Time to change your underwear

As I write, it is April the 1st. March and its winds of folklorish legend have theoretically passed. The weather report suggests that by the end of the week, the temperature could rise to 60 degrees fahreneight. Much of the winter's snow has already melted, exposing  patches of ground large enough to easily spot this morning's frost. It was really a delight to have a good old fashioned snowy winter again. There have been some years recently in which I was already photographing daffodils and jonquils by this date. As it happens, I'm old enough to remember when such warmth was unexpected and a fairly rare event, as it was in Ticino in 1959 in this report from the venerable Beeb.



When I prepare one of my radio shows, I spend as much time as possible listening to old radio shows from which I might take an excerpt. Such clips are intended to illuminate the times from which the featured big band broadcast originates. Last Saturday's show centered on March 31st, 1946, and a broadcast from the New Meadowbrook in Los Angeles by Gene Krupa and His Orchestra.

From the time I was a baby until a month before my 9th birthday, we shared what had been my grandfather's house with my uncle and aunt. My uncle had fought in the Second World War. He never talked about it. It seems to me that most folks of that era didn't talk about it. The war was a job they had to do, a sacrifice that had to be made. It was over, and time to get back to the everyday business of living and dying.

The men and women who had gone overseas returned to find that the home they had fought for had changed. They returned to a world of shortages, which was to be expected. But there was also great unrest. The Labor Unions were calling strike after strike, and it could be difficult to find work. There was an acute shortage of housing, and what was available was overpriced. When England withdrew its troops form Iran as specified in the terms of a treaty, Russia did not. The War had not brought peace. In many of the March and early April 1946 radio shows I listened to, a recurring theme centered on the world spinning out of control - again. Thanks to the presence in every home of a radio, news stories were everywhere. The lead characters in both the comedies and the dramas all felt overwhelmed by the all too present world. All people really wanted was to be left alone. In peace.

I am a news junkie, always have been. I like to keep up on what's happening, what's going on, what's new, what's old, what's in, what's out, what.... and there's the rub. These days, it's just "what?". In capitals  "WHAT?".

There was one segment I prepared for last Saturday's show that I ended up not using for various reasons, including its length. It was an excerpt from a 'Songs by Sinatra' broadcast. In it, there was a recreation of a scene from a short subject which had just won an Academy Award. There were boys fighting, picking on one fellow who was 'different'. Sinatra broke up the fight, and noted that it was Un-American.  We had just fought a war - did you care about who dropped the bomb on the Japs, he asked? Or that we won? He noted that as a nation, we had come together, all races working together. Discrimination didn't have a place here in America, no sir-ee. The lesson was followed by the song, "The House I Live In".



Along with all the other news, local, national, and international which I wish I hadn't heard this past week, was the curious case of a law to protect religious rights in one of our states. Many states have instituted such laws or are in the process of adopting them. Religious liberties are being threatened, they say. People should not be required to do things which violate the precepts of their religion, they say. The particular legislation which hit the fan this time was signed into law by the governor of a state in a private closed door ceremony. In the photograph of the signing, several prominent anti-gay rights advocates can be clearly seen. The bill was quite clearly passed to allow businesses and corporations (which are defined as 'people') the right to refuse their services to others based on a religious objection. When the backlash started, as events planned in that state began being cancelled, the governor went on a media offensive tour, proclaiming that we all simply misunderstood the nature of the bill. You know, governor, I think we get it.

In California, a 'citizen's initiative' by a lawyer will make to the ballot. It will allow citizens to shoot and kill gay people on sight if the state doesn't put them to death first. Now, we all know this kind of nonsense doesn't have a chance of happening, said the people of Germany on November 8th, 1938. The question I have is why these stories are getting so much coverage. Is the intent to ferret out prejudice and bring us all together in the house we live in? To shock and get ratings? To distract us from something else that is going on? To reinforce the beliefs of the similar minded? Yeah, I understand the desire to be left alone, to putter around doing my own thing, to get back to the ordinary process of living and dying.

As always, I hope anyone who listens enjoys the show.

Divertisement

 

A Modest Proposal for the Preservation of Individual Rights and Liberties.

 

In Brattleboro- July 3rd, 2014

When, in the course of legal events it becomes evident that the separate and equal rights which the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God entitles us have become diluted, a decent respect for the opinions of others requires some explanation of the course of action being proposed.

Whereas the business community incorporated enjoys benefits of low to no taxes, taxpayer funded operating and research subsidies, the ability of the Officers of the Corporation to not be held personally responsible for the debts of the corporation engendered by them, legal protection of name and accounts against piracy, legal ability to financially influence elections and lawmaking beyond what is seemly, ability to discriminate against others on religious grounds, and sundry other benefits which are not available to the common taxpayer, a course of corrective action in favor of the individual is required. Corporations enjoy such rights, and corporations are considered to have the rights of individuals. Therefore, I humbly propose that each and every one of us becomes our own closely held individual Corporation.

In the state of Vermont, a “B corporation” (for Benefit Corporation) status is available. Decisions affecting the operation of such corporation take into account social and environmental missions, and a public benefit (i.e a percentage of profits donated to a specific cause) may be declared. Such a corporation may name specific benefit purposes, i.e. influencing educational standards that affect the children of our corporate families, by advocating for the teaching of fact based science, etc.

It might be best, however, to incorporate in some offshore country which exists basically for the evasion of taxes. As the corporation will advocate for wealthy and large corporate entities to pay a more equitable share of their income in taxes, this may seem ill advised. But in an era in which a company can successfully argue for a faith based exemption from providing health care which includes birth control, while that same company has investments in the manufacture of contraceptives, the concept of hypocrisy has obviously lost any meaning or sense of shame. Incorporating in another country could, therefore, be presented as a public display of our seriousness of purpose.

As the process of incorporation will require some small investment, as well as a Board of Directors of the corporation, I propose an even exchange – help me afford the cost and become a member of my board, and I will do the same for you.

As one of the first orders of business would be in the arena of public education, namely the encouraging of others to invest in individual corporations, we would, of course, offer advice and services to that end for a small fee. I would therefore suggest the adoption of a slogan on the order of “Control your fate – incorporate!”

Those interested in being on the Board of my corporate entity should contact me privately.

Thank You.

In order to form a more perfect - say what?

Continuing on from yesterday's post... this was going to be illustrated, but I've decided against that choice - it is really just distraction from what I want to say.

Okay, so here's the thing. I'm not an Obama guy. I voted for him last time, which I think (just off the top of my head) is the first time I ever voted for the winning candidate. But while the Obama administration has done a number of good things, there are a number of missteps and mistakes that are galling.

Obama may tout his first day in office signing of the Lilly Ledbetter act, but it was passed by Congress before he took office and really doesn't do anything to make certain that women receive pay equal to men in the same job. What it does do is extend the period of time in which women have the right to sue over such a situation. Provided they can find out about it. Then again, guys going for a job don't necessarily get paid the same starting salary as the guy before them either. Companies expect to hire cheaper. They expect the applicant to name a salary range, but they want to get by without mentioning what they are offering. The potential employee is at a disadvantage - the employer controls the information to keep an upper hand. Why not just do away with such nonsense and state upfront the salary range the employer expects to pay for the job without regard to sex, race & etc?

Obama did not close the facility at Guantanamo Bay as promised. Its use as a torture prison by the Bush administration, along with the policies exemplified by it, further sullied the reputation of this country. It is a symbol of what went wrong, of America itself gone wrong, and it needs to be closed and dismantled or burned to the ground - Publicly - for everyone to see. The terrorists held there have no rights. This country was based on having equal civil rights. It may seem odd to give such guarantees of treatment to those who wish to kill us but we need to do it - we need to live by our ideals - they apply to everyone, not an anointed few. These were the ideals for which we stood, and for which we  let ourselves, our neighbors, and our children die in wars foreign and domestic. They mean something, dammit.

The Obama administration had majorities in both houses but was unable to pass a decent Health Care bill. The administration settled for a bastardized piece of legislation that will prove a boon to the insurance companies which helped create the problems we have with our healthcare system in the first place. They say it's a decent first step. Yeah, sure. This situation will not be resolved until part of the expense of healthcare is removed from the employer, who offers a lesser salary in order to pay it. Healthcare should not be tied to one's job. Certainly, in my low wage case, I paid a larger weekly sum for healthcare than the contribution required of my employer. Just like most other people I know, my portion, with its sizable deduction, left me unable to afford to use my coverage to go see a doctor or to purchase many of the medications I had been taking before I took that low wage job out of necessity. My weekly deduction would have served me better if it had been pooled into universal coverage. The Republicans claim that such a move would financially destroy the country, yet it hasn't destroyed all the other countries which adopted such a system as noted in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted in the post World War II environment. (The United States has never signed that portion of the Declaration.) European countries afforded it while rebuilding after the destruction of war.

At the time of Obama's inauguration, the Republicans said upfront that they intended to stonewall his administration's legislation, and to do everything they could to make certain that he failed the country and become a one term president. And they delivered on their promise. They don't care about our lives. Yet Obama has never publicly taken them on, never used what was once called the "bully pulpit" to hoist the other rich bastards on their own petard. He should have used this situation to campaign, and lent the support of his person and office to Democrats, Independents, and Republicans willing to compromise who are running for the House and Congress. We don't need a passive aggressive President. We need a fighter, and a Leader.

I could go on, and I was prepared to, but there really isn't much point in it. People seem to think that Obama is some kind of populist President. He is not.  Most people who think this do so because the republicans and their o&o (owned and operated) media told them so. It is uncritical acceptance of an untruth as truth. He didn't start the bank bailouts, but he did administer them, and created and oversaw others. It should be noted that the work he did with the automotive industry was not a bailout, it was a bridge loan. The bailouts were probably necessary, and followed the system set up in the eerily similar Swedish banking crisis of 1991 brought on by the collapse of their housing/real estate markets engineered by speculators. The important thing here is that the Banks got bailed out. The mortgage companies got bailed out. The people did not. Most of the people who owned real estate were middle class. Obama, in his original campaign, talked a lot about the middle class. Too bad he didn't do much about it. In those campaigns, he did not talk about the poor. He barely mentioned the poor this time around. No one talks about the poor anymore except the poor. And Bernie Sanders. Under Obama, Wall Street came back and is enjoying record profits. Which means that the rich, and the corporations, oil companies, and etc. are doing very, very well. The big companies get to take out big loans through the non-government bank called the Federal Reserve  - loans backed by the government using our taxes - at 0% interest. When did we the people who pay the bills get that kind of service? The money the people lost (including pensions and retirement savings) in the banking crisis just "disappeared". That is mostly fiction. It was stolen. We were mugged, just not in a dark alley. Mr. Obama has continued many of the polices that created this situation, just as he has continued Guantanamo Bay, the onerous Homeland Security laws and etc. Do you really think that the financial crisis that came close to destroying us just happened? Do you think that Banks didn't learn anything from the Great Depression? Or the similar situation in Sweden in 1991 that was resolved by government bailouts? This crisis was less an accident than a managed event.

And the really sad thing is that none of this is new. It is a cycle that has repeated many, many times - and not just in the United States. This is the way things work. We pay taxes for services - most services are local - water, sewer, streets cleaned, etc. The larger share of taxes go to the government - for what? Only a small pittance goes to the arts, to education, to parks & etc. We are never asked how, or on what, we want our taxes spent. Why not healthcare? One thing I always adored about my country is that our forefathers chose the name United States. The initials read "us". It hasn't ever really been all of "us" now, has it? The rich and super rich are the 1%, the 5% or whatever. We outnumber them. We pay them to take care of things, but all they really do is take. It is time we demand more. Not request. Demand. Today is Guy Fawkes day. It used to be common to burn effigies of the disliked ruling classes on this day. We need to do more than burn effigies.

So why vote, and why vote for Obama? Because if you vote for the Republican candidate, things will get worse. Much worse. The republicans will use religion and morals (which they themselves do not follow) to make our lives completely miserable. The real reason they do this is to keep us busy trying to survive, and to distract us from the other things they are doing, like stealing everything they can.  I don't know about you, but with my meager income, I pay taxes. Money is taken out of my check. The government uses it without paying interest. I get a portion of it back as a refund - but by no means do I get the full amount back. Yet the Republican candidate states that 47% of the people of this country simply drain off the treasury, meaning the lesser than working men and women amount they put into the kitty. We work. We pay taxes. They stole our money, and they go unpunished. In voting for a President in this country, what you are really doing is voting for a philosophy. Do we the people want an almost illusory chance to move up the economic ladder, a chance to have a little trickle down to help our lives (acquired after the riots of the past), and a few paltry civil rights to attempt to live our lives with a modicum of dignity; or do we want to become serfs to the ruling classes which own the majority shares of the corporations in one giant company town? That's the choice we really have.

See It Now - March 9th, 1954

On March the 9th, 1954 (my God, 58 years ago!), I was 3 and a half years old. I certainly can't tell you what day of the week it was. But something happened that day that brought change to the United States and affected the world.

While there are memories I have from that age, I can't say that I remember that day's broadcast of a CBS News journalism program called "See It Now". I do remember the show's host, Edward R. Murrow. I liked him, and often watched his programs when I was a little older. "See It Now" was a sort of investigative news report with commentary. Today it would be called a News Magazine.  My memories of the show itself are very vague. I do remember specific Murrow programs, like "Harvest of Shame", a documentary on the lives of migrant workers in the US. I grew up in a farm area that depended on migrant workers. When a program is that immediate, you tend to remember it.

In 1953, Murrow and his producer, Fred Friendly, reported on the case of an American soldier by the name of Milo Radulovich. Radulovich was an Air Force lieutenant who was stripped of his rank and discharged for his continued association with suspected Communist sympathizers - his father and sister. His father had subscribed to several Serbian newspapers to keep track of events in his native Yugoslavia. One of the papers was "associated" with a Communist organization. His sister was known to have "liberal" tendencies.  As a result of the program, Radulovich was reinstated. The episode aroused the ire of Senator Joseph McCarthy, who began to focus on Murrow.

Murrow and Friendly responded by putting together a "See It Now" broadcast that was comprised of clips of McCarthy in action, accusing and interrogating Senate witnesses and making speeches. Today is the anniversary of that program's broadcast. It gave voice to the doubts of millions of Americans, and started the downfall of McCarthyism. In 2005, the story of that broadcast was told in the motion picture "Good Night, and Good Luck". I've long been familiar with the final comments made that night by Murrow. All these years later, here in our modern world, his words still have resonance.

Some days I just can't

So. It's another where did the last four hours go morning, and I keep ending up back at the same place and shaking my head. I shake my head a lot these days. Side to side, not up and down. The same old place (as opposed to the old Same place) is a news story about the soldiers in Afghanistan who innocently burned copies of the Koran. Officials have officially stated, "Mistakes were made". Now that's the kind of statement that can cause one to become unstuck in time. Suddenly it is 1986 and that actor starring as President of the Good Ol' Boy US of A offers a non-apology apology over having sold weapons of destruction to Iran (violating the don't do business with terrorists pledge) to finance right wing Contras in Nicaragua, who were our okay because they were our terrorists. (The Contras were trying to topple the Sandinista government which had overthrown very bad man dictator Somoza and instituted programs for mass literacy, gender equality, and widespread easy access to medical care. Damned Socialists!)

Okay, so mistakes were made. And the Afghans overreacted by killing USA soldiers who were there to train their government in killing. Things got so bad the very model of a modern major general apologized, the President of the USA apologized, political candidates in the USA belittled the President, oh, a whole bunch o'shit hit the media fans.

And in all this time, no one, not one single columnist, not one single blogger, not one single reporter or commentator has, to my knowledge, wondered how it is that after 10 years amonkst the infidels no one had ever told those US soldiers that burning a Koran was an affront to Muslims? Did they maybe have sudden onset wisenheimers? I meant Alzheimer's. You know, the Reagan Thatcher demented-ia thing?

This just makes me wonder what "they" are covering up this time.
Or trying to hide.
As in distract us from.

Whatever it is, it certainly isn't trying to make US forget the rise in gas and oil prices.
This time it is supposed to be because the Iranians threatened to "close" the 24.2 miles wide Straights of Hormuz (why are fundamentalists always harping on being straights?) (Okay, it's only 21 point something in nautical miles.)There has been no blockade, just the threat of one. ABC News, to their Disney owned credit, ran an expose of Wall Street Speculators who had driven the price up. No one did an expose of the big oil companies and the extra monies they are raking in to bolster their already record profits.

Wait. Record profits. In a bad economy? Surely not oil companies like ExxonMobil? In the worst not a depression since the depression? You mean like GM? Or the insurance industry? Or medical product companies? Oh, that's right - we're all suffering; cut hours, downsizing, thrown out of work (does wonders for the bottom line), losing homes, homeless.... uh, huh. Can you say "managed economy"?

At long last they have no shame

It's a nice, mostly sunny, warmish for the time of year afternoon here in Brattleboro. But I don't feel like doing a damn thing. It's not like I feel extremely exhausted (well, maybe sorta kinda), it's more like I'm feeling weary. Well, hell, no wonder - I read the news again today oh, boy.

The newest US stats on poverty are out. We're up to 49 million of  US. These are the rates newly adjusted by area, which counts food stamps and unemployment as income. The group with the biggest rise in poverty is Senior Citizens over 65. They say that's one in six seniors. Remember now, this is just for the poorest of the poor. I've read where the real poverty rate in the US is close to or over 40%. Poverty is now a family of four with an income under $24,343 dollars. They didn't give a rate for what poverty would look like if they took out foodstamps and unemployment. And they certainly aren't going to tell you what the poverty rate will be if they take out social security, housing subsidies, and medicare. Why my gosh, maybe those programs are doing what they're supposed to do.

That said, it should be noted that both Republicans and Democrats are working on a stealth method of reducing those benefits. They are starting by drafting legislation to reduce the cost of living increases for seniors and veterans. Over time, less people would be eligible for Medicaid, Head Start, food stamps, school lunch programs and home heating assistance. With whole groups of people getting less aid, it will appear that their incomes have gone up. Which means paying more taxes while the standard deduction and personal exemptions go down. Amount raised would equal $60 Billion. They also want to change the consumer price index (used to calculate inflation benefits). For seniors, the decline for a 65 year old would at first be $136 dollars less per year. But by the time they reach 75, the drop would be $560 dollars. By 85, the drop would be about a thousand per year.

 Of course, the only segment of the population that won't have their taxes increase under these changes will be the rich. As one person put it, you're "throwing (seniors) under the bus to save money".And this is the easy plan. If the super budget committee doesn't have a deal in about three weeks, the 1.6 Trillion automatic cuts will take effect. If that happens, I suspect that millions more will join the occupy protests in the streets. Mainly because that's all they'll have left.

Meanwhile, back at the Courts, the Obama Health Plan - that wondrous gift to the medical insurance industry - has been upheld again. It's not universal health care. It's universal help yourselves to poor people's only money care. You won't be able to opt out. Oh, yeah, maybe that's why I'm feeling so wearyish. I've been cutting my meds in preparation of a complete stop on my way to not having insurance so I can pay my rent, have food to eat, and keep my internet connection. I knew it had to be something like that.

Today is the 312th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar.
There are 410 days remaining until the end of time.

 

It's all my own fault.

It's been, what, 11 days since I last posted? I've been off on vacation to Hell. I couldn't afford it, of course, but I had to go somewhere nice long enough to recharge and remember that there -is- something better than my current situation in life. As potential Presidential Candidate Herman Cain has been saying....

Ah, ha. See there? All my problems are my own fault. No matter how anarchistic, progressive, or liberal one is, if ya grew up in a Republican family in the age of Eisenhower, this is your eternal truth. The problem is I, me, my, mine. The world is my oyster and I'm allergic. I'll have to stop surfing the web and go out there and get me a better job, yahoo. I ain't lookin' fer no bailout that'll make you poor rich bastard son-of-a-bitches pay the kind of taxes I do, no sirree, Bob. Heck, I make enough to eat meat every now and again. I'm not 'plannin'.

Oh, by the way, my mania for collecting pics of old WPA posters and art has been turning up a few real goodies. The "W.P.A." stood for "Works Progress Administration". It was one of Roosevelt's policies during the depression to get people back into jobs. The government paid for the unemployed to work building roads, damns, and etc. - and artists to make public art. This one was called "The Lord Provides":

 and this little gem seems topical, if a bit faded. Of course, government doesn't pay for education much anymore. Building houses, fixing roads, educating people into trying for a better position in life - these ideas may have paved a way for the great economic boom of the 50's and 60's but they're old hat now.

Which reminds me, have I posted this one yet?

Ah, yes, move on, move on.

Ya gotta have money to live here.

Living here has become more and more problematic as the poor and the non-rich old have been targeted to be pushed out.

Which reminds me, I got a postcard from Laura over at Austanspace while I was away. She's still up in Maine where a friend has taken her in until her home is approved for human habitation. You wouldn't believe the shenanigans going on over these Melrose apartments where she live(s)(d). The town seems intent on obstructing the tenants return, especially after the affordable housing folk spent a ton of money to fix them up after the hurricane (kill two birds with one stone, anyone)? It looks like what they really want is to get rid of  subsidized housing. Those folks don't have the money to support the antiques dealers, art dealers, and jewelers in town. I wonder how they'll get rid of the trailer parks (i.e. affordable housing for the folks who used to have the good jobs that closed or moved away)?

O my gosh, lookit the time. I gotta get off to goin' workin' - winter's coming and around here it does get a mite cold. The Baptist Church sold off its signed Tiffany window to get their certificate of occupancy for having their overflow shelter where the homeless can sleep overnight when it's below freezin'. I'm not sure if I'll be there or not. If I cancell my health insurance, I'll have enough to pay my bills so maybe I'll be able to stay in my studio apratment.

The thing I keep wond'rin' about is what are they going to do with those of us who can't pay our bills? (Which in the United States of America seems to be the biggest sin you can commit. Just look around, bankers almost never go to jail.) We certainly can't stay here, it seems. Nor can the elderly, nor can the disabled. Us folks just don't fit into the image the powers that be want for Brattleboro. Where are they gonna put those of us whom they tell to keep moving on, to just go away?

 

  

As things fall apart

Jesus H. Keyriced. October 9th? WTF? One of the more horrible times of the year is almost upon us, "The Holidays". Halloween is only days away, and Ron Paul and Michelle Whats-her-name are no longer media darlings and thus aren't around to scare the crap out of nice little democrat children everywhere. And the old folks. And the populace at large. House majority leader Eric Cantor is still spewing words that added up sure sound like hate to me - hatred of the principles of this country and its everyday people trying to keep to a moral code while getting ready to starve. Only he doesn't know it. He's not old enough to know what having rights is like. He doesn't remember when the people were sold the dream that all they really wanted was a nice big house with a mortgage, a big fancy car, and don't forget the 2.3 replacement child workers. Forget hope. And he has too much money to know what standing in a supermarket checkout line is like. He's never had to decide between rent or food + every thing else. Plus, tied as he is to the extreme religious right, he's never had the freedom of not worshipping. He's never really had free choice. Except maybe when he ran the family business while working in "real estate development". And we know what he chose. (oh, oh, I know, I know - a wife who is director of a bank!)

And thus the wolly bully spaketh to the crowd on the 7th of October in the fourth year of the great smiting:

“I am increasingly concerned about the growing mobs occupying Wall Street and other cities across our country... Believe it or not, some in this town have actually condoned the pitting of Americans against Americans...”

WHAT?

Did anybody ever teach that guy the word "hypocrisy"? Oh, wait, he's too young to have had a real education, isn't he?

Hmmm. Just when did anyone decide that people like him or the Fundabrainless crowd was running the country? Well, from what I can see, they did. Self proclaimed. With God on their side. Who believes , and/or agrees with all their nonsense? No global warming, or warming your houses in winter either. The evolutionary theory is wrong. No rights to your own body. No rights to equal pay, and yes, that means you women who should really be home birthing babies (in the cold).

So. The thing is this: he is leading a minority bullying their way into the playground. The people who didn't want to be bullied have fled Paris, as long as they could afford to. Those who tried to stand up to them were knocked down, spat upon, called vile names, and in general had their reputations besmirched to the point that they no longer comprise a threat to the bullies. No one will follow that lead - it's not just that others have seen what will happen (haven't they Senator Wellstone?) and backed off, it's that the bullies have destroyed the capacity for anyone to lead. The bullies use the media they own to throw mud pies at anything nice, or good. Earth's excrement covers just about everything these days - except for the gated communities and the occasional off in the woods hunting lodges with unfortunate names. Just two days ago, the not really the majority bully Eric Cantor tried to kick start the redefinition of the "occupy wallstreet" participants as a "mob". Oh, I have chills running up and down my spine now. Mobs get angry and take things into their own hands. Cantor is really telling the police and national guard to be ready to step in. He (and his Wall Street backers) fear the mob. As an 82 year old man I know who had to un-retire after his pension fund was snatched put it, "Off with their heads!." Yes, the mob has potential. Squirm you little bastard, Cantor. Flail around awhile, his disciples. What he doesn't know is that when push comes to shove, the crowd gets him. He won't be accepted at the hidden ranches. (Look at his last name.) And his really scared friends on Wall Street won't take him in - they're too used to hiring him and ordering him around than to elevate him to their level. See Mr. C? This is the world you and your friends made, and welcome to it.  It's the one the rest of us have had to live in for far too long now.

Hell, even little Brattleboro had an "Occupy the Common" on Friday. Starting at 12pm. Going to 3. Perfectly timed to avoid real working people, with enough time to go home before the tourists arrive and the lower to middle middle class workers get out. These wonderful women turn out, wearing their memory of hippy garb, wearing their green dresses, with green undies, with little green children, in their happy, green with envy little lives. It's just so hard being better than everyone else. Who do they think they are, anyway? The upper middle class? Oh. Wait. They are. Off with their heads!


Hugs and Holy Kisses,
the Rt. Rev. Crankypants. Esquire



p.s. Happy birthday, John
       There are still some of us...




                                  
                                              
                                           
                                    

Miss Otis Regrets

So. As I write, it's the first day of the autumnal season. The equinox, when day and night were of equal length, arrived this morning around 5:05am. That's the only time anything or anyone has been equal all week.  Where to begin?

How about the guy killed by the State of Georgia on Wednesday? His name was Troy Davis. He was executed for a crime he did or didn't commit in 1989. Over the years, a different man confessed to the killing. 9 of the original 11 witnesses recanted their testimony, citing everything from police bullying to murder threats from the confessed killer. 1989. 2011.  
22 years is a hell of a long time for speedy justice. I guess that's supposed to remind the poor folk that they'll still pay for their crimes, real or imagined, in time if nothing else. (a little court ordered fine scarecrow?)

Around the same time, the US President, Mr. Obama, called yet again for a heavier tax assessment on the rich, who haven't paid their fair share since, well, eternity, I guess.  Within seconds, Republicans and Tea Partiers were noted flailing their arms about while screaming "Class Warfare!!!". Same as it ever was. Except the richer folks used to own the poorer folk.

It was really nice of the President to call for taxing the rich at the same rate the middle class and poor are taxed. But, he stopped there. The Corporations were not mentioned, even though the US legally defines them as having all the rights of people.

 
In Texas, home of the previous president, and home to Gov. Perry, the current top vote getter of the conservative right, another man was killed by the state on the same day as the guy in Georgia. He was one of several men who had used a logging chain to drag their victim over roadways for more than three miles while body parts littered the highway. Now that's class warfare.

The state of Texas has killed a hell of a lot of people alleged to be criminals. Their governor, the one running for president, has had more killing retributions during his tenure than any other governor of any other state. Ever. He does have a slight problem in that his predecessor, Mr. Bush, was able to get his killing machine working at a faster rate than his. Oh, well. What can you expect from a guy who was "chief yeller" at Texas A&M University? If you've never heard of the school, know that it had a student famous for finishing a jigsaw puzzle in 6 months. The front of the box had stated "2 - 4 years".

By the by, the state of Texas has murdered four people in the name of justice in the last 10 days alone. It would have been 6, but the courts stopped those. For now.

It doesn't seem that anyone remembers when the United States, via the US Supreme Court, outlawed all attempts at capital punishment back in 1972.  That one, by the way, was a finding attached to a case in the state of Georgia.  In another case in Georgia, the all clear was given in 1977, but the State of Utah stole Georgia's thunder by executing a guy name Gary Gilmore first. Gilmore seemed to be a serial murderer in training, who, when caught, insisted on his own execution. His final words were: "Let's do it".

So there were a few years there, where life imprisonment was the top punishment. In other words, the United States stopped reacting in the mode of its criminal killers. For a brief few years, we were better than that.

Have you ever noticed that most of the people the states have killed in the name of capital punishment were poor? And overwhelmingly black? If you're a rich bastard and destroy the financial lives of thousands of people forcing them into bankruptcy and/or homelessness, you get life imprisonment in a fairly fancy facility with tons of perks. If you're really good, and murder thousands by your decisions, you get to pay less taxes.

The US census bureau released new statistics showing that "nearly one in six" Americans lives in poverty. 46.2 million people.  That's a record. (I wonder if Guinness is interested?) That's 15.1 % of the population, the most of any industrialized nation.  It's the highest figure since they started keeping track 52 years ago.  And many of those folks will tell you that taxing the rich is class warfare. What was that about repeating a lie often enough?

Wanna have some fun? Let's tell the President that Troy Davis was really a white banker.

Let's do it !!!

911 Musings

Okay. Most of that morning is a kind of blur. There are pieces, spots that I remember. I was working as an inside sales rep at a wholesale organic food co-operative. That morning there was a meeting, nothing new to co-ops. I remember the meeting room being packed. I can't quite recall the discussion at the moment. The CEO was there. There was something going on and tempers were flaring. I remember one young woman and the CEO really got into it. She wanted her voice heard, and as a member owner of the co-op, she thought she had that right. But the CEO whipped his head around, his chin jutted out, his eyes narrowed, and through clenched teeth he raised his voice to say "Ownership is not management".

It was one of those trump everything moves that shuts down discussion, sort of like calling someone a Nazi or a racist. The meeting had gone unconscionably overtime and those of us on the sales force were rushing to do an hour's work in 20 minutes. As we filed back  into the large open area where our prairie dogging cubicles were, we noted that the woman at the sales switchboard/receptionist area had a radio turned on. She told us a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. There was fire. And another plane just rammed into it, too.  At some point, management turned off and secured the radio. I went over to the new buyer's desk. He had a computer attached to the Internet. We could see the towers on fire. But we had to get back to work. Another crash - at the Pentagon! And another plane headed towards Washington might have crashed in Pennsylvania. It was just after 10am. The receptionist/switchboard operator gasped at what someone told her over the phone. The look on her face hushed us all - one of the towers had collapsed. Someone near me said, "What"? Without thinking I said, "Well, yeah," like it was the most logical thing in the world, "We're at war." A few minutes later, the second tower crashed. The CEO came in and told us that we needed to get back to work. We had to get these orders done. We had to go on as though nothing had happened. Because if we didn't, "they" would "win". The woman who had recently been put in charge of the inside sales staff (a plant from a corporate competitor, I was sure) started to weep. The CEO put his arm around her and walked her into her office. The offices for regular management ran alongside one whole (and very long) wall. A few minutes later, the CEO left for the day. Before he did, it was announced that only those having a hard time dealing with the situation could go home. The rest of us were to stay. Where I sat, I could see the wall of offices. And one by one, the lights in each office went out. The wall opposite had a big glass enclosed area with an entryway into the bookkeeping offices. The lights there started going out too. It took less than 20 minutes, and they were all gone for the day.

I remember getting home later than usual. I was hardly inside the door before I had the tv on. Try to find CNN on the dial - oh, it wasn't necessary. I should have known. There was only one story anyone was talking or thinking about. I had begun to stare at the unimaginable pictures and action replays. I can remember two phone calls, both with the same message: The community radio station I was involved with was broadcasting a taped program about a musical attack from Swizzlestick outerspace or some such thing  - it was just one too many discordant notes in the night. Where was I, wouldn't I go in and put something more spiritual on? Not having Mozart's Requiem on tape, I declined - I wanted to see this footage, I wanted to get beyond my wasp detachment. I had to believe it really happened, I guess.  A little while later, I noticed that the station was playing a program with zen sutras, Koranic chanting raga-ish music in the background, like some new age tape you might've heard once in Bar Harbour. I can't remember much else of that day or night.

So many columns, blogs, new stories, magazine stories, etc. are commenting on how that day changed America and the World. The ideals of my country were called into play by those who wanted to exploit the situation for their own ends. We watched, helpless screaming, even as the news was telling us that the news was being evasive, incomplete, and distorted. We all knew what was happening. But we didn't know how to stop it. And we let it happen.

The generation just arriving at military service/voting age probably doesn't have memories of a time when we weren't at war. They don't know of a world without cell phone miracle machines. They don't remember when we didn't torture. They don't remember the racial divide that collapsed in the wake of that day. They don't remember a time when we had jobs. Or before the internet and then before the corporations took it over so they could charge you while implanting their shopworn dreams.  When airplane travel was unrestricted. When you had to go out of your way to find good clean and/or organic foods without chemical growth residue. They don't remember a world before email or a world where you go could go the to library to borrow or reference material without the government having access to those records. Hell, the way it's going, they soon won't remember libraries at all. The answer is right there for the asking, as long as you can afford to go online. Where every keystroke can be monitored. They don't remember that the CIA isn't supposed to be operating in our own country. They are  too young to have noticed the phony yearly cycles in gas prices. They don't remember when "liberal" wasn't a dirty tax and spend commie word. Actually, they're not old enough to remember Communist Russia.  Or remember when we were a good, mostly honest, people decently living our beliefs, and admired and respected for that throughout the world.

So much has changed, and yet so little. There are still pharaohs ruling the world. They simply build no public works, no pyramids, engender no higher ideals in mankind. They own and/or run corporations now. It's been that way for quite awhile. Where you used to replenish the country's coffers by war against another king, now you war against your own people. Normans and Saxons alike. It's like time somehow shifted along with the weather patterns. The image being sold at home is late 50's early 60's Consumer time.  And the poor kids today don't know to look for the man behind the curtain, or to follow the money.

In the 1960's, we really did change the world - before you laugh, look at the way you are dressed. Look at the number of women in the workforce - even if they aren't being paid as much as men. People suffer no disgrace now from divorce, or unwed pregnancy. I might as well say that people now suffer no disgrace. I look at gay teenagers and beam with joy at the world they are creating. But I also see young women coming along who don't seem like they will continue the fight over fair wages. They have to be taught, they need knowledge. I'm not just speaking about women here, the men too. We can't let them forget or go without knowing a world in which you don't have to register for military service. The clock is being turned back. In a few weeks, daylight savings time will be here. It's not just that we gain an hour, you know - it's getting back to the real time that's becoming important.

Somewhere in those memories now 10 years old, are the memories in the background - how quickly the barricades went up, even in a little town like this. How quickly people got used to having and having to show their IDs  to get into government buildings. The government buildings that are fortresses against the rabble. They know one day we will come for them. They're getting ready.  How quickly it became useless to try to stop the government from privately accessing every day actions, what books we've read, what we purchase, our medical problems, our financial status - and then there's the targeted advertising and credit ratings industry paid for by whom exactly? When the kings of business get together, they trade amongst themselves. After the kings of business get together, they circle like vultures. There will be nothing left to feed the dragon. Except for everlasting war.

I can no longer see an option here - we will have to fight the corporation/government again. Use the same tools you just know our guys taught rebels in the Arab Spring oil east. They did, after all, get those ideas from us. We - the decent ones, who still uphold the message - we - have got to get to the kids and the young adults. They need to know there is a better world and that once, one great once upon a time, we were getting near it. Camelot, da da dah da dah, Camelot! Lost Horizon of Shangri-la. Cities of gold. Xanadu. They need to know there are ideas and ideals worth living for. And the only way to fully express that is to live it. Every day.

Race relations will soon be stirred up again - crime is already on the upswing, and a goat will be needed to blame it on. The nonstop wars have started - over there. So far. The wars of money and subjugation have started over here. The merger of government and business is spreading. It could take years, or it could be tomorrow, but make no mistake, they will be coming.  Except for the ones who get to leave after 20 minutes.