blog – Page 3 – Van Clayton Powel

Ellen Spoofs Matthew McConaughey's Lincoln Commercial

Worth a view.

ALDOUS HUXLEY ON DEMOCRACY FROM 1958

Aldous Huxley’s view of the future (i.e. now) from 1958:
Aldous Huxley quote sm
Source: http://anotherangryvoice.blogspot.ca/

“All the traditional names, all the hallowed slogans will remain exactly what they were in the good old days. Democracy and freedom will be the theme of every broadcast and editorial—but Democracy and freedom in a strictly Pickwickian sense. Meanwhile the ruling oligarchy and its highly trained elite of soldiers, policemen, thought-manufacturers and mind-manipulators will quietly run the show as they see fit. ”
– Aldous Huxley, Brave New World Revisited, published 1958

HELICOPTER WARNING

No comment needed –

Helicopter Danger Sign

7 DIRECTIONS in FIRST NATIONS CULTURE

Reading a book about Anishinaabe culture vs Western and it talks about the 7 directions: North, South, East, West, Above, Below … and Within.

Seems many of us could journey more down that last one 😉

GAZA – THUGS & FALLEN PEECEKEEPERS

Soldier There are brutal thugs on both sides of the conflict in Gaza, but two photographs taken during one of the ceasefires highlight the difference between the Israeli and Palestinian experience of the carnage.

The photograph taken in Israel showed sunbathers back on the beaches, enjoying the weather. The photograph from Gaza showed a woman picking through the body parts and rubble of what had once been her home and neighbourhood.

I’m afraid the scope of death and destruction in Gaza has turned the phrase “Israel Defense Forces” into an oxymoron. They have always been proficient at killing their enemies. They now excel at making new ones.

And where does Canada, that once proud nation of peacekeepers, stand in all this? We offer helmets and vests to the Ukraine to protect their soldiers, but shrug at the horrific deaths and injuries of thousands of unarmed, innocent Palestinian civilians.

It seems Mr. Harper only considers it injustice if it happens to people who fit his personal religious and moral code. How far we have fallen.

REPORTER EMBEDDED IN ISIS

“VICE News reporter Medyan Dairieh spent three weeks embedded with the Islamic State, gaining unprecedented access to the group in Iraq and Syria as the first and only journalist to document its inner workings.”
Darkness headed our way? Part 1 here: https://news.vice.com/video/the-islamic-state-part-1

CANADA SENDING MILITARY EQUIPMENT TO UKRAINE

Way to go Canada – that’s how you escalate a situation! We used to send peace-keepers; Harper prefers weapons. (Canada dropped hundreds of 500-pound bombs on Libya. Which is now quite a mess, by the way.)

This is starting with helmets and vests, apparently. (I bet the Palestinians could have used some of those in Israel’s latest bloody invasion. In fact, ‘Israel Defense Forces’ is now about as oxymoronic as you can get.)

But just as Harper’s simplistic good guy-bad guy view of the world would have gotten us into Iraq, he’s jumping into the Ukraine way before all the facts are known. Oh Canada, indeed.

More here: It Begins: Canada To Send Military Equipment To Ukraine

JUST COUNT YOUR COIN

JUST COUNT YOUR COIN

Lyrics

JUST COUNT YOUR COIN

We are the victims of your point of view
You think the world was put here just for you
You deal in cash and you manipulate
The devil helps you navigate

Sell your bombs, put your landmines under children’s feet
Cut the old growth forests down
Pump the oil into oceans, poison every creek
Don’t let your conscience rejoin, just count your coin

Find the island we call paradise
Build your house and say it’s mighty nice
Then one year later stand and make your speech
Announcing strip malls on the beach

Buy all the water, make us pay to take a drink
Claim all the seeds from Nature’s womb
Advertise to our children, tell them what to think
Don’t let your conscience rejoin, just count your coin

I remember times of innocence
When our minds were not for sale
Yes, I remember times of innocence
But we’ve let heaven go to hell, yes go to hell

Take a pill that says it’s time for sex
Take another ‘cause your life’s a mess
Be a victim of their point of view
Don’t stand up and shout, “Hey, you!”

“Take your bombs and shove them where the sun don’t shone
Leave those goddamn trees alone
You can have your piece but this world’s also mine
Stop acting like you were just born to count your coin”

I remember times of innocence
When our souls were not for sale
Yes, I remember times of innocence
But we’ve let heaven go to hell, yes go to hell

I DON'T SHINE

WHEN I'M WITH YOU
I DON’T SHINE *Pre-production mockup with Ken Pendergast. (Original unplugged version below)

Lyrics

I DON’T SHINE

We sit here at the table
Our lines drawn in the sand
No way to go forward
At least not hand-in-hand

We’ve been down every alleyway
We’ve chased down every lead
We gave it everything we’ve got
It’s time that I leave, ‘cause

I don’t shine
In your eyes anymore
No, I don’t shine
In your eyes anymore

A piece of our puzzle
Has fallen through the cracks
We fished on our hands and knees
But can’t get it back

It’s one of those mysteries
That we’ll never know
But somehow we recognize it’s time
To let it go, ‘cause

I don’t shine
In your eyes anymore
No, I don’t shine
In your eyes anymore

*Original unplugged version

I'VE GOT HALF A MIND

WHEN I'M WITH YOU
I’VE GOT HALF A MIND

Lyrics

I’VE GOT HALF A MIND

We made every promise
Like new lovers always do
Never cheat, never lie, no
And always be a friend to you

Now you have your lawyer
And of course I have mine, too
And they stand between us
Like a wall we can’t get through

I’ve got half a mind to pack the whole thing in
Wrap my sorrows up and drown them all in gin
I’ve got half a mind to give you one last call
But I’ve got half a mind, that’s all

I’ve got half a heart to blame it all on you
Play the martyr that’s what cowards always do
I’ve got half a heart that says you’d take my call
But I’ve got half a heart, that’s all

Used to be so easy
We were full of love and hope
Now it’s hard to reach out
With only one hand on the rope

There’s a cold wind howling
There’s a hard rain on the roof
It’s a deep, dark nightmare
Guaranteed we both will lose