Full screen recommended.
The Traveling Wilburys, "End Of The Line"
So, we rise from the rubble...
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Thursday, June 4, 2026
"A Look to the Heavens"
“How many arches can you count in the below image? If you count both spans of the Double Arch in the Arches National Park in Utah, USA, then two. But since the below image was taken during a clear dark night, it caught a photogenic third arch far in the distance- that of the overreaching Milky Way Galaxy. Because we are situated in the midst of the spiral Milky Way Galaxy, the band of the central disk appears all around us.
The sandstone arches of the Double Arch were formed from the erosion of falling water. The larger arch rises over 30 meters above the surrounding salt bed and spans close to 50 meters across. The dark silhouettes across the image bottom are sandstone monoliths left over from silt-filled crevices in an evaporated 300 million year old salty sea. A dim flow created by light pollution from Moab, Utah can also be seen in the distance.”
- http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110524.html
"Briefly..."
“A person who has not been completely alienated, who has remained sensitive and able to feel, who has not lost the sense of dignity, who is not yet ‘for sale’, who can still suffer over the suffering of others, who has not acquired fully the having mode of existence – briefly, a person who has remained a person and not become a thing – cannot help feeling lonely, powerless, isolated in present-day society. He cannot help doubting himself and his own convictions, if not his sanity.” - Erich Fromm
“I often question my sanity. Occasionally, it replies.”
- Darynda Jones
Free Download: Erich Fromm, “The Fear of Freedom”
“Automaton Conformity”
by Erich Fromm
“In the mechanisms we have been discussing, the individual overcomes the feeling of insignificance in comparison with the overwhelming power of the world outside himself either by renouncing his individual integrity, or by destroying others so that the world ceases to be threatening. Other mechanisms of escape are the withdrawal from the world so completely that it loses its threat (the picture we find in certain psychotic states), and the inflation of oneself psychologically to such an extent that the world outside becomes small in comparison. Although these mechanisms of escape are important for individual psychology, they are only of minor relevance culturally. I shall not, therefore, discuss them further here, but instead will turn to another mechanism of escape which is of the greatest social significance.
This particular mechanism is the solution that the majority of normal individuals find in modern society. To put it briefly, the individual ceases to be himself; he adopts entirely the kind of personality offered to him by cultural patterns; and he therefore becomes exactly as all others are and as they expect him to be. The discrepancy between “I” and the world disappears and with it the conscious fear of aloneness and powerlessness. This mechanism can be compared with the protective coloring some animals assume. They look so similar to their surroundings that they are hardly distinguishable from them. The person who gives up his individual self and becomes an automaton, identical with millions of other automatons around him, need not feel alone and anxious any more. But the price he pays, however, is high; it is the loss of his self.”
- Erich Fromm, “The Fear of Freedom”
Freely download “The Fear of Freedom”, by Erich Fromm, here:
The Poet: Carl Sandburg, "Four Preludes on Playthings of the Wind"
"Four Preludes on Playthings of the Wind"
“The past is a bucket of ashes.”
1
"The woman named Tomorrow
sits with a hairpin in her teeth
and takes her time
and does her hair the way she wants it
and fastens at last the last braid and coil
and puts the hairpin where it belongs
and turns and drawls: Well, what of it?
My grandmother, Yesterday, is gone.
What of it? Let the dead be dead.
2
The doors were cedar
and the panels strips of gold
and the girls were golden girls
and the panels read and the girls chanted:
We are the greatest city,
the greatest nation:
nothing like us ever was.
The doors are twisted on broken hinges.
Sheets of rain swish through on the wind
where the golden girls ran and the panels read:
We are the greatest city,
the greatest nation,
nothing like us ever was.
3
It has happened before.
Strong men put up a city and got
a nation together,
And paid singers to sing and women
to warble: We are the greatest city,
the greatest nation,
nothing like us ever was.
And while the singers sang
and the strong men listened
and paid the singers well
and felt good about it all,
there were rats and lizards who listened...
and the only listeners left now...
are…the rats…and the lizards.
And there are black crows
crying, “Caw, caw,”
bringing mud and sticks
building a nest
over the words carved
on the doors where the panels were cedar
and the strips on the panels were gold
and the golden girls came singing:
We are the greatest city,
the greatest nation:
nothing like us ever was.
The only singers now are crows crying, “Caw, caw,”
And the sheets of rain whine in the wind and doorways.
And the only listeners now are…the rats…and the lizards.
4
The feet of the rats
scribble on the door sills;
the hieroglyphs of the rat footprints
chatter the pedigrees of the rats
and babble of the blood
and gabble of the breed
of the grandfathers and the great-grandfathers
of the rats.
And the wind shifts
and the dust on a door sill shifts
and even the writing of the rat footprints
tells us nothing, nothing at all
about the greatest city, the greatest nation
where the strong men listened
and the women warbled: Nothing like us ever was."
- Carl Sandburg
"Information, Please"
"Information, Please"
By nkit
"When I was a young boy, my father had one of the first telephones in our neighborhood. I remember the polished, old case fastened to the wall. The shiny receiver hung on the side of the box. I was too little to reach the telephone, but used to listen with fascination when my mother talked to it. Then I discovered that somewhere inside the wonderful device lived an amazing person. Her name was “Information Please” and there was nothing she did not know. Information Please could supply anyone’s number and the correct time.
My personal experience with the genie-in-a-bottle came one day while my mother was visiting a neighbor. Amusing myself at the tool bench in the basement, I whacked my finger with a hammer, the pain was terrible, but there seemed no point in crying because there was no one home to give sympathy. I walked around the house sucking my throbbing finger, finally arriving at the stairway.
The telephone! Quickly, I ran for the footstool in the parlor and dragged it to the landing. Climbing up, I unhooked the receiver in the parlor and held it to my ear. “Information, please,” I said into the mouthpiece just above my head. A click or two and a small clear voice spoke into my ear. “Information.”
“I hurt my finger…” I wailed into the phone, the tears came readily enough now that I had an audience. “Isn’t your mother home?” came the question “Nobody’s home but me,” I blubbered. “Are you bleeding?” the voice asked “No, “I replied. “I hit my finger with the hammer and it hurts.” “Can you open the icebox?” she asked. I said I could. “Then chip off a little bit of ice and hold it to your finger,” said the voice.
After that, I called “Information Please” for everything. I asked her for help with my geography, and she told me where Philadelphia was. She helped me with my math. She told me my pet chipmunk that I had caught in the park just the day before, would eat fruit and nuts.
Then, there was the time Petey, our pet canary, died. I called, “Information Please,” and told her the sad story. She listened, and then said things grown-ups say to soothe a child. But I was not consoled. I asked her, “Why is it that birds should sing so beautifully and bring joy to all families, only to end up as a heap of feathers on the bottom of a cage?” She must have sensed my deep concern, for she said quietly, “Wayne, always remember that there are other worlds to sing in.” Somehow, I felt better.
Another day I was on the telephone, “Information Please.” “Information,” said in the now familiar voice. “How do I spell fix?” I asked
All this took place in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. When I was nine years old, we moved across the country to Boston. I missed my friend very much. “Information Please” belonged in that old wooden box back home and I somehow never thought of trying the shiny new phone that sat on the table in the hall. As I grew into my teens, the memories of those childhood conversations never really left me. Often, in moments of doubt and perplexity I would recall the serene sense of security I had then. I appreciated now how patient, understanding, and kind she was to have spent her time on a little boy.
A few years later, on my way west to college, my plane put down in Seattle. I had about a half-hour or so between planes. I spent 15 minutes or so on the phone with my sister, who lived there now. Then without thinking what I was doing, I dialed my hometown operator and said, “Information Please.” Miraculously, I heard the small, clear voice I knew so well. “Information.”
I hadn’t planned this, but I heard myself saying, “Could you please tell me how to spell fix?” There was a long pause. Then came the soft-spoken answer, “I guess your finger must have healed by now.” I laughed, “So it’s really you,” I said. “I wonder if you have any idea how much you meant to me during that time?” “I wonder,” she said, “if you know how much your calls meant to me. I never had any children and I used to look forward to your calls.” I told her how often I had thought of her over the years and I asked if I could call her again when I came back to visit my sister. “Please do,” she said. “Just ask for Sally.”
Three months later I was back in Seattle. A different voice answered, “Information.” I asked for Sally. “Are you a friend?” she said. “Yes, a very old friend,” I answered. “I’m sorry to have to tell you this,” she said. “Sally had been working part time the last few years because she was sick. She died five weeks ago.”
Before I could hang up, she said, “Wait a minute, did you say your name was Wayne?” “Yes.” I answered. "Well, Sally left a message for you. She wrote it down in case you called. Let me read it to you." The note said, “Tell Wayne that there are other worlds to sing in. He’ll know what I mean.” I thanked her and hung up. I knew what Sally meant."
"You Gotta Be Tough To Grow Old"
Delta King's Blues
"You Gotta Be Tough To Grow Old"
"Wrinkles ain’t weakness - they’re proof you survived. “You Gotta Be Tough To Grow Old” is a gritty, soul-deep Delta King’s Blues anthem about resilience, scar tissue, and standing tall through the years. A strong, steady acoustic guitar drives the rhythm like boots planted firm in red dirt. The harmonica blows bold and weathered, carrying the sound of hard winters and hotter summers. The groove stays slow but unbreakable -built for endurance, not speed. This is survival blues. For people who took their hits, buried their losses, and kept waking up anyway. Growing old ain’t for the soft - it’s for the stubborn."
Native Elder, "How to Find Peace With the Life You Actually Lived"
Full screen recommended.
Native Elder,
"How to Find Peace With the Life You Actually Lived"
Comments here:
Here's my book: https://theoldway.site/
"Old Hands, Slow Work: A Quiet Village Story"
Full screen recommended.
"Old Hands, Slow Work: A Quiet Village Story"
"In Cozy Town, some stories are not told with words. They are told by hands. Hands that mend, sweep, knead, knit, wash, carve, repair, water, fold, sew, and keep doing the small things they have done for a lifetime. This quiet village story is a tribute to old hands, slow work, and the simple dignity of knowing how to make a day useful. Everything here is small. Everything here matters. Cozy Town"
"Madness! Alert! U.S. Putting Nukes In Latvia?! Iran Nuclear Standoff!
Full screen recommended.
Canadian Prepper, 6/4/26
"Madness! Alert! U.S. Putting Nukes In Latvia?!
Iran Nuclear Standoff!"
Comments here:
"Judge Napolitano, Judging Freedom, 6/4/26"
Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 6/4/26
"Col. Lawrence Wilkerson:
Did Pakistan Offer Iran Nukes?"
Comments here:
o
Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 6/4/26
"Col. Douglas Macgregor:
"Does the US Have a Military Option in Iran?"
Comments here:
Prof Jiang Xueqin, 6/4/26
Prof Jiang Xueqin, 6/4/26
"I Predicted This Crisis -
Now I’m Predicting the Endgame"
Comments here:
o
Prof Jiang Xueqin, 6/4/26
"My Biggest Prediction:
What Happens Next In This War?"
Comments here:
o
Prof Jiang Xueqin, 6/4/26
"Iran Took the North Korea Playbook Step by Step -
America Has No Counter-Move"
"This video examine the North Korea Model - the four-step strategic framework that turned one of the world's poorest nations into a country the United States cannot touch - and what Iran's real-time adoption of that exact same playbook, confirmed by the events of June 3rd, 2026, reveals about the true limits of American military power in this century. We trace each of Iran's four strategic conditions, break down the petrodollar economics that explain why this conflict is about far more than missiles and drones, and ask the question no analyst on cable television is willing to put on the table: if Iran is as broken as Washington claims - no navy, no air force, no leadership, 250 percent inflation - why has the most powerful military in history spent months and fifty percent of its Patriot interceptor reserve and still cannot reopen a thirty-three-kilometer strait?"
Comments here:
"Russian Typical 4-Bedroom House: Could You Live There?"
Meanwhile, elsewhere...
Full screen recommended.
Travelling With Russell, 6/4/26
"Russian Typical 4-Bedroom House:
Could You Live There?"
"What does a typical Russian house look like inside? Join me on a tour of a brand-new Russian new-build house listed for sale in the Moscow Region. Listed for sale in a new housing complex 40 km from Moscow in the town of Aprelevka."
Comments here:
Dan, I Allegedly, "This Is The New Normal - Are You Ready?"
Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly, 6/4/26
"This Is The New Normal - Are You Ready?"
"Americans are facing a reality that many don't want to admit: higher prices, rising bills, layoffs, business failures, and economic uncertainty may not be temporary. In this video, Dan breaks down why this could be the new normal and what it means for consumers, homeowners, workers, investors, and small business owners. From struggling retailers and restaurant chains to rising HOA fees, housing costs, and growing financial pressure, the warning signs are becoming impossible to ignore.
We also discuss major companies facing financial trouble, the changing job market, AI disruption, real estate trends, consumer debt, car affordability, and the rising costs impacting everyday life. Whether you're concerned about inflation, personal finance, economic news, business trends, or protecting your financial future, this video highlights the challenges Americans are facing and the practical reality of navigating an economy where everything costs more and fewer people are getting ahead."
Comments here:
Adventures With Danno, "Massive Sales At Kroger"
Full screen recommended.
Adventures With Danno, 6/4/26
"Massive Sales At Kroger"
Comments here:
Bill Bonner, "Accomplished Scalawags"
"Accomplished Scalawags"
by Bill Bonner
"The old world is dying, and the new world
struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters."
- Antonio Gramsci
“Politicians are a lot like diapers.
They should be changed frequently, and for the same reasons.”
- Mark Twain
Gualfin, Argentina - "When the money goes, everything goes. And when the money is fraudulent at its root, it’s not long before every branch and leaf is contaminated. But one of the wonders of a corrupt age is that the public doesn’t seem to mind. The voters are flogged, fleeced, and sent home in their underwear - and then, when the next election rolls around, they line up at the polling station and clamor for another beating. There is perhaps no spectacle in all of democracy quite so edifying as a free people demanding, with tears of gratitude, to be robbed again.
Politico: "Trump pardons real estate developer indicted under his own DOJ." Tim Leiweke was charged with conspiring to rig a bid to build a Texas sports arena.
Bloomberg: "SpaceX’s initial public offering will likely make President Donald Trump’s already wealthy administration even richer. Ten officials ranging from special envoy Steve Witkoff to Small Business Administration head Kelly Loeffler reported financial interests in Elon Musk’s rocket company or in xAI, the artificial intelligence and social media firm it merged with in February, according to their most recent public financial disclosures."
Alternet.com: "Trump Jr. made $1.8 billion on a startup that got White House-ordered funding. When the Pentagon announced a $620 million loan last year to a small North Carolina startup linked to Donald Trump Jr., defense officials and the company tried to tamp down suspicions of cronyism. Interviews and Defense Department records reviewed by ProPublica show that the request to loan hundreds of millions of dollars to the firm linked to Trump Jr. was made by Peter Navarro, a White House adviser to President Donald Trump and a friend of Trump Jr.’s. “The call came from the White House: We have to get this done,” the [source] said."
No capital allocator in his right mind would touch a deal blessed by Pete Navarro. The man is a monument to bad judgment, a walking museum of failure and muddled thinking, with a record nearly as gaudy as that of his patron in the Oval Office. But it would be unsporting to single him out. He is merely one barnacle on a very large ship, now riding very low in the water.
The political/business world of 2026 seems to have achieved a crescendo of con...a fortissimo of fraud. Like a carnival barker, it bellows from the highest platform - the White House itself - and bends down to whisper sweet come-ons to every bumpkin, yokel, and naïve lout who passes by.
The president’s family is said to have enriched itself by billions since The Donald was elected for the second time. An exact accounting is beyond us...and anyone else. Were the $6 billion put into Jared Kushner’s fund because foreign investors saw in his unblemished mug the makings of a money genius? Or because he is married to the president’s daughter? We don’t know...but influence peddling has never been such a thriving trade. And no one has ever had so much influence to sell as the 46th president of the USA.
Yet the truly astonishing thing - the thing that would have set Mr. Barnum himself back on his heels - is the temper of the marks. The people at whose expense all this influence is hawked do not merely tolerate the grift. They admire the grifter. They love him for it. A full third of the population - and we must assume a few among them can still add two and two without using their fingers - would ask for nothing finer than to be skinned, personally and lovingly, by the First Family.
Occasionally, of course, they suffer buyer’s remorse. Those who curried favor with Trump by joining his Board of Peace, for example, may wonder what they actually get for it. MSN: “Several countries that pledged billions of dollars have not actually given any money,” The Daily Beast adds, noting that it “has no real funding despite receiving billions of dollars in pledges.” “Zero dollars have been deposited,” into the Board of Peace’s World Bank-backed fund, a source told the FT, The Daily Beast reports."
Those who bought into Trump’s Liberty Financial (run by crony Steve Witkoff’s son) may have their doubts too. The Funny Money Era seems to have bent the republic towards Trump...and here, in what must be counted among the more delicious episodes in history, Trump sells them - even funnier money! CoinMarketCap: "Investments in Liberty Financial have faced significant challenges recently. The company has experienced a $4.84 million loss across various assets, with its crypto holdings showing unrealized losses."
And even the luxury swag buyers may be less than happy, The Mirror: "MAGA supporter in tears after buying Trump watch. The poor man paid $640 for a MAGA watch. He then felt not only disappointed, but insulted. The watch came with ‘Rump’ on its face."
But these are mere glitches in the machine - stray pebbles in an otherwise smoothly grinding mill. By and large the griftees are delighted. They have found professionals at last, virtuosos of the swindle, and they stand in line with their mouths open, their wallets unfurled and their hats in their hands, happy beyond measure to have their pockets picked by such accomplished scalawags."
Wednesday, June 3, 2026
"They Didn’t Miss You, They Missed What You Did"
Full screen recommended.
Blues Masterpiece,
"They Didn’t Miss You,
They Missed What You Did"
“They Didn’t Miss You, They Missed What You Did” cuts deep with a hard-earned truth about being valued for what you give, not who you are. The singer looks back on relationships where appreciation only showed up after the work stopped - revealing that it was never really about love, just convenience. Driven by steady blues guitar and the low, knowing cry of the harmonica the song carries a calm but cutting tone. The voice isn’t loud or angry - it’s clear, grounded, and certain, the sound of someone who finally understands their worth. Not missed… just used."
"The One Who Walked Beside"
Full screen recommended.
Cozy Art Town,
"The One Who Walked Beside"
"Some companions don't need words. They just stay. This is a handcrafted AI film about the quietest kind of loyalty - the kind that walks beside you, slows down when you slow down, and never asks where you're going. Some companions don't need words. They just stay. If this reminds you of someone... you already understand."
o
Full screen recommended.
"Im Still Your Dog"
"An emotional and heartbreaking song told from the perspective of a dog who has passed away but never truly left. This powerful tribute explores the eternal bond between humans and their pets, transforming grief into love, memory, and a cosmic connection that never fades. If you’ve ever lost a dog, this song will speak directly to your soul - reminding you that love transcends time, space, and even death. Perfect for those grieving a pet, remembering a loyal companion, or seeking comfort through music. Experience a deeply emotional journey of loss, healing, and unconditional love through this cinematic, tear-jerking song. You are not alone. Your pet is still with you. This emotional pet video explores the powerful connection between a dog and its owner, highlighting the enduring dog love that transcends physical presence. If you're a dog owner, this video offers comfort and reminds you that your dog is always near, especially when you're dreaming of your dog."
"5 People in Your Life Who Don't Deserve Your Loyalty in Old Age"
Full screen recommended.
Native Elder,
"5 People in Your Life Who Don't
Deserve Your Loyalty in Old Age"
"A Look to the Heavens"
“While drifting through the cosmos, a magnificent interstellar dust cloud became sculpted by stellar winds and radiation to assume a recognizable shape. Fittingly named the Horsehead Nebula, it is embedded in the vast and complex Orion Nebula (M42). A potentially rewarding but difficult object to view personally with a small telescope, the below gorgeously detailed image was taken in infrared light by the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope.
The dark molecular cloud, roughly 1,500 light years distant, is cataloged as Barnard 33 and is seen above primarily because it is backlit by the nearby massive star Sigma Orionis. The Horsehead Nebula will slowly shift its apparent shape over the next few million years and will eventually be destroyed by the high energy starlight.”
"Holy Books"
"Holy Books"
"Holy Books is the largest collection of high-quality sacred texts, holy books, spiritual texts as PDF ebooks you will find on the Internet. Download Spiritual Texts as free PDF e-books. Download PDF’s: holy books, sacred texts, and spiritual PDF e-books in full length for free. Download the Bible, The Holy Quran, The Mahabharata, and thousands of free pdf ebooks on Buddhism, meditation, etc. Read the reviews and download the free PDF e-books.
Use the search function to find our free PDF ebooks or use the category list to browse books. All books on HolyBooks.com are Public Domain texts and free to download as pdf-files. This online library project is still under development and we are adding new e-books often. Suggestions are welcome. We are also maintaining Moral Paradigm – a similar site about moral and ethical questions."
The Poet: T.S. Eliot, "The Hollow Men"
"The Hollow Men" (read by Tom O'Bedlam)
"My Favorite Poem"
by Craig Boehman
"I’ve been experimenting with several of the AI platforms, attempting to learn all that I can about how the systems work and how to produce the best images from the prompts that I provide. My favorite platform is Midjourney, which is what I used to create the images for this poem. It’s a relatively straight-forward process over all, but there is a bit of learning when it comes to some of the finer aspects of telling AI exactly what it is that you want. Whether then AI can actually provide you with your desired results is another issue altogether, as I’ve discovered first-hand over the past week.
Which brings me to "The Hollow Men" by T.S. Eliot, my favorite poem. I thought what better way to put Midjourney’s AI to the test? Surely, not even artificial intelligence can handle all of Eliot’s lines in a cohesive manner. I found this to be true. But in some cases, the visuals came pretty close to matching a visual interpretation of the lines. I’ll let you be the judge though.
For each of the images below, the corresponding lines from the poem were fed into the bot as prompts, exactly as written, no other commands given except to make the images all in a 3:2 ratio. Other than that, you’re seeing only the results from Eliot’s own words."
"The Hollow Men"
I
We are the hollow men,
We are the stuffed men,
Leaning together,
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!
Our dried voices, when
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless,
As wind in dry grass,
Or rats’ feet over broken glass
In our dry cellar.
Shape without form, shade without color.
Paralyzed force, gesture without motion;
Those who have crossed
With direct eyes, to death’s other Kingdom,
.jpg)
Remember us - if at all - not as lost
Violent souls, but only
As the hollow men.
The stuffed men.
II
Eyes I dare not meet in dreams
In death’s dream kingdom,
These do not appear:
There, the eyes are
Sunlight on a broken column
There, is a tree swinging,
And voices are
In the wind’s singing,
More distant and more solemn
Than a fading star.
Let me be no nearer
In death’s dream kingdom.
Let me also wear
Such deliberate disguises
Rat’s coat, crowskin, crossed staves
In a field,
Behaving as the wind behaves
No nearer -
Not that final meeting
In the twilight kingdom.
III
This is the dead land,
This is cactus land.
Here the stone images
Are raised, here they receive
The supplication of a dead man’s hand
Under the twinkle of a fading star.
Is it like this
In death’s other kingdom,
Waking alone,
At the hour when we are
Trembling with tenderness,
Lips that would kiss
Form prayers to broken stone.
IV
The eyes are not here,
There are no eyes here
In this valley of dying stars,
In this hollow valley,
This broken jaw of our lost kingdoms.
In this last of meeting places
We grope together
And avoid speech,
Gathered on this beach of the tumid river.
Sightless, unless
The eyes reappear
As the perpetual starm
Multifoliate rose
Of death’s twilight kingdom,
The hope only
Of empty men.
V
Here we go round the prickly pear,
Prickly pear prickly pear,
Here we go round the prickly pear,
At five o’clock in the morning.
Between the idea
And the reality,
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow.
For Thine is the Kingdom.
Between the conception
And the creation,
Between the emotion
And the response,
Falls the Shadow
Life is very long.
Between the desire
And the spasm,
Between the potency
And the existence,
Between the essence
And the descent,
Falls the Shadow.
For Thine is the Kingdom.
For Thine is,
Life is
For Thine is the...
This is the way the world ends,
This is the way the world ends,
This is the way the world ends,
Not with a bang but a whimper."
- T. S. Eliot
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