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David McElroy

making sense of a dysfunctional culture

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Hawks in both Iran and U.S. playing dangerous games leading to war

By David McElroy · December 27, 2011

If two bullies taunt each other for long enough, there’s going to be a fight. It seems that a small minority of insane people in Iran and the United States are nudging both countries in that direction. And when the shooting starts, it’s not going to matter who fired the first shot. It’s only going to matter how many body bags we’re going to need for the dead.

Neo-conservatives in the United States have been trying to maneuver the country into war with Iran for decades. They wanted to attack Iraq, and they finally found a way to trick the public into supporting that war 10 years ago. The country hadn’t attacked us and the shaky evidence that was used to justify the attack turned out to be a combination of lies and bad information. Still, the war hawks had their way. U.S. taxpayers spent trillions of dollars over the last decade, and many people on both sides were killed and maimed. And for what? As most U.S. troops pull out, the place is still a violent political basketcase that could fall into civil war at any time.

But the Iraqi misadventure hasn’t taught the neo-conservative war hawks anything, so now they want to attack Iran. They’ll use any excuse. They just want to overthrow the Iranian government, ignoring the evidence that external nation-building doesn’t work.

There’s a hardline element inside Iran, of course, that’s just as bad. To them, it’s a religious struggle, and they’re eager to fight “the Great Satan.” The Iranian military is in the midst of a war games exercise in international waters that has the possibility of setting off a war, either accidentally or intentionally. The Iranians have spent years building their military and pursing nuclear weapons, in large part because they’ll always be at the mercy of countries such as the United States unless they join the “nuclear club.”

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They can’t get anybody high, but Smarties are latest ‘drug craze’

By David McElroy · December 26, 2011

There’s apparently a new fad in drug addiction sweeping the country. Middle school students are grinding a product into fine powder and then snorting it into their noses — as certain older folks might do with cocaine. It has drug warriors all up in arms.

The “drug” in question is a candy called Smarties. They can’t get anybody high. They can’t cause problems of any sort other than the respiratory problems that you’d get from inhaling any sugar into your nose. So why is anyone considering this a “drug problem”?

A story in my local newspaper today quoted a “drug educator” as saying it’s a problem because it shows that kids are willing to try new things. No joke. It’s a “problem” that kids want to try things. A project coordinator with the Shelby County Drug Free Coalition Project Safe Place Programs of Family Connection — I’m not making that name up — had this to say:

“It shows that willingness to experiment and try different things. Later it may not be Smarties. It may be alcohol. It may be cigarettes. It may be marijuana.”

Can’t we just say that some kids are going to act like idiots no matter what we do? Some kids shove Froot Loops up their nose, too, but it’s not considered a drug problem. Can’t we be reasonable instead of turning everything into the modern version of “Reefer Madness“?

Nobody can accuse me of taking recreational drug use lightly. I think it’s a very shortsighted decision to use any recreational drug, whether it’s the illegal ones or the legal one that causes the most real-world problems — alcohol. I don’t use any drugs and plan to keep it that way. But can’t we have a sense of sanity in what we treat as a real threat? There are a lot of problems that face everybody — including kids — but the idiocy of a few kids stuffing sugar up their noses is something for sane parents to deal with, not for drug warriors to wring their hands about.

How long until some school bans Smarties and Pixy Stix? Or has it already happened and I just don’t know about it?

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Minor killing is human nature, but massive slaughter requires states

By David McElroy · December 26, 2011

A curious thing happened in Europe 97 years ago this week. Men who had been trying to kill each other suddenly stopped shooting. They started singing together, exchanging Christmas greetings and giving one another presents. But when the authorities from their respective governments got involved, they had to give it up. They were forced to go back to killing each other.

Human societies spend a lot of time and effort to keep a tiny minority of people from hurting and killing each other. Governments have elaborate systems of police and courts to protect most people — who just want to be left alone — from that tiny minority. But when politicians get angry with each other across borders, they expect something quite absurd. They expect people who want to live in peace to suddenly hate other people enough to kill them. The desire for peace is a hard thing for the politicians to get out of stubborn humans.

The narrative we normally hear is just the opposite — that humans are so violent and so war-like that society would be nothing but chaos and killing without benevolent governments agreeing to control things. But the evidence suggests that the story is far more complex than that.

The Christmas truce of 1914 was very unofficial. It wasn’t observed in all places. But in the midst of the slaughter of World War I — seen as the Great War to end all wars at the time — British, German and French soldiers spontaneously made temporary peace with one another. They came out of their trenches and socialized. Obviously, the didn’t hate one another.

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Donald Trump has figured out who to blame for the Donald Trump has figured out who to blame for the the D.C. Reflecting Pool turning green. The dastardly deed was carried out by a specially trained squad of Antifa cats trained by the Far Left. It’s not his fault. Arrest all the cats! #satire #parody
This was the sunset that faced me as I left Walmar This was the sunset that faced me as I left Walmart near my house just a few minutes ago. It was a beautiful light show for just a few minutes.
Here’s proof that reality and satire are indisting Here’s proof that reality and satire are indistinguishable these days.
This was the sunset I saw from the parking lot out This was the sunset I saw from the parking lot outside of the Walmart near my house just after the sun went down Friday evening.
This little parody was inspired by my trip to buy This little parody was inspired by my trip to buy gas a little while ago. Even at a no-name brand, the price was $4.09. If I remember correctly, it was $2.29 a gallon at the same station on the day the war started. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of winning. 🤣
For the best and most sophisticated in lawn care, For the best and most sophisticated in lawn care, check out the sponsor of one of my upcoming YouTube video episodes. 🙃 #parody #threestooges
Have you felt as though you’re living through Grou Have you felt as though you’re living through Groundhog Day lately? Me, too. Here’s a quick-and-dirty political satire I made this evening for fun and stress relief.
About three minutes before sunrise, vibrant color About three minutes before sunrise, vibrant color is poking through the skies to the east of my back yard.
The lights and color might have been more spectacu The lights and color might have been more spectacular a couple of minutes before this, but this was the best view I had of the Monday afternoon sunset from a bridge over I-20 in Moody, Ala.
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Right around sunset, Sam was in an office window w Right around sunset, Sam was in an office window when Oliver wanted to be there. So Oliver jumped into the window and crowded his little brother as though he was trying to intimidate him. But Sam stood his ground and Oliver eventually gave up and jumped back down — and Sam kept his spot.
Someone was at the house for about an hour to do s Someone was at the house for about an hour to do some work and now that he’s gone, the cats want some reassurance that their space isn’t being invaded.
This photo that I just shot of Sam is one of my fa This photo that I just shot of Sam is one of my favorites of him. I came home at midnight and he was in a front office window watching the dark neighborhood. He’s lit by a light hanging at the top of the window. It’s amazing to me how much different he looks — and how much more confident he acts — than when he got here almost two years ago.
All three cats are in the bedroom with me while I All three cats are in the bedroom with me while I get ready to go out. Alex is in my chair and he seems to think he heard something, but he can’t figure out what his radar might be tracking. When a cat is alert in this way, I think their ears seem like little radar dishes focused on potential prey.
Sam has the window just below the mantle occupied, Sam has the window just below the mantle occupied, so Oliver is perched on the end of the mantle to watch out of the same window Saturday afternoon.
Oliver and Alex heard so much from Sam about his t Oliver and Alex heard so much from Sam about his trip back to the 1970s — using his time machine — that they borrowed the time machine and tried it for themselves. They were less enthusiastic than Sam had been, thinking it must’ve been a very strange decade. They were especially baffled by something called disco. (I posted Sam’s similar image last night.)
I wish I could really still take photos of this so I wish I could really still take photos of this sort with Lucy. Next week will be eight months since I lost her, but it already seems as though it was much longer ago than that. I still think about her every day, though.
Sam found a time machine and went back to the 1970 Sam found a time machine and went back to the 1970s to visit. In order to blend in with the groovy cats of that era, this is the way he dressed. I think he did pretty well for himself. 😃
When I got home Friday evening, I found Alex awake When I got home Friday evening, I found Alex awake — at least in technical terms — but nowhere near ready to get out of his bed.
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It turns out that the radical far left has been training “Antifa cats” to sabotage anything important to Donald Trump. Everything he did was perfect. Honest. It was all the cats’ fault. Arrest all the cats! This is the latest of my ridiculous satirical shorts. Please go watch it. Then “like” it and subscribe. Please. I’m begging you. (Too much?) Although a couple of the previous videos have had views in the hundreds, most have still been seen by fewer than 20 people. So I seem to be having trouble letting people know that page exists.

Here’s the latest of my ridiculous parody shorts. It crossed my mind Tuesday to wonder what a slick and fast-talking car dealer might do right now to try to turn the high price of gasoline to his advantage. So I conceived of a fat and lovable character who tried to sell cars that don’t use any fuel — and then I started wondering if it would be funnier if all the characters were felines. Designing the King Cashpaw character took about four hours, but the rest took only another four hours, so this was a relatively quick piece that virtually wrote itself. I know it’s almost impossible for these parody videos to find a larger audience, but at least they amuse me — and there are 19 of them on my YouTube page now. The first few were very limited, but they’re getting more complex.

The Republican Party is dead. It still exists in name, of course, but it’s nothing but a shell. All that’s left are idiots and stooges and con men of the MAGA party. When Donald Trump is gone — which won’t be long — those populist idiots and pragmatic fools will have no one to follow. Democrats will thrive. They will take more power than ever and they will push the federal government further to the radical far left than ever. When that happens, don’t just blame Trump if you’re a conservative. Blame every person who has claimed to be a conservative and has given up on principles, character and everything else that Republicans once claimed to stand for. As someone who worked as a GOP political consultant for many years, this is disgusting and disturbing to me. Those who have enabled Trump to have almost unchecked power are going to be shocked when they see what they will unleash in the long run. It’s been plain all along what this narcissistic con man is. It’s your fault that you chose to pretend not to see what he really is.

We are ruled by the dumbest and most incompetent people among us — and we have a system which allows stupid and irresponsible people to force the costs of their idiocy onto smarter and wiser people. Can we get away with that? Yes, for quite some time. But we eventually reach a point at which the dumbest of the dumb — who are habitual liars and mentally ill fools — lead us to the disasters and destruction that some of us have seen coming for years. We are approaching that point. And yet most of the idiots around us still wave their rhetorical banners of support for the evil people who are leading us to ruin — and all of them point their fingers at someone else, never noticing that their own enthusiastic support of evil is to blame. When things finally fall apart, blame yourself for your blindness to the evil, not whoever happens to be in power when it happens.

I’ve been making some changes to the site lately and there are more changes coming in the days ahead, so don’t be surprised if you some small differences. This is not a wholesale redesign, but rather the addition of some features. Since they’re smarter than I am, I’ve put Oliver and Alex in charge of the technical work, which you can see in this action photo from the control room of our media complex. I recently added a series of landing pages for readers who randomly discover the site from an Internet search. I’ve also changed the YouTube link at the top of the page to go to the new YouTube channel for video essays that reflect things I’ve already published here. (Here’s a little bit about both of the YouTube channels I’m working on.) In addition, I’m trying to move away from using Instagram, so I’m experimenting with photo plug-ins that will eventually allow me to host the pictures — cats, dogs, sunsets, whatever — that I often take. So don’t be surprised to see more changes. Thanks for your patience. Let’s hope Alex and Oliver know what they’re doing.

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