Strategy is More Than Just a Beer or Two in the Late Afternoon

I had just recalled some distant memory - but as fast as it had come, it went. All that I remember is that there had been a trigger for that specific memory. I don't think that it was the rubbing alcohol, there was no such smell present. And the smell of a freshly butchered hog is the same as the smell of war but too often the smell of propellants and of explosives cover up the smell of death itself and the collateral coagulated blood. I have not been recently amidst any death. No, it has to be the bit sized pretzels that is this bar’s appetizer - those salty beer demanding morsels. I bit into another - no - no there is no associated memory of death here. So where is my tea and my Madeline? And all this thought of death gets me to thinking that I am dying - maybe within this  month, maybe right here on the stool on which I now sat, and that was not  just depressing but very depressing and I sank into a funk.

Historians fabricate greatness, as they call it, because they are mediocrities with lame imaginations – Victor Serge – The Unforgiving Years, 2007 p84

The bartender says that it will be a good night. I want to ask how he can tell, but he had moved on down the bar. Two hours later and the place if filling up, with daylight savings time it is still light outside. Between the jukebox and the chatter a cacophony is building into a roar. The bartender refills the empty pretzel trays again. I can hear his voice but can't make out anyone else individual voice, just noise. I am beyond reading and I order another pint of Sac Brew red and nuzzle my beer as the sun sets.

Strategy is not a game of chess players with a quantity of machines; it is above all a duel of wills – Victor Serge – The Unforgiving Years, 2007 p132

A cute little Asian girl is trying to slug a boilermaker. She can’t manage it, but her friends are cheering her on. One boilermaker being more than enough for her. She buries her check into her boyfriend’s forearm like a mare wanting a sugar cube. She puts on her black wool sweater and they leave.

His lips tasted sour, his teeth were dry. Rapture is like that, bitter and violent, it hurtles out of the black sky onto the helpless creature and sears it – Victor Serge – The Unforgiving Years, 2007 p122

Does Justin Timberlake’s stint as a Mousekateer really count? No, No No! It does not – he was not a real Mousekateer. Umpta ta umpta, umpta ta umpta hey hey umpta ta umpta bing bing bing. The bartender is reading Bartending for Dummies and trying to market some new well drinks. He doesn’t like the Moscow Mule but wants to try out a Slippery Nipple on Cynthia and I. It reminds me, I say, of why I don’t like sweet drinks. And? he asks. Because I can’t pace myself. Ah!, he replies. And the Slippery Nipple makes it real difficult for me to return to my beer. Annette, Tommy, Darlene, Bobby, Doreen, Chubby, Karen, Bonnie and Sharon were mousekateers - and I'll even throw in Cheryl, but Justin - no way!

The only way to know for certain that a particular path is a dead end is to walk down it a bit and see what happens – David P Barash – How Women Got Their Curves – 2009 p4

There is a fog in the  Fillmore tonight. I scuttle along obscured in its mist, headed for a warm cup of coffee as the foghorn on the Golden Gate Bridge bugles bluesly

Years passed, wars passed, crushing millions of innocent, cities crumbled, a civilization was dying, and the same problems were rearing their heads… The river shimmered – Victor Serge – The Unforgiving Years, 2007 p277

Truman’s popularity rating during his first three months as President was higher than Roosevelt’s had ever been

The world was in its death throes, we were dying like flies, these people were dining in their customery way, official, over weight, at ease, accomplices in everything… No own will ever understand it? – Victor Serge – The Unforgiving Years, 2007 p270

What you gain by violence you can only retain by violence

I make just enough to live on… I could easily get rich, like others do… The idea made me ashamed, and I choose instead to pass for a fool. Living among wolves, it would be reasonable to lean what to bite like wolves – Victor Serge – The Unforgiving Years, 2007 p310

Pre-Columbian American population – how many people lived in the Americas before 1492? No one really knows but guesstimates range from 10 to 140 million. The threshold number of 60 million has some importance as that was the population of Europe at that time and the relative ratio of Americans vs Europeans seems to have some magical significance depending on the political agenda of a specific historian. There is a consensus population figure of 54 million by William Denevan. What does seem to be agreed upon is the relative size of the populations in the various regions of the Americas: Aztec empire – 33%, Inca empire – 33%, American north of Mexico – 10%, Central America – 12%, remainder of South America – 10%, Caribbean – 0.5%.

Seize History


From dead men you hear no more
They are the exception
Destiny is yours
You can tell your tale
And they can’t
Dead men don’t report back
And they never will.

[The] rigidly serious, are among the most playful of people, constantly playing various ‘mind games’ upon the natural world – David P Barash – How Women Got Their Curves – 2009 px