The Friars

4.11.08

Der Tag: you may already be a Winner

Polling polling remember poll tax? As recent as 1990 in Britain. 7th in line - lucky for me? ? For America? Dressed for ruffians and hypesters who never showed up. Words in the air ' you don't want your vote to count ' but with that philosophy your vote 'counts' only if you pick a winner - again, are we participating or gambling? ? The mix of superstition and gambling - I'm close to seeing through a veil into America. Or Arizona Dave is right - fear versus love. That's another kind of vote. Am I just afraid of Palin? Where's yer Buddha NOW, Flanders . . . A goth kid behind me turned away from the polls. Elementary school - motto ' where you come in a beginner and leave a winner' Elmwood cemetery there's a stone we saw this week from the Pontiac uprising.People call the Pottawatomie insurgents and terrorists now for a moment I'm moved at the full booths - this many people paying SOME kind of intention, trying to control their destiny in at least some way, which is more than I'd come to expect, then back to reality as the election workers complain their lunch is too short.
words I forgot last time innate of the tenor of debate:

'Van Buren is as opposite to general Jackson as Dung is to diamond. . .He is what the English Call a Dandy. When he enters the senate chamber in the morning, he struts and swaggers like a crow in the gutter. He is laced up in corsets, such as women in town wear and, if possible, tighter than the best of them. It would be diffucult to say, from his personal appearance whether he was a man or a woman, but for his large . . . whiskers'

- Representative Davy Crockett of Tennesee, 1835
Anyway, good luck, may you all be winners.
Love,

-La Pirata


3.11.08

The Biting of Nails

Part one: Did you Hear About the Midnight Rambler . . .

'It would seem we are to suffer an apocalypse of cockatoos. . . morose barbaric children playing with their unfathomable toys. Where comes this dullness in your eyes? How has your century numbed you so? Shall man be given marvels only when he is beyond all wonder? Your days were born in blood and fires, of which I see in you not the merest spark. Your past is pain and iron. Know yourselves! With all your shimmering numbers and your lights, think not to be inured to history. It's black root succors you. it is inside you. Are you asleep to it that you cannot feel its breath upon your neck, nor see what soaks its cuffs? See me! Wake up and look upon me! I am come amongst you and am with you always!'
- Dr william Gull,
'From Hell' -
Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell

Among
other anniversaries,
this year is the 120th of the Autumn of Terror. London's Whitechapel murders were to give us our first modern superstar, Jack the Ripper. While Paganini may have gotten his face on a lunchbox first, the pure public frenzy and obsession that only mass media could deliver would wait. If there's anything you ever wanted to know about the subject, I unhesitatingly recommend casebook.org - home of close to 10,000 pages of Ripperology, crime scene photos, games and diversions, This Day in Ripper History and more. It's where the elevator stops on this particular subject, and I can't lie it's a strange feeling to see in some cases LIFETIMES of trivia and research around the world on this subject.

A few things I would like to observe: Most of the current theories and solutions that have gotten alot of play were introduced in 1970. Characters like the Duke of Clarence or Walter Sickert are a relatively recent invention. [ See casebook's Patricia Cornwell and Walter Sickert - a Primer for a most erudite demolition of the 'Case Closed' book.] The murders themselves have never been solved. This tends to be a fixed point that ultimately reveals more about researchers and theories that what really went on 120 years ago. As Alan Moore pointed out, Jack is now a superposition.

As Grisly as the murders are, perhaps more disturbing is the phenomena of hoax letters sent to the newspapers - THOUSANDS of people pretended to be the Ripper, men women and children, and I think that says something spooky that I don't want to define. Another eerie phenomena is that the rational for MANY of the most beloved ripper theories is deeply misogynistic 'She must have done SOMETHING to deserve that . . .'


Two - Don't Knock The Rock

I thought the Zeppelin Reunion would be the acme of that particular bandwagon, but lo, at the end of the Olympics, there was Jimmy Page! A local Detroit station declared september 'Zepptember'. [ then on into 'Rocktober'. So far November has escaped.] Now members are rehearsing and a new album is reputed to be in the works.

I'm fascinated by this, because in the creepy Clear Channel era of radio, oldies from the last 30 years are part of the top 40 now - so Led Zeppelin today will have to compete with the ghost of
. . . itself. That's quite a position to be in as an artist - who's more popular, me, or myself?

Part 3 Debate Reverie . . .
' It is pleasant, when the winds blow and the waves are high, to watch from the shore the struggles of another'
-Lucretius

It was hard to WATCH the debates this time. the mediocrity of this batch was painful. I couldn't imagine ANY of the participants wouldn't have been sent home in tears by a middleweight like Bob Dole. W has lowered our expectations. Wining a debate by NOT IMPLODING? ?? Actually, I thought it looked like Muhammad Ali's 'Rope-A Dope', but without the knockout at the end that made it all worthwhile.

McCain had one Job to do - give people permission to like him, and I think he failed there. Alas, now he's become, like his Idol Ronald Reagan, the Willy Loman of American Politics - liked, but not WELL liked. There is tremendous pity for the man now, and perhaps next to Palin he could pass for a human being. Which would be a mistake. It is hilarious to see the Republican party attempt a populist bunting, while espousing Reagan's trickle down policy that even George Bush mocked as 'Voodoo Economics'.

And who but McCain would have the incredible bad taste to bring up 268 Marines killed in Beirut while at the same time calling Reagan his hero. [ the Reagan White house was selling arms to terrorists, to fund an illegal war in latin america. The Marines, however, were UNarmed - it was a policy decision that they could pose with rifles but not have Ammunition! No, really, Who could even MAKE SOMETHING LIKE THAT UP?]

Really, everything that I was interested in was SCRUPULOUSLY avoided. I'd have loved to see Govenor Palin explain her attempts to remove books from Alaska libraries, or what she meant exactly by referring to Eskimos as 'Arctic Arabs'. Who Better to discuss 'abstinece only' sex education with? ? ?

Tavis Smiley articulated something that made me uneasy- that SOMETHING is wrong when NO ONE can even SAY the words 'POOR americans'. We heard about the rich, and the middle class. ALot.
[The median income here (census.org) is about $44,ooo, but the per capita less than $22,ooo. HOWEVER only 13% of Americans make over 100,000. 52% make LESS than the median. In case anyone wondered where Joe The Plumber fits in, he's in the top 2% Depending on who you ask, 20 -26% of americans are below the poverty threshold. 11% of americans are not food stable.] I think there is something profoundly disturbing in this. Who were those guys talking to? ? ?

'President carter at least recognized the malaise of American life in the second half of the 70's, but could do little to change it. Who changed it was Reagan, giving the country what it craved, namely denial.'
-Stanley Booth, the true adventures of the rolling stones

I think there is a handle on it there - DENIAL. In recovery talk, that is a powerful word. It's not just in economics terms - the journey of Vietnam vets the last 30 years from Mai-lai to victims themselves to heroes - that's the evolution of 'Support the Troops' There are people today who in all seriousness believe that America WON the vietnam war.

I'd also have liked to see some of Barack's reputed liberalism. I'd have liked him to talk about repealing the patriot act. I'd have liked him to comment on Hepting vs. ATT

[ for more information, see eff.org, or the Digiblade pages right here on blogspot have an excellent primer. In short, we have reason to believe that att colluded with the nsa to monitor our telecommunications in real time. Even carriers that refused to cooperate were monitored, since they ride ATT backbones! The Narus systems technology that makes this possible was given the go ahead under the Clintons, by the way.]

I thought it was silly to ask What the US would do if Iran attacked Israel. A far more interesting question would be what the us would do if China attacked Taiwan.

Oh, and lest we forget - did it seem odd that ANYone would channel Henry Kissinger? ? ?? ? Though today he's thought of as the swinging pal of Kid Notorious, well, only in the Condi Rice era would we think of that Douche as a PLAYER . . . In case anyone is wondering or forgot who Henry Kissinger is -

' I don't see why a country should be allowed to go Communist through the irresponsibility of it's own people.' - Henry Kissinger and the U.S. attempts to prevent Allende's election.


' The Main thrust of U.S. Foreign Policy over the next thirty years has got to be the depopulation of the third world.'
Henry Kissinger in a 1972 National Security Action memo.

What does that MEAN, exactly ? ?? Well, by the time of Bush I,

' There is a single theme behind all our work- we must reduce population levels. Either governments do it our way, through nice clean methods, or they'll get the kind of mess we have in El Salvador. to really reduce a population quickly you have to pull all the males into the fighting and you have to kill significant numbers of fertile aged females.'
-Thomas Ferguson, Head of the Latin America Desk
Us State Department Office of population affairs
Feb. 20, 1989



Overall, It seemed to be business ass usual. When I call Joe Biden a hack, lets remember he's there to balance the ticket with the politics of yore. He's a guy who lacked the charisma and acumen to beat out Michael Dukakis. ( of whom Hunter S.Thompson said 'It is diffucult to argue the point that anyone who can get into a high-dollar argument with George Bush and come out looking like a mean dunce probably isn't fit to be president.')

When the subject of Gay Marriage came up, a MAVERICK position would be to support it. The OLDTHINK would be to dissemble, try to say 'babysteps' 'Be Patient' - But to agree with Palin should be a warning. Certainly, the Rainbow People here-abouts were badly burned by our govenor on this very issue, and THEY liken it to laws against inter-racial marriage, which were an unpopular change at the time and now looked at as an embarrassment that they were even there at all.

Maybe next time, the WWE should hold the debates.
' the populous wished to see it's dissatisfaction with its living conditions translated into deeds, not resolutions'
- Cesar, Christian Meier
The climax to me was that McCain and Obama RAISED THEIR VOICES
about abortion, which allowed partisans to say ' well, He told HIM!' but not much else.


Election EffectsOn the front linesthe edge of my seat lastthoughts going through the chute . . .
a flashback -
'For now, we should make every effort to look at the bright side of the nixon administration. It has been a failure of such monumental proportions that politacal apathy is no longer considered fashionable, or even safe among millions of people who only two years ago thought that anyone who disagreed with the government was either paraniod or subversive.

Political candidates in 1974 are going to have to deal with an angry, disiilusioned electorate that is not likely to settle for flag waving and pompous bullshit. The Watergate spectacle was a shock, but the fact of a millionaire president paying less income tax than most construction workers while gasoline is a dollar in brooklyn and the threat of mass unemployment by spring tends to personalize mr Nixon’s failures in a very personal way.'
-Hunter S, Thompson, The Great Shark Hunt

Well, it's intense here. An unheard of 98% registration. I'm assured that the electoral vote is already in the bag, but the popular vote is alot closer than anyone likes to think. I find the Obama Crowd a little too sure of themselves - because they can't imagine anything else making sense. It's weird to see the forces I've associated with repression and oppression representing irrationality this time through. Also worrisome is a few key individuals I know who seem to be looking for a reason to back McCain.

To whom I've appealed simply 'Don't.'
Palin is a move towards theocracy. The Brain's former co-workers in the mortuary trade say by their actuaries Mccain has a minimum 25% chance of dying in office. Your Pirate pal needs MORE sexdrugsandrockandroll to keep America fun.

One of my Angels put down the bottle [gasp!] and picked up the phone to create an anti-Palin outreach. ' I'm not telling you to vote for anyone in particular, just vote against HER' she'd explain.

McCain may have the pity vote, but let's remember he did it to himself. Hillary Clinton may have been a true Maverick choice for him.

And Where is Neil Bush today? ?? as part of a Savings and Loan scandal Not Completly Unlike the Mortgage crisis, that cost taxpayers $8.7 million an hour, to the tune of 160 billion. As director of Silverado, the bailout cost taxpayers 1.3 billion.
The Fortunate Son settled out of court for $50,000 in an fdic lawsuit.
Voodoo Economics people. It doesn't trickle down.


Was anyone actually surprised to see Liberman? ? ?
If you were, check out his PTC website. [ The modern incarnation of Tipper Gore's PMRC] You owe it to yourself to see how bad it is. IN CASE you think America has economic or military problems, they would like you to know that we STILL haven't recovered from seeing a portion of Janet Jackson's breast during the superbowl, and NOW the supreme court wants to let it go . . . Another funny headline story was that a cable network 'Dropped the F bomb on Americas Families' - which is always god for a laugh - There wouldn't BE families to have values WITHOUT 'the F word ' see what I mean about irrationality? AND they want us all to know that whomever wins the election, they expect them to cater to their bizarre whims.

Generally these closet Mccain folks have been talking about 'the government taking people's money' [ as if the republicans aren't flushing real money down the toilet in iraq] - but when I asked if they were backing Ron Paul, who wanted to abolish the IRS, THEY ARE NOT - because everyone wants to back the winner
- as Errol Flynn observed
'One of the congenital diseases of Americans is that they buy success and seldom anything else. '

I am the Polls.
I've had an interesting career as a pollee here - I have a good relationship with the canvassers - I get calls from both parties day and night, and now I'm asked to review pilot TV shows. It makes me feel close to the action, but I'm still worried. All the obama signs were stolen from the south end of my town. An informal sign poll driving around the whole Detroit area -.
South of 8 mile, all Obama. New money suburbs, likewise. Old money, solid McCain. It's the middle money and blue collar votes up for grabs here. the McCain attempt to forge a George Wallace type coalition looks like it has in fact worked.

When Palin says things that sound crazy - like informing Pennsylvania that stem cell research is conducted in PARIS, FRANCE, a rational person has a hard time BELIEVING it, much less understanding that she is, in fact, getting a message to HER DEMOGRAPHIC. I read somewhere I can't attribute that mediocrity can't abide intellectual superiority.

Anyway, I think this election will say everything about America. If we;ve recovered from the civil war at last, perhaps we'll get the president we SHOULD have had after Lincoln.

I'm worried that Michigan always does the wrong thing. A smart gambler would wear their Obama Regalia to the Polls, but look for 4-1 bets on McCain. those aren't terrible odds. For a horse.
Anyway, that's all I have to say, except
isn't it odd that the day after the election is Guy Fawkes day? ??

Till next time, when I want to talk to you about Extremists and the Mongol Global Awakening
- Peace Out,
-La Pirata




2.11.08

Voting Early in Hamilton, Ohio

We cross these train tracks three or ten times
before the voting booth. We wait.
The words on slur cars blur past
before us. These words,
if you stand close enough to read
these profane poems, close enough
to notice, could be national anthems,
cries for justice
to be taken out on somebody worth less
than we are worth, which is what? Anonymous
because hate is truer in a child’s soul* and we
cannot be children now.

We never made an honest living. The honest
die with everyone else. Yet here we are,
where Alexander Hamilton's cape, brown and twisted
stars and stripes, flaps behind him.
He points to the sky and looks the other way.
What if our best days are over?
he says. How will you swing that?

We wait in line now, clutching forms
we’ll trade for electronic ballots.
A weathered woman, half the size of us,
does not hide her interest in our
post modern theories and stupid things
we say in class but she won’t contribute,
not even with a smile
aside our too loud laughter. Our dream
cannot exist if everyone is happy*

(*These lines were taken from a poem written by my friend "Joe the Poet." )

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