Tenth

Terrorism -- "the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, esp. for political purposes."

So...this guy -- Scott Reoder, pre-meditated killer of the Kansas abortion doctor, Dr. George Tiller, is just a "murderer," even though he had a long history of advocating terroristic "use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, esp. for political purposes" against the legal practice of abortion?

Ironic, isn't it? Here's a real terrorist who should be treated as such -- not just as a socio-psychopath -- but a person who readily admits killing in the name of a political cause.

In contrast, some of the Earth Liberation Front folks
received severe terrorist enhancements by the Alberto Gonzalez led Justice Department simply because they had written communiques that their non-violent arson crimes against property such as SUVs and ski lifts on National Forest lands were an attempt to change policy.

Now add to this the recent abysmal 5 - 4 Supreme Court decision to upend 100 years of Court precedent granting non-human Corporations the same right to the First Amendment as those of human US citizens; as well as equating the spending of unlimited Corporate money in US elections as an act of Freedom of Speech.

I won't be surprised when these five neo-liberal, ultra conservative activist "judges" (more like political operatives) who side continually with business and property, and against human rights and choice, vote @ some point against upholding Roe vs. Wade.

Such a sad state of affairs...Reoder effectively commits terrorism inhibiting women's right of choice; and Roberts, Alito, Scalia and Thomas commit an act of terrorism against the US Constitution and the right of US human voters to free elections.

Ninth

Existence.

René Descartes -- "I think, therefore I am." And to some, this leads to life as justifying itself.

But why do Humans have such a smug superiority complex when it comes to dominating the rest of our terrestial universe rather than coexisting with it?

The more I learn about how detrimental humanity is to the rest of the planet, the more I feel guilty consuming. Air. Water. Food.

I breathe in Oxygen (O2) and respire Carbon Dioxide (CO2). Plants convert my exhaled CO2, a green house gas, back into O2 through photosynthesis. A zero sum result. But humanity has upset the apple cart -- our very lifestyles crank out far more green house gases (CO2, CO, CH6, O3, etc.) than Earth can sequester, either through photosynthesis or some other natural process.

We continue to devastate our ecosystems --relentless in our cutting down forests, fouling the water with noxious, toxic matter and rearranging the natural order through non-renewable mineral and fossil fuel extraction.

And I consume food stuffs and products that are harvested and created using inefficient and damaging methods -- everything from factory trawling fish processing that destroys the bottom of the ocean to eating non-local products like bananas and coffee, which foster rain forest clearcutting, and indiscrimate use of pesticides and herbicides.

If it weren't for those around me who would be affected by my being gone, I'm not sure I'd still choose to be here.

Eighth

I'm a Luddite I guess -- I don't give a shit about owning an iPad, iPhone, iSuck, whatever...

It's bad enough I own an iPod. But it helps drown out the fucking asshole sitting next to me on the bus babbling about complete crap on his iPhone so that I can read the ever-shrinking newspaper, or aghast, a book.

I mean the son of a bitch gets on the bus, sits down, pulls out his phone and then scans its phone directory to call someone to yack about absolutely nothing -- he thinks he's sitting in his living room.

But I've noticed lately that no one reads on the bus anymore -- not even the free newspapers they can grab handily from the boxes @ the bus stop before they board.

Nope -- they're checking e-mail, yacking on their iPhone, playing iPhone app games, watching video podcasts, listening to their iPods or sleeping. (There is one lady, though, who owns an Amazon.com Kindle -- but I can't see reading a novel from something that records what I read, as well as has the ability of taking it back.)

~~~~~~~~~~<)*(>~~**~~<)*(>~~~~~~~~~~

The older I get the more I think the worst invention ever is the cell-phone. Why do people have this incessant need to be "in touch?" The more I overhear their prattle, the more I understand they have completely vacuous lives and are trying to just fill in the time...

Seventh

A great man died today -- Howard Zinn.

I met him a couple of times many years ago in Newton Mass where we both lived. I had no idea @ the time as to how big his impact would be on the Progressive Movement in the US.

I went to Jr. High and High School with some guys who were in a garage band with Howard's son, Jeff, who was a couple of years older than me.

The band was called, "The Mad Lads," and also included David Foley and John Simone.

Howard Zinn taught also @ Boston University with a colleague of his, Paul Nash, who lived a couple of houses up the street from where I lived in Newton. My younger brother was friends with Paul's son, Chris.

I also heard Professor Zinn speak @ a number of Anti-Vietnam War demonstrations back in Boston in the late 60's and early 70's.

He will be missed -- but I am sure he'd say in the words of Joe Hill, "don't mourn, organize."

Sixth

Ever wonder about how fragile life is?

For humanity to arise, it meant 250 million years ago a huge cataclysm wiped out 95% of the existing species. Then 65 million years ago, a meteorite wiped out the dinosaurs, as well as over 50% of the animals and plants on Earth.

Only then did little furry animals begin to evolve into primates and then into humans.

And what's amazing is that it's only been the last 100,000 years where "Man" has proliferated and developed to create "civilization." A lucky period in time with no major meteor impact, volcanic caldera exploding or major climate change.

So what has Man accomplished in this short epoch of time?

Seems like everything we touch, we either maim or destroy. In the last couple of thousand years, we've disrupted ecological patterns and synergies that took the planet's ecosystem millions of years to develop. And now we threaten to eradicate forever a significant number of our fellow organisms simply by our unchecked reproduction; and our wanton disregard for the sanctity of other life forms.

But no matter -- we've got iPhones and iPods and Virtual Reality. Who needs the real thing anyway?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




Years ago, a friend of mine -- Larry -- and I were thinking: why is it that the aliens only seem to abduct hayseeds from Iowa? Why not someone who @ least is interested in what exists out beyond the Earth's exosphere?

Fifth

One more thing related to an earlier rant -- contrary to the popular historical view that Julius Caeasar was a tyrant -- as per Michael Parenti, it was the patrician class -- the Senate -- that held this view.

To Parenti, Caesar was actually an ardent populist who had the support of the general citizenry looking for land reform and wealth redistribution. Yes, he like all Roman leaders of the day, was a brutal conqueror of other people, but among the Roman citizenry, he was a staunch Republican and sincere supporter of the People.

Fourth

There is so much crap filling my head waiting for a good dump -- but given how much, I'm just going to have to settle for a daily squat.

Religion. Superstition. Absolutism. Doesn't matter if it's Judaism, Chrisitianity, Islam, Scientology or Mormons. It's all shit. Belief in voo-doo. And if you don't believe in my voo-doo, well, I just might kill you.

What a great human construct. A bunch of male mysogonists somewhere back in time figured it out -- keep people ignorant and subservient to a hierarchy of the "Chosen" few -- -- bombard them with guilt and ostracism from general society -- that "God" forbid -- they don't believe in [Your] God.

It's sad. I remember about nine years ago -- I was unemployed -- one of the many fucked by the dot.com bubble burst -- and I was thinking about going into the Peace Corp. During my interview with the recruiter, he told me that during his experience in West Africa what was most important to the people with whom he was working was whether he believed in "God."

Some argue without religion we have no moral compass -- but then I think of all the wars, misery, persecution, genocide, etc. waged in the name of religion. And to me, that dwarves any rationale that religion is "good" for humanity.

On the other hand, I do think there is a role for spiritualism in our daily lives. As noted, I am a Empirical Animist -- I believe in those spirits I sense exist -- namely the flora and fauna of Planet Earth, as well as the awesomeness of the Universe as a total -- from the subatomic particle to the majesty of the entire Whole.

But in the wake of such Serendipity and Wonder, no answer as to Why is absolutely fine with me. Just "is," is enough.

And with no artificial human construct of voo-doo rules and answers, maybe we can better understand the interactions of what is, as opposed to this concept that Man is Superior to everything else but God, and therefore has a Divine Right to alter, maim and destroy in their and His name.

Whew -- have to wipe now. I'll save more for later...

Third

More on the parallels of Julius Caesar and Obama -- nowadays the Senate doesn't have to physically murder Obama to kill reform (as the Senate did in Julius Caesar's day) -- the Filibuster is effective enough.

Second

I can't help but think we are repeating history -- Michael Parenti's book, "The Assassination of Julius Caesar," parallels our current path -- in Roman times, as per Parenti, Caesar was the last in a line of reformers trying to save the Republic from dictatorship.

With the recent 5 - 4 decision by the US Supreme granting corporations full rights to "free speech," including allowing these virtual entities to contribute unlimitlessly to US elections -- and Obama's weak attempt to stem the tide looks to me like the end to the Myth of Democracy in America -- all hail the dollar and the rise of the Corporate State....

My First Blog

I can't take it anymore -- can't take these Post-Modern morons who vote against their interest; who are too dumbed down to understand how fucked they really are. Fat fucks stuffed on fast food, soda, and brains numbed by video games, iPhones, Reality TV and American Idol.

We are doomed -- Global Warming, resource depletion and Neo-Fascist Corporatism tied with End-Times Evangelical stupidity -- all I can say is, thank the stars I don't have progeny to worry about -- once my wife, my dogs and I die -- my affect on the earth is done.

I am so sorry -- Gaia -- we are a virulent pestilence bent on destroying and consuming everything we touch -- we are to you what cancer is to us -- maybe you can figure out a way to eradicate humanity to save the rest of the species on the planet -- that is your only hope.

So much for my first blog.