Mens Rea

Aggressively Correcting Propaganda

You know this election season is exciting. Never in my life, or perhaps even in my parent's lifetime, have we seen such a wide-open contest among both parties. I will have no issue saying that my guy, John Edwards, gracefully bowed out. I have always liked Edwards and he singled-handedly moved the debate on the Democratic side to focus more on the rights and issues impacting ordinary working people. Although I am not working class, nor is any of my family, I was heavily influenced by my grandfather, a proud socialist, to look at the plight of the working man (or woman). That how we treat the everyday worker is a true reflection of the society we are. In so doing, if he had lived another decade, he would have been appalled.

When Edwards dropped out, I was left at a loss on who to vote for. To me there is not that much difference in terms of policy between the two. Hillary has a far more progressive and detailed healthcare plan while Obama has a better plan for Iraq. In general they are the same. However, after some soul searching, I am making my decision on a very unacademic perspective. While watching Obama's speeches, I got goosebumps. I felt proud to be an American. With Hillary, I am happy that we are not having George W., but she does not tickle my fancy. Obama has the ability to inspire. I suppose this is what made the youth flock towards RFK in 1968. He, singlehandedly has the ability to move this country past its racial wounds of old and into the the modern era. In so doing, he can show to the world, once again, that in America, anyone can be president. I am certainly looking forward to having a female president as well, but at the moment, Obama is far more about change than Clinto.

Going back to the title of this post, I keep on hearing from ignorant, stupid morons about Obama being a muslim. If I hear that again, I am going to petition them into the psychiatric hospital for being psychotic. They listen to this rhetoric and the emails that circulate and they believe it. Stupid stupid stupid people.

Passive Aggressiveness

Whether it was by some grand design or as a method of dealing with the ups and downs of my childhood, I tend to be passive aggressive. Mind you I do not mind arguing, but there is a huge distinction between an intellectual disagreement and full-out argument. My brother is even worse at avoiding any and all conflicts, but he just internalizes them rather than even attempt to deal with things. I guess in the back of my head, I think that by being passive aggressive, I am hoping that someone will get the picture. Unfortunately all of this is generally unconscious at the time and only in hindsight does it seem apparent. This is really delusional for how could someone know what I am thinking? Are they mind readers? No. And who does it end up hurting? Not them...me. Unless I was born with some sort of sick masochistic streak (and I am not ruling that out) there is no need to do this.

I have over the past year, dramatically increased my efficiency and my organization. Has this radically changed me? NO. It has reduced the anxiety of not knowing what is around the corner. Now, it is seeing the freight train coming toward me which is the issue. I have found that there are certain things that trigger this method of dealing with things. Irritation with someone or something. High maintenance (or to use a economic analogy- spending a disproportionate amount of time dealing with an unproductive or non-paying client) individuals. Items that are gargantuan and must be done in phases. Finally with self-rightous individuals. In other words much of this is situational. I would like to fix it, however I think that the answer is better to go with the flow. Meaning why try to make myself like something I do not. That is not to say that we never do things we do not like. But at the end of the day, can you say "I like what I am doing?" If the answer is no, then there's your answer. It is a "big picture" issue. For things that, in general, I enjoy I tend not to have these issues and my communication is far more direct and expectations are far more defined. Go figure.

Technorati Tags: GTD

Speaking Out

Yesterday the Feds shut down a very large charity organization here in Dearborn, Michigan. For those who are not from here, Dearborn, from my understanding, has the largest concentration of Arabs outside of the Middle East. Of course, not all Arabs are Muslim, but a significant portion are. Dearborn is one of the larger suburbs of Detroit and is about 20-25 minutes from me. With that cursory background out of the way, the Feds shut down a major charity organization that operated under the guise of funding orphans in Lebanon. In reality, they were funding Hizbollah.

The first reports from the Dearborn community was typical. The Arab equivalent of the Anti-Defmation League stated that we should not discriminate against Arabs and Muslims. Okay, my intellectual side says "okay, these are rotten apples." However, the pragmatist in me wants to see this. I want to see universal condemnation, not defensive posturing. I am sorry, but at this point when there are so many examples of extremist behavior within a given religion and a given region, it makes one take notice. I would have preferred the league to say "this is an outrage and only hurts our community, we, collectively, as a community condemn this action and it is not to be tolerated, we will work to do anything in our power to assist the authorities in bringing justice and shall provide education to our community to prevent such occurence from happening again." Basic PR 101. When you get defensive, you will only piss people off. Look, if I am starting to get fed up with these excuses, then Joe Blow American is probably seething. Thus, by saying "don't discriminate against us" you will only piss people off more. The Arab and Muslim population have a PR nightmare of monumental proportion on their hand. While this community is analogous to the Cuban population in Florida-that is they wield political power- I can tell you first hand that there is a growing movement, even among progressives that enough is enough. Clean up your fucking house, otherwise, you will see someone else who will. I am a champion of civil liberties and vehemently against torture; however, we live in the '24' era. Is this right? No. Torture and trampling on our constitutional rights only makes us become "them," but to the hoi polloi it seems not only reasonable but commendable.

Because of this community we have some of the best Lebanese food anywhere. There is a local chain, called La Shish that experienced part of this first hand. It seems that first the owners son was charged with a violent murder (non-terrorist related, but who cares, he's Arab thus there is a visceral response whether right or wrong). This murder coupled with the Feds charging them with tax violations as well as also funding (either directly or indirectly) supposed terrorists through charities made the local papers for over a year. In late 2005, just when this information was coming to light, Ann Arbor got its first La Shish. We were excited. We had a lot of local Middle Eastern restaurants, but they catered mostly to the university crowds. La Shish is elegant and their food is extraordinary (there are better in Dearborn, but for a chain it is fantastic). When it opened it was packed. However, quickly after the news about the owner's 'issues' came to surface the masses stopped going. This is interesting on several levels. First, this was a franchise, not owned directly by La Shish-but you would not know that by looking at it. Second, this is fucking Ann Arbor, where we have Jews marching for Israel out of Palestine. In other words, ridiculously liberal "progressive" folk and yet they were staying away in droves. The local owner, then changed it to "Mike's La Shish" (I know this is wrong, but I can't remember the actual name). However this did little to stem the tide of lost patrons. It was recently reported that they are going to completely change the name to something entirely different in breach of their contract. Personally, this is smart. Any lawyer with half a brain could get out from underneath the franchise agreement under the circumstances. But the central point is that if you have lost the Ann Arbor/university crowd on suspicion that they'd be somehow complicit in funding terrorists, you are truly fucked. Acknowledge the situation, deal with it, or you will suffer. It is that simple. Do I agree with this approach? I don't know. All I know is when I heard the reports on the charity and their community's first response, I was irritated and felt that they only have themselves to blame for this.

All groups have their nutjobs. However, as I have mentioned previously, when a nutjob anti-abortion Christian fundamentalist kills an OB/GYN it is universally condemned, even within their community. You do not hear a defensive plea "not all Christians are bad." Instead you heard anger and condemnation. Moreover, whether right or wrong, statistically speaking, the numbers are against the Arab and Muslim communities for being a source of recent terrorist activities. Why not address this?

Faith

No this is not going to be some theological discussion (well, at least not solely on it) but I think that there is a problem with faith in our society. The greatest question I have is, in what? In a little old man in the sky? In a fat, long eared happy man? In a stern bush from a burning tree? Hmmm... I don't think so. But that is just me.

But what about in your fellow man? Surely some people will have faith in others. I know I have in the past. Unfortunatley, the jaded cynic in me has said that there is no point in having faith in someone external to yourself. After all they too are human, and thus falliblle. Would you put faith in a craps table? Of course not. So why do we put faith in our fellow humans who are just as much a game of chance? It is a uniquely human response I suppose. A yearning of wanting to trust, the metaphorical leap of faith. Unfortunately when we rely on someone or something it will only disappoint us. In essense, if we are hoping (a projected positive mind manifestation of the future) that someone will do something for us we are failing to act ourselves. To have 'faith' in them, prevents us from individually doing what we can do ourselves. It is a barrier. Does this mean we should be insulent of others? No. But if we are told we may receive something from someone or something by way of faith (or hope) in them, we should understand it for what it is, merely a random gesture of kindness. It is like predicting where an electron will be. We can only approximate it, we cannot know for certain. Therefore, we must do what is necessary ourselves... NOW. If help or assistance comes along... then wonderful, but do not hope for it. Unrealized hope does more harm than the potential benefits of hope itself. Like everything in life, everything has its opposite and with hope, its opposite is disillusionment. To eschew both means truth faith.

Technorati Tags: Faith, Hope , Religion

Trials and Tribulations

It is one of those days.the economy is truly trickle down. Currently I am at the end of that process.I sometimes wonder if I should move abroad. There is a cruelness in the fabric of Americans. So much for the Great Society.

Remote blogging

This is a test of the emergency broadcast corporation.If you can readthis,it obviously works.

Been away for a bit

I have been away for a bit. Just really busy. Busy with developing business. Busy with getting back into shape. Busy getting things far more organized. Busy with potential new projects.

But busy does not have to be equated with stress, with anxiety, with negativity. It is the moment of 'now' that moves you, empowers you and sustains you. Not yesterday. Not twenty years ago. Not in six months, not in five years. Only now. Oh sure, goals are to be established. But you can't 'do' the future. You can only do something 'now.' Thus there is an inner stillness that despite all external stressors, allows me to move on. Have I transformed my being? Of course not. Such things take time. I am but at the tip of the iceberg. However, with some liberation comes the strength and ability to put form into action.

Daily Kos: Book Review: Dan Gilgoff's "The Jesus Machine"

Daily Kos: Book Review: Dan Gilgoff's "The Jesus Machine":


Book Review: Dan Gilgoff's "The Jesus Machine"
by SusanG

Sat Apr 14, 2007 at 10:01:58 AM PDT

The Jesus Machine
How James Dobson, Focus on the Family, and Evangelical America Are Winning the Culture War
By Dan Gilgoff
St. Martin’s Press
New York, 2007

"The average person in the establishment is not aware of what Dobson is saying to five or ten million people every week," said Richard Viguerie, the conservative activist who pioneered the use of direct mail for the Republican Party in the sixties and seventies. "That has served us beautifully."

The Jesus Machine is a tough read, my friends, for anyone in this country who believes in the separation of church and state. Tough, but absolutely necessary.

As a case study in patience, ingenuity, flexibility and political movement building, this book can’t be beat. The rough read part comes in every time you get jerked back to reality about what the Christian Right wants to impose on this country, and how deeply and uncompromisingly con

Technorati Tags: Jesus Machine, James Dobson, Religion

On Imus

I have mixed reaction to Imus' removal from MSNBC. Here's why: while I think that his statements were grotesque, off color and overly racist, I think that the context of such comments needs to always be examined. Similar to Michael Richards, comedy has always shocked, provoked and been disrespectful. However, there is a limit of what is provocative comedy and what is just crude and offensive. Both Imus and Richards were patently offensive in their racially charged epithets. While incredibly stupid and insensitive, I, for one, do not think that either of these two men are racists. I think the proof is in the pudding. Look at their life and see if there is a consistent pattern that is suggestive of true racism. Racism, to me is when one of the majority holds a deeply felt belief that a given minority is less than equal to the majority. Considering there were many African American players on the Tennessee team, I think his statement was more misogynistic than racist. Imus is one of the last Bastion's of misogynistic on-air personalities. He is cantankerous and irreverent. Personally, I have never really be able to get into him. My friends and family members are long-time listeners. To each their own I suppose. What upset me is that Imus is somehow the same as Howard Stern. While both say provocative things, I must say that during the times I have listened to Imus' show, it is typically about current affairs, not depicting some sex act like Stern. I hardly think that a show that features NY Times op-ed columnist, Maureen Dowd can be compared to Stern. It demonstrates the American mentality to sensationalize everything and not to examine subtleties.

I think that this should serve as a wake up call to people who like such crude humor. At the end of the day, it hurts and the lack of empathy is so indicative of our society. However, the knee-jerk reaction to this media circus is just as much an issue in my mind. How can we reconcile the two? We can't. Never have been able to, never will. But I do believe that through the years of right-wing and shock radio, Americans have become far too accepting of foul behavior. While I am unrelenting supporter of the first amendment's right to free speech, I think that we should also realize that this right cuts both ways and while it can do so much good, it can also slice quicker and more painfully than any knife.

Technorati Tags: puppy

Cost of Milk Litmus Test

You know Guiliani is taking a lot of heat because he doesn't know the price of a gallon of milk. Somehow this has evolved into the standard test to determine if you are "one of the people." If you don't know the price of a gallon of milk, then you are out of touch with normal Americans it is hypothocized. Typical myopic American mentality. Everything is reduced to the lowest common denominator. If I were a politician I would have my staff run to 5 stores on ever visit and give me a listing of the milk prices. But, should it matter? It is absurd. I don't know what the price of milk is. I even bought a gallon a week ago and I didn't pay attention. I don't pay attention to necessities unless it becomes unbearable. Perhaps if milk were $6.00 a gallon I would notice. Gas, is an entirely different issue. For most middle class people, $3.50 for milk may be a blip, but when gas gets over $3.00 a gallon and you're driving a big honkn' SUV, you take notice. There is, of course, another reason. When you fill gas, you constantly stare at the little numbers growing and growing until it hits $50.00. With fifty bucks, you can really do something with that. If you fill up twice in a week, that's an iPod shuffle- something tangible.

So, American's stop with the milk questions. It is irrelevant. Also, just because someone is rich, does not mean they can not empathize. Roosevelt was very wealthy, yet, he could feel the pain of the people and attempted to do anything in his power to alleviate it. Edwards takes criticism that he has a 28,000 sq. ft house. So what. He worked himself up from nothing. Look at his voting record. He clearly understands middle America.

Technorati Tags: Edwards, Guliani