Have you considered...

!!!

2011-02-11T08:15:00.001-08:00

!!!

Good Riddance, Mubarak!

2011-02-04T08:52:00.000-08:00

Good Riddance, Mubarak!

Good riddance, Sarah Palin!

2011-01-17T19:41:00.000-08:00

Sarah Palin is collapsing. She’s had it. She’s always been all packaging and no substance. Now, everyone is finally seeing it for that. She has always been a paper tiger, and now she is gone. Good riddance!

Yes, it's all about me

2010-11-29T09:27:00.000-08:00

I'm now following my own blog. I wonder what I'll say next.

It Looks Like We Made It

2010-03-25T18:38:00.000-07:00

It appears that we have reached a critical turning point in our (social human) history. Nazi tactics, for once and for all, don’t work. We (a critical mass of us) have intellectually evolved past falling for them. If anything good could have come out of the world-War-II-Era Holocaust, it was that it was a major step toward inoculation/immunity against such violent, intimidation, terroristic tactics. Yes, there have been tragic and discouraging backslides since then (since, for-the-most- part-victory of World War II). For example, the assassinations of JFK, Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy, John Lennon, and 9/11. But now, with the election of Barack Obama and the passage of the “Healthcare Reform Bill”, despite crazy Naziish attacks and threats from the lunatic right, it, indeed, appears that such insanity just isn’t even close to being part of the Mainstream nor any threat to real progress. And, consequently, such twisted tactics will just die and go away, completely.

Yoo, Bibey, and Karma

2010-02-20T09:23:00.000-08:00

Yoo and Bibey - No whitewashing of their heinous crimes against humanity will diminish the extreme heinosity of them one iota. Veritable exoneration by cowardly and/or corrupt current Obama cronies will do nothing to obscure or at all lessen the harshest of judgment meted in the eyes of those of us who see, clearly, what Truth is, for all time. I believe that the most “evil” and sociopathic among us, which undoubtedly Yoo and Bibey are in the ranks of, underneath, in their most buried subconscious have a “subconscience”, and know, on the most self-obfuscated level, that they are, alas, who they are, and the true revilent nature of what they have done. Thus, ultimate “karma” and justice exist and prevail. Without attributing it to a “God”-type being, I do believe in ultimate justice or karma in the universe, so that they who do wrong eventually are commensurately and appropriately punished, although I still can’t reconcile this belief with why those of us who do or at least attempt and intend good ever have to suffer as we do, even often way beyond what makes the slightest sense.

2009-10-27T01:35:00.000-07:00

I try to connect, but, after all, it’s all about me. Others are only functionaries of me. Of course, I love some of them, and I’d be willing to die for them. But, they are them and I am me. I feel my own feelings, only. Only I have my memories, as they are to me.

What to do

2009-10-09T09:30:00.000-07:00

Fuck the insurance companies. Get them completely out of healthcare.

Let the Idiots Vent

2009-08-11T19:00:00.000-07:00

Let the idiots vent. Let ‘em yell, scream, rant, and rave, until they’re spent and drained and have run out of crazy things to say. Then calmly and rationally, point out the lunacy of their twisted allegations, as they have no energy or ideas left of how to silence us – we who have good, basic understanding of what’s real and truthful, and needed. Then, we’ll once again see democracy start to work, having gotten much of the psychopathology out of its system.

Why So Much Hate?

2009-06-13T11:17:00.000-07:00

The haters are no longer in control. And, being out of control, politically, they feel “out-of-control”, psychologically. There is a huge psychological/psychodynamic 3-way correlation between the need for control, hate, and self-hatred. Fear, too, is right up there, in the mix. Fear, terror, panic – and their response to these intolerable emotions is to project them onto and create them in others, especially those who they perceive to be outsiders. Thus, extreme religious, right-wing whites hate and go after minorities. They see themselves as separate from non-whites and non-haters. They can’t even understand themselves, so they certainly can’t understand others who are not like themselves. The more “foreign” someone is, the more they are not understood, and are feared and hated – and, are “warranted”* targets for attack. This externalization of the “villains” or “culprits” is a primal and primitive defense of self-deception, to avoid the most intolerable truth that it is they who hate themselves most of all and are actually the biggest threat to themselves and the rest of the world. They see a black man as President and can’t help but see that we (as non-haters) have wrested the political world away from control of the haters, and they are in panic, in terror, and feel desperately that they have to terrorize others to assuage that which they are in denial of feeling, themselves. Repression is another primitive defense in which they commonly engage. They are as far from self-aware as anyone can be. They consciously and (more often) unconsciously, lie to themselves and others, and do their best to twist reality and the truth around as far as their tiny heads can manage. They kill or “justify” those who do, as they claim to support the “right to life”. They do their best to terrorize our society in the name of religious righteousness, as they rail against Muslim terrorists and fail to see the similarities between themselves and “other” fanatics.

Our job, as people who want to improve the world and not destroy it is to refuse to be terrorized – not to give in to fear or attempted intimidation. The antidote is courage and resolve that we must continue to act with confidence and knowledge that by firmly remaining on a progressive path, the world will, indeed, be better. Eventually, they will calm down and see that things are better for them, too, and we can enjoy actual prosperity.

*Quotes indicate terms used to represent their point of view, rather than my own.

Empathy Deficiency

2009-04-28T13:17:00.000-07:00

How can you get somebody to care about torture if they don’t? And why are there so many so-called “people” who don’t? It’s like they’re genetically empathy-deficient. Or, maybe it’s not “like” they are – it’s that they TRULY, literally are.

Stupid Managers

2009-01-06T09:25:00.001-08:00

I’m tired of small-minded people in management/administrative positions having negative effects on so many people’s lives. I wish they’d hurt themselves directly and only when they make their stupid decisions. Then, maybe they’d learn quickly from aversive conditioning.

One More Email to Bush (Sent)

2008-12-15T06:59:00.000-08:00

Subject: Yet further in your descent

To Bush:

You're pathetic! It's the height (or depth) of pettiness, selfishness, and mean-spiritedness to refuse to allow the Obamas to move into Blair House 10 days early. You've done more to destroy America than any president I know of. The sooner you're gone, the better, but it'll still be two terms too late.

Sincerely,

Pete Pearlman

We HAVE overcome! – Yes, we HAVE!

2008-11-04T21:41:00.001-08:00

Obama/McCain Dance-Off

2008-10-29T15:03:00.001-07:00

Closer than it should be

We Have Seen the Enemy and They Are Pathetic

2008-09-04T21:31:00.000-07:00

With all their king’s horses and all their Karl Roves, they won't be able to steal the election this time!

Why

2008-08-27T09:32:00.000-07:00

I can’t fathom why it would be anything but a landslide for Obama. But, I know that it’s always been a veritable horserace between smart people and stupid people in The United States. Then again, how can there be THAT MANY plug-for-brains out there so as to make this upcoming election close – never mind the completely crazy possibility that it could even go the wrong way? You see (to borrow one of Michelle Obama’s favorite phrases), in order for the vast majority of people to vote for McCain, they’d have to be voting against their own best interest. Of course, doing so seems to be a traditionally favorite pastime of self-clueless Americans throughout our history. This is probably one of the strongest arguments against evolution. How can these own-foot-shooters manage to reproduce at rates that keep them competitive with those of us who know up from down?

Actually, although I don’t empathize with these fools, I have hypothesized about how such irrationality can manifest itself. In fact, this was the very hypothesis behind the Clinical Psych Ph.D. dissertation that I never finished. This is it: self-hatred. To elaborate, somewhat; for whatever geneses, these people hate themselves, and take out their self-hatred on themselves AND the rest of the world. They don’t just shoot themselves in the foot; they do it to us, too. They run around dumping and projecting their self-loathing and disgust on the world around them. They live in a world of psychic blindness, reinforced by their emotional terror of having to face the truth about who they are and why they are that way. Of course, in so doing, they make the world worse for everyone. It’s unfair that we who feel and know better also have to suffer as we struggle to clean up their and our cage, but, that’s the way it is.

Hopefully, we can all evolve past this pathology, as a people, and get on with having a truly healthy love relationship with our world.

Email to John Yoo (Bush's "Torture lawyer")

2008-04-06T12:14:00.000-07:00

Subj.: About and to you

Yoo,

You are a reprehensible pig. Short of calling you, literally, a Nazi (as I don't assume any "anti-Semitic" intent on your part, and I would need to do so to label you a Nazi), you are morally (or rather A-morally or IM-morally) equivalent (get this - NOT lesser, EQUIVALENT) to the Nazi "doctors", who used their profession and academic accreditations to rationalize and facilitate acting as lackeys for their war-criminal regime. Like them, you couch sadism in cold, clinical, twisted linguistic garb. May you rot in hell for all the human and political wreckage you've left in your wake and on the world's landscape. Rest assured, though, we will ultimately put an end to the carnage wreaked by you, Bush, and his other criminal cronies, and we will rebuild true humanitarian democracy; whereas you (plural) will be forever affixed with legacies equivalent to Hitler and his thugs.

I'll end by quoting Bob Dylan from his timeless song, "Masters of War":

"...
You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled;
The fear to bring children
Into the world.
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins.

How much do I know
To talk out of turn?
You might say that I'm young,
You might say I'm unlearned.
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you,
Even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do.

Let me ask you one question:
Is your money that good?
Will it buy you forgiveness?
Do you think that it could?
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll,
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul...."

Sincerely,

Pete Pearlman

The Fifth Dimension

2007-12-21T05:02:00.000-08:00

Not the singing group, but the next “identifier” after the conventional three and time as the fourth. If we want to identify, describe, “pinpoint” (not literally, of course, because an “object”, including living beings, as I mean the term, encompasses never as nonexistent an essence as an infinitely small point) a three-dimensional object along or across all its dimensions, it has long been contended that we need include time as the fourth; now we know where and when something is, so we can really locate it. But, can we? I contend, “no, we can’t” – we still don’t know exactly what it is we’re locating or identifying. What’s still missing from our dimensional coordinates is its existential reality (or plural, “realities”). So, if we’re talking about a person, we need to know not only where and when she or he is, but also what they were or are or will be feeling, thinking, etc.. Also, what’s going on inside them, in terms of their molecules’ Brownian motion, their constantly kinetic and changing atomic structure, their biochemistry, their synaptic, other electric, and metabolic occurrences, etc.? An inanimate object may not be as complex, but it still has its changing atomic realities going on.
If we want to get to the real me, we must locate me in time and space; let’s say at the intersection of longitude and latitude on December First, at 3:54 P.M., 1954, A.D.; but who is that “me”, at that time and place; I mean, who am I, really? Or, for that matter, what television are we talking about when we say a “Magnavox”, of a particular model, “pinpointed” in time and space? For example, is it on or off, and, if on, what signal(s) is/are it receiving? This we can somewhat know by knowing what programs were being broadcast then and there. We can check a TV Guide© for its time, place and available channels, but if we want to be even more precise, we need to account for the transmissions getting to us at about the speed of light (a microfraction of a light year from source of transmission).

Isn't This True?

2007-12-17T16:26:00.000-08:00

Just as you can't keep your eyes open while you sneeze, you can't be bored while you're asleep.

Message to Bush I submitted at Whitehouse.gov

2007-12-16T06:08:00.000-08:00

This is not a question; it's a statement: Bush, you are a rotten person. Believing in karma or ultimate justice, I'm sure you'll get all the consequences rapidly racking up for you - you pathetic piece of shit.

I am Your Dream

2007-11-27T22:24:00.000-08:00

The me that (who) you always knew as me, as alive and me, is still alive or exists and is aware, and I AM your dream. See?; You are not just dreaming about me, I am me, and am your dream. I am now your dream. But, I still have my own, autonomous awareness and self-awareness. I know that you are dreaming of me, and I still feel myself as myself, as I always have. My “material” form has changed, but my self-awareness is as it ever was. You can no longer “see” me when you are awake, but I can still feel me, as I always have. You can no longer hear my voice, but I still think my thoughts and feel my feelings. I can still see and hear you, and can even, now, “read” your thoughts and feelings, as well as my own, and I love you – as much as ever!

About Blogging

2007-04-11T23:53:00.000-07:00

Blogging is a way of acquiring some measure of immortality. Many of my most important dreams might have been squashed, but, at least I can say some things (like this) that have a good chance of living on well after I’m “gone”. These entries (“postings”, as “they” like to call them) are “expressions” of or by me and, by extension, are “extensions” of me. They capture, in a specific, maybe narrow form, part of me over a relatively brief span of always-fleeting time. A moment approaches, and then it’s gone…forever. So, we take pictures…and make movies…and paint pictures…and make music. – All of these actions often directly come from the deep, primal urge to immortalize ourselves – to embed our handprints wherever; somewhere along the universal walk-of-fame of all time and all people. This compulsion to make as firm and permanent a mark as possible is intertwined with, if not equivalent to, our need to belong – to be a vital cell within the body of The Great Organism. We, collectively, are the true “God”. We can each be seen and felt and touched, as we all can, together. This conception of God is critically, essentially different from the conventional one, in that we KNOW that we are real and we exist; belief has nothing to do with it. There can be no such thing as an atheist in a “religion” that puts collective humanity in place as its central God. Can anyone even agnostically doubt his or her own existence? I know that I, as a “cell” exist; I can “hear” my own thoughts and feel my own pain, and I pretty-well-equally believe that you all are out there, though I can’t hear your thoughts, nor feel your pain (I make no pretense of, nor hold no illusions of being Bill Clinton). Yet he, as separate from me, is equally a cell of this great, all-time, all-place All-Humanity Being. Of course, I can feel my pain from learning of your suffering, which is empathy and/or compassion, but I can’t feel yours, directly, as you do.

We are evolving, people. We are seeing and learning that mean-spiritedness and selfishness (when destructive toward others) serves neither you nor I, in the long-run. We see that Imus, though as much a “cell” as anyone, has lost his privileged position for being his all-too-long-rewarded, carelessly callous public persona, and, as such, he did humanity wrong. Who’s next to go? – Carlos Mencia? I never found race-bating type humor to be particularly funny. These “comics” seem to like to see themselves as being “on the cutting edge”, but they’re more “cutting” than “on the edge”. But, evolution happens. We don’t need to impose more censorship to rid ourselves of these toxic cells; they just ultimately get pushed to the wayside by the body’s miraculous immune system. We learn that some cells, that have been passing as healthy (materially prosperous) are, in fact, infected, toxic, and must be isolated, removed, reprogrammed, regrooved. Now, I don’t think that I’d call Imus the collective body’s equivalent to a “cancer cell”; Hitler was a full-blown cancer cell; but he has been a diseased and infectious one. Maybe he just needs to be “cured” and sent back to work in a more commensurate, menial position.

I blog, and We are God.

A Dream I Just Had

2007-02-11T05:41:00.001-08:00

I had this elaborate dream. It seemed that I had not graduated from my psych doctoral program because my GPA was just too low – like a 3.2 instead of a 3.3, AND that, somehow, a sprinkler going off on a lawn on my childhood block was responsible for distracting me, and THAT’s why I got the 3.2. Then, as I thought more about it, and I became a little more awake, I remembered that the actual reason was that I hadn’t finished my dissertation, which was a relief – because it WASN’T just the thin thread of the sprinkler and the tenth of a point of grade.

Then I repeatedly walked through these woods. I was down and out, without a job, didn’t have money, and was trying to get “out of the woods” by this repeated literal working and reworking my path through these woods, putting great thought and effort to it, each time (somewhat, as one “works through”, in psychoanalysis). In fact, much of it WAS self-analytical. There was also this rock that I’d see along the way, that looked as though it might have had a fossil of a shell in it, but I’d pass it by, the first few times, because I determined that it really WASN’T a fossil. Then, the last time, I was being followed by guards, as I was on private property (in these woods), and they perceived me as a possible threat. They were as much a small army, with rifles, as “guards”. I realized that they decided not to approach me or try to harm or capture me, until they determined more about the nature of who I was. They also apparently didn’t realize that I was on to their presence. I had a sense that, as they saw me act in progressively higher functioning ways, they’d abandon the idea that I was a potential threat, and was, in fact, on a more “professorial” level. On this last trip through the woods, I looked, again, at the rock, and saw that it was, in fact a fossil, and took it with me. Then, I had come to this multi-leveled sort of office building, that was part of a university. It consisted more of open walkways. And, again (or, “still”), I repeated walking them, in an attempt toward working through to a better level of circumstance for myself. It was as though it were a mental health clinic/department, run by the university, and I wanted them to see that I could, in fact, WORK there, as a psychologist, and that I shouldn’t be there as a needy client. It seemed that I DID get to the point where they had decided to pay me a small stipend or salary, but it was too meager. I discovered a rate card that indicated they were trying to decide on paying me either 16-hundred something or 23-hundred something, or only as high as 35-hundred something, per month. I felt strongly that this was way too little for them to pay a psychologist with two kids and a wife, so experienced and advanced in his life and in years – even if it WAS according to the scale they paid interns at the beginning of their career (going up on the salary rung, one step a year). And, it seemed that, at that rate, it would take me five more years to begin making a living wage. I also somehow discovered that they were making either 5 million or 5 billion dollars, directly as the result of the work I was doing, so I was about ready to demand that they pay me what I deserved. But, I also was aware that there was an effort, now, on “their” part, to assassinate me, both to avoid meeting my personal demands, and because they realized I was about to expose their high-proceed-getting scheme and corruption to the public. My journey of self-analysis and discovery had led to and become one of EXternal investigation into what “they” were doing. I believed that it was getting harder and harder to evade or avoid getting assassinated. They even began firing these big cannonball type things at me, from the walkway across from mine, but I repelled it with my mind, and put it back on them (telekinetic judo). One shot actually hit the main guy shooting at me, and he had a look of amazement and horror on his face, with his eyes wide open, as he fell back, over the side of the building, and out of sight, to his sure death. Then, like Martin Luther King, I knew that they might ultimately or soon succeed in killing me, and I began, sort of in coded language, to let the broader, more-innocent outside world know that I knew this, but was not afraid, because I was innocent and, in this way (by “virtue” – pun intended – of this), had more power than they did; no matter how it turned out, the side of “good” had the upper hand, and would win.

The Future From Here

2006-11-13T20:22:00.000-08:00

Well, folks, we’re in a better place now than when I posted my last (“Borders Broken”) piece. What largely had influenced my writing of it were the human/civil rights pushbacks of curtailment of Habeas Corpus, greenlighting of torture, “secret prisons” further scarring the worldmap, NSA-generated domestic spying, etc., etc., etc.. Soon after I wrote it, though, it occurred to me that “morphing INTO Hitler” might actually have been more accurate, but, I let it stand as it was, nonetheless. Now, undoubtedly in commendable fearful response to the warning I made there, America has reversed her downslide to hell with one of the overall best set of election results I know of in, at least, recent history. We’ve finally provided essential balance or (hopefully) effective resistance to this regime of war criminals, hypocrites, thugs, and crooks.

Yet, how ironic that the state of my residence (I still consider New York State, the state of my birth and growing up as “my state”), California, that is questionably-deservedly often thought to be in the forefront or on the cutting edge of progress, has come out way in the back of the pack with its various verdicts, this past election! First, how can they re-vote in Schwarzenegger, apparently because of his celebrity status and “charismatic” personality, and disregard the different stances on issues espoused and/or demonstrated by the candidates? And second, how stupid can people be to see ad after ad STATING that they’re brought to you by “The Chevron Corporation” and vote the way Chevron WANTS?!!! Even if I knew nothing about the issues, knowing that a particular position was being advocated by a giant oil company would be enough to swing my vote against it. The same can be said about votes on many of the other issues; but, back to the main issue at hand:

Where do we go from here? How can we use our vast elevation of power best (for the most good) and, how can we best guard against any future loss of it; in fact, is it possible to get the hat trick of The Presidency in ’06 (or, dare I utter it? – SOONER), and ADD to our power (to do “good”, for a change)? My advice is to start DOING out of the gate, as fast and hard as we can. I do NOT advocate putting impeachment on the back burner, nor certainly taking it off the table, altogether (keeping with the kitchen metaphors/clichés). We should simultaneously initiate progressive, widely helpful (to they who need it most) legislation AND begin investigations into the “sins” of the Republicans, especially those of the executive branch, that were ignored and/or swept under the rug (expanding my clichés to the rest of the house), starting with those scandals we already know something about, such as Valerie Plame, the goings on around 9/11, and false reasons for going to war, and digging deeper to see what comes up. I’m sure that what we know only scratches the surface of the tip of the iceberg (reaching even further, clichéwise). There are those who say, in effect, we should take care not to break eggshells (and back to the kitchen), not to offend or alienate our newfound allies to the right of us that the guilty have so generously bequeathed to us, by virtue of their sins (get it?). But, how often in the past have we lost the respect and sympathy of potential right-leaning support by lacking the self-confidence to espouse the content of our hearts with force, even apologizing for being “perceived as” liberal, and denying the proud worthiness of liberality? If there ever were a time for acting with boldness regarding who we are, it is now! We’ll never get a chance like this again, at least for many years, unless we use it wisely and assert it forcefully, now.

Let the investigations take us wherever the findings take us – let Truth be our guide. Even those on the further right will have to respect that. Truth shall not only set us free – it is our path to ongoing and assured success.

Our Border is Broken

2006-09-30T05:09:00.000-07:00

That’s right; our border is broken. But, I’m not talking about the border you probably think I am. Yes, I am talking about America’s border, but not the physical one that delineates us, geographically. I’m talking about the border that separates us from what we shouldn’t be, or what we’re supposed to be opposed to and who we are. This border has always been very clear, rivaling the geographical one for clarity and concreteness. But now, with the caving in and bending over to Bush and his sociopathic cronies, the most horrific truth possible has become extant; we are who or (more aptly) “what” we should be against. It’s like the Twilight Zone where the guy gets everything he wants, only to look in the mirror and find out he’s become Hitler. Ladies and Gentleman, I submit to you, hopefully for your disapproval, that we have, indeed, become Hitler!

My Desire

2006-08-29T06:22:00.000-07:00

My desire is to be good. To manifest goodness.

I felt myself to be one who has been beaten. One who has endured major traumas from an early age, yet who is here, alive. Like King Kong, had he survived that plane attack, left, now, alone, with no more immediate threats pending upon him; having now only to contend with his own intrinsic nature. “Am I good or evil?” “Where do I go from here?” “My best chance is to keep sight of my love and serve it.” My instinct guides me. A hard part is waiting for the “orders” from it. What do I do until they come? And then I see that they’re coming more frequently or constantly than I had imagined or been aware of. An instinctual being is a loving being. He will only serve good.

Joke

2006-07-30T00:32:00.000-07:00

What did the maitre d' say when the Connecticut senator’s table was ready?

“Lieberman!, ... Party of one!”

I am

2006-04-30T19:53:00.000-07:00

I am a man of good intentions. I want to do best by my family and by myself (admittedly, not always in this order). But, that’s O.K.; my needs/desires and my family’s needs/desires are never that far afield of each other. Sometimes, in fact, they are one and the same. The problem is that this world often runs afoul of itself and us. The obstacles it puts up in the way of us obtaining what we want/need are crazy, “selfish”, and stupid. These three negative characteristics (crazy, selfish, and stupid) are twistedly intertwined. Those with the most and, therefore, who need the least, are the most hoarding, “selfish”, and wrong in their thinking. They make it hard for people like us (“good” people) to get our “stuff”.

Email to Kevin Martin, Chairman of the FCC

2006-03-16T12:42:00.000-08:00

Your attacks on free speech by levying heavy fines on CBS & other networks are far more offensive and have a far worse effect on society than any of the slightly sexual content you purport to be against. And, your motives appear to be as bad as any I could think of, short of sadism. Your actions reek of discomfort with your own sexuality, self-political promotion, and monetary greed. Any claims of "standing up for morality", or such, on your part, are transparent rationalizations for the above-listed motives. My advice? - Resign your post and get some much-needed psychotherapy.

I Dare The FBI

2006-03-02T12:04:00.000-08:00

How long will it take for the American people to mobilize enough to constitute a force sufficient to push or beat back the descent of their rapidly eroding rights – to make the critical turnaround from hyperbolic, to-some-extent-paranoid concerns regarding terrorism to more warranted concerns for losing the freedoms this country is supposed to be about? This indecent descent into elimination of our right to dissent in this nation is being perpetrated by the political crooks that the voters have ignorantly put into office. The “Patriot” Act’s renewal, in virtually unfettered form, is sailing its way through Congress, as though on the wings of some fetid, slimy lubricant, as I write this piece.
I was moved to hear the recounting of the plight of Laura Berg, on Pacifica Radio’s Democracy Now, this morning. Ms. Berg is a Veteran’s Administration nurse in New Mexico who was accused of sedition!! for simply having written a letter to the editor of her local paper that was critical of the administration’s handling of Hurricane Katrina and the war in Iraq. She felt very threatened and intimidated as she was informed that the FBI had been notified and V.A. representatives took her computer “into custody”.
Meanwhile, The President displays a contemptuous, arrogant attitude when he readily claims that, in the name of “national security”, his rights (to snoop, spy on us, disregard torture, etc.) are without limits as ours shrink. Well, I, for one, refuse to give up my First Amendment rights to express my contempt as I see fit in response to this travesty. In fact, I am more compelled to use these rights as they are increasingly under attack. And I DARE the FBI or any other group or individual to just try and silence me. I’m not intimidated, because I know just what my moral imperatives are and no one’s big enough or bad enough to stop me from acting on them.

Roberts Rules

2006-01-17T13:48:00.000-08:00

If this dissent on the “assisted suicide” decision is an example of how Roberts will vote from now on, may he remain always in the minority for the rest of his shrouded career.

2005-12-18T15:32:00.000-08:00

Comment Response re "Shame Killing"

2005-12-17T15:54:00.000-08:00

To “Anonymous”, who commented on my “Shame Killing” blog:

First, thanks for commenting; the first comment I found; I was afraid there was no one out there finding or reading the blogs I wrote. Second, to get a mechanical question out of the way, I don’t know if it would have been your true preference to be “anonymous" or if this site doesn’t provide any reader with an easy way to provide their identity. I guess you could always choose to identify yourself with name and/or email address if you wanted to, but it should prompt you to do so, by default, and without requiring you to do so as part or your comment, within it. I should also be able to respond within the blog on which you commented and not have to publish a separate blog in response to a comment on another one. But, in this case, it can’t hurt to do so. I’m sure there is a way, but I don’t yet know it – instructions on a lot of these mechanics weren’t very clear – I’ve spent a lot of time and effort just to get this far.
Third, I guess its incumbent upon me to further think and clarify my thoughts on the apparent contradiction between saying, “I ‘respect’ the beliefs of those who differ from mine” and saying, “I ‘DISrespect’ people” whose beliefs I characterize as “backwards”. Upon further thought, I’d have to say that I respect their “right” to think individually and even to express their thoughts. And, I respect and value “diversity", in general. But, not all beliefs warrant equal merit; there are definitely beliefs, themselves, or conclusions, which I do disrespect and which I think are destructive and the result of ignorance and/or stupidity. Some examples of these are most forms of bigotry, espousal of violence, and those which attempt to justify pure sadism. There may be exceptions to some of these; for example, “espousal of violence” in necessary self-defense is something I might agree with. But, in the case of the “honor” killings I took a position against in the blog on which you commented, I have no trouble saying, without fear of self-contradiction or inconsistency, whatsoever, that I completely condemn and, yes, completely, even passionately, disrespect them.

Richard Pryor and Eugene McCarthy Seen Going Out Together

2005-12-11T15:14:00.000-08:00

Both were semi-iconic figures of “our" generation. Richard was, himself, an older-end “generational member”, although he preceded the “baby boomer” designation. As all good semi-iconic members of my generation would be, they were both what I’d call “free thinkers”. And both were strong proponents of the Truth, in their respective fields. Courage was another essential characteristic they shared. They both died on Saturday morning, the Tenth of December, just two days after the 25th anniversary of the murder of an even greater mega-icon to our generation, John Lennon. The news clips I found listed Richard’s death at 8:00 a.m., but I could only find “early Saturday morning” for the former Senator. So, who knows if, indeed, Richard was prior? Both were as notable for their potential contributions to our world as for their actual ones, in my estimation. McCarthy provided hope to us idealists as to our ability to revolutionize our political system, with its corruptness and “evilness”. But, alas, we were naïve, lacked organization and savvy, and it was not to be, at least to the extent to which we dreamed it would. So, McCarthy’s actual accomplishments were limited by the depth and vastness that the “evil” was (is) entrenched within our society, without the contravening power on the other (“our”) side. Pryor’s contribution to the world of comedy and creative expression was cut short by his debilitating progressive illness. I look forward to a world that is much more generous in its actual delivery relative to its potential, probably arriving well after I, too, am gone.

Shame Killing

2005-12-07T18:13:00.000-08:00

I just heard an NPR segment about Iraqi “honor” killing. It should be known as “shame” killing – and I don’t mean the shame of the victim, I mean the shame the killers bring on themselves. I’m all for cultural diversity and respect for the beliefs of those who differ from mine, but I completely DISrespect people whose backwards beliefs are rationalizations for perpetuating paternalistic killing and brutalization.

Redistribution of Wealth

2005-12-06T22:38:00.000-08:00

How about the rich adopt a needy American family? For example, if a family (or individual) that makes $500,000.00 a year adopts a needy family of four and sets aside only 20% of their annual income for the adopted family, this latter one will do great, while the donor family (or individual) is still doing four times as great! What average, struggling family of as many as four couldn't do well on $100,000 a year? As a father of two kids and with a wife, I know I'd be willing to participate if I were in the "rich" category and it were a somewhat widespread practice to be thusly philanthropic among those of us who could afford it. It would also help the tax base. More people would have more resources, so that even the former strugglers would be happier and more generous (have things or money to be generous with). Everywhere we went, rich and otherwise, our social environment would be light years better. So, it’s in the best even self-interest of the rich to share on this scale by contributing tremendously to the quality of the world they and their families live in. It would be a great mistake for them not to.

2005-12-02T15:47:00.000-08:00

Pete Pearlman

Prison Reform - Where Are True American Values?

2005-12-02T10:08:00.000-08:00

The first thing I'm going to write about is prison reform. By in large, Americans are insulated and self-interested. As a result, issues like prison reform get worse shrift than the "proverbial?" "back burner". In fact, it's even questionable whether they make it anywhere near the kitchen, never mind the stove. Why? Because how many of you out there, or Americans, in general, have ever been in prison - or know someone who has? Precious few, I'll tell you - and this, despite the dubious (if "dubious" means, "doubtful", then I don't mean "dubious", because there's no doubt about it; it's a fact) distinction of the United States having the most prisoners per capita of all nations in the world! Was it Marx who said you can determine the degree of civilization of a nation or society by the number of prisoners it has? I could be wrong, but it doesn't MATTER who said it - the fact is, I'M saying it because it's true, regardless of the speaker. So, considered with this perspective, what does it say about our society - how civilized are we? The thing is, we've gotten increasingly away from caring about almost anyone beyond they who are in our own immediate circle. And, therefore, is it any wonder or coincidence that we (and, by "we", I mean, "America, in large"; not "me" or others on my side of the fence) put (notice I say "put", not "elect" - but I won't go there any further here, now) in office a man/regime who/that doesn't give a shit about what anyone else in the world thinks? It's this "me, myself, mine, and only those close to me" philosophy or perspective that is responsible for both reprehensible incarceration statistics and practices and running roughshod all over the globe, becoming increasingly notorious and hated for killing, atrocities, and all kinds of violation of human rights. I would be remiss, here, if I didn't point out the shameful connection between Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, secret "tribunals", secret Eastern European (and elsewhere) prisons "we"'ve apparently set up, and the horrendous "prison industrial complex" we've set up, here at home. We're also the only major western country that currently has the death penalty. It's all about not caring what goes on outside our own selfish realms.