-- SEX POLITICS RELIGION ARTS -- SERIOUS AND HUMOROUS --
It is just a place to come with an open mind,
though ours are not always-Please tell us if they're not!
Today, immediately after the SC primary, on one of the nations biggest news sites, Propeller, we see an interesting illustration of the level of interest people really have in what the media has termed a huge day in politics.
The truth is somewhat lackluster. What has been acclaimed as a "gloves off" primary season, has been possibly the mildest in recent history, though clearly well-contested.
The photo/screenshot from Propeller only highlights the passion, or apathy. Do we really care the same about trends among future chefs as Obama's "runaway" win in SC?
The media would like you to think something amazing is going on, when frankly, all was predictable and quiet in SC.
Actually, there is no proven causal link between Bill's "attacks" and the results in SC. Yet the media has told us conclusively not only what has happened, but why. What do they know? Really!
For all we know, she could have done worse without an open discussion of Obama's failure to commit to a vote, for example (134 "present" votes) and Obama's lack of experience and potential naivete. And Bill's correct analysis of the fact that blacks in SC would likely vote for Obama, White Women for Hillary, and White males for Edwards, turned out to be dead on accurate.
If Bill says it, it's an attack. But if the media says the exact same thing, it's analysis?
It will be interesting to see what the real effect is. In the long term, I think Clinton's comments have been really mild and the media has exaggerated them because they have presumed that he is to sit back and defer to some unwritten decorum of ex-Presidents.
This is a new day. There has never been an ex-President whose spouse ran for President. All bets are off. So are the gloves when it comes to campaigning. When he lies, let me know. Otherwise, attacking is what is done in campaigns and legitimately so, as long as they are true and the voter can determine if they are relevant, NOT the media.
I love it when people say "finally" or "decisively". This race is nowhere near over and Hillary has little damage from losing SC, which was a foregone conclusion since even Jesse Jackson won there, twice.
Frankly, if you look at clips of what the media pundits have said, there you will find the true "attacks". If you listen to what Republicans have said, and will say of any nominee, there you will find real "attacks". I have heard Hillary called the "B" word while people just laugh it off at a McCain speech. Meanwhile, Imus is fired for referring to black women basketball players as "nappy-headed hoes". That was news, but Hillary being compared to a female dog in heat or a prostitute is okay. Where was the indignation? By McCain? By the media? By the public?
Frankly, the media is race-bating and otherwise doing anything to fan flames where no fire really exists, while ignoring real fires. They no longer have to attribute their quotes; just simply saying, "some sources have said" or "he has been quoted as saying...".
I'd like to see who was quoting him as saying it. Usually, this technique is tantamount to gossip, not journalism. And from my experience as a journalist, more often than not, the reason they fail to attribute this gossip, is because they and their media-whore peers are the ones propagating the whisper campaigns, then waiting and watching for a fight.
I suspect Hillary and Obama may easily reconcile such mild differences. If the worst things she has said about him is to point out his representation of a slumlord, his voluminous "present votes", and that he has a strong black following and a reasonable white base, and that he may be a little inexperienced and possibly naive; well, I think I have made the point that this is a very diplomatic campaign compared to any I have seen in the past. And I am not going to let the media define the rules of the campaign. Who the f!@k are they anyway?
Today's politics is full of good metaphors (if "metaphor" becomes a metaphor for "BS"), but I find myself needing to address this with stark reality in order to make sense of it. As a college teacher of Logic and Critical Thinking with most of my education in Literature and Comp, I am adept at dealing with analogies, but the propaganda has become so overwhelming that I find myself wanting to simply scream, "The Emperor has no clothes."
Even on US news we hear such ridiculous terminology that ignores and veils the goal of objectivity. Those charged with a stated goal of love and compassion lead the assault on those weaker than they. So called "Christian" right-wingers would rather you sit in prison after you commit crimes of survival, than to prepare you for the world with adequate education, then they call you "criminal" for the rest of your life. Proof is certain of the failure of religion to protect the moral code; instead they prefer the propaganda code.
When young men from Islamic nations oppose the establishment, they call them "radicalized youth". If the US kills women and children; we are soldiers/brave young men and THEY are collateral damage. When France did it to their Nazi occupiers, they called them the "French Underground." It almost sounds sexy. If their soldiers do it, we call them "terrorists", despite the clear fact they would prefer to do what they do with B-1 Bombers than with Toyota Tercels. When we do something to intimidate the enemy, we call it a "show of force", though our goal is the same, to provide terror, yet we have the nerve to name it "Shock and Awe".
When the colonists opposed the British, and dumped tea, it was called a "party". Sounds like fun. They, who combine to fight back, we call the "axis of evil". But when we are lucky enough to pull together 3 or 4 countries that still agree with us, we call them "an alliance of the willing."
If Al Quaeda soldiers do it, we call them "extremist" or "brainwashed" unless they are doing it to Russia in Afghanistan under CIA support; then they are "committed and disciplined freedom fighters".
The biggest problem is, that news just reports using the same terminology as if it were rational, when clearly these terms have been market tested and are designed by the greatest, most skillfull and technically trained Psy-Ops officers in the world.
I don't know how much longer I am willing to just nod my head. I am close to screaming when my mind is assaulted by all this purely emotional language intended to brainwash rather than to communicate truth. The list is replete with examples of double standards of terminology.
It is war. People are killed in order to allow one group of rich men to prevail over another less rich group. We don't fight for honor, though the men who fight have the best intentions because they don't know any better. They follow the bouncing ball and sing the song, ooh rah, and people die while my finances, peace of mind and safety quickly fade.
If we haven't been too drugged by the dumbing down within our education system, or by the mass therapy and anti-depressant wave, I think it's a time for the lions that sleep at the heart of America to wake. These are the lions that saw through the repressive regime that taxed without representation and the lions rebelled against the tamers!
Truth, Justice and The American Way.
It's time for the Truth, and it's time for some Justice. As for the "American Way", we must decide a way that is defined by truth and justice or the way we are going is simply a path paved with lies.
This week Considerable Sounds offers sound advice to a greater extent than advice about sounds. The New Year has already been a surprise - the news from Iowa... conventional wisdom proves to be an oxymoron. Huckabee's win ( regardless of what else might be concluded) shows that money and fear mongering don't always mean votes. Obama's decisive win put some pep in my step for numerous reasons not the least of which was that race was obviously not an issue.
His literate oratory reminded me of an earlier time when men like Robert Kennedy or Dr. Martin Luther King stirred the very souls of those who heard their words. This is not a bad way to start a new year. Hopefully neither is reading this article.....
A few days ago someone asked in an article I read online "If you knew you were going to die who would you call and what would you say to them?" Followed by "what are you waiting for?" For some reason this stuck in my head for a few days. Yes, we all are very likely going to die, perish, cease to exist, kick the bucket and push up the daisies. I have been well aware of this for quite some time now, having grown up in the "atomic age".
As a child I was told to duck and cover. To hide under my desk in kindergarten because the atom bomb was obviously likely to explode any second. Air raid sirens wailed bi -weekly and our community would go through it's civil defense drills. How any of us survived this madness without being extremely emotionally disturbed is nothing short of astonishing. So, since the tender ages of youth I have not counted on a future. I've gazed at every sunset as if it's ocher and vermilion hues well might be the last observed. Through calamity and circumstance rather than measured consideration, I live in the moment, the impalpable here and now, contemporaneous and synchronous with an elusive present. It seems to me I've been here a lot longer than I ever imagined already. Yes I know I'm temporary. So who would I call? What would I say?
My wife and children who would be numero uno on the list were within shouting distance, so I told each of them I loved them, they asked for money and I forked over a few greenbacks and focused my attention elsewhere. My lifelong friends, well I love them too, but I'm a little light in the purse after my heartfelt dispatch to my lovely wife and kids so I just emailed them some bad jokes which seemed like a better idea at least from a budgetary perspective. Then I thought maybe it would good to share some of the truths I have stumbled upon on this junket. Somehow it became this article. To my Family, friends, and dear readers, here is the "crux of the biscuit". (At least as of today).
Men are from Earth and women are from Earth too . Anyone who tells you otherwise is a liar. Every one of us is a misfit having amputated something to fit in this world. Those who fit best have extracted the most.
As a result of this, somewhere there is a huge repository of extracted eyes, ears, hearts, brains, hands, and souls that no one is using. Eventually some goon will devise a scheme involving the exploitation of cheap labor to harvest and sell them.
One thing I have observed is that those who are content with the way things are, never benefit mankind. All progress comes from dissatisfied malcontents . I have traveled much of the planet and in every place I have visited what I found was decent people. Don't believe anyone who tells you otherwise. One on one, we get along quite well. Why then is it when we congregate in groups, decent behavior is forsaken? Group mentalities create "us" and "them", imagined threats, enemies. Stay out of groups. Celebrate individuality.
Anyone who tells you they know what happens after your dead, is a liar. No man is a god and no god is a man. ( Though I'm not sure if this applies to women). A loving person always lives in a loving world, A hostile person always lives in a hostile world. Be joyful when people tell you that you are going to hell while they are going to heaven because you don't want to spend much time in the same location with them anyway. Ignorance gives one a larger range of possibilities in this matter..
A balanced diet is when you cut your cheesesteak sub in half, and hold one of those subsequent halves in each hand. Those who forget the pasta are condemned to reheat it. According to theoretical physics the universe will end if pasta and antipasto ever meet. Many people claim red meat is bad however I think that green or blue meat are worse, red meat is actually pretty tasty. The first person to eat a lobster was a very brave soul. So was the 1st person to drink milk from a cow. One of the seldom cited theories in science states that for every expert's nutrition and diet recommendation there will be an equal and opposite nutritional and diet recommendation. Ignore them all. Anyone who treats waiters poorly is not only self defeating (revenge may be one of the ingredients soon ingested) but reveals the true nature of their malevolent character. Avoid these people at all costs. As Warren Zevon said "enjoy every sandwich". I would say that all things are good in moderation, especially moderation. Bon appétit.
Value liberty, though it is fragile it is not weak. It has the peculiar property of being something that can not be had unless given to others. Be skeptical of any ideology that can not coexist with liberty. Do not trade your freedom for any other quality, liberty is far more valuable and hard won than the most treasured gem or the most precious of metals. You are truly an individual, as atoms have not convened in your particular configuration before nor will they again. Everyone matters. Oppose those who think some matter more than others. They have been misinformed.
Stay away from the March Hare. I have no idea what a March Hare is but I heard he was mad about something or other. Love may be blind, but so were 3 mice and they got their tails cut off with a carving knife. Remember that no act of kindness, no matter how small goes unpunished. If at first you don't succeed avoid skydiving. When it comes to seagulls, one good tern deserves another. A bird in hand may be better than 2 in the bush ( at least according to Larry Craig), but he who feeds the gulls soon stinks. The pen is mightier than the sword but not a Howitzer. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. Where there is smoke there is Willie Nelson. It's always better late than severed. And it is better to give than to recede.
If you ever do find yourself at ground zero in a nuclear explosion, don't worry about finding a desk to hide under, I don't think it will help matters much. Everything you need to know about life can be learned from Monty Python, the Beatles, and Baseball.
Music and Art bring more light to the world than any policy or religion could ever even fathom. Experience as much of it as possible. Books are the standard bearers of civilization. Without them, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation blinded. The burning of the library of Alexandria was even dumber than allowing George W. Bush to become a President. In the fabric of the universe we are 2. (watch out for those tailors!) Life is neither a bowl of cherries nor is it the pits. It 's a party and your invited! Bring some hors d'oeuvres.
LONG LIVE GENTLE GIANT!
One Of the finest bands ever in my humble opinion. I liked them so much I would see them in N.Y., Phila., and D.C. when they toured. A mix of baroque, jazz, rock and 20th century music placed them in a category which they alone occupied. Playing more than 30 instruments during their shows, Gentle Giant created some of the greatest music of the 1970s progressive rock era. The only thing I can think of to follow a Gentle Giant piece is another one. Enjoy "Knots".
"KNOTS" 1972 - Minnear, Shulman, Shulman and Shulman
All in all each man in all men All men in each man. He can see she can't, she can see she can see whatever, whatever. You may know what I don't know, but not that I don't know it and I can't tell you so you will. To tell me all man in all men All men in each man. He can see she can't, she can see she can see whatever, whatever. You may know what I don't know, but not that I don't know it and I can't tell you so you will have to tell me all. It hurts him to think that she is hurting her by him being hurt to think that she thinks he is hurt by making her feel guilty at hurting him by her thinking she wants him to want her. Her wants her to want him to get him to want him to get him to want her she pretends. He tries to make her afraid by not being afraid. (permutations) You may know what I don't know, but not that I don't know it and I can't tell you so you will have to tell me all. I get what I deserve. I deserve what I get. I have it so I deserve it. I deserve it for I have it. I get what I deserve. What I deserve - what I deserve what I get. I have it so I deserve. He tries to make her afraid by not being afraid.
NEWS- Jordan Rudess covers the Gentle Giant classic "Just The Same" on his upcoming album. Hear a sample at www.jordanrudess.com.
"Just the Same" composed by Ray Shulman, Derek Shulman and Kerry Minnear 1975
See me, what I am, what I was, what I'll be, Hear me, understand that I'm not what you see Take this, take the man, middle term, common me Don't you see that I'm just doing what I want to do Nothing more and nothing less than you Read no thoughts I didn't think myself Just the same as anybody else
Make me someone else, put me up on a stand. Something that I don't really want on my hands Use me, idolise all you can understand Don't you see that I'm just doing what I want to do Nothing more and nothing less than you Read no thoughts I didn't think myself Just the same as anybody else
Change it, what you think, what you thought, what you say Look for something more than you sought yesterday. I don't want to be part of your life to-day. Don't you see that I'm just doing what I want to do Nothing more and nothing less than you Read no thoughts I didn't think myself Just the same as anybody else
It seems that Americans have fallen for one of the oldest political lies of all, that inevitability means we should join the pack. Yes, it is true the world is globalizing, and we stand to benefit if it is properly managed, but to suggest it is a positive policy goal to pursue it and to expedite it just because it is inevitable, is a fallacy.
By this same reasoning, if we truly saw that illegal immigration would inevitably result in irreversible job loss and wage reduction; therefore we should speed up the process? Absurd!
The same goes for globalization, if indeed, we can even separate them. To those who support this rush, globalization seems only a fair ultimate end in a world full of too many borders. To those in the middle class, who actually have something and want to protect and keep it, globalization presents a huge threat. Sure, the rich benefit, as they have no national vested interest; they are already diversified and multinationalized. What is good for these rich, is not good for the average American, or even the world as a whole. The poor are still as poor as the rich want them to be. There is no such thing as voluntary "trickle-down".
The fervor of globalization has several ultimate ends, all of which depend on one failed assumption, that increased worldwide consumerism, is good for everyone. Well, anyone can look around America and see that this is leading to our demise as the average household owes more than $10,000 in consumer debt and each of us is responsible for our fair share of a huge and growing federal debt under which our grandchildren must suffer. American consumerism alone has pushed the Earth's natural resources to its limits and most agree it seems to have many irreversible effects on the environment. Global warming and human impact on it, is a scientific fact.
We already see that America's failure to seek alternative energies, has put us at odds with all developing nations as we compete for oil. Great for those who own the oil, terrible for anyone at the pumps. America's economy is delicately perched on its dependence on oil to feed and lubricate the workflow. It is the key to our productive output. Apparently, by design, we have become slaves to oil and politicians have done nothing about it, but to worsen it.
What happens as we globalize? China becomes wasteful consumers, just like America, Japan, and Europe? Some say, it's only fair they have the right to have what we have. I say the opposite. We should reduce our waste, not encourage theirs.
As oil hovers at $100/barrel, the average American just throws up their hands, giving up in desperation and fear, believing the lie that we can do nothing about it. But we can and everybody knows it. The question is, will we? My prediction is no; my hope is yes!
The first step is to recognize the lies the rich and powerful are telling us. The second is for so called "bleeding hearts" to stop killing us by hastening the expansion of consumerism in the name of "fairness". Finally, it is time for Americans to regain the thing that built this country, revolution. We must stop our fear of government and reinstill the fear of the people in the our politicians. They honestly don't fear losing their elections once they become incumbents. They have built a police state to guarantee they cannot be physically removed. They have imprisoned anyone who had the creativity necessary to oppose government, either by labeling them as "drug addicts" or by criminalizing other private activities. It is still illegal in many states to have sex in any position but "missionary." Wow!
On one hand, the rich tell us to be greedy, to consume more. That's best for the economy, right? On the other hand, some misguided "bleeding hearts" tell us we have too much, and we should volunteer to reduce our quality of living to allow and "equalization of wealth". Sounds good, but it is a lie. The only people bearing the burden of this equalization, are the poor and middle class. America's rich are getting richer, by a landslide while we have lost ground to the tune of 40% in 10-years, all things considered.
What to do?
Vote for someone who believes America should NOT be policemen and owners of the newly globalized world.
Socially revolt. Stop buying anything you don't need to actually survive and put up a tent on the capitol lawn until lawmakers take you seriously.
Demand your rights to control your own minds and bodies. Decriminalize drug use, thus freeing our minds. Protect a woman's right to control her reproduction.
Demand that those who come to America to find their dream, do it LEGALLY and in a controllable fashion, lest chaos ensues.
Finally, refuse to kill and to be killed for the protection and pursuit of money, land and resources. Protect others from their own ignorance by bringing them home from wars. They think they are patriots, but they are killing themselves for unjust policies of global expansionism.
America can lead this change by remembering we are a nation of leaders and a nation of laws. Rather than fiddle while Rome burns, our leaders can remember who they represent, and it's NOT the world; it is their own nation.
Today, immediately after the SC primary, on one of the nations biggest news sites, Propeller, we see an interesting illustration of the level of interest people really have in what the media has termed a huge day in politics.
