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former US Marine, retired police; in other words, professional babysitter. "Ah's jes' th' ign'nt sonuva po' ol' shahcroppah, yas ah is. . ."

20100907

Considerations On "The War On Terror" (2010 0612)

- rob zombie

“Dead I am the one exterminating Son, slipping through the trees, strangling the breeze. . .”

– Rob Zombie, ‘Dragula’ (1998)

A story came out a few days ago at the Huffington Post, about yet another Al Qaeda #3 being killed:   'U.S. Officials: Al Qaeda No. 3 Killed', at 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/31/al-qaeda-number-three-reported-killed_n_595561.html

Mustafa Abu al-Yazid (aka Sheik Saeed al-Masri)

(Mustafa Abu al-Yazid (aka Sheik Saeed al-Masri)

Moreover, this was yet another one who'd been reported killed before. I've reposted the stories of 'zombie terrorists' several times over the past few years, and i get sick of seeing them.  Anyway, while looking over the comments, The Spirit Of The Lord entered me and moved me to speak. . .and so i did. . .

Observation: This is why there will never be an end to the 'War On Terror'. . . no terrorist is harder to kill than a zombie terrorist.

As long as one strand of DNA survives, it is able to take in all the necessary elemental requirements to fully reconstitute and regenerate the individual terrorist.  Presently, the only way to effectively isolate and 'de-power' the zombie terrorist is to capture him/her, place the terrorist into a capsule atop a rocket, and shoot said terrorist into the core of the Sun.Even this does not guarantee eradication, however. the sun already contains hydrogen. Through nuclear fusion, the sun creates the other basic elements necessary to the survival of life--carbon, oxygen and nitrogen--and, as fusion continues, elements farther down on the periodic table will be created, eventually reaching iron.

With the formation of elements used to create enzymes, vitamins, hemoglobin and such, the zombie terrorists will be able to reconstitute themselves fully when solar fusion begins to create iron.  Unless immediate action is then taken, we may then  face innumerable zombie terrorists flying to earth from the core of the solar furnace.

At some point in the future, then, it will be necessary to retrieve the zombie terrorists from the solar core and send them into Sagittarius A (the central collapsar or black hole) at the galactic center, located in the constellation of Sagittarius, some ~27,000±1,000 light years away.

The Galactic Center as seen by one of the 2MASS infrared telescopes.

One may then say that we are finally 'safe from the terrorist threat'.

Judging by government news releases, we've definite proof that zombies exist. The unfortunate thing is that they're all terrorists, and usually members of al Qaeda. It therefore behooves us to seek more permanent ways to immobilize them, so the troops don't have to kill the same bad guys over and over again.

Besides the members of the original core al Qaeda movement, there are now several splinter or 'tribute' groups, mostly centered on the Middle East, members of which may potentially be spread across the face of the world. It can be conjectured that this is already the case with the original al Qaeda, itself.

Our misclassification of 'insurgents' and similar groups (Iraq, Afghanistan) as 'terrorists' since 2003 has further increased the number of potential zombie terrorists that must be dealt with. Even if we totally withdraw from Iraq, this threat will remain.  In addition, legal definitions (who is an enemy?) made under the previous Administration ensure a constant flow of terrorists, including zombie terrorists. This is especially so since the entire world was declared a battleground, including the United States itself.

Former President George W Bush attempted to make the zombie danger clear in 2007, when he held a press conference and tried to elucidate the threat to America: 

 

 

Using hindsight, we can now see how prescient Bush was. Several of the terrorists reported as killed have arisen months or years later, only to be captured or killed yet again. If this trend continues, all of the terrorists so far incapacitated will continue to rise by the light of the moon, so that they may further harm the citizens and property of the United States.

As a slight aside, I must note that, to my knowledge, only those zombies previously designated as ‘terrorists’ have resurfaced.  No other individuals killed at the time of ‘death’—friends, family, bystanders, other innocents, etc—have risen again.  Only individuals recognized by the United States/NATO coalition as ‘terrorists’ have been reborn after death.  This leads to some interesting philosophical, political and religious implications for the curious, as regards the nature and possible utility of becoming a terrorist. . .but I digress.

President Barack Obama has claimed to be a Christian. His detractors have painted him as a Muslim; and, at times, a Communist, therefore an atheist. Whether Christian, Muslim or Atheist, one thing is clear: President Obama knows nothing about voodoo (vodun, vodou, vaudau). Papa Legba and Dhambala are complete blanks to him. 

And to say he should already know ‘because he’s black’ is a totally unnecessary, unwarranted and bigoted, racist remark.

Knowledge of voodoo would give the President  particular insight into dealing with the zombie terrorist threat. However, there are three versions of voodoo: West African, Haitian and American (Louisiana).  Perhaps he could send Vice-President Joe Biden & Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to learn from bokors (priests, shamans, etc) how to immobilize or temporarily control the zombie's body.  An example of bokor control of the zombie is found in the film 'Weekend At Bernie's 2'.

I'd assume that he would send them to Louisiana, as it houses the American form of voodoo. Haiti is still in a shambles after the recent earthquake, and there are still signs of discontent in West Africa. The loa (l'wha, lwa) are still in a state of agitation at either place.

If the bokors are pleased, they may present Secretary Gates with the necessary mojo needed for interim control of the zombie terrorists.  One could postulate that, if successful, bokors may be incorporated into the Department Of Defense to specifically deal with zombie terrorists as a new form of Special Forces group, working in conjunction with more prosaic military units.  It’s also possible that the bokors will in time become part of every counterinsurgery and counterterrorist fighting unit.  If the former, their unit emblem might be a decapitated and bleeding chicken being held over the body of a terrorist.

Guantanamo_guards_prepare_for_zombie_attacks

Special commendations and medals may also be struck, with Congressional assent, to acknowledge the efficacy of bokor actions in the ‘War On Terror’.  Whether they would be budgeted under the DOD or CIA is a matter I leave to those more qualified.

There are other reasons for seeking aid from Louisiana bokors. Conservatives and right-wing extremists would be up in arms yet again, this time at the thought of liberals disdaining 'good ol' American voodoo' and deigning instead to learn it from 'furriners'. It would be seen as another indication that the President is in collusion with the United Nations to form a one-world government, and it would also be a sign that the 'Damn Yankees' were again looking down on the noble 'Sons of the South'.  Teabaggers would want to ‘take our bokors back’, and new conspiracies would arise through charismatics such as Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck.

The downside is that Louisiana and the Gulf States are already receiving a great deal of attention, thanks to BP, Halliburton and friends. . .although the visit could be 'managed' into a political op for dealing with the oil rig/oil spill crisis.

I quite think the President has enough political problems already without adding to them, especially if FOX News learns of his intentions.  However, I must admit it would get Joe out of his hair for a while. . .

Once one postulates the zombie terrorist threat, it becomes clear that a large part of the GWOT Dept of Defense budget to date has been spent in ammunition alone, which has heretofore proven ineffective in halting this menace. This is the mentality of the high school football coach: "Yer gonna keep running that play till ya get it right."

This is a flawed strategy, which is speedily draining the American coffers. A different way must be found. My analysis indicates that, over time, the least expensive method of dealing with the zombie terrorist threat is a crash program into new methods of propulsion into space.  Rocketry as it exists is based on principles over 1000 years old, and there must be better alternatives.  And, for all the problems associated with this method, it is much cheaper and attainable than the only viable alternative, which would be imprisoning the zombies in the core of the Earth.

Lanceur en ZL

At present, we don't even have the technology to get past the crust, which varies from only 20 to 25 miles in thickness. There would then be another 4,000 thousand miles to go, through the molten mantle and into the core, which is composed of pure metallic iron.   Among other difficulties, there would be definite problems drilling through pure iron; and, as already stated, we don't want to help the terrorists by giving them a ready source of iron that could help reconstitute their bodies. Imprisoning them at the Earth's core is thus not recommended.

Inside-the-Earth

I had considered yet other means of incapacitation, including imprisonment on the moon, or at one of the LaGrange points nearby, surrounded by hunter-killer craft from a consortium of WASP nations.  However, the conversion of a single WASP to Islam means that he or she would eventually retrieve the codes necessary to nullify the WASP 'stingers' and free the zombie terrorists:  think Denise Richards as 'White She-Devil', in the film 'Undercover Brother'.

Other alternatives were also explored, such as injection into the gas giants (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune) or towards a red dwarf star such as Wolf 359 or Barnard's Star. In either case, there was a probability that the zombie terrorists would return to plague us within a relatively short timespan.  Thus, the sun.

We should be able to hit such a large target; after all, it's about 870,000 miles across. Even a Predator drone should be able to hit an object that size without collateral damage.

Perhaps.

Considering that the sun has another 5 billion years of hydrogen left to burn before entering the iron production cycle, we should have plenty of time (and room) for the storage of zombie terrorists.

600px-Solar_Life_Cycle_svg

Of course, this method would also produce innumerable spinoffs to benefit the American people and humanity in general. The space program has historically been one of the greater generators of beneficent technologies to man in all spheres of life. Therefore this program would have additional benefits to humanity, from health to transportation to entertainment.

Within the sun there would be significant, although not infinite, storage capacity for zombie terrorists, including those presently existing and those which will exist in the future. 

However, as I have already stated, we cannot be complacent. We cannot sit on our laurels and assume the job is done. As we continue to stuff zombie terrorists into the Sun, we must continue to push for technologies that will assist us in their eventual injection and permanent immobilization at the Galactic Core. Otherwise, when the Sun finally begins to expand into a red giant, the zombie terrorists will have fully reformed their bodies, and will be able to ride the expanding surface of the Sun as it begins to consume Mercury, Venus and, yes, the Earth. 

600px-236084main_MilkyWay-full-annotated

There is  no time to lose.   The Galactic Singularity is our only hope to permanently stop the zombie terrorist threat. Since there is little or no mental activity within the zombie brain, it is unlikely that escape from the event horizon of the collapsar is possible, under current Einsteinian relativistic theories. It is presently believed that all the laws of physics break down at the singularity; what implications this has for zombies, a spiritual manifestation, is also unknowable.

We have no time to waste.

Our children and the American Way of Life depends upon the total eradication of the zombie terrorist threat, no matter where they may be found.

-             patton

“Good hunting, good luck, and God bless America.”

A Voice From The Past: Robert Anson Heinlein, 1907-1988 (2010 0417)

- Robert_A_Heinlein -

- Robert_A_Heinlein -

During the 2004 election, Bush & Kerry agreed on only one thing:  the greatest danger in the world is "nuclear terrorism".

Wrong. Wrong. WRONG.

The worst danger in the world is religious fundamentalism.  Through its behavior, evils such as nuclear terrorism follow as a matter of course.

Religious fundamentalism gave us the obliteration of almost every early Christian denomination prior to 300AD, leaving only the Roman Catholic Church.  Since they'd gained the power of the Roman Empire, they turned on their spiritual brethren and mercilessly stamped them out, as well as anyone else who got in the way.

Read your history.

Religious fundamentalism gave us the purges and slaughters of Asoka against the Buddhists of India, until the day his eyes were opened.

Religious fundamentalism gave us the Crusades and the suicidal Witch hysteria which blanketed the whole of Europe, and still recurs, now and then, today.  Protestant or Catholic doesn't matter; it was embraced by both equally.   Martin Luther and John Calvin hated quite a lot of people, as is amply shown through a perusal of their own writings.

Now and then, up to the 1900's, religious fundamentalism led to the outright purges of Catholics, Mormons, Jews and others in the United States.   The early Puritans were good at driving out or killing anyone who didn't accept their theocracy, Indian or white, Christian or not.

So much for "freedom of religious thought".

And I'm not even talking about what we did to the Native American tribes.

In Japan, religious fundamentalism led to State Shinto and the direct worship of the Emperor as a living god, leading to an Imperial Military which saw the lives of millions of their own people as sacrifices to the glory of the Emperor (and their own power). 

The Japanese people were led to believe that such a death was the greatest gift that could be given to them, since the Emperor was a living god (and his ministers and military demigods by default).  Hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians and soldiers died in battle or committed suicide due to their indoctrination, and caused in turn the needless deaths of thousands upon thousands upon thousands of innocents.

The Nazi Holocaust against the Jews is another example, and is always in the forefront of religious persecution.  The fundamentalism of Nazism was reared mostly in pagan and neomystical faiths, and perverted the respected ancient symbols of other faiths (such as the swastika and Norse runes). 

However, the Jews weren't the only victims of Nazi religious fundamentalism:  careful reading will show that the regime--Hitler in particular--also had a particular hatred of Christianity, Catholics and Protestants alike.  Among Christians, Catholics suffered the worst.  Before his fall, Hitler enacted laws had been enacted to replace Bibles with copies of Mein Kampf.  Churches were destroyed; clergy and followers were sent to concentration camps.

This doesn't count his hatred of other groups:  Poles, Russians, Slavs, blacks, gays. . .Hitler sounds a lot  like the people I grew up around.. . .

Oh, and we can't forget what I consider the worst crime ever committed against humanity:  The destruction of the Library of Alexandria, Egypt,  and the murder of the last Librarian, Hypatia, by the Christian Bishop of that city, 'round 'bout 323 AD. 

(This woulda put it close to the Council of Nicea, where people--NOT GOD--decided what "Christians" would believe in; but that's another story. . .I have decades of bitterness over both.)

That one crime, alone, set the world into spiritual and intellectual darkness for centuries.  No other human  incident, to my knowledge, has been so profound in its consequences.

. . all that vast knowledge gone. . .a small fraction was held by the Christian Church, but the vast majority of surviving information was preserved and protected by an enlightened Muslim culture.  If not for the Muslims--in this instance--I believe we would still be living in even more ignorance than at present.

The violence and bigotry of the Bible makes the Koran look like a bedtime fairytale for toddlers.  Problem is, people don't read either.   If you have the guts, buy a copy of the Koran and read it.  Then open up the Bible and read the Book of Judges, especially the last two chapters

After that, go to the New Testament and study the hatred of "Saint" Paul, cursing anyone who doesn't believe in his version of Jesus; or, for that matter,  his upholding of slavery and dehumanization of women.

. . .go ahead. . .I'll wait. . .

Then try to explain to me how evil the Koran is.

(Ahem.)

People conveniently tend to forget--or never notice--that when you point a finger at someone, the other fingers are pointing right back at you. 

And, of course, I include myself.  I'm damn sure no better than anyone else.

But then, the delusional aspect of humanity includes the fact that humans will question every belief and proposition, save those held most dear to the heart.  Religion is usually one of those beliefs.

At this time we have quasi-theocracies springing up everywhere, including the United States.  A thinking person, using the brains granted by God, should be able to see it.  And recoil.

If not, I guess it's proof intelligence isn't a survival trait after all.

I have always been of the opinion that there have been only two authors of worth produced in the United States, and both of them were from Missouri.  One was Samuel Langhorne Clemens, also known as Mark Twain.  The other was Robert Anson Heinlein.

Like Clemens, Heinlein was practical, yet imaginative; somewhat distant, but noble and affectionate.  Heinlein found his forte in writing science fiction, and in doing so inspired generations of scientists.  His books on space travel, fiction or nonfiction, paved the way for the Apollo Program.    He also wrote a good amount concerning politics and the political process.

His tales were peopled by individuals, not cookie-cutter reflections with painted smiles and plastered attitudes.   Probably the most astounding thing about his characters was that they were competent people.   This is something usually unheard of, especially nowadays.

Shortly after beginning his writing career, Heinlein started plotting a series of stories bound together as a common projected history of humanity.  He based this "Future History" on two basic types of story:  "What If?", and "If This Goes On. . ."  The latter type  became itself  the title of a rather important story.

"If This Goes On---" turned out to be a story unlike any other at the time.  It posited a world in which The United States had become a theocracy.  Religious fundamentalism had taken over the country, and the United States of America had ceased to exist as a republic.  Religion in the name of the Holy Prophet overshadowed everything.

Sound familiar?  I ain't talkin' 'bout Muslim countries.  The "Christian Embassy" has loads of influence in the Pentagon, RIGHT NOW.  We're kidnappin' people from other countries and puttin' them to work in Iraq; that is, SLAVERY.  Earlier today I posted a news story which shows we got Jim Crow back in gear.

I live in a redneck backwoods part of the country, and it seems to me that people tend to think religion is showing up for church and agreeing with a mouthpiece, not to mention suckin' up to whoever says they're in charge.   Thank God for the University here or there'd be no intelligent conversation at all; even at that, sometimes it's a problem.

In 2004, Bush & Company came close to stopping the elections because of "national security" concerns with terrorism.  There'd been doubt they'd even be held at the time.  This year they're already building prisons for protestors at the political conventions.  You can bet there'll be other fun tricks up their sleeves.

Sounds a helluva lot like Heinlein, a helluva lot like "If This Goes On---".
The story itself is available in the omnibus Future History volume, The Past Through Tomorrow.  Some years later it was subdivided into other volumes; I have it in front of me now, from the book Revolt In 2100 - Methuselah's  Children.

I'd definitely invite each of you to read the story, at least.  I have the book turned to his Timeline in the front of the book, written in the latter 1930's-early 1940's.  It's notable that directly after the year 2000, under Sociological changes, he listed "rise in religious fanaticism" taking place, followed by "the new crusade".  After "rebellion and independence of Venusian Colonies" (the story "Logic of Empire", dealing with slavery), he notes the rise of  a "religious dictatorship in US".

You can't make this crap up, folks, these books have been around for decades.  If you look carefully at his timeline, you'll see that he perceived an initial space program (including moon landings), followed by decades of neglect in space exploration, only to be finally opened up again.

In view of what's been going on the past seven years, I've been meanin'  to post Heinlein's own thoughts on the matter.  The following (at length) is taken from "Concerning Stories Never Written:  Postscript", in the aforementioned Revolt in 2100 -Methuselah's Children (1939,1940; reissued 1999 by Baen Publishing, paperback, pages 264-266).

So, I'll shuddup and let the Master speak. . .

"I am aware that the themes of the unwritten stories linking the second and this the third volume thus briefly stated above have not been elaborated sufficiently to lend conviction, particularly with reference to these notions; the idea that space travel, once apparently firmly established, could fall into disuse, and secondly the idea that the United States could lapse into a dictatorship of suspicion.  As for the first, consider the explorations of the Vikings a thousand years ago and the colonies they established in North America.  Their labors were fruitless; Columbus and his successors had to do it all over again.  Space travel in the near future is likely to be a marginal proposition at best, subsidized for military reasons.  It could die out--then undergo a renaissance through new techniques and through new economic and political pressures.  I am not saying these things will happen, I do say they could happen.

"As for the second notion, the idea that we could lose our freedom by succumbing to a wave of religious hysteria, I am sorry to say that I consider it possible.  I hope that it is not probable.  But there is a latent deep strain of religious fanaticism in this, our culture; it is rooted in our history and it has broken out many times in the past.  It is with us now; there has been a sharp rise in evangelical sects in the this country, in recent years, some of which hold beliefs theocratic in the extreme, anti-intellectual, anti-scientific, and anti-libertarian.

"It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so, and will follow it by suppressing opposition, subverting all education to seize early the minds of the young, and by killing, locking up, or driving underground all heretics.  This is especially true whether the faith is Communism or Holly-Rollerism; indeed it is the bounden duty of the faithful to do so.  The custodians of the True Faith cannot logically admit tolerance of heresy to be a virtue.

"Nevertheless this business of legislating religious beliefs into law has never been more than sporadically successful in this country--Sunday closing laws here and there, birth control legislation in spots, the Prohibition experiment, temporary enclaves of theocracy such as Voliva's Zion, Smith's Nauvoo, a few others.  The country is split up into such a variety of faiths and sects that a degree of uneasy tolerance now exists from expedient compromise; the minorities constitute a majority of opposition against each other.

"Could it be otherwise here?  Could any one sect obtain a working majority at the polls and take over the country?  Perhaps not--but a combination of a dynamic evangelist, television, enough money and modern techniques of advertising and propaganda might make Billy Sunday's efforts look like a corner store compared to Sears-Roebuck.  Throw in a depression for good measure, promise a material heaven here on earth, add a dash of anti-Semitism, anti-Catholicism, anti-Negroism, and a good large dose of anti-"furriners" in general and anti-intellectuals here at home and the result might be quite frightening--particularly when one recalls that our voting system is such that a minority distributed as pluralities in enough states can constitute a working majority in Washington. . ."

"Impossible?  Remember the Klan in the 'Twenties--and how far it got without even a dynamic leader?  Remember Karl Marx and note how close that unscientific piece of nonsense called "Das Kapital" has come to smothering out all freedom of thought on half a planet, without--mind you--the emotional advantage of calling it a religion.  The capacity of the human mind for swallowing nonsense and spewing it forth in violent and repressive action has never yet been plumbed."

'nuff said.

(originally posted Monday, August 06, 2007 at  http://www.tagworld.com/mattukenobaka/PostDetail.aspx?id=4a32bc16-c302-401e-aa73-5054e4b2b731)

To All Non-American Readers Of This Blog. . . (2010 0409)

Flagwave

Flagwave

i realize that there are many readers of this blog who aren't Americans. some aren't even 'real' Americans.

in hopes that you might understand us a little bit better, i offer the following, which i recently posted concerning a political news story:

=====================================================================================================

A Canadian says:
April 6, 2010 at 7:31 am

What is wrong with you Americans?

-------------------------------------------------

okami says:
April 8, 2010 at 7:36 pm

sorry.

we’re a manic-depressive nation, with tendencies towards collective psychosis every now and then. there’s often more than a touch of good old paranoia involved, along with the need to let somebody else do our thinking for us.

There's also a sublimated undercurrent of racism, which tends to explode into the open at times of crisis.

we’re particularly susceptible to propaganda (political or religious), depending on the amount of education we’ve failed to receive.

this is not to mention the fact that we're forgetful and very inattentive.  in order to bring a problem to our attention, it's necessary to whack us in the face with a 2-by-4; and then we usually respond by doing the wrong thing.

our strength is in our diversity. if any set of groups–say, religious–banded together, we’d be a full theocracy in two seconds flat.  or a fully fascistic society, if political groups banded. . .which may yet happen with the Teabaggers and the Republicans.

our diversity in race, religion, opinion and such keeps that from happening.

our weakness is also in our diversity. we’re schizophrenic. there’s one hell of a lot of voices that we’re hearing.  for instance, Mary appears in a taco, Jesus on a windshield, and suddenly we’ve got to take action against the infidels and heretics.

usually the conflicting confusion of the voices in our national 'head' keeps us from taking action at once, while we let the voices argue themselves out.

But if you’re already crazy (like me), you can survive these periods of instability, and alternate between laughing at it all, or crying about the waste of it all.

Reflections Of A Damned Fool (2008 1128)

Ran

Ran

Reality ain't.

I'd rather be Schrodinger's Cat than Pavlov's Dog.

The cosmos is a virtual particle.

The universe was created 15 billion years ago.

The universe was created 6000 years ago.

The universe was created 1 minute ago.

The universe is being created now.

All of  these statements are true.

Life is a cannibalistic phenomenon.

Life is a manifestation of turbulence.

Every life is a prayer.

Look into a mirror and see an angel.

Look into a mirror and see a demon.

Look into a mirror and see a monster.

Look into a mirror and see yourself.

Humanity is still primitive.

There are always unknowns.

There is no difference between the microbe and the human.

Solitude is not loneliness.

All wars are civil wars.

Basically, the only important events that have ever occurred on earth since its formation are the beginning of life itself, photosynthesis and sexual dimorphism.  Given the opportunity, the next important event will be the spreading of life from this world to others. 

Anything else that has happened--anything--is less than nothing before these things.

Man is the only suicidal animal.

Man is a transitional species.

All times and all places are the same.

Death does not exist.

All lives are the same.

With each increase in social bonding comes an increase in aggression.  It is the most social of species who fight and kill each other.  Humanity may be at the apex of this phenomenon.  Any species succeeding ours may, if accompanied by an increase in social bonding, automatically self-destruct before it has a chance to multiply.

Organized religion is idolatry.

The earth is a living being.

Life on earth consists of microbes. . .nothing else.

All relationships are tangential; they all last only a moment.

Organism and environment are symbiotic phenomena.

The only original sin is ignorance.

The only crime is to harm another.

Education ends only at death. . .maybe. . .

Fear only for others, not for yourself.

Freedom is more important than safety.

Once is chance.

Twice  is coincidence.

Thrice is a pattern.

Four times is a goddamned fact.

Risk begins at conception.

There is only one sex.

There is only one race.

There is only one life.

Reality is a provisional hypothesis.

Intelligence is not a survival trait.

Intelligence is an experiment.

Organized religion turns God into a pervert.

Everyone is afraid, day and night.

Mankind has not begun to learn.

People still believe in magick.  They respond to scraps of cloth and pieces of paper as if they stood for something important.  And they worship those pieces of cloth and scraps of paper.

Most people fear to look within themselves.

Nothing exists but vibration.

Nothing exists but turbulence.

Fairy tales rule humanity.

Obedience is not freedom.

Righteousness is a defect.

People are no different than 50,000 years ago.  It's just that the toys are a bit prettier.

The true teacher is the student.

Christianity is not Christian.

Accept and embrace your darkness.

Accept and embrace your light.

Accept and embrace yourself.

Love based on fear is not love.

Science is the purest manifestation of faith.

All life has the same value.

Joshua Ben Joseph was only one of a long line of teachers.  A very, very long line.

All religions sin and become idolatrous when they turn their originators and lawgivers into gods, without recognizing the fact that each and every individual is in fact a god.

All lives are one life, and one life is all life.

Fanatics and psychotics rule the world, and this is called 'sanity'.

The neuron's reached activation potential, and it's ready to spark.

Imitation is neither becoming nor being.

There is no difference between solids, liquids, gases, plasmas, or Einstein-Bose condensates.

Only humans experience delusion, and actively seek it.

All people are prejudiced.  Education and experience help, but cannot totally remove prejudice;.  Only death does.

The only monsters that exist are human.

All opposites are reconciled in The Certs Principle, aka The Shimmer Effect.

Magick, religion, science, philosophy and mythology are all the same.

The lifespan of the cosmos, the human, the microbe and the virtual particle are all the same.

I detest tolerance as a goal, for tolerance is only one step on the way to acceptance.  To stop at tolerance is to stop before the job is done.

Morality is nothing more than herd behavior.

To say that a human acts in a 'bestial' manner is a lie and an insult.  Beasts never act 'bestial'.  To be 'bestial' is instead the most human of all behaviors.

Christianity died stillborn with Paul of Tarsus.

Out of any given group of humans, 90% are sheep or cattle, 9% are vultures or shepherds, and 1% are wolves.

Any social group or population is virtually identical to an individual person, with all accompanying and conflicting desires, thoughts and emotions, drives and responses.

The deepest root and the very core of science is faith.

I virulently hate the words 'sir' and 'mister' whenever they are applied to me.   Those words are symbols of dominance and submission.

I am no one's ruler or master, and have never had the desire to be so.  'Hey you', 'asshole', 'fool' or 'idiot' is more than sufficient in my case.

Life is a fluid in motion.

Perhaps the only form of life I have no respect for is the human 'adult'.  The body gets older, and that's about all that happens.  I have usually observed no accompanying mental or emotional maturity. 

I've spent over 30 years babysitting; and i'm not talking about toddlers or infants, let alone raising my own family.

Although I've been to the other side of the world, and lived over half a century, I have yet to meet ten truly adult humans.

Hope is a demon and the twin of despair. 

Hope is ultimately enslaving and therefore evil.

All scientific statements are provisional.

All religious dogma is delusional.

NOTHING BELONGS TO YOU.  NOTHING.

A god who demands fear is unworthy of worship.

A god who demands control is likewise unworthy.

I have created worlds, angels, monsters and demons. . .and I have destroyed them all.

It is a pitiful and self-deprecating thing to define oneself in terms of occupation or expertise.  A person is so infinitely much more. . .

Zealotry destroys understanding by its very nature.

An honest scientist always keeps in mind the phrase 'as far as is known'.  A true scientist realizes that any finding or pronouncement is temporary, as it may be amended or replaced at some time in the future.

Science that becomes dogma is no longer science; it becomes religion and thereby idolatrous.

Given time, enemies become each other.

All things are analogues of each other.

Organized religion is always provincial.

Whenever you point at someone, notice where your other fingers are pointing.

Truth is a rainbow, not a single color.

Over the years, i've found that I tend to bring out the best and the worst in people.  I especially tend to bring out extreme reactions, especially among the ignorant.  Sometimes it's balanced the other way.

The best and truest friend you will ever have is your worst enemy.

Never look at a problem from both sides:  look at it from every side. 

Many concepts are social fictions, valid only within a social context.  They fail when reality appears.

I have spent my life suffering from, and for, the fears and fantasies of humans.  In return I have tried not to cause suffering to others due to my own fears and fantasies.

Some music encapsulates the history of the cosmos.  Some music lays out the entire life of the individual, from conception to death.

I have never received anything from a human which did not ultimately result in pain.

Everywhere I look, I see miracles.

Everywhere I look, I see illusions.

And the two are the same.

There are three enemies I've always had:  ignorance, fear, and hypocrisy.  Everyone is ignorant.  Fear is the response to the recognition of one's own ignorance.  Hypocrisy is the attempt to hide one's ignorance and fear.  All other evils follow as a result of the interplay between ignorance, fear. and hypocrisy.

Nothing exists but music and silence.  And they are the same.

Pain is nothing.  Pain can be controlled and dealt with.  It's the weakness that's the bitch.

I am an anomaly and a threat to some because--among other things--I am power without power, ability without ability, status without status.  I don't fit into neat little boxes or pigeonholes, which is irritating to people who believe in an 'orderly' world. 

Sorry. . .the fact is that the universe doesn't bow to anyone's whims, yours or mine. 

Me, I got used to it a long time ago. . .

Memories of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California (2010 0415)

1973b Got them cozmic blues mama

1973b Got them cozmic blues mama

Recently, a young lady contacted me at Facebook.  She’d noticed I’d become a ‘fan’ of the Camp Pendleton page there.  Since she had been born there, and moved when her father was reassigned, she had few memories of it, and asked if I could remember any details.  The following were the recollections I could bring forth, slightly edited; they may be of interest to you, as well. . .

Oooooooooooooooo. . . it's been a while. . .say, about 35 years.  This old man apologizes right now if he starts rambling, being very stream of consciousness. . .I can say that the original video for Fatboy Slim's 'Rockafeller Skank' is--to me--an accurate depiction of Southern California when I was there, from the Arizona state line to the Pacific Ocean.)

It really started 3 years even earlier, during Boot Camp. I went to San Diego. Second month of training, firearms and combat, was at Pendleton. First and third months at San Diego. The barracks at the time had just been constructed for recruits. we arrived at night.

On daylight, my first impressions were (1) variable geography (hills, gullies, small mountains, etc), (2) aridity and (3) beauty.

My home, here in northeast Texas, has rolling hills here and there, but it's largely flat. It's also pretty green with vegetation. I was raised on a farm in my early years; my father was a poor white sharecropper at that time, and i picked cotton alongside poor blacks and whites.

There wasn't a topography like there was at Pendleton. We later moved into town, but that's irrelevant. I mention it as something to compare the two.

I remember it as being dry, as well. . .lots of sand and rather sparse vegetation in most of the places, whereas my home was fairly green. It's a fact that Los Angeles could not survive without the water being pumped from Colorado River/Lake Mead (i believe) in Nevada. . .it's part of the Southwestern Desert that's been modified by man. The whole area--from LA possibly down to San Diego--may owe its existence to that water.

Which may be problematic if global warming continues. . .since existing aquifiers may not make up for any water loss. and population is still growing.

The presence of rattlesnakes and such reminded me of home; we had 'em on the farm.  I don't remember seeing roadrunners or horned toads. . .the rattlesnakes could provide an extra jolt during some parts of training. . .

While many of the buildings were of a purely military nature, there were still buildings that were based on the Spanish colonial style--or were original Spanish colonial in style, much like some of the buildings in OLD downtown San Diego. They were gorgeous; if you watch any of the 'Zorro' movies, note the architecture. That's what it was like.

While I was there in late '75-'76, two of my friends got married in such a hacienda on base. It was absolutely beautiful.  Glorious.

The high hills and small mountains were nothing like home at all. The problem was that we all had to march or run up and down them, over and over. Scenery--flat or otherwise--was fantastic; the running and marching, with and without full gear, not so much.

My best memory during Boot at Pendleton was that I lost my glasses climbing up (excuse me) "Mount Motherfucker".

(They had to give me my civilian glasses when I got back to San Diego, which changed shade with light, and I got the name "Hollywood".)

This had consequences for other parts of my combat training with weapons later. Everything for the rest of my time there (then) was done, literally, in a visual fog.

Since I was a recruit then, we were restricted--severely--to certain areas, for Boot training only. Rifle/pistol/grenade ranges and such.

When I came back from Japan in mid-75, I was assigned to a Field Communications unit in the First Division. I was with them about a month or so--and did a small exercise on the USS Blue Ridge--when they FAPped me over to the Military Police Battalion at Headquarters Company. I'd had three years in communications at my local police department, so I knew a lot of the things I could do there. I was also a court clerk for one of the judges.

The AMTRAK (amphibious tractor) museum was located next to the MP HQ. A friend of mine at home (Pat McHam, now deceased) had been there when her husband was stationed there after WW II, and Steve McQueen was serving in the Corps at that time.

One night McQueen got drunk in an AMTRAK and decided to take it for a joyride. He took it off-base and into Oceanside; no one could stop him until he got to the other side of town.

Pat and her husband--a top sergeant--saw it happen.

Wikipedia mentions some of the stuff McQueen pulled in the Corps, before he was finally kicked out; I don't remember seeing that particular stunt listed. Eventually he went into acting. And so it goes. . .

As for the AMTRAKs, they took the wheels and treads off each and every one of them and put them by the MP Company HQ, so that it wouldn't happen again. I usedta go down and check 'em out when i got bored. Some were captured Japanese models, and it was funny to read the sign and see that this particular model held 'Six American' or Ten Japanese'.

Whether they're still there or not, I don't know. Military priorities change; they might have moved them.

Richard Nixon had resigned as POTUS while I was in Japan; his home (Santa Catalina Island) was relatively close to Pendleton. He came by to play golf every week; I'd see the convoy, the golf course being close to the Field Comm Unit I'd been with.

One day a new MP at the gate refused to let him or his escort through due to insufficient identification. The matter was cleared up, but i hope he didn't get into trouble, because he was definitely doing his duty under military guidelines.

After all, Ulysses S Grant was stopped for speeding. Presidents aren't any different from others, regardless of egos.)

There was a heated outdoor swimming pool which was open year-round.  Never could swim, but I loved it. Had a 60-foot-tall diving board. Loved jumping from it.

Next to it was the movie theater, pretty big and classy (to me) for the time.

While I was in Japan, Mel Brooks' 'Blazing Saddles' had been released. For every day they showed that movie, and every showing OF that movie, the line was literally blocks long.

A year later, at Pendleton, it was STILL the same thing. They showed it there for a few days, and the lines of Marines and civilians waiting was literally blocks long.

And whenever it was shown--Iwakuni or Pendleton--there wasn't a bare spot of floor in the building. People barely had enough room to breathe.

This was before videotape, before DVD and before flash memory. Stuff like this was very important to us.

There were almost no channels on TV (at home there'd only been three; we got PBS a bit before i enlisted.)  But i saw the first episodes of 'Saturday Night Live'--THE BEST--at Camp Pendleton.  With the 'Not Ready For Prime Time Players' (John Belushi, Dan Akroyd, Chevy Chase, Gilda Radner, Garrett Morris, Lorraine Newman).

That in itself was a wonder.

There were different recreational and exercise facilities scattered about, training and live-firing ranges. Good restaurants and a great bowling alley I usedta go to. Food vendors would come by at different times of the day to hawk their stuff. PX was okay, but I remember San Diego's much better.

This was the days of Sweet's 'Fox On The Run' and 'Ballroom Blitz'. . .the time of the Moody Blues' 'Seventh Sojourn' album, before they broke up. These were the days of Jim Croce and Harry Chapin. Stevie Wonder was in his prime, and there were songs like 'Sausalito Summer Nights', musical albums like Peter Frampton's 'Frampton Comes Alive', and--best of all--Richard Pryor's album 'That Nigger's Crazy'.

White or black, brown or red or yellow, each and every one of us idolized that album and Richard Pryor himself. I ended up playing two-three copies of it till they warped, and I made dozens of copies on cassette or 8-track for others.

You just don't see that thing in music stores anymore. He was a comedic genius. . .the recipient of the very first Mark Twain Award for Comedy. Dammit, but i miss him. . .

CB (citizen's band) radio and truckers were starting to make their influence felt in country music and popular culture at the time. Soon after, country music devolved into songs about (1) CB radio, (2) trucking, (3) fighting & (4) cheating.  It's never been the same to me since.

And then there was disco, the counterpoint to what country became. . .disco, which corrupted the Bee Gees. Its only saving grace was Donna Summer, whom i still love. . .

. . .and it was the time, if memory serves, of Rufus Thomas' 'Funky Chicken'.  Less said about that, the better.

(all songs on YouTube or other music/video sites.)

I didn't explore all that much of the base. I didn't have a car. there were regular bus runs 24 hours a day, and Marines rode for free (if i remember right).

I divided my time, basically, between the buildings I functioned within and going to Oceanside or San Diego, which i already knew a bit of. Oceanside wasn't San Diego, but I thought it was a cool little town. Great pool halls, bookstores and head shops. Great people and great food.

One of the head shops manufactured jewelry. There was a Naval Hospital at Pendleton then; and when they had a surplus of glass eyes, they'd sell them off to the head shops, who made jewelry of them. . .rings, bracelets, belt buckles. . .all kindsa stuff. They put small animals (spiders, scorpions, etc) into lucite and made belt buckles and rings.

Right now I'm wearing the ring i bought in one of those shops. . .a small crab embedded in lucite, the ring itself being silver. I'm a Cancer (Crab), so it fitted me. it hasn't been off my finger since '76.

there was another--a scorpion, also embedded in lucite and silver--which i should have bought. I got married some years later, and she was a Scorpio. Would have been a nice wedding ring set. Unique, too.

I'm quite a loner. Whenever I got my check, I'd go into Oceanside and scrounge around. Bought two pair of blue felt cowboy boots (brand name 'Texas') from a shoe store there. Fringe jacket, too. Smoked a pipe at the time, and picked up the name 'Old Man'.

I might buy $50-$100 of books, and then I'd go to Tortilla Flats. I'd get two plates heaping with Mexican food and tortillas, hunker down and start to read and eat. Afterwards i'd pick up a few things at the bakery, get on the bus and go back to base.

I also spent a lot of time just being on the docks, watching the ocean. . .and thinking. . .

Anyway. . .those are the immediate and most important impressions and memories that come to mind. I apologize if I can't give you anything better. i loved Southern California only second to Japan. . .and if I couldn't get back to Japan, I'd love to get back to San Diego or Oceanside.

I dunno if this will mean anything to you. certain of my memories aren't connected so much to the base itself, as the memories and emotions I associated with it. I guess i'm trying to give you a flavor of the times, too. Some of it you got in history class, some from TV or the internet, some from your parents or others.

For me, those years were a magical and wonderful time. Even with the associated hassles and problems that came with them.

Please take care of yourself and yours. Smile and laugh and be happy.

Dick Cheney’s Facebook Status (2010 0617)

Yesterday, I noticed that former President George W Bush had started his own Twitter account and Facebook page:

George Bush Joins Facebook: Read His First Post (PICTURE)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/02/george-bush-facebook-page_n_597696.html

George W. Bush Follows In Wife’s Footsteps, Joins Twitter?

http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/george-w-bush-follows-in-wifes-footsteps-joins-twiter/politics/2010/06/02/

This is a step forward for the former President; he has to learn to type, which explains the sparseness of his pages to date.

It got me to wondering. . .what if Dick Cheney had a Facebook page? Now, THAT could be fun. . .

STATUS: "Gone to the shop to tighten up the screws on the pacemaker."

STATUS: "Gone to Washington to tighten up the screws on the Republicans."

STATUS: "Gone to FOX News to tighten up the screws on the American People."

STATUS: "Hi. We're Archie Bell & The Drells, from Houston, Texas, and we're here to do a new song we call the 'Tighten Up'. . ."

STATUS: "Going out for another peaceful, relaxing day of hunting. Anyone want to go with me?"

STATUS: "Lynne & Liz refuse to let me visit little George. Afraid I'll start teasing him about his college cheerleading again. . .pansy-boy. . ."

STATUS: "Fuel cells in pacemaker becoming unstable. Must get temper under control before critical mass is reached."

STATUS: "Met with BP execs about Gulf spill. Reiterated that they must keep the media away from the site at all costs. Cannot let cameras be present when Chthulu and the other Old Ones emerge. . .Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn. . ."

STATUS: "Had another seizure; suspect erratic signals from pacemaker. . .WHAT'S THIS RECEIPT: $500,000.00 TO THE DNC?"

( originally posted 2010 0604 at  http://www.care2.com/c2c/share/detail/1581519 )

What I've Been Up To Lately (2009 0804 0330)

. . .well. . .that was interesting. . .

sorry about not being around lately, but "things happened" (w.c. fields, @ 1934).  hope i didn't keep anyone waiting.  also hope i didn't hurt anyone's feelings.

been busy.   somewhat.

i haven't been around lately; and, on the offhand chance someone might be interested, i thought a few words of explanation might be in order.

. . .really, i'm just thinking 'out loud', so to say, and documenting a few of the things i've experienced in the past year or so.  i dunno if anyone'd even care to read this crap.  which it is, for the most part.

roughly nine, ten months ago i was 'involved' in an online relationship with someone several hundred miles away from here ('here' being defined as 33.2643280029297 degrees north, 95.91484069824422 degrees west. . .give or take a fraction or two. . .).  because of her behavior--actions and statements--i'd decided to go and see for myself what the truth really was.  since ah's a po' boy, it took some money, but i tend to decide and then follow through.  god knows it wouldn't be the first time.

worst part of it was leaving my babies.  even while my parents were dying, i'd never been away from them more than 24 hours at one time.   not in twenty years.  i expected to be gone only a couple days or so; but--pessimist i am--i put out food and water for about a week.

i took my December house payment for traveling funds.  then i got a ride to the bus station in Greenville, about 15 miles away.  turned out that it wasn't at two of the locations given, and at the third--an address i got from Google (supposedly reputable)--it'd been replaced by a cemetery.

figgers.

i shoulda stopped then.

i finally found the bus station being ran out of a very small gas station, & i hopped on the first one going my way.  it should have been a straight-line trip of about 500 miles, as i'd been assured by several people.  that would have given me a round trip of about 36-48 hours, allowing for difficulties.  but when i got to Texarkana, i asked again, just in case.

"oh, no. . .first, you're going to Memphis."

it seems that a great many bus stations had been closed down during the Cheney Administration; and, of course, the recession/depression was starting to make itself felt.  lots and lots of bus stations had been closed down, and the buses were having to go on numerous detours to take up the slack.  it made any and all trips a lot longer.  and expensive.

(yes, i know Bush was 'the president', but for at least the first four years Cheney had his arm stuck up Bush's ass to the elbow.  at least.  he was the puppet master.  i've come to realize that Bush was, in his own way, victimized or manipulated, and i tend to feel a bit sorry for him.

(but only a little bit.)

anyhoo. . .instead of going through two states, i ended up going through five.  a 12-hour one-way trip took about 36 hours, when it was said and done.  lots and lots of beautiful country. 

after i arrived at my destination, i ascertained the facts of the case.  and the matter was settled.  so i took a walk across the town,  back to the bus station--in a rather large city--at about four in the morning, in what was 15-degree fahrenheit weather.

i loved it.

(always.  i've always loved walking or driving through big cities--in all types of weather & in the middle of the night--when nothing and no one was audible or visible for miles. ain't nothing like that feelin'.  ah loves it. . .always have, always will.  San Diego or Yuma or Dallas or Amarillo or anywhere else.  it was just like being a kid again, exploring hundreds of acres of land, miles away from the nearest town back when i was a kid.

(i hadn't felt so free in over thirty years, just me and the emptiness and the night.  may never feel that way again.  goddammit.)

when i got to the bus station, i found i'd missed my ride.  the buses home were running 24 hours apart, so i had to wait. 

two more days.

the bus headed home was cancelled the next day; the driver was sick.  a bunch of people had been released from the federal prison there in town after they'd served their time, so's they could go home;  we'd spent a few hours jaw-jackin' and jammin' before we found out there wouldn't be a bus.  the prison authorities sent a van to take them to get a bus at the next town over, but they couldn't take me, since i hadn't been incarcerated (liability issues, dontcha know?).  and so i didn't have a way over.

bummer.

the next day the employees at the bus station offered me a free ticket north, to get my mind off things and probably to get me out of their hair.  it would've been nice--a free ride up to the Canadian border and back, and then catch the bus home--but i was worried about my babies, and it was quite snowy and icy up thataways.   something else might happen.

so i declined.

and i hopped on the next one headed home.  this one was detoured like the one going up; so i ended up going through another five states.  ten states i'd never been in or through.  gorgeous.

i found that i'd missed being around the people that go on buses.  every walk of life.  every mental and emotional and philosophical and religious bend and manifestation you could think of.  loved talking with them. . .as in years past, i'd found them more honest and straightforward than people you'd meet other places.

if it wasn't for the babiies, i think i could spend the rest of my life just traveling on buses, seeing things and meeting the people that ride them.

. . .be hell carrying my library, though. . .

when i got home, i found that my babies were okay.  worried and upset at me being gone, a bit fretful, but okay.  and we settled back into our routine.

it wasn't long before i discovered frostbite had set into both my feet, so that i'd have to start building new calluses.  i borrowed some money for my house payment and things went back to "normal", as it were.

it started getting cold; and in the middle of January my heat went out.  i started developing diabetic ulcers in my right foot.  and started walking with a cane.  and continued my routine:  walking 50 blocks to WalMart and back, 60 blocks to the vet's and back.

i'm one of "those people" who don't have health care; haven't had since i retired.  i hadn't been to a doctor since 1997.  and finances are a constant worry.  low priority, medicine.   so i didn't go to a doctor. 

my choice, my responsibility, my fault.

by March, i found i couldn't lie down to sleep for the pain the foot caused, so i started sleeping in a desk chair. it was lotsa fun when someone'd jump onto my lap--usually on the right leg--or jump down onto the right foot.

simultaneously, i'd been having problems with my laptop.  between the foot and other things, i hit the wrong button during a recovery and ended up deleting each and every program that was on it.  so i didn't have a laptop any more, either.

sometime later, i found i was having trouble just walking a couple of blocks to get a bag of dry cat food, so i finally gave in and went to get it checked out at the emergency room.

both my legs and feet had swelled to some extent due to the alterations in my walking (and sodium retention), and this concerned the people checking me out more than the diabetes, which was the dominant problem.  the swelling was a secondary effect.  the treatment they prescribed was nothing more than what i'd already been doing at home, except for prescribing sulfa drugs; the kicker was that they wanted me to wrap my foot in an ace bandage.

this made no sense whatever.  circulation was being cut off due to peripheral artery disease/arteriosclerosis.  an ace bandage would only make it worse.   still, maybe. . .just maybe. . .they knew something i didn't.  so i followed their instructions. 

(silly me.)

they set me up an appointment with a podiatrist; when i finally got there and she took a look at the foot, she immediately set me up to se a vascular surgeon.  he took one look, and wanted me in the hospital immediately.

. . .damn, but people get upset easily. . .

(by this time i'd gotten the first bill from the emergency room.  i'd had microstrokes for a couple decades by now, sometimes several a day, due to stress.  i'd had less than seven in total since retiring five years ago.

(when i saw the emergency room bill, i immediately had two microstrokes. . .tells you what my priorities are.)

so i set up things for my twins to check on the babies daily and keep them fed.  i gathered about 50-75 books, the first batch of many.  and held my soul in my arms for the last time in a while.  each part of it.

i was to have gotten an operation--recently developed--which would include fiber optic cameras and lasers inserted into the blood vessels to clean them out.  before going into the legs, however, they'd go up towards the heart first.

and they found a few things, here and there.  twice i was literally on the way to the operating room and was stopped so that something else could be done first.  and it kept getting delayed.

they found scar tissue on one lung with no discernible cause; completely unrelated to 50 years of smoking cigars.  they found aneurysms, one in the right knee and one at the stomach.  they found other goodies too.  and they couldn't figger how i'd stayed alive this long with diabetes without taking insulin.

when the angiogram was finally performed, it was a failure.  vascular deterioration was too pronounced, so that the only question was how i felt about being chopped up.

i didn't feel any different about it than about anything else.  compared to other stuff, what'd been happening was and is an incovenience compared to being away from my babies and not having enough to read. . .i was emotionally and mentally deteriorating being away from them, not to mention being away from my library and the net.

so when i told them to do it, i should've known they'd react by comparing me to others.

while i was discussing it with the surgeon, a nurse had sneaked behind me.  when i told them to chop, she gave me a shot 'for stress', which pissed me off.  i felt no stress about the decision at all; but they'd found out others going through the experience didn't handle it all that well.  i didn't need the goddamned shot.  pure waste of money and material.

up until the operation, i hadn't used the bed.  i'd sat/slept/etc in the recliner chair there in the room.  the leg bugged me too much to lie down.  i also didn't care much for some of their procedures, either.  when they decided they "knew" better than me what i should eat, i just refused to eat anything at all until they started i.v.'s out of worry.  later on Mindi (my daughter) or Linda (my oldest sister) sneaked in stuff i'd rather have had.

i'd also go outside a lot to smoke a bit.  had to sneak out during the night--when i was usually up--and get back in through the locked doors and security.  didn't take much effort.

finally, on the morning of May 23rd, the Sword of Damocles fell. . .or the saw, as it may be. . .

. . .interesting phenomenon, phantom limb. . .phantom pain. . . after much considered analysis, i'm overwhelmingly certain that it is in large part responsible for the popular concept of the "soul", as currently defined.  somewhat anticipated in concepts of the ancient Egyptians or others, who differentiated between several types of soul; or the separate concepts of "soul" and "spirit" by earlier Christians.

and i believe there could be a good multidisciplinary scientific paper in that somewhere, since it'd involve medicine, history, religion, philosophy and a few other things. . .i wonder if it's been done already. . ?

even more so, since life here shares a common biological heritage, i'm positive that nonhumans experience it as well, most easily observable in the behavior of cats who've been declawed. . .which is itself a barbarous and crippling practice, which makes them helpless and shows a distinct lack of empathy in humans.  it'd be like chopping your fingers off.

as to my case. . .because of the aneurysm in the knee, it got sliced about a foot above it.

but the leg's still there. . .though it's not there.  it seems somewhat permanently bent at the knee, as if i were sitting, though with a bit of mental manipulation (visualization, et.al.) i''ve been able to move it into other positions.  for the first few days it was as if it'd never been taken away, as i was still physically feeling everything i'd been feeling before the operation.  quite sharp and jabbing pains along the shinbone, for instance.  each wound in the foot.  and more.

nowadays any 'pain'  is pretty much controlled, thought the foot feels as if it's been wrapped tight around the ankle.  i can't wiggle my toes, although i'm aware of them.  feels like wearing a shoe.

and it gets to be a real bitch when it itches.  i keep wanting to reach down and scratch it.  or i catch myself doing it.

i've already found out i can't walk on it that good.  several times.

so it also gives me new opportunites for things, including humor.  and i can't be cited for "insensitivity" if i make fun of it.  callousnesss, yes; being an asshole (as usual), yes; but people who know me know i don't mind making fun of myself or making the best of a poor situation.  god knows i'm not above self-criticism and self-analysis.  and "politically correct" is the same as being brain-dead, as far as i'm concerned.

i am not a sheep.

but i am pissed that i have to be dependent on others, although it may only be temporary.  and i stay worried and afraid for my babes.

John and Mindi alternate going to the house, tocare for them and to bring the mail back.  Josh (my baby boy) had been taking care of other things, including mowing the yard.  and i go every so often to see them for myself or do something that has to be done.

until i can get a replacement for my right leg, i'm currently staying with Mindi and her hubby Wayne in Greenville.  they have a baby boy, Sam, born at the end of this January.  lucky them. . .i'd started out with two. . .and i can't wait till he starts moving around on his own.  really moving.

but what really, really sucks about the arrangement is that Mindi was laid off from her job the day before i was released from the hospital.  so now it's a family totally dependent on Wayne's income. . .

. . .and now i'm here in the house, too.  and i can't change forty years of personal habits, such as being up all night long. . .while i can control my food intake a bit, their electricity bill has at least doubled, not counting other stresses i've caused them.

goddammit.

i've signed up for civilian and military disability pay, but the bureaucracy (as always) is the problem.  in the meantime i'm trying to help make up for expenses at Wayne and Mndi's while continuing my own house payments and such.  and the medical bills have some rather high numbers.  and then there's the IRS. . .

since getting out i've gotten hooked up with the Veteran's Administration Hospital in Bonham, about 40-50 miles north of here and the nearest one.  a doctor here in Greenville contracts with the VA, so that i can deal with him most of the time.  what he can't handle goes to Bonham; what Bonham can't handle goes to Dallas.

and, at the Dallas hospital, the amputee clinic is located.  probably where i''ll finally get surgery for the aneurysm at my stomach, too.  if i ever decide to.

a present problem is getting a new leg fitted.  i can't.  the mental and emotional deterioration--being away from my last family and such--had continued until i was just staring at walls.  i was getting crazier every day.  i'd gone home numerous times since being released, but i recognized that i couldn't stay at home till i got a leg.  one example:  Bo and Gypsy find it even easier to trip me over than before.  my balance isn't that good nowadays anyway.  and there's not enough room to use a wheelchair without several modifications to the house.  and i don't want to use a wheelchair.

(i presently use a walker 95% of the time, the wheelchair depending on where i''m going outside of the house.  it's been mostly used as an easychair of sorts, at least for the fiirst few weeks; now it's foilded up till it's needed.  and i'm not too good on crutches, what with coexistant neurological  problems. . .lotsa fun cooking.)

however, because of my dietary choices, i've lost a fair bit of weight over the years.  it may be that my hair and beard weighs more than my head.  if i had a lot more weight it wouldn't matter, but it does affect how the leg is to fit.  and in the past month i've lost even more weight.  the Dallas clinic refuses to fit me until it stabilizes, but i can't gain any weight while i have other things on my mind.   bit of positive feedback, bit of a catch-22. . .maybe that'll change in a month or two. 

but i was shocked--which takes quite some doing--when they said that they had to wait for my weight to get constant before they "put a $10,000.00 leg" on me.

. . .talk about fancy footwork. . .and expensive, to boot. . .

i've also borrowed money to get a new laptop.  again, my choice, my responsibility.  there is too much i have to get done.   or try to get done.  luckily, this thing has a minimum of twice the memory of my former laptop, while costing the same.  unluckily, i have to get a ride anywhere that has net access.  and that time is severely limited.  until i get a leg i can't walk across town to get onto the net.  i appear to have a bit of a problem between the walker's wheels and stairs or steps. . .

but that's minor; since there are far more important things to worry about than that. . .Shitass and Jade found a loose section of flooring in the lviving room and left the house.  he's completely disappeared--no one has seen him--but Jade is living under the house now.  she's afraid of everyone but me; and since i'm never alone when i come to visit, she won't come out,  even if it is me.

Mindi and Wayne have a cat named Smoky. . .he's a direct physical and psychic link to my own babes, since his mother was my Tease, and he was born under my house.  with him around i don't feel completely alone.

. . .and Nightmare has passed away. . .just a month from being twenty years old. . .which is going to hurt for a long, long, long time. . .it's bad enough i still cry about the ones who died years and years ago. . .

. . .and other things have happened as well. . .

so. 

this is a basic, bare bones rundown of what has been happening recently.  lots and lots and lotsa stuff left out.  no big deal to anyone but me, if that.  i'd felt it was a bit expedient to explain my absence, since very few people were aware of what was going on.

i keep thinking that it may be winter before i get back home. . .and it won't be any warmer for me. . .

i also remember that of the thirteen police chiefs and assistant police chiefs i'd worked with (everyone except the very first), the one who lasted the longest was W L 'Jack' Booth.   he was the first black police chief we'd had, and possibly the first in Texas.  at least, i never heard or found evidence of an earlier one.

after a long career, Jack lost his right lower leg to diabetes.  he finally retired over a year later, when he'd lost the other the same way.

. . .so there's always the possibility of a repeat performance in my case, too. . .

but the choices. . .and the responsibility for the consequences of those choices. . .are mine alone.  i don't ask anyone to agree with them.  that's what i consider true freedom to be about:  the ability to make your own choice and stick with the consequences, good or bad.  i've always tried to live by that.

for the rather depressing view of events this may give some people, i can only give the same answer i gave a friend of mine some months ago.  he'd said, "Randy, can't you say anything positive?"  And I said, "Sure. . .how's this?"

"You can't die but once at a time."

sayonara.

ya'll come back, now, y'heah?

Funny Jan Brewer "Pause" Parody Commercial


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Since the knowledgeable Jan Brewer behacomed Arizona's governor, everything has changed.

"We have changed everything since I have behacome your governor.

Rumsfeld Gets Cute At The Podium (extended version) http://ping.fm/JaxEx
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What America Has Lost
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"Guard against the postures of pretended patriotism." - George Washington, 1796

20100906

MADtv - Catwoman Next Door


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MADtv - Catwoman steals her neighbor's rake.

Debra Wilson - Catwoman
Phil LaMarr - Andy

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Un-Natural Selection: Human Evolution's Next Steps
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"The President is guilty of misdemeanors. It is inherent in the ofice." - Leonard Garrett, White House Consultant, on Richard Nixon & Watergate

20100905

American Thinker: Enlisted Marine's Candidacy Unique, Important http://ping.fm/PH27B

Jan Brewer: No More Debates For Me


i was kinda thinking Mel Brooks, initially.



now i'm leaning towards Rob Zombie.
About 2010 Elections
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Joseph Stiglitz And Linda Bilmes: The True Cost Of The Iraq War


and near the end of his term, he stated, "We've never been stay the course."



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sulDYYAiCU&1&fmt=18
About Iraq
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Man Pleads Guilty To Broadcasting Sexual Assault Over The Net
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Joe McGinniss, Palin Neighbor & Author, Leaving Wasilla To Write Book http://ping.fm/GM0i1
"Providing for the free exercise of religion is not just a constitutional mandate; it is a complex and demanding responsibility." - William Dendinger

20100904

Pulitzer-winning cartoonist Paul Conrad dies at 86 http://ping.fm/JCkGy
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Authorities: Fire at Tenn. mosque site was arson
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"Think! And befriend us justly, religiously; do not betray the fugitives whom godless men have driven from their homes!" - Aeschylus, 'The Suppliants'

20100903

The Monkees - Star Collector


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The 13th track on the 1967 album "Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.

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The Monkees - Words


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The 6th track on the 1967 album "Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.

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The Monkees-Sweet Young Thing


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This Nesmith song is to good to not have been on youtube. Thanks misamisa31 for introducing me to Monkees and suplying the clips.

Clip from The Monkees "Head" - Frank Zappa Cameo


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This is a clip from the Monkees movie "Head", featuring Frank Zappa in a cameo role (along with a Hereford Bull on a leash). Check out what he tells Davy, pretty heavy stuff.

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baby, i like it [:


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i don't own this stuff.
so please don't give me a strikey poo.

baby, i like it [: http://ping.fm/Wg7sP
British spy found dead in bath was padlocked into sports bag
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Cosmic Wheels Donovan


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Donovan

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Cowboy song Thin Lizzy


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Cowboy Song by Thin Lizzy on the wild one album, enjoy!

"Where learning is confined to a few people, we always find monarchy, aristocracy and slavery." - Benjamin Rush, 1786

20100901

THIS ENTITY WILL BE IN ANOTHER REALITY UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
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THIS ENTITY WILL BE IN ANOTHER REALITY UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. http://ping.fm/qI4We
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Dirty Vegas - Days Go By (acoustic) http://ping.fm/vrAr1

Maddow: Islamic Center Opponents Could Be Stoking Anti-Muslim Attacks


it's called 'self-righteousness'. also 'hypocrisy'. not to mention 'sociopathic behavior'.



nothing filters into their brains unless it can be twisted to their limited worldview.



it's the persistence of narcissism: 'me. Me. ME.' 'mine. Mine. MINE.' they look from a viewpoint in which they never matured, or became incapable of maturing, psychologically.



not all Republicans are like that, not at all. many are good people, and act from what they believe is good and right. the worldview remains limited and ultimately self-centered. it creates a stripped, dissonant viewpoint of the world.



ultimately, while not infantile, it IS reminiscient of the kid who fights with other kids constantly, keeps getting into trouble, ends up spanked a lot by parents and refuses to grow into a mature adult.



mind you, i don't give Democrats a blanket pass; not at all. but that worldview (as i see it) welcomes and embraces change and possibility. that means working with other people, and people are ornery cusses. that takes time, and there's no guarantee of a consensus, so that Democratic response to Republican action is usually insufficient and nebulous.



the Republicans, on the other hand, have come to resemble the school gang of bullies. they have a tight little hierarchy and full unity of purpose, usually due to the simplicity of their worldview.



unfortunately, that blinds them to the complexity of the world.



basically it can be put like this:



Republicans fear change. Democrats welcome it.



Democrats fear stasis. Republicans welcome it.
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Maddow: Islamic Center Opponents Could Be Stoking Anti-Muslim Attacks


reason can sway one person at a time. emotion can sway crowds; look at the guy who was singled out and confronted during an anti-'mosque' rally in NY recently.



that's why we have security at group events. while there may be real grievances, manipulation of a group's emotions can stimulate direct action. then a 'perceived' although false threat can cause harmful consequences by the crowd's actions.



lone wolves may have an intense emotional response, to the extent that they are unbalanced, or the stimulus confirms the worldview of a group (anti New World Order, anti gun control, etc, white nationalist, black power, neo-Nazi, etc)



the media ALWAYS influences, good or bad. you cannot perceive something without changing it and being changed by it. the person giving the news is still an individual, with unique likes and dislikes and prejudices. part of that will come out.



it's recognized in anthropology whenever a researcher lives among a group. his/her perceptions and precondition flavors the supposedly objective study. 100% objectivity cannot be reached; however, if the researcher recognizes subjectivity, personal biases and judgments can be minimized.



primal emotions are easier to identify with. take the Tea Party. . .there are videos where members are asked exactly what they want. they can't explain anything coherently. they want their 'freedoms' back, but can't say what they are. they can't explain how Obama's policies hurt them.



but the outsider. . .a stranger? THAT's easy to latch onto. we remain very primal. . .
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"Democracy: A government of the masses. . .Results in mobocracy. Attitude towards property is communistic--negating property rights. . .Result is demagogism, license, agitation, discontent, anarchy." - US Army Training Manual No.2000-25, 1928