The Watering Hole, Friday July 26, 2013; That Other World . . . ‘Out There’

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Heard a “joke” the other day, courtesy of a charter member of the Front Range’s assemblage of Wingnuttistanians. It went like this:

“Did you know that under Obamacare, the price of aspirin is going to skyrocket because of an unbelievable tax on the stuff?”

“No, hadn’t heard that. Why a huge tax on aspirin?”

“Simple. Because it’s white, and it works.”

My intent for the last week has been to make this post a statement on the racism that’s currently contaminating a substantial portion of this country’s population. I’ve plowed through article after article, post after post, on various related topics including the aftermath of the Zimmerman “trial,”  more Scalia nonsense, the ignition of the voter suppression firestorm currently raging across North Carolina, Texas, and Florida all thanks to the “contributions” to voter suppression by the US “Supreme” (yeah, right) Court, and last but not least, an article entitled The Racist Roots Of The GOP War On Obama.

Wading through each and all of those swamps caused me to feel unclean, so I said hell with it, I’ll wait awhile on the matter, wait for the crud to wash off (assuming that’s even possible). So instead of dealing with right wing disease and grime, I decided instead to focus on that other world: that world “out there” where honor stands tall, where intent is never driven by greed or lust, that world inhabited by Critters . . . where humans appear only as occasional (and mostly uninvited) guests.

Dug through some of my old photo archives accumulated over the last few years and selected the following examples of innate ascendency of spirit. No need to caption or identify most of the participants, their identity is probably fairly obvious. With maybe one exception (I’ll save it for last).

Meanwhile, hope you enjoy the voyage, the momentary sojourn in that ‘other world,’ that sprawling paradise in which WINGNUTTISTANIANS can only ever be unwelcome intruders.

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Beetle at Butterfly Cienega

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Tucson Dove

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThere. As John Keats once noted, “Beauty is truth, truth beauty; that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.” Indeed, indeed. And examined through a slightly different prism:

How sad that eyes so seldom see
Earth’s beauties, which abound,
For beauty known turns wisdom free
In measures that astound.

And if ‘tis fact that beauty be
As truth, except in name,
What, then, is served but perfidy
When bird or beast is slain?

Yet minds of men seem safely free
Of senses which perceive;
Not truth nor beauty do they see –
For them must wisdom grieve.

Oh, and one last shot, added only to show that in Nature, even the most icy and cold-hearted SOB out there anywhere — though it may seem to at least superficially resemble the soul of any given Wingnuttistanian — the final truth is that, as opposed to wingnuts, its beauty is embedded, and persists.

Keats was, of course, right.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAnd no, that is NOT the physical manifestation of a wingnut’s nonexistent soul. It’s a Colorado icicle. Truth. 😀

Open Thread. All Critters Welcome.

68 thoughts on “The Watering Hole, Friday July 26, 2013; That Other World . . . ‘Out There’”

  1. With lasers and magnets they trapped light in a crystal for a minute. Though I wonder, isn’t the “speed of light” an intergal part of defining what “light” is? So, was the light trapped but still maintaining it’s velocity? If ‘light’ were reduced in speed is it still “light”? If light is trapped, yet maintaining velocity, is that potentially stored energy?

    Crystals and magnets — I know there’s a “New Age” comment here somewhere…

    Let’s re-visit Reich’s research (I’ll pass on his politics). I built a sit-in Orgone generator. Lady Cagey made me paint it blue so that it sort-of resembles a Tardis (which is what we call it).

    I hope the link works.

    http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23925-light-completely-stopped-for-a-recordbreaking-minute.html#.UfEIQIdwYdU

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    • The ‘Southern Avenger’ should be the most likely suspect! Didn’t he say he celebrated John Wilkes Booth’s birthday every year?

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    • Well, if 5/9 of the Supreme Court wanted evidence that the Voting Rights Act was still necessary, they got it within hours of their decision being handed down. And if they merely wanted to make it easier for Republicans to win the next election cycle, they got that too, within hours of their decision being handed down.

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      • When I pointed out at a family gathering that President Obama hasn’t taken any guns away they said no but he’s making it hard to get ammunition instead. Why hadn’t I heard anything about it?

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  5. From TP: “an attorney for Zimmerman claims that since the verdict, there is “even more reason” for Zimmerman to always be armed. Attorney Mark O’Mara “said his client is getting threats since the verdict earlier this month and has been carrying a weapon.” ”

    Sounds like Zimmerman is going to be afraid of virtually everyone he sees. He’s armed, and he’s going to stand his ground – even fire first if he feels threatened. And he’s going to feel threatened everytime he sets foot outside his home. I see more killings ahead for him.

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  9. (the photos of that day belie this assholes claim…he looks mighty cocky, taking pleasure, in the infliction of pain on others)

    Cop who pepper-sprayed students seeks workers comp

    …claiming he suffered psychiatric injury from the 2011 confrontation.

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    • I have this vision of Mick Jagger coming on stage riding a Hoveround power chair holding jumper cables singing “Start me up”

      Yeah, I know. I’m a bad person.

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  12. From the “What Could Possibly Go Wrong” Department:

    Gun Advocacy Group Sends Zimmerman $12,000 To Buy Guns

    On Tuesday, an Ohio-based gun advocacy group sent George Zimmerman, who fatally shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, a $12,150.37 check with which to purchase more guns.

    Buckeye Firearms Foundation said that it came under cyber attack since raising money for Zimmerman and has had its website hacked. The page was not accessible at the time of publication.

    The group, however is no stranger to controversy; it has actively trained teachers and administrators to carry arms in the classroom since the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. The so-called Faculty/Administrator Safety Training and Emergency Response (FASTER) program is designed to “help deal with mass murders at schools” by ensuring that schools “are no longer ‘victim zones,’” the group claims. Participants will be able to carry weapons inside the classroom after completing “an intensive 3-day class where you will learn many of the same skills and tactics used by law enforcement.”

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  13. Wow. Ed Schultz just went off on a RWNJ caller like I don’t remember ever hearing before! He had just finished letting Virg Bernero, Mayor, of Lansing, Michigan, go on an extended rant right before he took the call. Virg got pretty feisty also, but not at a caller to the show.

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  14. John McCain Reassures Angry Strippers Outraged Over $1 Coins: You’ll Get Bigger Tips

    This is possibly the least sexual story you will ever read about a member of Congress dealing with strippers, so make of that what you will. For a while now, a number of senators have backed a bill to get rid of the “wasteful, inefficient” $1 bill and replace it with a coin, which, apparently, is wasted at a rate that’s costing taxpayers quite a lot every year. One group particularly unhappy with this is strippers, because they don’t want men throwing heavy coins at them instead of easy-to-carry bills. Luckily, John McCain is here to make sure the strippers get a happy ending, assuring them that this just means they’ll get bigger tips.

    All they have to do is sell the club patrons dollar vouchers cut the same size as a real dollar, for tucking into the g-strings or garters.

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  15. I miss you all…..even zooey

    But Chicago is my heaven and haven. Later…..its raining so we ll be on search of a pub

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    • As we’re all aware, I’m no legal expert. But it seems to me that no employer has a constitutional right to provide health care insurance for their employees, so no employer’s rights can be violated for being forced to make specific things available through that health insurance plan.

      Besides, objecting to having to provide certain insurance benefits on religious grounds is kind of stupid, since the insurance company is benefitting off the illness of others, which I’m sure is not what their God intended.

      If they hate the law that much, they should drop the insurance plans and offer to pay their employees’ medical bills directly.

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