Heya everybody! Here is the photo essay to go with Thanksgiving day this year, one of the best ever.
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Sunday, November 26, 2017
The Erichthinks family thanksgiving
Heya everybody! Here is the photo essay to go with Thanksgiving day this year, one of the best ever.
Thursday, December 22, 2016
Hey everyone. Long time no post, as usual. I just wanted to post an interview I conducted from a few days ago. My friend Kevin participated in a protest against the lower-profile Illinois section of the Dakota Access Pipeline. In the interview he talks about what it was like to stand in the cold and witness arrests in small-town USA, in support of water and life against oil and profit.
Link to the audio interview on Soundcloud
Thanks for listening!
EJ
Link to the audio interview on Soundcloud
Thanks for listening!
EJ
Thursday, September 10, 2015
It's a fair deal! Take it.
Fair advice from our mutual friend Mickey.
The fair deal: An elusive sort of business transaction that at times leaves traders scratching their heads and at others counting lucky stars. It's a bargain, a negotiation, a moment between humans when each will do right by the other through the avoidance of greediness and the gumption to commit to it.
Ever scored a great deal on toilet paper or gasoline? A good deal? A fair deal?
Good deals need no paid advertising. Ever see an apple commercial? Mmmm?
Bad deals would of course have to have some help from marketing, wouldn't they? For instance - the two most notable things about shitty beer are 1.) how it makes me drunk, and 2.)
A fair deal, once a day. I know a guy who gives his customers a fair deal. He charges them what he thinks he's worth, even when they're willing and ready to pay more. He won't accept mediocre work. He inspires me to do the same for my people. They say you get what you give. So I give a fair deal. I feel like driving a hard bargain is akin to parking a big spaceliner. A valuable skill. What I like about a fair deal is that anybody can do it. Givin' or gettin'.
Roosevelt did the New Deal (right?), I'm starting the #FairDeal. Give one today! Then tell the world about it. likesharesubscribe with buttons tagstuff use a url for your father's sake
Friday, July 20, 2012
It's the Quiet Ones You Gotta Watch...
So at this point no one will be hearing the news for the first time that twelve people were murdered at the premiere of the new Batman moneymachine. I work for a media outlet, and my days any more are often dominated by the "buzz" circulating through the 24-hour news cycle. I wanted to put pen to paper (ha) and get my thoughts out before I hear any more "statements" from the veritable shit-ton of people who are no more connected to the event than I am. I will be the first person to admit to you, my reader (thank you very much for your indulgence, by the way), that I have virtually no qualification to speak on the facts of the "case" which is already unfolding. I do, however, have an assumption on how it will play out, so qualifications be damned. I could be wrong, but if so, I don't care. I'm trying to make sense of this on my own terms, and I find the best way for me to do this is to write. It's funny, I'm reminded of Bill Hammer, who in no uncertain terms instructed us to sit down and write a journal entry the moment we realized 9/11 was happening live. I really wish I still had that piece of paper. My schema of what happened that day has surely changed over the last 11 years, and I hope that I will be able to hold onto this entry at least until the point where everyone forgets the shooting even happened...
First things first. I am sick of child-worship and implicit pleas from anyone who is advocating for the State to protect children. From a Facebook discussion today - the listeners were prompted with the question "Should WarnerBros postpone further screenings until a motive is established?" This is what one poster wrote:
A better question would've been what were little kids, including a 9-year old and a 6-year old, doing watching a PG-13 movie at 1:00 am?? CNN has even reported that a 3-month old baby was among the injured, although other reports haven't mentioned that. What were these parents thinking??
If it were me and my 9-year-old, I would be thinking "Holy shit, this Batman premiere is gonna kick ass, and my kid is gonna love it." I have basically lost all interest in going to the movies except for premiere nights, because I've (at least temporarily) lost my faith in our culture to be humans to one another while in social settings involving tickets purchased at the door. The difference with premiere nights is that everyone there fucking loves the movie, and they are united in their love. They are humans. A stranger won't care if you step on his shoe, because hey man, you're at the premiere together. It is a common bond.
I'm very afraid that the last bastion of moviegoing fun (for me) is going to be lost forever after this. I can already imagine the increased "presence" of shock-trooper policemen stationed around the back entrances to literally thousands of movie houses this evening, glaring at people who are walking by intending to have fun. This of course will result in everyone at the mall feeling safer, thanks only to their booted and baton-wielding presence. I'd like to believe that the feeling of safety comes with a lurking feeling of foreboding, because "why do we need these policemen here in the first place?" That lurking feeling is the loss of innocence. We'd rather live under surveillance than risk a one-in-a-million chance that some dude is going to kick in the door and start shooting. Doug Stanhope speculated that shootings of this nature only occur in places that suck (like work), and that we should just always hang out in places that are fun, like an amusement park... I wouldn't think of a movie theater sucking, but based on what I wrote above, maybe I would. Anyway...
We might stop here and consider the question mentioned earlier: motive. Why?? Why would someone do this? What would compel a person to do this? I ask the question because the cold hard facts of the event will be trotted through the weekend media and forgotten by Monday or the Monday after next. That's when the speculation will start. I'd like to kick it off now.
Why would a doctoral student (albeit one who's quitting, which is not insignificant) in neuroscience decide to suit up in armor and shoot a bunch of people in a movie for which he himself purchased a ticket? The fact is, we may never actually know. It is my belief that the "authorities" will attempt to discredit any valid thoughts this clearly intelligent killer has come up with in his 24 years. I get the feeling that he'll be "known" to be an Occupy sympathizer with wild notions of anarchy (which, of course, means mayhem) and of who knows what else. That's obviously conjecture, but I figure why not write it down?
What I'm concerned with is this: Now that we've got him, what should we do with him? Obviously there will be calls from every direction for his head on a pike. My question is - what do we learn from that? What can we gain from that? Every businessperson I know these days talks about exploitation and its necessary place in the market. Well, how do we as a society gain from this? Is there nothing to be learned? How about since we somehow miraculously captured this guy alive, why not get inside his head and find out why? God forbid we actually nut up and send in a - gasp - psychologist to plumb the depths and find out if there was a way to actually prevent this - that's opposed to the sound logic of deploying more assault rifles and riot gear into the hands of already-overworked and underpaid neighborhood cops.
Since I believe they won't publish that conversation to the public, I'll speculate on what the conclusion might be: if we think we're ever going to grow out of this consumerist, justified-exploitation, individualism at the cost of the dregs, pander-to-the-lowest-common-denominator society, we have to first realize that our best way out of here is by relating to other everyday people, just like you and me. That means talking to strangers. If we are to accomplish this, it would mean the end of mainstream media (made possible exclusively through advertising) as we know it. Therefore, advertisement-based media has an interest in keeping us afraid of each other. This is what brings me to the Carlin-inspired title of my ranting. What kind of spin will we hear from this? I have a guess.
Every interview you hear will start with "I never thought he would be the one to do something like this." At the conclusion of those interviews, the well-dressed, unoffensive newscaster with the excellent non-regional dialect will glibly imply to us: It's the quiet ones you gotta watch... That line, right along with don't talk to strangers, is - in my esteemed opinion -
T-O-T-A-L B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T.
I also happen to think those quips are the message we actually take away from all the coverage, even though they're never the focus of the coverage. The stated focus is all the gore, the sickening number of the dead, the horrific descriptions of their deaths. Do you know anyone who has ever been a mass murderer? Does anyone you know actually know anyone who has ever been a mass murderer? I wonder how many degrees of separation it takes to get there. We should talk to strangers. We shouldn't "watch the quiet ones," expecting them to snap at any moment. That's what this global consumer world needs from us. The more I stare at this glowing screen, the more I'm dependent upon the system to provide what I need (of course always at a cost). When I get out and meet new people, they support me better than supply and demand ever could. It's the quiet ones you gotta talk to. After having been pointed out by many as the simple cause for Columbine, Marilyn Manson was asked what he would have told Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris. He said, "I would have listened..."
I'm not saying that if we had a time machine that I or even Marilyn could have talked this dude down from killing a dozen people. What I'm saying is that it's worth a fucking shot. What I'm saying is that if we as a people could embrace the practice of just acknowledging strangers in our day-to-day lives, we might witness a return to a time when "senseless mass murders" never even occur. Better than that, we might see ourselves actually evolve into a society and eventually a global population of people not-so-obsessed with the way we are perceived, rather we could be obsessed with personal and societal growth and improvement. Have you ever had a great experience with a stranger? Changing a tire on the side of the road is a great example. The sense of relief and happiness that rushes over you when you realize "this person doesn't want to murder me" - those feelings are how you could feel every day. That could be your baseline. Yeah, you might get murdered. But we might get murdered any day of the week. Don't put yourself in a position to get murdered, mind you.
In my short time on this Earth, since the Fall of the Berlin Wall, I've witnessed Oklahoma City, the Unabomber, the 1996 Summer Olympics, Columbine, Jonesboro, the Beltway Snipers, Virginia Tech, Fort Hood, and now this. As the frequency of these events increases, the national coverage will only become more in-your-face and graphic. Remember that it is in the financial interests of media agencies to keep you glued to the screen, and not out talking to your neighbors you've never met. The safest neighborhood is one in which everybody knows everybody. The scariest is the one in which you're all alone, right on your own street.
I want to leave you with good feelings, and not shitty ones. I want you to remember the last midnight premiere you attended. Maybe Transformers, maybe HP7, who knows? I want you to think back at how excited you were to be there, how standing in line wasn't that big a deal, and I want you to try and remember if you talked to a complete stranger about how much you love the movie you're about to see. My hope for this world is that we will foster the idea that we have so much in common with our fellow humans. That we might remember that fact gives me great hope. So go out there and spread some love around.
Hippies. Their revolution failed because their idea got commercialized. Our revolution will work because we can see that commercialism per se is ultimately not worth living for. Let's live for something awesome: Each other.
First things first. I am sick of child-worship and implicit pleas from anyone who is advocating for the State to protect children. From a Facebook discussion today - the listeners were prompted with the question "Should WarnerBros postpone further screenings until a motive is established?" This is what one poster wrote:
A better question would've been what were little kids, including a 9-year old and a 6-year old, doing watching a PG-13 movie at 1:00 am?? CNN has even reported that a 3-month old baby was among the injured, although other reports haven't mentioned that. What were these parents thinking??
If it were me and my 9-year-old, I would be thinking "Holy shit, this Batman premiere is gonna kick ass, and my kid is gonna love it." I have basically lost all interest in going to the movies except for premiere nights, because I've (at least temporarily) lost my faith in our culture to be humans to one another while in social settings involving tickets purchased at the door. The difference with premiere nights is that everyone there fucking loves the movie, and they are united in their love. They are humans. A stranger won't care if you step on his shoe, because hey man, you're at the premiere together. It is a common bond.
I'm very afraid that the last bastion of moviegoing fun (for me) is going to be lost forever after this. I can already imagine the increased "presence" of shock-trooper policemen stationed around the back entrances to literally thousands of movie houses this evening, glaring at people who are walking by intending to have fun. This of course will result in everyone at the mall feeling safer, thanks only to their booted and baton-wielding presence. I'd like to believe that the feeling of safety comes with a lurking feeling of foreboding, because "why do we need these policemen here in the first place?" That lurking feeling is the loss of innocence. We'd rather live under surveillance than risk a one-in-a-million chance that some dude is going to kick in the door and start shooting. Doug Stanhope speculated that shootings of this nature only occur in places that suck (like work), and that we should just always hang out in places that are fun, like an amusement park... I wouldn't think of a movie theater sucking, but based on what I wrote above, maybe I would. Anyway...
We might stop here and consider the question mentioned earlier: motive. Why?? Why would someone do this? What would compel a person to do this? I ask the question because the cold hard facts of the event will be trotted through the weekend media and forgotten by Monday or the Monday after next. That's when the speculation will start. I'd like to kick it off now.
Why would a doctoral student (albeit one who's quitting, which is not insignificant) in neuroscience decide to suit up in armor and shoot a bunch of people in a movie for which he himself purchased a ticket? The fact is, we may never actually know. It is my belief that the "authorities" will attempt to discredit any valid thoughts this clearly intelligent killer has come up with in his 24 years. I get the feeling that he'll be "known" to be an Occupy sympathizer with wild notions of anarchy (which, of course, means mayhem) and of who knows what else. That's obviously conjecture, but I figure why not write it down?
What I'm concerned with is this: Now that we've got him, what should we do with him? Obviously there will be calls from every direction for his head on a pike. My question is - what do we learn from that? What can we gain from that? Every businessperson I know these days talks about exploitation and its necessary place in the market. Well, how do we as a society gain from this? Is there nothing to be learned? How about since we somehow miraculously captured this guy alive, why not get inside his head and find out why? God forbid we actually nut up and send in a - gasp - psychologist to plumb the depths and find out if there was a way to actually prevent this - that's opposed to the sound logic of deploying more assault rifles and riot gear into the hands of already-overworked and underpaid neighborhood cops.
Since I believe they won't publish that conversation to the public, I'll speculate on what the conclusion might be: if we think we're ever going to grow out of this consumerist, justified-exploitation, individualism at the cost of the dregs, pander-to-the-lowest-common-denominator society, we have to first realize that our best way out of here is by relating to other everyday people, just like you and me. That means talking to strangers. If we are to accomplish this, it would mean the end of mainstream media (made possible exclusively through advertising) as we know it. Therefore, advertisement-based media has an interest in keeping us afraid of each other. This is what brings me to the Carlin-inspired title of my ranting. What kind of spin will we hear from this? I have a guess.
Every interview you hear will start with "I never thought he would be the one to do something like this." At the conclusion of those interviews, the well-dressed, unoffensive newscaster with the excellent non-regional dialect will glibly imply to us: It's the quiet ones you gotta watch... That line, right along with don't talk to strangers, is - in my esteemed opinion -
T-O-T-A-L B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T.
I also happen to think those quips are the message we actually take away from all the coverage, even though they're never the focus of the coverage. The stated focus is all the gore, the sickening number of the dead, the horrific descriptions of their deaths. Do you know anyone who has ever been a mass murderer? Does anyone you know actually know anyone who has ever been a mass murderer? I wonder how many degrees of separation it takes to get there. We should talk to strangers. We shouldn't "watch the quiet ones," expecting them to snap at any moment. That's what this global consumer world needs from us. The more I stare at this glowing screen, the more I'm dependent upon the system to provide what I need (of course always at a cost). When I get out and meet new people, they support me better than supply and demand ever could. It's the quiet ones you gotta talk to. After having been pointed out by many as the simple cause for Columbine, Marilyn Manson was asked what he would have told Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris. He said, "I would have listened..."
I'm not saying that if we had a time machine that I or even Marilyn could have talked this dude down from killing a dozen people. What I'm saying is that it's worth a fucking shot. What I'm saying is that if we as a people could embrace the practice of just acknowledging strangers in our day-to-day lives, we might witness a return to a time when "senseless mass murders" never even occur. Better than that, we might see ourselves actually evolve into a society and eventually a global population of people not-so-obsessed with the way we are perceived, rather we could be obsessed with personal and societal growth and improvement. Have you ever had a great experience with a stranger? Changing a tire on the side of the road is a great example. The sense of relief and happiness that rushes over you when you realize "this person doesn't want to murder me" - those feelings are how you could feel every day. That could be your baseline. Yeah, you might get murdered. But we might get murdered any day of the week. Don't put yourself in a position to get murdered, mind you.
In my short time on this Earth, since the Fall of the Berlin Wall, I've witnessed Oklahoma City, the Unabomber, the 1996 Summer Olympics, Columbine, Jonesboro, the Beltway Snipers, Virginia Tech, Fort Hood, and now this. As the frequency of these events increases, the national coverage will only become more in-your-face and graphic. Remember that it is in the financial interests of media agencies to keep you glued to the screen, and not out talking to your neighbors you've never met. The safest neighborhood is one in which everybody knows everybody. The scariest is the one in which you're all alone, right on your own street.
I want to leave you with good feelings, and not shitty ones. I want you to remember the last midnight premiere you attended. Maybe Transformers, maybe HP7, who knows? I want you to think back at how excited you were to be there, how standing in line wasn't that big a deal, and I want you to try and remember if you talked to a complete stranger about how much you love the movie you're about to see. My hope for this world is that we will foster the idea that we have so much in common with our fellow humans. That we might remember that fact gives me great hope. So go out there and spread some love around.
Hippies. Their revolution failed because their idea got commercialized. Our revolution will work because we can see that commercialism per se is ultimately not worth living for. Let's live for something awesome: Each other.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
What's in a blog title, anyway?
Some days I just don't give a shit. Others, I do. Some days I don't even think about shit at all.
I refuse to let an entire year pass between blog entries, and it just so happens I'm two weeks out from that bleak hallmark. SO MUCH HAS CHANGED. (More on this in subsequent posts)
I don't know how to start the annual entry just yet. Gotta put on some music. Sit on the couch maybe. Drag the laptop around behind me like a little red wagon with Intel axles... It's times like these when I look back at the theme I've chosen for the 'blog, I reflect on what it is I'm trying to accomplish here. Why did I call it "Anxious Glimpses of Reality?" Sounds pretentious and vague and emo. I guess it suits me, after all.
What. Is. Going. On. In. The. World? It's my aim over the next rest of my life to air out my thoughts with regard to this thought in more specific ways, but this re-initial blog is to break the ice again. My last entry was about Justice (capital J), this one I think I'll reserve for Drama (capital D).
This world would be a better place if people could just say what the fuck is on their minds. Through reality TV I've learned a few things about drama. Thing #1 is that if it's salacious enough, you can package it with commercials and buy a yacht with the money you make off it.
There is no thing #2.
I'm just kidding, of course there is. Thing #2 is that Drama is a distant cousin to Truth. Truth is how we evolve as a species, Drama is how we stagnate. Think about how much time and money and energy you have to put into getting laid these days. That's Drama. If people could just say what was on their minds, we'd find out that "Hey! I wanna bang, you wanna bang, let's bang already!" They do, and they move on. How could they possibly move on, you ask? Just like that. I know it's easy for me to say, I'm married, blah blah. But I'm doing the same thing. The Truth is the quickest way to cut through the bullshit. Here's the key: you just have to be willing to accept rejection. Once you can do this, you are free. Really and truly free. It's not the end of romance. It's the beginning of something fantastic. This works everywhere, not just for sex.
Here's the mission: figure out something you want. It can be sex, a promotion, a favorite meal. Instead of hinting around at it to your partner, your boss, or your mom, just ask. Prepare yourself for the worst possible outcome. If you're reading this, I know you're smart enough to see into the future far enough to know the worst possible outcome of asking directly for what it is you're after. Instead of spending three months hinting around, being coy, aloof, pitiable, desperate... Just be honest. You will know instantly how it turns out, you didn't have to stress, or eat, or smoke, now you just know. By this point you've already prepared for the worst, so even if it is the worst that's happened as a result, you've prepared for it! Follow the course of action you've planned and save your money. I challenge everyone here to take a step back from what is stressing them out, and ask "why?"
My problem is that I am aloof. I never volunteer information (about anything). I avoid eye contact, I make people approach me. This is how I try to gain control in uncomfortable situations. I play it off by saying I'm just being observant or polite, but really, I know what's happening. Instead of just being honest with myself, I will ask leading questions and stretch a 10-second conversation into an excruciating three minutes. Afraid of looking stupid or exposing myself as an unprofessional fraud, I hide, and I stress.
No more. I understand now that I don't give a shit if appear to be a dirtbag. I believe I'm a good person. I need to stop trying to control my environment in order to make myself look good. I need to experience my environment.
Thanks, now get out there and bang.
I refuse to let an entire year pass between blog entries, and it just so happens I'm two weeks out from that bleak hallmark. SO MUCH HAS CHANGED. (More on this in subsequent posts)
I don't know how to start the annual entry just yet. Gotta put on some music. Sit on the couch maybe. Drag the laptop around behind me like a little red wagon with Intel axles... It's times like these when I look back at the theme I've chosen for the 'blog, I reflect on what it is I'm trying to accomplish here. Why did I call it "Anxious Glimpses of Reality?" Sounds pretentious and vague and emo. I guess it suits me, after all.
What. Is. Going. On. In. The. World? It's my aim over the next rest of my life to air out my thoughts with regard to this thought in more specific ways, but this re-initial blog is to break the ice again. My last entry was about Justice (capital J), this one I think I'll reserve for Drama (capital D).
This world would be a better place if people could just say what the fuck is on their minds. Through reality TV I've learned a few things about drama. Thing #1 is that if it's salacious enough, you can package it with commercials and buy a yacht with the money you make off it.
There is no thing #2.
I'm just kidding, of course there is. Thing #2 is that Drama is a distant cousin to Truth. Truth is how we evolve as a species, Drama is how we stagnate. Think about how much time and money and energy you have to put into getting laid these days. That's Drama. If people could just say what was on their minds, we'd find out that "Hey! I wanna bang, you wanna bang, let's bang already!" They do, and they move on. How could they possibly move on, you ask? Just like that. I know it's easy for me to say, I'm married, blah blah. But I'm doing the same thing. The Truth is the quickest way to cut through the bullshit. Here's the key: you just have to be willing to accept rejection. Once you can do this, you are free. Really and truly free. It's not the end of romance. It's the beginning of something fantastic. This works everywhere, not just for sex.
Here's the mission: figure out something you want. It can be sex, a promotion, a favorite meal. Instead of hinting around at it to your partner, your boss, or your mom, just ask. Prepare yourself for the worst possible outcome. If you're reading this, I know you're smart enough to see into the future far enough to know the worst possible outcome of asking directly for what it is you're after. Instead of spending three months hinting around, being coy, aloof, pitiable, desperate... Just be honest. You will know instantly how it turns out, you didn't have to stress, or eat, or smoke, now you just know. By this point you've already prepared for the worst, so even if it is the worst that's happened as a result, you've prepared for it! Follow the course of action you've planned and save your money. I challenge everyone here to take a step back from what is stressing them out, and ask "why?"
My problem is that I am aloof. I never volunteer information (about anything). I avoid eye contact, I make people approach me. This is how I try to gain control in uncomfortable situations. I play it off by saying I'm just being observant or polite, but really, I know what's happening. Instead of just being honest with myself, I will ask leading questions and stretch a 10-second conversation into an excruciating three minutes. Afraid of looking stupid or exposing myself as an unprofessional fraud, I hide, and I stress.
No more. I understand now that I don't give a shit if appear to be a dirtbag. I believe I'm a good person. I need to stop trying to control my environment in order to make myself look good. I need to experience my environment.
Thanks, now get out there and bang.
Friday, July 29, 2011
The Next One about Justice
Sonofabitch.
Three months and not a word from this guy. If you were waiting, I'm sorry. If you weren't, well, I can't blame you. I mean, shit, it's been three months after all. What could possibly be the deal? As I sit shirtless waiting for Left 4 Dead 2 to update via my not-quite-instantaneous-enough broadband so I can slay zombie bitches alongside my exquisite wife, I regain perspective and instead of watching gun reviews and contemporary American philosophy videos by #Nutnfancy (albeit a worthy pastime), I aim my sights a bit higher toward self-actualization and rambling rants and complaints... That is - I blog.
Jusssstice...
When last I left you, we were talking assassination, and as we rekindle the relationship, I have an overarching idea pertaining to where I'd like this entry to go, but who knows?
I have to start with the not-surprisingly polarizing event of the Casey Anthony trial. I say polarizing but I don't know if there's anyone on the other side of the outrage. People whose opinions and thoughts I value highest seem to have been completely swept away by the molasses-thick melodrama surrounding this case. For-profit news media loves this case. These days, with beautiful High-def footage, multitudes of cutthroat journalists and prerequisite instant access, it's so easy to give the grisly details (do I get a prize for being the one-millionth asshole to enumerate them all in their full heartbreaking glory?) and then nudge the masses to sniff around to the closest suspect with a checkered past. Now we just kick back and watch the marvelously-predictable horde blow the too-recently settled dust off the torches and pitchforks, tar, feathers, nooses, shambling toward the town square.
Now I might make a guess as to what you're thinking: "You're a naive douchebag, of course she killed her daughter..."
This article is not entitled "The One about Casey Anthony Being Innocent." It's about something much larger than any single person could ever even aspire to be. As Americans, we have been blessed with the foresight of our forefathers. Thank goodness they had it in spades. They based our justice system on the idea that we are innocent until proven guilty. If those twelve jurors had convicted that woman of anything other than lying to police and abysmal parenting, the system isn't worth the paper it was written on. We live our daily lives knowing that if we have not committed a crime, then there shall be NO FEAR of being pulled out of our houses and wrongfully imprisoned, let alone executed. The Animals said "Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood..." Now, whether she is guilty or not, we have the obligation to carry out due process. This case was rushed to trial and it was built on circumstantial evidence. Those people who were (and are still) screaming for the blood of Casey Anthony have obviously lost touch with and are taking for granted the idea that although they are not on trial, they are reaping the benefits of American Justice every single day. On any given calendar square, they can drive down the street to their church that is protected by the state, no matter how backwards their rituals may be. They are allowed to assemble and protest literally any thing they feel is wrong or unjust. They can do this because they know that as long as they follow the law, they should fear no reprisal from the state.
If we convicted Casey Anthony, we re-initiate the sloping march back down the muddy path to the mass hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials and countless other instances of infamy. We live in a country that was founded on the idea of pure justice. That we should inevitably let some of the guilty go free so that the innocent will NEVER be imprisoned - that is the choice our founders made on our behalf, and I could never be more thankful for it. I am absolutely grateful for the ability to write this message in dissent. I have to admit that it is with some reticence I will compose, finish, and publish this post - and for what? For fear of persecution! But even now, I am emboldened with the sense that, No!, I can write this. The first amendment protects my right to write. I am innocent in my thoughts and deeds thus far, and I will continue. I dissent! God Damnit, I dissent. I digress.
I am struggling. With so many things, I am struggling. I feel as though the for-profit news media and inevitably 'outraged' pundits and Laura Ingrahams are taking our idea of justice from us and replacing it with the idea of revenge.
Imagine a beautiful, massive, heavy jewel that is polished yet dull, it is perfect; appearing new and nascent, but is aeons old. The translucent stone sits in a stories-deep, brightly-lit circular vault on a simple pedestal clearly built to support and cradle such a precious thing. A vault that exudes such silent reverence that inside of which no decent man would dare tread. The vault is our collective mind, the pedestal our individual intellect, the jewel - Justice. As a nation, we protect the idea of justice, and as individual jurors, we hold up the virtue of Justice.
As each American generation grows old and withers, the next is more complacent knowing there are bandits and wolves inside the vault. Corporate news media has always been pacing outside our sacred vaults, and started tiptoeing in some time ago. I feel they are stomping ever more loudly toward our jewel, brazen in their belief that we have already forgotten our most precious treasure. That they would seek to supplant Justice with the black brick of Revenge is self-evident. We (read: humans) held trials at Nuremburg and executions in Abbottabad. What changed? What the fuck changed?
In the timeless words of Robert Plant (inspired by Memphis Minnie in 1929), "If it keeps on rainin', the levee's gonna break." The rain is pouring on us from every angle, in the form of clever and divisive political and social commentary meant to divide and weaken our resolve and our principles as a nation.
Let's open up a spillway or two hundred and erase the legions of assholes that would attempt to steal the glimmering beauty of Justice! If this trend continues, I pray to whomever will listen that the good and decent people in America will soon awake with such a wrath that there will be scant a figure or mob who could stand in the way of such a virtuous ideal. That is the time when we should be blowing the thick dust off our torches and pitchforks.
Whew.
Well, a 40-minute software update has long-since passed. It's important for you to know that after writing this, I'm still able to grab a virtual shotgun and blast zombie bastards till the cows come home. I'm a normal dude. These are the thoughts that rattle in my brain. I appreciate very deeply that you've read my shit. Please just think (and comment). That's it!
Music fueling me as I wrote:
The Animals
Rush
Led Zeppelin
Punch Brothers
Jurassic 5
Flogging Molly
Aphex Twin
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
The One About Justice
This blog will be filled with melodrama.
So I was out dancing in the street Sunday night until I found out that the United States had authorized and successfully carried out a kill-op intended to eliminate Osama bin Laden.
I am on the brink of losing my faith. Not in religion, but in something harder for me to pin down. I am losing my faith in America. Up until this point, I thought I knew what a stranglehold the media (all 5 of them - TimeWarner, newscorp, disney, GE, and viacom) had on Americans, but I had no idea.
If you have read my earlier posts (I know it's been since September since I've posted) you may find that I am completely idealistic when it comes to this country, a hopeless romantic. I believe in the tenets that are the foundation of the leadership of our nation. Justice, honesty, the common good, freedom. There's been no sign of any of them in any recognizable form over the past three days.
"Justice has been done..." - From the mouths of experts and pundits and officials, from Geraldo Rivera to the President, I keep hearing about Justice and what an excellent job SEAL Team 6 did serving it. Now don't get me wrong. SEALs are bad dudes. They aren't heroes, they're fucking superheroes. THE Batman can suck nuts compared to these fools and their capabilities. However, it wasn't SEALs who designed and greenlighted this op, and it's not the SEALs trying to sell it to us, either.
I really am astonished each time I hear a talking head on TV and Talk Radio ( lol ) set up their current "open discussion" about whether we as Americans have the right to view photos and video of the body or whether we can now say "the war on terror is over" or whether we.... blah blah blah bullshit that doesn't matter AT ALL blah blah... I'm astonished when those discussions are set up with the line "Justice was served, don't get me wrong, I just wanna see the body, ya know? I mean, am I right guys? So we can get a little more justice outta this whole thing..."
Osama bin Laden. Not a sentence, I know, but that's how I said it. "Osama... bin... Laden..." We did not achieve Justice. Justice was not served. I heard a wet-eyed man sitting across from George Stephanopoulos (I don't pay for cable so we had to watch ABC's coverage on Sunday night... blech...) say "There is no court in the world, no court is high enough that could have brought that man to justice." And so the broadcast moved on. What message did we all take away from that? What message has been lying underneath the "National Discussion" around this? I'll tell you - it's this:
Only American bullets can serve pure Justice.
Our notion of Justice in this country is being perverted on such a level that is astonishing to me. Jon Stewart on the Daily Show could barely contain his giddiness (which I actually found surprising, but it helped me understand something, and it also spurred me to write this entry). THE DIFFERENCE between John Stewart and every other entity I've had the displeasure of hearing report "the news" is that John Stewart actually had the humility and the foresight to say the following: "I suppose I should be expressing some ambivalence about the targeted killing of another human being, and yet, uh, no. I just want details..." and "I am way too close to this whole episode to be rational about this in any way shape or form." At the close of the show he said "Tonight's program, uh, pure id. We will temper it over time." Hearing those statements helped me understand the mentality of those who actually were close to 9-11. I guess I have to recognize that "the death" does bring closure to many affected people, and I can appreciate that. However, we as a culture must be vigilant in recognizing the difference between closure and Justice. We must also be vigilant (since we were responsible in carrying out the mission) in recognizing the difference between Justice and revenge.
"In taking revenge, a man is but even with his enemy; but in passing it over, he is superior" - Sir Francis Bacon
Of course there was more in the planning and construction of this operation than I can probably ever imagine. Here is my problem with it: Reuters reported an official statement made which confirmed "...there was no desire to try to capture bin Laden alive..." (Yes it was reported on Huffpost but come on, they sold out their liberal bias a long time ago) WHY? Not even an attempt?
Why the fuck is no one asking this question? Were we so worried that he'd get away we might have to spend another hour or two (on top of 10 years) tracking him through suburb streets? SEAL Team 6 are the deadliest bastards on the entire planet. WHY NOT EVEN SPIN IT to say it was an 'attempted' capture mission?!
Look, even a sham trial would have portrayed Americans like we're not all bloodthirsty barbarians. Either way, he's still kicking at the end of a rope. What I really think, though, is that the images of us dancing in the streets and celebrating waving flags and chanting U-S-A over and over again - those images weren't meant for Al Qaeda management. Those images were meant for Americans. Everyday people like you and me. Media and politics (don't even pretend that the two aren't in bed on both sides) want us to believe (really, internally believe) that the WHOLE WORLD is dancing around like the drunk Sigma Chi (that's a fraternity if you didn't pick up on it) douchebags climbing trees and stoplights in DC and Times Square. We weren't. I wasn't. Were you? Or were you sitting quietly watching the news, trying to understand the implications of what had just happened?
I know I'm running long and I think that the feedback from this post will determine if I continue the thought in another post. But just bear with me for a couple more things.
Please don't let the media tell you how you feel about this. Just turn off your little glowing rectangular media-boxes and think about what is happening in the world, how you're personally being portrayed, and if you agree with it.
Also, yes, I know blogging like this allows me to anonymously (not really) lambaste those things and people I hate most, which is nice for someone so non-confrontational he has a hard time sending back poorly-cooked food at restaurants. We are a nation of followers. When we see looped "LIVE" video (and it was looped, you better believe it) of anonymous Americans crowding the streets where "the police tried to stop it, but America has to have this moment..." we immediately start to feel like that's the reaction all across the US. It wasn't.
I haven't heard a single person bring up Osama bin Laden at work, and I live in Baton Rouge, LA. The place (my job, not Baton Rouge) is filled to the brim with conservative hard-liners. And yet, it's like it never even happened. No one I know personally (actually maybe one person) is "excited" or "elated" that we rushed in and capped bin Laden's ass. Are people afraid to talk about it? Are they embarrassed? Ashamed? Too happy for words? I don't know, but when we lose our ability to discuss national issues like this within our own social circles, the only input is from corporate media, Liberal and Conservative. If we don't come up with a national voice of our own, through community, the talking heads become our voice. That's bullshit.
Don't let someone else do your thinking for you. That's bullshit, too.
That's all, lovesies!
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