Sunday, September 30, 2018

Punk Rock Art Corner: Live, From The Republic Of Gilead, It's...KAVANAUGH-MANIA!!!


"The initial impression 
was of naked emotional vulnerability, 
but Kavanaugh was setting a tone. 
Embedded in the histrionics 
were the unmistakable notes 
of fury and bullying."

"Brett Kavanaugh’s 
Adolescent Tantrum 
Before the 
Senate Judiciary Committee"
<The New Yorker>

"So my friends, 
keep the faith, 
don't get rattled 
by all of this - 
we're gonna 
plow through it 
and do our job."

<The ever-tactful
Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell,
rallies the 
far right faithful>

When you see Sotomayor and Kagan,
 tell them that Lindsey said hello,
because I voted for them.” 

<Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC),
once a prominent Trump critic,
clears up a small point
during last Thursday's
Kavanaugh hearing.>

(Note: Neither 
abovementioned
Supreme Court Justice
has been accused
of sexual assault.)


"I'm really grateful 
for the White House,
for the effort of President Trump
and what he has done,
and the excitement
that we have."


"We got a little hiccup here 
with the Kavanaugh nomination, 
we’ll get through this 
and we’ll get off to the races.”

<Senator Dean Heller (R-NV)
breezily handicaps
the nomination slugfest
so far...>



 “It is good that 
many female victims 
of sexual harassment 
and sexual assault 
are coming forward
 and being heard 
and I am happy for them,

but this man 
doesn’t deserve
 to have the weight 
of decades 
of a pent-up 
#MeToo movement
on his shoulders, 
and that’s 
what’s happening here."

<Trump adviser
Kellyanne Conway,
feels the heat of 
pent-up resistance
to one B. Kavanaugh>

<wat-if.com>

When Kavanaugh is not 
crying or shouting,
 he uses a distinctly adolescent tone 
that might best be described 
as “talking back.”

If Kavanaugh 
is trying to convince 
the public 
that he could never have 
been capable, 
as a teen-ager, 
of aggression 
or peer pressure, 
this is an odd way
 to go about it.
<The New Yorker>

<Remember In November:
The Reckoner>

<We Believe Christine Blasey Ford>

Monday, September 17, 2018

Life's Little Injustices (Take XIV): "Nobody Takes Them On"

<:Company Town (Cover)
By Madeline Ashby>

Company towns brim with their own distinct rhythms, though not always for your benefit. The latest reminder, for me, came during my weekly Tuesday trip to the bank, to withdraw my $200-plus weekly transcription money that helps (just about) tread water at the moment.

Here at this branch, you'll always see a new face, and this Tuesday's no exception. In this case, it's a mid-sized woman with reddish-blond hair, tortoiseshell glasses, close to my six-foot height. "Oh, hi," I tell her. "You must be new. You here to stay, or on loan from another branch?"

"No, just started, so this my second week."

"Well, hello from the rest of us," I said, and handed her my withdrawal slip. "Where are you coming from?"

Her mouth froze into a taut, almost-there smile. "Well, I used to work at SpinStream, as an intellectual property attorney." (Reckoner's Note: In this case, a mystery corporation of international repute that produces all manner of stainless steel dryers, refrigerators and washing machines, among other home appliances.) 

"Okay, so what happened, then?"

She walked to the drive-up window, to pull up my account, and get the money out of the drawer. "Well, I was there for almost 10 years. Then I got this notice. They were rolling our department into another one, so I was getting laid off, essentially, and oh, yeah, here's your severance." 

She walked back to her booth, and passed out my bills: fup, fup, fup. "Funny thing, though. There were five of us in that department, and we all got that notice. We're all over 50, too. Imagine that."

"Well, you definitely don't look it..."

"Thanks."

i tucked my bills into my wallet. "Well, I know these things are moonshots, but did you check with a lawyer, and figure out your options, if any?"

Her almost-there smile froze back into place. "Oh, yeah, I talked a couple. Nobody takes them on." She paused for effect. "Nobody. And it's not like I can go back, because there's one firm in this town that handles intellectual property, except..."

Now it was my turn to fill in the blank. "It's run by our former mayor, who basically is the firm."

"Exactly." She needed. "But that's okay. I like this job better now, anyway. Less drama." 

Really? I wondered. I sure hope so. As of mid-September, she's still here, so time will tell how her experience works out.

But fall I could hear, as I replayed the conversation, over and over in my head, were the sounds of good old boy back slaps, followed by the metallic clink-clink of golf clubs and wine glasses, as yet another sweetheart deal roared to a giddy conclusion, amid the anticipatory thrum of a town power broker's cellphone stirring to life, throbbing with the promise of yet another hustle beckoning over the horizon.

Like I said: company towns hum with their own distinctive rhythms. But not for the better, and never for your benefit. --The Reckoner



Links To Go (Hurry, Hurry,
Before Pullman's Ghost Eats Your Soul....
...Just Kidding, Boys 'n' Girls)

ARS Technicia: You Want Some Weird Futurism?

Monday, September 3, 2018

Punk Rock Art Photos: Sights & Sounds, New York City Style

<\After midnight: The view down 8th Street, Take I
...All Words/Images: The Reckoner>

Now there ain't no sheets upon my bed,
just a mattress and some wine.
The rain is pouring through the night
and I'm glad my life is mine.

When Frank Carillo plays guitar
trying to get it off his chest.
He gets the words he needs tonight
on Central Park 'n' West.

Ian Hunter: "Central Park 'N' West"


<After midnight: 
The view down 8th Street:
Take II>

And we all want just someone just like me
in the city we call home.
She leaves me sometimes when I write,
'cause I write better on my own.

Bag ladies take my dollars)
put my conscience to the test.
But waitresses give me coffee free
on Central Park 'n' West.

And I think, I think, I think, I think, I think it's the best,
when I'm locked in the middle of New York city 
on Central Park 'n' West
and I know, I know, I know, I know, I know it's a mess,
but you've got to be crazy to live in the city, 
and New York city's the best.

<Yer Humble Narrator, in silhouette...>