Roadie Ric

In this age of "alternative facts", the wisdom expressed by this cherished old t-shirt (given to me by the man himself in 89) speaks volumes

On the morrow

A Reminder from Carl “It is well within our power to destroy our civilization, and perhaps our species as well. If we capitulate to superstition, or greed, or stupidity, we can plunge our world into a darkness deeper than the time between the collapse of classical civilization and the Italian Renaissance. But we are also capable of using our compassion and our intelligence, our technology and our wealth, to make an abundant and meaningful life for every inhabitant of this planet, to enhance enormously our understanding of the universe and to carry us to the stars.”

@MikeRob66 In July of 1️⃣9️⃣6️⃣9️⃣ ,the film #EasyRider was released⏳ In August, I bought my first #motorcycle ('66 #BSA) 🏍️ 56 years & I'm still "in the wind", so I share this with confidence: There's lots of old bikers. There's lots of bold bikers. There are very few old bold bikers.

I’ve been riding bikes for almost 50 years and in that time I’ve seen it all. Most of us ‘older’ bikers have built up valuable riding experience over the years. It’s the new inexperienced bikers that tend to think they’re invincible. Please watch out for us all. Thank you 🙏

@TheRickWilson @MamaSancocho Even Khruschchev couldn't have imagined their luck with Trump, completely amoral with a Pandora's box of kompromat. What a gift for Putin.

Elias is right. Mail voting and accessible registration are not security threats - labeling them that way is how you federalize election control incrementally without announcing it. The decentralized system has held against genuine threats before. It does not need to be surrendered to an emergency framing now.

Trump is setting the stage to claim extraordinary powers to take over the 2026 elections — from banning mail-in voting to imposing new obstacles to voter registration. All of this will be justified on the grounds of national security. democracydocket.com/opinion/trumps…

@realityfakenews @ishaantharoor @neeratanden Hope of what exactly? #MakeAmericaSmartAgain 🇺🇸

@ishaantharoor @neeratanden I suggest you go to Iran and get in touch with real Iranians to realize they see it as the last hope.

I’m on holiday in India. This is a facile observation, but Americans have barely scratched the surface in understanding how the rest of the world is reacting to this war. It’s more than well on its way to becoming an Iraq War-style disaster in the global imagination, underscored by the perceived thuggishness and caprice of the Trump approach

@GenXisthetruth @_HenryBolton 🖕

@_HenryBolton Worry about your own country that you are losing to Islam. We know how to handle our business thank you!!

I’m deeply uncomfortable with this. War is noisy, chaotic, messy, bloody, smelly and terrifying - after the event for me, rather than at the time. When you’ve had someone’s head splashed over you, smelled the stench of someone’s flesh burning, seen corpses ripped apart and scattered across the ground, a dead persons guts spilled across the road and covered with dirt and flies…then you may realise that it’s not like a computer game, Hollywood film, or about cheering on a football team. War is on another level. At the effects end it is serious beyond the comprehension of those who’ve not experienced it intimately. It scars you. When it comes to it, someone has to stand between those who would do harm and those to whom they would do it. But things that glorify war or portray it as a sport or game, as this video does, concern me.

@Thomas55G @EricIdle 🖕

@EricIdle The only reason you can go to any of these countries is because the US has a really good military. It would be nice if you could say thanks instead of being condescending.

This man is awful.

About the Kurdish option per IslanderWORLD: This brings us to the rumored "plan B": the Iranian Kurdish militias. According to reports too widespread to ignore, the US has been in talks with these groups about launching operations from their bases in northern Iraq into western Iran. The goal, ostensibly, is to soften up Iranian security forces and create space for a popular uprising. President Trump has even been on the phone with Kurdish leaders in Iraq, presumably to discuss logistics and, one assumes, to remind them to ignore any incoming calls from Turkey. Now, for the second, and far more engaging, part of the question: would the Kurds actually fall for this again? Let's consult the historical transcript, shall we? In 1975, the US and the Shah of Iran armed the Kurds to bleed Iraq dry. When the Shah made a deal with Baghdad, the US cut the Kurds off without a second thought. Kurdish leader Mustafa Barzani sent Henry Kissinger a desperate plea, citing America's "moral and political responsibility." Kissinger didn't even bother to reply, later offering the immortal epitaph of realpolitik: "Covert action should not be confused with missionary work" . In 1991, after George H.W. Bush encouraged Iraqis to rise up against Saddam Hussein, the Kurds obliged. They took up arms, seized cities, and then watched as the US stood by and allowed Saddam to use his helicopters, which were exempt from the no-fly zone, to massacre them by the tens of thousands, often using illegal chemical weapons (developed with the help of the west when Saddam was a useful tool against Iran).'' Then-National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft later admitted they hoped the rebellion would lead to a military coup, not a popular uprising. Oopsie. And, lest we forget the most recent episode, in 2019 in Syria, the US told their Kurdish allies, who had lost 11,000 fighters defeating ISIS, to hold tight. Then President Trump had a phone call with Turkey's Erdogan, did an abrupt about-face, and ordered American troops to withdraw, effectively green-lighting a Turkish invasion of the very territory the Kurds had liberated. As American convoys departed, grateful Kurdish civilians pelted them with rotten vegetables. So, with that track record, you would think the Kurds might be a tad skeptical. And you'd be right. Across the Middle East, the message is clear: US support is unreliable and temporary. 👇

Dog parks level up once a Greyhound enters the scene. Good luck catching him guys…lol. 🐕💨

The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction no longer exists. - Hannah Arendt

There's always a tweet.

In general the problem the U.S. has in its Middle Eastern interventions is always underestimating the complexity and powder keg-like conditions in these countries. Instead of empowering a side we favor we usually open up a Pandora's Box of violent Murphy's Law outcomes instead.

@Chicago_History 🥱

WHEN THEY CLAIM THEY ARE FROM CHICAGO. . . . #ChicagoHistory ☑️

"And when you're the President, they just LET you... " 🫴

@Selene406 @politvidchannel That's already happened. Twice. And to what end? #MakeAmericaSmartAgain ⚖️

@politvidchannel Still waiting for him to be impeached

BREAKING: Trump is accused of trying to sleep with Young female aide in the White House

@TiceRichard @reformparty_uk This is Reform UK. This is Tice. Just an average British person, but he’s a British British Person. Don’t be fooled. Be vigilant.