RIFLE RANGE BOY

Judas and the Black Messiah (2021) It is not easy to change society. The people of the top of the perch want to continue having their nice view undisturbed. Those in the middle rung wish to have continued access to the top and maintain their gateway to positions whilst asserting dominance upon the plebians under their feet. The plebians, well, they are a pathetic lot. They bicker amongst themselves to be king, imagining the changes in their lives upon springboarding to the top.  The minions' blinded voracious appetite is not the only impeding factor that prevents them from reaching the top. The kingmakers also send in their instigators and moles to derail any flicker of progress. The Civil War was not started by the Northerners because of altruistic intentions, because they could not stomach seeing black slaves being treated worse than animals. It was economics, stupid. The Union just wanted to liberate the slaves and pack them off to Africa, specifically Liberia, not treat them as...

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020; Netflix) Everyone wants to live in a utopia. Even the Islamic jihadis, who are hellbent on destroying everything nice, are looking for that heaven on Earth. The human race continually feels dissatisfied with the way things are run and yearns for reforms.  Firstly, the society starting with the moderates will initiate the move to change. The ruling regime would appear set in their old ways and seem apathetic to the demands of the majority. Like the 'Emperor in his new clothes', they would be pleased in their own echo-chamber.  People would rise to the demand for their place in the sun. People would win. Sadly, other self-serving radicals will piggyback on the movement. Controlling a large crowd is no easy task. Emotion runs high, and quickly the peaceful demonstration escalates into a violent protest. Even if the moderates managed to change the status quo, the comrades in arms with different ideologies would steamroll their own agendas. The sys...

(...Cont.) ALAN TAYLOR JAN 10, 2018 https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2018/01/50-years-ago-in-photos-a-look-back-at-1968/550208/ A half-century ago, much of the world appeared to be in a state of crisis. Protests erupted in France, Czechoslovakia. Germany, Mexico, Brazil, the United States, and many other places. Some of these protests ended peacefully; many were put down harshly. Two of the biggest catalysts for the protest were the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War and the ongoing lack of civil rights in the U.S. and elsewhere. Two of America’s most prominent leaders, Dr Martin Luther King Jr. and Senator Robert F. Kennedy, were assassinated within months of each other. But some lessons were being learned and some progress was being made—this was also the year that NASA first sent astronauts around the moon and back, and the year President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law. It’s fitting that I post this retrospective today, since it is the day I was born—Ja...

(...Cont.) ALAN TAYLOR JAN 10, 2018 https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2018/01/50-years-ago-in-photos-a-look-back-at-1968/550208/ A half-century ago, much of the world appeared to be in a state of crisis. Protests erupted in France, Czechoslovakia. Germany, Mexico, Brazil, the United States, and many other places. Some of these protests ended peacefully; many were put down harshly. Two of the biggest catalysts for the protest were the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War and the ongoing lack of civil rights in the U.S. and elsewhere. Two of America’s most prominent leaders, Dr Martin Luther King Jr. and Senator Robert F. Kennedy, were assassinated within months of each other. But some lessons were being learned and some progress was being made—this was also the year that NASA first sent astronauts around the moon and back, and the year President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law. It’s fitting that I post this retrospective today, since it is the day I was born—Ja...

(...Cont.) ALAN TAYLOR  JAN 10, 2018 https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2018/01/50-years-ago-in-photos-a-look-back-at-1968/550208/ A half-century ago, much of the world appeared to be in a state of crisis. Protests erupted in France, Czechoslovakia. Germany, Mexico, Brazil, the United States, and many other places. Some of these protests ended peacefully; many were put down harshly. Two of the biggest catalysts for the protest were the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War and the ongoing lack of civil rights in the U.S. and elsewhere. Two of America’s most prominent leaders, Dr Martin Luther King Jr. and Senator Robert F. Kennedy, were assassinated within months of each other. But some lessons were being learned and some progress was being made—this was also the year that NASA first sent astronauts around the moon and back, and the year President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law. It’s fitting that I post this retrospective today, since it is the day I was bo...