The strangest city I ever lived in was Houston, Texas. By far. I moved there in 1980, prodded by a friend who went there before me. I had the idea of working in the construction trades, gaining enough experience to eventually return north and become a union member. I had taken a class in electrical wiring, and had some wiring experience, so working as an electrician was my likeliest option for finding work. I was lucky. The first employer where I applied, Joe Swartz Electric, offered me a job immediately, for the lofty wage of $5.00 per hour. Joe Swartz was the largest residential electrical contractor in Houston, putting fifty trucks on the road daily, each with three man wiring crews aboard. It was unbelievably hard work. I worked on "rough" wiring, running wire in stud frame walls before the drywall was installed. The three man crews I worked with wired four houses every day, working from one new house to the next on the same street. Very few of the workers at Joe Swartz were licensed journeyman electricians - at the most about five, including the managers. The standards in Houston were so low that it didn't matter if you had no experience. As it turned out, the electrical wiring was probably the highest quality work done in the houses built at the time. The buildings were rush jobs, with corners being cut on inspections, materials, and code compliance. The wiring was done safely and according to accepted standards.The crew of "electricians" at Joe Swartz were from diverse locations, mostly from southern states, but some from Colorado, Michigan, New York, California, and other northern and western states. They got along pretty well, but the native Houstonians were probably the least qualified, and from the most marginal backgrounds. One day I was assigned to work with an "underground" crew. It was simple work. The crew leader used a "Ditch Witch" - a small bulldozer-like vehicle - to dig a narrow trench from the power source to the house under construction. Rubber coated electrical cable was placed in the trench, about six inches deep in the ground. My job was to lay the cable and do whatever hand digging with a shovel was necessary. The crew leader was something of a hothead, and supposedly had spent some time in "Huntsville." This meant that he had been an inmate at the main state prison, which was located in Huntsville, Texas. Huntsville is notorious for its many executions, and the prison itself is much feared among men in Texas. When you go to Huntsville you do hard time.I got along with the crew leader, in spite of his attempts to irritate me. He would say things he thought would bother me, but I just laughed. I remember one time he said to one of the other guys at lunchtime, "You know, Billy (or Jimbo, Red, Bobby, Shorty, etc.), I just about hate a God damn Mexican worse than I do a nigger." I laughed out loud, it sounded so stupid. The sentiment was one thing, but to just say something like that out of the blue seemed moronic. He didn't like my reaction, but I didn't laugh with malice or derision, so the conversation moved to other topics, like drinking, getting stoned, and driving fast.A few weeks later I found myself in a more serious situation. The hothead guy wasn't a real criminal. He was a young kid with a wild streak who got in trouble with the law, for drug possession, if I remember right. Another guy showed up one day, someone who had worked there before, but who had just gotten out of Huntsville after serving a sentence of longer duration, over five years. His last name was Alexander. I never knew his first name. He was of a different sort. He had the predatory eyes and menacing grin of a career criminal, a sociopath. He was about six foot one, solid build, and was older than almost everyone at Joe Swartz, probably in his mid-forties. I didn't give Alexander much notice. He wasn't on any of the crews I worked with. But for some strange reason I was sent out on a truck with him one day to do some cleanup work on a few unfinished houses. For various reasons some tasks got left incomplete, or had to be done over before a house is approved in a final inspection. While traveling from one house to the next, Alexander turned to me and said, "Are them niggers runnin' things up there in Michigan?" As a matter of brief explanation, you don't engage in a lecture about racial equality or proper language on a construction job in Houston, Texas, if you have any intuition at all. Meeting him half way, I told him the Laborers union in Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti was controlled by a "black" bargaining agent. I was hoping to explain that there was a certain justice to this circumstance, because "blacks" had a hard time getting into the skilled trades - carpenter, electrician, plumber, bricklayer, etc. Before I could elaborate, Alexander eased out the response that "Down here we have the Nazis and Klan to take care of things like that." Without hesitation I replied "I don't go for that bullshit." The quiet was palpable. Alexander said no more, but drove in a different direction from where we were going, turned down a side street, and stopped at a house that was older and occupied. It was in the area of the Astrodome, one of the worst parts of Houston. There was no work to be done there. He got out of the truck and told me he would be back in a few minutes. He went into the house, and I sat there waiting. After about an hour, he came back, and it was too late in the day to start any more work, so we returned to the company office.Though I was uncomfortable working with Alexander, and a bit concerned about his side trip, it wasn't until much later that it occurred to me that I had been in great danger. Alexander probably knew about the Nazis and Klan because he was one of them. He was a genuinely worthless individual, menacing and foul-natured. By now he is likely dead or in prison, having continued in his criminal ways until the great balancing force finally caught up with him.What got me thinking about Alexander were the recent murders of the abortion doctor and the Holocaust Museum guard. There's a bit of a trend going on, with one of the leaders of the "Minutemen Civil Defense Corps" anti-immigration group being arrested for murder and robbery in Arizona. With her partners in crime, the accused, Shawna Forde, apparently posed as a Federal agent, and robbed and killed a man of "Mexican" descent, and his young daughter as well.The mainstream news media, and even the "alternative" media portray the people who commit these crimes as "racists," religious zealots, "white" supremacists, and "right-wingers." It always has to be couched in some kind of ideological terms, for the internal purposes of the news media. They have a narrative, a story line for everything that happens in the world, and what are known as "hate crimes" have to conform to the story line of ideology.In truth, these perpetrators are criminal sociopaths, just like the zealots of the Bush criminal regime, and just like Alexander of Houston. They kill people because they want to kill people. Their righteous beliefs are mere excuses. The essence of what they do is murder. The woman from the "Minutemen" is suspected in other crimes, committed partly to finance her anti-immigrant activities. These people are given cover by the news media. They also are egged-on by the news media, especially "Fox." Some may object to Fox News being referred to as a news organization, but it is only different from the others by degree. Minions from National Public Radio, including "senior news analyst" Juan Williams and "national political correspondent" Mara Liasson, appear regularly on Fox News.I could go on and on. Fulminators like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity fuel the fires of hatred against perceived racial minorities, and hysterically rail against our perceived "black" president, Barack Obama, claiming that he is not even a citizen of this country. As a result, gun and ammunition sales since Obama's election have increased drastically.These fulminators are criminals. They should be in jail, working at hard labor. For some reason, in the social and legal matrix that constitutes the "United States of America," these criminals are not only not in jail, but they are millionaires many times over. This inversion of morality and ethics is holographic - the part revealing the whole, and that is why I can say with confidence that our failing system will not be revived, no matter what stimulus package, stop-gap measure, band-aid, or recovery plan is enacted. If we are institutionally incapable of prosecuting serious crime, then we are doomed. As long as Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity are walking free, we have a fake legal system. With a fake legal system, and a corporate news media system that supports it and feeds off it, we are doomed. And, needless to say, the Polar ice caps are melting. _______________________________________________________This song is for Alexander.
Here's a tune from Woody Guthrie. It's a message for those among us who think they are "fascists." This song just might open the doors of perception.Don't forget what your good book says. Learn about it here.Here's Willie Nelson with Ray Charles. And, for good measure, Waylon & Willie.This Ernest Tubb song is worth a listen.
Here's some Freddy Fender. Here's some more.The Texas Tornados. Before the Tornados, Doug Sahm fronted the Sir Douglas Quintet.And, to finish up, Archie Bell and the Drells, from Houston, Texas.
From time to time I find it helpful to restate my reason for writing this blog, and the central themes that underly my perspective. Finding the usual discourse about matters of human concern to be diversionary, dishonest, and shallow, I set out to write in a way that approaches a higher level. I know that sometimes I have failed, but even failure is a honing process that makes future efforts more insightful and disciplined.
Four themes have been the basis of my writing: (1) The worldwide industrial system is founded on creating ever-increasing levels of output, causing increased stress on resources and the ecosystem. Given the finite nature of our planetary system, the drive for economic growth will eventually reach a point where human life is threatened, to say nothing of other species. The increasing costs of growth will eventually cause the economic system to collapse. (2) The presumed ideological divide between "left" and "right" is a model of reality, not reality itself. It does not exist in reality, only in men's minds. Rather than looking at human interaction as a horizontal spectrum that increments from "left" to "right," it is more appropriate to use a model of development, from lower consciousness to higher. (3) Being liberated from the archaic "left" to "right" model, we can more accurately see the Bush regime as it actually existed: a criminal organization without scruple. Its actions over eight years in office showed no hint of political philosophy, but plenty of evidence of an extended crime spree. (4) Countries are artificial impositions on the land, and I place their names in quotes. The land does not call itself "America," "China," or "Israel." Animals don't call the land "England," "Russia" or "Palestine." Only humans do.
It's pretty clear to anyone with any sense that the Bush gang was criminal to the core. The diehards who still insist on calling it "right wing" do this because of their own agendas. Without a "right wing" to fight against, there's not much mojo in being "left wing." It was a bit of a vindication today that President Obama said he is open to the possibility of prosecution of Bush regime officials for crimes committed during their tenure. Hopefully, they will be prosecuted. We are, after all, a nation of laws, not of men. Or are we? Time will tell.
Now that the Bush gang is out of office, the torch, such as it is, has been passed, not to the Obama Administration, but to the "Republicans" still in elective office, their enablers, and those hoping to regain power. This is not to exclude "Democrats." With some exceptions, they just aren't as fundamentally criminal as the "Republicans." Using these four themes as a foundation, the events of the day can be put in a perspective free of ideology and obfuscation.
One of my favorite ways of examining the events of the day is to place them in juxtaposition, showing the similarities and common roots. A perfect example is in juxtaposing the Supreme Court case of the Arizona seventh-grader who was given a "strip search" with the release of the "torture memos" by the Obama Administration. School officials insist that strip searching is a fine thing to do, and members of the Bush criminal regime insist that torture is a fine thing to do. Which gives me today's theme: As over there, so over here. It's a take on Gurdjieff's "As above, so below," the difference being there is no above or below in strip searching and torture, just a matter of degree. What they have in common is the exertion of power over others, subjecting them to humiliation or worse for no purpose other than to subject them to humiliation or worse. There are excuses, of course, the "war on drugs" and the "war on terror," but they are just excuses. The essence is the act of making people take their clothes off and/or torturing them.
A true visionary of the "As over there, so over here" syndrome is David Simon, the executive producer of the HBO series The Wire. He appeared on the Bill Moyers Journal last Friday, and gave one of the most insightful, touching, and pertinent interviews I have seen, heard, or read anywhere. Simon is worthy of extensive quoting. Here's the first: "You show me anything that depicts institutional progress in America, school test scores, crime stats, arrest reports, arrest stats, anything that a politician can run on, anything that somebody can get a promotion on. And as soon as you invent that statistical category, 50 people in that institution will be at work trying to figure out a way to make it look as if progress is actually occurring when actually no progress is. And this comes down to Wall Street. I mean, our entire economic structure fell behind the idea that these mortgage-based securities were actually valuable. And they had absolutely no value. They were toxic. And yet, they were being traded and being hurled about, because somebody could make some short-term profit. In the same way that a police commissioner or a deputy commissioner can get promoted, and a major can become a colonel, and an assistant school superintendent can become a school superintendent, if they make it look like the kids are learning, and that they're solving crime. And that was a front row seat for me as a reporter. Getting to figure out how the crime stats actually didn't represent anything, once they got done with them."
Here's another: "You know, you start talking about a social compact between the people at the bottom of the pyramid and the people at the top, and that's how you ground a society, and people look at you and say, "Are you talking about sharing wealth?" You know? "Yeah." I want to-- Listen, capitalism is the only engine credible enough to generate mass wealth. I think it's imperfect, but we're stuck with it. And thank God we have that in the toolbox. But if you don't manage it in some way that you incorporate all of society, maybe not to the same degree, but if everybody's not benefiting on some level and if you don't have a sense of shared purpose, national purpose, then all it is a pyramid scheme. All it is, is-- who's standing on top of whose throat?"
And best of all, pure gold, is this: "And we knew that character that cited what was ailing post-industrial America, he happened to be a union captain and one of the longshoreman. That he would be speaking to, at the time, what we were reacting to with Enron and things like-- and WorldCom and the first sort of-- first shots across our bow, economically. That people were trading crap and calling it gold. And that's what THE WIRE was about. It was about that which is-- has no value, being emphasized as being meaningful. And that which is-- has genuine meaning, being given low regard."
You can read the entire transcript here. He's one of those soft-spoken few people who tells truth that can make you cry. In essence, what David Simon is saying is another form of "As over there, so over here." What ails "America" is comprehensive, pervasive, and corrosive. It is also reaching a crescendo. If you apply the dysfunction that exists in the "Baltimore" depicted on The Wire to solving the problem of global warming - woops, I mean climate change - it becomes clear why we are not only not solving the problem of global warming - woops, I mean climate change - we are continuing to make the problem worse.
When I started collecting materials for this post I thought I would incorporate references to articles gleaned from websites like Rolling Stone, Salon, Democracy Now, and others. Maybe next time. A few of the articles fit today's theme, so I'll just list them here. The Big Takeover
The best investment money can buy
Obama's Sheriff
Noam Chomsky
Usury Country: Welcome to the birthplace of payday lending
Return of the gangsters
Larry Summers, Tim Geithner and Wall Street's ownership of government
The Bush Six
Emergency measures for climate change
Syria Calling
These should suffice. One last thing to mention is that David Simon said the "U.S." is controlled by an oligarchy, which Moyers went on to define as "Government by the few. Or a government in which a small group exercises control for corrupt and selfish purposes." A few weeks earlier, on the same show, economist Simon Johnson of MIT used the same term to describe the Wall Street investment houses who control our economic policies. If the reason that we can't stop the polar ice caps from melting is because we are controlled by an oligarchy, then maybe we need to overthrow the oligarchy. The task may seem daunting, but it won't a year from now. It will seem the only thing to do. Maybe between now and then we can do it in a less desperate way. ______________________________________________
Any way they fall, guess who gets to pay the price.
How about some Tracy Chapman?
A local station plays this song every Saturday. Here's the lyrics.
Here's a tune to get the blood circulating.
Here's another. For a cool-down, the slow version.
It helps to keep in mind these words of wisdom.
There's plenty of buzz on the Web about how Obama is caving to pressure from forces dark and secret in regard to torture. Most prominent is this article in the New York Times. Joan Walsh in Salon offered her view of the ethical slide in this opinion piece. Renowned journalist Helen Thomas makes a similar argument here.
Pressure from the citizenry is mounting for a full-scale investigation of the torture practices of the Bush regime, but so far there is no support for such an inquiry from Obama and his administration. The first investigation of Bush's torture regime was done by Major General Antonio Taguba, and it ended his military career. Now he is supporting a thorough probe. Read about it here. For some elaboration on the topic, there's this from the Daily Kos.
One has to ask, being a supporter of the Obama election campaign and his presidency, why he would leave the door open to torture and "extraordinary rendition." I think there are several reasons. One is that by being duplicitous about these degrading practices he sends a message about his attitude towards any possible investigation and prosecution of Bush and his cronies. In the "intelligence community," such as it is, many would stand to lose their jobs and/or end up in jail if torturers and those who authorized torture were to be investigated.
At some point, Obama will have to declare whether or not he thinks torture is criminal. He has already hinted at his attitude by approving "extraordinary rendition," and by not ruling out torture under certain circumstances. If torture is criminal, then it should be prosecuted. If not, then everyone gets off scott free.
What is likely a greater reason for keeping a torture capacity is that Obama inherited a completely phony "war on terror" from the completely phony Bush criminal regime. Rather than calling the completely phony "war on terror" a completely phony "war on terror," Obama has joined in its basic premise - that deployment of "U.S." forces is necessary and justified in places around the world that we have defined as "terrorist" havens. If you go along with the premise, then you go along with the program. Torture is part of the program.
The "war" in "Afghanistan" is no more justified than the "war" in "Iraq." I wrote about the folly of invading "Afghanistan" in 2001, to no avail. The torture practices of the Bush regime began there, and if "we" escalate our presence there, torture will also escalate. Today Eric Margolis wrote here and here about the continuing folly of staying in "Afghanistan."
The chief reason, I believe, as to why our president is going soft on torture is that he feels he is in danger of a failed presidency, and he has only been in office for a month. He is trying to hold his own regime together, and at the same time trying to hold the country together. His economic plan, similar to his foreign "policy" plan, is establishmentarian. He is relying on Wall Street insiders and political hacks for advice and for cabinet positions, though Janet Napolitano, Steven Chu, Hilda Solis, and Eric Shinseki are some notable choices. I believe Eric Holder will be a good Attorney General, far better than the past three.
A few more likely reasons for Obama's duplicity on torture are these.
I watched Bill Moyers Journal the other night, and he had a very insightful interview with longtime writer, teacher, and activist Parker Palmer. Palmer talked about illusions under which "Americans" live. One of them is the illusion that "we" are a "world power." I never thought of it this way before, but there is no earthly (no pun intended) reason that "we" have to be a "world power." If "we" are a "world power," then why can't, say, "Lichtenstein" be a "world power?" Or, hmm, "North Korea," "India," "Pakistan," and "Iran."
The problem with thinking you're a "world power" is that you then have to do "world power" things. Like overthrowing freely elected governments, which we did in "Iran," "Chile," "Guatemala," "Congo," "Indonesia," and countless other countries. Other "world power" activities include invasions of little countries like "Vietnam," "The Dominican Republic," "Grenada," "Panama," "Iraq," and "Afghanistan." Earlier in our history "we" invaded the "Philippines," "Cuba," "Puerto Rico," "Haiti," and even "Hawaii." Here's a list of invasions by all countries throughout history.
Maybe, if we gave up the mentality of being a "world power," we could give up torture. It will be a tortuous decision for Obama, but one he may have to make. The establishmentarian approach to restoring our economy is not likely to succeed, and climate change makes notions of "empire" a tad archaic. We can't afford to be a "world power." The sooner we give up such silliness, the better.
It won't be easy. Frank Rich wrote in yesterday's New York Times about the "American" tendency for denial, and the "world power" illusion is likely to last as long as our economic system holds together. The only real question is how long we can last, doing things the way we do now. One of the definitions of insanity is doing the same thing over and ove, expecting a different result. It's a form of self-torture._________________________________________________________
This segment of today's Democracy Now explores the recent history of interventions in "Afghanistan," and the factors involved in Obama's pending "surge."Some resources for ending torture can be found here.
Bill Moyers offered this perspective on "our" involvement in "Afghanistan."
In a previous interview on Bill Moyers Journal, the wisodom of the military option in "Afghanistan" is discussed.
________________________________________________________I'm not a knee-jerk fan of Pete Seeger, but this song is pertinent to the subject at hand.
Here's another.
This excerpt from Alexander Cockburn's latest post in CounterPunch is worth reading, as is the entire article:
So far as the progressive Obama base is concerned, it’s been one bitter pill after another, starting with Rahm Emanuel (the only man in the Illinois congressional delegation to vote Yes to the war on Iraq), moving on to Hillary Clinton (another Yes on the war), Robert Gates, and the whole economic team. There was a brief ray of hope when Larry Summers didn’t return to Treasury. Then he bobbed up as director of Obama’s economic recovery team, formally known as the National Economic Council, based in the White House.
Contrast these desolate choices with what the progressives were given in the dawn of Clinton time. He didn’t turn out to be much good, but Wisconsin Rep. Les Aspin, at the time he was nominated as secretary of defense, certainly had a reputation as a Pentagon critic. Environmentalists were exuberant when Bruce Babbitt, former head of the League of Conservation Voters, was given the Department of the Interior. It’s true that Babbit did not match such expectations, but when he was nominated, the mining and cattle lobbies were mad with fury. At HUD there was Henry Cisneros, always in trouble but fairly progressive; at Labor – Robert Reich; at Agriculture – Mike Espy and EPA – Carol Browner. As surgeon general, in contrast to Obama’s pick of a TV doctor and serf of the drug industry, we got Jocelyn Elders, a radical black woman who spoke her mind and was finally axed by Clinton for being honest about sex ed. We got Lani Guinier at the Justice Department, a terrific choice swiftly betrayed by the man who picked her, Bill Clinton. As number 2 at Health and Human Services, there was Peter Edelman, one of only three people in the Clinton administration who resigned over the onslaughts on the welfare system five years later.
Of course, as now, big business kept its mitts firmly on the essential levers: Treasury, the Fed.
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I still will be celebrating this week. Obama may be under the influence of old, tired, establishmentarians, but he will change his tune when his economic plan fails, which it will. He will have what I call his Bay of Pigs moment when he realizes he has been had, and will likely chase the money changers out of the temple. That will be when his presidency really begins.
I have a near-perfect solution to the Guantánamo Bay problem. We give the property back to Cuba in exchange for its acceptance of the displaced prisoners. The "lease" we have for Guantánamo is illegal anyway, signed under duress in 1903 as part of the spoils of the "Spanish-American War." To sweeten the deal, the Obama Administration could return the "Cuban Five," the imprisoned Cuban agents who were spying on Miami terrorist groups.
Even if the lease were valid, the kidnapping, torture, incommunicado, and indefinite detention would be considered lease violations in any legitimate court worldwide. The Bush criminal regime has brought shame to the name Guantánamo, and this shame can only be healed by returning the property to its rightful owners, the Cuban people.
As a way of compensating Cuba for accepting the prisoners, the trade embargo could be terminated. It is a cruel and criminal imposition on the country, and it should have been ended long ago. Missiles of the no-longer-existing Soviet Union have been absent from Cuba since 1962. An added bonus to ending the embargo would be the economic benefits. The U.S. economy needs all the help it can get, and the resulting investment in Cuba would be a guaranteed way of giving it a needed boost.
By trading with and investing in Cuba, U.S. business interests will reap comparative advantage as well as absolute advantage benefits. As a result, the government of Cuba is likely to change from a defensive posture to one of cooperation and democratic reform. The resulting higher standard of living in Cuba will do much to heal the severely damaged prestige of the U.S. in the region, and across the globe.
As good fortune would have it, we will have a new president in less than a week. Unlike the current occupant of the office, who is a world criminal, our new president advocates creative, diplomatic solutions to international problems. He can start by resolving several problems at once, returning Guantánamo Bay to its rightful sovereign government, the Republic of Cuba. This is another great version.
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For a celebration song to sing when the base is deimperialized, click here. For the lyrics, click here. A history of the song can be seen here. This is another great version.
I've been wondering for a couple of months what appointment Howard Dean will get. I was hoping for Surgeon General or Secretary of Health and Human Services, but this story provides the answer: nothing. Without his 50 state strategy, Obama would likely not have won the election.
Surprise of surprises, it appears the reason for Dean's snub is Rahm Emmanuel, he of the "sharp elbows." I suspect that before all the dust clears in the Blagojevich scandal that Emmanuel will be looking for a new job himself. He'll have plenty of free time to sharpen his elbows.
Things are not looking so good for the beginning of the new administration. Our economy is collapsing, and our ruling elite - the corporations, Wall Street, the mainstream media, the policy "think tanks," the Congress, and other hangers-on - are self-programmed to look out for their narrow elite interests. They are doomed to failure. To the degree that these self-dealers have influence over Obama and his minions, many of whom are part of this self-dealing elite, his economic plan is also doomed to failure.
In regard to Obama's silence about the Gaza situation, his "one president at a time" excuse is just that: an excuse. It has already been said that he overstates the number. Since there is no presidential leadership in regard to this atrocity, it is reasonable to expect more of the same starting January 20.
The momentum of the victory is rapidly losing steam. It can be revived by some real statesmanship, but that requires more independence than seems likely. We are on our own, and should start getting used to it.
Here's a song for a little inspiration. For the lyrics, click here.
The FISA vote was likely only the beginning. Sadly, it is one thing to run for the presidency, quite another to actually be the president. Click here to read about the latest disappointment. I think Obama is just swamped with establishment inertia-ists. For young people involved with the campaign it must be a heartbreak to learn how stuck the system is in old, hegemonic, imperialist, and murderous ways of doing things.
Another way of looking at it is to recognize the challenge, and take the struggle to the next level. If you take Obama as your president, then intruders on that vision should be invited to pursue other interests. Some sifting and winnowing has already taken place.
It will be a while before confirmation hearings. Let's not let this one be a rubber stamp.
New Year's has to be the emptiest holiday of the year. It is the weak sister (or brother, etc.) to Christmas, and for millions of "Americans," it means recovering from the previous night's festivities. My father hated New Year's. A surgeon, he would get called almost every New Year's morning at about 2:00 a.m. to put someone's body back together. One New Year's morning he was in surgery for about eight hours, picking windshield glass out of a formerly beautiful girl's face, while the town's oral surgeon sewed her tongue back on.For decades I have practiced my own little ritual of going to sleep in one year, and waking up in the next. It's not much of a ritual, but it beats having glass picked out of my face.The "Catholic" church has its own observance of New Year's, the Solemnity of Mary. It used to be called the "Circumcision," but that apparently lost its sex appeal, or something. I haven't been around "Catholicism" much since my graduation from a "Catholic" college, so I wasn't aware that the change had been made. The holiday was never explained to us when we were kids, and, obedient "Catholics," we didn't question it. It was enough just to be on vacation from school.This new year is a little stranger than any I can remember. We have a new president, replacing the most criminal to occupy the office in the nation's history. President-elect Barack Obama holds great promise as an agent of change, with the daunting task of reviving our economy, our place in the world, and our sense of who we are.There's a beauty to the challenges Obama faces. The momentum of our policies and practices is for the vulgar: favor the rich, the corporations, the destruction of the planet, and state terrorism internationally. As a perceived "black" man, Obama faces the additional burden of "white" "racism." No one is actually black or white, and race does not exist, except in the minds the racially oriented, but the danger of racially motivated violence will circle over Obama's presidency like a vulture.These pressures make it unlikely that Obama will make any significant changes, but the beauty of his predicament is that he has a freedom to act that is unprecendented. The old momentum is breaking down. It doesn't work anymore. The easy invasion of "Iraq" turned out to be a disaster. The "free market" policies of the "Republicans" wrecked the economy. The enabling of environmnetal destruction has enabled the destruction of the environment (duh).There is no better test case of Obama's opportunity to make changes than in "Mideast" policy. The "Mideast" is a term invented by the "British" around 1900. I wonder if the Brito-centric terminology might have something to do with the troubles in the region. Whatever the case, the seeming stalemate in relationships can't go on forever, and now is the most opportune time for a change.Obama has said he believes in the sanctity of the "Jewish" state. It is an easy thing to say when running for office. Millions of "Americans" also identify themselves as "Jews," and they vote. Largely due to the atrocities of World War II, the nation of "Israel" was created, more as a refuge than a country. In an ideal world the country would have been carved out of land not being used by anyone else. In the actual world, the nation of "Israel" was founded on land that had been settled by "Arabs," who are now known as "Palestinians."The prevailing view among "leftists," "rightists," and "centrists" is for a two-state solution, wherein a peaceful "Israel" will exist in side-by-side harmony with "Palestine." For these people I am tempted to start my own Bernie Madoff style Ponzi scheme, offering stock in the Brooklyn Bridge.I wrote about the predicament of "Israel" and "Palestine" in 2006 and again in 2007. Both posts could be written today with the same pertinence, and the same departure from conventional wisdom. The difference now is that conventional wisdom is no longer seen as wisdom, and it is long past time for real wisdom to emerge.So, how about a little heresy? How about a real solution for the "Mideast." The core conflict in the region, between "Israel" and the "Palestinians," can only be resolved by establishing one-state. It would be free of official religion, like the "United States," and free of official ethnic dominance. It could be called "Semitestine," since both ethnicities are "Semitic," but a more acceptable name might be something like "Utopia" or "The Promised Land." "Christians" refer to the region as the "Holy Land," so maybe that name will work. An ancient name like "Phoenicia" might work. My preference is "Mediterrania," since the land is bordered by the "Mediterranean" sea. Some might prefer the spelling "Mediterranea."Again, whether he likes it or not, Barack Obama has taken on the responsibility of changing the world for the better in a significant way. Unlike his predecessor, he doesn't have the option of fakery. On all fronts - the economy, domestic harmony, the ecosystem, international relations - only real solutions will do. He has little time to waste. Our task, should we accept it, is to guide him towards those real solutions.______________________________________________________I've been indulging in a bit more heresy over the past few weeks. Here are a few samples:Freedom's just another word...There's a bit of a semantic problem with the Freedom from Religion Foundation. If they don't want prayer at a government function, then they should start an organization called the Freedom from Spirituality Foundation. Prayer is not religion, unless it is practiced as part of a specific organization. If a preacher makes an exhortation to people to join his faith or else be damned into "Hell" for eternity, then that would be a violation of the separation of church and state.It's tricky business, being an atheist. You first have to create a "God" to disbelieve. Handily, "God" has already been conjured up by the various religions, who also provide a theism to be "a" of. It's too easy, and atheists think they are really brave and smart, when they actually have fallen into a trap of being against or disbelieving of the existence of a being that others have made for them.If one were to take the view that "God" is beyond our limited three dimensional understanding, then we all would be a lot more humble in our believing and disbelieving. We also would be more oriented towards direct experience, which can be gained through various spiritual practices like meditation, prayer, divine love, and selfless service.Meanwhile, the arguments go on. It will be nice to watch the inauguration. The exit of the Bush criminal regime will be cause for great joy. And a prayer of thanks. We will be aBush, and not a moment too soon. __________________________________________Welfare reformAt least David Gregory looks the part. He probably won't be in the job for very long. He looks like the weasel that he is, and the show will probably "lose audience."Something different going on that this situation brings into focus. The past eight years were a distinctly negative time, with the appropriate prominence of a gang of sociopaths. Because of this, and the great promise offered by the candidacy and election of Barack Obama, hopes and expectations have been raised. We voted for and presume that we will have clean, honest, and decent government. If Obama turns out to be just another toad posing as a statesman, then the rest of his life will be one of sorrow and shame.There has been a shift in consciousness. It will take some time for the transition, but the old, criminal ways of doing things will have to change. One of the ways the change is likely to manifest is in television, where the emphasis on crap is at such a fever pitch. The choices now tend to be grisly cop shows or trashy comedies. Fittingly, the networks are losing money on these shows, and might actually have to come up with real dramas and comedies, such as was done in the 50s and 60s.Because Obama talks a good game, and actually seems to mean it, people believe he will bring a higher level of effort to his tenure as president. One of the ways he can start is to cancel all foreign aid to "Israel." Let them pay for their crimes with their own money._________________________________________About "Blackness"This article is certainly a lot of words about not much. None of us are "black" or "white." The color black is the color that does not emit or reflect light. White is the opposite, the color tone that reflects the entire color spectrum. "Caucasian" skin does not have this characteristic, and "African" skin does not have the characteristics of black. The notion that anyone is a member of a "race" is true racism, and perpetuates the whole gamut of prejudice. Race actually does not exist, except in the minds of those who through ignorance or need to feel superior to others (perpetuate the delusion). "African-Americans" had the notion of race foisted upon them by slavery, and after generations of tribal mixture, they lost their identities with their root ethnicities. For some further reading about the existence of race, check this out: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=does-race-exist . To continue with corrupted notions of "black" and "white" will only keep us stuck in a rut of artificial difference. We can have "Irish" "Americans," "Italian" "Americans," and "Chinese" "Americans," but we can't have a "Kenyan" "American." Obama is identified with a "race" and color that don't exist in human experience. He further is identified with an ethnicity for which he has no historical connection. The slaves in the "U.S." came from the areas of "West Africa" that are now the countries of "Angola," "Ivory Coast," "Sierra Leone," and others. "Kenya" is in "East Africa."posted Dec 16, 2008 at 18:33:22____________________________________________What's the word? The Bible on Gay Marriage John Hamilton (HappyJack) wrote: The argument about "Biblical" authority for banning "gay" marriage is silly at best. For one thing, it rests on the assumption of the existence of "The" Bible, when there have been many versions over the centuries. Another assumption is that "The" Bible is "scripture," divinely inspired stories, sermons, prescriptions for a good life, and predictions of the future. There is a further assumption that "Christian" beliefs have the authority of law of the land. I was raised as a "Catholic," a denomination that would like to resume its former place as inheritors of the Roman Empire. If you left the Church, you supposedly gave up any notions of going to "Heaven." I spent eight years as a follower of an Indian guru. Curiously, we were told that if we left, we would give up all ideas of "enlightenment." It's the same the whole world over. I'm not pro "gay" or anti "gay," but if two people want to commit to each other in a loving relationship, they could do a lot worse. For example, is it worse than ignoring warnings of an immanent attack, lying a country into war, kidnapping, torturing, killing, spying on everyday citizens, and turning the Justice Department into a gang of political hacks? Then, of course, there's Hurricane Katrina.Monday, December 15, 2008 4:00:07 PM Recommended (5)________________________________________________________Obama Ditches Press Pool To Take Daughters To Aquatic ParkThe series of stories emanating from Hawaii are sheer fun in the way they show how the MSM (Mainstream media) just make things up out of thin air. They refer to the Kaneohe Marine base as part of the town of Kailua. Kaneohe is a town in itself, a few miles west of Kailua. The fashionable smug thing at NBC (starting with Tom Brokaw) is to pronounce Hawaii as "Hawai." #%%holes. This article refers to "Sea Life Park" as an "amusement park. It actually is a marine research facility, and has some lectures and animal shows for the public, but is hardly an "amusement park," ala Disney World or Six Flags.
I read another report today (AP) that said "Obama, wife Michelle, and daughters Malia and Sasha are staying in a $9 million, five-bedroom oceanfront house near downtown Honolulu." Kailua, where Obama is staying, is on the other side of the island from Honolulu, separated by a small mountain (Pali) range. Liars.
It takes a minimum of care for the truth to get these facts straight, but our corporate media couldn't care less. It didn't matter a bit that someone as low as Bush lied us into war, looked the other way when warned about imminent attack, corrupted our system of justice, kidnapped, tortured, killed, and stole two elections. They partied with him, laughing at his stupid slide show about searching for WMD. They have no souls, and will be remembered as symbolic of this age of mediocrity.posted Dec 27, 2008 at 22:16:29_____________________________________________And, of course, I had to get in a few words about Rod Blagojevich:Light the torches!It might be worthwhile at this point to put the Blagojevich situation in a bit of perspective. For one thing, the trading of appointments for money or favors in politics is pretty commonplace. What is different this time is the blatancy and stupidity, hardly reasons for tar and feathering. Unlike in the case of his predecessor, no one has died as a result of Blagojevich's crimes. Indeed, compared to our soon-to-be former president, Blagojevich is downright statesmanlike. He hasn't invaded anyone, hasn't kidnapped anyone, hasn't tortured anyone, hasn't looked the other way when warned of immanent attacks, hasn't turned the Justice Department into a club for political hacks, and hasn't enabled the collapse of our economic system. But wait, Blagojevich's wife uses foul language! The shame! The outrage! Light the torches!_____________________________________________Here's some appropriate music. Here's another.This song by Steve Earle offers some hope.Here's some background reading on Obama's approach to the "Mideast."Here's a site for info on the "Mideast."
There is likely a lot of consternation about some of Obama's cabinet appointments, and his designation of "right wing" preacher Rick Warren to give the invocation at the inauguration. It may seem to some that Obama is an empty suit or craven politician, but I have another explanation.
Barack Obama may be a lot smarter than any of us have imagined. He knows he has one top priority: restoring our economic system. It the economy goes into depression (which I believe is likely), social unrest will become widespread, and chaos could result. Given the level of bigotry and other forms of mental imbalance in this country, which can be grouped into the crude label of "right wing," Obama's life could be in serious danger.
I think Obama is smart enough to know that he has to defuse his critics if he wants to have a successful presidency. He likely understands that what we call "right wing" is a combination of criminality, pathological religious fervor, and a posturing and parasitic punditocracy that fuels the flames of hatred.
It may be that Obama is preempting the wave of criticism and threats that will come his way in times of crisis. If he can establish himself as the president of all the people, then he is more likely to unite the country behind his programs. As a side benefit, the industry of hate-mongering media can have the rug pulled out from under it, draining the swamp, so to speak.
As far as some of his cabinet appointments, I wouldn't be too concerned. Obama is in complete control, because he can fire any of them if they stray from his vision for the country. Hillary Clinton, in particular, is in a weak position. If she were to follow her own course as Secretary of State, and get fired for her efforts, she would be without a government office, and her political career would be greatly diminished, if not over. I actually think Hillary will be a great Secretary of State, and if anthing will be an enhancement to Obama's presidency.
It may have been a stroke of brilliance to name Ken Salazar to be Secretary of the Interior. If Salazar actually does behave like a Bush appointee, and finds himself out of a job, he will have nothing to fall back on. A better "Democrat" will likely have his Senate seat, and he will be left out in the cold.
In this context, the most powerful person in the Obama cabinet is Steven Chu, the incoming Energy Secretary. We will not survive as a species unless we reverse the effects of carbon dioxide pollution. If Obama turns out to be just another politician, and his various appointees enact policies and practices that are detrimental to the planet, Chu might just up and quit. It will be a supreme embarrassment for Obama to have a Nobel Prize winner in such a critical realm resign.
Of course, I could be completely wrong. If so, we're cooked, literally. Obama may not like it, but he has little choice but to be the best president we have ever had. That being the case, the scenario I have laid out is the true one.
My earliest foray into Eastern spirituality was with a group called Ananda Marga, which in Sanskrit means "path of bliss." It was in the summer of 1972. I had just started graduate school in Economics at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. The university and town were in the midst of a renaissance of sorts, with a large "hippie" culture, an intensely active music scene that ranged from folk, rock, country, bluegrass, jazz and blues. The "African American" fraternity Kappa Alpha Psi held its annual "Kappa Carnival" at SIU, bringing a burst of soul music, a parade, and other cultural events. The renowned architect, inventor and visionary Buckminster Fuller taught at SIU for a number of years, and geodesic domes he designed could be seen in various places in the area.Ananda Marga had signs posted around town, and I went to a few of their "Kirtans," gatherings on Sunday evenings where Sanskrit mantras were chanted, along with a few "yippy-skippy" songs like "Happiness runs." The main thing I remember was the group doing a circle dance while chanting "Baba nam kevalam," which means "Baba's name is the only name." It's sort of like "There is no God but Allah," or "Jesus is Lord." The "Baba" referred to was Srii Srii Anandamurti, a former Indian railway employee who developed a social philosophy based on yogic principles. I only went to the Kirtans a few times, and went with the group on a couple of its Sunday volunteering excursions, supposedly helping poor families. I don't remember actually doing anything - just showing up at a couple of farms where the residents were poor.My only other involvement with Ananda Marga was to be given a mantra by a visiting "acharya" from India. The acharya was dressed in orange, with an orange turban, and had the most piercing, hateful eyes I have ever seen. It was almost comical. The mantra was given in a secret ceremony, and I wasn't supposed to tell anyone. When my big moment came to receive the mantra, the acharya, in a very arrogant, unfriendly manner told me it was "Brahma." He instructed me to say "Brah" on the in-breath, and "ma" on the out-breath. It was a big disappointment. I thought I was going to get some esoteric mantra like "Aditya Hridayam punyam sarva shatru vinaashanam," that Ram Dass introduced on the radio lectures I listened to on weekends. Anyone who knew anything about Hinduism or Yoga philosopy would know that Brahma is the creator aspect of the Hindu trinity. There was nothing secret or special to me about saying, in effect, "The creator, the creator." Now it doesn't seem like a disappointment. It's an honored name. I just don't use it as a mantra. The Ananda Marga group got a bit strange over the three years I spent in Carbondale, and I stayed away. A group within the group, known as "Prout" began to grow, and an elaborate initiation process was instituted for adherents who wanted to become "members" of Ananda Marga's corps of teachers who evangelized. A woman I knew had a complete mental breakdown after going through the initiation. A few years later, when I was involved with another spiritual organization, Siddha Yoga, I heard a few reports of members of Ananda Marga being involved in "terrorist" activity, mostly in Australia (for a weak reference, click here). Some followers of the path of bliss set themselves on fire. The reason for the "terrorism" was that Anandamurti was in prison, and part of the mythology of Ananda Marga was the perceived injustice of his incarceration.I haven't thought about Ananda Marga much over the years, but the "terror" attacks in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) brought the memories back. What started out (in my experience at least) as a small group of spiritual seekers in the "party town" of "Illinois" became a violent international organization engaged in acts of "terrorism."An incident that happened when I was at the Siddha Yoga ashram of Swami Muktananda in Ganeshpuri, "India" also came to mind in the past few days. The ashram was walled-in, keeping intruders out, but the ashramites went outside the gates often to shop and hang out at the tea shops in the area. One day some students from a nearby Muslim university appeared in the area around the ashram, and began harassing some of the "Western" women who were staying there. I didn't witness it, so I don't know what they were doing, but it likely involved grabbing and pushing. When word reached the "enforcer" at the ashram, an Indian man named "Venkapa," he went out with a few helpers, corraled the Muslim students, and beat theme severely, mostly with a cane-like stick he carried with him at all times. From what I heard, he beat them unmercifully. The status of Muslims in India is pretty low, and any excuse to treat them badly was irresistible. These two episodes are instructive in a number of ways. The Ananda Marga example shows how a group of well-meaning people seeking spiritual and social advancement can devolve into what we commonly understand as "terrorism." The incident with the Muslim students is an example of how two (really three if you count the "Western" women) self-identified different groups of people can see others as inferior, immoral, and worthy of disrespect and mistreatment. I had a friend during my Siddha Yoga days who was a Muslim from Bombay. He was a computer engineer, and lived in the SYDA ashram in Ann Arbor. This may seem like a contradiction, but he wasn't a devout Muslim, and, being from "India," was well aware of the value of spiritual teachers and meditation. My friend, whom I will refer to as "Abdul," told me that Muslims everywhere said of "American" women that "They're all whores." I found this stunning, but remembered my friendships with "Iranian" and "Pakistani" students when I was in graduate school, and realized this was true. Muslim societies are "conservative" by our standards, and modesty in dress, speech, and behavior are all expected and enforced. The buzz in the news media is about the suspected "terrorist" group behind the Mumbai attacks, Lashkar-e-Taiba (read about it here). If this group can be rooted out, rounded up, killed, jailed, tortured ala the Bush criminal regime, and "defeated," then the problem of "terrorism" will be a step closer to being resolved.Good luck. As long as people are inclined to see themselves as different from others, and organize around those differences, "terrorism" will continue to be a threat. Countries as "advanced" as the "U.S." can fall prey to the basest emotions, with hysteria about "others" creating a mob mentality that leads to aggression of the most foolhardy kind. Like the invasion and occupation of "Iraq." A totally criminal operation, the "war" had the support of 90% of the "American" people when it was started. The only way "terrorism" will be successfully reduced (it will not be eliminated any more than teenage sex) is to reduce the sense of difference. In "Israel," for example, the real problem is people seeing themselves as "Jews" (or "Israelis") and "Palestinians." Being neither, it is easy for me to see the folly of these indulgences in difference. I don't see myself as anything - not "Irish," not "Scot," not "American," not "Buddhist," not "Taoist," not "Hindu," not "Catholic," not "Midwestern," not "White," and not "leftist" or "rightist." Though I use my left hand in writing, throwing, kicking a football/soccer ball, and bowling, I am not "left-handed" as an identity. I bat, shoot a rifle/shotgun, and play guitar right-handed (it's my excuse for mediocrity). In "India," where we ate sitting cross-legged on the floor and ate without utensils, I learned to eat with my right hand, and now do it naturally when the situation arises. I have to admit that I'm closer to seeing myself as a "left-hander" than any other identity, but I haven't felt inclined to start a cult of "leftys." It would be kind of nifty to have a cult of people who call themselves "Lefty." "Hey, Lefty, tell Lefty over there to get to work!"Of course, another way of reduce the sense of difference is to create a world economic system where the vast disparities between rich and poor are alleviated, if not eliminated. The rich have had more than a fair chance throughout history. They have wasted it, and we now see the result of their greed, avarice, and profligacy.It may be the greatest benefit of the Obama presidency that these paranoid identities will start breaking down. By his genetic background alone he is breaking down barriers between people. He is already showing that he has the potential of being our greatest president ever, and he hasn't even taken office. I wouldn't have thought I would be so optimistic about any politician, but Obama is very different. He has grown so much in his life that he is a model for all humanity. He of course benefits greatly from the contrast with the president he is replacing, but I believe Barack Obama's arrival on the world scene is a historic phenomenon of epic dimensions. His sense of timing is cosmic.____________________________________________________Here's a tune that shows our common interest. It's from the "Playing for Change" project.And of course, John Lennon.This song suffers from overexposure, but it still matters.Elvis Costello.Here's some Al Green.This Canned Heat song fits.One Love from the "Playing for Change" feature on Bill Moyers Journal.To read the "Australian" government's "terrorism" policy that developed partly as a result of an Ananda Marga bombing, click here.For an analysis of the connection between "terrorism" and organized crime, this interview is worth a listen.
This video shows a bit of the old party atmosphere in Carbondale. Times have changed, most likely for the better.
I was born in "Chicago," and lived in the "Woodlawn" area of the South Side until age seven. We lived on such streets as Minerva, East 64th, and finally in the Jeffrey Manor neighborhood. My first friend was "African-American," also known as "black." In those days the operative term was "colored." If I remember right, my friend's name was Anthony, which is my middle name ("Catholics" would know why. Especially "Irish" "Catholics").
My father was a physician in private practice, and was on the staff at Jackson Park Hospital. He had an office on Stony Island Avenue. In his youth he played quarterback for Mount Carmel High School, the same school where Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb got his start. Mount Carmel won the city championship when he was a senior, and my dad scored a touchdown. In those days Soldier Field could be crammed with 100,000 people, and the city championship was the only time it was regularly filled to capacity.
My grandmother worked for the Chicago Police Department. She was one of the few women on the force, which she called "The Farce." This was not a criticism. It was the "Irish" pronunciation of force. For many an "Irish" family, getting on "The Farce" was a great step in achieving the "American dream." My grandmother was first generation "Irish-American," a nisei of sorts. A story about her appeared in the Chicago Tribune, telling how she arrested a purse snatcher on the street without having a gun. "Grandma Mimi" did security work at the Grant Park bandshell. She got to know a lot of the performers, bragging most about her friendship with singer Mahalia Jackson.
When I was seven years old, my family moved to "Lincoln," "Nebraska" (which is almost "Kansas"), where my father began a residency in General Surgery at the Veterans Administration hospital. After three years we moved back to Illinois, where my father completed his residency at the VA in Dwight.
Wherever we lived, I attended religious schools of the "Catholic" denomination, considered what would now be called "madrassas" by some. As "Catholics," we thought of ourselves as an oppressed minority, though at the time the "Catholic" church operated the largest lobby operation in "Washington."
I lived in "Los Angeles" for four months in 1968, a last fling before going in the Army. Among my minor adventures was waiting on James Mason at the restaurant where I worked (Engraved in my memory is "Have you got any hot coffee?" He wanted Sanka, and we forgot to have a pot of hot water ready. He left without leaving a tip.), and reading a script with the future Freddie Krueger, Robert Englund (I zinged him, too, taking him out of character. He would remember it, not fondly.). Another memorable adventure was being chased out of Tijuana with the two high school friends I was carousing with. We were lucky, heh, heh.
I had once aspired to be a lawyer, but the desire was not strong, and I moved on to other things. I did some legal work when I was in the Army, mostly typing non-judicial punishment forms. I also worked closely with an Army lawyer to thwart our company commander's charges against soldiers in the unit.
I did a lot of searching for a spiritual path, and found a mentor of sorts, who became infamous for his behavior. I left the organization, and now do a variety of practices that I find uplifting, sometimes with a teacher, most of the time not.
In 1983 I moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, hoping to find construction work. I worked as a plumber at Hickam Air Force Base, and eventually left that job to be a lecturer in Economics at Leeward Community College in Pearl City. The community colleges are part of the University of Hawaii system. I lived on Makiki Street, just a few blocks from Punahou School, and played pickup basketball on the outdoor courts there.
I had a checking account at the Bank of Hawaii, where Madelyn Dunham was a vice-president.
I'm left-handed, a better way to be. Hmm. Bill Clinton is left-handed. So were Ford, Reagan, and Bush 1 (I put him in past tense because he exists in the past tense). Here's a few others.
I was never a very good bowler, though I would handily beat a certain president-elect. I think my top score of all time was about 196, but I averaged around 140 when I bowled in a boy scout league.
In 1993 I applied for a job with ACORN in Chicago. The interview consisted of accompanying an older "African-American" woman to the West Side of Chicago, in the Pulaski-Cermak Road neighborhood. The area was devastated by the fires set in 1968 when Martin Luther King was assassinated. It was still blighted, and I helped the woman from ACORN go door-to-door. ACORN was organizing people to challenge the city government to either renovate or demolish abandoned buildings. The run-down apartments and houses were used for drug and gang activities. ACORN was also working to end discriminatory home loan practices.
I was surprised at myself for having such an easy time talking to the people in the neighborhood, but realized the job wasn't for me. It would have been too dangerous, the pay was too low, and walking the streets was something for a younger person. I had nothing but admiration for the "African-American" woman. She was older than I was by a decade or more, and wore shoes that were not exactly made for a lot of walking. We stayed out too late, and I still remember vividly the two of us standing on an "L" platform in the dark, waiting for a commuter train to take us back downtown. If I had been alone, I would likely not be alive to tell about it.
My ethnic background is mixed, "Irish" "Catholic" (or what I call indigenous "Irish") and "Scottish" "Baptist." The Hamilton part of my ancestry came from "Northern Ireland," where, like many "Scots," they had emigrated. As such, I have ancestry on both sides of one of the most violent ethnic struggles in human history.
The Hamiltons that came to "America" settled in "Ohio," fought in the "Civil War" for the "North," and moved to central "Illinois," where they mostly farmed. Some of their descendents are still farming, and have incorporated solar energy in their operations.
The first time I ever voted was for Paul H. Douglas for the U.S. Senate, in 1966. It was the Senate seat that Dick Durbin now occupies, for which he just won reelection. Obama's seat was then occupied by Everett Dirksen.
I used to smoke cigarettes, for about ten years total, but quit for good in 1990. I "experimented" with consciousness altering substances when I was young. What no one ever mentions when they admit to such "experiments" are the results. For me, the "experiments" were successful for the most part, and they led me to the meditative life. I would not recommend this form of inquiry to anyone, though. You can start meditating any time.
Like William Ayers, I lived in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and worked for the University of Michigan, where he studied as an undergraduate. Also like him, I have an advanced degree in Education. I opposed the war in "Vietnam," though in my case it was mostly from inside the U.S. Army. Ayers's former girlfriend, Diana Oughton, who was killed when a bomb she was making exploded in 1970, was from a prominent family in Dwight, Illinois, where my father did the last two years of his surgery residence.
These are all things I have roughly in common with Barack Obama, the newly elected President of the United States. Like Obama, I voted for him for president, donated money to his campaign, and did some campaigning for him, though it was very minimal.
These coincidences make the election of Barack Obama all the more gratifying, but I would be gratified if I had nothing in common with him. The Bush era is over. It has been a long eight years, with the country held hostage by the most criminal and dangerous regime in the country's history. As "the world's only superpower," this regime made the "United States" the most dangerous country in all of human history. There was a risk up to the election that the Bush regime would declare martial law, continuing its rule indefinitely, and establishing an authoritarian, autocratic state. That danger is now remote, though still a possibility. January 20, 2009 will be a day of great relief, as well as of celebration.
When the election results came in last night it was a release of stress that was immense and incredible. I didn't fully realize the toll the Bush era had taken. Among the things that have happened to me over the past eight years was a stroke in 2003, after working too many hours on the Madison Veterans for Peace website. Life is different now, with medicine and blood pressure monitoring a continuing annoyance. I wouldn't be writing this blog at all if I didn't feel the need to offer some truth in a sea of falsehood.
Barack Obama is a "centrist" in the political parlance. He believes in escalation of our involvement in "Afghanistan," his health care plan is corporate-friendly, his approach to rescuing our economy is both weak and doomed to failure, his tax reform plan is inadequate, he advocates increasing the Pentagon budget, and he likely will go easy on prosecuting the crimes of the Bush regime.
Still, his election is a sea-change in "American" politics and culture. He has opened a Pandora's box, or let a genie out of the bottle, and the country will never be the same. Momentum has begun for advancing our civilization, and that momentum will be hard for the forces of darkness to reverse. The first thing we will need to is to re-enact New Deal type reforms and programs. Then we will have to look seriously at what it will take to create a system that will allow our species to live in harmony with the ecosystem. The challenge is near-impossible. We at least have a start.________________________________________________
Here's some pictures from around the world.
Here's a nice version of this Randy Newman song. Here's the Randy Newman version. Here's Randy Newman. The song was actually written by Huey P. Long and Castro Carazo. Here's the lyrics.
I'll be playing this song a few times in the coming days.
This fits. It's a transition song. We are transitioning out of feeling bad.
This comes after the feeling bad is over.
And, of course, this.
Here's some Iz. Here's some more.
Leadbelly spent some time in Washington, D.C. many years ago. He wrote a song about it. Have a listen.
Here's a nice instructional video. You can practice with this video. By January 20, you should have it down.
Herein lies a hint.
To see the pictures that go with this post, click here.
I was a plumber for about six years. I miss it. It was an occupation where I would have the satisfaction of a job well-done on a daily basis. After age 40 it starts getting hard on the body, and 40 was a couple of decades ago. I started too late in life, and moved on to other things when the aches and pains became too frequent and intense.
I only mention this because having been a plumber gives me the moral authority to represent truth, justice, and the "American" way. I voted early last week, for Obama (Here's how the scene looked yesterday). I had been toying with the idea of voting for Nader, but I have had an Obama sticker on my front door for about six months, and felt obliged to be consistent.
Mostly, though, I voted for Obama because I like him, and figure that he's worth the chance. On the level of discourse alone, he will raise the country's level of interaction by his example. He will appoint competent, professional people to head government agencies. He will appoint Supreme Court justices based on jurisprudence and integrity.
The range of policy options for the President of the "United States" are pretty narrow, so Obama will not likely to be the great agent of change we would like him to be. If he is able to produce even minor redistributions of wealth and income, I will be surprised. The corporate power structure in this country will not change significantly until it collapses, which may well happen during Obama's tenure.
Most problematic for the Obama presidency will be his adherence to established mythologies and practices. He calls "Iran" our enemy, and promises to increase our involvement in "Afghanistan" and, by extension, "Pakistan." The reasons given are spurious: countering the supposed nuclear "threat" from "Iran," and "defeating" "The Taliban" and "Al Qaida." All of these escalations will almost certainly lead to disaster.
Our "Foreign Policy Establishment" can accurately be looked at as an exclusive club of immature teenagers with stacks of violent video games. They don't represent you or me, the country, or anyone else. Henry Kissinger is the archetype - an entity unto himself, a world criminal who is responsible for vastly more deaths than Saddam Hussein or any other dictator in the modern era.
What is really going on is a perpetuation of the military-industrial complex that Eisenhower warned about decades ago. If there are not sufficient worldwide "threats," then it becomes difficult to justify our bloated Pentagon budget, as well as massive spending for our various "security" agencies.
Events will overtake. What has not been mentioned about our economic crisis is that the profligate lending that led to the credit breakdown gave the economy its fake growth for most ot the Bush era. There are no growth prospects, real or fake, that will make the economy prosper. Joseph Schumpeter listed early in the 20th Century the factors that are necessary for GNP growth: new markets, new sources of raw materials and labor, new products, new organization of industry, new methods of production, new methods of transportation, and new methods of communication.
We don't have new anything on the horizon that will generate increases in output in our infinite growth system. Solar energy, at best, will allow a stagnant level of energy use. We have fished the seas to near-extinction, cut the forests to levels of of denuding that make reforestation very difficult, and are threatening our own future existence with our emissions of carbon dioxide. These factors are only a part of our self-threats.
Therefore, the system will change, whether we like it or not, and with or without Barack Obama. The best thing that has happened during this election is that people have become engaged. In a few days, Barack Obama will be our new president-elect. It is up to us to make sure that the change we expect and hope for actually takes place.
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Here are a few addtional reasons why it is important that Barack Obama is elected President of the United States: It will be less likely that Bush will be able to get away with his many crimes if Obama wins. We will likely have a professional and ethical Department of Justice. It will be less likely that Bush will successfully pardon the numerous criminals from his administration. We will be more likely to find out what really happened in the months previous to and after the attacks of September 11, 2001. We will be more likely to find out the real source of the Anthrax attacks in the aftermath of the "911" attacks. We will likely find out who actually won the presidential elections of 2000 and 2004. We will be more likely to find out what really went on in the planning for the invasion of "Iraq." We will be more likely to bring to justice the former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, and anyone else involved in the corruption of the Department of Justice. We will be more likely to find out about the criminality involved in awarding contracts to Halliburton and other war profiteers. We will be more likely to find out the relationship between our economic meltdown and the bribing of members of Congress for favorable legislation. We will be more likely to have measures to reinvigorate the economy that will not destroy the environment and increase poverty (Still, as I said above, our economy is not going to revive in the long run in any way that will resemble the profligacy and consequence-free abundance of the past.).Obama is not the Messiah, which he has taken pains to remind us. Still, if this country has any hope at all of saving itself, and of restoring its place in the world as a beacon of opportunity and hope, he is our only real choice next Tuesday. Barring massive vote fraud, I expect him to win in a landslide.
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For a little encouragement, Leonard Cohen.
I'm not sure if this is old news, or if it is happening elsewhere, but the Wisconsin State Journal, Madison's "Republican" and/or "Conservative" newspaper endorsed Barack Obama today. Read about it here. It's a game breaker for Wisconsin. I think it's pretty clear to anyone with any sense at all that McCain would be a dangerous president,and a short-lived one, making Palin our national leader, yuk, yuk. Her husband would be making key decisions about national security, the economy, budget, legislation, and staffing.
Not in our lifetime. We've already had one disastrous presidency. When "Republican" newspapers are going south on McCain, it's all over. All over, that is, except for Diebold and the other voting machine companies, various "Republican" attorneys general, secretaries of state, and governors.
Wisconsin's attorney general, J.B. VanHollen, is trying to sue the state's accountability board in an attempt to make it challenge voter registrations. It turns out he may be in violation of voter registration rules himself. Read about it here.
It's not too late for McCain. Maybe he can borrow some Joe-mentum.
I've been pondering a few questions: If being tortured as a prisoner of war makes one a hero, then does that mean that everyone who was tortured at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, Camp Cropper, Bagram, and numerous other sites around the planet are heroes? If so, should they be recruited for cabinet positions once the election is decided?
Does bombing civilians 22 times, and being shot down on the 23d attempt make one a hero? If so, then is Ted Bundy also a hero? Is Richard Speck a hero? Is John Gacy a hero? How about Saddam Hussain? He killed thousands of civilians, so by the John McCain standard he should have been king of the world instead of being dropped through a gallows hatch.
These may not be questions that Barack Obama would want to ask in the campaign, but they are entirely valid questions for the rest of us.
For instance, me. I spent three years in the U.S. Army, 1968-71, and did whatever I could to avoid killing anyone, civilian or otherwise. I succeeded, and consider my effort much more heroic than anything John McCain ever did. The idea of him being President of the United States is ludicrous, especially since his main claim to qualification is that he is a "hero." If he's a hero, then every person on every death row in this country is a hero, as well as everyone in our various supermax prisons. (I was inspired to write this after posting this comment to Salon. Obama may not want to go negative, but the rest of us can, with gusto!)
Obama handled the Palin situation perfectly today. He's smart enough to know that it's best to let McCain self-destruct all by himself.
It is pretty obvious by now that the reason McCain chose Palin was that everyone else turned him down. Except maybe Romney. Hate trumps winning.
It was a good lesson for Obama to lose the New Hampshire primary. It would be easy to get overconfident. It may look glum for the "Republicans," but they have every intiention of stealing the election.
I sent the following email to NPR the other day, again hoping to change the dialogue about the election:
Narration
I was listening to "Morning Edition" this morning, and a report and/or commentary by Mara Liasson aired. She referred to Barack Obama as the country's "first black presidential candidate."
I did a color study in "Photoshop" last year, and found Barack Obama's skin color to be closest to "burlywood," "rosy brown," "tan," and "peru" (see Words).
If "black" is meant to refer in a binary way to having at least a tinge of "Negro" DNA, then Barack Obama is indeed "black." The problem with this ascription is that he is equally "white." He is not even "black" in the usual sense, having no ancestry or upbringing in the former slave gene and cultural pool of "African" "America." He is more "white" than "black," and culturally is closer to "Hawaiian" and "Indonesian," as well as "white."
If anything, Barack Obama is a partial "Kenyan-American." We don't refer to people as "white-Americans," but often ascribe such things as "Italian-American," or "Irish-American." No one ever refers to Barack Obama as a "Kenyan-American." This is because we are a "racist" society in the truest sense, choosing "race" over all other considerations. It is the official "narrative."
It is fitting that today's reaffirmation of "American" racism was offered by Mara Liasson, who is also employed by the "Republican" propaganda network "Fox." Though she tries to be one thing on "Fox" and another on "NPR," the two identities are merging.
So, as far as the minions of NPR are concerned, Barack Obama is "Black" and "elitist." The "elitist" part was offered by poll reporter Cokie Roberts. Her "proof" was that he was visiting "Hawaii," his birthplace, and home of the grandmother who raised him.
When NPR started, it wasn't intended to be a career springboard, but instead a forum for independent news and analysis. Maybe it is time for a housecleaning. A complete restaffing would give the network a fresh start. In lieu of that, maybe some limits could be established on double-dipping on propaganda networks.__________________________________________________
The wheel keeps turning and you can't slow down.
Prediction: Jim Webb. Actually, it's more wishful thinking than insight. Obama would be pretty unbeatable with Webb, but I doubt Webb would want to be "President of the Senate" for eight years. Who would? Someone crass enough to hope for abrupt ascendency to the top job. That would be Hillary Clinton.
It will likely be someone in between. Jack Reed of Rhode Island is a "Vietnam" vet, a West Point graduate, and has a strong distributive justice voting record (I don't use the term "liberal." It's a buzz word.) He has said he is not interested, a srong hint that he is open to being cajoled, wooed, beseeched, and begged.
My favorite choice is Caroline Kennedy. It would be a stroke of genius, bridging generations and legacies. It would be too Cheney-like for her to be the choice, but one can dream.
Obama desperately needs someone with strong foreign policy credibility. He's showing more and more that he's either in over his head on foreign "affairs," or getting horrendously bad advice from his old school advisers, or both. Instead of joining the chorus of condemning the "Russian" invasion of "Georgia," he could have looked at the background of the invasion, the "U.S." shenanigans in getting Saakashvili elected and giving him aid and enticement. He also could have looked at McCain's lobbying connections to "Georgia."
As Obama clearly showed on the FISA vote, he is easily manipulated by DLC-type advisers. He has reduced himself to gaming the election and gaming his supporters. This is a path to defeat. It's easy to fall into that trap. Running for office, especially high office, is an exercise in madness. Keeping your bearings under such pressure is near-impossible. He probably ought to fire a few people.
I still believe McCain will eventually drop out. I don't think he is in very good health, physically and mentally, and the rigors of campaigning will cause a crisis. The "Republicans" will have to come up with a smoke-filled-room candidate, some creep from th crypt, like Bill Frist or, horror of horrors, Jeb Bush. The plot thickens.
By now I suspect that Obama supporters realize how sleazy this campaign has become, and the dark forces behind it. Given the desperation of the power elite in this country, the likelihood of a stolen election is great, if not certain. Greg Palast, among others, has done a great job in reporting on the issue.
Another example of how dirty things are, Juan Cole, among others, reports on how one of McCain's advisers is a lobbyist for the country known as "Georgia." This might explain why McCain is saying "We are all Georgians now." For the record, I am not a "Georgian" now, and never have been. Even if I reincarnate there, I will not be a "Georgian." I will just be me, as I am now, not defined by place, gender, "race," height, weight, occupation, or any other labeling device.
I'm not sure what the Obama campaign should do from here on out, but one thing for sure is that he has to find his own voice. The Bush criminal regime set up the situation between "Russia" and "Georgia" with its support and prodding. Read about it here and here. If Obama is to have a "policy" consistent with his image, he has to make a break with the conventional "wisdom" of the "foreign policy" establishment. Parroting or imitating Bush and McCain about "American" resolve and toughness only helps our national and international decline to continue. It may well set us on an irreversible path to nuclear war. This would be the supreme irony of the Obama candidacy, as well as his presidency, which is now beginning to seem unlikely.
The Web is abuzz about the failed attempt by the FBI, and by extension the Bush criminal regime, to blame the 2001 Anthrax attacks on a patsy, Bruce Ivins, who committed suicide after being hounded. I added my own take on the subject here. Thanks to writers like Glenn Greenwald of Salon, the truth may yet be revealed.
One thing is for sure: the Bush regime is the worst band of cutthroats ever to occupy the Whitehouse. As has been revealed in Ron Suskind's latest book, the gang faked a letter that supposedly showed a connection between Saddam Hussain and Al Qaida.
Greg Palast describes the various attempts around the country to disenfranchise likely Obama voters.
What this means for the Obama campaign is that it will take a far greater effort than is now being waged to win the presidency. It should be looked at as total war, involving teams of lawyers, investigators, volunteers, writers, and fundraisers. This isn't just about the Bush criminal regime. The "Republican" party is a mafia, a completely criminal party, and it stands to losee much more than the presidency.
What this calls for in Obama is not so much a change in strategy or tactics, but a change in attitude. He can calmly outsmart and outcampaign the "Republicans," but he has to realize that these people are bottom-feeders, some of the worst people on the planet.
I can be critical of Obama, but I believe he can and will be a great president, maybe even the greatest, if he keeps in mind what his purpose is in running for the office. For the rest of us, we need to keep in mind the reasons we have for supporting his candidacy. Displacing a mafia regime will not happen by making nice.
