MONDAY #1908

As I understand it, Ukraine is divided on whether to lean toward Europe or Russia between east Ukraine and west Ukraine....

 When Russia was in charge during the Soviet Era, some Ukrainians did very well, while others not so much. The passion of the protests is fueled by the young people who remember family members arrested in the dead of night and such. Now these people set fucking tanks on fire!

 There have been reports that Russia has "loaned" the present government of Ukraine snipers, but that may just be propaganda.

This man looks very, very serious...

The cynic in me still suspects many staged propaganda events...

I lucked into starting my convalescing right when the Olympics started. There have been many exciting events...

 None more exciting than hockey.

Bravo, Canada. You beat us fair and square....twice.

I root for you in the gold...

The U.S. women's team were up 2-0 on Canada until the final minutes of the 3rd period, when Marie-Philip Poulin tied the game with 55 seconds remaining to send the game to overtime, where Canada eventually won. However, the game wouldn't have gone to overtime if that freakin' puck had just gone two inches to the right.

 Meanwhile, the goalpost has been nominated as Supreme Emperor of Canada.

Many people don't know that it's a law in Canada that you have to smile at all times, except during funerals or hospital visits.

The smell of victory...

Shit they don't show you on TV...

The chances are almost 100% that someone has peed in the Olympic pool.

I'm so thankful to Netflix for allowing me to consume TV the same way I do alcohol.

I wish IBM would create a computer to replace the people who watch Jeopardy.

Believe it or not...

Seeking to psych out challengers in the days leading up to big fights, Hall of Fame boxer Charles "Kid" McCoy frequently feigned illness or spread rumors of an injury. Then, when the bout came around, McCoy would show up in perfect form. (This supposedly prompted reporters to wonder whether they'd be seeing "the real McCoy" in the ring.) But McCoy's lowest blow? In 1893, when he fought a deaf mute. Toward the end of the fourth round, McCoy simply dropped his gloves and walked back to his corner as though the bell had sounded. When the deaf fighter turned to do the same, McCoy ran over and knocked him out.

 I am more certain than ever that America has grandiose delusions of exceptionalism.

In 1898, a man calling himself Mr. Martin walked into the office of The Sportsman and asked the British newspaper’s editors to publish the program for the upcoming Trodmore Hunt Steeplechase. The editors agreed, and promised to print the outcome after the race, as well. Later, it turned out that an unknown horse name dReaper had taken the Trodmore Hunt after going off at five-to-one odds, leaving bookies to pay out sizable sums to daring bettors. The sneaky part? There was no such thing as the Trodmore Hunt Steeplechase. It was all a scam constructed by the mysterious Mr. Martin, who took his winnings and vanished.

OOMVO...

As you should know by now, I like alternatives to standard dress. I know people like the Steampunk group below have rules and such, but at least they make most of their own stuff and have fun with their garb.

 With that said, these people were escorted out of a mall by security because they looked "suspicious" and the real cops were called....all because they looked different.

Training the Afghan "army"...

A celebrity height scale in a dressing room...

Give this one a minute or two...

I like this painting very much...

 Anytime there is a hard divide like that, the human mind will read it as a landscape, the transition being the horizon...even if that was not the artist's intent.

Anyway, look at the image below...

I placed the red circle around an area that I find particularly pleasing. So why can't I just forget the horses, people, etc, and paint the stylized shapes of the window and declare it just as valid as depicting real objects?

Art that depicts real things (below) is wonderful, but it's not the nature of artists to just keep doing the same thing generation after generation, especially when the masters reached the apex of perfection...

The elitist in me says that Art is what the artist says it fucking is.

I'm trying to deal with the physics of this. I would say the ball is more or less at the top of its arc and has slowed considerably before beginning its descent, thus making it much easier to catch barehanded...

I always smile every time I hear CNN's Wolf Blitzer say "Pussy Riot."

OOMVO...

Watching the Olympics is a great way to see someone else's dreams die for a change.

Okay, humans, we are really fucked now...

Women should date men with beards, because growing a beard takes patience...the kind of patience it takes to deal with your shit.

It's better to shit your pants than to die of constipation.

These are the Japanese-Canadians internment camps in Canada during WWII... 

 ...just saying.

Hard Work: It's what pays off in the long run.

Idleness: It's what pays off right now.

 We still educate children using the model invented in the 1800's. We know it is wrong, but we lack the political will to make it right.

I've been giving the suffering a Jesus some thought...

 I've thought about all the torture techniques I posted from North Korea. I remember the movie Sand Pebbles with Steve McQueen and the skinning of his helper. I think of what the Japanese did to POW's. Anyway, I've concluded that being nailed to a cross, then stabbed to hurry your death along doesn't stand a candle to the things that humans are capable of doing to other human beings.

I once saw a chart listing similarities between religions. I have no idea were to find this chart now, but I do remember that most had things either flying down from the sky or flying up into the sky...

I find that a little too.....convenient. I mean, how do you disprove something when it's up in the sky beyond the reach of investigation? Well, you invent space ships that fly off and find......no such god(s). Sorry, guys, but he ain't up there.

I know that believing that mashing on the sole of your foot can make you feel better is comforting...

But I think you will agree, no matter how comforting, it just ain't so. I apply the same evaluation criteria for every unprovable claim. And remember, being written in a book proves nothing...else the Zodiac would be the national religion.

I think it's pretty clear that the purpose of missionaries is to save souls...not lives....

Of all the weird ass shit in the world, this man is sucking a baby's dick....I swear...

And you know why no Jew is appalled? Cause that's the way they've always done it. What a lame fucking reason to do anything...like people thousands of years ago somehow got it all right. 

Every religion has shit that is laughably illogical...

I feel safe to say, if someone asks you to suspend all logic when they want you to believe something, then that thing is bullshit....think talking snake.

I once owned a home in a very nice neighborhood and I wanted to turn my attic into a children's playroom, like this...

 The city inspector told me I could not do such a thing. Reason: 80% of the room must have an 8' ceiling. I told him it was for children....made no difference. I told him, "Okay, I just want a heated and cooled storage room for my art" and he still wouldn't allow me. I never understood why they would even care.

It's hard to imagine what the future will hold...

Does anyone find it bullshit that prisoners are offered free college and kids who have followed the rules all their lives have to suffer crippling debt for it?

Give this a moment of your time...

Is landing on a comet the equivalent of throwing a baseball from New York to LA and hitting a window?

 You should see the route the probe is taking...I mean, damn!

Seattle is planning to build a new city park filled with hundreds of edible plants...fruit trees, vegetable plants, herbs, etc...Free to anyone and everyone. It will be the first "food forest" in the country.

SYDSE....