal from residences, stores, subways & restaurants contributes to the sustenance of urban rats. Rats congregate in colonies of 30-50, and live only a few hundred feet from their food source. Rats can squeeze through a gap the size of a quarter because their skull is not plated together like most mammals, so it can change the shape of its head to squeeze through.

Rats have caused more economic damage and human suffering than any other vertebrate pest, according to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Rats destroy an estimated 20-30% of the world’s food supply every year—by feeding on it or contaminating it.

When easy food sources are removed, rat populations are capped, and their decline begins. Rats will cannibalize themselves when they get desperate enough, at which point more humane & time-proven extermination methods can be introduced on a wider scale. The best way to get rid of problem rats is using dogs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2Pyu-Cj0gg

The problem of city rat infestations is an indictment of capitalism, which explains the negative reviews for Morgan Spurlock’s latest documentary film, Rats [2] [3]. Too much of the NYC rat problem is political corruption, with narrow-minded elitists misinforming & understating the danger to the public. The official estimate of ~2 million rats in NYC, with a human population of 8.4 million is ludicrous, as this audit proves. There are surely far more rats than human residents, probably by several times– at least.

The NYC Health Department is notorious for its corruption, with bribery and extortion of residents & business owners being public knowledge [4]. This political mafia rules the Big Apple, and they are the primary reason rats have taken such a big bite out of it [5]. In 2010, the city cut its rodent control programs by $1.5 million as part of an overall $2 billion in budget cuts for social services.

Rat indexing inspectors have found signs of rats on the property deemed ‘rat-free’ in all its compliance inspections, even in cases where the landlord paid for cleanup & extermination. According to the Rat Indexing Map, almost every block in Manhattan has one or more buildings that have rat infestations.

The problem of rats comes down to human intelligence, cleanliness and our willingness to work together. When not enough people practice and live by these values, we get rats everywhere. It is our duty as human beings in a civilized society to identify all the rats, and get this epidemic under control before they overrun us.

………..<><><><><><><>…………

CIA ‘Anti-Russian’ Hacking & Wikileaks Vault 7

Posted on March 12, 2017 by admin

On Tuesday, March 7 Wikileaks.org released a “new series of leaks on the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Code-named “Vault 7″ by WikiLeaks, it is the largest ever publication of confidential documents on the agency.” [1]

The detail provided in these leaks is astounding, as sophisticated cyber attack methods are described in chilling detail. The targets of this massive operation are everyone, but more specifically anyone deemed as a political “threat to US interests.” Keep in mind that a deep state defines these ‘threats’ for us, and ‘national insecurity’ has grown into an enormous apparatus, whose basic structure can barely be traced even in the simplest of organizational diagrams:

This WikiLeaks ‘Vault 7’ data release should be reviewed by everyone with serious political interest. Understand that “anti-Russian” means anti-socialist, anti-leftist and anti-working class in Newspeak. Big Brother has more than just it’s eyes & ears on certain online organizations, as active cyber warfare (funded by taxpayers) is surely attacking Wikileaks, the World Socialist Web Site, and this site.

For Wikileaks it’s self-evident there is a US government campaign to neutralize & dismantle them. Julian Assange has been trapped in an Ecuadorian embassy in London for nearly 4 years, on trumped-up rape charges. Bradley (Chelsea) Manning, who provided Wikileaks with the infamous Iraq War Log, has been locked in a military brigade for years. Edward Snowden, the ex-CIA programmer turned whistle-blower, who told the world about ubiquitous NSA spying, has had to flee to Russia fearing CIA reprisals.

Wikileaks has been attacked online through financial warfare, as ways to donate to this popular site have been restricted and even ‘gone dark’ at times. That only happens when a conscious deep state is focusing its invective on what it considers to be ‘rogue’ organizations. These are the ‘terrorists’ the US government is really fighting, as ISIS (and the rest) are actually CIA creations/assets.

By far the most dangerous online organization to the ruling class is WSWS.org, the World Socialist Web Site. What deep state planners fear more than anything is a revolution from below. That is a decisive force, which they can not control. Therefore, a ruthless & highly-sophisticated misinformation & suppression campaign must be directed against this site, and any sympathizers. As a daily reader for over 15 years, it is easy to spot changes in their organizational line, as well as monitoring the tone of their comments section– which is a more recently-added site feature (<5 years old).

Adding comments has been a great advance for the WSWS, as is their nascent Facebook presence. With this has come a noticeable increase in cyber attacks on the site, which experienced daily readers can notice. The most common tactic is the creating of fake profiles to spam the comments section with nonsense. These posts usually follow the same model: new handle, no profile picture, LONG posts that are perfectly spelled & punctuated, but incomprehensible gibberish.

Trolls are also a common tactic, and targeted at less-sophisticated readers who are still confused and therefore chomp down on well-placed bait. Forum moderators have a difficult time keeping up with all this, as the CIA-intelligence apparatus have endless resources to keeping pounding whomever they please. WSWS readers (working people) have to get better at recognizing these attacks for what they are, and then ruthlessly expose them as part of their growing political activism & education.

As far as RicSize.com goes, I have indisputable mathematical proof that my site has been the target of US intelligence cyber attacks. Analytics don’t lie. The level of growth & influence this site has gained in it’s 3+ years of online activity has amazed even its owner. The power that even one individual [!] can project through the Internet is MUCH more than most people realize. This has been noticed by US intelligence, and at this point I’ll even reveal a hidden strategy; I knew this site would be monitored from the start, and used that as part of my marketing/promotional operations.

The people spying on the other end are employed by the class enemy, but they are also human beings. Therefore they can be influenced to change their minds in certain cases. Since I had no fans to start, but I knew the CIA was listening, I decided to direct some of my propaganda towards them, since they were so interested in what I was doing. I have no idea what effect this has had on these organizations, but the intent was to create Edward Snowdens.

The cyber attacks on RicSize.com were seriously escalated in June of 2016. This coincided with political events, namely Election 2016. The DNC email leaks, and the possibility of a Trump presidency sent the Obama-controlled intelligence apparatus into overdrive against leftist organizations. The published piece that black-flagged this site for increased attack was “Maria Sharapova, PED’s & International Politics,” perhaps the most damning & explosive piece published on this site, which is quite a statement.

This article had been published in March, when women’s tennis star Maria Sharapova was ‘temporarily suspended’ by the US-led World Anti-Doping Association (WADA), as part of their ongoing campaign to exclude Russian athletes from the Rio 2016 Olympics. Sharapova is a Russian citizen, who works globally, and lives in Los Angeles with dual citizenship. This piece was instantly popular, as the US media & the WTA universally lined-up against Sharapova, with their typical righteousness & hypocrisy. This piece was the only English-language source for any facts on the case, and there was to be a hearing in a few weeks to decide the matter.

Months came & went, and this site was steadily growing in daily readership. On June 9, 2016 a 2-year suspension was handed down to Sharapova, and this site instantly exploded. The Sharapova piece was shared globally on an unprecedented scale, and it obviously provoked the wrath of US intelligence, who were ramping up their bogus ‘Anti-Russian’ campaign, which they have continued up to this writing.

The cyber attacks on this site were certainly successful, from a US intelligence standpoint. Daily views of RicSize.com were cut by two-thirds from mid-June 2016 though January 20, 2017. On January 21, 2017 site viewership immediately jumped 50%, and has remained at that level.

There are only two explanations for this sudden up tick, 1) increased popular interest in socialist politics; and 2) a change in deep-state intelligence policy. I believe both to be in play, as consumption of anti-fascist literature has increased since Donald Trump became US president. With that, Trump’s ‘soft’ stance towards Russian president Vladimir Putin has set off a raging internecine deep state power struggle. There now appears to be a window of opportunity for socialists to press their agenda, as the ruling class is divided with infighting. This will not last, as the whole US political system is unstable and in terminal crisis. Socialism must gather momentum and build its ranks, before fascism decides to sweep away the final remains of parliamentary democracy and establish an official police state.

These examples cited above are the leading edge of a cyber warfare campaign, which is designed to eliminate personal privacy, by controlling everyone on this planet through manipulation & blackmail. If you knew everyone’s secrets, you would be powerful too! These are actually elitist cowards, spying behind their computer screens in their hidden bunkers. All their personal ‘lives’ are no doubt similar in theme.

Check out this enlightening tidbit from the Wikileaks dump called ‘Fine Dining,’ which is customized CIA hacking that targets any computer system. The name is a reference to the fact that once this malware is installed, it allows the CIA to feast on its data, without detection. According to Wikileaks, “Notably absent from their target list is any reference to extremists or transnational criminals.” What this proves is the CIA’s sole purpose is to manipulate & control population groups through criminal covert action & spying. [2]

Vault 7 shows that automobile on-board computer systems can be remotely hijacked by the CIA, causing a high-speed wreck that leaves no fingerprints. Essentially this is drone assassination of US citizens, and it is widely speculated to have been the method used to kill Michael Hastings.

“Hastings, who was 33 when he died, was the Rolling Stone reporter who wrote an article in 2010 that led to the removal of General Stanley McChrystal from his post as ranking US commanding officer in Afghanistan. Hastings perished at around 4:30 a.m. after losing control of his car and crashing into a tree while traveling at about 100 mph.” [3]

All this must end. We as a society can no longer allow this level of brazen criminality to go unchecked. The direction this is heading is clear, and it is catastrophic. Anyone reading this needs to become more politically active & militant in their fight against fascism, which has become the final-crisis stage of modern capitalism. The only vehicle to defeat fascism is revolutionary socialism, led by a class-conscious internationally-united working class. Those organizations listed above (this site include) are fighting short-stacked, and therefore must be supported by those who care about the fate of civilization & human culture. United we can win.

………<><><><><><><>………..

Andy Warhol is Everywhere

Posted on December 29, 2016 by admin

“They always say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.” — Andy Warhol

Truly one of the artistic giants of the 20th century was Andy Warhol (1928-87), whose influence on art, music, film & mass media was revolutionary in the 1960’s and remains with us today. Indeed, humanity needs to face this genius honestly and deal with the depth of his work– in order to understand the obstacles capitalism places in our paths towards emancipation.

Warhol was dangerous & subversive. He was (and still is) viewed as an enemy by the ruling elite, which explains why his films have been ignored & trivialized, and remain largely unseen by the public. Most can only be viewed at his Carnegie museum in Pittsburgh.

The Andy Warhol Museum is the largest museum in the country dedicated to a single artist, and its collection includes: 900 paintings; approximately 100 sculptures; nearly 2,000 works on paper; more than 1,000 published and unique prints; and 4,000 photographs. The film & video collection includes 60 feature films, 200 of Warhol’s Screen Tests, and more than 4,000 videos. [1]

Any exposure to Warhol is welcome these days, and the Portland Art Museum is holding a print exhibition through January 1, 2017, which attempts to make sense of an immense body of creativity– and largely succeeds.

Briefly, Pittsburgh-born Andek Warhola was a sickly child with a deep attachment to his mother. He acquired the name Warhol when he was mis-credited in one of his early advertisement pieces– and assumed it from then on. Warhol was gay, in an era when being gay was unacceptable to elite taste. He was also extremely insecure about his body, and enjoyed making other uncomfortable in their own skin.

A great example of this in his art are his films, which are awkward to watch, and unlike anything film makers had ever attempted. The point was making the viewer feel self-conscious, and thus becoming part of the film. This powerful & revolutionary concept changed film & mass-media production forever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ejr9KBQzQPM

Warhol first exploded into mass consciousness with his Campbell’s Soup Can paintings in 1962. Even his prints in a series (pictured below) make a powerful statement on nutrition, marketing & food distribution. The original ‘Soup Can’ series is in the Museum of Modern Art in NYC.

Andy Warhol was famous for making other people famous. Nowhere was this more apparent than in his Factory of ‘Superstars’ and in his collaboration with the Velvet Underground. The Exploding Plastic Inevitable was a multimedia production by Warhol, featuring his films, performing dancers, and the music of the Velvets– who were Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison and Maureen Tucker. Everything is meticulously detailed in this must-read rock biography:

Andy Warhol’s best biography is also written by Victor Bockris, with whom he collaborated in television projects, as well as Interview magazine.

In summary, Andy Warhol & Pablo Picasso are rightly considered to be the two greatest artistic geniuses of the 20th century. Picasso finally made his peace with the art world, and became the wealthiest painter in human history. Warhol was murdered in a hospital bed in Manhattan, by a philistine ruling clique that cares only about maintaining their privilege, and nothing for art and human culture. The capitalists may have killed Andy Warhol in person, but they will never extinguish the power of his art.

Update July 5, 2108:

Originally posted as a comment to this well-written WSWS article. At issue are the ISO, and right-ring identity politics.

On June 3, 1968, Valerie Solanas went to The Factory, where she found Andy Warhol, and shot at him three times, the first two shots missing and the third wounding Warhol. She also shot art critic Mario Amaya and attempted to shoot Warhol’s manager, Fred Hughes, point blank, but the gun jammed. Solanas then turned herself in to the police. She was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and pleaded guilty to “reckless assault with intent to harm”, serving a three-year prison sentence, including treatment in a psychiatric hospital. After her release, she continued to promote the SCUM Manifesto, and died in San Francisco in 1988 of pneumonia at age 52.

Andy Warhol was murdered in 1987 by the New York Hospital, after having emergency gall bladder surgery. Billy Name (Linich) was a photographer, filmmaker, lighting designer, and archivist for The Factory from 1964 to 1970. The Velvet Underground’s album art (White Light/White Heat & The Velvet Underground) are his shots. Billy Linich recounted the above story of Warhol’s murder in every interview he ever gave, up until his death in 2016.

The Factory was Andy Warhol’s creation after his astonishing Soup Cans & Mass Media Sculptures– which changed everything. The Factory was a collection of talent, junkies & queers that Warhol used for film, photography and music. Their collaboration with the Velvets was the Exploding Plastic Inevitable (EPI), a ground-breaking multi-media phenomenon– featuring the VU & Nico, with Andy Warhol’s films being projected over them playing live. It blew everyone’s mind, and was shut down by the authorities as quickly as possible. The famous banana cover from their debut album is Andy’s painting.

Elite NYC figures like Bob Dylan were jealous, and wanted in. Warhol’s direction was the most revolutionary of any artist of his era, with the only possible exception being John Lennon. Warhol understood the media better than Lennon. Warhol was also a deviant due to his homosexuality, which wasn’t allowed to be mainstream back then. The bottom line is the Velvet Underground’s powerful music & Andy’s genius made everything go, as far as revolutionary art and creative energy! As far as sales and commercial impact; the Velvets were blacklisted from the start. Songs like “Heroin” & “Venus in Furs” are unforgivable to the moralists who control the industry machinery.

By 1970, the Factory & the Velvet Underground were no more. Other notable Factory members included: Edie Sedgwick, Ingrid Superstar, Gerard Malanga, Ronnie Cutrone, Candy Darling, Eric Emerson, Danny Fields, Paul Morrissey, Mary Woronov, and many others. Andy Warhol was famous for making other people famous, which proves real genius.

………………><><><><><><><…………….

O.J. Simpson & Racialism

Posted on August 25, 2016 by admin

On June 12, 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson was found brutally murdered outside her Brentwood home, along with her friend Ronald Goldman.

O.J. Simpson had a long history of abusing his estranged wife.

At O.J.’s home (several miles from the murder scene), LAPD found a bloody right glove, matching a left glove found at the murder scene.

Both gloves were soiled with the blood of O.J. Simpson and the two murder victims.

No question, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) have a long history of violence towards impoverished black communities.

But also note that Willie L. Williams was the chief of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) from 1992 to 1997, indicating deeper class issues superseding any racialist narrative.

Williams replaced Daryl Gates’ following the 1992 LA riots, in the wake of the Rodney King police-beating ‘not guilty’ verdict.

The primary issue that acquitted O.J. Simpson in 1995, was his privileged class status.

O.J. was still a (mostly) beloved celebrity, with powerful connections that allowed him the best legal defense money could buy.

Here’s a question for all the black racialists: Would O.J. have been found guilty (by a predominantly black jury), if he had instead murdered his first wife, Marguerite Whitley?

Johnnie Cochran & Carl E. Douglass are black racialists who specialize in manipulating tragedy (or any perceived injustice) that befalls a black person, for political & personal gain.

These are the worst forms of hucksters, jive acts & snake-oil salesmen– parading in silk suits and passing themselves off as respectable.

For a prominent black celebrity such as O.J Simpson, to be acquitted of a double murder (which he surely committed), is an advance for all black people– according to Cochran & Douglas.

This racialist garbage is still being exploited today, in various forms.

When the judge allows the defense in a double-murder trial to turn everything into a circus and stack the jury along racial lines, nothing good can come of it.

When the original black superstar athlete to sell out to white corporate America, is suddenly transformed into a black civil rights movement, we need a reality check.

These were the only real attorneys (professionals) during The O.J. Trial:

Ezra Edelman’s O.J.: Made in America (2016) is about as deep & thoughtful as’ black’ intelligentsia has ever gotten on the subject:

This racialism has consequences, and leads politically to Obama v. McCain 2008, which was really no choice for anyone who worked for a living– black, white, or whatever…

Hillary v. Trump is the political/feminist 2.0 version of this toxicity.

Are you a racialist?

We are all homo sapiens of various shades, this is black:

……..><><><><><><><…….

Socialism vs. Third-Party Opportunists

Posted on August 13, 2016 by admin

The World Socialist Web Site has been linked many times in these writings. The WSWS has provided daily political analysis (6 days/week) since 1998, and is the most actively revolutionary website on the Internet. Its archives are rich in classical Marxist analysis of issues ranging from the Bill Clinton impeachment, right up to the present. Their coverage is global, with a daily readership of 50K+. [1]

The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) is the U.S. political branch of the WSWS. The SEP is running Jerry White & Nile Niemuth as their presidential and vice-presidential candidates. [2]

If you vote this November, I encourage you to write them in. Be sure to then photograph your ballot, before submitting it. Who knows how it will be counted?

There are other bourgeois alternatives to Democrat Hillary Clinton & Republican Donald Trump. Here’s a quick update on the two major players– the Greens & Libertarians.

The Greens are arm-chair activists, phony environmentalists, and cowardly middle-class ex-radicals, who insist that government can be reformed & must be part of the solution. The Greens funnel directly to the Democrats in everything.

Here’s “An Open Letter to Bernie Sanders” published on their site:

“We want to congratulate you on the work that you have done to support Bernie Sanders’ campaign for president. You self-organized to phone bank and reached 75 million voters. You created a social media machine that overcame the commercial media’s attempts to ignore the campaign. You created cool swag, wrote songs and cooked ‘Feel the Bern’ hot sauce. You painted your cars, your houses and giant murals with the words and likeness of Bernie. It was amazing.” [3]

Not a word on Bernie Sanders’ capitulation to Hillary Clinton’s right-wing machinery, nor any serious discussion of the U.S.-led wars raging in the Middle East, and beyond. Their mailing address proves them as Beltway-influenced as the Democrats:

Green Party of the United States
PO Box 75075
Washington, DC 20013
202.319.7191

How many people knew the Greens just held their convention in Houston, Texas– August 4-7? This is noteworthy in the lack of media coverage. Political alternatives to the Democrats & Republicans are strictly censured by capitalism.

The Libs are to the Reps, as the Greens are to the Dems. Both act as safety valves when these major parties fail to adequately capture their constituency. The Libertarians are a complete mess at this point, which is not surprising considering the state of the Republican party. [4]

Libertarians are ‘loonies’ in mainstream political terms, meaning they are crazy– but considered harmless. Libertarians are never taken seriously, and are only used as pawns by right-wing power brokers. This video below actually happened on 5-29-16 in Orlando, FL at their convention:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d45x4OpMoow

Libertarian candidate for president is Gary Johnson:

“My charitable contributions would be negligible — I mean just, really almost non-existent,” the former New Mexico governor told CNN. [5]

The other most-memorable moment in Libertarian party history (founded 1971) happened in 1994, when radio shock-jock Howard Stern bum-rushed the Libertarian convention and secured their nomination for governor of New York.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uO9cdyJSxI

Stern only withdrew his candidacy in an on-air press conference months later, because he refused to disclose his financial records saying: “I spend 25 hours a week telling you all the most intimate details of my life … One fact I’ve never revealed is how much I make and how much money I have … it’s none of your business.” [6]

The Libertarian Party’s vision is for a world in which individuals can freely exercise the right of sole dominion over their own lives and property. [7]

…………..><><><><><><><><……………

Lone Ranger Norris: Beer, Guns & Stupidity

Posted on July 22, 2016 by admin

There are movies that are so bad they completely stun any sensible viewer. Lone Wolf McQuade (1983) is such a film. Orion Pictures/MGM budgeted $5 million for this turkey– director Steve Carver’s vision of a heroic Texas Ranger in action.

The star was Chuck Norris, and this turd-burger actually catapulted him up to Hollywood B-list stardom. It should be Z-list, or better yet ZZZZ-list, as Norris is unable to express a single emotion with human feeling. He always looks best, silhouetted at a distance:

Chuck Norris is ever expressionless, whether posed in silent rage or deep contemplation– it doesn’t matter, this is always what you get from Chuck Norris:

LWM made $12+M in the U.S. and did very well overseas, particularly in the European dubbed video market, which was starving for anything American action.

This movie inspired Walker, Texas Ranger, the CBS television series which ran 8 seasons, from 1993-2001.

In the opening sequence of LWM, Norris bare-handedly takes down 12-15 horse rustlers, all armed with machine guns.

After this, director Steve Carver establishes the characters:

Most of the sets have an American flag & the flag of Texas, along with guns or pictures of horses. Notice the books under Norris’ foot, and in the trash can:

McQuade is chastised by his boss for being a loose cannon, so he is assigned a partner, against his wishes. Kayo Ramos (Robert Beltran) the young, clean-cut Latino is assigned to partner with Lone Wolf. Norris rejects this at first, like everything else outside of a six-pack of Pearl beer.

While at a party hosted by the film’s vixen Lola Richardson (Barbara Carrera), Norris approaches the bar and asks for a Pearl beer. He’s told there’s only Heineken, Michelob and Dos Equiis. Norris flatly rejects the counter-offer. Got the message? Of course the vixen saves him, and has the barkeeper pull a can of Pearl from the bottom shelf. It’s true love for our hero.

The gun-smuggling villain Rawley Wilkes (David Carradine) is also introduced as an intimate of Carrera at the party:

A bunch of people then get beat up for no good reason, and the action is halted by Carrera, just as Norris & Carradine are about to square off. The viewer is made to wait for the anticipated showdown.

McQuade also has a craggy ex-wife, and a hot daughter named Sally. Guess which one he prefers?

Daughter Sally and her ‘boyfriend’ Bobby, witness the hijacking of a U.S. Army convoy loaded with guns. Bobby is conveniently shot & killed by the hijackers, while Sally is spared, left unconscious after being rolled inside her car down a ravine. Sally survives all this with only a minor gash on her forehead & a little nick on her lip, otherwise she has never looked more fetching in her hospital scene:

Chuck Norris is furious:

Norris needs information, so it’s time to beat someone up & torture them. Norris grabs a delinquent informer ‘Snow’ (William Sanderson), who is reluctant to talk until McQuade’s buddy Dakota (L. Q. Jones) points a machine gun in his direction and sprays a few bullets.

This gets the desired results, and now Norris has a clue about the bad guys.

That’s all he needs. Norris’ buddy Dakota & new partner Ramos get to stay behind and torture Snow some more, just for kicks. Here’s how Robert Beltran felt about his role as Ramos:

David Carradine asphyxiates Dakota in his house, and also has Snow killed, presumably putting him out of his misery. When Norris, who has been flying all over the place in his muddy truck discovers this, he is enraged:

Norris needs more brains, so the feds are brought in to assist, and the token black in the movie is FBI Special Agent Jackson, (Leon Isaac Kennedy). After being introduced, Norris walks out on all of them. He works alone.

Except he still doesn’t know what he’s looking for. Ramos gets on a computer, and hacks into the U.S. military database in about 10 seconds, which takes about 8 seconds too long for Norris, but McQuade now knows it’s guns that have been hijacked from a U.S. army convoy.

Norris pays a visit to a creepy wheel-chaired dwarf called Falcon, who has been spying on him (for some unexplained reason) the whole time.

Norris interrogates the handicapped dwarf:

The dwarf fingers David Carridine’s gun smuggling operation as the responsible party for his ‘daughter’s’ accident. Time to kick ass somewhere in Mexico.

Norris says he works alone, but he needs a lot of help with everything. Like finding & getting to the bad guys. Two federal agents he’s earlier rejected, show up on cue and join Norris’ assault on Carradine and his 20-30 henchmen.

Federal agents Burnside and Núñez are killed during the attack on Carradine’s headquarters. Young partner Ramos is told by Norris to flee during the assault gone awry. Norris is captured, brutally beaten, then buried alive in his truck. Maybe they should have called for back-up, instead attacking when outnumbered 5-10 times?

No worries, while buried alive in his truck, Norris quickly finds an emergency light switch. Then he calmly reaches for a Pearl and pops it open. He douses himself, then guzzles & spits up, before starting the nitro engine—> rocketing himself out of his grave.

All the bad guys are instantly killed or have disappeared. Norris is free, as Ramos who has been frozen, watching in the nearby bushes, rushes to catch him as he heroically collapses out of his truck.

Ramos pleads with Norris not to die after all he has endured. Norris tells Ramos to get him a beer. The similarities to Joe Don Baker’s performance in Mitchell (1975) are striking.

Norris now learns his babe (daughter!) Sally, has been kidnapped and taken by Carradine to Mexico. Ramos & Jackson follow Norris, and the three head into the base for another attack. Norris enters the compound first,…

and finds Sally & Carrera instantly:

Norris calmly escorts the women to safety…

… when suddenly they’re caught wide-open in a firefight. Norris pushes the women down, taking cover behind them both. Sally is shot in the leg.

An intense battle ensues and Jackson is shot in the belly again, yet he fights on– undaunted:

The final showdown between Norris v. Carradine arrives and ends. You can guess how it goes. Carradine is defeated, wounded– but not dead. He recovers and fires upon Norris, who has turned his attention away. Carrera steps in and takes the fatal bullet to save her love. Chuck Norris is heartbroken:

Everyone flees. Finally, the token Negro provides Norris with a grenade, and he tosses it into a building, killing Carradine.

Film Critic Roger Ebert gave LWM a 3.5 star rating, proving a serious lack of critical judgement. This is a wretched picture, that deserves to be studied & understood for all its toxicity, then put away forever. Resist this psychic death.

The love scenes between him & Carrera are not believable, with any knowing viewer suspecting Norris doesn’t even have an erection at the fadeout, and will soon opt for a brew as consolation. Intimacy issues at every turn for Chuck Norris.

Below are three different LWM screenshots of Norris literally throwing various forms of garbage, anywhere he feels convenient.

Chuck Norris Takes out the Trash 1:

Chuck Norris Takes out the Trash 2:

Chuck Norris Takes out the Trash 3:

THE END

……..><><><><><><><><………..

Use & Abuse of Personas

Posted on July 21, 2016 by admin

Artists create personas to protect themselves, it’s not a new concept. Assuming an alter ego allows freer expression of culturally inexpressible ideas.

A persona adds a layer of personal protection, as the public needs to work through an image to confront & understand an artist on a personal level.

This allows the art & ideas to speak for themselves (at least for awhile), instead of succumbing to the cult of celebrity. Fame brings money and excess, which are dangerous & corrupting influences to anyone.

With the rise of the Internet, anybody with a computer or mobile device can create their own online persona. Andy Warhol’s vision of everybody being famous for 15 minutes is now manifesting itself in all kinds of awful, weird, and simultaneously wonderful ways.

Online, people can be whatever they want without much repercussion, due to the layers of screening & anonymity. The cyber-world is sleazy & creepy, but also filled with revolutionary potential. Communication of ideas has never been faster, and people are starved for real information & discussion on anything & everything.

The downside of social media is that it allows a vehicle for evil & hate to spread its poison, especially when left unchecked, therefore it must be combated effectively & diligently. [1]

Innovative network television programming is virtually dead. Most of the best current films are documentaries created by independent filmmakers, as YouTube & Netflix are rich sources of engaging & serious independent film content. Hollywood needs to be largely understood as a waste of talent at this point.

No thinking kid (or adult that has survived with his/her brains intact) believes any corporate-sponsored news, which is 100% lies & half-truths. One thing I’ve noticed while researching and engaging in social media, is when reading an article on MLB.com, ESPN or NASCAR.com… I often find the comments just as helpful (if not more so) in terms of facts & ideas as compared to the article. Fifteen seconds of fame for the poster.

Dialectics in politics applies when long-term difficulties & seemingly hopeless situations are suddenly wide-open playing fields for opportunity & victory. Personas, when used correctly, allow elusiveness in being focal points for online influence & clout, which is necessary to revolutionarily transform & socialize our planet.

………………><><><><><><><><><……………..

Mastering Social Media

Posted on June 25, 2016 by admin

Facebook is primary, Twitter useless. Create a handle for all forums, and always be respectful of others. Be open and honest; reveal who you are, otherwise you won’t be trusted (or even respected) by most in the group.

Speak mostly with your ‘Like’ button. If thoughtful, it truly & concisely reflects who you are. This makes what you say carry more weight. Check & double-check spelling, grammar, punctuation, over-all clarity, etc… Same reason.

Of course, it’s always what you DO that really counts. With that said, this is what you must do on social media.

If you have a serious artistic, political, religious or other intellectual position; create a separate Page and manage all those affairs there. Occasional updates on your homepage are allowed, but let you friends either Like or not Like your Page, without having to reject you as a person.

Furthermore, you also need a website, 100% controlled by you. It must be up to par, in an Internet world that is a jungle. It must constantly be updated with new, interesting content; otherwise you have nothing. It costs very little in $$, but much in hard work, brains & perseverance. Hackers, spammers & the random laws of the universe are also waiting to take you down, so be prepared.

Become a competent, then artistic photographer. People are much more interested in pictures, over anything else. This includes video, which many mobile devices won’t run, or just take too long.

Screenshots work great too!

Choose your words well, economize. Less is more. No one respects the loudmouth who keeps at something, over & over. Handle them as needed, otherwise disengage.

Engage & ask open-ended questions to top posters. Let them speak & deliver shared messages for & with you.

Culture is produced by the workers. Without organized human labor, there is no culture. Culture (and what is cool), is always defined by the youth. Social media was created by college kids, and now allows anyone to be a celebrity (to some extent). If you are a leader on social media, then you are respected and listened to; and your opinions often influence others. This allows for those without obscene wealth to be influential, and therefore powerful.

Understand, that ALL social media is monitored & manipulated by those who own it. How they edit always reflects their ideology.

Social media is an integral part of the coming revolution. Become adept at it, as with other forms of communication (like actually talking to someone face-to-face), and together we the people will accomplish great things!!

……………><><><><><><><><…………….

Why Does Danica Patrick Wreck So Often in NASCAR?

Posted on March 24, 2016 by admin

Danica Patrick raced full-time IndyCar from 2005-11, and holds the all-time record for most consecutive finished races in that series. Her mark of 50 consecutive finishes without a DNF, shattered the old IndyCar record of 32– and still stands. She was long ago recognized at the highest levels of competitive auto racing as a safe, fair & competitive driver. [1]

In 2012, Danica began racing in NASCAR, and has run full-time in its Sprint Cup series since 2013. In her NASCAR career of 123 races (as of this writing), she has 17 DNF’s– for an alarming rate of 13.8%. A check of the numbers in 2014, showed she was by far the most wrecked-DNF driver in NASCAR. [2]

Another NASCAR review in 2015 showed Patrick to have the 7th-highest crash rate, among all drivers with at least 15 starts. This study included all crashes, even those that did not produce DNF’s. [3]

This leads to the questions– why does Danica Patrick crash so much, and who’s at fault? Video analysis will be used to group Danica Patrick’s DNF-crashes into two categories: 1) her fault; 2) not her fault. Furthermore, wrecks which weren’t her fault will be divided into two types: A) wrecked unintentionally, which is racing luck; or B) wrecked intentionally, which implies being repeatedly targeted.

Accidents that were Danica Patrick’s fault

This is Danica Patrick in Kansas in 2012, her rookie NASCAR season. The video title is fairly accurate, and #83 Landon Cassill does a phenomenal job not wrecking, while Patrick fails to use her brakes well enough to maintain control– and that’s how the announcers call it:

A year later at Kansas in 2013, Patrick ‘got loose’ in the middle of the track and crashed on the first lap. Needless to say this was probably the worst performance of her professional career:

At Pocono in 2013, Patrick got too loose and wrecked herself and a few others. For the record, she owned it in the interview afterwards:

At Michigan in 2014, Danica Patrick got loose, lost control & spun out, causing this accident. It was clearly her fault, and all of NASCAR enjoyed pointing it out:

At Martinsville in 2015 Danica Patrick, who had gotten run up the track by #38 David Gilliland earlier in the race, attempted to retaliate with the same move, but ended up wrecking herself. What then ensued is best described as children acting badly in cars [4] :

At Darlington 2015, Patrick got too loose and wrecked herself. She owned it in the interview:

At the 2016 Daytona 500, Patrick tried too late to squeeze #16 Greg Biffle, who had the pass. She ended up wrecking herself instead. Patrick took responsibility:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0_6uM4GBAc

That’s a total of seven wrecks that were clearly her fault, in 123 NASCAR starts, for a 5.7% rate– which is less than half of her 13.8% total crash rate.

Unintentional wrecks of Danica Patrick

At the 2014 Daytona 500, #33 Brian Scott bumps #43 Aric Almirola, who hits the outside wall and then caroms back across the track into several cars including Patrick, who loses control and hits the outside wall very hard. No one should question Danica Patrick’s toughness after seeing this:

At Charlotte 2014, Patrick is caught up in the wash, and there’s nothing she can do. Her comments on the radio are illuminating:
Danica Patrick [at around 50 seconds in the video]: “Idiots! I mean really, who the hell did not see that coming?”
Her spotter: “A lot of them, about five people behind you.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TCWVBtnYuk

Speaking of stupid– blame for this massive and dangerous wreck at Talladega in 2013 was mostly on NASCAR, and the drivers let their fans know it in the post-race interviews. They clearly shouldn’t have been racing in such conditions, and drivers should NEVER try to go ‘4-wide’ when it’s dark & rainy. Patrick didn’t appear to get clipped (as she claimed), but one can clearly see her trying to avoid a car (on fire) careening towards her. Outside of that, her post-race summary (confirmed by others) was fair, for which the rednecks now hate her even more:

Hardcore NASCAR fans don’t even like to acknowledge this incident, which happened in Kentucky in 2015; when #88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. rammed Danica Patrick from behind, wrecking her. NASCAR’s biggest hero later admitted he was “driving too hard with no brakes.” This one was borderline, but Dale Jr. is a great champion– so he gets the benefit of the doubt here:

These four accidents are ‘racing luck wrecks’ which happen, and no one could reasonably expect Danica Patrick to avoid them.

Intentional wrecks of Danica Patrick

At the 2012 Gatorade Duel #1, the replay around 2:00 shows Aric Almirola in the #43 car (Richard Petty team) sliding down and wiping Danica Patrick off the track– on the final lap. This was a HARD crash, that could have caused serious injury or worse. Patrick shows elite driving skills by letting go of the steering wheel before impact with the inner wall, avoiding breaking her wrists:

I love the title of this next video, which was obviously posted by a Danica Patrick hater. At Charlotte 2014, #22 Joey Logano clearly has plenty of room to go below, but chooses to run her into the wall instead. Classic NASCAR style:

As a bonus in 2015, Danica Patrick was wrecked in practice, qualifying for the Daytona 500– by #11 Denny Hamlin:

Shortly after, she was wrecked in the 2015 Budweiser Duel– by Denny Hamlin again. The video around 30 seconds is definitive:

Update 4-16-16 @ Bristol More Denny Hamlin stupidity…during practice! How are Danica Patrick and her SHR team supposed to set up a decent race car, when this keeps happening? Note to #11 car: that’s not how you’re supposed to pass a much slower car. Why didn’t Hamlin just duck under and blow her doors off, instead of crawling up on her ass? To ask the question is to answer it.

At Martinsville in 2014, #78 Martin Truex, Jr. slides up the track in the turn– wrecking Danica Patrick. Pretty cut & dried video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjeYj5BKLew

Regan Smith crashes Danica Patrick at Bristol in 2012. Pay attention at around 50 seconds into the video, to see #78 Regan Smith slide up in the turn and clip Patrick’s left rear– sending her into the wall. “That’s unfortunate” is the color commentary:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_nwOEONs6Y

Here’s Danica Patrick getting wrecked the year before in Bristol, by #99 Carl Edwards, who admits it’s his fault. Danica Patrick’s radio man says to her, “just one of those things.”

Fontana 2016 is the most recent of her wrecks, and was clearly intentional– as # 5 Kasey Kahne dug into Patrick’s right rear quarter-panel, and sent her into the wall and then airborne, in this violent crash. Kahne should have been black-flagged, and suspended for at least several races. Instead, the post-race chatter from NASCAR was whether Danica Patrick would be fined for going out onto the track– which is now prohibited [Update 3-25-16– she was fined $20,000 by NASCAR]. That wreck could have killed her, and you can hear it in her voice when she asks her spotter if it is safe for her to get out of the car– after it comes to rest:

That’s seven wrecks (plus another one in qualifying) where she was deliberately taken out by another driver. Furthermore, these intentional wrecks have been the most violent & dangerous of her crashes.

Final thoughts

Danica Patrick and her fans have been told over & over by NASCAR to “get over it.” It is no secret that Danica Patrick has gotten jerked around by her Stewart-Haas Racing team. [5]

NASCAR has been too reckless for too long, and now it seems intent on pushing out its biggest icon. Surely, #88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is the biggest name in NASCAR today, but #10 Danica Patrick is the superstar who (in many ways) transcends the sport– much to the disdain of its hardcore base.

There are plenty of good ‘ol boys who love to see her wrecked, and they can barely contain their glee when it happens.

This flows all the way up to NASCAR’s biggest names, including Richard Petty and his son Kyle.

Kyle Petty was a third-generation NASCAR driver who, despite having every advantage coming with his family name– had only 8 wins in 829 career starts, a win rate of <1%, which is comparable to Patrick’s career. Both Petty’s have been her biggest critics, and below is a sample of Kyle’s blather; which ignores all evidence that Danica Patrick is too often being intentionally wrecked, making it impossible for her to fairly compete in NASCAR.

Many of Danica Patrick’s fans are very new to NASCAR, and therefore don’t understand how to respond to her critics. This confusion allows hateful drivers to wreck her at will, which could help explain why she never wins, and rarely gets a top-10 finish.

Danica Patrick will probably never win a NASCAR race. She is now turning 34, and past her athletic prime. Besides, racing is a team sport and Danica Patrick isn’t getting enough help from her team– or her fans. On top of all that, she being disrespected by too many other drivers, the powers-that-be & the culture of NASCAR. Those are tough odds for anyone to beat.

It’s worthwhile to note that #24 Jeff Gordon and #48 Jimmie Johnson are the best drivers of this NASCAR era, and they have never tried to wreck #10 Danica Patrick. Patrick’s fans would be well-advised to stop exhorting her for wins, and start paying more attention to her safety.

……………….><><><><><><><><><><><><><><…………………….

(3-25-16) Danica Patrick Horoscope: Birthdays comes once a year. Daily rebirth is a lifetime challenge in self-improvement. Rediscover your musicality by taking up the pan flute.

Daily Headlines Voters Might Want to Read

Posted on March 17, 2016 by admin

March 16, 2016 REUTERS

No hikes for now: What Yellen said [1]

Obama picks centrist high court nominee; Republicans unmoved [2]

Trump warns of riots, pulls plug on Republican presidential debate [3]

……………………><><><><><><><><……………………..

March 17, 2016 World Socialist Web Site (wsws.org)

US Federal Reserve aligns itself closer to market demands [4]

Obama’s choice to replace Scalia on Supreme Court had won Republican praise [5]

Trump threatens violence at Republican National Convention [6]

Ric Size

Songwriter, Musician, Artist

Category Archives: Film & Mass Media