Learning Again How to Carrying the Bags Home

Living in the Southland is never constant. Life might seem the same day after day but then the next day does a wooga-wooga on you. You have to re-calibrate.

Take plastic shopping bags. South Pasadena say yes, Pasadena say no. Long Beach says no, Los Angeles is thinking about it.

Los Angeles is always thinking about stuff. Takes them a good chunk of chew time to do anything and when they do decide it will cost the citizens more in the short, middle and long term.

(Confirmed: Yes, the city of Los Angeles will go plastic bag free on January 1, 2014.)

Hmmm. I had a point I was trying to make.

So when you go out to shop you not only have to remember what you need but also remembering to bring a bag or two with you to bring it home. If you forget your bag(s) you can pay 10 cents for a "multi-use" bag.

This will be either paper or a heavier grade plastic bag.  You can buy one of those recycle spun totes for 99 cents.

Savvy shoppers and Frugalistas know you gotta bring your own bag. Because that paper bag isn't designed for the sharp corners of modern packaging. Those paper bags are embarrassing people all over the place.

I've seen cans of peas roll to the front of the bus to the back as blushing grandmas try to cope.

Using plastic is kinda wrong to me but I keep a spare on in my handbag just in case. To pay it forward just in case.

You do not have to use a bag. You can carry your stuff out of the store.

For those of us under lifetime racial, ethnic or cultural profiling orders I shouldn't have to say this but "No you can't" and you know it even if you have the receipt pinned to your chest. 

It is about change. It is about remembering to get only what you need cuz if you go overboard you too can have celery roll down El Molina Avenue.

It is about planning. And being true to the real world application of a cleaner city and not just that it is a good idea.

Doing the right thing takes adjustments. Plastic bags first, then Syrofoam, then maybe sensible packaging followed by no fracking near clean water or maybe no fracking at all.

Baby steps.

Not Able to Write the Ballad of Duan Huego

I wish I could write satire. I can see Duan Huego galloping into the village; his steely eyes talking in the droopy draw-ed teenagers as he smiles at the peasant women who light up when they see him. Old spice in the noon day sun.

Yes, indeed, it could be a laugh riot. Cept I don't know how to write satire. And I don't do humor well. Still, I would kinda start out with something like:

The Ballad of Duan Huego

Imaging, if you will, the sound of a galloping horse, a mighty steed with a manly man in touch with himself. So in touch with the wisdom of the ages he is all knowing, all seeing.

Cue out of tune guitar, belching and 1/3 hand clapping.

In the little dusty brown town there are people. Some that wear belts and others that have droopy draws. Some that wear skirts and some that wear over sized peddle pushers.

I probably shouldn't pinch a bit of narrative structure from all those Saturday afternoons watching movies like A Fistful of Dollars. I probably can't do that without some attorney drooling over possible infringement.

To appropriate a saying from my UK friends, "bugger off " if any attorney is in litigation mode. I'm not writing it. 

Anyway, back to the non-story story:

I imagine that Duan Huego has come to fix the town. Not that anybody actually asked him to. The man has his public and private agendas and feels duty bound to express one or the other at the barrel of a gun.

First, he caps all the droopy draw-ed young men because, well, it is easier to dispose of young men than to deal with structural and environmental conditions that caused their pants to droop.

Sure, he could have allowed them to continue wandering around trying to find some way to support themselves but that would involve actual contact and conversation.

Duan Huego ain't got time for that. He just wipes them all out and tell the town to start again. Yes, there will be wailing and many of the town members would be upset. As Duan Huego clamps down on the Twinkie half hanging out of his mouth, he knows that sartorial appearances trump indigenous rights of existence. 

And speaking of rights, he....

Hmm. Perhaps Duan Huego doesn't have a Twinkie half hanging out his mouth. It could be a  Chocodile.  Yeah, I like Chocodiles.

Anyway, I can see him rolling and sucking on that Chocodile like a god possessed.

Duan Huego looks on as the town re-allocates money from the schools to the new sports stadium. Not sure who is gonna play in the big game seeing as how he whacked most of the local teams.

But he does support Title IX. In his wisdom, he settles in to coach the ladies basketball team.

One of the women in the town approaches him and ask if he can do anything about those laddie magazines in the supermarket. The ones that have all kind of nakedness and booblification on display at the checkout counter.

Duan Huego looks softly into the woman's eyes and tells her he feels her pain, her anguish and her frustrations of being surrounded by uncaring men in shark-skinned suits. At that very moment, Duan Huego central nervous system shifts to his inner femme.

You know, I don't think they had shark-skinned suits back in the day. Need more research on male fashions in dusty brown towns.

Other women start to approach Duan Huego and they like what they hear. They invite him to dinner, the Sunday lunch and the Fish Fry. Duan Huego doesn't do a dang thing about getting the laddie mags out of the supermarket but he talks so convincingly about the need to do so. Many of the women forget the harm that has been done by eliminating other women's male children.

They decide he is their voice; even though they have voices of their own.

One day, a woman came to town. She recognized the horse. The trail of Chocodile wrappers all up and down the street. The weeping widow whose husband ain't dead but might as well have been since she took up with Duan Huego.

The woman with no name talks to other women about what she knows about Duan Huego. They don't believe her. Some of the members of the basketball team also share that Duan Huego has been coaching a little too much in his after school workout. An elder testifies she has seen Duan Huego with a copy of T--ts and Bits while standing in the checkout.

Hang on, maybe Duan Huego is an asset dude instead of a rack man? Then again, the way he uses his tongue to get what he wants he could be orally fixated. Need to research names of straight male magazines that denigrate women but aren't violently disgusting.

The women on team Duan Huego fight for their man. Who still talks a good game but doesn't do jack. He does put the feel on Maria behind the bleachers as the game is in progress.

Maria has that kind of voice that carries so when the ref called "Foul" Maria followed up with "Oh, God, mmm, Good God Owwwwwww with the ow rhyming with foul.

That sealed it.  The woman with no name was telling the truth. As was the elder and all other women. Everybody could now see it and there was no denying it happened.

Or could it? Yes, even with evidence Team Duan Huego would not relent. Duan Huego himself did a duck and weave as he promised never to enter the stadium again. He still is gonna diddle his woman but this time in private.

No. Not a laugh riot. Not funny. It really sucks. Just like it does in real life. 

A savior by definition is someone who takes your side. Protects you. Doesn't have to be religious to save you or reflect what you believe in. There are people that groups and communities have anointed flawed people to be their spokesperson/public saviors.

Hell, we are all flawed.

And like a true love it is hard to let go of the person that you projected so much time and effort into making what you needed him or her to be. It is the real life version of Juicy Got 'Em Crazy. 

They can't let go. They won't let go. Saviors are really hard to let go of. Because it is hard to say that you made a mistake in judging a person.

The only way to let go is to be willing to listen. And step out of the comfort zone. Not many people are willing to take that chance. It is hard. There is no progress without it.

And that is where we stand at the moment. 

Cue out of tune violin, knuckle cracking and 1/4 hand clapping. Fade to Black.

When A Song Reminds of Of A Ruckus Memory

Accidents happen because of circumstance or carelessness. And then there is that dang song. Awesomely Luvie and company put a hurting of truth and humor on what should have been left the song writing notebook. Scribbles, yes. Song, no.

I didn't want to pay attention to the verbiage about the Accidental Racist song. The resurrection of the symbols of genocide as badges of honor do not interest me. I'm getting worn out about stepping up to the soap box to once again remind people that slavery was not a life style choice or a hangover of regret for a bad weekend.

You can't put it behind you if you can't recognise some of y'all are doing the same shit that your ancestors use to do. Like voter suppression. Like controlling women fertility and what she wants or needs to do with her choices and options in life.

There is blood on that Rebel flag. Which isn't even the correct version of the Confederate flag. If you are going to bring up history get it straight.

I know people do not want to talk about slavery in terms of genocide but if you take people involuntarily from their home country, pack them into ships and then force them into labor, sexual abuse and cultural indoctrination then you got to figure on some people being killed because they did not want to go or they did not want to be in bondage.

Most people don't. 

Anyway, I didn't want to talk about the song as much as bring up fragments of an Uncle Ruckus memory.

Uncle Ruckus does not like black folks. Even though he is one himself.  I have met a Ruckus or two and it rings true to my experience.

The speech is wiped clean of any inflection or intonation that could remotely be associated with the African American experience. This does NOT make a person an Uncle Ruckus. No, no and no!

(I'm a little sensitive on this point for reasons I choose not to go into at this time.) But it could be a teeny-tiny clue if other elements are in place.

We are talking about a person who makes such an effort to speak in an un-accented neutral English that he make Tom Brokaw sound like he's dropping slang.

Uncle Ruckus can be immaculate in his attire. No hair on his head that would be allowed to be in any form of a curl or a kink. Whoops, forgot about those that are aiming to emulate Dean Martin's hair from the 70s.

It can go either way.

Uncle Ruckus finds safety in dressing as someone from 1965 and it isn't because he is a hipster. Dude lives in culturally neutral clothing.

Uncle Ruckus does not associate or allows himself to be seen with other black folks. Socially, he can be forced into it but he don't like it and will bolt on over to the other side of the room if white folks are present.

He will tell you he is not African American. He is American. Not of African decent.

Seriously, I've had this conversation with the Ruckuses. My understanding is that they feel it is a self imposed limitation they do not want to be associated with; an association that can cause them to be distant from their families of origin even if they are living in the same house.

Politically, Ruckuses can be Republican. However, not all black Republicans are Ruckuses. And  Uncle Ruckus wouldn't associate with black Republicans anyway. Even hanging with Black Tea Party folks would make him uncomfortable.

It is just that extreme.

He is not a white man trapped in a black body. He is a black man who is doing all he can to be white and racist against African Americans.

It is a puzzlement but there you go. So when you co-sign to sing lyrics on a song like:

I’m just a white man
(If you don’t judge my do-rag)
Comin’ to you from the southland
(I won’t judge your red flag)
Tryin’ to understand what it’s like not to be
I’m proud of where I’m from
(If you don’t judge my gold chains)
But not everything we’ve done
(I’ll forget the iron chains)
It ain’t like you and me can re-write history
(Can’t re-write history baby)

You gotta take a pause. You have to ask yourself why would somebody sing those lyrics? Why would you put your gold chains higher than the suffering of the ancestors?

I'm just remembering people from long ago and yet not so far away.

Accidents can happen. By circumstance or they are caused by carelessness.

Text and Subtext or I'm Too Touchy

It is March 1, 2013.  I thought I'd be relieved that Black History Month was over because pound for pound it has been one of the most difficult BHM that I have experienced in a while.

It has been a month of people behaving badly. Grinding to the last nerve kinda bad. Not enough to wish for divine intervention. But close. And I have been hurt, angered, raged up and resigned to the stupid as normal. You can't hold on to each and every bit of idiocy roiling down the road.

There are time when you need to speak up and fight back. But when you do expect to hear something like "I am to blame for being too sensitive."

What ticked me off this week?

The Bloomberg BusinessWeek cover on a new wave of speculative housing boom. The cover seems to show that Latinos and African Americans are being excessively happy at the money grab regarding housing.

Bloomberg Businessweek Cover February 25 - March 3, 2013

 
There is that old (false) meme that it was the fault of the sub-prime buyers that caused the crash. Not the corporations that sold debt paper from firm to firm. Not the feeding frenzy that had radio and television commercials on every station begging people to buy a home, no money down. Not the Ponsi activities of Bernie Madoff and other corporate con artists.

Yes, I hear you #10,384 in the comments. "It was a Latino dude that drew the picture so how could it be racist?" 

Because the actual article has nothing to do with the cover. Because the images used are stereotypical exaggerations of people of color going ding dong crazy because they have cash. And you know how we get cash, right?

It is another reminder that neo-post racists society is alive, well and prospering. What was the brief that the artist got? What does he believe about the housing crisis or is this a bad attempt to tell up happy days are here again?

Or are we invoking Greed is Good for another run around the block?

Some days I can ignore the goofy.  Like when they painted that 16-year old white model in bronze make-up and called her an African Queen. That has happened before; the fashion would really has a hard time with people of color.

Read a bit of the Black Voices Huntington Post comments. The effort to devalue legitimate objections to the paint job could be heartbreaking if you let it. I wouldn't read more than 10 of them cuz it is crazy making stuff.

There are other days I have to think about how far we've come and how to be vigilant when a justice of the Supreme Court thinks that my right to vote is a racial entitlement. This is an excerpt from Justice Scalia:

The problem here, however, is suggested by the comment I made earlier, that the initial enactment of this legislation in a -- in a time when the need for it was so much more abundantly clear was -- in the Senate, there -- it was double-digits against it. And that was only a 5-year term.

Then, it is reenacted 5 years later, again for a 5-year term. Double-digits against it in the Senate. Then it was reenacted for 7 years. Single digits against it. Then enacted for 25 years, 8 Senate votes against it. And this last enactment, not a single vote in the Senate against it. And the House is pretty much the same.

Now, I don't think that's attributable to the fact that it is so much clearer now that we need this. I think it is attributable, very likely attributable, to a phenomenon that is called perpetuation of racial entitlement. It's been written about. Whenever a society adopts racial entitlements, it is very difficult to get out of them through the normal political processes.

I don't want to be accused of taking the quote out of content. There is an office SCOTUS Transcript of the Section 5 Pre-Clearance Obligation.

Sniff, as if voters suppression didn't happen in the last few elections.

You do have to have not only a thick skin but also a discerning eye for what is being presented. There is intent, there is malfeasance and there evil.

There are also people that make mistakes. Laps of judgement. Ignorance.

There are days when you can't tell the difference.

February 2013 was like that for me.

So yeah, I'm a bit prickly.

Politically Speaking, The Poor Are the Enemy

I’m noticing a lot of talk about “The Poor.” It is an impersonal non-descriptive term. The prior incarnations were applied to “The Women”,” The Negro” and “The Asian (well, in the past this would have been referred to as The Chinese)” followed by the word “Problem.”

During most elections, “The Poor” would be invoked as a badge of concern or at least a focal point of attention. This time is different. “The Poor” have become the enemy.

In December 2011, Newt Gingrich made a statement about how poor children don’t have a clue as to understanding responsibility, ethics or the habit of working. This, by implication, means that their parents don’t have those qualities either.




Think about that statement. Every single poor person in America is engage in illegal activities. Sound idiotic. Yet many people agreed with the ignorance of that statement.

When Gingrich asked the potential donors in the room had they ever babysat or performed yard work as a comparison to an imaginary poor child, who hasn’t appeared to do anything but breathe and eat Skittles, I guess you could work up a bit of indignation.

Perhaps their understanding of “The Poor” is what they see and hear in the local and national media. It is a distorted vision.

But that was the beginning of the wave of “The Poor” being transformed into the enemy.

There are memes of taxation and certain Ayn Rand plug-ins presenting “The Poor” as picking individuals and corporate pockets in order to receive healthcare, education, and food. There are people ready to tell you that, in their perception, have done nothing to deserve it.

Never mind that you can’t live a day in this country without paying some form of local, state or federal taxes. And many people who should know better ignore the fact of millions of poor people do work and have taxes pulled from their checks each pay period.

No, don’t let the facts get in the way of the emotionally self-validating “live and let die; it is not my problem or concern.”

The main kicker in “The Poor” is the enemy campaign is when a presidential candidate Mitt Romney states that he is not concerned with the 47% and the reason why he is not concerned:

“…These are people who pay no income tax. Forty-seven percent of Americans pay no income tax. So our message of low taxes doesn't connect. And he'll be out there talking about tax cuts for the rich. I mean that's what they sell every four years. And so my job is not to worry about those people—I'll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. 

For the record, “The Poor” are hyper proactive about obtaining food, shelter and not walk around half naked.

Poor people take the jobs they can find. Many of those jobs are in the service industry or whatever employment is available. It bears repeating that many low wage jobs have been shipped to China, The Philippians and other countries.

We need to be really careful about defining who is worthy of concern or not. My understanding is that providing education was a non-negotiable part of the American experience. Have we decided that we now want a permanent class of illiterate citizens?

Are retired seniors unworthy of the money they invested in Social Security payments? Should disabled veterans have a time limit on re-entry support or medical care?  We do a terrible job of it now but we can do worse if we put our minds to it.

If you are not in the above groups and you do not make a lot of money what exactly makes you unworthy of being considered a full participant and recipient of the government’s resources?

There are real people behind the political rhetoric and quotes of the week. You wouldn’t know that from the political discourse of the past three years. I don’t expect that to change anytime soon after the election.

I do expect that if we as a people want to portray “The Poor” as the enemy there will be a price to pay.

From the thought, to the word, to the deed.

You Can't Have Too Much Software - Can You?

I finally got a new computer last Sunday. I could take no more of the lock-ups, the figuring out of what could I open when I was doing something else and being forced to shut down in the middle of a thought.

I wasn't emotionally ready to buy the $1,500+ machine. I saw something at Fry's that I could upgrade and twiddle with; it became good enough. I'm in the middle of re-installing software.

Trying not to load it up like I did with the last one. The deeper question is, "does a person really need four different video editing programs?"

Well, yeah I do cuz I have a tutorial informational blog on web video.  But it doesn't stop there. I have conversion programs, an encyclopedia that I can run from the DVD. Writing programs. Bookmark programs stuff with links I don't remember linking to in the first place.  Screen recorders, image editors, Librivox books...it is a sickness I tell you.

Should I install iTunes and not worry about it slugging stuff up? Evernote? Left to my own devices I could load this bad boy up with 200 programs.

I so don't want to do that again.

Hang On...

Lightworks just finished downloading.

It is a good thing there is no longer a chain bookstore near me. That has cut back on my access to the UK computer magazines. Those suckers always had a DVD full of software whispering to me to come closer.

I have a 1.5 terabyte drive. When I get a spare moment I'm installing another terabyte drive just for the videos. I remember the day when I thought I was hot stuff for even having a hard drive. I don't even think there was gigabyte drive s at the time.

I just looked up and saw a box for Dragon Naturally Speaking Essentials. I bought that two years ago and never finished installed it. The system couldn't handle it. Now all I gotta do is find my prefered microphone.

I recognize there is a problem. I really do.
 
Should I add Lightning to Thunderbird or get a separate app?

This Is Bullying and We Are Responsible

I have been trying to post to Twitter and it won't let me. It is just as well. I have a lot to say and I might have left too long a comment at Lynette Young's G+ page. I want to put in my two cents about what happened to Karen Klein.

This woman is a school bus monitor who was subjected to ten minutes of abuse by kids, pre-teens, teens it doesn't matter. The little haters let their mouths run wild and free.



I can't get past more than three minutes of it. It get's worse.

I'm going to incorporate some of my comments that I posted on Lynette's page and more thoughts as well.

I know everyone is extremely angry and rightfully so. There is no excuse. None. But who wants to take a bet that some of the little demons go to church? Get good grades? Present one face to mom and pop and another to their friends? There is a lot of stuff happening in that video. Crowd mentality, No internal filters, playing to the crowd.
 
Pre-teens and teens are not good at considering anyone other than themselves. They are still growing up. Short term thinking. If not for the video they might not even remember that they did this.

You hope the lessons parents try to drill in their skull take hold. For some parents it is all they can do to get their children to wash themselves and not stink up the room. Parents do the best they can but sometimes normal kids do profoundly stupid things.

Yes, there needs to be discipline, as in invoking a personal discipline as a life long tool, not necessarily invoked with a switch, belt or whipping stick. Empathy, which seems to thought of a sissy skill or weakness in our culture needs to be taught.

Again, in no way am I condoning what these proto-terrors have done. They need to be held accountable. Seriously accountable. Wanting to beat the snot out of them is understandable. We have a sustained culture of bullying. What do we choose to do about that?

We caused this. We allowed this. With every politician demonizing the other. With our behavior in the mall or supermarket. In our television programs, games, media we have said the other is lessor and it is okay to "beat them down."

Last week Anita from Feminist Frequency was attack by people claiming to be gamers that she had no right to voice an opinion on the female tropes in video games. To say she was cussed at would be an understatement. It was nasty.

What makes it okay to do this? What makes it okay to spew this level of hate? I don't even think hate is the right word. It is the wicked side of power and control being implemented by people who have none.

 The MarySue has a good write up and summary of what happened and the positive result.

The video below is of the real Karen Klein. She talks about the experience and you can tell her spirit operates on a much different plane. Get over the gray hair and get to the person.

Nobody should have had to have endure what she did.




I was bullied as a kid. It was hell. I do know there is a part of our culture that loves the idea of fairness and the exchange of ideas. But when you are bullied you begin to wonder what is so good about living?

Life is not easy but bullying adds a dimension of hell that is not necessary. If you can survive it (and please do) a piece of you goes into an internal witness protection program. Takes a lot to want to be around people.

Change.

It is almost a quaint notion. It doesn't have to be but we can't go on this way. This means we will need to change how we talk about politics, other people, gender, sexuality, religion.

There will be some that will state that they hate political correctness. Not talking about that at all. If I feel that you are full of shit I will continue to tell you so.

I am just saying we have to model different behaviors. We just got to.

Because I ride the bus too.

Once More Into the Daylight

I really don't want to go outside. Because once I do I have to commit to facing another day. I have to go through this day in order to get to Saturday and Sunday.

I have to put on the big girl panties and deal with people, rules, conflicting rules, being held accountable by the conflicting rules and then taking a huge breath and remembering it really does not matter.

Not one bit.

I bought a magazine called Light of Consciousness. I think it is for folks that want to apply Buddhist principles in everyday life. I'm not a Buddhist but I'm willing to learn anything to help suppress my desire to beat stupid people with a wet noodle.

A wet noodle attached to a Cat-of-9 tails.

Layoffs and Musings on the Stoop

There are life events that are keeping me away from blogging. I don't like that because blogging has been good to me. Helps me stay on this side of sane. So many people are having troubles.

I know that other people's troubles can look worse than your own. In a way, that makes you feel better.

But there is a toxicity to sucking up too much bad stuff. Any bad stuff. What I can tell you is that a lot of my friends and acquaintances are losing their jobs.

My j.o.b. at the Salt mine is not looking that secure. It never was but there have been some rattlings that have me saying affirmations and gratitudes for what I have this day for I may not have it the next..

I'm not unemployed. I'm fine. No worries. Well yeah, but not that one as yet. 

I remember the last time I was long term unemployed. It was painful and dangerous. Nobody wants to live like a refuge in her own country but there is a point where you start to feel like you are not connected any more to normal life. Never in my life do I want to experience that again.

Never, ever, ever.

I remember that having fat assed politicians calling folks spoiled and lazy. Nothing has changed. You have people constantly questioning are you trying enough? Doing enough.

Some days that is a legitimate question because the last thing you want to do is face another day of not bringing home the prize. You have to find your way to your answer. At the same time trying to be open to good ideas and tuning out the less than helpful bromides that will be forced down your throat.

There are people who believe that you are on your own and you should just suck it up baby. No promises, guarantees or assistance.

To those people I say fuck you and I do not mean it in a pleasant, loving way either. You can have money in the bank and discretionary income one day and a fire, flood, windstorm or illness can take it all away. You are indeed sucking life up.

Yet some man or woman will stand on their faith or party line and tell the world you are a hippie, shiftless and not worth the time of day. I can hear their little minds going; "If only they could be like me so they would know how miserable they are."

If you are truly a so-called superior person you do not need to kick a person when they are down on his or her luck. You have the choice to help or not to help. There are times when you shouldn't provide assistance. 

But to kick and demean people on hard times? Nasty. And yes, your soul will rot in hell and I don't necessarily mean some distant place but in the core of your being where you know you are wrong.

I mention no names. Just saying. Let's stop making hate the unemployed a national sport.

Last night I was watching Liz Henry's tweets and retweets about Oakland and San Francisco Occupy protests that ended badly.

I couldn't watch people get beat again.

So for this Sunday what I have to offer is the one step, one breath at time thing.

Move forward a bit, breath.
Move forward a bit and look around that snatch another breath.
Repeat.

That is where I am. There are bigger things to worry about but the things that are close to home that call your name. That and Google Chrome keeps locking up on me.

To The Person That Almost Ran Me Over

It is a known fact that there are chunks of Los Angeles that are automotive incompetent to drive a car. There are cities with reputations of having distracted, uncaring and flat out unskilled drivers.

There are also people that transcend geography that have a tendency to piss off 8 out of 10 pedestrians. Now I don't want to cast all those who drive BMWs and Mercedes in a bad light. But I would swear that it is part of the code of automotive arrogance that allow almost hitting pedestrians is a badge of honor.

A few minuets ago I was bringing my laundry home. I don't have a car, I use a small vertical shopping cart. I am two thirds across the street when this car decides to make a turn.

Into me.

At first I thought it would be a rolling stop. Slow way down to allow me to finish crossing even though he was in the wrong turning lane from the get go. If I was an on-coming car he would have almost hit the car. Instead he was trying to hit me.

I'm in-between him and the sidewalk. He does not slow down. I'm covered with light as I scream Stop!

Twice.

He never stops but slows down a bit more as I make my way to the sidewalk.

I am angry. He is half way down the block.

I would have cursed him out for not seeing me. I'm not that spiritual when people aim a car at me. Spirit understands it is one of my many shortcomings.

I would tell that person that he had no place he had to go to that was worth trying to run me down.

I need to know what phone cal or meet-up was so important that it required you to turn into the wrong lane and not see me? Cuz you were in the wrong lane and I know this because the person driving a car in the correct lane could not make the turn because you slunked beside him in the wrong non-existent lane and tried to turn into me.

I hate mobile phones in cars. I hate distracted drivers and most of all I hate the lack of civility that passes for status these days.

There is no place to go or find that doesn't have lunk heads behind the wheel. I re-affirm my desire for $15 a gallon gas and computer driven electronic cars.

Or the functional development of a transporter. If I have a choice, Transporter!

I am fine. I am grateful for a big mouth. And to be typing this. I don't recommend it as a permanent cure for writer's block.

Still, you gotta go with what works.

The BBC, Rastani and My Lack of Sleep

On September 26, 2011. Alessio Rastani scared the hell out of folks in the UK and Europe. He also worked my nerves something terrible. I was so messed up I couldn't even read or do anything worth a damn.



For those folks that can't see the video he basically said in a clear, assertive voice that traders and brokers don't care about governments or stable societies. They are looking for profit. The next money fix.

This is not news but he said it in plain English. That was news.

And the work that others folks are trying to do to save Greece and parts of Europe aren't worth the effort because traders and financiers are looking for safe ports for their money, even if they have to stick them in U.S. dollars. It isn't about governments, it is about what Goldman Sachs wants and needs for monetary growth.

What has that got to do with me or you?

Business as usual you say. Well, he also said that he has been waiting for the next drop so he can make some serious bank. A drop that will clean out bank accounts around the world.

I can say with painful memory that small depressions are bad enough. The pure hell of 2001 nobody should wish on any group of people. 9/11+Dot Com bust+Enron all in the same year was quiet enough thank you very much.

And this man speaks of that type of event happening again like a cash money wet dream. It turns out that Mr. Rastani is not a big time trader. He is more of a dabbler.

Rastani is not technically a fraud but he does not roll with the big boys. The BBC did not fully verify his actual qualifications to appear on the broadcast. He is just a man who loves to talk, he wants to be a public speaker.

Rastani got his big break.

And yet,what Rastani said is the truth.

Not about Goldman Sachs. It isn't just that company. Be real. 

We know there are people who would do anything to make huge sums of money. Ethics or societal responsibilities have nothing to do with it. In fact, we are being schooled that no one has any responsibility for anybody but themselves. The rest be damned unless you have money to buy you way out of perdition.

It is the truth that we need to prepare for a serious cosmic money azz whipping or fiscal re-alignment. It is the truth that no one in government or those that aspire to public office has a clue on how to fix this. None. There is no desire to do so.

We are in palliative care mode at the moment. We cling to the side show when the main attractions are just too much to witness.

We need to have alternative sources to our food supply. How are we going handle brown and blackouts? Skills for services or products is going to make a comeback but do most folks have something to trade? Actually no, what do any of us know how to do that does not involve electricity?

You will not catch anyone from this side of the pond say the words that Rastani said on the BBC.  He probably will not appear on any of the business or talking head American television programs. Really shouldn't have been on the BBC.

It makes what he said no less true.

That is why I was curled up in my bed trying to sleep with all kinds of thoughts romping through my head. I didn't sleep much at all.

The Road So Far and Wide

I remember back in the day when I would see Leo Buscaglia on television, it seemed all of the time. I have always remembered the story he told about his father asking him, "What did you learn today?"

I woke up this early this morning. My body forgot it was on vacation. I listened to The History Guys podcast on Walt Whitman’s attention to wounded soldiers in Civil War Hospitals.

It was about love, tending and connections. Things I have not felt of late emanating from the public discourse.

I putter though the idiocy of the budget crisis and I just want to disconnect from everything.



Almost. And then I got to thinking. Leo's father's question came up again.

"What did you learn today?"

It is that love thing. We have been fed such as nasty diet of bile and political ickyness that we have no national capacity to love anything or anyone not in our direct tribe or vested interest.

We will sink the nation because there can be no accommodation to consider the greater good. For all of us, not just corporate or power interests. Not just for the poor folk. Not just for foreign national's interests.

So. How do we reclaim our love for our country? How do we non-hate based carbon units not just take it back but embrace and nurture what we believe to be our better self?

There has to be some kind of reconciliation. We are no where need that concept. Not now. I haven't any answers. I just know that I am not built for disengagement unless there is absolutely no hope of change.

There has to be a better way.

Creep on the Finally Friday Freakout

So he creep, yeah he kept it on down low... Well, how could I not? I have spent days with my fellow salt miners trying to wrap my head around two men, prominent richer than rich men get themselves into so much trouble.

It makes no sense. My saline crew members have evaluated the Creepenator's actions and behaviors to new analytical powers I did not know they possessed. We talked about it so much that we are taking a vow of silence so that we don't talk about it any more.

Cuz really, we'd rather not have certain images in our heads. And with the Rapture/Judgement day coming up we got stuff to do like go to the Red Bull Soapbox Derby or Silverlake Jubilee, which has nothing to do with anything spiritual unless fifty food trucks, a bunch of musicians and a plethora of art activities put you in a higher plane of being.



So hopefully this is the last of it. Let TLC get your attention but remember to creep outside of matrimony is a dang reprehensible action no matter what you station of life is or how much dough you have in the flow.

I present the above reminder to those of you who are thinking about taking a dip into somebody's else hip that is on gold band lockdown.

Don't do it.

The other guy? My fellow miners are content that he went from a $3,000 a night hotel to Riker's Island in New York City. We think the accomodations at Riker's will get his attention that long before this accusation there might have been behaviors that, in hindsight, might have lead him to his new position in life.

Go on and fool with the elementals if you want to. Those forces are patient. Their timing is impeccable. The ultimate booyah. I'm gonna hush up now cuz they don't like finger pointing either.

We send our love and support to a woman who is being stalked by Franco/American media and her life, no matter the truth, will never be the same.

Courage.

Andre Coleman - I'm A Reporter

I made a mistake yesterday in that my rant about my feelings about bloggers and journalism should have been in a separate post from the actual recording. So I'm just going to err on the side of caution and just let the video speak for itself.

This is the second video of my recording of Andre Coleman's talk at the 2011 Citizen Journalism Speaker Series. Andre Coleman is a reporter/journalist with the Pasadena Weekly.



There are things I agree with Mr. Coleman and things I don't. The truth is I have to acknowledge that I have very strong feelings about newspapers, journalism and blogging.

I invested a lot of nickles, dimes and quarters in purchasing newspapers. I've invest a lot of time participating in blogging and community building. Which is why I have said and continue to say I'm not a journalist.

Unless I record that once in a lifetime video in which case "Yes, I am and pay me."

One of these days maybe I'll whip up a post on the 10 Things Journalists Need to Get Straight About Bloggers and New Media. I'll be able to write that post once I finish removing a number of bias cut logs in my eyes.

This could take a bit of time.

Citizen Journalism Discussion at Pasadena Library

The term citizen journalism is often used as a pejorative by mainstream media unless those same citizens make it easier for mainstream and corporate journalist folks to whip up a quick story.

Just got an e-mail that Andrea Coleman of the Pasadena Weekly will be having a discussion about citizen on March 29, 2011 in the Donald R. Wright Auditorium at the Pasadena Central Library. 285 E. Walnut St., in Pasadena starting at 6:00pm.

I happen to think the term is more expansive than the professionals give credit and most times they don't or they are dressed up in carpet bagging clothing. Yes, I have biases and opinions which is not the same as reporting and journalism.

I am a blogger, not a journalist but I have friends all over the joint. If I can find my camcorder and find a way to get home back I'll try to make it but no promises.

I've been burned before by these type of events. I hope it is really is a discussion and not folks betting up on bloggers, non-corporate reporters and independent story tellers.

I'll need 24 more hours to improve my mood anyway.

The Professor, Aluminum and Red Sludge

I have a subscription to the Periodic Tables videos from the University of Nottingham, UK. Professor Martyn Poliakoff, his team and videographer Brady Haran have created 118 videos about each element in the periodic table.

The videos are usually fun, informative or explosive. And I do dig the professor's hair.



They are moving on to minerals. However in this video Professor Poliakoff wanted to explain about how the situation in Hungary got started and where the trouble is going to end up, possible in the Danube.

Many of the broadcast news channels have gotten ride of actual science reporters. Those reporters that remain are either mangling the story or choosing not to report it as it is not American centered.

That is a mistake. I won't hold my breath waiting for corporate to see the light and higher science reporters. The BBC has a good summation of what is in the sludge.

Leonard Lopate has an interview with two scientists and a representative of the World Wildlife Fund in Hungary.

If we do not learn that there are long term penalties for irresponsible waste management, land use and environmental stewardship then we will spiral down the bowl.
The professor might be a little dicey on his geography but not about the effects of what will be dumped into various waterways.

Common Sense Tips for Digital Generation Parents - Edutopia

I have a few spare minutes this morning so I'm trying to clear out my Drafts. Stuff I meant to post but forgot or was distracted. I don't have children but I have to interact with people 3x generations after me and have been raised different than I was.

There is no longer a cultural permission to be quiet. Each device, phone, portal connects with the other. Engagement is conditional. Maybe it is cellular communication. If you are not in the cell group you and your thoughts don't exist.

This is video from Edutopia on how parents can understand and communicate with their children in this media saturated time.