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While We Still Have Time

In spite of the grimness of the times in which we live, there is still hope. If you feel, like I do, that the usual discourse about matters of critical concern tends to be superficial, misguided, and false, then you might find some solace and inspiration here. I will try to offer insight and a holistic perspective on events and issues, and hopefully serve as a catalyst for raising the level of dialogue on this planet.

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Location: Madison, Wisconsin, United States

I was born in 1945, shortly before atom bombs were dropped on Japan. I served in the U.S. Army from 1968 to 1971. I earned master's degrees in Economics and Educational Psychology, and certificates in Web Page Design and as a Teacher of English as a Second Language. I followed an Indian guru for eight years, which immersed me in meditative practices and an attitude of reaching a higher level of being. A blog post listing the meditative practices I have pursued can be seen here.

Monday, January 11, 2021

A Reminder for Proud Boys Who Are in Jail

Remember: No masturbating.

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Here's a song. Here's another. A Proud Boy might need some privacy from time-to-time. Though some Proud Boys brought their mamas along for the riot, most stayed behind, having tried. Maybe they should have tried harder. The Proud Boys might find a lot of their fellow-travelers in the jailhouse. If there are enough of them they could throw a party. If it turns into a riot they could find themselves having more privacy. Some might be motivated to leave early, but that would likely result in even more privacy. Which raises a question: What does a psycho killer to when overthrowing the government is no longer an option? It is likely that when they are in prison they will learn not to stand so close together.

Here's the story of the Proud Boys. Here's a quick rundown on their obsession with masturbation. Obseesion with bodily fluids in an old one, satirized in the movie Dr. Strangelove.

This is me with my 7th grade teacher at the Museum of Science and Industry in <br />Chicago, in March or so of 1958. She was from the “order” known as the Congregation de Notre Dame, based in Montreal. They were a mean bunch. It was a happy day for my teacher, getting out of the convent. This picture shows her at her best.I was a proud boy many years ago. I won the 5th grade spelling bee, and was declared president of the class by "Mother Superior," the school principal. That was her real titular name. She kind of jumped the gun. She "asked" the class to approve her dictate by acclamation, which they did. We actually had no class president before, no student government, and I had no duties, except to hand out candy to my classmates. I was a politician by default. Not only was there no class president before, but none in the succeeding years, and no other class officers. This of course calls for a song.


'Counting coup' on the NRA
A couple of years later I was a proud boy in the Boy Scouts, earning a "Pro Marksman" medal at summer camp. It was the lowest marksmanship medal one could get, but enough to make me a proud boy. It was a strange irony to receive a medal from the National Rifle Organization, which turned out to become such a backward political organization a few decades later. 

My Order of the Arrow ID card
A year-or-so after that I was a proud boy again in the Boy Scouts, being elected to "Order of the Arrow."  This also was kind of meaningless, since I never had any further involvement with Order of the Arrow, and didn't have much to do with the Boy Scouts after that time.

In high school I was a proud boy when I played football my junior year, and gained yardage in my one time carrying the ball. I was the smallest guy on the team. My stats weren't the worst on the team, so it was good enough for me.
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February 16, 2021 update: Here's the current state of the "Republican" party.

Wednesday, January 06, 2021

Three Questions

For Trump: Is this all ya got? For the Congress: If this isn't enough to remove Trump, what would be? For Trump's coupsters: Did you really think this was going to work?

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Here's a song. Green Day. The Grateful Dead. The Clash. Gil Scott-Heron was wrong. Grandmaster Flash. A proper home for Trump. The Beatles. Slow version. Here's a song for all the "men" who tried to overthrow the government. The Honey Drippers. The Rolling Stones.

The mainstream news media have been complicit with Trump for well-over four years, since before he was president, because he is "good copy." They knew he was a deranged criminal sociopath, but suppressed any mention of it, preferring to talk about his "policies" and "beliefs. This includes NPR and PBS.

Saturday, January 02, 2021

Where to Start

Everyone, it seems, is looking back on 2020, trying to figure out what went on. The Coronavirus, of course, is pretty clear. It originated in China, and spread throughout the world, killing 1,842, 967 so far across the planet. The highest number of deaths is in the United States, with 347,956. This is largely due to Donald Trump, our deranged criminal sociopath president, who had no concern for anyone other than himself and his reelection. Many have written about this, so there's no need to rehash his criminality here. He was defeated in his "reelection" effort, and will soon be evicted from the White House.

What is more interesting to me is the cult-like devotion of many, if not most, of Trump's followers. His vote total was 74,222,957, 46.8 % of total votes cast. That is very high, way too high, for a deranged criminal sociopath. Roughly half of Americans voted for a clear, verifiable, provable sociopath for president. I don't buy the conventional pundit rationalization that Trump voters feel left-out, or dispossessed, or ignored by "Democrats." They are the same element of the country that gave us Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush. 

"White" people. There is no such thing, of course, as a "white" person, or even a person with white skin, but that doesn't slow the all-knowing knowers down a bit. People of European ancestry are known metaphorically as "white" people, and people of African, Australian Aboriginal, some East Indians, and a broad swath of what is known as "Oceania" are called "black." Just as "white" people aren't white, "black" people aren't black. 

Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, killing him, May 25, 2020

 Though no one is white, 75% of those who identify as being white voted for Donald Trump. Three quarters of white people chose a deranged criminal sociopath for president of the United States, down by 3% from 2016. Or maybe 5%, according to another source. The same source, Vox, says that Trump improved by 2% among "white" women, to 55%. If you filter down the percentage of "white" people who are "gay," college educated, urban, young, and union members, that leaves virtually ALL "white" people not in these demographics voting for Trump. Rural, small-town, lesser-educated, heterosexual, Christian, and old. Yikes! What a divide!

Trump, visibly controlled by Russian president Vladimir Putin, is a traitor. This matters not one bit to his followers. He's the Great White Hope. This is worth remembering when "white" Americans accuse other Americans of being unpatriotic, or traitors. They are just mouthing words, attempting to scapegoat others about something they have no real concern about, just using it as an excuse for hysteria.

A question worth asking at this point is what is so sacrosanct about "whiteness," and "white" culture, that it is a life-and-death proposition. No one is white, but it is still worth killing others for, and putting a deranged criminal sociopath and traitor in power over the whole country, indefinitely.

I grew up in this culture, in urban, rural and small-town "America." "White" culture is based on Western, European culture, which is broadly characterized by the ego, or ahamkara - the individual self, acquisitive, competitive, exclusive, rapacious, and ultimately paranoid and tribal. Even in its most tribal manifestation, though, the "tribe" of white people is not a collective. It is at best a loose collection of paranoids.

And, it is doomed. Capitalism, the economic system of individual greed, is doomed, for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that it is destroying the planet. It also maldistributes economic reward, giving the lion's share to the very few. Trump, in this sense may have been a blessing in disguise. He is the embodiment of human evil, and he has almost singlehandedly destroyed the country. 

And yet his fanatical followers would kill to keep him in office. Fanaticism dies a hard death. Trump called the Coronavirus a hoax, so his followers refuse to wear masks or social distance. Some insist the pandemic is a hoax to their dying breath from COVID. 

So here we are, 2021. A new president, whom I find myself liking more each day. Trump and many "Republicans" are still refusing to accept the election result, trying every means possible to overturn the result. It should come as no surprise. Trump is a criminal and so are the "Republicans." 

The next several years should be very challenging, to say the least. The pandemic will likely linger for a long time. Our economic system will likely fail. The climate will most certainly get hotter and more destructive. We may not survive as a species. We can choose to survive. First, though, we need to learn how to recognize truth. We can start by giving up on being "white" - or "black." Or any other color. We are not our skin color. Skin is just skin, a major organ of the body, a sheath and integral and interactive part of the functioning of our entire systems. We are much more than skin, and much more than our bodies. About half the people in this country choose to be less than their skins.

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Here's a song. Here's another. This tune can get you in the mood for working together. Here's a song for the departure of Trump. His empire was an illusion, but it is now fallen. This is how Trump created his pretend empire. Here's a song by the Waterboys, not to be confused with the Proud Boys. Or the Boys in the Band. Or the Boyz n the Hood. This song is by what some would call a boy band, though they were no longer boys. If Vladimir Putin had his way, this would be our national anthem. Had Trump been more competent - that is, competent at all - he might have gotten his way.

Surprise of surprises, Trump pressured Georgia's secretary of state to "find" enough votes for him to win. I wonder, as this develops, how many election officials in how many states he pressured to "find" enough votes. Irony of irony, Trump may be charged with felony election fraud after he is evicted from the White House. 

The Godfather theme is music too fine for Trump and his "Republican" enablers. This song is more to their level of understanding. Or this. Poor Trump. He thought he knew everything. Monumental fool doesn't even begin to describe this profoundly evil being. Thankfully, he is the ultimate LOSER. When he finally gets sent to prison, Parchman Farm would be fitting. He can sing this song. At noon January 20 this will be Trump's new theme song.

All Trump has left is politicians throwing stones.

The pandemic has been very kind to the super-rich.