Two Massacres Applesauce

On December 29, 1890, some U.S. soldiers massacred a bunch of men, women, and children at Wounded Knee in South Dakota. The military had forced a band of Lakota to camp there that night. In the morning, a cavalry regiment arrived and surrounded the camp. "One version of events claims that during the process of disarming the Lakota, a deaf tribesman named Black Coyote was reluctant to give up his rifle claiming he had paid a lot for it." A shot went off and the cavalry opened fire with four Hotchkiss guns, which are these really sinister looking revolving cannons. Between 150 and 300 natives were killed and 51 were wounded. As always, the number of "enemy combatants" killed is indeterminate. On the other hand, exactly 25 American imperialists died (mostly due to friendly fire) and 39 were wounded (six of whom later died of their wounds). The Army subsequently awarded 25 Medals of Honor, which is a fucking travesty. I'd like to take this opportunity to point out that the U.S. police nowadays operate as a domestic military force, not massacring citizens, of course, but sometimes executing unarmed dissidents or undesirables (as the unarmed fleeing Lakota were executed), and recently and very publicly attacking peaceful protestors.

Just as Wounded Knee was an exemplary incident in the larger project of genocide in the Americas, so too is the systemic oppression of nonhuman animals exemplified by a program initiated on December 29, 1997 in Hong Kong. In order to stop the spread of a potentially lethal strain of influenza, all 1.25 million chickens on the island were killed. Over one million animals who were alive only to be killed for food, who would rather have lived, were killed in short order so that their potentially weaponized bodies wouldn't be able to kill even one human. This is the price of gustatory satisfaction.

My mom made applesauce for dessert tonight. It was really good.

serves: 4-6

prep. time: approx. 20-25 min.

INGREDIENTS:

5 Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced

3/4 c. water

<1/4c. sugar

lemon juice

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:

1. Throw everything in a pot over medium heat. Let it reach a rolling boil, then cut the heat and let sit for awhile. The apples should break down on their own.

I wrote something for the Huffington Post. Not a particular good piece of writing, but sometimes I like to order a few ideas for further reference: "Some Fragments of a Call."

While the video doesn't get me going, I really like this Lee Noble song, "Parents."