I don’t wanna talk to you no more, you empty-headed animal food trough wiper! I fart in your general direction!Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!

Thus it is that Mony Python has summed up my sentiments of my youth. When I was 14, I was beaten viciously at South Shore High School in Chicago. The reason was that I was Jewish and the perpetrator was a first generation Palestinian classmate of mine. He broke me of ever attending a gym class again and I was one of the very few Jewish kids in my school who flunked Gym.

So, off I went to preparatory boarding school in New Hampshire. There I was to be nestled amongst my Christian peers from the Eastern US. Those fine young men introduced me to a whole new level of anti-Semitism. They had new derogatory names for Jews I had not yet heard. Out of the frying pan and into the fire Mum, (an informal British English term for mother).

Man I worked up some serious hate for religion. I asked my minster pals to put their crosses away when I would visit them in their offices. I felt like a vampire when I would get too close. But through the actions of people like Rev. Steve Swanson and others who helped the social service agency I founded in 1976, Local Motion,  I began to heal, slowly. Years of 12 step recovery helped me to see religious people in a more generous light.

But politics and religion do not mix for me. I do not hate Palestinians anymore or Christians. But I will resist this wave of sentiment to define the United States as a Christian country. Posturing itself as defenders of the good religion against the bad religions. It is only a matter of time before Jews will once again be the official bad religion.

Monty Python, “Noooooobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/14/prison-overcrowding-report_n_1883919.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl1%7Csec3_lnk1%26pLid%3D205953

We have become the largest penal colony in the world. Who would have thought that while we are busy policing the world, we would raise the largest population of criminals in the world? Are we the worse ever? Are we just the most punitive? Are we actually in the grip of forces which are dictated by the economics of criminalization? Is it far-fetched to believe that there is an unspoken alliance, conspiracy bias which is exercised every day by a self -perpetuating system of legislators making laws, police arresting people for breaking the laws, judges and prosecutors processing the laws/defendants, correctional companies/facilities housing the criminals and then probation and parole officers providing post incarceration monitoring?

I have seen far fewer dollars and jobs fiercely defended against rational economic forces so why should I exclude the probability that we are a criminal culture by economic design? It is a self-perpetuating sytem, not unlike industrial/military complexes. Look around you America. How does it feel to have created the largest collection of criminal in the history of mankind?

Hedgehoppers Anonymous- Good News Week circa 1965

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrEHDV1e460

It’s good news week
Someone’s dropped a bomb somewhere
Contaminating atmosphere
And blackening the sky

It’s good news week
Someone’s found a way to give
The rotting dead a will to live
Go on and never die

Have you heard the news
What did it say?
Who’s won that race?
What’s the weather like today?

It’s good news week
Lots of blood in Asia now
They’ve butchered up the sacred cow
They’ve got a lot to eat

It’s good news week
Doctors finding many ways
Of wrapping brains on metal trays
To keep us from the heat

It’s good news week
Someone’s dropped a bomb somewhere
Contaminating atmosphere
And blackening the sky

It’s good news week
Someone’s found a way to give
The rotting dead a will to live
Go on and never die

Have you heard the news
What did it say?
Who’s won that race?
What’s the weather like today?
What’s the weather like today?

It’s good news week
Lots of blood in Asia now
They’ve butchered up the sacred cow
They’ve got a lot to eat

It’s good news week
Doctors finding many ways
Of wrapping brains on metal trays
To keep us from the heat
To keep us from the heat
To keep us from the heat

I could ask, “is it just me?” but it isn’t. The news is getting grimmer. That doesn’t mean the world is grimmer just the news. These things, pedophilia, rape, torture, murder, hit and runs and on and on. It is clearly an effective flow of information propagated by the electronic media. So there have been murders, rapists, cruel dictators, inconceivable and almost immeasurable brutality perpetrated on the innocent and guilty alike. Then we got the deforestation, climate change, drought, etc.

It is enough to make me feel helpless and despondent about these times and even more anxious about the times my children will live through. My daughters know times are tough. They know that we need to reduce waste and water consumption, so that they can thrive and survive in the future. They seem aware that if my generation doesn’t take measures now, the price will be paid by those that follow.

http://www.wfaa.com/news/crime/Victim-describes–169690796.html Home assault

http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/Garland-soccer-coach-charged-with-sexual-assault-of-a-child-169673766.html

http://www.wfaa.com/news/national/169587966.html  Man rapes 73 yo in Central Park

I just have to stick to my practice of meditation, acceptance and non-attachment so that I do not let the tentacles of despair become wrapped around my soul. But I would be remiss of I also did not recognize these events and effects and acknowledge their power to affect the quality of my life.

Oh yea, watch the video, read the lyrics posted below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdqjTtiG6CI Grandmaster Flash and The Furious 5-The Message                     

It’s like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder
How I keep from going under
It’s like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder
How I keep from going under

Broken glass everywhere
People pissing on the stairs, you know they just don’t care
I can’t take the smell, I can’t take the noise
Got no money to move out, I guess I got no choice
Rats in the front room, roaches in the back
Junkies in the alley with the baseball bat
I tried to get away, but I couldn’t get far
Cause a man with a tow-truck repossessed my car

Chorus:
Don’t push me cause I’m close to the edge
I’m trying not to lose my head, ah huh-huh-huh
[2nd and 5th: ah huh-huh-huh]
[4th: say what?]
It’s like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder
How I keep from going under
It’s like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder
How I keep from going under

Standing on the front stoop, hangin’ out the window
Watching all the cars go by, roaring as the breezes blow
Crazy lady livin’ in a bag
Eating out of garbage pails, used to be a fag-hag
Said she danced the tango, skipped the light fandango
The Zircon Princess seemed to lost her senses
Down at the peepshow, watching all the creeps
So she can tell the stories to the girls back home
She went to the city and got social security
She had to get a pimp, she couldn’t make it on her own

[2nd Chorus]
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/g/grandmaster+flash/the+message_20062225.html ]
My brother’s doing bad on my mother’s TV
She says: “You watch it too much, it’s just not healthy!”
“All My Children” in the daytime, “Dallas” at night
Can’t even see the game or the Sugar Ray fight
The bill collectors they ring my phone
And scare my wife when I’m not home
Got a bum education, double-digit inflation
I can’t take the train to the job, there’s a strike at the station
Neon King Kong standin’ on my back
Can’t stop to turn around, broke my sacrophiliac
A mid-ranged migraine, cancered membrane
Sometimes I think I’m going insane, I swear I might hijack a plane

My son said: “Daddy I don’t wonna go to school
Cause the teacher’s a jerk!”, he must think I’m a fool
And all the kids smoke reefer, I think it’d be cheaper
If I just got a job, learned to be a street sweeper
I’ll dance to the beat, shuffle my feet
Wear a shirt and tie and run with the creeps
Cause it’s all about money, ain’t a damn thing funny
You got to have a con in this land of milk and honey
They pushed that girl in front of the train
Took her to the doctor, sewed her arm on again
Stabbed that man right in his heart
Gave him a transplant for a brand new start
I can’t walk through the park, cause it’s crazy after dark
Keep my hand on my gun, cause they got me on the run
I feel like a outlaw, broke my last glass jar
Hear them say: “You want some more livin’ on a seesaw?”

[4th Chorus]

A child is born with no state of mind
Blind to the ways of mankind
God is smiling on you but he’s frowning too
Because only God knows what you’ll go through
You’ll grow in the ghetto, living second rate
And your eyes will sing a song of deep hate
The places you’re playin’, where you stay
Looks like one great big alley way
You’ll admire all the number book takers
Thugs, pimps, pushers and the big money makers
Driving big cars, spending twenties and tens
And you wanna grow up to be just like them, huh,
Smugglers, scrambles, burglars, gamblers
Pickpockets, peddlers even panhandlers
You say: “I’m cool, I’m no fool!”
But then you wind up dropping out of high school
Now you’re unemployed, all non-void
Walking ’round like you’re Pretty Boy Floyd
Turned stickup kid, look what you’ve done did
Got sent up for a eight year bid
Now your manhood is took and you’re a may tag
Spend the next two years as a undercover fag
Being used and abused to serve like hell
Till one day you was found hung dead in a cell
It was plain to see that your life was lost
You was cold and your body swung back and forth
But now your eyes sing the sad, sad song
Of how you lived so fast and died so young

Don’t push me ’cause I’m close to the edge
I’m trying not to lose my head
It’s like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder how I keep from going under
It’s like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder how I keep from going under

Yo Mell, you see that girl there?
Yo, that sounded like Cowboy man
Cool
Yo, what’s up Money?
Yo, where’s Cooly an Raheim?
They is downstairs coooling out
So what’s up for tonight y’all?
We could go down to Phoenix
We could go check out “Junebug” man
Hey yo, you know that girl Betty?
Yeah man
Come on, come all man
Not like it
That’s what I heard man
What’s this happening, what’s this?
What’s goin’ on?
Freeze
Don’t nobody move or nothin’
Y’all know what this is (What’s happend?)
Get ’em up, get ’em up (What?)
Oh man, we’re (Right in there) Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
What is that, a gang?
No
Shut up
I don’t wanna hear your mouth
Shut up
Officer, officer, what is the problem?
You the problem
Hey, you ain’t gotta push me man
Get in the car, get in the car
Get in the god…
I said, “Get in the car”
Why is he?

September 11 was an extraordinary time, event and tragedy in US history. I was touched by the outpouring of compassion shown all over the US. But years later I am still asking, where is the compassion and empathy for those in other countries. People talk to me or I over hear them talking to others and something is amiss. What is it about boundaries, borders or divisions that weakens a persons compassion for others?

There has been (and of course always will be) peoples in other lands suffering terrible violence, starvation and oppression. Why doesn’t our collective heart bleed for them? Why is their suffering tenable? Why are we even responsible for some of that suffering?

I often hear that our actions are justified when we rain violence on others, because we are taking measures to prevent violence being visited on us here. Nearly 3000 died here. Do you know how many we have killed since then? Do you know how many of those we killed were considered innocents even by our own military? (Do you care?)

If this were an eye for an eye kind of world, there would be few Americans remaining. We admit to violating international laws, treaties and agreements in the name of necessity. But we are swift to deny others that same rationale. Consider how our drug war has caused tens of thousands of deaths at the hands of drug lords we created in the pursuit of a failed policy. That failure is acknowledged by our own government. I do not make this judgement, this is the recognition voiced by the government of the U.S. Not one year in the course of the drug war have we ever brought supply below demand.

But forget our transgressions, if they be such, and ponder the fate of peoples all over the globe that live in abject poverty, oppression and fear. Is it too much to think about because it is so overwhelming. Is our maximum capacity met at about 3000 fatalities before we shut down our ability to empathize? Is there something magical or natural about our national boundaries and kinship that limits compassion and empathy? Do we care as much about the casualties of our coalition forces in Afghanistan? From England (427 lost), Canada (158) and France (88) and more. Civilian casualties in Afghanistan recorded in the first four months of 2012 are, 579 civilian deaths and 1,216 civilian injuries. Most of these casualties were inflicted by the Taliban, many by us.

I spoke about this with a friend today. She asserts that we were transformed by 9/11. We coalesced as a nation as a result of this tragedy. I see that. But, I want us to be transformed even more.  I have been taught to pray for loving/kindness for those beyond our borders, often, and without judgement, . I feel bad for our enemies and their suffering. I wish all living beings be free from suffering and be happy.

So what! And, so what is my beef with the world? I just feel alone and like I am just part of a small number of people when I express these sentiments. Back in the 60s I felt empowered and part of a large number of folks who felt that compassion for friend and foe. Where did it go and was it ever even there?

So, no disrespect to our brethren who died in the line of duty doing the best they can to secure our safety. No disrespect to those who met a terrible fate in the World Towers and all the first responders who died or have taken ill from as a result of their efforts in what we now know was a toxic wasteland. Nope, no disrespect and all due respect. This musing is about us, not them.

Always a poignant song, no matter the numbers of years since its release. Simon and Garfunkel’s  Sparrow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc5JLrpXpkE

Who will love a little Sparrow?
Who’s traveled far and cries for rest?
“Not I,” said the Oak Tree,
“I won’t share my branches with
no sparrow’s nest,
And my blanket of leaves won’t warm
her cold breast.”

Who will love a little Sparrow
And who will speak a kindly word?
“Not I,” said the Swan,
“The entire idea is utterly absurd,
I’d be laughed at and scorned if the
other Swans heard.”

Who will take pity in his heart,
And who will feed a starving sparrow?
“Not I,” said the Golden Wheat,
“I would if I could but I cannot I know,
I need all my grain to prosper and grow.”

Who will love a little Sparrow?
Will no one write her eulogy?
“I will,” said the Earth,
“For all I’ve created returns unto me,
From dust were ye made and dust ye shall be.”

Could it have been sung, said any clearer? The existentialist might end with “all man’s purposes come to naught in death” In any event, the Eastern orientation of life seems to be much more accepting and preparatory for death. The Western version of life is to escape death, including the appearance of aging. It is frequently said that we are a society which does not honor its elders. As I approach elderhood, I would like to be honored, respected and cared for. I apologize to my elders for any neglect I may have visited upon them as a result of my brash indifference to age, wisdom and maturation.

Back to the song. I reiterate how poignant this song was and is. A call to observe the behavior and excuses of those who would neglect they that have needs. I am reminded of what Fats Dominoe said “I hear you knockin’
But you can’t come in
I hear you knockin’
Go back where you been”

So how shall I treat my fellow-man. Shall I be guided by the Golden Rule? Or is it a karmic awareness that be my compass? Or is it kill or be killed? Is it true as some theologians and philosophers say, that without a fear of hell or karma that there is no moral compulsion to do good? Your thoughts?

My children were told by their school teachers that State law says that “each textbook,  must be covered by the student under the direction of the teacher.” It does not require school districts to supply students with said cover.

The teachers told my children that they would have to serve detention if they came to school with uncovered texts. I have found nothing in the law but will prusue this. Have you ever heard such a thing?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-makers-of-flame-retardants-sever-ties-with-industryfunded-front-group-20120831,0,4251794.story

Translation, The makers severed themselves from themselves. That is some very advanced Buddhist practice. I tried it after months of meditation and was unsuccessful.

Where, how , what does the industry expect the response will be when you say that an organization, comprised only of yourselves and ruled only by you, has been severed from you. As if they want to distance themselves from self. Stunning way to try to disassociate yourself from a fraudulent effort that was perpetrated perpetually over several years.

My hand is not in the cookie jar despite what you think you see. Who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes?

Judging by the news articles, editorials and the tidal wave of FB posts about Paul Ryan’s speech, I sense there is a lot of concern about the truthfulness of his address. Come on people, as if there is some gold standard by which political speeches are to be measured.  When Paul Ryan lies it is completely different from when Obama lies…. how? There is enough mud to bury both parties in, but neither group of partisans seems very interested in enforcing truth from their candidates.

Sometimes I feel like I should care. But I sit down until the feeling passes. Not that I would not welcome honest, progressive politicians into my world. It is just that it hasn’t happened and there is no evidence it is on the verge of happening. Obama is a polished, dishonest politico. He is surrounded by professional weasels who are highly skilled at the art of self-promotion and lying. I would characterize his administration as a series of disappointments, if I cared enough to list all the ways he has lied or fudged on his promises. His biggest crime, while not involving lies, is continuing the drug war, especially as pertains to marijuana. What a monumental abandonment of the people in order to perpetuate an image of strength and power against crime. He has ordered the continuation of the criminalization of recreational and medical marijuana users and in so doing has squandered opportunity to correct this harm while bleeding the public coffers of money which should should have been diverted to real causes. So what if Paul Ryan lied. What would be news is if a politician told truths.

FYI. I will probably vote for Obama again. But it won’t be out of admiration and respect for the job he is doing. It will be because I believe that less harm will come to of his administration in opposition to a Romney presidency which I think will hasten the destruction of the middle-class through preferential treatment of the wealthy. I believe a Republican administration will continue the war on Mexican immigrants, bolster even further the concept of “Homeland Security” and ignore significant environmental remediation. I believe, which of course does not make it true, that they will divert or deny funds needed for social services, health care and education.

But please do not presume the high road belongs to your political party. The odds are seriously against that probability.

The campaigns are revving up. The American people are about to be ground into pieces as the bulldozers of expediency run amok. These politicians care not a wit what happens to The People. They survive on sucking the blood, money and freedoms from us like the vampires they are. It matters not if you favor republicans or democrats. They exist solely to preserve the status quo. That status quo is keeping in place a new ruling class who have made us the new plantation slaves. Be wary of politicians bearing platforms. Neither party has a history of providing direction and strength towards a better day. Our quality of life deteriorates through loss of wages adequate health care, ecological degradation and environmental deterioration. Both sides ignore science and empirical data about drug use and perpetuate a policy of criminalization of recreational drug use. The free market place is an illusion and corporate America is only plenty pleased to turn the surveillance cameras on us in their stores and watch us pick out the right color for our waterproof ipod cover.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/29/armed-grandpa-customer-shoots-kills-robber_n_1839811.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl9%7Csec3_lnk1%26pLid%3D198843

After you read this, let’s analyze it. They call him a grandpa but he is younger than me. Not like he was some aged old guy. One robber had the clerk at gunpoint? If I perchance am the clerk, me hopes you will be judicious in shooting the guy that is not holding a gun on me. My suggestion tactically, shoot the guy with the clerk first before he gets freaked out from the gun fire and shoots the clerk. Now all is well that ends well. So I am not criticizing as much as analyzing so that we all learn something about the prudent use of deadly force.

Do you not just love that I can pontificate (rightly or wrongly) on the use of deadly force and the day to day activities of a novice monk? Or as my friend Gary use to call me, a schmonk. That was a hybrid of monk and schmuck. Gary is not the most reverent man I know. Although I often caught him on his knees in seeming prayer only to learn later he was just too high to stand up.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-witness-vaughn-changed-story-about-deaths-of-wife-kids-20120829,0,6423651.story

So, I have always told potential clients (everyone) that if they ever shot anyone legally or otherwise, not to make any statements to the police. This Chicago story is a good example of why you shut up. There is nothing you say which will not be used against you. I interviewed the  Director of the Texas Department of Public Safety Training  Academy a few years ago. He told me that it was the policy of the department to allow 48 hours before interveiwing an officer involved in a fatal shooting. The reason, because of the stress induced by the incident can result in misleading information.

Do you think a civilian involved in a shooting ever got that consideration? Oh hell no. In fact the opposite would be true. Harsh and lengthy interrogation techniques are used readily against persons involved in homicides.

Bob Himber wrote “Ken I’ve concluded that you need to write a daily column,
” the jewish, gun toting, liberal buddist lawyers blog”. Well I am unlikely to write everyday, but possible I could write from time to time. Facebook has stimulated creative posting of news articles and bon mots. So now I declare partial independence from Facebook and create my new literary bankrupt venue.  What if I write this and nobody shows up to read it. If a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it will it sound like one hand clapping? As luck would have it, Romney was given his party’s nomination for the November election. It would be too easy to get absorbed in taking shots at such an easy target. But just as shooting at a paper target 3 yds away hardly seems sporting, so does it seem equally unsatisfying to pile on the republican candidates. Equally unsatisfying would be to pretend I enjoy the chicken-shit posturings of the democrats. So finding myself unmoved and unimpressed by the political landscape I am going to focus my attention on social commentary in the realm of crime, law, entertainment and simple weirdness.

So, if you found your way here, by any means and despite the prudence of avoidance, I will try to find articles which educate and amuse. The day/night wanes and I am fatigued. I spent the day partly researching “How to start a blog”. So I have further time or interest in expending more effort.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

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