A Postcard From The Edge?

On This Day In History
1862: Dakota Uprising begins in Minnesota

Quote Of The Day
"There will be no peace in this region by virtue of treaties and Indian faith. It is my purpose utterly to exterminate the Sioux if I have the power to do so and even if it requires a campaign lasting the whole of next year. Destroy everything belonging to them and force them out to the plains, unless as I suggest you can capture them. They are to be treated as maniacs or wild beasts, and by no means as people with whom treaties or compromises can be made."
(Letter from General John Pope to General Henry Sibley)

Bonus Quote Of The Day
"Every society is three meals away from chaos."
(Vladimir Lenin)

Bonus Bonus Quote Of The Day
"My life fades, my vision dims. All that remains are memories. I remember a time of chaos, ruined dreams, this wasted land. Most of all, I remember the man we called Max, the road warrior. To understand who he was we have to go back to the other time. When the world was powered by the black fuel, and the desert sprung great cities of pipe and steel. Gone now, swept away. For reasons long forgotten two mighty warrior tribes went to war and touched off a blaze which engulfed them all. Without fuel they were nothing. They'd built a house of straw. Suddenly their machines sputtered and stopped. Their leaders talked and talked and talked, but nothing could stem the avalanche. Their world crumbled. Cities exploded. A whirlwind of looting and a firestorm of fear. Men began to feed on men."
(Mad Max 2, introductory narration) 

I went to see one of my favourite films of all time at the cinema this morning; Mad Max 2. This has to be a 10/10 film for me because everything about it is just incredible and there is not one thing I can fault. I think one of the reasons why it is so good, apart from the pared down narrative, minimal dialogue, searingly raw violence, hyper-octane energy, madness and total absence of sentimentality (with a dose of hope and humanity to save the film from nihilism), is the fact that we all know that, as Lenin said, we are always three meals from a world like the one depicted in the film. It's thrilling, pulse racing entertainment, yet disturbing at the same time.

Russia is accusing the U.S.A. of colluding with Ukraine to make incursions into their territory.

Hamas is taking no part in peace negotiations between Qatar, Egypt and the U.S. while polio spreads through the humanitarian zone in Gaza where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have sought refuge from the fighting.

How much longer, do you think, before two mighty warrior tribes go to war and touch off a blaze that will engulf us all?

"Please remember to mention me
In tapes you leave behind."
All Stood Still