Boy with hand grenade ("My statement as to amusement parks where dinosaurs are real was a reference to a TV I heard playing in another room") / hello Florida / Brecht: In the Swamp

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As for unity....  Photo @nategowdy: image via Reading The Pictures @ReadingThePix, 19 February 2017

The Dark Arts #helloflorida #ginupthebase: image via Reading The Pictures @ReadingThePix, 19 February 2017

Ginning up the base

"Heh. What kind of weirdo has a cardboard cutout of Donald Tru—" [Eric Trump's eyes begin to dart around the room, laughing nervously]: image via Parker Molloy @ParkerMolloy, 19 February 2017
  

Another Curious Orange Fact

Trump leads cheers for himself at a rally of supporters in Florida: photo by Associated Press, 19 February 2017

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump

My statement as to what's happening in Sweden was in reference to a story that was broadcast on @FoxNews concerning immigrants and Sweden.
Josh Dawsey Retweeted Donald J. Trump
Josh Dawsey added,
In other words, he saw a segment on TV and passed it along inartfully and without context.

tweet via Josh Dawsey @jdawsey1, 19 February 2017
 

Trump leads cheers for himself at a rally of the meat crazed braindead: photo by Associated Press, 19 February 2017

International News: Trump says remark about Sweden referred to something on TV: AP News, 19 February 2017

HELSINKI (AP) — Swedes have been scratching their heads and ridiculing President Donald Trump's remarks that suggested a major incident had happened in the Scandinavian country. The American president now says he was referring to something he saw on television.

During a rally in Florida on Saturday, Trump said "look what's happening last night in Sweden" as he alluded to past terror attacks in Europe. It wasn't clear what he was referring to and there were no high-profile situations reported in Sweden on Friday night.

The comment prompted a barrage of social media reaction on Sunday, with hundreds of tweets, and a local newspaper published a list of events that happened on Friday that appeared to have no connections to any terror-like activity.

On Sunday, Trump took to Twitter to explain: "My statement as to what's happening in Sweden was in reference to a story that was broadcast on @FoxNews concerning immigrants & Sweden." A White House spokeswoman, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, says that Trump was talking about rising crime and recent incidents in general, not referring to a specific issue.

The president may be referring to a segment aired Friday night on the Fox News Channel show "Tucker Carlson Tonight" that reported Sweden had accepted more than 160,000 asylum-seekers last year but that only 500 of the migrants had found jobs in Sweden. The report, which was illustrated with video of broken windows and fires, went on to say that a surge in gun violence and rape had followed the influx of immigrants.

Reacting to Trump's original remarks, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Catarina Axelsson said that the government wasn't aware of any "terror-linked major incidents." Sweden's Security Police said it had no reason to change the terror threat level.

"Nothing has occurred which would cause us to raise that level," agency spokesman Karl Melin said.

Former Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt tweeted , "Sweden? Terror attack? What has he been smoking? Questions abound."

Addressing Trump in an article on Sunday, the Aftonbladet tabloid wrote, "This happened in Sweden Friday night, Mr President," and then listed in English some events that included a man being treated for severe burns, an avalanche warning and police chasing a drunken driver.

One Twitter user said, "After the terrible events #lastnightinSweden, IKEA have sold out of this" and posted a mock Ikea instruction manual on how to build a "Border Wall."

Sweden, which has a long reputation for welcoming refugees and migrants, had a record 163,000 asylum applications in 2015. The country has since cut back on the number it annually accepts.

Its most recent attack linked to extremism happened in the capital, Stockholm, in December 2010. An Iraqi-born Swede detonated two explosive devices, including one that killed him but no one else.

In the month he has been president, Trump's remarks and those of his staff have fueled numerous news media "fact checks" pointing out inaccuracies and falsehoods. On the subject of terrorism, Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway referred to a "Bowling Green Massacre" that never occurred.

Former foreign minister Bildt told Swedish Radio after his initial confounded tweet Sunday that he sees danger in how Trump relates to facts.

"If we are in a situation where there is tension in the world, we stand between war and peace," he said. "If we then have a president who spreads lots of false rumors, it can be truly dangerous."

Sweden? Terror attack? What has he been smoking? Questions abound.: tweet via Carl Bildt Verified account @carlbildt, 19 February 2017

Svenska svaret efter Trumps kommentar: Ser fram emot att informera USA – Överväger ytterligare åtgärder: image via Aftonbladet @Aftonbladet, 19 February 2017

Trump: ”Titta på vad som hände i Sverige i går kväll”: image via Aftonbladet @Aftonbladet, 18 February 2017

Så skojar nätet om Trumps Sverige-uttalande: image via Aftonbladet @Aftonbladet, 18 February 2017

After the terrible events #lastnightinSweden, IKEA have sold out of this: image via Jeanna Skinner @JeannaLStars, 19 February 2017

 

I think it's only right at this time to thank Sweden for their wonderful trolls. #swedenincident #lastnightinsweden #NeverRemember: image via Jeanna Skinner @JeannaLStars, 19 February 2017

Oh my god, Trump supporters are now convinced that there actually WAS an attack in Sweden, but that the media is covering it up. JFC.: image via Parker Molloy @ParkerMolloy, 19 February 2017

Ashley Feinberg @ashleyfeinberg 
turns out "what happened last night in Sweden" actually just means "last night I was watching Tucker Carlson talk about Sweden"

Parker Molloy Retweeted Ashley Feinberg

Parker Molloy added,
In fairness, the fact that Tucker Carlson has a TV show is its own sort of tragedy.

image via Parker Molloy @ParkerMolloy, 19 February 2017

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump

  My statement as to what's happening in Sweden was in reference to a story that was broadcast on @FoxNews concerning immigrants and Sweden.
David Iserson Retweeted Donald J. Trump
David Iserson added, 
My statement as to amusement parks where dinosaurs are real was a reference to a TV I heard playing in another room.

tweet via David Iverson @davidiserson, 19 February 2017

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump

 
My statement as to what's happening in Sweden was in reference to a story that was broadcast on @FoxNews concerning immigrants and Sweden.
David Iserson Retweeted Donald J. Trump
David Iserson added, 
My statement as to cats singing a song about Meow Mix was in reference to a commercial for Meow Mix cat food.
tweet via David Iverson @davidiserson, 19 February 2017

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump

 
My statement as to what's happening in Sweden was in reference to a story that was broadcast on @FoxNews concerning immigrants and Sweden.
David Iserson Retweeted Donald J. Trump
David Iserson added, 
My statement as to our healthcare system using kid doctors to treat stuffed animals was in reference to a story on TV show "Doc McStuffins."
tweet via David Iverson @davidiserson, 19 February 2017

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump

My statement as to what's happening in Sweden was in reference to a story that was broadcast on @FoxNews concerning immigrants and Sweden.
Embassy of Sweden US Retweeted Donald J. Trump
Embassy of Sweden added,
We look forward to informing the US administration about Swedish immigration and integration policies.
tweet via Embassy of Sweden US @SwedeninUS, 19 February 2017

Boy with hand grenade. (Apologies to Arbus.): image via Reading The Pictures @ReadingThePix, 19 February 2017

Frank Bruni @FrankBruni 
Ms. Trump's (his mom's) meatloaf is on the menu -- actually it's the house specialty -- at Mar-a-Lago. 

Jason Horowitz Retweeted Frank Bruni
Jason Horowitz added,
On same day as that INSANE news conference I learn that Trump is a meatloaf evangelist?? COGNITIVE DISSONANCE

tweet via Jason Horowitz @jasondhorowitz, 16 February 2017

Eat this meat loaf hand grenade

Trump's use of "sick" is pure Union Turnpike. He is the guy pouring [sic!] over NY Post in the bagel place. Utterly familiar. Except, president.: tweet via Jason Horowitz @jasondhorowitz, 17 February 2017

This meatloaf is sick!

Child with a toy hand grenade in Central Park, N.Y.C.: photo by Diane Arbus, 1962. An iconic image that embodies the awkward tension between childhood tomfoolery and primal violence, this has become one of the most celebrated photographs in the history of the medium. America's historic transition from the complacent isolationism of the 1950s to the sociopolitical turmoil that would emerge in the late 1960s and 1970s seems to seethe beneath the surface of this image, underscoring Arbus' prescience and intuitive understanding of her time.: image via Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

Cut to: Union Turnpike, night

The file photo Maddow's blog posted after Trump "media enemies" tweet. From Mexico, no less. Even bright side is dark side.: image via Reading The Pictures @ReadingThePix, 19 February 2017

In the Swamp

Warning [Lakewood Park, Florida]: photo by Steve, 30 March 2016

Warning [Lakewood Park, Florida]: photo by Steve, 30 March 2016

Warning [Lakewood Park, Florida]: photo by Steve, 30 March 2016

Apocalyptic Landscape [Florida]. The invasive species killed off by prescribed burns.: photo by Steve, 14 February 2017

Apocalyptic Landscape [Florida]. The invasive species killed off by prescribed burns.: photo by Steve, 14 February 2017

Apocalyptic Landscape [Florida]. The invasive species killed off by prescribed burns.: photo by Steve, 14 February 2017

Posted [Lake Okeechobee, Florida]: photo by Steve, 27 July 2016

Posted [Lake Okeechobee, Florida]: photo by Steve, 27 July 2016

 [Lake Worth, Florida]: photo by Steve, 27 May 2016

 [Lake Worth, Florida]: photo by Steve, 27 May 2016

 [Lake Worth, Florida]: photo by Steve, 27 May 2016

Bertolt Brecht: In the Swamp ("The one that bled to death among the roots was conquered. The one that trampled the most young trees was the victor.")

10

ABANDONED RAILROAD WORKERS' TENT ALONG THE GRAVEL PITS OF LAKE MICHIGAN

 November 19, 1915, about two A.M.

SHLINK. GARGA.

SHLINK: The everlasting clamor of Chicago has stopped. Seven times three days the heavens have been pale, the air has turned blue-gray like grog. Now there is silence, which hides nothing.

GARGA (smoking): You fight light-heartedly. What metabolism! I still had my childhood before me. The oil fields with their little blue rape seeds. The polecat in the glens, the carefree rapids.

SHLINK: True. It was written all over your face! Now it is hard as amber with here and there a carcass embedded in it, a transparent carcass. 

GARGA: You went on being lonely?

SHLINK: Forty years.

GARGA: Now, at the end, you fall victim to the black mania of this planet -- the mania for contact.

SHLINK (smiling): Through enmity?

GARGA: Through enmity.

SHLINK: You have understood, then, that we are comrades, comrades in a metaphysical action. Our acquaintance was short. For a time, however, it was predominant. The time flew by. The stages of life are not those of memory. The end is not the goal, the last episode is not more important than any other. I have twice owned a lumber business. Two weeks ago it was again registered under your name.

GARGA: Have you a premonition of death? 

SHLINK: Here is the master ledger of your lumber business. It begins where ink was spilled over the figures.  

GARGA: You have kept it on you? Open it yourself. It must certainly be dirty. (He reads.)  A clean account. Nothing but withdrawals. On the seventeenth: Lumber business, twenty-five thousand dollars for Garga. Before that: another ten for clothes. After that, once: twenty-two dollars for Marie Garga, "our" sister. At the very end: the whole business burned to the ground. -- I can't sleep any more, I'll be glad when you have quicklime over you.

SHLINK: Don't deny what was, Garga! Don't look just at the accounts. Remember the question as we originally put it. Pull yourself together: I love you.

GARGA (observes him): But how revolting of you. You are horribly unappetizing, an old man like you!

SHLINK: Possibly I won't get an answer, but if you get the answer, think of me, even if by that time I have mud in my mouth. What are you listening for?

GARGA (lazily): You have a heart -- or traces of one. You are old.

SHLINK: Is it good to show one's teeth?

GARGA: When they are good teeth. 

SHLINK: The endless isolation of man makes even of enmity an unattainable goal. Even with animals it is impossible to come to an understanding.

GARGA: Nor does speech help all that much. 

SHLINK: I have watched animals. Love -- warmth from bodily proximity -- is our only grace in all the darkness. But the union of the organs if the only union, and it can never bridge the gap of speech. Still, they come together to beget new beings who can stand at their side in their inconsolable isolation. And the generations look coldly into each other's eyes. If you stuff a ship with bodies till it bursts, there will still be such loneliness in it that one and all will freeze. Are you listening, Garga? Yes, so terrible is the isolation that there isn't even a fight. That's where mankind comes from. Hairy, with the teeth of an ape, good beasts who knew how to live, everything was so easy, they simply tore each other to bits. I can see them now, clearly, how, their flanks trembling, they stared into the whites of each other's eyes, sunk their teeth into each other's throats, and rolled down the slopes. The one that bled to death among the roots was conquered. The one that trampled down most young trees was the victor. You have your ears cocked for something, Garga?     

from Bertolt Brecht: In the Swamp (Im Dickicht), 1920-1922, English version by Eric Bentley

Sawooei. El Cerrito. Mysterious Camera.: photo by efo, 18 February 2017

Sawooei. El Cerrito. Mysterious Camera.: photo by efo, 18 February 2017

Sawooei. El Cerrito. Mysterious Camera.: photo by efo, 18 February 2017