following the piper

Everyone is following the piper.
Those who identify as rightists follow Beck and Limbaugh et, those on the left, Maddow and Olberman et all.

Memories of past discussions seem to be surfacing.

Here's how I see it.

Everyone knows right from wrong.
When you drop bombs on innocent women and children, you may tell yourself G_d told you to, but dammit, the guys doing this know it's wrong.


If you see children living in cardboard boxes, you know that is wrong, in such a wealthy country.
You may tell yourself anything you want to assuage your guilt, but everyone knows it's wrong.
And its not just the parents fault, its society's as well.

This Obama hatred is wrong.
He is a spokesman for the moneyed elite.
Listen to him.
But he is not the enemy, and he is not making significant policy.
And he won't, I guarantee it.

I know you haven't thought about this, but here's the real deal, and you can take this to the bank.

Corporations control America.
Follow the money, for crying out loud.
Tax records are public records.
look where the bulk of the money is.
Most is in the hands of the richest 5% of Americans, this is well known.

You do realize the amount of money it took to successfully run Obama, yes?

He had corporate sponsorship in a really big way.
So did McCain.

They could not lose, the elite, because they hedged their bets, like they always do.

The people who had to lose, who couldn't win, was us, because we only had two hand picked candidates to choose from.
Big money guy one, and big money guy two.

Communism is not a threat, it's a bogeyman.
It gives you an enemy to fight that takes your mind off of the real bad guys.
And since there aren't any more communists, the thought is, how much harm can "they", the masses cause, by fighting a non-existent threat.

If you could take a step forward, out of your ideology for a moment, you might ponder,
Maybe Obama might actually have been a decent leader if he hadn't been forced to do exactly as he is told by the actual leaders of the country.

I have not heard a progressive statement from Obama in months.

I see very little difference between Bush, Clinton or Obama.

They are all spokesmen for the leaders of America.
And I'm pretty sure they all hate communists as least as much as you do, they have a lot more to lose from the commies than most.

Try A Little Tenderness

Mel Gibson?

This is just to clarify some comments I made recently about Mel Gibson.

I'm not really advocating for him to go to jail.
I don't think Mel should be in a cage.
Maybe a psych unit for evaluation, but I don't believe anyone who is not a serious threat to society should be confined in a cage, often an overcrowded cage, with violent criminals.
That being said, some of the public is upset with Mel for what he  said recently, and some about other issues.

Mel Gibson is a splendid actor.

Then he did the passion play, where he portrayed Jews as greedy, evil Christ killers.
The last thing the Jews need is an updated version of the passion play.
About Christ-Killers.

Whoopi Goldberg said, "He is not a racist at all. He has come over to my place and played with my kids for hours."
 The public will have to decide.

Forgiveness

Most people agree that forgiveness is a quality of a person of good character.
Sometimes people say, "Well, I can forgive, but I can't forget."
If it is to me to forgive anyone, I have done it long ago.
I don't hold any grudge against any human being, especially women.
Yes, my heart has been broken,but maybe this is how He teaches us about love.
I don't know.
I wish I did.
The only thing I can say that I do know, if you have a good woman in your life,
treat her every day with kindness and love and respect.
Let her know how important she is to you.

Otherwise, you could pay the price of not doing so.

Lindsey Lohan Should not Be In Jail, Mel Gibson Should be

Until the U.S. realizes that putting human beings in cages under inhuman conditions is not the answer to every social problem, the U.S. will be considered to be a backward, primitive and punitive country.

There is no way that Lindsey lohan should be caged with murderers and thieves and other violent criminals.

2 years ago she drove a vehicle under the influence of alcohol.

Bad, everyone agrees with that.

She missed a hearing with her Probation Officer after 2 years, again, she shouldn’t have done that.

But to yield to public pressure and cage her as punishment shows a punitive nature on the part of those who desired this, and a lack of imagination in ways to deal with social problems.

Couldn’t she have been sentenced to 90 days of picking up trash?

Giving time to the elderly?

This sentence was an example of the misuse of the so-called justice system.

Mel Gibson, a violent anti-Semite, he hates Jews, he hates blacks, he resents women.

His mistress has a long history of moving up the social ladder by dating and marrying men, each one a little higher up the monetary scale than the one before.

She dated him while knowing he was married.

.

In the tape revealed by radar online he accuses her of the very issues that seem to be what attracted him to her in the first place.

Unlike Lohan, Mel Gibson represents a very real danger to others, and if anyone should be in jail, he should be.

Now, since he admits to mayhem upon his mistress, and has made terroristic threats towards her, and battered her while she was holding a 7 month old child, why is he at large?

1,000 Afghan civilians were killed so far in 2010

Many Americans are disturbed with prospects in Afghanistan.
Michael Steele got in trouble for his remarks, and he was certainly completely wrong in his view that Obama gave the orders to invade the country.
On the other hand, most experts agree that this war is not winnable.
It is even hard to find support for the War in Afghanistan itself, as is shown by posts from RAWA .
MFB

More than 1,000 Afghan civilians were killed in armed violence and security incidents in the first six months of 2010, a new Afghan study says.
Violence in Afghanistan is now at its worst since the conflict began in 2001, the report says.
"The Afghan people have only witnessed and suffered an intensifying armed conflict over the past six months and insurgency has become more resilient, multi-structured and deadly," it adds.
Violence has soared across Afghanistan in recent months, with 212 civilians killed during June alone, Afghanistan Rights Monitor says.
Most of the deaths documented by the report were caused by insurgents, the report notes, with the widespread use of roadside bombs particularly deadly, killing almost 300 civilians.
Suicide bombs were also a major cause of death, the organisation said.
It does acknowledge that Nato-led forces have been trying hard to reduce civilian casualties, partly in response to pressure from the Afghan government.

And the new counter-insurgency strategy introduced by Gen McChrystal does seem to have had some effect, the report says.
According to its data, 94 Afghans were killed in air strikes between January and June 2010 - compared to 207 for the previous year.
In all 210 civilians had died in the past six months as a result of Nato-led strikes, shootings and raids, the report said.
"Dozens of people, including women and children, were shot dead during violent and barbaric intrusions, raids into houses and other counter-insurgency operations by US-Nato forces," the report's authors say.
Whilst the deaths of foreign soldiers often make headlines, the widespread deaths of Afghan civilians receive much less attention.
The United Nations has also charted rising civilian deaths in Afghanistan - it says 2,400 people were killed in 2009, up from 2,118 in 2008.

Just Some Reflections

I just lit the Shabbat candles, 

I’ve already burned two desks at home when the candle holder of one of them collapsed and the other fell.

Strange how fire has been such a significant factor in my life.

Sometimes I feel almost overwhelmed at the beauty and majesty of this world, and amazement of being with some of the women I have loved, and some that I have been in love with.

There were times when being with a new woman was a physical need, and little more than that.

There was one great love, she knows who she is, that I betrayed, she knows how and so do I.

We don’t talk about it.

She is too kind and circumspect to share it with the world, although I don’t have a problem with her telling our children why she tossed me.

I was ashamed of it at the time.

I’m not any longer.

I am not proud or happy about it, but my judgement was seriously impaired then.

For a couple of years in the 80’s I became addicted to prescription medications.

 And  I engaged in some pretty sordid indiscretions.

It didn’t represent me, it was me under the influence of meds, but…

I loved her then.

I still love her, but the reality is it is in the irrevocable past.

On the other hand, every one I loved betrayed me as well.

I forgive them, even though some will never do the same for me.

I am still very healthy and strong and passionate.

I have some financial difficulties, but I expect to surmount them, find someone to care for, and maybe find true love, if there is such a thing.

I didn’t mean to rant, sorry.

Some good articles are coming up, I hope you return.

The Big Fight

It was summer time on one of the ravine lined back streets of L.A.
It was already dark on the night of the big fight, the air was still.
Inside the cozy warm atmosphere of Ron Hahn’s house, set at the far end of a cul-de-sac on the edge of Chavez-Ravine, cold beer was flowing and the spirit of everyone, the young lower-middle class white kids, Louie Monarrez and Ron Hahn, Richard Hammon, Cowboy, and a couple of other 15, 16 and 17 year old males were electrified.
I was kind of new at streetfigting.
I had been boxing in the ring for a couple of years and felt pretty comfortable.
I was sort of a minor celebrity in the gym where I trained.
Everyone knew me and guys from other gyms would come to watch me spar.
There were big names fighting in those days.
I trained with a fighter who had gone 7 tough rounds with Muhammad Ali.
Tonight I was scheduled to fight one of the toughest kids in this part of L.A.
Nick Babich was cruelly good-looking.
Thick, black hair, locks over his forehead, dark, eyes, a slight upper curve of his lip.
He dressed like Elvis.
Not Elvis the good, but Elvis the hood.
Ron tilted a cold can of beer and drank deeply.
“I don’t think Nick will show up.”
I hope he doesn’t, I thought.
The thought was comforting.
I could loosen up a little and join the general festivities.


Richard Hammon threw an arm around me and and said, “You can beat him. I’ve wrestled with both of ya, and I’ve seen ya fight., I think you’ll knock him out.”
Good, positive, pre-fight talk.
He turns to Louie,”Don’t you think so, Louie?”
Louie is a pale, gangly Spanish kid that hung out with us.
“I don’t know…” Louie begins..“
“Nick’s bad. I’ve never seen him lose.”
Maybe he won’t show up, I’m thinking.
“Yo, Nicky!” calls out Louie.
Slowly I turn, and there he is,dark,
menacing looking in a black leather jacket, combat boots and black sunglasses.
Nick outweighed me by 30 lbs, and it was good weight, muscle and bone.
Like me, no fat.
Nick strolled towards me and put out his hand as I stood to face him.
“What’s happenin’?” He drawled, a half-smile half-sneer on his handsome face.
“Alright.” I answered, impassively.
“You ready to do this?” He asked.
“Let’s do it,” I responded.
The summer night was festive, but I was very aware of how festivities can turn out when fighting is part of the fun.
I had taken some savage beatings before I had mastered the “Sweet Science” of boxing.
Dad had drilled into me, “Never walk away from a fight.
There is nothing worse than a coward.”
He gave me a brief boxing lesson, and sent me out to prove my courage.
The only part I could ever remember about his lesson was, “Put your hands over your ears.”
As a result, for years other kids beat the hell out of me.
I knew nothing about fighting, and the kids I fought had at least strength and some fighting knowledge.
And I never backed down.
I never even tried to talk my way out of a fight.
So, I got beat up a lot.
By the time of the fight with Nick, I was highly trained as a fighter.
I knew I was fast and well-coordinated.
Dave Fierro, my mentor, drilled us like soldiers, and I was his favorite , he would often pull me aside, or otherwise get me alone, and say something like, “I haven’t given this to the other guys.
They haven’t earned it. You’ve learned your lessons. So here’s what we are going to do…”
He’d rip a page out of his training book and give it to me.
“You are going to be a champion, Mike.”
Nick and I walked through the front door and out to a dimly lit cul-de-sac to the South of Ron’s yard.
Nick was big, I thought as I looked across at him and he pulled off his leather jacket, revealing a powerful torso and muscular arms.
He handed the jacket to Louie….his second, I guess you could say.
Hammon was slightly behind me. “Good luck, Mike.”
“Thanks, Rick.” I was ready.
I bounced a little to warm up as I saw Nick strike a pose that would become familiar to me… hands up, elbows bent, fists clenched in front of his face, similar to Floyd Patterson’s Peek a Boo style.
He bounced back and forth lightly, then crossing his feet charged at me.
I side stepped and hit him on the jaw with two left jabs as he ran past me.
He spun around facing me and with more control threw a couple of dangerous and quick right hands.
I easily countered, throwing a right and a left, both landing on Nick’s face.
Nick threw more punches, I bobbed and weaved avoiding a couple of shots, and danced away from a couple more, meanwhile I popped two more jabs across his chin.
Adrenalin and endorphins were raging in my mind and blood as we fought.
I was in perfect condition.
I trained in the ring three or four times a week, shadow boxed at home and ran miles with Al Cruz, my step-father.
Everything I did was muscle memory, and yet, clues and strategies are intertwined with almost automatic moves in a fight.
I could feel my confidence growing.
I’d hit Nick with 10 or a dozen punches, he hadn’t hit me at all.
Nick was a streetfighter.
It was like a guy who’d watched tennis on television playing John McEnroe.
The crowd watching the fight had grown from “the guys”, to 50 or a hundred neighbors.
I had to give Nicky credit, for a streetfighter, he threw really nice looking punches.
But most his opponents in streetfights had probably come straight at him, and were not as fast as he was.
Nick was incredibly fast.
His punches were almost a blur.
Every time Nick threw punches he missed, and I was counterpunching a lot, and usually landing.
I was not knocking out a lot of people yet.
That came later.
Most of my street fights ended with my opponent giving up.
Not able to continue.
I was a defensive fighter.
I landed punches that counted in the ring, but they weren’t leveraged shots, they were more like flurry punches.
I wasn’t trying to knock people out in the ring, just to land more punches.
Before long I would learn to bear down on my punches, with devastating affects for my future opponents.
Nick charged at me again, only this time he grabbed me around the chest and tackled me to the asphalt.


I struggled to free myself, but Nick was a lot stronger and bigger than I was.
I thrashed, trying to pull my arms free.
“Mike!” Nick yelled, his face inches from mine.
“That’s enough. Let’s call it a draw.”
He didn’t wait for my answer.
“I’m gonna let you up. Don’t start swinging, OK?”
I realized at that moment, I was tired, almost exhausted.
“Alright. It’s a draw.”


We stood up and shook hands.
“You are as bad as I heard you were!” Laughs Nick.
“You too, “ I reply, tentatively.
“I want you to be my number one.” Nick said emphatically.
He leaned forward.
“You’ve got guts. You are a little guy, and you had the balls to fight me. And you are good.
A boxer.
Be my main guy, OK?”
I thought about my other friends.
They all deferred to Nick like he was a God.
My brother Rick thought Nick was a hero
“Okay Nick, we’re partners.”