When the bombs were dropped I was very happy. The war would be over now, they said, and I was very happy. The boys would be coming home very soon they said, and I was very happy. We showed ‘em, they said, and I was very happy. They told us that the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had been destroyed, and I was very happy. But in August of 1945 I was only ten years old, and I was very, very happy.
The crew of the B-29 was so young and heroic, and in the photo they also looked very happy. For some reason, I clearly remember the name of the pilot, Paul Tibbets. Of course I remember the name of the plane, the Enola Gay. And oh yes, I remember the name of the bomb. It was called Little Boy. That made me smile.
I was so proud to be an American that day because we had done something so remarkable. They said we were the first. We were Americans. We were powerful. But they didn’t say that Little Boy had killed 66,000 people with its huge fireball that fateful day in August. They didn’t say that Hiroshima was not a military target, but a city filled with men and women and children and animals who had no idea they were about to die so horribly. When you’re ten, they don’t always tell you everything.
Editorial
The Bombs of August : In Remembrance of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Night Stalkers
This is how Mrs. Dudley, the caretaker’s wife in Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, warns the new tenants that they’ll be on their own in if anything goes awry at Hill House.
“So there won’t be anyone around if you need help. We couldn’t even hear you, in the night. No one could. No one lives any nearer than the town. No one else will come any nearer than that. In the night. In the dark,”
And that’s when nightmares come for us. When we’re asleep and defenseless and alone - in the night - in the dark, or as Stephen King wrote, “When the moon is down and the hour is none.”
I know a lot about nightmares. I suppose we all do, but rarely do we talk about them. They’re just dreams after all. They’re not real. They’re not the stuff of small talk among friends over beers at a bar or sipping lattes at a Starbucks. If you tell anyone a dream you’ve had that ends with, “and when I looked back ... its eyes were full of blood,” the conversation will stop dead. Guaranteed.
No … nightmares are what you tell your shrink or the person who was sleeping next to you before you woke them up because you were thrashing, moaning, or screaming in the night.
And when your partner asks, “What was it?” You just can’t dismiss it as if it had been nothing … just a dream … not with your heart pounding and body slick with sweat … it was definitely something. For as long as it lasted, it was real. As the grave-digger in King’s Salem’s Lot said, “I didn’t see nothin’ and I never want to see it again.”
We describe looking objectively at people or events in “the cold harsh light of reality.” The Daytime, where things neatly add up. Laws apply. There is order. But no matter how deeply we cleave to logic during the day, when we close our eyes to sleep … Everything is True in The Dark.
Everything.
What we can easily dismiss at noon will return to haunt us at night.
AUTOPSY
One of my favorite movies is director Don Siegel’s 1964 remake of The Killers. It was supposed to be one of the first “Made for TV” movies but someone at Universal thought it was too violent so it was released theatrically. Siegel directed two movies, The Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), and Dirty Harry (1971), that are on my List of The 100 Best Movies Ever Made. And then there’s ... The Killers. As a friend of mine said, “Don Siegel was one of those directors who could make good pieces of a movie, but had a hard time making a complete movie." And The Killers is a very good example of that. It’s almost good. Too bad, because the cast is incredible: Lee Marvin, John Cassavetes, Angie Dickinson, Clu Gulager, and … in the last theatrical role of his 27-year long career … and the first time he ever played a bad guy … Ronald Reagan.
I watch this movie at least once every year. During the Reagan presidency I watched it more often than that. No matter how rotten the Real World became, because of the miracle of videotape, I could watch Lee Marvin shoot Ronald Reagan whenever I needed a little morale booster. There is justice somewhere in the world, even if it’s only in the movies.
I used to hate Ronald Reagan for a million reasons. The Republicans took an almost-has-been Hollywood celebrity, grafted him onto conservative bullshit, and thus created a president for the Yahoos of America. The Republicans could pick the pockets of the rubes while their celebrity front man razzle-dazzled the crowds with a line of patter sure to please the easy to please Morons of America.
You Only Believe the Official 9/11 Story Because You Don't Know the Official 9/11 Story
I don't believe the official story of 9/11 because I know the official story of 9/11!
During the past 16 years I have not met a single individual who, after doing research on the subject, switched from questioning the official narrative of the events of 9/11/2001 to believing the official narrative of those events.. It is always the other way around. Why do you think that is? There are good reasons for this, and I will try to explain this phenomenon right now.
The term "conspiracy theorist", perhaps the most misapplied description in our vernacular, is often used to describe 9/11 truthers. Perhaps that term does apply to a segment of the 9/11 truth movement. But in most cases a more accurate description of 9/11 truthers is probably "expert", or "scholar", or "researcher." You see, much of the doubt cast on the official narrative of the events of 9/11 has not come in the form of speculated accusations, or "theories." In fact, it has come in the form of questions that have been raised after a careful study of the official and undisputed events and details.
Sixteen years have passed since the infamous events of September 11th, 2001 took place, and the majority of people still don't know a damn thing about the actual details of that event. They don't know what was going on in the country with regard to our military that day. They don't know the history or the activities of key members of our government, defense establishment or intelligence community, on, or during the weeks, and in some cases the years leading up to that day. They don't know what took place during or immediately following the events of that day. And they don't know what actions were taken by those key people following that event.
As is the case with so many issues, people tend to stand strong and argue a position or voice an opinion about an event like 9/11. But, when questioned about the many details surrounding that event they have no answers. They are clueless. And they are, in the end, dumbfounded.
I can not tell you how many times I have discussed the events of 9/11 with an outraged citizen who can not believe that I would "accuse our own government" of such a terrible thing as conducting a false flag operation, only to hear the phrase "no, I did not know that, is that true?" repeated over and over as I "educate" them about those little things called DETAILS. I can not count the pale-faced stunned looks on people's faces as I exposed them to some of the "official facts" they never suspected, and never knew. I have walked away from many a confrontation with newly educated "patriotic Americans", only to worry about whether or not they would again resume breathing correctly.
A Response to the Boy Scouts of America from the founder of TvNewsLies
I am a former Cub Scout, Webelo and Boy Scout. After watching the response of the Jamboree audience to the comments of Donald Trump, I cannot tell you how ashamed I am of the organization that was such a big part of my life.
The dishonorable conduct of booing a former President and Secretary of State by young, impressionable children was horrifying to watch. As Mr. Trump drew more and more derision from these youngsters, I could not help but recall the indoctrination of the Hitler Youth of the Third Reich.
The Common Ground of Beasts
Fucko the Clown, his miserable family, his rotten entourage, every single one of his voters, and the ruling Republican Party, are all united … in their shared love of hatred. And that is why things are only going to get worse … before they get to the absolute worst. Can I define what that is? No. But then why bother? Getting there is half the fun.
The modern era Republican Elite has historically had one agenda: they want to do whatever they want, make an obscene amount of money doing it, and then … pay no taxes.
That’s it.
The modern era Republican Elite wrap that agenda in the flag, the Bible, and Jesus. But those have always been smokescreens to obscure their real intent: Make Money … Pay No Taxes.
And of course, they are insane. No sane person would destroy the land, air, and water, for money regardless of the amount. But that’s what they do. You have to hate a mountain … so you can destroy it to get at the coal buried within it. You have to hate clean water so you can pollute it while cracking the Earth to get at the gas and oil. You have to hate the planet … in order to plunder it. And the hatred doesn’t stop there.
They hate … people. You have to hate people in order to feed them poisonous processed junk masquerading as food. You have to hate people in order to make a profit off their sickness. You have to hate people to deny them a living wage. You have to hate people to blow the shit out of them because they’re in a different country living on top of resources you think of as yours. And the hatred doesn’t end there.
Simply put … they hate everyone who isn’t of their sex, color or class.
The End of the World
In case you missed it the other day, Senators of the Intelligence Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Ranking Member Diane Feinstein emerged late after a TOP SECRET briefing from the Director of Your FBI to face reporters. Chairman Grassley let the Ranking Member speak for him as he appeared about to lose his lunch.
They steadfastly refused to make any comment on the briefing with Democrat Feinstein repeating that the briefing was highly classified. Remember that the reporter gaggle was scheduled ahead of time & Feinstein apologized for keeping them waiting for a considerable time.
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