I need a little help

Help, help, help...

Moi

It's all about me and me.  Oh, and all of you.  Love everybody, hope you're all okay...

Guided By Voices

♬People in my head
Kind of wish me dead
Too bad there's not some sort of a lull --

Demonic little faces
saying scary phrases
in oh-so-tiny places
like Frankie's skull!♬

From the upcoming musical, "The Twisted Tweaker From 602," to be performed off-off-off Boadway; it will debut in Winona Ryder's, Jared Leto's, Sir Anthony Hopkins's, and Amanda Bynes's noggins simultaneously.

Wednesday Random Ten

"Black Coffee" - Ella Fitzgerald
"Hyperballad" - Björk
"島唄" - The Boom
"Paloma Negra" - Chavela Vargas
"The Heart Wants What It Wants" - Selena Gomez
"Slave To The Rhythm" - Grace Jones
"Blackbird" - The Beatles
"E.S.P." - Deee-Lite
"Chandelier" - Sia Furler
"Don't Smoke In Bed" - k.d. lang

Despite All My Back-biting and Venom

I would like to stress that I think you are a powerful, admirable woman whose accomplishments are worthy of respect.  Maybe you started out on third base, but you still leveraged what you had into a brilliant life.  You have my envy and my undying devotion as a friend.  Good work, Syd.  May the wind always be at your back...

Project For A New American Century

Well now it's a New Kenyan Century.  Good work, George Bush Radio.

Not That I Have Room To Talk, And I Hate To Say It, But...

...Isn't tweaking near Bohemian Grove just asking for it?  And by "it" I mean stuff that merits a visit from special agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully.

Personal Gossip About A Private, Reclusive Woman II

"...Of course she and her son are both stunners.  He's a dreamboat, if not too bright.  She's brilliant, and looks just like the Devil from BEDAZZLED.  But her intellectual growth has been stunted by the fact that she's never been talked to like that -- you know, properly and laterally.  It's always kiss up, kick down with her.  She's got flatterers, courtiers, yes-men, but no gadflies or jesters.  She could stand to be told, 'Uh, no bitch, actually, that shit you do is not okay.  You need a reality check.'  Somebody really ought to before it's too late and she gets her just desserts.  There's so much low-hanging fruit, it's probably her wealth and popularity that keep her so delusional.  Well, honey, that gravy train won't run forever..."

I Guess I Don't Understand How The World Works

I was watching a promo for that new show, "Mr. Robot," when I heard the following:  "...A coward who can't face the truth"; to me, that line made no sense.  A coward who can't face the truth is to me just a shrewd person who is blessed with foresight and options the rest of us are denied -- someone worthy of admiration and envy.

I guess television doesn't really work for me unless it's the decrepit, rotting spectacle of Morley Safer creak, groan and wheeze under his own weight.

One

The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth.
The named is the mother of ten thousand things.
Ever desireless, one can see the mystery.
Ever desiring, one can see the manifestations.
These two spring from the same source but differ in name;
_____this appears as darkness.
Darkness within darkness.
The gate to all mystery.

- Lao Tsu, "Tao Te Ching," translation by Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English

Personal Gossip About A Private, Reclusive Man

"I hope Jon's still tooling around in that godawful silver Prius (Jeez, even my brother has a Volt these days.)  He probably is, isn't he, asking for directions from his GPS in a town of 810,000 people that's laid out like a grid along the directions of the compass.  Thank God, because otherwise he would have seen those ads all over the MUNI metro system promoting Dignity Health.  Could you imagine?  The man would have kittens, I tell you, kittens!  His little slave boy would start throwing rocks at him instead of at me...  By the way, I wonder if that lovely man Dan finally dropped Jon because Jon would call him stupid all the time..."

Personal Gossip About A Private, Reclusive Woman

"I just love Syd.  She knows exactly who to snub.  And opinions!  Honey, that girl has an opinion on everything and everyone.  Just ask her if you don't know what to think, and she'll tell you.  And she's so frugal with other people's money -- she should have an MBA from Bennington..."

VECTORS House Needs New Roof

CALL TO ACTION:  VECTORS House, which has been serving the community of veterans for 19 years in Chico, California, is in dire need of a new roof.  You can visit their Web site here, their Facebook page here, and their GoFundMe site here.  They provide housing, case management, drug and alcohol counseling, coordination with VA care and other agencies, and employment help, among other services.

And if you want to get on their waiting list, I highly recommend it; Chico is a wonderful city in which to do a program like VECTORS -- Chico has shopping and restaurants and a college and all sorts of cool people.  Wonderful program, wonderful place.  Check them out.

Not That I Would Begrudge Anyone On Welfare Their Drugs, But...

...This story cinches it. I told you drug-testing welfare applicants was impractical, unworkable, and insensible, not to mention demeaning to those already going through the undignified and stigmatized process of getting on welfare. Shame on Arizona -- the money spent on drug-testing people who are in crisis could have been spent on those people, instead of spent insulting everybody.

(And to those who would say the welfare application process cannot take away one's dignity or be demeaning unless one chooses it to be, all I can say is that I envy that person's self-awareness and self-mastery. I myself used to think I knew my own heart pretty well, but looking back over it all, I'm not so sure I'm as familiar with my emotional landscape and all the feelings that such a situation can bring about as I thought I was.)

I Guess Precedent Has It...

That the government can't be sued for violating the Nuremburg Code, which requires voluntary, informed consent be obtained from research and experimentation subjects.  Oh well...

"The Manhattan Project"

The word "project" makes it sound like you dabble.

Sorry To My Frienemies At The CIA

But you would have shown little to no loyalty to the psychologists who colluded with you and lent your efforts an air of legitimacy.  The Obama Administration may have shown little interest in prosecuting what journos have found festering under a big rock, but let's hope either the current President changes his mind on this (he may, with only a year or so left in his presidency), or a Clinton or Sanders administration is less reluctant.  (I don't expect much from Clinton, but Sanders or Warren would be great.)