Taboo Plaza

Voting takes the place of riots and mob violence.  Voting even takes the place of disciplined mob violence.  Why does democracy hold such a captivating sway over people?  Why does democracy seem so sexy, almost super-charged with energy?  Why do some people feel worse about being a subject versus being a citizen? 

These questions point somewhere and the area is worth exploring.

Casting a ballot is better than picking up a stick, an axe or a gun.  Although those items vary in level of craftsmanship and achievement; they're not incredibly original to our times or even sophisticated.  Most people seem to silently agree that our future ideals are not to be crass.  We want to strive to be something better.  We want a tomorrow that is better than today.  We feel that but we don't really do anything with that in a socially meaningful way.  Then comes along an 'important' election.  Bodies move in mass toward major efforts.  More than 800,000 citizens in the state of Oregon move to the polls and cast their opinion rather than expressing rage in the streets.

What took me to thinking along these lines was a television program about the Minoan society in Greek history.  The Greeks were a brutal lot.  Very violent and sophisticated.  The Greek culture gives us Homer and Socrates.  The Greeks created the Parthenon, the myth about Narcissus and a wonderful world of Gods.  The Greeks were practiced in the arts of killing.  They perfected the game of politics. 

The Romans were the same way, the Germanic tribes, our violence goes a long way back and we are the result of historical winners and losers.  We are the survivors of the slayers and the conquered.  The societies that were decimated are no longer among us in any great number, but with the ballot we all seem to agree we just don't want to burn, pillage and destroy anymore.

Where does it get you?  You fight.  People die.  Cities ruined then someone has to build it back up again, or not.  A ballot may placate the dim witted, but ballots signify strength.  If there is no strength behind a ballot then the ballot is useless.During an important election cycle, numbers symbolize many things but people moving to the ballot box has got to be an advance in our species; although it can't be allowed to be the end.  There's got to be something more, but we should celebrate our move away from violence to the ballot. 

That step along the way speaks well for our species.

We are better people for renouncing violence.  The prestigous list is too long of heavy-hitters who have preached the path of peace.  We idolize these people and love their message.  We sing their message in practiced ways but we don't really celebrate the message.  Good times don't have to involve hedonism.  As far as that goes, good times don't have to involve God.  We're capable of seeing a world we call paradise, but our actions do not follow suit.  However, we may take solace that we've gained a ballot in place of a gun. 

We have advanced that much at least when it comes to living with one another. 

That's a deft move in a history rife with witch trials and lynchings.

Current Affairs

The U.S. presidential cycle keeps attempting to shift into another gear, but the three main players continue to play the game.  Hillary Clinton continues to draw attention with a low chance of receiving the Democrat presidential nomination.  She let us know Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June of 1968 after having just received the Democrat nomination.

In times like these interesting items bubble up.  It seems that Barak Obama has been under the protection of the Secret Service since May 2007.  Hillary Clinton has been under the protection of the Secret Service since Bill Clinton left office.  A side of me feels offend for the tax dollars used for such a purpose.  For the rest of her life, regardless of this presidency, Hillary Clinton will have what I assume is tax dollar supported private security.  She's a millionaire, but the public (I assume) pays for the contingent of security guards she apparently berates and treats in shoddy fashion (according to this person.)

She's a millionaire.  She can afford her own security detail and yet we pay for it because her husband was the President of the United States of America.  Obama has apparently chosen to not attack Clinton for her statement about Bobby Kennedy's assassination though. 

Would she have returned the favor?

Obama took flack from John McCain on his attitudes toward Cuba.

In front of a group of Cuban Americans in Florida, McCain referred to Obama as a "tool of organized labor."  I'm just curious if I missed where that was a bad thing.  Is organized labor bad?  Is it too close now to Communism?  What does that mean?  McCain said it means "no free trade agreements."  Karl Marx spoke of alienated labor.  He said, "Labor does not only produce commodities, it produces itself and the laborer as a commodity..."

Marx also wrote, "The laborer can create nothing without nature, without the sensual, material world."  That's Communism.  Therefore, is a labor union in America Communist?  Does the charge of being a Communist still hold the same anger as the times of Joseph McCartney in the United States of America? 

We may find out.

McCain also took issue with Obama's willingness to speak with foreign nations not currently in favor with the United States of America.  Apparently, it is acceptable to keep the same foreign policy regardless of who is in office.  However, if that is the case, why change presidents every four to eight years anyway? 

McCain is trying to build up the old national security argument against Obama.  Republicans generally poll well on that topic.  George W. Bush's administration has worked hard to terrify the U.S. populace.  McCain, however, is also trying to shed the endorsements of men who are either crazy or modern prophets.  Men like preacher Rod Parsley.  Parsley has been quoted saying, "Islam is an antichrist religion that intends, through violence, to conquer the world."  With endorsements like that, McCain may be worried that we really will end up in Iraq for 100 years if he's elected.

In California, the state Supreme court ruled 4 to 3 that same sex marriage is legal practice.

Sprint is trying to get something positive going by leaking commercials to the internet about their new device the Instinct.  The commercial positions this phone as an iPhone killer.

It seems unlikely that this will be enough to turn the ship at Sprint, but the continuing saga of that company's deterioration provides a slow death for public viewing. 

To nuance our story this week we've got Goldman Sachs quoted predicting gas prices might reach $6 or $7 a gallon in the United States.  All for the cost of a barrel of oil.  But what is oil?

"It is called a fossil fuel because it was formed from the remains of tiny sea plants and animals that died millions of years ago. When the plants and animals died, they sank to the bottom of the oceans. Here, they were buried by thousands of feet of sand and silt. Over time, this organic mixture was subjected to enormous pressure, and heat as the layers increased. The mixture changed, breaking down into compounds made of hydrogen and carbon atoms—hydrocarbons. Finally, an oil-saturated rock-much like a wet household sponge was formed."

Old life juice. 

It's flamable. 
It'll get you jacked up if you huff it. 
It's been the only answer for a real long time.

Oil will be the tale of the tape in the next few years for the U.S.

Then Humans Discovered…(The Legacy of Mirn: Fin.)

continued from May 14, 2007 posting
As we know, the beginning of our story features Fire.  We grasped Fire with trepidation.  We desired Fire for the authority Fire provided.  We named Fire.  We mystified Fire.  When we looked up from Fire, we discovered the Son.  All of this took place at a time when communication didn't exist.  It simply wasn't possible.  There were no names.  Right around the time of Fire, the Naming began.

Mirn's replication of Krunk's Myth inspired the Group to Believe.  The Others began simply as a sound: "On-tak."  Mirn said it and then proceeded to define Others.  It was Mirn's right as the discoverer of story-telling to tell the story his way. 

Within the Group, Mirn led several members quite capable of delivering a blunt strike.  A committee of One formed.  The Others left the Group dragged unconscious through the dirt or running.  Running into the night and away from the Group into fear of being alone.

Separated.
Lost.
Helpless.

Why not just go along with the control Mirn created for himself?  It is a simple life being part of the Group.  You worry less about being attacked by animals.  There's more food available because the Group pools what they find.  Other than that, it is: eating, sleeping and rutting.

The Children of Mirn created the Clan of Tarc by forcing members of the Group to leave and survive on their own.  Many of the excommunicants from the Children of Mirn did not survive.  For those individuals there is no legacy to tell.  The Clan of Tarc was the first Group to survive exile from the Children of Mirn.

They formed by accident in the beginning.  Tarc ran from the Group when Ga-song had Force.  Ga-song did not like that Tarc could throw larger rocks.  Ga-song did not like the number of females carrying Tarc's Blood.  Ga-song did not like that Tarc was not afraid of him.

Ga-song waited until Tarc had fallen asleep and attempted to crush Tarc's head with a stone ax.  For no explainable reason, Ga-song missed an open target with his blow.  Tarc awoke after the ax hit the ground, although Ga-song told the story different.  It didn't matter because Tarc was not there to refute the tale.  He left the group running and never came back.  Ga-song chased him with two armed partners.  Tarc's escape was impressive considering he was surrounded asleep and suffered a significant head wound.  Ga-song did not miss entirely, rather somehow Tarc was not dead.

Tarc hung around the Group for awhile.  He did what most exiles did.  He knew of no other place to go besides back to the Group.  The Group was his life.  After time, an Other exile made it out of the Group alive.  Tarc helped Min.  Min would not have survived exile were it not for Tarc.

Min was chased out by Mirn and his Blunt-Strikers.  Mirn saw Min drawing in the sand with a small part of the Group.  Min was drawing about the Way and Naming.  Min had done this before but never around Mirn.  Mirn was quite dramatic about how he accused Min of Sin.  The Group not around Min's drawings became incredibly agitated by Mirn's demeanor.

It seemed to Min that every member of the Group hated him in one moment.  It was a feeling he had never encountered before.  Every member of the Group- that was his life- turned on him and bared their teeth.  In Min's mind, the Group chased him out one and all.  In fact, it was only half the Group chasing Min out.  Those members of the Group were quite berserk, though, and ready to eat him alive.  Min ran until no one was left to chase him and then he ran some more.  He was fast but small, which helped him get away.  It also left him more exposed to bigger animals.  Min was smart though and managed to survive until he one day found Tarc.

Min gave Tarc the idea to help other exiles by drawing in the sand.  Tarc Named Min Krunk-san as a sign of his respect.  Krunk-san was genuinely grateful to Tarc for his help.  Krunk-san helped other exiles understand their place in the Clan of Tarc and most every member felt the same way about Tarc as did Krunk-san.  By Tarc's size, he was by default the leader and protector of the Group he put together.

Exiles left the Children of Mirn at a great pace.  The Clan of Tarc grew quickly.  Tarc and Krunk-san feared being discovered by the Children of Mirn.  Krunk-san became the teller of the Way through his drawings within the Clan of Tarc.  Krunk-san told of a need to follow the Way, East.  The Clan of Tarc understood.  They gathered food and migrated East.  They walked for a long time. 

Some of this Clan crafted floating devices out of wood and did not stop following the Way East until they were completely isolated from everyone on islands.

By the nature of how the Clan of Tarc formed, they were always a much smaller group than the Children of Mirn.  The Clan of Tarc appreciated peace having been the targets of violence.  They respected a benevolent leader who they found in Tarc.  The Clan of Tarc loved life for many generations and prospered.  The Children of Mirn forgot about those they exiled.  It was a requirement that no one speak of an exiled member. 

This rule was firmly enforced by Mirn to his dying breath by the Blunt-Strikers who answered Mirn's calling.  In predictable fashion, there was a wrestle for control within the Group when Mirn died.  Many of those who assumed power ended up dead or exiled.  If anyone in the Group did refer to the exiles at all after Mirn's death it was only as the Others.  Specific names were literally forgotten for focus on what took place immediately within the Group at any given moment.  While the Clan of Tarc marched East, the Children of Mirn experienced many successions of control. 

One much the same as the last.  No one really distinguishing themselves from the last.  A drawer of stories always existed.  A part of the Group functioned as enforcers of policy.  The largest in the Group always received a portion of authority shared to a different degree with the drawer of stories.  The Way was explained in many ways by many tellers.  Many times the stories contradicted previous tellings.  Blunt-Strikes ensured the credibility of what was told Now.

Now began taking on a new sense of urgency for the Children of Mirn.

Question of the Week 

How much is enough?

At some point I think we have to ask the question: how much is enough?  Anything we do carries a burden of How Much we will do of it.  Whatever it is (i.e. drugs, exercise, money, etc...)  Drugs pretty much let you know when you've done enough.  Exercise will warn your body as well.  Money on the other hand has no moral cap to its consumption.  I'm not talking about communism, but I am asking questions. 

Would it be okay for a person to purchase as much fruit as their money could buy; then take it to the poorest part of town, set it in the street and watch it rot?  If someone wanted to test the legality of a such a case, should that be a legal act?  There is no equilavent when it comes to money, because we don't put it out in front of us. 

We hide our money.  We walk around with our hidden financial values and we don't ask how much is enough?  Is the number 2 billion dollars?  For one person?  What can 3 billion dollars really add to the life of one individual that couldn't be obtained with 2 billion dollars? 

I think most reasonable, civic-minded individuals would agree that the extra billion isn't really making too much of an actual impact on the individual who hides it away.  So could we draw a limit and say, "you've got enough and you really don't NEED anymore."

Corporations make that tricky.  A bunch of people in on something together hide their names behind the name of a fascade.  A legal, purchased charade that is recognized in court of law as long as the corporation complies with compliance rules.  You've got to follow the rules to create a legal entity that exists solely on paper.

But, why?

Because they're the rules and that's just the way we're going to do things.

Okay?

How much is enough? 

Tip of the week

Check out the movie Zeitgeist when you get two hours.  The answers might not be to your liking, but the questions are certainly valid.



Belly Laugh

Don Rickles is one of the best angry men in comedy.  "You hockey puck."