Romney has lots of ideas ...
His first idea was to say he's cutting millionaires' taxes from 35% to 28%; his next idea is to say that he isn't going to do that!
Another idea was to get rid of the pre-existing condition requirement. Then he said he wasn't. Then his campaign clarified that yes, he was getting rid of that.
LOL!!!
Flip-flop ... this plutocrat changes his platform quicker than a bicyclist changing a flat tire in the Tour de France!
Monday, October 8, 2012
Romney's lies on Medicare
Romney's debate performance contained more lies and deceptions than just those relating to his tax plan. His assertion that Medicare is being sacrificed for Obamacare is patently untrue. First of all, Ryan included the same cuts to providers in the budget he wrote, Romney endorsed, and every Republican in the House voted for. Second, hospitals now collect only 38 cents on the dollar for services rendered to the unisured. For the most recent year figures are available, that is a loss of 86 billion dollars. Since Obamacare would reduce the number of uninsured by 60% or more, hospitals would not incur 10s of billions of dollars in yearly losses due to the uninsured. That is why the hospitals negotialed with the administration and agreed to pass some of those savings onto the governement through reduced Medicare reimbursement rates. Those reducted rates do not affect benefits and actully extend the life of Medicare by 8 years. Also, some of this money is being used to close the Medicare prescription doughnut hole. Just another cyncial deception and fear tactic from Romney.
I Burn Paris by Bruno Jasienski
I Burn Paris
by Bruno Jasieński
translated from the Polish
by Soren A. Gauger & Marcin Piekoszewski
I Burn Paris has remained one of Poland's most uncomfortable masterstrokes of literature since its initial and controversial serialization by Henri Barbusse in 1928 in L'Humanité (for which Jasienski was deported for disseminating subversive literature). It tells the story of a disgruntled factory worker who, finding himself on the streets, takes the opportunity to poison Paris's water supply. With the deaths piling up, we encounter Chinese communists, rabbis, disillusioned scientists, embittered Russian émigrés, French communards and royalists, American millionaires and a host of others as the city sections off into ethnic enclaves and everyone plots their route of escape. At the heart of the cosmopolitan city is a deep-rooted xenophobia and hatred — the one thread that binds all these groups together. As Paris is brought to ruin, Jasienski issues a rallying cry to the downtrodden of the world, mixing strains of "The Internationale" with a broadcast of popular music.
With its montage strategies reminiscent of early avant-garde cinema and fist-to-the-gut metaphors, I Burn Paris has lost none of its vitality and vigor. Ruthlessly dissecting various utopian fantasies, Jasienski is out to disorient, and he has a seemingly limitless ability to transform the Parisian landscape into the product of disease-addled minds. An exquisite example of literary Futurism and Catastrophism, the novel presents a filthy, degenerated world where factories and machines have replaced the human and economic relationships have turned just about everyone into a prostitute. Yet rather than cliché and simplistic propaganda, there is an immediacy to the writing, and the modern metropolis is starkly depicted as only superficially cosmopolitan, as hostile and animalistic at its core.
--------
Soren Gauger on Bruno Jasieński
As we speak, one of the few objects in Poland commemorating the life and work of Bruno Jasieński – a high school that bore his name in his hometown of Klimantów – has officially undergone a name change, on the grounds that the writer in question is not "an authority for today's youth" and, indeed, has a "demoralizing effect" on their young minds. Leaving aside the question of the desirability of judging literature on such criteria, what seems most astonishing is that, even now, over seventy years after his torture and execution in a Soviet prison, Jasieński is still such a socially awkward commodity, certain to make English-speaking readers as uncomfortable as Polish ones. Most of the greatest writers seem to have been born at the wrong time, but only a small handful of the truly odd ones feel as though they wouldn't be quite at home – or embraced – at any time.
Bruno Jasieński arrived in Paris in the fall of 1925. In his last surviving statement for the Russian NKVD before his execution, he listed three reasons for leaving Poland: (1) he had graduated from university and was due to serve twenty months of mandatory military service, (2) he was being sued for alleged blasphemy during one of his poetry readings in Lwów (today Lviv, Ukraine), which could have resulted in a year or two in prison, and (3) he was an unemployed literature graduate whose scandalous reputation scarcely promised him work as a high-school teacher. Difficult as it may be to imagine from today's perspective, his poetry readings had been banned by the police in many Polish cities, and on one occasion an audience had even stoned him for his work.
Jasieński intended to learn French and to write novels in his new language. Instead, he immediately enrolled in Chinese and Japanese classes, and wrote freelance articles for the Wiek Nowy newspaper in Lwów. Among other events, he covered the exhumation of famous Romantic poet Juliusz Słowacki's remains in Paris and their shipment back to Poland. He also worked as a director at the Polish Workers' Theater, where he staged an adaptation of one of his own poems.
The decision to write I Burn Paris is immortalized in Aleksander Wat's conversations with Czesław Miłosz (My Century):
Wat: [Jasieński's] communism became absolute because of I Burn Paris, with that quarrel over I Burn Paris, when the French authorities expelled him and raised a fuss. I saw how I Burn Paris came about, through his ignorance of the French language. It was like this: Jasieński returned home, I was having dinner at his place, and he started saying with incredible passion and fury that he had seen Morand's latest book in the bookstore, Je brule Moscou. And he was enraged, pacing round the apartment, cursing, unable to calm himself, that Moscow, which he had just... That crook, that fascist...
Miłosz: He didn't understand that bruler means something different: to drive through quickly?
Wat: And three or four days later he was telling me the plot of a novel he wanted to write: Je brule Paris. Sometimes this is how great works of literature get made. He was chased out of France for Je brule Paris in 1929. He went straight to Leningrad from Paris by ship.
Poland's most untiring Jasieński advocate, Krzysztof Jaworski, suggests in Bruno Jasieński in Paris that this story might have been touched up a bit: Jasieńśki had written positive reviews of Morand's work, a rarity in Jasienski's critical output. Jaworski suggests that the "rage" might have been colored in for effect. But such is the appeal of Wat's story that it retains its hold in the popular imagination.
Jasieński was indeed expelled from France for this novel, and import of the book form (it originally appeared piecemeal in the l'Humanité communist periodical) was forbidden on the grounds that it "exuded blind and stupid hatred for Western European culture." Nor did it increase his popularity in Poland, though in Russia it became a legitimate phenomenon: the first edition of 140,000 copies sold out in a matter of days, prompting a second edition of 220,000 copies.
Small wonder: The book chronicles, in the first part, an unemployed factory worker who is so abused and manhandled by French society that pouring a test tube of the Black plague into the water supply seems the only reasonable solution. In the present section, our protagonist dies in fits and spasms. Then for the last two hundred pages, Paris divides into cultural or political districts (Anglo-Americans/Jews/Chinese/workers/policemen etc.), while all the hate and mistrust latent in such a multicultural society comes bubbling to the surface. By the end Paris, the symbolic heart of Bourgeois culture, is a landscape of corpses.
I Burn Paris remains a reluctantly acknowledged masterpiece in part because of all the ambiguities. The effect comes from following moral impulses so obsessively that they sometimes become their own opposites. The novel marks what is generally thought to be Jasieński's transition from Futurism to Catastrophism. What this means, for example, is that Jasieński's earlier poetry took the staccato rhythm and mechanics of typewriters, trams, factories etc. as their substance, as in the following passage:
The thousands-strong, hundred-street cities pumping out thousands of papers a day, the long black columns of words shouting loud on the boulevards written by little old bespectacled men - wrong - the City writes them stenographing a thousand collisions - in synch, in time, in blood - a hundred thousand camera clicks mark long forty-column epics.[...]power-plant strikes, suicide, adultery, there's your big fat poetry.
- "Song of Hunger," 1922
Compare (from Part One of I Burn Paris, after the protagonist has been thrown in prison):
On the other side of the wall, in the neighboring cramped cells — a strange society of castaways, discarded like waste by the scrupulous, unforgiving machine of the world to this place, behind the high wall on Boulevard Arago and, by someone's inconceivable will, tied and hitched to a new and bizarre mechanism, governed by the new and bizarre laws of the World of Readymade Things. The pointless walks around the symmetrical circles of the courtyard, regular as a carousel, under the low, sooty bell jar of the prison skies. The long rosary, manipulated by some unseen hand, of which each bead is the live, pulsating guts of human existence. The machinery built of cogs that had no place beyond the wall, but which unexpectedly meshed when thrown together in this monstrous lumberyard, clinging to one another and creating a new collective organism, functioning according to a new guiding principle, one scarcely conceived on the other side.
In the novel, the wonderment is gone, the machine has run amok. The pulse in Jasieński's poetry is a mechanical one. It was (remains) shocking for its bold disregard of what this mechanization means, preferring merely to hand us a portrait of the state of things in the modern world, and making a poetry that reflects it. His novel, on the other hand, focuses precisely on the ramifications of this state of things. Yet the recurrence of these images retain some of the young Futurist's fascination for the factory-made man, and his prose holds onto the one-two punch of the poetry's mechanized rhythm. The repetition of such adjectives as "matte" and "flickering" tell us something else: Jasieński's book is an early example of literature with a distinctly cinematic sensibility (Eisenstein is certainly a reference point), a narrative viewed through a camera lens.
A similar ambiguity emerges in Jasieński's treatment of the moral decadence and degradation of his contemporary society, which takes many forms: brothels, child prostitution, racism, grinding poverty, jazz music, the lifestyles of upper classes and bourgeoisie, and so on. Pierre, the novel's initial protagonist (whose death occurs early, in a strangely offhand gesture), appears as a kind of inter-war Candide, stumbling through the dark woods of modern French society, pummeled by its various mechanisms. Of course, in the midst of detailing the horrors that await Pierre in his weird spiral to madness, Jasieński ends up writing passages that very much resemble a decadent novel. Everything is grotesquely bent out of shape, but the sections detailing the revulsion and vileness are, from a literary point of view, some of the most compelling to read. It is a dilemma familiar to the religious painter: Hell is more fun to paint.
Finally, there is a strange and unsolvable contradiction in the fact that a novel which culminates in celebrating the triumphant spread of communism is also a novel whose central motif is the spread of a deadly and unstoppable plague.
None of this is to doubt the sincerity or conviction of Jasieński's aims. The treatment of the Jew by the White Russian officer will seem shockingly prescient to the twenty-first century reader with any knowledge of the Holocaust. The impression is made all the more powerful when one recalls how rare such depictions are in the European literature of the 1920s and 1930s. In his later novella entitled "The Nose" (forthcoming from Twisted Spoon, in The Legs of Izolda Morgan and Other Writings), written in Russian, he offers a rare, if not unique example of a writer with Jewish roots satirizing the sick morality of Nazi Germany before the war broke out. In the present novel, his humane treatment of P'an, the Chinese protagonist, again finds few parallels in the European literature of the time. What remains impressive in I Burn Paris is the fact that, whatever the moral or political status of the character at hand, Jasieński gives him/her full rights to our understanding and sympathy. In this disease-infested Paris everyone may well be cutting everyone else's throats, and the portrait of humanity as it stands might be dismal beyond repair, but as individuals, everyone gets a fair hearing, and a fleshed-out literary existence.
But the ambiguities I have mentioned do seem to suggest that there is a subconscious, or subterranean, life to the narrative, one that goes unacknowledged by the writer as such, but which is perhaps the chief source of discomfort in reading the novel. Whether it is the Futurist undermining the Catastrophist, Jasieński casting doubt on his own best intentions, or a classic case of attraction/repulsion syndrome, it is a tension that runs through much of the book.
We should note in passing that the translator's introduction – surely the most conservative of all arts, save perhaps typography – has undergone a shift in demeanor over the past few decades which is, not surprisingly, reflective of the shift in the so-called art of translating as such. This shift might broadly be defined as one from creative virtuosity to academic fidelity – both approaches with their own drawbacks – and accordingly, the sometimes disarming sincerity and eccentricity of translators' introductions of the 1960s and 1970s has largely given way to introductions that are at best blandly informative, and at worst larded with an academic rhetoric that puts the translator in a position of authority over his subject (i.e. the writer being translated). As I have no intention of playing such shabby tricks with the reader, because I am old-fashioned enough to believe that a translation should be motivated, above all, by a kind of bald enthusiasm for the author at hand, and ultimately, because this particular writer is one of painful, and sometimes uncomfortable honesty, I should like to include the following.
Any introduction to I Burn Paris should explain what I see as the real tragedy of Bruno Jasieński, though I would like to refrain from wringing my hands and gnashing my teeth. The tragedy has less to do with the garden-variety pathos of a highly gifted writer sentenced to death in the vast slaughter of Stalinist Russia (though surely this is tragic enough), than with a more unconventional sort of tragedy: that of an artist pursuing his own delusions to the bitter end. From his earliest poetry, Jasieński was a writer with a powerful sense of his own showmanship and the manufacture of his own identity. This included the monocle he liked to wear, the pseudonym (real name: Wiktor Zysman), affiliation with various literary movements, manifestoes, public statements, rallies, and performances. Even as an aesthetic writer (as opposed to the politically engaged writer he later became), he had an acute sense of creating a persona – the writer himself was viewed as another fictional character. Jasieński's literary voice is seldom, if ever, an intimate one – it is that of a man holding forth from a tribunal or a podium. It is a Romantic impulse, a sign that a writer sees his role as a spokesman for the people (compare: Bruno Schulz's "secretly clasping his reader's hand under the table").
There is a certain inevitability, perhaps, in such writers finding politics. Like many intellectuals of his time, Jasieński was a Marxist. When he found himself expelled from France after the publication of I Burn Paris, the Soviet Union gave him a hero's welcome (a surviving photograph: crowds with banners at the train station, gathered round to greet him). His addresses to the Soviet public maintain the confidence and bluster of his early Futurist manifestoes. That is to say, one has the creeping suspicion that the character of Jasieński the writer (as opposed to Zysman – whoever he was) had not been fundamentally altered, it was only the rhetoric and the vocabulary that had changed. When the purges began in earnest in the 1930s and it became very dangerous to be a public persona, Jasieński had already made a few enemies, and he was soon fighting accusations of being a Polish spy and an enemy of the people. He was arrested on 31 July 1937, and executed on 17 September 1938.
There survive a few of his letters written from captivity directly to Stalin, begging for mercy. In his last letter of many pages, written in self-defense, he lists the shocking tortures he was subjected to (fingernails pulled out, teeth punched out), but just as shockingly, for the first time, we seem to hear Zysman speaking, begging to be allowed to die rather than continue the tortures. Zysman drops all the swagger of his character. And if I am not wholly mistaken, there is a dim recognition of the insanity of having arrived there simply for having played his role - and a confusion at the notion of all this fiction ultimately having such brutal consequences.
by Bruno Jasieński
translated from the Polish
by Soren A. Gauger & Marcin Piekoszewski
I Burn Paris has remained one of Poland's most uncomfortable masterstrokes of literature since its initial and controversial serialization by Henri Barbusse in 1928 in L'Humanité (for which Jasienski was deported for disseminating subversive literature). It tells the story of a disgruntled factory worker who, finding himself on the streets, takes the opportunity to poison Paris's water supply. With the deaths piling up, we encounter Chinese communists, rabbis, disillusioned scientists, embittered Russian émigrés, French communards and royalists, American millionaires and a host of others as the city sections off into ethnic enclaves and everyone plots their route of escape. At the heart of the cosmopolitan city is a deep-rooted xenophobia and hatred — the one thread that binds all these groups together. As Paris is brought to ruin, Jasienski issues a rallying cry to the downtrodden of the world, mixing strains of "The Internationale" with a broadcast of popular music.
With its montage strategies reminiscent of early avant-garde cinema and fist-to-the-gut metaphors, I Burn Paris has lost none of its vitality and vigor. Ruthlessly dissecting various utopian fantasies, Jasienski is out to disorient, and he has a seemingly limitless ability to transform the Parisian landscape into the product of disease-addled minds. An exquisite example of literary Futurism and Catastrophism, the novel presents a filthy, degenerated world where factories and machines have replaced the human and economic relationships have turned just about everyone into a prostitute. Yet rather than cliché and simplistic propaganda, there is an immediacy to the writing, and the modern metropolis is starkly depicted as only superficially cosmopolitan, as hostile and animalistic at its core.
--------
Soren Gauger on Bruno Jasieński
As we speak, one of the few objects in Poland commemorating the life and work of Bruno Jasieński – a high school that bore his name in his hometown of Klimantów – has officially undergone a name change, on the grounds that the writer in question is not "an authority for today's youth" and, indeed, has a "demoralizing effect" on their young minds. Leaving aside the question of the desirability of judging literature on such criteria, what seems most astonishing is that, even now, over seventy years after his torture and execution in a Soviet prison, Jasieński is still such a socially awkward commodity, certain to make English-speaking readers as uncomfortable as Polish ones. Most of the greatest writers seem to have been born at the wrong time, but only a small handful of the truly odd ones feel as though they wouldn't be quite at home – or embraced – at any time.
Bruno Jasieński arrived in Paris in the fall of 1925. In his last surviving statement for the Russian NKVD before his execution, he listed three reasons for leaving Poland: (1) he had graduated from university and was due to serve twenty months of mandatory military service, (2) he was being sued for alleged blasphemy during one of his poetry readings in Lwów (today Lviv, Ukraine), which could have resulted in a year or two in prison, and (3) he was an unemployed literature graduate whose scandalous reputation scarcely promised him work as a high-school teacher. Difficult as it may be to imagine from today's perspective, his poetry readings had been banned by the police in many Polish cities, and on one occasion an audience had even stoned him for his work.
Jasieński intended to learn French and to write novels in his new language. Instead, he immediately enrolled in Chinese and Japanese classes, and wrote freelance articles for the Wiek Nowy newspaper in Lwów. Among other events, he covered the exhumation of famous Romantic poet Juliusz Słowacki's remains in Paris and their shipment back to Poland. He also worked as a director at the Polish Workers' Theater, where he staged an adaptation of one of his own poems.
The decision to write I Burn Paris is immortalized in Aleksander Wat's conversations with Czesław Miłosz (My Century):
Wat: [Jasieński's] communism became absolute because of I Burn Paris, with that quarrel over I Burn Paris, when the French authorities expelled him and raised a fuss. I saw how I Burn Paris came about, through his ignorance of the French language. It was like this: Jasieński returned home, I was having dinner at his place, and he started saying with incredible passion and fury that he had seen Morand's latest book in the bookstore, Je brule Moscou. And he was enraged, pacing round the apartment, cursing, unable to calm himself, that Moscow, which he had just... That crook, that fascist...
Miłosz: He didn't understand that bruler means something different: to drive through quickly?
Wat: And three or four days later he was telling me the plot of a novel he wanted to write: Je brule Paris. Sometimes this is how great works of literature get made. He was chased out of France for Je brule Paris in 1929. He went straight to Leningrad from Paris by ship.
Poland's most untiring Jasieński advocate, Krzysztof Jaworski, suggests in Bruno Jasieński in Paris that this story might have been touched up a bit: Jasieńśki had written positive reviews of Morand's work, a rarity in Jasienski's critical output. Jaworski suggests that the "rage" might have been colored in for effect. But such is the appeal of Wat's story that it retains its hold in the popular imagination.
Jasieński was indeed expelled from France for this novel, and import of the book form (it originally appeared piecemeal in the l'Humanité communist periodical) was forbidden on the grounds that it "exuded blind and stupid hatred for Western European culture." Nor did it increase his popularity in Poland, though in Russia it became a legitimate phenomenon: the first edition of 140,000 copies sold out in a matter of days, prompting a second edition of 220,000 copies.
Small wonder: The book chronicles, in the first part, an unemployed factory worker who is so abused and manhandled by French society that pouring a test tube of the Black plague into the water supply seems the only reasonable solution. In the present section, our protagonist dies in fits and spasms. Then for the last two hundred pages, Paris divides into cultural or political districts (Anglo-Americans/Jews/Chinese/workers/policemen etc.), while all the hate and mistrust latent in such a multicultural society comes bubbling to the surface. By the end Paris, the symbolic heart of Bourgeois culture, is a landscape of corpses.
I Burn Paris remains a reluctantly acknowledged masterpiece in part because of all the ambiguities. The effect comes from following moral impulses so obsessively that they sometimes become their own opposites. The novel marks what is generally thought to be Jasieński's transition from Futurism to Catastrophism. What this means, for example, is that Jasieński's earlier poetry took the staccato rhythm and mechanics of typewriters, trams, factories etc. as their substance, as in the following passage:
The thousands-strong, hundred-street cities pumping out thousands of papers a day, the long black columns of words shouting loud on the boulevards written by little old bespectacled men - wrong - the City writes them stenographing a thousand collisions - in synch, in time, in blood - a hundred thousand camera clicks mark long forty-column epics.[...]power-plant strikes, suicide, adultery, there's your big fat poetry.
- "Song of Hunger," 1922
Compare (from Part One of I Burn Paris, after the protagonist has been thrown in prison):
On the other side of the wall, in the neighboring cramped cells — a strange society of castaways, discarded like waste by the scrupulous, unforgiving machine of the world to this place, behind the high wall on Boulevard Arago and, by someone's inconceivable will, tied and hitched to a new and bizarre mechanism, governed by the new and bizarre laws of the World of Readymade Things. The pointless walks around the symmetrical circles of the courtyard, regular as a carousel, under the low, sooty bell jar of the prison skies. The long rosary, manipulated by some unseen hand, of which each bead is the live, pulsating guts of human existence. The machinery built of cogs that had no place beyond the wall, but which unexpectedly meshed when thrown together in this monstrous lumberyard, clinging to one another and creating a new collective organism, functioning according to a new guiding principle, one scarcely conceived on the other side.
In the novel, the wonderment is gone, the machine has run amok. The pulse in Jasieński's poetry is a mechanical one. It was (remains) shocking for its bold disregard of what this mechanization means, preferring merely to hand us a portrait of the state of things in the modern world, and making a poetry that reflects it. His novel, on the other hand, focuses precisely on the ramifications of this state of things. Yet the recurrence of these images retain some of the young Futurist's fascination for the factory-made man, and his prose holds onto the one-two punch of the poetry's mechanized rhythm. The repetition of such adjectives as "matte" and "flickering" tell us something else: Jasieński's book is an early example of literature with a distinctly cinematic sensibility (Eisenstein is certainly a reference point), a narrative viewed through a camera lens.
A similar ambiguity emerges in Jasieński's treatment of the moral decadence and degradation of his contemporary society, which takes many forms: brothels, child prostitution, racism, grinding poverty, jazz music, the lifestyles of upper classes and bourgeoisie, and so on. Pierre, the novel's initial protagonist (whose death occurs early, in a strangely offhand gesture), appears as a kind of inter-war Candide, stumbling through the dark woods of modern French society, pummeled by its various mechanisms. Of course, in the midst of detailing the horrors that await Pierre in his weird spiral to madness, Jasieński ends up writing passages that very much resemble a decadent novel. Everything is grotesquely bent out of shape, but the sections detailing the revulsion and vileness are, from a literary point of view, some of the most compelling to read. It is a dilemma familiar to the religious painter: Hell is more fun to paint.
Finally, there is a strange and unsolvable contradiction in the fact that a novel which culminates in celebrating the triumphant spread of communism is also a novel whose central motif is the spread of a deadly and unstoppable plague.
None of this is to doubt the sincerity or conviction of Jasieński's aims. The treatment of the Jew by the White Russian officer will seem shockingly prescient to the twenty-first century reader with any knowledge of the Holocaust. The impression is made all the more powerful when one recalls how rare such depictions are in the European literature of the 1920s and 1930s. In his later novella entitled "The Nose" (forthcoming from Twisted Spoon, in The Legs of Izolda Morgan and Other Writings), written in Russian, he offers a rare, if not unique example of a writer with Jewish roots satirizing the sick morality of Nazi Germany before the war broke out. In the present novel, his humane treatment of P'an, the Chinese protagonist, again finds few parallels in the European literature of the time. What remains impressive in I Burn Paris is the fact that, whatever the moral or political status of the character at hand, Jasieński gives him/her full rights to our understanding and sympathy. In this disease-infested Paris everyone may well be cutting everyone else's throats, and the portrait of humanity as it stands might be dismal beyond repair, but as individuals, everyone gets a fair hearing, and a fleshed-out literary existence.
But the ambiguities I have mentioned do seem to suggest that there is a subconscious, or subterranean, life to the narrative, one that goes unacknowledged by the writer as such, but which is perhaps the chief source of discomfort in reading the novel. Whether it is the Futurist undermining the Catastrophist, Jasieński casting doubt on his own best intentions, or a classic case of attraction/repulsion syndrome, it is a tension that runs through much of the book.
We should note in passing that the translator's introduction – surely the most conservative of all arts, save perhaps typography – has undergone a shift in demeanor over the past few decades which is, not surprisingly, reflective of the shift in the so-called art of translating as such. This shift might broadly be defined as one from creative virtuosity to academic fidelity – both approaches with their own drawbacks – and accordingly, the sometimes disarming sincerity and eccentricity of translators' introductions of the 1960s and 1970s has largely given way to introductions that are at best blandly informative, and at worst larded with an academic rhetoric that puts the translator in a position of authority over his subject (i.e. the writer being translated). As I have no intention of playing such shabby tricks with the reader, because I am old-fashioned enough to believe that a translation should be motivated, above all, by a kind of bald enthusiasm for the author at hand, and ultimately, because this particular writer is one of painful, and sometimes uncomfortable honesty, I should like to include the following.
Any introduction to I Burn Paris should explain what I see as the real tragedy of Bruno Jasieński, though I would like to refrain from wringing my hands and gnashing my teeth. The tragedy has less to do with the garden-variety pathos of a highly gifted writer sentenced to death in the vast slaughter of Stalinist Russia (though surely this is tragic enough), than with a more unconventional sort of tragedy: that of an artist pursuing his own delusions to the bitter end. From his earliest poetry, Jasieński was a writer with a powerful sense of his own showmanship and the manufacture of his own identity. This included the monocle he liked to wear, the pseudonym (real name: Wiktor Zysman), affiliation with various literary movements, manifestoes, public statements, rallies, and performances. Even as an aesthetic writer (as opposed to the politically engaged writer he later became), he had an acute sense of creating a persona – the writer himself was viewed as another fictional character. Jasieński's literary voice is seldom, if ever, an intimate one – it is that of a man holding forth from a tribunal or a podium. It is a Romantic impulse, a sign that a writer sees his role as a spokesman for the people (compare: Bruno Schulz's "secretly clasping his reader's hand under the table").
There is a certain inevitability, perhaps, in such writers finding politics. Like many intellectuals of his time, Jasieński was a Marxist. When he found himself expelled from France after the publication of I Burn Paris, the Soviet Union gave him a hero's welcome (a surviving photograph: crowds with banners at the train station, gathered round to greet him). His addresses to the Soviet public maintain the confidence and bluster of his early Futurist manifestoes. That is to say, one has the creeping suspicion that the character of Jasieński the writer (as opposed to Zysman – whoever he was) had not been fundamentally altered, it was only the rhetoric and the vocabulary that had changed. When the purges began in earnest in the 1930s and it became very dangerous to be a public persona, Jasieński had already made a few enemies, and he was soon fighting accusations of being a Polish spy and an enemy of the people. He was arrested on 31 July 1937, and executed on 17 September 1938.
There survive a few of his letters written from captivity directly to Stalin, begging for mercy. In his last letter of many pages, written in self-defense, he lists the shocking tortures he was subjected to (fingernails pulled out, teeth punched out), but just as shockingly, for the first time, we seem to hear Zysman speaking, begging to be allowed to die rather than continue the tortures. Zysman drops all the swagger of his character. And if I am not wholly mistaken, there is a dim recognition of the insanity of having arrived there simply for having played his role - and a confusion at the notion of all this fiction ultimately having such brutal consequences.
Vietnam Veteran vs Romney's 4 Deferments
I had a conversation with a 70+ year old Vietnam veteran a couple of weeks ago. I told him, "Romney can't help it - he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth." He replied, "Silver spoon!!! You mean a silver shovel!!!" While Romney was out protesting in favor of the Vietnam war, this veteran was fighting to stay alive in the jungles of southeast Asia. 
Romney on far right protesting in favor of the Vietnam War.
Romney on far right protesting in favor of the Vietnam War.
The Plutocrat & The Equestrian
The 400 richest Americans have more wealth than the bottom 150 million of us. I don't have a problem with their wealth - more power to them. I do however take exception to the fact that I pay more in taxes than these fat cats ...
So Romney made 47% remarks at the home of an investor (Mark Leder) who wrecked a company (Friendly's) to shift its pension obligations to the Federal Government. Why are people surprised? Mittens is a wealthy plutocrat married to a known equestrian ...
Mittens took a $77,000 tax deduction on his wife's horse. Alot of people in this country don't make that kind of money in a year, two years, three years, four years ... You get the point I'm trying to make. In case Mittens hadn't thought of it while he was speaking, which is more often than not, retirees paid for their 'entitlements' long ago, long before he was born.
The majority of seniors who I speak to at the call center are so afraid that Romney/Ryan will turn Medicare into a "voucher" program. Can you blame these poor people?
So Romney made 47% remarks at the home of an investor (Mark Leder) who wrecked a company (Friendly's) to shift its pension obligations to the Federal Government. Why are people surprised? Mittens is a wealthy plutocrat married to a known equestrian ...
The majority of seniors who I speak to at the call center are so afraid that Romney/Ryan will turn Medicare into a "voucher" program. Can you blame these poor people?
Justice Louis D. Brandeis
Pamela Karlan of Stanford Law School, one of the nation's leading voting-rights litigators, reminded a Washington audience a few years ago of Justice Louis D. Brandeis's famous warning against fear. "Men feared witches and burnt women," Brandeis said in a famous dissent. After Crawford, among the first Indiana voters turned away from the polls was a group of nuns in their 80s and 90s.
"We fear terrorists and disfranchise nuns," Karlan said.
"We fear terrorists and disfranchise nuns," Karlan said.
Feeling Better than Ever
It's been 5 months since my last post. My right forearm feels pretty good after my 6th surgery back in May, but I have to be careful with regard to overuse. I'll try to limit my typing, but alot is happening with the upcoming presidential election in November. I'm a volunteer with the Obama campaign. Patience and I canvass door-to-door when my schedule permits. I'm at the call center in Media on Monday and Tuesday nights. The past three weeks I have been going in on Sunday afternoons to make calls. My friends and family ask me, "Arent't you tired?" Sure, I'm tired, but too much is at stake in this election. 
We have come too far after 8 disastrous years under a Republican administration to turn back ... President Bush destroyed our economy and our standing in the world. We can't turn back to the same old same old that got us into this mess in the first place. The majority of Americans continue to trust President Obama on the economy because they have finally come to the realization that voodoo economics (trickle-down theory) just doesn't work. We've been there - done that - which led to the worst financial meltdown since the Great Depression. You cannot simultaneously cut taxes and fight two wars without paying for same. It's simple math.
Could things get worse? Yes, under another Republican administration. I wouldn't trust Romney/Ryan with a 10-foot pole when it comes to the economy. I wouldn't trust them on alot of other issues - more on those in another post.
Could things get worse? Yes, under another Republican administration. I wouldn't trust Romney/Ryan with a 10-foot pole when it comes to the economy. I wouldn't trust them on alot of other issues - more on those in another post.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Voodoo Economics
The banking dominoes will start falling by this summer ...
Rumor is Morgan Stanley - another Lehman Bros in size - has a LOT of exposure to European banks via derivatives. So if there is a run on the European banks - or they just go bust before a run - its 2008 all over again and time for another TARP. Why not? It worked the LAST time, right.
What do you call it when taxpayers are used to bail out Capitalism? Surely not Socialism or Communism and it most certainly cannot be called Capitalism. So that leaves Fascism - using middle class tax money to bail out the upper class as necessary to maintain the status quo ...
The way you get out of a deep recession or depression is spend, current policies of austerity just drive the economic ship into deeper water. And some of you want to drill more and bigger holes in the bottom, idiocy. We have had 35 plus years of voodoo economics, cutting taxes, running up ever greater deficits and we are to get out of it by cutting more taxes, more jobs, again idiocy. Running major wars while cutting taxes, reducing protections against bank speculations and other stupidity, all this is beyond idiocy - it verges on treason. These are in fact, acts of treason, in the name of big business and the criminal class of talking faces owned by their (the wealthy) think tanks and foundations. Ever since Reagan we have been told that if we cut taxes the economy would be the better for it, that the growth in wealth would trickle down, well it does not trickle - it goes to the wealthy and there it sits, more idiocy ...
So all you 'game show host' (Mitt Romney) supporters out there - be it now or a hundred years from now - the trickle will still be 'any day' now ... You have fallen for a con job, your head has run into the same wall over and over and you still believe that the Republicans help the economy ... This goes beyond idiocy into the realm of the moronic.
Rumor is Morgan Stanley - another Lehman Bros in size - has a LOT of exposure to European banks via derivatives. So if there is a run on the European banks - or they just go bust before a run - its 2008 all over again and time for another TARP. Why not? It worked the LAST time, right.
What do you call it when taxpayers are used to bail out Capitalism? Surely not Socialism or Communism and it most certainly cannot be called Capitalism. So that leaves Fascism - using middle class tax money to bail out the upper class as necessary to maintain the status quo ...
So all you 'game show host' (Mitt Romney) supporters out there - be it now or a hundred years from now - the trickle will still be 'any day' now ... You have fallen for a con job, your head has run into the same wall over and over and you still believe that the Republicans help the economy ... This goes beyond idiocy into the realm of the moronic.
End the Fed
Those blaming the working class and the backbone of any economy for the economic woes of the country or for the world for that matter have no clue how money is created and used in our society.
Once a person understands the Federal Reserve and its fractional reserve banking system (if they have half a brain) know it is the most corrupt institution on the planet and it is by design a system that causes economies to fail.
These are the same people who have us playing the Democrat/Republican blame. They keep us in fear, divided, and distracted while they steal our wealth, civil liberties, and security. It is idiotic at best to think if we change parties in the White House that things will change. Our political system has turned into a two-headed one party system serving their masters the banksters/Federal Reserve and Wall Street.
Greece is in trouble like all countries who are tied into the Federal Reserve and their fractional reserve banking system. Greece's troubles started when Goldman Sachs helped them fudge their economic numbers to get into the Euro zone. They went off their currency the Drachma to the Euro which is part of the European Central Bank/Federal Reserve.
The Federal Reserve system is designed to cause economies to fail and be subservient to them. The Federal Reserve (a group of mostly European banksters) which is neither Federal nor a reserve creates money out of thin air and charges interest on it insuring a debtor economy. Who died and made them the lords of our currency? It was the Federal Reserve Act of 1913!
If someone loans you two dollars to run your economy and expects three back for the loan and interest how are you going to pay the third back? You can’t unless you borrow more dollars which puts you in perpetual debt and in a constant borrowing cycle to pay off the debt. This design is not accidental ...
Here’s the clincher - once the Federal Reserve/banksters have you struggling to pay off your interest, they send in their loan sharks - the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF will loan you money to cover your ever-burdening interest payments but they attach a provision that if you default, you will have to give them your assets in what they call privatization (foreclosure).
Since the interest is exponential, you will default and the banksters will come in and try to foreclose on your country, like Greece (Spain is next ...) They are being told to sell off their own country to pay back the people who caused the mess to begin with. This allows the elite to steal your intrinsic valuable assets because they gave you paper (loans/debt) and the interest on the debt that is systematically impossible to pay back. It has been the corrupt political and business leaders who have made the decisions to allow this to happen. It’s all about greed, power, and corruption folks.
In the United States case, it doesn’t have to be that way. In our constitution, in Article 1, Section 8, it stipulates that we can 'coin money' as a nation and avoid the Federal Reserve’s interest (fee charged on loans) black hole.
The Federal Reserve has a 100 year charter and it is up in 2013. We have to stop these banksters from gaining an extension by our corrupt paid off politicians. If we can stop the extension, we will take control of our currency and our income taxes will drop dramatically! End the Fed!
Once a person understands the Federal Reserve and its fractional reserve banking system (if they have half a brain) know it is the most corrupt institution on the planet and it is by design a system that causes economies to fail.
Greece is in trouble like all countries who are tied into the Federal Reserve and their fractional reserve banking system. Greece's troubles started when Goldman Sachs helped them fudge their economic numbers to get into the Euro zone. They went off their currency the Drachma to the Euro which is part of the European Central Bank/Federal Reserve.
The Federal Reserve system is designed to cause economies to fail and be subservient to them. The Federal Reserve (a group of mostly European banksters) which is neither Federal nor a reserve creates money out of thin air and charges interest on it insuring a debtor economy. Who died and made them the lords of our currency? It was the Federal Reserve Act of 1913!
If someone loans you two dollars to run your economy and expects three back for the loan and interest how are you going to pay the third back? You can’t unless you borrow more dollars which puts you in perpetual debt and in a constant borrowing cycle to pay off the debt. This design is not accidental ...
Here’s the clincher - once the Federal Reserve/banksters have you struggling to pay off your interest, they send in their loan sharks - the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF will loan you money to cover your ever-burdening interest payments but they attach a provision that if you default, you will have to give them your assets in what they call privatization (foreclosure).
Since the interest is exponential, you will default and the banksters will come in and try to foreclose on your country, like Greece (Spain is next ...) They are being told to sell off their own country to pay back the people who caused the mess to begin with. This allows the elite to steal your intrinsic valuable assets because they gave you paper (loans/debt) and the interest on the debt that is systematically impossible to pay back. It has been the corrupt political and business leaders who have made the decisions to allow this to happen. It’s all about greed, power, and corruption folks.
In the United States case, it doesn’t have to be that way. In our constitution, in Article 1, Section 8, it stipulates that we can 'coin money' as a nation and avoid the Federal Reserve’s interest (fee charged on loans) black hole.
The Federal Reserve has a 100 year charter and it is up in 2013. We have to stop these banksters from gaining an extension by our corrupt paid off politicians. If we can stop the extension, we will take control of our currency and our income taxes will drop dramatically! End the Fed!
Austerity Measures
Everyone in the financial sector knew that the austerity measures put in place by Greece, would not last, they were just buying time to try to force the Central Banks to come up with a new stimulus package; it did not materialize since all the central banks are tapped out, and any more stimulus will send inflation into the stratosphere. I mentioned in an older post there would be riots in the streets of Greece as a result of the austerity measures ... Greece will collapse into a monetary disaster within 6 months, followed by Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Italy ... Guess who is next?
"Euro zone paymaster Germany has warned there would be 'consequences' to an anti-bailout vote and the EU and IMF insist whoever wins the election must stick to austerity if they want to receive the aid that keeps Greece afloat."
So, the paymaster is demanding that Greece continue "austerity" measures that plunged the country into economic collapse? I don't blame the Greek people for being outraged just as Americans should be outraged at the Republican "austerity" political agenda.
The term "austerity" really means transfer of wealth from citizens to rich barons and corporations. It didn't work in Europe and it won't work in America. Just about any economist knows that you don't cut spending in a depression, quite the opposite is required to spur growth.
Here in America the only reason employment is still high is because Republican governors are cutting government jobs across the nation. The jobs report shows that private sector jobs have made a good rebound and the lackluster jobs numbers reflect steep job cuts in public jobs. This is part of an agenda to undermine government and the economy so they can turn around and blame Obama and the 1% can cash in, yet again.
Let Greece and the rest of Europe be a lesson for those that insist that cutting stimulus will somehow boost growth or cut the deficit - it will do the opposite.
The German banks loaned Greece money so they could afford to buy German products. Its not anybody's fault that THEY decided to scrape the bottom of the barrel for loans but THEIRS ... I hope Greece takes them for every mark they can and THEN goes bust. Why? Because, haven't you heard, greed is GOOD!
"Euro zone paymaster Germany has warned there would be 'consequences' to an anti-bailout vote and the EU and IMF insist whoever wins the election must stick to austerity if they want to receive the aid that keeps Greece afloat."
So, the paymaster is demanding that Greece continue "austerity" measures that plunged the country into economic collapse? I don't blame the Greek people for being outraged just as Americans should be outraged at the Republican "austerity" political agenda.
The term "austerity" really means transfer of wealth from citizens to rich barons and corporations. It didn't work in Europe and it won't work in America. Just about any economist knows that you don't cut spending in a depression, quite the opposite is required to spur growth.
Here in America the only reason employment is still high is because Republican governors are cutting government jobs across the nation. The jobs report shows that private sector jobs have made a good rebound and the lackluster jobs numbers reflect steep job cuts in public jobs. This is part of an agenda to undermine government and the economy so they can turn around and blame Obama and the 1% can cash in, yet again.
Let Greece and the rest of Europe be a lesson for those that insist that cutting stimulus will somehow boost growth or cut the deficit - it will do the opposite.
The German banks loaned Greece money so they could afford to buy German products. Its not anybody's fault that THEY decided to scrape the bottom of the barrel for loans but THEIRS ... I hope Greece takes them for every mark they can and THEN goes bust. Why? Because, haven't you heard, greed is GOOD!
Bye Bye Sarkozy!
President Nicolas Sarkozy just told his supporters in an address that he called François Hollande to congratulate the Socialist candidate on his victory.
France has crowned Hollande as its first Socialist president in nearly two decades, marking a swing to the left at the heart of Europe and heralding a fight-back against German-led austerity.
Conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy, swamped by anger at a surge in unemployment during his five-year term, is the 11th euro zone leader to be swept away by the European economic crisis.
France has crowned Hollande as its first Socialist president in nearly two decades, marking a swing to the left at the heart of Europe and heralding a fight-back against German-led austerity.
Conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy, swamped by anger at a surge in unemployment during his five-year term, is the 11th euro zone leader to be swept away by the European economic crisis.
Homeless Greeks
The homeless begging in Greece ...
Since the first memorandum vote and the introduction of austerity measures, more and more people now live on the street. The number of desperate, unemployed, homeless and/or drug addicted people has increased. The economic crisis has become a social crisis ...
Since the first memorandum vote and the introduction of austerity measures, more and more people now live on the street. The number of desperate, unemployed, homeless and/or drug addicted people has increased. The economic crisis has become a social crisis ...
Greeks and French rise up!
You can push people only so far before they rise up ... What is remarkable about both the French and Greek elections is that people are voting against their parties. Greeks are voting for leftists parties because they have had it with the two parties who have been in power for over 50 years - New Democracy and PASOK. The French backed the socialist Hollande because they have had enough ...
Greeks hope Hollande will bring change in Europe. Not surprising since the German agenda is deeply unpopular across Europe. A 72-year old lady voted in both the French and Greek elections. "Enough is enough. There is too much austerity," 72-year old Maria said as she cast a ballot for Socialist Francois Hollande at the French consulate in Athens, before heading to a Greek polling station to back a leftist party.
Like many Greeks angered by the economic hardship imposed in exchange for an international bailout, the bi-national pensioner hopes Hollande will turn Europe away from a German-led agenda focused tightly on cutting debt.
That agenda made Germany extremely unpopular and pushed voters in Greece's parallel poll today away from the two biggest parties, which support the bailout, and towards a host of small groups opposing it.
Wouldn't it be nice to hear Hollande's first phonen call to Merkel!
Greeks hope Hollande will bring change in Europe. Not surprising since the German agenda is deeply unpopular across Europe. A 72-year old lady voted in both the French and Greek elections. "Enough is enough. There is too much austerity," 72-year old Maria said as she cast a ballot for Socialist Francois Hollande at the French consulate in Athens, before heading to a Greek polling station to back a leftist party.
Like many Greeks angered by the economic hardship imposed in exchange for an international bailout, the bi-national pensioner hopes Hollande will turn Europe away from a German-led agenda focused tightly on cutting debt.
That agenda made Germany extremely unpopular and pushed voters in Greece's parallel poll today away from the two biggest parties, which support the bailout, and towards a host of small groups opposing it.
Wouldn't it be nice to hear Hollande's first phonen call to Merkel!
Wall Street - All Eyes on European Elections
After Wall Street's worst week of the year, U.S. stock investors will now be taking a closer look at the election outcomes in Greece and France.
Markets worldwide have closely watched developments in Europe for the past several months, with calls for austerity seen as positive for stocks as they seek to prevent a credit crisis in the region that could take down or deeply hurt the global economic recovery.
But an economic slowdown throughout the region has resulted in a change of direction.
Hollande's win now is a hurdle to the German-led drive for austerity in Europe. The French voters have spoken ...
Markets worldwide have closely watched developments in Europe for the past several months, with calls for austerity seen as positive for stocks as they seek to prevent a credit crisis in the region that could take down or deeply hurt the global economic recovery.
But an economic slowdown throughout the region has resulted in a change of direction.
Hollande's win now is a hurdle to the German-led drive for austerity in Europe. The French voters have spoken ...
French Elections 2012
Flunked Euro history? Maybe we will relive it - Golden Dawn leader Michaloliakos warns: "Be afraid, we're coming." The fascists are coming to France too ...
Breaking News: Hollande beats Sarkozy by 51.9 percent to 48.1 percent in French runoff vote: Harris Institute Projection ...
Socialist Francois Hollande can expect a left-wing parliamentary majority. Why? Because the far-right National Front has shaken Nicolas Sarkozy's conservative UMP party to its foundations!
Voters will grant Hollande a working majority in legislative elections on June 10 and 17, as they have each time a new president has been installed.
Sarkozy's UMP party, the dominant force in French politics for a decade, cracked under pressure from a resurgent far-right as factions feud over whether to shun or embrace backers of Marine Le Pen's anti-immigration National Front (FN).
Xenophobia in France ... It's amazing how history has a way of repeating itself.
Panic in the streets of Greece ... Panic in the streets of France ...
Breaking News: Hollande beats Sarkozy by 51.9 percent to 48.1 percent in French runoff vote: Harris Institute Projection ...
Socialist Francois Hollande can expect a left-wing parliamentary majority. Why? Because the far-right National Front has shaken Nicolas Sarkozy's conservative UMP party to its foundations!
Voters will grant Hollande a working majority in legislative elections on June 10 and 17, as they have each time a new president has been installed.
Sarkozy's UMP party, the dominant force in French politics for a decade, cracked under pressure from a resurgent far-right as factions feud over whether to shun or embrace backers of Marine Le Pen's anti-immigration National Front (FN).
Xenophobia in France ... It's amazing how history has a way of repeating itself.
Panic in the streets of Greece ... Panic in the streets of France ...
Golden Dawn (Nea Avgi) - 1936 again?
I came, I saw, I beat the shit out of anyone who looked different. Veni, videi, vici screams Golden Dawn leader in press conference ... Shame on you shithead. Xenophobia is introduced in my beloved country. The circus has come to town in Greece ...
(3 May 2012: Waiting at a bus stop in the center of Athens, an African immigrant looks at the political advertisement of one of the two far right parties.)
Entry of neofascist Golden Dawn into Parliament is a shock but was not entirely unexpected. With a 50% unemployment rate in Greece among 18 to 54 year olds what did they expect?
So the Neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party is set to get 14-23 seats in Greece's 300 seat parliament. The biggest shock is SYRIZA beating PASOK into 2nd place and likely to make a New Democracy - PASOK coalition government a no-no ... If there is no clear outcome, Greece has until May 17th to form an interim government or call a second election.
What I find very troubling though is that half of Europe is blaming foreigners for it's troubles. It was wrong in 1936 when Hitler came to power and it's wrong in 2012. History is repeating itself again ...
We will have to see what happens in Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Italy. The euro and EU are going down when Spain goes bust so why not get out now and start anew sooner rather than later. Rumor has it a Spain default is inevitable as their banks get downgraded and tax revenues fall further due to recession, austerity measures and deflation.
At this point, Greece's election is an indication of what's in the horizon for pro-austerity parties across Europe.
Looking forward to the results of France's election (the numbers) ... bye-bye Sarkozy!!!
(3 May 2012: Waiting at a bus stop in the center of Athens, an African immigrant looks at the political advertisement of one of the two far right parties.)
Entry of neofascist Golden Dawn into Parliament is a shock but was not entirely unexpected. With a 50% unemployment rate in Greece among 18 to 54 year olds what did they expect?
So the Neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party is set to get 14-23 seats in Greece's 300 seat parliament. The biggest shock is SYRIZA beating PASOK into 2nd place and likely to make a New Democracy - PASOK coalition government a no-no ... If there is no clear outcome, Greece has until May 17th to form an interim government or call a second election.
What I find very troubling though is that half of Europe is blaming foreigners for it's troubles. It was wrong in 1936 when Hitler came to power and it's wrong in 2012. History is repeating itself again ...
We will have to see what happens in Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Italy. The euro and EU are going down when Spain goes bust so why not get out now and start anew sooner rather than later. Rumor has it a Spain default is inevitable as their banks get downgraded and tax revenues fall further due to recession, austerity measures and deflation.
At this point, Greece's election is an indication of what's in the horizon for pro-austerity parties across Europe.
Looking forward to the results of France's election (the numbers) ... bye-bye Sarkozy!!!
Greek Elections 2012
It's now just after 5 pm in Greece and within a couple of hours the voting will have finished and the first exit polls will be published. Unlike many other elections the outcome of today's vote is far from clear. The largest party is most likely to be the conservative New Democracy with about 20-25%. This is in sharp contrast to the 2009 national elections in which New Democracy and PASOK got the lion share of the vote with 78% combined, reflecting the stranglehold they have had over power since the late 70's.
(A rally for the candidate of the New Democracy party, Antonis Samaras, who is likely to head a coalition government as prime minister.)
Our Greek flag held by thousands of Greeks at New Democracy rallies. Where is the Greek flag at the leftist rallies?
On the other hand many other smaller parties are picking up support from disgruntled New Democracy/PASOK voters and that is really the joker in the pack, threatening to overturn the political status quo that was created in the aftermath of the fall of brutal Regime of the Colonels in 1974. Some parties such as the rightist Independent Greeks are new creations whilst others such as the Neo-Nazi Golden Dawn have a longer, if more savage lineage, either way they are attracting votes at a rate that would have been inconceivable even a couple of years ago.
On the left of the spectrum the old school communist party KKE has gained ground as have other leftist parties such as The Radical Left (SYRIZA) and the newly minted Democratic Left with some estimates saying their combined share of the vote may pass 40%. The one thing that unites such disparate groups is their opposition to the austerity package imposed by Greece's creditors, however what else could possibly bring them together remains a mystery.
I'm going to put my money where my mouth is and say that I believe that the polls will produce a three party coalition government including PASOK, New Democracy and possibly Independent Greeks party. I base this prediction on nothing more than a hunch and past experience of Greek politics. The thing to remember when analyzing politics in Greece is that ideological labels often count for little when power is concerned and so a coalition will be based on mutually aligned interests rather than political overlap.
If such an alliance does take power I believe that it is destined to fall apart as the political cost of yet more job cuts and tax hikes takes its toll. So quite possibly Greece will be going to the polls once more before September.
(A rally for the candidate of the New Democracy party, Antonis Samaras, who is likely to head a coalition government as prime minister.)
Our Greek flag held by thousands of Greeks at New Democracy rallies. Where is the Greek flag at the leftist rallies?
On the other hand many other smaller parties are picking up support from disgruntled New Democracy/PASOK voters and that is really the joker in the pack, threatening to overturn the political status quo that was created in the aftermath of the fall of brutal Regime of the Colonels in 1974. Some parties such as the rightist Independent Greeks are new creations whilst others such as the Neo-Nazi Golden Dawn have a longer, if more savage lineage, either way they are attracting votes at a rate that would have been inconceivable even a couple of years ago.
On the left of the spectrum the old school communist party KKE has gained ground as have other leftist parties such as The Radical Left (SYRIZA) and the newly minted Democratic Left with some estimates saying their combined share of the vote may pass 40%. The one thing that unites such disparate groups is their opposition to the austerity package imposed by Greece's creditors, however what else could possibly bring them together remains a mystery.
I'm going to put my money where my mouth is and say that I believe that the polls will produce a three party coalition government including PASOK, New Democracy and possibly Independent Greeks party. I base this prediction on nothing more than a hunch and past experience of Greek politics. The thing to remember when analyzing politics in Greece is that ideological labels often count for little when power is concerned and so a coalition will be based on mutually aligned interests rather than political overlap.
If such an alliance does take power I believe that it is destined to fall apart as the political cost of yet more job cuts and tax hikes takes its toll. So quite possibly Greece will be going to the polls once more before September.
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Getting By
We stuff our credit cards deeper into the drawer. We lose our jobs and call it "going freelance." We lie to our parents and tell them we still have health insurance. We see protesters mingle with people who have been without a home or a job for a long time - a really long time - and we wonder if they're on the same spectrum. We don't ask that question out loud. We respect that everyone has a side hustle. A side hustle to the side hustle. Survival, we come to realize, is its own form of activism. We buy less crap. We make dinner at home. We hold out hope that our projects will become paychecks. We share. We rely on each other. We get through it together.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Oughts and Shoulds
She craves attention because she is large, yes, she is big. I am mocking her size (I am not thin, but then again I am not incredibly obese). Yes, she is obese, but it has taken me some time to finally realize how 'small' this person really is. She is full of contradictions and is infected with misery. Her attachment to her isolated existence is a manifestation of her fear of happiness. Unfortunately, 'unhappy' in this person's life has virtue attached to it. Failed relationships, multiple breakdowns, suicide attempts - it is not happiness that she should crave, but the pursuit of it. The chase is the aim.
The King James version of the Bible appeared in the same year as the first advertised performance of The Tempest. This is what I tell people who feel the need to tell me how 'good' so-and-so is ... Please - give me a break! Didn't you attempt to kill yourself because of this crass individual! (See The Façade.) Married, divorced, and then remarried to the same man again (part of the working-class men who want their women at home) - by your own admission 'for financial reasons' ... There is nothing wrong with marrying your ex again, but don't bitch non-stop about how he makes you sick. You're tired of his bullshit. You were tired when you were married to him the first time around, what made you think things would be different the second time?
Happiness is not a luxury, or an option, or for a select few people in this world. Happiness is a state of mind. Get the hell out of the house and do something! It isn’t a hiding place. It is a finding place. Break out of the predictable confines of your existence - rid yourself of "oughts" and "musts" and "shoulds" - live everyday as if it will be your last. Doing the same things every day, repeating the same routines day after day, worrying about the future (that isn't here yet), etc. is not going to make you feel better.
I know what it feels like to be depressed. It prevents you from enjoying and living your life to the fullest, it affects your mood, enthusiasm - you miss out on the sun, the moon, the stars, the sky, etc. Please don't make excuses. It is what it is. It shouldn't take you a whole weekend to wash two dishes ... it was Friday when you mentioned your cousin passed away (not Wednesday). Losing all sense of time (not knowing what day it is) ...
It helps to look at depression as a gift because it forces you to work on yourself ...
The King James version of the Bible appeared in the same year as the first advertised performance of The Tempest. This is what I tell people who feel the need to tell me how 'good' so-and-so is ... Please - give me a break! Didn't you attempt to kill yourself because of this crass individual! (See The Façade.) Married, divorced, and then remarried to the same man again (part of the working-class men who want their women at home) - by your own admission 'for financial reasons' ... There is nothing wrong with marrying your ex again, but don't bitch non-stop about how he makes you sick. You're tired of his bullshit. You were tired when you were married to him the first time around, what made you think things would be different the second time?
Happiness is not a luxury, or an option, or for a select few people in this world. Happiness is a state of mind. Get the hell out of the house and do something! It isn’t a hiding place. It is a finding place. Break out of the predictable confines of your existence - rid yourself of "oughts" and "musts" and "shoulds" - live everyday as if it will be your last. Doing the same things every day, repeating the same routines day after day, worrying about the future (that isn't here yet), etc. is not going to make you feel better.
I know what it feels like to be depressed. It prevents you from enjoying and living your life to the fullest, it affects your mood, enthusiasm - you miss out on the sun, the moon, the stars, the sky, etc. Please don't make excuses. It is what it is. It shouldn't take you a whole weekend to wash two dishes ... it was Friday when you mentioned your cousin passed away (not Wednesday). Losing all sense of time (not knowing what day it is) ...
It helps to look at depression as a gift because it forces you to work on yourself ...
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Do-gooders doing good ...
I was asked recently (during holy week), "Irene, don't you fast?" My reply, "No, I do not fast for 40 days. Does fasting make you a 'better' person? Does my decision not to fast make me a bad person?"
I did not receive a reply to my reply ...
“After all these years, I see that I was mistaken about Eve in the beginning; it is better to live outside the Garden with her than inside it without her.” ― Mark Twain, The Diaries of Adam & Eve
I get a kick of these do-gooders. You know - the 'pious' types ... Sanctimonious Jesus fans. Holier than thou assholes whose main concern in life is virtue or religious devotion. When I die, and - hopefully - get an opportunity to meet Jesus - I will ask him what his opinion of do-gooders is ...
Do-gooders doing good. Why do hypocrites feel the need to announce their deeds? There are many people who do good without having to tell everyone (only those who donate to charities anonymously can relate to what I am talking about).
These religious fans are the fans that Jesus seems to have the most trouble with. Fans who will walk into a restaurant and bow their heads to pray before a meal just in case someone is watching. Fans who won't go to R-rated movies at the theater, but have a number of them saved on their DVR at home. Fans who may feed the hungry and help the needy, and they make sure they work it into every conversation for the next two weeks. Fans who make sure people see them put in their offering at church, but they haven't considered reaching out to their neighbor who lost a job and can't pay the bills. Fans who like seeing other people fail because in their minds it makes them look better. Fans whose primary concern is what other people think. Fans who are reading this and assuming I'm describing someone else. Fans who have worn the mask for so long they have fooled even themselves ...
I did not receive a reply to my reply ...
“After all these years, I see that I was mistaken about Eve in the beginning; it is better to live outside the Garden with her than inside it without her.” ― Mark Twain, The Diaries of Adam & Eve
I get a kick of these do-gooders. You know - the 'pious' types ... Sanctimonious Jesus fans. Holier than thou assholes whose main concern in life is virtue or religious devotion. When I die, and - hopefully - get an opportunity to meet Jesus - I will ask him what his opinion of do-gooders is ...
Do-gooders doing good. Why do hypocrites feel the need to announce their deeds? There are many people who do good without having to tell everyone (only those who donate to charities anonymously can relate to what I am talking about).
These religious fans are the fans that Jesus seems to have the most trouble with. Fans who will walk into a restaurant and bow their heads to pray before a meal just in case someone is watching. Fans who won't go to R-rated movies at the theater, but have a number of them saved on their DVR at home. Fans who may feed the hungry and help the needy, and they make sure they work it into every conversation for the next two weeks. Fans who make sure people see them put in their offering at church, but they haven't considered reaching out to their neighbor who lost a job and can't pay the bills. Fans who like seeing other people fail because in their minds it makes them look better. Fans whose primary concern is what other people think. Fans who are reading this and assuming I'm describing someone else. Fans who have worn the mask for so long they have fooled even themselves ...
The Façade
I love musicals. One of my all-time favorites is Jekyll & Hyde (based on the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson). Stevenson stated that the central problem is Jekyll's hypocricy. It's an excellent parody of the Victorian Era because of its piercing description of the 19th century - outward respectability and inward lust - as this period had a tendency for social hypocrisy.
The story explores the psychopathology of the split personality in Dr Jekyll, whose development of a potion to separate good from evil transforms him into the murderous Mr Hyde. Good and evil ...
Below are the lyrics to the beautiful number Façade ... While we are not living in the Victorian Era, social hypocrisy still exists.
Façade
There's a face that we wear
In the cold light of day -
It's society's mask,
It's society's way,
And the truth is
That it's all a façade!
There's a face that we hide
Till the nighttime appears,
And what's hiding inside,
Behind all of our fears,
Is our true self,
Locked inside the façade!
Every day
People, in their own sweet way,
Like to add a coat of paint,
And be what they ain't!
That's how our little -
Game is played,
Livin' like a masquerade
Actin' a bizarre charade -
While playing the saint!
But there's one thing I know,
And I know it for sure:
This disease that we've got
Has got no ready cure!
And I'm certain
Life is terribly hard -
When your life's a façade!
Look around you!
I have found
You cannot tell, by lookin' at the surface,
What is lurkin' there beneath it!
See that face!
Now, I'm prepared to bet you,
What you see's not what you get -
'Cause man's a master of deceit !
So, what is the sinister secret?
The lie he will tell you is true? -
It's that each man you meet
In the street
Isn't one man but two!
Nearly everyone you see -
Like him an' her,
An' you, an' me -
Pretends to be
A pillar of society -
A model for propriety -
Sobriety
An' piety -
Who shudders at the thought
Of notoriety!
The ladies an' gents 'ere before you -
Which none of 'em ever admits -
May 'ave saintly looks -
But they're sinners an' crooks!
Hypocrites!
Hypocrites!
There are preachers who kill!
There are killers who preach!
There are teachers who lie!
There are liars who teach!
Take yer pick, dear -
"Cause it's all a façade!
If we're not one, but two,
Are we evil or good?
Do we walk the fine line -
That we'd cross if we could?
Are we waiting -
To break through the façade?
One or two
Might look kinda well-to-do -
Hah! They're bad as me an' you,
Right down to they're boots!
I'm inclined to think -
Half of mankind
Thinks the other half is blind!
Wouldn't be surprise to find -
They're all in cahoots!
At the end of the day,
They don't mean what they say,
They don't say what they mean,
They don't ever come clean -
And the answer -
Is it's all a façade!
Is it's all a façade!
Man is not one, but two,
He is evil and good,
An' he walks the fine line
We'd all cross if we could!
It's a nightmare -
We can never discard -
So we stay on our guard -
Though we love the façade -
What's behind the façade?
Look behind the façade!
The story explores the psychopathology of the split personality in Dr Jekyll, whose development of a potion to separate good from evil transforms him into the murderous Mr Hyde. Good and evil ...
Below are the lyrics to the beautiful number Façade ... While we are not living in the Victorian Era, social hypocrisy still exists.
Façade
There's a face that we wear
In the cold light of day -
It's society's mask,
It's society's way,
And the truth is
That it's all a façade!
There's a face that we hide
Till the nighttime appears,
And what's hiding inside,
Behind all of our fears,
Is our true self,
Locked inside the façade!
Every day
People, in their own sweet way,
Like to add a coat of paint,
And be what they ain't!
That's how our little -
Game is played,
Livin' like a masquerade
Actin' a bizarre charade -
While playing the saint!
But there's one thing I know,
And I know it for sure:
This disease that we've got
Has got no ready cure!
And I'm certain
Life is terribly hard -
When your life's a façade!
Look around you!
I have found
You cannot tell, by lookin' at the surface,
What is lurkin' there beneath it!
See that face!
Now, I'm prepared to bet you,
What you see's not what you get -
'Cause man's a master of deceit !
So, what is the sinister secret?
The lie he will tell you is true? -
It's that each man you meet
In the street
Isn't one man but two!
Nearly everyone you see -
Like him an' her,
An' you, an' me -
Pretends to be
A pillar of society -
A model for propriety -
Sobriety
An' piety -
Who shudders at the thought
Of notoriety!
The ladies an' gents 'ere before you -
Which none of 'em ever admits -
May 'ave saintly looks -
But they're sinners an' crooks!
Hypocrites!
Hypocrites!
There are preachers who kill!
There are killers who preach!
There are teachers who lie!
There are liars who teach!
Take yer pick, dear -
"Cause it's all a façade!
If we're not one, but two,
Are we evil or good?
Do we walk the fine line -
That we'd cross if we could?
Are we waiting -
To break through the façade?
One or two
Might look kinda well-to-do -
Hah! They're bad as me an' you,
Right down to they're boots!
I'm inclined to think -
Half of mankind
Thinks the other half is blind!
Wouldn't be surprise to find -
They're all in cahoots!
At the end of the day,
They don't mean what they say,
They don't say what they mean,
They don't ever come clean -
And the answer -
Is it's all a façade!
Is it's all a façade!
Man is not one, but two,
He is evil and good,
An' he walks the fine line
We'd all cross if we could!
It's a nightmare -
We can never discard -
So we stay on our guard -
Though we love the façade -
What's behind the façade?
Look behind the façade!
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Robertson (Christian Hypocrite/s), Part II
Gee ... when I saw the headline I thought Pat was finally going to come out.
What does Pat Robertson think Jesus was doing for all those undocumented years between ages 12 and 30 and then going about selecting only men to hang out with him, encouraging some to even leave their wives? Wasn't Jesus single too? It's possible, who really knows, but Robertson just might be calling Jesus "demonically possessed" ...
Let's pray - Call my Prayer line (Code for, "Give me your money") ...
Everything Jesus stood for is against everything the church does stand for. He would have a fit if he saw how things are today in the church that presumes to tell people this is what he would have wanted. The church is just a con, perpetuated on the masses to keep them meek, to control them, and to keep the donations pouring in ... Just like any other cult.
All this bible mumbo-jumbo just bores the immoral hades out of me. It's so full of hatred, contradictions, (read the Old Testament), etc. that it's ridiculous.
Thomas Jefferson wrote of Christianity, "Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burned, tortured, fined and imprisoned. What has been the effect of this coercion? To make one half the world fools and the other half hypocrites; to support roguery and error all over the earth ... "
Robertson is a - Ted Haggard / Paul Barnes / Lonnie Latham - that hasn't been caught. (There are many other hypocrites desguised as preachers that I could list, but I am getting a little tired of typing). For those of you who never heard of Ted Haggard, Paul Barnes or Lonnie Latham, see below (for entertainment purposes):
Ted Haggard
Ted Haggard was the pastor of the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado and was the president of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) from 2003 until November 2006. Haggard's position allowed him occasional access to President George W. Bush. In 2006 it was alleged that Haggard had been regularly visiting a male prostitute who also provided him with methamphetamine. Haggard admitted his wrongdoing and resigned as pastor of New Life church and as president of the NAE. The high-profile case was significant also because it immediately preceded the 2006 mid-term elections. In January 2009, Haggard admitted to a second homosexual relationship with a male church member on CNN-TV and other national media, and when asked, would not directly answer a question about his other possible homosexual relationships. This asshole recently started a new church.
Paul Barnes
Paul Barnes is the founder and former senior minister of the evangelical church Grace Chapel in Douglas County, Colorado. He confessed his homosexual activity to the church board, and his resignation was accepted on 7 December 2006. This scandal was notable because it was similar to Ted Haggard's (above), it occurred in the same state (Colorado) and around the same time (late 2006). This asshole was in charge of this church for 28 years.
Lonnie Latham
In 2006, Latham, the senior pastor of South Tulsa Baptist Church and a member of the powerful Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, was arrested for "offering to engage in an act of lewdness" with a male undercover police officer.
What does Pat Robertson think Jesus was doing for all those undocumented years between ages 12 and 30 and then going about selecting only men to hang out with him, encouraging some to even leave their wives? Wasn't Jesus single too? It's possible, who really knows, but Robertson just might be calling Jesus "demonically possessed" ...
Let's pray - Call my Prayer line (Code for, "Give me your money") ...
Everything Jesus stood for is against everything the church does stand for. He would have a fit if he saw how things are today in the church that presumes to tell people this is what he would have wanted. The church is just a con, perpetuated on the masses to keep them meek, to control them, and to keep the donations pouring in ... Just like any other cult.
All this bible mumbo-jumbo just bores the immoral hades out of me. It's so full of hatred, contradictions, (read the Old Testament), etc. that it's ridiculous.
Thomas Jefferson wrote of Christianity, "Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burned, tortured, fined and imprisoned. What has been the effect of this coercion? To make one half the world fools and the other half hypocrites; to support roguery and error all over the earth ... "
Robertson is a - Ted Haggard / Paul Barnes / Lonnie Latham - that hasn't been caught. (There are many other hypocrites desguised as preachers that I could list, but I am getting a little tired of typing). For those of you who never heard of Ted Haggard, Paul Barnes or Lonnie Latham, see below (for entertainment purposes):
Ted Haggard
Ted Haggard was the pastor of the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado and was the president of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) from 2003 until November 2006. Haggard's position allowed him occasional access to President George W. Bush. In 2006 it was alleged that Haggard had been regularly visiting a male prostitute who also provided him with methamphetamine. Haggard admitted his wrongdoing and resigned as pastor of New Life church and as president of the NAE. The high-profile case was significant also because it immediately preceded the 2006 mid-term elections. In January 2009, Haggard admitted to a second homosexual relationship with a male church member on CNN-TV and other national media, and when asked, would not directly answer a question about his other possible homosexual relationships. This asshole recently started a new church.
Paul Barnes
Paul Barnes is the founder and former senior minister of the evangelical church Grace Chapel in Douglas County, Colorado. He confessed his homosexual activity to the church board, and his resignation was accepted on 7 December 2006. This scandal was notable because it was similar to Ted Haggard's (above), it occurred in the same state (Colorado) and around the same time (late 2006). This asshole was in charge of this church for 28 years.
Lonnie Latham
In 2006, Latham, the senior pastor of South Tulsa Baptist Church and a member of the powerful Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, was arrested for "offering to engage in an act of lewdness" with a male undercover police officer.
Truth or Consequences
"In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our responsibility." - Eleanor Roosevelt
Present: ... someone that others have the 'misfortune' of working with is disliked by many people at work.
I often ask myself, what motivates people? What motivates the 'disliked' co-worker? Is it money? I believe so. We all want to make money, but at what cost? Is it worth it? We could all do with a bit more money, but again - is it worth it?
"It's good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it's good, too, to check up once in a while and make sure that you haven't lost the things that money can't buy." –George Lorimer
What are some of the things that money can't buy? Your dignity, reputation, pride, etc.
In the past 25 years, I have noticed that the workers who are disliked the most are 'brown-nosers' ... They are the individuals who try to collect as many 'brownie points' as possible in an effort to further their career, make more money, etc.
After I am finished asking myself, what motivates people, the second question that I often ask myself is, does this person realize that every choice he/she makes has a consequence? If we make good choices, the results are almost always positive. If we make bad choices, the results are always negative. I believe every day is a learning experience. If we make bad decisions, it's okay - as long as we learn something from same ...
I have made some pretty bad decisions that had terrible consequences. But I learned valuable lessons. Nobody is perfect. We are entitled to make mistakes in life. However, if we keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again, then there is something wrong. After a while it gets old ...
Only time will tell ...
Present: ... someone that others have the 'misfortune' of working with is disliked by many people at work.
I often ask myself, what motivates people? What motivates the 'disliked' co-worker? Is it money? I believe so. We all want to make money, but at what cost? Is it worth it? We could all do with a bit more money, but again - is it worth it?
"It's good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it's good, too, to check up once in a while and make sure that you haven't lost the things that money can't buy." –George Lorimer
What are some of the things that money can't buy? Your dignity, reputation, pride, etc.
In the past 25 years, I have noticed that the workers who are disliked the most are 'brown-nosers' ... They are the individuals who try to collect as many 'brownie points' as possible in an effort to further their career, make more money, etc.
After I am finished asking myself, what motivates people, the second question that I often ask myself is, does this person realize that every choice he/she makes has a consequence? If we make good choices, the results are almost always positive. If we make bad choices, the results are always negative. I believe every day is a learning experience. If we make bad decisions, it's okay - as long as we learn something from same ...
I have made some pretty bad decisions that had terrible consequences. But I learned valuable lessons. Nobody is perfect. We are entitled to make mistakes in life. However, if we keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again, then there is something wrong. After a while it gets old ...
Only time will tell ...
Robertson (Christian hypocrite/s), Part I
Pat Robertson, the holier-than-thou preacher and host of the 700 Club is at it again. In his most recent broadcast, he proposed that homosexuality is related to a type of "demonic possession." I am convinced more every day that these "preachers" who are always yammering about homosexuals are fighting it in themselves. Otherwise they might find some much worse sins to preach against.
One cannot simultaneously claim to live a pious, all loving, Christian life while spewing hate for one group of people. Mr. Robertson, you are a hypocrtite and a very poor representative of the Christian faith. Aren't you the asshole who got his start by fooling old ladies into handing over their meager savings so you could enrich yourself?
Robertson's claim came during a segment about a man who, according to Robertson, "trolled the streets" for seven years looking for "cheap sex with other men" while his wife sat at home "completely clueless." In response to the man's story, Robertson says:
"The world today says 'OK, so you are gay, you want to have affairs with men -- that's cool. You have an absolute right to do that, why not?' That's not the right attitude. The attitude is that this is sin. It's wrong. And [this man] realized it was wrong but couldn't control it. But that type of conduct is wrong … he is obsessed. He has a compulsion. I would think that it is somehow related to demonic possession…" Even assholes have opinions ...
I welcome anyone to quote/translate any passages from the bible - feel free to leave a comment. If you do, my response (in advance) is below:
A) Yet another "translation" of a book that's supposed to be immutable. Lie.
B) We no longer live in a nomadic desert tribe and we no longer believe that the male gamete* is solely responsible for new life and that it is a finite resource. Mosaic Law is not applicable to modern society. If it were, you couldn't have enjoyed that last trip to the salon, Hair Cuttery.
{*gamete - from the Greek gamete "a wife" and ... gametes "a husband"}
C) Paul is not the basis of Christianity. You are not a Paulian.
D) John is not the basis of Christianity. You are not a Johnite.
E) CHRIST never said anything about it. Read your big black book of bippity-boppity-boo again instead of just quoting it at people. Adherence to Mosaic Law was a point of contention in early Christianity because early converts were largely Greek gentiles that had never observed Mosaic Law, which is WHY Christ got rid of it.
F) Not everyone believes the same way you do. It is NOT your job to judge anyone or to tell them how to live their lives. Period. End of story.
Below is a beautiful quote by Christoper Hitchens (see prior post R.I.P. Hitch):
"Nothing optional - from homosexuality to adultery - is ever made punishable unless those who do the prohibiting (and exact the fierce punishments) have a repressed desire to participate. As Shakespeare put it in King Lear, the policeman who lashes the whore has a hot need to use her for the very offense for which he plies the lash."
- Christopher Hitchens, God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything
Hey Pat, uh ... Mr. Robertson - are you dreaming of little boys again? Why don't you do what your good friend Jimmy Swaggart did? Why don't you go to a gay bar (or your church), pick up a man, and get it over with. Your facination with homosexuality can only lead people to believe that deep down inside you would like to have some fun with a man. Pat, do you remember what happened to your friend and fellow hypocrite Jimmy?
A detective tracked Swaggart to a sleazy motel (along Airline Highway), alerted Gorman (another preacher/hyprocrite) to the situation and then let the air out of one of Swaggart's tires to slow his getaway. Gorman found Swaggart fixing the flat. "He was wearing a sweat suit," Gorman was quoted as saying, "so that kind of does away with the theory that he was ministering to somebody."
That was a theory Swaggart didn't even try to float. Confronted by pictures of himself and a prostitute, he reportedly admitted, in a 10-hour session with church elders, at least this much: that he had paid her to perform pornographic acts, and that he had had a fascination with pornography since childhood.
A member of Swaggart's church put it well, "How could he stand up there in the pulpit and preach against adultery and promiscuity when he was doing that kind of thing all this time? I think he ought to stay out of the pulpit." (Swaggart did not confess to any specific transgression but did admit to an encounter with a New Orleans prostitute.)
Mr. Robertson, Mr. Swaggart, Mr. Gorman (and all Christian hypocrites), shut the f#@k up assholes!!!
One cannot simultaneously claim to live a pious, all loving, Christian life while spewing hate for one group of people. Mr. Robertson, you are a hypocrtite and a very poor representative of the Christian faith. Aren't you the asshole who got his start by fooling old ladies into handing over their meager savings so you could enrich yourself?
Robertson's claim came during a segment about a man who, according to Robertson, "trolled the streets" for seven years looking for "cheap sex with other men" while his wife sat at home "completely clueless." In response to the man's story, Robertson says:
"The world today says 'OK, so you are gay, you want to have affairs with men -- that's cool. You have an absolute right to do that, why not?' That's not the right attitude. The attitude is that this is sin. It's wrong. And [this man] realized it was wrong but couldn't control it. But that type of conduct is wrong … he is obsessed. He has a compulsion. I would think that it is somehow related to demonic possession…" Even assholes have opinions ...
I welcome anyone to quote/translate any passages from the bible - feel free to leave a comment. If you do, my response (in advance) is below:
A) Yet another "translation" of a book that's supposed to be immutable. Lie.
B) We no longer live in a nomadic desert tribe and we no longer believe that the male gamete* is solely responsible for new life and that it is a finite resource. Mosaic Law is not applicable to modern society. If it were, you couldn't have enjoyed that last trip to the salon, Hair Cuttery.
{*gamete - from the Greek gamete "a wife" and ... gametes "a husband"}
C) Paul is not the basis of Christianity. You are not a Paulian.
D) John is not the basis of Christianity. You are not a Johnite.
E) CHRIST never said anything about it. Read your big black book of bippity-boppity-boo again instead of just quoting it at people. Adherence to Mosaic Law was a point of contention in early Christianity because early converts were largely Greek gentiles that had never observed Mosaic Law, which is WHY Christ got rid of it.
F) Not everyone believes the same way you do. It is NOT your job to judge anyone or to tell them how to live their lives. Period. End of story.
"Nothing optional - from homosexuality to adultery - is ever made punishable unless those who do the prohibiting (and exact the fierce punishments) have a repressed desire to participate. As Shakespeare put it in King Lear, the policeman who lashes the whore has a hot need to use her for the very offense for which he plies the lash."
- Christopher Hitchens, God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything
Hey Pat, uh ... Mr. Robertson - are you dreaming of little boys again? Why don't you do what your good friend Jimmy Swaggart did? Why don't you go to a gay bar (or your church), pick up a man, and get it over with. Your facination with homosexuality can only lead people to believe that deep down inside you would like to have some fun with a man. Pat, do you remember what happened to your friend and fellow hypocrite Jimmy?
A detective tracked Swaggart to a sleazy motel (along Airline Highway), alerted Gorman (another preacher/hyprocrite) to the situation and then let the air out of one of Swaggart's tires to slow his getaway. Gorman found Swaggart fixing the flat. "He was wearing a sweat suit," Gorman was quoted as saying, "so that kind of does away with the theory that he was ministering to somebody."
That was a theory Swaggart didn't even try to float. Confronted by pictures of himself and a prostitute, he reportedly admitted, in a 10-hour session with church elders, at least this much: that he had paid her to perform pornographic acts, and that he had had a fascination with pornography since childhood.
A member of Swaggart's church put it well, "How could he stand up there in the pulpit and preach against adultery and promiscuity when he was doing that kind of thing all this time? I think he ought to stay out of the pulpit." (Swaggart did not confess to any specific transgression but did admit to an encounter with a New Orleans prostitute.)
Mr. Robertson, Mr. Swaggart, Mr. Gorman (and all Christian hypocrites), shut the f#@k up assholes!!!
Monday, March 26, 2012
My Baby Boo-Boo
I didn't sleep at all last night. I haven't eaten much ... I made myself a sandwich - to absorb all of the alcohol in my system.
It's not often that I drink but when I do, I binge. Nothing like a stiff drink to calm my nerves. And nothing like a Mad Men mini-drink-a-thon to help me forget my problems. I have to drive John to the airport Tuesday morning (he has to go to Lexington, Kentucky). When I think of Kentucky, the Kentucky Derby comes to mind ... and Kentucky Bourbon. John is always telling me how beautiful it is - maybe some day I will get an opportunity to see it up close.
I am comfortably numb. Alone in my parents' family room with my thoughts. I'm watching a repeat of Mad Men. I'm picking up on some subtleties and innuendos that I missed the first time around.
Gypsy is relaxing on the sofa next to me. I love my cat - I love all animals. I'm going to shift over to the sofa to spend some time with her. Petting her really relaxes me. It's better than alcohol or any other mind-altering drug.
Hey Gypsss - are you a good girl? I love you my Gypsy, my baby boo-boo ... My mom sings this song to Gypsy all the time. I used to sing 'you are my sunshine' to Aiko. To this day, I still miss her.
It's not often that I drink but when I do, I binge. Nothing like a stiff drink to calm my nerves. And nothing like a Mad Men mini-drink-a-thon to help me forget my problems. I have to drive John to the airport Tuesday morning (he has to go to Lexington, Kentucky). When I think of Kentucky, the Kentucky Derby comes to mind ... and Kentucky Bourbon. John is always telling me how beautiful it is - maybe some day I will get an opportunity to see it up close.
I am comfortably numb. Alone in my parents' family room with my thoughts. I'm watching a repeat of Mad Men. I'm picking up on some subtleties and innuendos that I missed the first time around.
Gypsy is relaxing on the sofa next to me. I love my cat - I love all animals. I'm going to shift over to the sofa to spend some time with her. Petting her really relaxes me. It's better than alcohol or any other mind-altering drug.
Hey Gypsss - are you a good girl? I love you my Gypsy, my baby boo-boo ... My mom sings this song to Gypsy all the time. I used to sing 'you are my sunshine' to Aiko. To this day, I still miss her.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
A little triple John - please ...
Watching Mad Men on AMC (the season premier) - you can't watch Mad Men without a drink in your hand. Enjoying a little triple that John made me (Absolute and club soda). The alcohol has started to take effect.
It's Don Draper's birthday and his wife (Megan) is singing a song to celebrate his 40th birthday party - zou bisou bisou (in french of course). How incredibly campy!!! I can't stop laughing. John and I are remembering the good old days (we drank and smoked at the office). Martini lunches ... This show cracks me up!!!
I can't wait until May 11th - Tim Burton's new movie "Dark Shadows" will be released. Yes, I used to watch the tv show "Dark Shadows" ... I am also a fan of The Twilight Zone. Tim Burton is a genius ... (there is a commercial break from Mad Men and they just showed the trailer to Dark Shadows - I can't stop laughing ...)
I'm on my second little triple ... Just saw a commerical for Captain Morgan. John likes Mojitos - so do I. I can drink a rum & diet coke ... but rum is a little too sweet for me.
Shit happens and people bleed ... Joan has returned to the office on Mad Men after her maternity leave. I love Joan and I love Peggy. Againt all odds, Peggy has managed to become an account executive - a milestone for women back in the sixties.
People think it is holding on that makes you stronger, but sometimes it's letting go.
"There is a thin line that separates laughter and pain, comedy and tragedy, humor and hurt." - Erma Bombeck
I am thinking of another quote - it's from Friedrich Nietzche ... "If you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." Another great quote by Nietzsche that fits my mood now - "For art to exist, for any sort of aesthetic activity to exist, a certain physiological precondition is indispensable: intoxication."
I am highly intoxicated right now ... I can relate to Don Draper and his problems. I didn't fight the battles that he fought - the Korean War, his 'real' family, his 'present' family, etc. but everyday I fight my own battles.
I took care of my pay with regard to my part-time job. If you want me to work for you, I have to be paid in cash ... it's that simple. Everybody wants my help. Who the hell is looking out for me? With the exception of my family, no one ...
It's Don Draper's birthday and his wife (Megan) is singing a song to celebrate his 40th birthday party - zou bisou bisou (in french of course). How incredibly campy!!! I can't stop laughing. John and I are remembering the good old days (we drank and smoked at the office). Martini lunches ... This show cracks me up!!!
I can't wait until May 11th - Tim Burton's new movie "Dark Shadows" will be released. Yes, I used to watch the tv show "Dark Shadows" ... I am also a fan of The Twilight Zone. Tim Burton is a genius ... (there is a commercial break from Mad Men and they just showed the trailer to Dark Shadows - I can't stop laughing ...)
I'm on my second little triple ... Just saw a commerical for Captain Morgan. John likes Mojitos - so do I. I can drink a rum & diet coke ... but rum is a little too sweet for me.
Shit happens and people bleed ... Joan has returned to the office on Mad Men after her maternity leave. I love Joan and I love Peggy. Againt all odds, Peggy has managed to become an account executive - a milestone for women back in the sixties.
People think it is holding on that makes you stronger, but sometimes it's letting go.
"There is a thin line that separates laughter and pain, comedy and tragedy, humor and hurt." - Erma Bombeck
I am thinking of another quote - it's from Friedrich Nietzche ... "If you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." Another great quote by Nietzsche that fits my mood now - "For art to exist, for any sort of aesthetic activity to exist, a certain physiological precondition is indispensable: intoxication."
I am highly intoxicated right now ... I can relate to Don Draper and his problems. I didn't fight the battles that he fought - the Korean War, his 'real' family, his 'present' family, etc. but everyday I fight my own battles.
I took care of my pay with regard to my part-time job. If you want me to work for you, I have to be paid in cash ... it's that simple. Everybody wants my help. Who the hell is looking out for me? With the exception of my family, no one ...
It Goes Like It Goes
Downloaded some drawings that I took pictures of with my phone. The two added to this post represent how I am feeling right now. I drew these quite a few years ago, hence the yellow shade ...
Back in the early 90's (went through a period where I would get my hair permed - haven't had that done in ages).
"It Goes Like It Goes" - lyrics to a beautiful song sung by Jennifer Warnes for the movie Norma Rae.
Ain't no miracle bein' born
People doin' it everyday
Ain't no miracle growin' old
People just roll that way
So it goes like it goes and the river flows
And time it rolls right on
And maybe what's good gets a little bit better
And maybe what's bad gets gone
Bless the child of the workin' man
She knows too soon who she is
And bless the hands of a workin' man
He knows his soul is his
So it goes like it goes and the river flows
And time it rolls right on
And maybe what's good gets a little bit better
And maybe what's bad gets gone
Yeh it goes like it goes like the river flows
And time keeps rollin' on
And maybe what's good gets a little bit better
And maybe what's bad gets gone
Depression is a signal that one has gotten off track - that your life is not in alignment with your deepest needs, values, interests, etc.
Do you ever get tired of conforming to the expectations of others?
"It Goes Like It Goes" - lyrics to a beautiful song sung by Jennifer Warnes for the movie Norma Rae.
Ain't no miracle bein' born
People doin' it everyday
Ain't no miracle growin' old
People just roll that way
So it goes like it goes and the river flows
And time it rolls right on
And maybe what's good gets a little bit better
And maybe what's bad gets gone
Bless the child of the workin' man
She knows too soon who she is
And bless the hands of a workin' man
He knows his soul is his
So it goes like it goes and the river flows
And time it rolls right on
And maybe what's good gets a little bit better
And maybe what's bad gets gone
Yeh it goes like it goes like the river flows
And time keeps rollin' on
And maybe what's good gets a little bit better
And maybe what's bad gets gone
Depression is a signal that one has gotten off track - that your life is not in alignment with your deepest needs, values, interests, etc.
Do you ever get tired of conforming to the expectations of others?
Relationships, Part 0 (a) ...
Joanne, I am going through a very difficult time. I knew when I stopped taking my Effexor it wasn't going to be easy. Today is a very bad day for me. Why? I expressed my disappointment to a friend (I've been keeping it inside for a very long time), and now I feel guilty about it.
You 'know' me - and I would really appreciate your opinion. I have a lot of resentment and I will explain why I feel disappointed.
Relationships are a work in progress. They are all about give and take. With regard to one friendship in particular, I am always giving ... I used the term friendship in my last sentence. Is this a friendship? What defines a friendship?
You sent me a text a couple of days ago, "I don't know Irene but I feel like I'm in a dark hole with no air." I feel like that right now. I am wrestling with my depression and it's very hard. I am doing all that I can not to get 'jammed' because if I get jammed, it will take me to a place mentally where I don't want to be ... I've been there before, and it's very painful.
A friendship is like any other relationship - it requires balance. When there is a lack of balance, this opens the door to resentment and frustration. I have been resentful for a very long time. I kept it inside. I always ask myself 'what motivates people?' (She has a lot on her plate, she's busy, she has a hectic schedule, etc.)
In the past 16 months, the only time, (emphasis added), I have received a call from this friend is when she needed something. I am not keeping score. (i.e., I called you twice, now it's your turn to call me.)
Last night we debated on whether or not she was making a right decision. I expressed my opinion - I believe she is not making the right decision. She told me her reasons for taking the route that she has chosen to take. I have to respect her decision.
I was told I am a very hyper person. Yes, I am very hyper. I totally agreed with that statement. I can't help it, I'm wired differently. I was told that I 'jumped the gun' so to speak ... When that came out, I was disappointed and hurt. This coming from someone who texted me from an attorney's office asking if I would be willing to testify in court ...
The proverb 'A friend in need is a friend indeed' teaches that a real friend is a person who is there for you, helps you when you have a problem, keeps your secrets, shares things with you, bares with all of your defects.
A friend in need is a friend indeed -- there are various interpretations of its meaning.
Is it 'a friend in need is a friend indeed' or 'a friend in need is a friend in deed'?
If it's a friend indeed then I take it to mean someone who helps you when you are in need is a true friend.
If it's a friend in deed then I interpret that as someone who needs your help becomes friendly in order to obtain it.
Only time will tell. Most people will accept the 'indeed' version of this well-known proverb. For me, as it relates to this particular friendship, the 'in deed' version describes the past 16 months. I respect she has a lot on her plate, she's busy, tired, etc. We all have a lot on our plates, we're all busy and tired ... Despite my busy schedule, my depression, etc., I find time to pick up the phone, I text my friends, 'how r u doing? hope u r well ...'
We agreed to disagree. We left it at that.
The only time my parents receive calls are when this friend needs something. The only time my sister receives a call is when this friend needs something. Do you notice a pattern? (Would you believe that I have been reduced to lying to my mother? She periodically asks me, 'does she call you at all? You call her, but does she ever call you to ask how you are doing?') Mothers are full of wisdom and they are very intuitive ... and I think that they have eyes behind their heads - they see EVERYTHING ...
I told my friend, "please do not start texting me or calling me because I have a hard time dealing with phonies." It would be a 'phony' act on her part and EVERYBODY who knows me can appreciate how I feel about people who are pretentious.
I have to ask myself, is there something lost in the translation? In all fairness to her, she thinks in a different language and has to translate her thoughts into English. Is it a cultural thing? A stoic, abrasive, defensive stance ... stoic - unmoved by joy or grief; abrasive - overly aggressive; and, defensive - guarding against threat of criticism ...
While I could appreciate this stance three years ago - a much different time - she was having marital problems and was constantly being knocked down (that will definitely have an affect on your self-esteem), why hold onto to that type of attitude now? You're free ... Does it take time to heal? Sure it does. Does it take time for a person's self-esteem to go from 'low' to 'high' - sure.
I respect myself (and at the present time I am not suffering from low self-esteeem). And because I have a tremendous amount of respect for myself, I need to get out of this 16-month (and counting) responsibility ... My weekends have been put on hold for the past year and a half, and I don't think I can continue putting my life on hold for two more years. As much as I love her son, I don't think I can handle another two years. I have already given enough of myself. And it's not just Saturday nights. My brother-in-law is home on the weekends, my sister is totally spent by the time Fridays come around (her day doesn't end when she leaves work - she has a second shift to get through when she arrives home.) Maria will call me on Fridays, "Irene come over, I made coffee, Georgie and I are waiting for you ..." Why do I go over Friday nights (after a 10-hr shift - the busiest day of the week)? Because I am considerate and I feel for my sister. She's tired ... I can't even begin to mention how many times my poor sister fell asleep before little Georgie did. "Go inside Maria, I'll stay until she gets here." ... "Irene, I feel bad going to bed, I'm tired, are you sure you don't mind." ... Just go to sleep sis - get some rest ...
It's funny - for the first time in a long time (5 years), I have Saturdays and Sundays off. I have to laugh ... I am more tired now then when I worked on the weekends. I'm up until 3:30 am, 4:00 am, etc. - when I finally get home and have 'down time' to myself it takes me an hour or two to shift down.
"We talk and share a few cigarettes when I get home on Saturdays - I figured that's enough time to bring us up to date every week ..."
I thought about that comment all the way home last night. I don't even remember driving to the Wawa. I couldn't tell you how I got there, because I don't remember. I cried on my way home (and I am very disappointed in myself for having cried in her apartment - I broke one of my personal rules - 'never let them see you cry Irene.')
I will end with a quote from one of my favorite playwrights:
"Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose." - Tennessee Williams
(Mr. Williams, if there is such a thing as reincarnation, I would like to come back as your typewriter - so that I can absorb your words as they are transferred from your brilliant mind to paper.) My life is definitely what I make it; with regard to the friends I choose ... I have chosen to distance myself from someone who I care very much about (more than they can ever imagine). If I didn't care, I wouldn't have babysat her son on Fridays and Saturdays. When someone hurts me, I put a wall up and walk away. It's not the first time that a friend has let me down ...
You 'know' me - and I would really appreciate your opinion. I have a lot of resentment and I will explain why I feel disappointed.
Relationships are a work in progress. They are all about give and take. With regard to one friendship in particular, I am always giving ... I used the term friendship in my last sentence. Is this a friendship? What defines a friendship?
You sent me a text a couple of days ago, "I don't know Irene but I feel like I'm in a dark hole with no air." I feel like that right now. I am wrestling with my depression and it's very hard. I am doing all that I can not to get 'jammed' because if I get jammed, it will take me to a place mentally where I don't want to be ... I've been there before, and it's very painful.
A friendship is like any other relationship - it requires balance. When there is a lack of balance, this opens the door to resentment and frustration. I have been resentful for a very long time. I kept it inside. I always ask myself 'what motivates people?' (She has a lot on her plate, she's busy, she has a hectic schedule, etc.)
In the past 16 months, the only time, (emphasis added), I have received a call from this friend is when she needed something. I am not keeping score. (i.e., I called you twice, now it's your turn to call me.)
Last night we debated on whether or not she was making a right decision. I expressed my opinion - I believe she is not making the right decision. She told me her reasons for taking the route that she has chosen to take. I have to respect her decision.
I was told I am a very hyper person. Yes, I am very hyper. I totally agreed with that statement. I can't help it, I'm wired differently. I was told that I 'jumped the gun' so to speak ... When that came out, I was disappointed and hurt. This coming from someone who texted me from an attorney's office asking if I would be willing to testify in court ...
The proverb 'A friend in need is a friend indeed' teaches that a real friend is a person who is there for you, helps you when you have a problem, keeps your secrets, shares things with you, bares with all of your defects.
A friend in need is a friend indeed -- there are various interpretations of its meaning.
Is it 'a friend in need is a friend indeed' or 'a friend in need is a friend in deed'?
If it's a friend indeed then I take it to mean someone who helps you when you are in need is a true friend.
If it's a friend in deed then I interpret that as someone who needs your help becomes friendly in order to obtain it.
Only time will tell. Most people will accept the 'indeed' version of this well-known proverb. For me, as it relates to this particular friendship, the 'in deed' version describes the past 16 months. I respect she has a lot on her plate, she's busy, tired, etc. We all have a lot on our plates, we're all busy and tired ... Despite my busy schedule, my depression, etc., I find time to pick up the phone, I text my friends, 'how r u doing? hope u r well ...'
We agreed to disagree. We left it at that.
The only time my parents receive calls are when this friend needs something. The only time my sister receives a call is when this friend needs something. Do you notice a pattern? (Would you believe that I have been reduced to lying to my mother? She periodically asks me, 'does she call you at all? You call her, but does she ever call you to ask how you are doing?') Mothers are full of wisdom and they are very intuitive ... and I think that they have eyes behind their heads - they see EVERYTHING ...
I told my friend, "please do not start texting me or calling me because I have a hard time dealing with phonies." It would be a 'phony' act on her part and EVERYBODY who knows me can appreciate how I feel about people who are pretentious.
I have to ask myself, is there something lost in the translation? In all fairness to her, she thinks in a different language and has to translate her thoughts into English. Is it a cultural thing? A stoic, abrasive, defensive stance ... stoic - unmoved by joy or grief; abrasive - overly aggressive; and, defensive - guarding against threat of criticism ...
While I could appreciate this stance three years ago - a much different time - she was having marital problems and was constantly being knocked down (that will definitely have an affect on your self-esteem), why hold onto to that type of attitude now? You're free ... Does it take time to heal? Sure it does. Does it take time for a person's self-esteem to go from 'low' to 'high' - sure.
I respect myself (and at the present time I am not suffering from low self-esteeem). And because I have a tremendous amount of respect for myself, I need to get out of this 16-month (and counting) responsibility ... My weekends have been put on hold for the past year and a half, and I don't think I can continue putting my life on hold for two more years. As much as I love her son, I don't think I can handle another two years. I have already given enough of myself. And it's not just Saturday nights. My brother-in-law is home on the weekends, my sister is totally spent by the time Fridays come around (her day doesn't end when she leaves work - she has a second shift to get through when she arrives home.) Maria will call me on Fridays, "Irene come over, I made coffee, Georgie and I are waiting for you ..." Why do I go over Friday nights (after a 10-hr shift - the busiest day of the week)? Because I am considerate and I feel for my sister. She's tired ... I can't even begin to mention how many times my poor sister fell asleep before little Georgie did. "Go inside Maria, I'll stay until she gets here." ... "Irene, I feel bad going to bed, I'm tired, are you sure you don't mind." ... Just go to sleep sis - get some rest ...
It's funny - for the first time in a long time (5 years), I have Saturdays and Sundays off. I have to laugh ... I am more tired now then when I worked on the weekends. I'm up until 3:30 am, 4:00 am, etc. - when I finally get home and have 'down time' to myself it takes me an hour or two to shift down.
"We talk and share a few cigarettes when I get home on Saturdays - I figured that's enough time to bring us up to date every week ..."
I thought about that comment all the way home last night. I don't even remember driving to the Wawa. I couldn't tell you how I got there, because I don't remember. I cried on my way home (and I am very disappointed in myself for having cried in her apartment - I broke one of my personal rules - 'never let them see you cry Irene.')
I will end with a quote from one of my favorite playwrights:
"Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose." - Tennessee Williams
(Mr. Williams, if there is such a thing as reincarnation, I would like to come back as your typewriter - so that I can absorb your words as they are transferred from your brilliant mind to paper.) My life is definitely what I make it; with regard to the friends I choose ... I have chosen to distance myself from someone who I care very much about (more than they can ever imagine). If I didn't care, I wouldn't have babysat her son on Fridays and Saturdays. When someone hurts me, I put a wall up and walk away. It's not the first time that a friend has let me down ...
Relationships, Part 0 (zero) ...
Relationships, Part 0 ... nothing. The old adage, 'you get what you give' just doesn't hold true for me tonight. Who is to blame for that? Me ... stupid me ...
"A relationship is a two-way street, not a highway and a bike path ..." - Unknown
Why is it that the best quotes are written anonymously?
It's a two-way street with no stop signs or red lights. Every so often there's a head-on collision.
After 16 months, I was involved in an accident, only it didn't happen on a two-way street ...
I got dumped on (blamed) for bringing 'changes' to someone's attention. The irony is that quite a few people noticed these changes (behaviors that were out of the ordinary); but, as is the case more often than not, "it's your fault Irene."
Self-esteem issues? You have self-esteem issues?
Try being me and then talk to me about self-esteem. Put yourself in my shoes just for ONE day and then tell me "Whatever you do, please do not go back to medication, you are stronger than that ..."
Yes, I'm a big girl ... but appearances can be deceiving. Big girls cry too. They bleed just like everybody else.
I am too tired and upset to think straight ...
The sign above says "caution drive slow" ... Slow? Tonight I came to a complete stop. Months and months of resentment and hurt just came pouring out ...
I only hope that my sister doesn't receive any phone calls or text messages. Maria and I have a very special bond - only identical twins can relate to what I'm talking about. She is not just my sister - she is my 'other half' ... If her phone starts ringing (all of a sudden), Maria will know right away that I 'said' something.
I just need to get through this phase and see where the road goes. If the road takes me to a dead-end, then it was meant to be. As mentioned in a prior post, our lives were charted for us the day that we were born - we are meant to meet the people that we meet ...
I don't know why I thought today was the 23rd - it's actually the 25th. March 25th - Greek Independence Day ...
Oxi!!!
"A relationship is a two-way street, not a highway and a bike path ..." - Unknown
Why is it that the best quotes are written anonymously?
It's a two-way street with no stop signs or red lights. Every so often there's a head-on collision.
After 16 months, I was involved in an accident, only it didn't happen on a two-way street ...
I got dumped on (blamed) for bringing 'changes' to someone's attention. The irony is that quite a few people noticed these changes (behaviors that were out of the ordinary); but, as is the case more often than not, "it's your fault Irene."
Self-esteem issues? You have self-esteem issues?
Try being me and then talk to me about self-esteem. Put yourself in my shoes just for ONE day and then tell me "Whatever you do, please do not go back to medication, you are stronger than that ..."
Yes, I'm a big girl ... but appearances can be deceiving. Big girls cry too. They bleed just like everybody else.
I am too tired and upset to think straight ...
The sign above says "caution drive slow" ... Slow? Tonight I came to a complete stop. Months and months of resentment and hurt just came pouring out ...
I only hope that my sister doesn't receive any phone calls or text messages. Maria and I have a very special bond - only identical twins can relate to what I'm talking about. She is not just my sister - she is my 'other half' ... If her phone starts ringing (all of a sudden), Maria will know right away that I 'said' something.
I just need to get through this phase and see where the road goes. If the road takes me to a dead-end, then it was meant to be. As mentioned in a prior post, our lives were charted for us the day that we were born - we are meant to meet the people that we meet ...
I don't know why I thought today was the 23rd - it's actually the 25th. March 25th - Greek Independence Day ...
Oxi!!!
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Little George, Part II
Tomorrow will mark two weeks since I stopped taking my Effexor.
A lot of people don't realize that depression is an illness. I don't wish it on anyone, but if they would know how it feels, I swear they would think twice before they just shrug it. - Jonathan Davis
I had a very stressful day and I'm trying not to think about it. I'm watching Billy Liar on TCM with Tom Courtenay and Julie Christie. Christie won the Best Actress Oscar for her role in this movie - what were they thinking? She should have won for her role as Lara in Dr. Zhivago. It was the Academy's way of making up for their mistake. It's pretty funny, but I'm having a hard time focusing on the movie.
I can't sleep. I feel like I'm being pushed and pulled at the same time - jammed ... I'm trying really hard not to stay 'stuck' but it's very difficult.
In the past three months little George’s emotional state has changed. He's not the same happy-go-lucky little boy that he was a few months ago.
December 3, 2011, was the first time George told me he did not want to go to his father’s house. I was playing with George with his train set. He turned to me and said, "Irene, I don’t want to go to Daddy’s house." I asked him, "don’t you want to see your sister Melina?" He replied, "I don’t want to go to Daddy’s house" and began to cry. I picked him up and gave him a hug and told him, "Okay baby, I’ll tell mommy you don’t want to go." As I do every Saturday, I got George ready for bed. As I read him a bedtime story, he again told me, "Irene, I don’t want to go to daddy’s house" and began to cry again. I told him not to worry, it was getting late, and it was time for him to go to sleep. After he fell asleep, I sent Julia a text message, 'what is going on w/George?'
I understand there is a fine line between a child’s imagination and reality. I also understand that a three year old may find it difficult to verbally communicate any harm inflicted on them.
During the past three months George cries when it’s time to go to bed. I have to lay down next to him until he falls asleep and reassure him that I am there, not to be afraid. He lays very close to me and has to hold my arm until he falls asleep (something that he never did in the past). He covers his head with the blanket very tightly which scares me - 'can he breath?' I ask myself. Once he falls asleep, I pull the blanket down from his head. He is afraid of the dark (something that he never was afraid of before). He has an increased need for affection. He would tell me, "I love you Irene" in the past, but lately this increased need borders on 'clinging' ... He literally clings to me. Out of the blue, he will come up to me and say, "I love you Irene" - it just doesn't feel right to me. When I use the bathroom I have to tell him, "George, Irene will be right out – give me a minute honey – Irene has to use the bathroom." (He waits for me outside the door – something he never did before.) There is a marked change in his vocabulary. He uses the word 'stupid' (he never used the word stupid before). I actually witnessed him calling Julia stupid and she told him it’s not a nice word for little boys to use. (I do not know how he learned this word – I can only assume that he hears it being used, or someone calls him stupid.) Another troubling change is his need to repeatedly apologize for trivial things (i.e., he spilled his macaroni and cheese and kept apologizing to me, "I’m sorry Irene, I didn’t mean to spill my macaroni and cheese, etc.") I explained to George, "it was an accident baby, you did not spill your food on purpose, there is no need for you to keep apologizing, it’s okay baby - accidents happen."
I have not noticed any signs of physical abuse (bruising, etc.) but I can't help but wonder if he is being emotionally abused.
My family and I do not mention Nick to George. The only time I mention Nick’s name to George is when he cries and tells me, "I don’t want to go to daddy’s house." I respond, "don’t you want to visit daddy and Melina? Daddy and Melina love you. They miss you very much baby."
On March 1st last year, Nick was arrested for putting mice in two pizza shops - he was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. He was arrested four times between 1988 and 2009 in New Jersey and Florida for burglary, tampering with evidence, aggressive battery and assault. In addition to Nick's criminal background, there are three risk factors that concern me greatly. First, Nick is a single parent which adds to the level of stress he is already under. Second, Nick endured abuse as a child (I was a witness to one very disturbing incident - see prior posts). Third, when he was arrested for planting mice in two pizza shops last year, he stated he 'was on drugs' at the time of the incident.
The years of early childhood are very important. A sense of safety and love are needed and are important to a child’s development. If a child does not feel safe, it can have a damaging affect on the child’s welfare.
Can a three year old child undergo a psychiatric evaluation? If a psychiatric evaluation is performed, can a three year old child suffer emotional and psychological stress as a result of the evaluation? Will George’s needs be evaluated and taken into consideration? Will law-enforcement have to get involved in any investigation? ... This will only add more stress/fear to George’s development as a child.
I only hope that this beautiful little boy does not become damaged beyond repair.
Art helps me - it has gotten me through some tough times in my life.
A lot of people don't realize that depression is an illness. I don't wish it on anyone, but if they would know how it feels, I swear they would think twice before they just shrug it. - Jonathan Davis
I had a very stressful day and I'm trying not to think about it. I'm watching Billy Liar on TCM with Tom Courtenay and Julie Christie. Christie won the Best Actress Oscar for her role in this movie - what were they thinking? She should have won for her role as Lara in Dr. Zhivago. It was the Academy's way of making up for their mistake. It's pretty funny, but I'm having a hard time focusing on the movie.
I can't sleep. I feel like I'm being pushed and pulled at the same time - jammed ... I'm trying really hard not to stay 'stuck' but it's very difficult.
In the past three months little George’s emotional state has changed. He's not the same happy-go-lucky little boy that he was a few months ago.
December 3, 2011, was the first time George told me he did not want to go to his father’s house. I was playing with George with his train set. He turned to me and said, "Irene, I don’t want to go to Daddy’s house." I asked him, "don’t you want to see your sister Melina?" He replied, "I don’t want to go to Daddy’s house" and began to cry. I picked him up and gave him a hug and told him, "Okay baby, I’ll tell mommy you don’t want to go." As I do every Saturday, I got George ready for bed. As I read him a bedtime story, he again told me, "Irene, I don’t want to go to daddy’s house" and began to cry again. I told him not to worry, it was getting late, and it was time for him to go to sleep. After he fell asleep, I sent Julia a text message, 'what is going on w/George?'
I understand there is a fine line between a child’s imagination and reality. I also understand that a three year old may find it difficult to verbally communicate any harm inflicted on them.
During the past three months George cries when it’s time to go to bed. I have to lay down next to him until he falls asleep and reassure him that I am there, not to be afraid. He lays very close to me and has to hold my arm until he falls asleep (something that he never did in the past). He covers his head with the blanket very tightly which scares me - 'can he breath?' I ask myself. Once he falls asleep, I pull the blanket down from his head. He is afraid of the dark (something that he never was afraid of before). He has an increased need for affection. He would tell me, "I love you Irene" in the past, but lately this increased need borders on 'clinging' ... He literally clings to me. Out of the blue, he will come up to me and say, "I love you Irene" - it just doesn't feel right to me. When I use the bathroom I have to tell him, "George, Irene will be right out – give me a minute honey – Irene has to use the bathroom." (He waits for me outside the door – something he never did before.) There is a marked change in his vocabulary. He uses the word 'stupid' (he never used the word stupid before). I actually witnessed him calling Julia stupid and she told him it’s not a nice word for little boys to use. (I do not know how he learned this word – I can only assume that he hears it being used, or someone calls him stupid.) Another troubling change is his need to repeatedly apologize for trivial things (i.e., he spilled his macaroni and cheese and kept apologizing to me, "I’m sorry Irene, I didn’t mean to spill my macaroni and cheese, etc.") I explained to George, "it was an accident baby, you did not spill your food on purpose, there is no need for you to keep apologizing, it’s okay baby - accidents happen."
I have not noticed any signs of physical abuse (bruising, etc.) but I can't help but wonder if he is being emotionally abused.
My family and I do not mention Nick to George. The only time I mention Nick’s name to George is when he cries and tells me, "I don’t want to go to daddy’s house." I respond, "don’t you want to visit daddy and Melina? Daddy and Melina love you. They miss you very much baby."
On March 1st last year, Nick was arrested for putting mice in two pizza shops - he was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. He was arrested four times between 1988 and 2009 in New Jersey and Florida for burglary, tampering with evidence, aggressive battery and assault. In addition to Nick's criminal background, there are three risk factors that concern me greatly. First, Nick is a single parent which adds to the level of stress he is already under. Second, Nick endured abuse as a child (I was a witness to one very disturbing incident - see prior posts). Third, when he was arrested for planting mice in two pizza shops last year, he stated he 'was on drugs' at the time of the incident.
The years of early childhood are very important. A sense of safety and love are needed and are important to a child’s development. If a child does not feel safe, it can have a damaging affect on the child’s welfare.
Can a three year old child undergo a psychiatric evaluation? If a psychiatric evaluation is performed, can a three year old child suffer emotional and psychological stress as a result of the evaluation? Will George’s needs be evaluated and taken into consideration? Will law-enforcement have to get involved in any investigation? ... This will only add more stress/fear to George’s development as a child.
I only hope that this beautiful little boy does not become damaged beyond repair.
Art helps me - it has gotten me through some tough times in my life.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Little George
I love being around George – all children really. I keep getting recharged every time I am around kids. Little George brings back memories of my sister and I at play, of Manny and Denise when they were his age. George's world is fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement.
"It is our misfortune that for most of us that clear-eyed vision, that true instinct for what is beautiful and awe-inspiring, is dimmed and even lost before we reach adulthood." - Rachel Carson
If I had one wish left in my life, I would ask that the best gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life, as an unfailing antidote against the boredom and disenchantments of later years, the sterile preoccupation with things that are artificial, the alienation from sources of our strength.
If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in. George has such an adult in his life - his wonderful mother - Julia. She engages her child, spends a great deal of time with him, and shares his world with him. On her days off she takes him to lakes, museums, parks, playgrounds, beaches, etc. Unfortunately, Nick does not share George's sense of wonder.
I remember my Aunt Helen down at the shore when George would crawl around the house (he was almost a year old). At the time, I thought to myself - here is a child born with a sense of wonder, ready to admire and love what is seen and experienced. Her reaction to George was, "watch now, no, no, don't do that George, no, no, etc." until this extraordinary sense of wonder was reduced to nothing. It struck me as odd - she had a sense of inadequacy. She was so consumed with having a 'clean' house that she missed out on so much joy with regard to her grandchildren. She spent more time with a rag in her hand than interracting with George and Melina. God forbid if Melina left her toys laying around in the living room. I'm not saying, "here kid, here is a can of paint, take it and do what you want with it." I am in no way saying that it's okay for children to destroy their homes. However, a home is meant to be lived in, not something to just admire. A living room is just that - a 'living' room. (Tommy's first wife and his second wife divorced him; Julia left Nick and is in the process of getting a divorce; and, if Lisa had lived, she would have left Nick as well.) Nick will probably take exception to my comment on Lisa, but then again Nick is delusional. He wouldn't recognize the truth if it were staring him in the face. In my prior post, I commented on spirituality and religion. The old adage, 'God works in mysterious ways' comes to mind. I believe Lisa was taken away so soon after she got married for a reason. Lisa did not have the strength to fight Nick and his lies and Nick's dysfunctional parents. She fought the good fight, she battled cancer the last year of her life, but in the end the cancer won. Everything happens for a reason. I truly believe that our lives were charted for us the day that we were born. We are meant to go through what life has in store for us, we are meant to meet the people that we meet, etc. God (our higher power) bombards us with hardships in an effort to test our strength. Lisa did not have the strength to fight ...
"Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing up is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing." - Phyllis Diller
I believe that for the child, and for the parent seeking to guide him, it is not half so important to know as to feel. If facts are the seeds that later produce knowledge and wisdom, then the emotions and the impressions of the senses are the fertile soil in which the seeds must grow. The years of early childhood are the time to prepare the soil. Once the emotions have been aroused - a sense of the beautiful; the excitement of the new and the unknown; a feeling of sympathy, pity, admiration, or love - then we wish for knowledge about the object of our emotional response. Once found, it has lasting meaning. It is more important to pave the way for the child to want to know. To me, a 'sense of wonder' is a centrally important aspect in a child's development.
Too many people have bought the societal message about which the poet, William Wordsworth, alluded to so perceptively many years ago when he wrote:
"The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!"
Most adults get so caught up in the daily grind, life's routine, their work, chores, etc. that they wind up repressing their sense of wonder - the core and meaning of life itself. No wonder so many adults are threatened or annoyed by the spontaneity of young children.
Wonder becomes possible when children can risk being themselves without there being any risk at all.
Oh, how I hope and pray that we may develop, preserve, and enrich a sense of wonder in children of all ages.
"It is our misfortune that for most of us that clear-eyed vision, that true instinct for what is beautiful and awe-inspiring, is dimmed and even lost before we reach adulthood." - Rachel Carson
If I had one wish left in my life, I would ask that the best gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life, as an unfailing antidote against the boredom and disenchantments of later years, the sterile preoccupation with things that are artificial, the alienation from sources of our strength.
If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in. George has such an adult in his life - his wonderful mother - Julia. She engages her child, spends a great deal of time with him, and shares his world with him. On her days off she takes him to lakes, museums, parks, playgrounds, beaches, etc. Unfortunately, Nick does not share George's sense of wonder.
"Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing up is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing." - Phyllis Diller
I believe that for the child, and for the parent seeking to guide him, it is not half so important to know as to feel. If facts are the seeds that later produce knowledge and wisdom, then the emotions and the impressions of the senses are the fertile soil in which the seeds must grow. The years of early childhood are the time to prepare the soil. Once the emotions have been aroused - a sense of the beautiful; the excitement of the new and the unknown; a feeling of sympathy, pity, admiration, or love - then we wish for knowledge about the object of our emotional response. Once found, it has lasting meaning. It is more important to pave the way for the child to want to know. To me, a 'sense of wonder' is a centrally important aspect in a child's development.
Too many people have bought the societal message about which the poet, William Wordsworth, alluded to so perceptively many years ago when he wrote:
"The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!"
Most adults get so caught up in the daily grind, life's routine, their work, chores, etc. that they wind up repressing their sense of wonder - the core and meaning of life itself. No wonder so many adults are threatened or annoyed by the spontaneity of young children.
Wonder becomes possible when children can risk being themselves without there being any risk at all.
Oh, how I hope and pray that we may develop, preserve, and enrich a sense of wonder in children of all ages.
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