Anyone Remember Marshall McLuhan? I do.

In 1972, when Peter C. Newman left his job as editor-in-chief at The Toronto Star for the same position at Maclean's, he had several lunch conversations with Marshall McLuhan, and had the foresight to record them. 

Rummaging through his files, Newman recently discovered the lost tape of one of their luncheon conversations. "McLuhan was then in his 60s and had written most of his seminal studies of communication and the media, including The Medium is the Massage and The Gutenberg Galaxy,” Newman recalls. “This really was a conversation over lunch rather than a formal interview."

During that conversation, McLuhan makes a statement that, when I read it, just about knocked me over. 

The successor to politics will be propaganda, not in the sense of a message or ideology, but the impact of the whole technology of the times. So politics will eventually be replaced by imagery. The politician will be only too happy to abdicate in favour of his image, because the image will be so much more powerful than he could ever be.

Remember, Marshall McLuhan is the guy who gave us the phrase the medium is the message, then twisted that phrase for the title of his book,The Medium is the Massage implying that we are soothed and relaxed by that which we see while at the same time it expands our horizons, possibly overwhelming us in the process. This, he warned, was  not without danger: the media is easily manipulated, what we call spun. Would McLuhan be surprised by the newest extremes? Probably not.

We have become less discerning in our ability to separate truth from fiction. The fact-checking craze is testament to that. We need just about everything that comes out a political mouth to be vetted. I think this is a direct outgrowth of the massage, not the message. 

But back to what McLuhan said: The politician will be only too happy to abdicate in favour of his image, because the image will be so much more powerful than he could ever be.

We are seeing that play out in real time. Whether its President Felon's awkward dance moves or this insistence that the US will annex Greenland, or that he will take back the Panama Canal, the images we see flashing on the screen are attempts to get the audience to suspend their disbelief so that while what is said may be patently untrue, the audience accepts the premise presented. 

During the past week, We, the People, have witnessed rapid fire, massive changes to our government: mass firings of inspector generals, pledges of mass deportations, massive repeals to parts of the social safety net putting millions of low income and middle class citizens at risk, and so on. The Constitution has been challenged in ways never before seen, as in the matter of birthright citizenship. 

The Oval Office likes to talk about how other countries send us their violent criminals while releasing hundreds of violent seditionists back into the general population. He went even further requesting the  DoJ drop all investigations into the actions on January 6th, 2021. Former federal prosecutor Alexis Loeb offered the observation that 

These pardons suggest that if you commit acts of violence, as long as you do so on behalf of a politically powerful person you may be able to escape consequences, They undermine — and are a blow to — the sacrifice of all the officers who put themselves in the face of harm to protect democracy on Jan. 6.

That's a direct contradiction to the promises he made to be law enforcement's best friend, and that violent offenders would not be pardoned. 

Jake Angeli-Chansley, the Q-Anon Shaman, upon his release from jail, announced on X just how he was going to celebrate:

I JUST GOT THE NEWS FROM MY LAWYER... I GOT A PARDON BABY! THANK YOU PRESIDENT TRUMP!!! NOW I AM GONNA BUY SOME MOTHA FU*KIN GUNS!!! I LOVE THIS COUNTRY!!! GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!  J6ers are getting released & JUSTICE HAS COME... EVERYTHING done in the dark WILL come to light! 

[Well, if that doesn't warm the cockles of your heart, I don't know what will.]

It is becoming increasingly clear from the optics this guy presents that he is in no way interested in governing FOR the people.The only thing he wants is the spotlight. He is playing at being president, but not actually doing it. That job he's leaving to the surrounding sycophants. And those sharks are already eating each other as demonstrated by the rapid departure of Vivek Ramasmarmy. Despite claims he's gonna run for Governor of Ohio, the general consensus is that Elon Musty forced him out.

And no autopsy would be complete without mention of Elon. Some people wrote in accusing me of "fake news," but I'm not sure how that picture of Musty was fake news. Nor was I alone in my revulsion...one country even tried to ban him from entering ever again.  As I told one of my faithful correspondents: It's all about the optics.

In a message posted on a variety of platforms today, his longtime buddy, Philip S. Low,  wrote rather interestingly about his ex-friend. I have copied the post from LinkedIn and it's worth reading:

I have known Elon Musk at a deep level for 14 years, well before he was a household name. We used to text frequently. He would come to my birthday party and invite me to his parties. He would tell me everything about his women problems. As sons of highly accomplished men who married venuses, were violent and lost their fortunes, and who were bullied in high school, we had a number of things in common most people cannot relate to. We would hang out together late in Los Angeles. He would visit my San Diego lab. He invested in my company.

Elon is not a Nazi, per se.

He is something much better, or much worse, depending on how you look at it.

Nazis believed that an entire race was above everyone else.

Elon believes he is above everyone else. He used to think he worked on the most important problems. When I met him, he did not presume to be a technical person — he would be the first to say that he lacked the expertise to understand certain data. That happened later. Now, he believes he has all the solutions.

All his talk about getting to Mars to “maintain the light of consciousness” or about “free speech absolutism” is actually BS Elon knowingly feeds people to manipulate them. Everything Elon does is about acquiring and consolidating power. That is why he likes far right parties, because they are easier to control. That is also why he gave himself $56 Billion which could have gone to the people actually doing the work and innovations he is taking credit for at Tesla. His lust for power is also why he did xAI and Neuralink, to attempt to compete with OpenAI and NeuroVigil, respectively, despite being affiliated with them. Unlike Tesla and Twitter, he was unable to conquer those companies and tried to create rivals. I fired him with cause in December 2021 when he tried to undermine NV.

Elon did two Nazi salutes.

He did them for five main reasons:

1. He was concerned that the “Nazi wing” of the MAGA movement, under the influence of Steve Bannon, would drive him away from Trump, somewhere in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, rather than in the West Wing which is where he wants to be. He was already feeling raw over the fact that Trump did not follow his recommendation for Treasury Secretary and that the Senate also did not pick his first choice;

2. He was upset that he had had to go to Israel and Auschwitz to make up for agreeing with a Nazi sympathizer online and wanted to reclaim his “power” just like when he told advertisers to “go fuck yourself”. This has nothing to do with Asperger’s;

3. There are some Jews he actually hates: Sam Altman is amongst them;

4. He enjoys a good thrill and knew exactly what he was doing;

5. His narcissistic self was hoping the audience would reflect his abject gesture back to him, thereby showing complete control and dominion over it, and increasing his leverage over Trump. That did not happen.

Bottom line: Elon is not a Nazi but he did give two Nazi Salutes, which is completely unacceptable.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch....

Four more hostages have been released. The women, given military uniforms for the "event," were unbowed. From The TImes of Israel

The four hostages released Saturday have told their families and friends that they determinedly showed Hamas, during the staged event the terror group had arranged for their handover, that they would not be humiliated, according to reports of their initial conversations.

The four young women — abducted IDF surveillance soldiers Karina Ariev, 20, Daniella Gilboa, 20, Naama Levy, 20, and Liri Albag, 19 — walked to the stage set up in a square in Gaza City calmly and confidently, and smiled and waved to the crowds of Hamas gunmen and Gazans.

Despite promises they would be released, no Bibases were on the list. This has given rise to greater speculation that 1) Shiri, the mom,  Ariel, and Kfir are dead; 2) Hamas is not in possession of their bodies; 3) the fate of their dad, Yarden, at this writing, remains unknown.

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Today is January 27th, 

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

and the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

It didn't begin with the camps,

it began by separating the population into

desirable and undesirable groups.

Sound familiar?

It should.

May the memories of all who perished 

forever be for blessings.

A Mixed Bag Of A Week

I've been sitting here for a while trying to figure out what I wanna write about. I've been through several opening drafts, but none of them were useful.

Three young hostages were released from Gaza yesterday. They are the first of 33 to ultimately to released. 

 Emily Damari, Doron Steinbrecher and Romi Gonan
 photos released by the Hostage and Missing Families Forum 

Emily Damari, 28, was taken from her home at Kibbutz Kfar Aza. She was shot in the hand...and lost two fingers. She was also shot in the leg. She was bound and then tossed into her own car when she was taken. And just so everyone knows they're equal opportunity monsters,  they shot her dog as well. 

Doron Steinbrecher, 31, a veterinary nurse, was in her apartment on Kibbutz Kfar Aza. She was able to leave a message for her family before she was taken:

They've arrived, they have me.

 

Romi Gonen, 24, was at the Nova Festival. She called her mother from the car as she and others were fleeing. They were caught in the traffic jam. Her mother could hear them screaming as they tried to escape. 

They shot me, Mom and I’m bleeding...Everyone in the car is bleeding.

The release of the hostages was well choreographed for video release. The screaming mobs were attacking the vehicles as they moved through crowds. Highlights included the mob trying to grab the girls as they transferred to the International Red Cross transports. The guns waving, the masked and hooded goons filled the street. Funny thing about those suffering Palestinians....everyone looked really healthy and well fed for a population experiencing "genocide and starvation" at the hands of the Israelis.Usually, people who are starved and being killed off don't look so robust, but these guys look positively in tiptop shape. 

photo released by Hamas.

And let's not forget about the swag bags the hostages were handed as they got into the Red Cross van.According to a family member, the bag held a necklace, some photos of their time in captivity (according to Israeli media,) and a certificate that read in Hebrew and Arabic: Release decision.

I guess that's to frame and hang on the wall. Souvenirs to remember the fun experience of a lifetime? Notice the gun on the Qassam Brigade log. 

Is this supposed to make everyone feel better? Like they got consolation prizes? Really?

So in exchange for those swag bags, Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners. Not everyone is thrilled with this skewed reciprocity since many of the prisoners to be released during the cessation of hostilities are somewhat likely to be terrorists. Those prisoners will return to Gaza and the West Bank and you know damn well they are not "reformed." Has Israel unleashed a new wave of terror on itself? This is not an uncommon thought. 

But...and isn't there always a but? This is the difference between us and them. Israelis will do what they have to do to get the hostages back. That includes DEAD hostages. They need to come home to be buried, to bring closure to their families, to end the waiting. And here's another fine kicker for the event: Hamas and its subgroups aren't quite sure where the hostages, dead or alive, are to be found. And like so many others, I cannot stop thinking about the Bibas family. 

Those two red-headed boys. What happened to them? One report said they were dead. Another said Shiri was with them. A third said baby Kfir was given to a Palestinian family. No one knows the truth, and so far, Hamas doesn't seem to know either. I suspect they are all dead, but I don't want to believe that.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Feckless Felon is now President Felon, the first to occupy the oval office. Before he turned off the lights, President Biden pre-empted what was rumored to be coming down the road, by pardoning his own family members and granting clemency for Gen. Mark Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci and the members of Congress who served on the January 6, 2021 investigation for the attack on the Capitol. Pardoning your own family may not be the best possible optic but all things considered......

President Felon has already pardoned the attackers, including Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio.

This is not as unusual as it sounds. Confederate officers and soldiers were pardoned by Lincoln's successor, Andrew Johnson, who also restored their property and voting rights. This was part of the process to reunite the two halves of the country. JImmy Carter pardoned those who dodged the Vietnam era draft. 

Somehow, I think an attack on the Capitol by a small group under the direction of an elected official is not the same. Those guys should serve time even if their instigator does not. At the very least their right to own a weapon should be suspended....not that it will. Interestingly, at the time of his inauguration, President Felon cannot own a gun. Of course, now he owns an army,  but who's looking, right?

And how lucky for him! He talks about expansionism in terms we've not heard since...oh, I dunno....Putin and Ukraine? His use of the phrase Manifest Destiny, even if applied to space, should worry everyone. Not exactly  The Prime Directive.

• America will reclaim its rightful place as the greatest, most powerful, most respected nation on earth, inspiring the awe and admiration of the entire world. A short time from now, we are going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.

•  And Panama's promise to us has been broken. The purpose of our deal and the spirit of our treaty has been totally violated. American ships are being severely overcharged and not treated fairly in any way, shape or form, and that includes the United States Navy. And above all, China is operating the Panama Canal. And we didn't give it to China, we gave it to Panama, and we're taking it back.

• Together, we will end the chronic disease epidemic and keep our children safe, healthy and disease free. The United States will once again consider itself a growing nation, one that increases our wealth, expands our territory, builds our cities, raises our expectations and carries our flag into new and beautiful horizons. And we will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars. 

Worth mentioning...at least I think so... was statement in President Felon's address that confounded me:

After years and years of illegal and unconstitutional federal efforts to restrict free expression, I will also sign an executive order to immediately stop all government censorship and bring back free speech to America. Never again will the immense power of the state be weaponized to persecute political opponents. Something I know something about. We will not allow that to happen. It will not happen again. Under my leadership, we will restore fair, equal and impartial justice under the Constitution and the rule of law. And we are going to bring law and order back to our cities.

This is coming from the standard bearer of the party that mounts huge challenges to books available in schools. In one breath he talks about only two genders, and the next breath he's talking about freedom of expression. Talk about cognitive dissonance. Even if he had speechwriters, we know he wanders away from the script. 

The bottom line is that you cannot trust what he says; watch what he does. When he doesn't get his way, he lashes out and changes direction. Those are gonna be the seriously scary moments. 

And I'm not even gonna mention the meme coin bitcoin bullshit that netted the Felonious family, according to some reports, billion$. I love that the first one is called $TRUMP. Kind fitting, dontcha think. A whore is a whore is a whore. 

[And update on the crypto biz from Heather Cox Richardson's Letters From An American Jan. 20, 2025...and worth noting:

The tone for the inauguration of Donald J. Trump as the 47th president of the United States at noon today was set on Friday, when Trump, who once trashed cryptocurrency as “based on thin air,” launched his own cryptocurrency. By Sunday morning it had made more than $50 billion on paper. Felix Salmon of Axios reported that “a financial asset that didn’t exist on Friday afternoon—now accounts for about 89% of Donald Trump’s net worth.” 

As Salmon noted, “The emoluments clause of the Constitution,” which prohibits any person holding a government office from accepting any gift or title from a foreign leader or government, “written in 1787, hardly envisaged a world where a president could conjure billions of dollars of wealth out of nowhere just by endorsing a meme.” Salmon also pointed out that there is no way to track the purchases of this coin, meaning it will be a way for those who want something from Trump to transfer money directly to him. 

Former Trump official Anthony Scaramucci posted that “anyone in the world can essentially deposit money” into the bank account of the president of the United States. ]

Let's leave you some enduring pictures of today's festivities:

  

Elon greets the loyal minions.

Melania in a blue Carmen Sandiego hat.
You know, of course, Carmen wears red.

Hidden message? Maaaaaybe.

And last but certainly not least....

How NOT to swear your oath of office.

Is he or isn't he president?

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Sit back, have a cuppa tea,

and figure out who you're supporting

in the midterms. 

Life Lessons From Mah Jongg

  A clip of Julia Roberts talking to Stephen Colbert about mah jongg recently resurfaced. 

Her explanation of the game is not revolutionary,  but rather succinct:

...the concept of it is to create order out of chaos based on random drawing of tiles.

I hosted mah jongg at my house this afternoon. I'd sent the clip to several of my friends who play, including the ones coming over. We all agreed that her description is spot on. 

But isn't that kinda what  all card and tiles games are about...establishing order within the framework of random tiles or cards? You're supposed to play the hand you're dealt, working with ordering what you have into a hand that conforms to a rule or, as in American mah jongg's case, to a hand detailed on the card from the Mah Jongg League. 

But that's neither here nor there. The lesson one learns in the complexity of games like gin, Rummikub, canasta, or mah jongg, is how to manipulate chaos in your hand. Whatever you are dealt, you have to work with it. You can't say, let's have a do over, you have to use what you've got.  Cards or tiles are arranged in your hand, passed or discarded, and perhaps picked up by another player. Rules govern the action, but you grok the rules pretty quickly and get on with playing. 

The more skilled you are as a player, the better you are able to track what is passed or thrown, what is in the pile (canasta) that can wipe you out or give you the win. There's a lot of decision making that goes on in one's head... but the goal is to create order out of your chaos. Even if you don't win a hand...there is some satisfaction when one is a card or tile away from success. 

The lessons learned at the table are actually useful. You begin to see potential for order in chaos, that no morass is really completely unorganizable. Your brain gets used to processing what you see in terms of what you can manipulate. Eventually, it becomes a standard tool in your mental toolbox. My mother, a lifetime mah jongg player told me that when was I was a little kid just learning how to wash the tiles and build the walls; I would watch over her shoulder to see how she moved the tiles around on her rack, trying different configurations until she decided on one, and even then, the apparently useless tiles were in order for discarding. 

Order. It was all about order. 

If you look to game theory as a way to explain all this, it's right there at the top. In the simplest of explanations, Professor Avinash Dixit of Princeton explains:

Game Theory studies interactive decision-making, where the outcome for each participant or "player" depends on the actions of all. If you are a player in such a game, when choosing your course of action or "strategy" you must take into account the choices of others. But in thinking about their choices, you must recognize that they are thinking about yours, and in turn trying to take into account your thinking about their thinking, and so on.

I find that the older I get, the more I strive for order. Unfortunately, we are facing a whole lotta chaos in the years ahead of us. 

To date, the incoming administration has treated the gravitas of our government as a joke. The president-elect is a sentenced felon even if he escaped actual punishment. New reports describing his malfeasance during the last election will be released shortly.  The cabinet nominations are mostly under fire for behavior unbefitting a high ranking official, including, like their would-be boss, criminal activity. He sounds increasingly like a crime family boss than a public servant....and that's another thing. WE, THE PEOPLE are the boss of him, not the other way around. 

When a president-elect, not even president yet, begins talking about how he is going to annex Greenland and the Panama Canal, it sounds kinda like some other leader who insisted the annexation of nearby countries was necessary because his country needed Lebensraum. Oh, you don't know what Lebensraum is? Allow me to remind you. From Wikipedia:

[Lebensraum] is a German concept of expansionism and Völkisch nationalism, the philosophy and policies of which were common to German politics from the 1890s to the 1940s. The most extreme form of this ideology was supported by the Nazi Party and Nazi Germany, the ultimate goal of which was to establish a Greater German Reich. Lebensraum was a leading motivation of Nazi Germany to initiate World War II, and it would continue this policy until the end of the conflict.

 

Following Adolf Hitler's rise to power, Lebensraum became an ideological principle of Nazism and provided justification for the German territorial expansion into Central and Eastern Europe.The most extreme form of this ideology was supported by the Nazi Party and Nazi Germany, the ultimate goal of which was to establish a Greater German Reich. Lebensraum was a leading motivation of Nazi Germany to initiate World War II, and it would continue this policy until the end of the conflict.

Add to that his bizarre ramblings about Canada, and even the Canadians aren't laughing and they have a pretty good sense of humor. Elizabeth May, the leader of Canada's Green party took issue with Feckless Felon Elect's suggestion that Canada join the United States:

 

Greenland, apparently, isn't enthralled with the idea either since their 600 year association with Denmark is a rather happy and successful one. They don't want to be part of the US either. Nor do the folks in the Panama Canal Zone. But that seems not to matter to Feckless Felon-Elect. According to the LA Times...who really has a whole lotta other things to be upset about... stated:

...he would bring all three territories under U.S. control through economic coercion, but did not rule out using force to seize Greenland and the canal.   

It sounded like a revival of 19th century gunboat imperialism, or at least a throwback to the global system that dominated before World War II — “spheres of influence,” in which great powers dominated their regions and smaller countries knuckled under. 

As so often with Trump, it was hard to know whether to take him seriously.

When  game theory is applied on the most basic level, the actions of Feckless Felon-Elect make no sense whatsoever, and appears to the the antithesis of sanity. Annexing Greenland, Canada, or the Panama Canal are not necessary for survival in the real world. None of those are actual threats to the United States. This becomes a threat only in its promise to induce chaos. 

For the record, there is some consensus amongst historians that lebensraum was a reckless policy that played a significant part in the military defeat of the Third Reich. It was unsustainable in terms of land management and required the disposal of too many local populations. In his book, War Land on the Eastern Front, Vejas Liulevicius wrote:

The regime used modern techniques for the goal of a terrible future utopia which classical modernity would not recognize, seeking space, rather than development. While the Soviets retreated, “trading space for time,” the Nazis gave up time to gain space—seeking an everlasting, timeless present of destructive expansion in their vision of the Ostland. 

As the old saying goes, those who refuse to study history are doomed to repeat it. Throughout history, reckless expansion has never worked. Canadians, Panamanians, and Greenlanders are not going to sit back while this clown attempts to annex their countries. 

Frankly, I prefer Elizabeth May's idea, eh. Kosher Poutine for all!

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

This one comes from Princess Leia herself:
"The more you tighten your grip...the more galaxies will slip through your fingers."

Be Careful What You Wish For... 2025 Version

Senate President Harris and 
House Speaker Johnson

In a remarkable display of nothing, VIce President Kamala Harris and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson certified the election of a convicted felon to the office of President of the United States with grace and dignity, things all Americans should expect from their elected leaders. There were no protests, no riots, no gallows, no attempts to overthrow the government of these here United States. 

What does that say about We, the People? 

Absolutely nothing. 

We, the People, have elected a convicted felon to be our leader. Now, granted, the crimes for which he has been convicted by juries of his peers as per our Constitution do not fall under acts of sedition; all of them are crimes against individuals and deal with predatory sexual behavior and financial malfeasance through the falsification of business records, but even if they are all state, not federal, crimes, he remains a felon at large. 

CNN reporters Amy O'Kruk and Curt Merrill addressed the issue of federal charges thusly:

President-elect Donald Trump will face no legal penalties for his conviction in the hush money case. Judge Juan Merchan upheld Trump’s conviction in the case on January 3, 2025, rejecting the president-elect’s effort to throw out the jury’s verdict because of his reelection in November. Merchan set a sentencing hearing for January 10, but indicated the case is essentially over.

Previously, special counsel Jack Smith announced on November 25 that he was dropping both his election subversion case and the classified documents case against President-elect Donald Trump. While Smith is dropping his prosecution of Trump, he said that prosecutors would keep alive their case against two of his employees in the classified documents case.

Since Trump’s reelection, Smith had been in talks with Justice Department leadership about how to end both cases. Trump has said he would fire Smith once he retook the office, shattering previous norms around special counsel investigations.

There will be no repercussions, no assignment of responsibility, no further examination of how our democracy came precariously close to ending at the hands of a mob. 

So it goes.

At this point, one might hope for a peaceful period of transition, but Congress has already made it clear that is not going to happen. Cabinet positions are being closely scrutinized from both sides, and not without good reason and, in some instances, bipartisan agreement. Without naming names, nominating a person whose brain is worm-chow does raise some interesting questions about fitness to serve. A few nominees have known issues with inappropriate sexual behavior and booze, neither of which make for good bedfellows in the land of confidentiality and national security. Then again, there is no expectation of either in the new administration... based on their last go 'round with security clearance.

And a whole lotta seditionists are expecting pardons for their January 6th 2021 actions. How will history view this blanket protection? Hard to say. Ask us again in 2028 ...if there is a next presidential election. What does it tell the world when the rule of law is discarded and the perpetrators are pardoned by the president? I don't think I'm alone when I think it undermines that founding concept as well as the idea of peaceful transition of governance. These are both core to how this country is supposed to operate.

Recently, I was asked what worried me most about the incoming administration.Well, it's not  the administration that has me worried: it's the Supreme Court. A New York Times analysis of SCOTUS decisions in 2024  is a good overview of the cases and the votes. You can see clearly how the court voted. Currently, there are 6 decidedly conservative justices and 3 liberal justices on the bench. I'm not for an all-or-nothing bench. I want dissent and a variety of opinions to be heard AND considered. But the court, as it sits now, is moving in lock step toward the extreme right. If any liberal justice dies or resigns, our laws will radically change. That worries me, and I worry that the greatest victim will be the Constitution. 

I worry about the midterms. A lot. Will they happen? Will they be suspended if the country shows signs of political unrest? 

In preparing for the new administration, I had but one adjustment to make: what to call the incoming president. In the last, he has been Feckless Leader, and Feckless Loser. Most recently, I've used Feckless Felon. I'll let you know what I decide.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I guess some people got their New Year's wish when the Intifada was globalized right into New Orleans. In true Hamas fashion, an ISIS terrorist carried out a massacre on New Year's Eve in perennially partying French Quarter of New Orleans. I will begin by reporting (IYKYK) my NOLA family was all safe and accounted for, albeit close to the attack. And don't think I wasn't freaking out until I knew everyone was okay. But a lot of people weren't. 

They had all gone to ring in a New Year, and instead, ended up dead and injured at a festival. Not like that's never happened before. Kinda like the kids who went to the Nova Music Festival on October 7th, 2023. In NOLA, 14 were killed and dozens were injured. And it would've been significantly more had the cooler bucket bombs placed by Shamsud-Din Jabbar  detonated as planned. 

So kiddies at all those universities chanting GLOBALIZE INTIFADA...I'm guessing what happened in New Orleans is okay with you because you support the idea of Intifada in the streets here in the US. But terrorism doesn't necessarily discriminate between what you think is okay and what a bomb thinks is okay. And if you're hard left liberal, you're okay supporting a movement that executes and imprisons LGBTQ people. And you're also okay if that's your brother or your significant lying dead in the street after a bomb goes off; you'd be saying, yeah, well, it's okay; it's for the sake of the movement. 

If that's all okay with you, keep chanting. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Terrorism is terrorism. 

Those who spread terror in the name 

of one movement or another 

are not given a free pass for ideology.

They are terrorists who must be stopped.

It's just that simple