Dwight was Right-Eisenhower’s 1961 Farewell Address

Eisenhower’s famous farewell address speech. People were stunned when the military genius and American Hero offered this sober critique of the emerging Military Industrial Complex.

From the speech:

“… we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations.”

“This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence — economic, political, even spiritual — is felt in every city, every state house, every office of the federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to recognize its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.”

“In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or our democratic processes”

Fareed Zakaria and Coded Anti-Populism

    ***

Zakaria Thinks Trump is a Chump

This is in response to Fareed Zakaria’s blog post entitled, “Fareed Zakaria on Donald Trump and Coded Racism” which appeared on his Global Public Square blog on April 22nd, 2011, where he ‘mans the helm’ at CNN on Sundays at 10am and 1pm eastern time.

Fareed seemed to be an otherwise thoughtful analyst of the geo-political scene when he waded into the mainstream media pool back in 2002, but this piece from his blog is just egregious and requires immediate attention from yours truly. Zakaria has outdone himself here, he uses the ‘trump card’ of racism to taint Donald Trump as a racist in a banal Straw Man analogy, which at least unfurls as an ‘informal fallacy.’

Nobody rooted for Mr Zakaria more than I when he showed up on our TV screens in the scary post-911 world. We were happy to see an Indian born practicing Muslim with a kind persona and classy presence disagree with the neo-conservatives while getting smiles from other liberals. It promised to be a kindler, gentler world where more international liberal and progressive voices were to be heard along staunch US conservative pundits and the usual Euro-centric Imperialist drivel.

This of course was not to be the case, instead of a more diverse perspective full of international voices, we have more colorful faces and accents, but the same narrow liberal/conservative ideologues logging in long hours on our TV screens. The new class of media pundits and commentators are a more diverse ‘rainbow of colors’, but their rainbow does not arch toward justice, as Martin Luther King envisioned our shared path to be, but  arches toward the status-quo, and the further eroding of our civil rights. ‘We the people’ need to bend the Rainbow of Truth in the direction of our shared  vision of equal rights and protection under the law, with due process afforded  all.

You will have proof here that Mr Zakaria is unabashedly steering the conversation away from real ‘Populism’ from his podium atop CNN. It is egregious to say the least, especially when you consider the baton was passed to him and others by the likes of Edward R Murrow, Walter Cronkite and to an extent the investigative reporting style of shows like “60 Minutes.”

With the new corporate media and figures like Zakaria, we do not get any real investigative style reporting, but ’60 minutes’ of crosstalk interlaced with Democrat or Republican talking points book-ended by portrayal of the ‘startled masses’ as ignorant sheep or raging lunatics.

This is the landscape that our pundits like to wallow in, but for what reason? Our sons and daughters desperate lives used are used as spectacle,  to uphold the firmament of the great lie of ‘Social Darwinism’, with the uber-beautiful and super-rich are coronated and celebrated as royalty on the stage of rising and falling American Idols.

I have spent enough time working in marketing and media to understand that most if not all of these ‘talking heads’ are just paid actors who clamor for the glamor of their positions. Zakaria and others want to be judges and juries on this distorted socio-political scene. Whether Fareed is unwittingly misinforming the public or not is relatively unimportant, for he has willingly chosen to align himself with his corporate masters whom he so gleefully shills for.

Zakaria, or ‘Z’ as I like to refer to him, is no ‘Zorro’, he does not ride around on horseback gallantly supporting his countrymen in their struggle against ‘El Patron’, but rides around in Limousines and Private Jets sharing cocktails with his intelligentsia friends. Z’s compadres in the ‘Media Elite’ are now concerned that their usual Right/Left game-plan is going to be flanked by a new Populist movement, with the real players being Ron Paul, Donald Trump, Jesse Ventura, and possibly Dennis Kucinich.

There is a mass mainstream media movement afoot that smears and belittles anyone that is not part of the Duo-Oligopoly:

* Oligarchy:

“a small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution : the ruling oligarchy of military men around the president.
• a state governed by such a group : the English aristocratic oligarchy of the 19th century.
• government by such a group”

* Oligopoly:

“a state of limited competition, in which a market is shared by a small number of producers or sellers.”

A duo-oligopoly refers to the Oligarchs who have monopolized the infrastructure of our Democratic Republic, and are now behind a false Democratic/Republican Party paradigm that the Establishment Media push on the confused public. Think of it as good cop/ bad cop, a la “Hill St Blues” or “Law and Order CSI.’

But this real life soap-opera narrative we could call “Wash DC Spin BS” is professional socio-political theater where the frustrated actors and maladjusted social predators run amok with our country moneys and laws, paying allegiance to their gods of greed and power. Without mercy or shame they raid and plunder our cherished institutions, like any purveyor of empire would do.

It is high theater in the hallowed halls of our hollow Republic and the emperor has no clothes, yet we do nothing as Shakespeare and Moliere roll in their graves

The ‘establishment media pundits’ have to pimp for their corporate masters. The corporatised media are afraid of real populist movements, that is why they constantly try and smear the Donald Trumps and Ron Pauls of the world. I kid you not, Ron Paul, the front runner in many polls, running neck and neck with Romney in most states, is not even mentioned alongside other Republican contenders in Zakaria’s article.

Ron Paul, Dennis Kucinich and others, are treated like lepers by MSNBC, CNN, FOX, while the talking heads just love to blabber ad nauseum about a Sarah Palin or a Michelle Bachman, both fringe candidates at this point. While Palin was McCain’s choice for VP, everybody knows that the intent was to lure Ron Paul supporters to the Republican ticket in 2008.

Although Fox promoted the new faces of “The Tea Party” movement on it’s programs in the post-inagaural ‘health care town hall debate’ media frenzy, the original ‘Tea Party’ began with Ron Paul during the 2008 election and was astro-turfed by corporate Republicans for their own benefit.

The astro-turfing of those original Tea Parties was lead by the Fox News/Republican cabal which orchestrated the ‘big show’, but the left-wing of the duo-oligopical media monster is there to flap the other side of the behemoth. MSNBC, CNN on the other side, rails against Fox News for creating and/or promoting the New Tea Party, while failing to allude to the original Tea Party movement which had Ron Paul as it’s ersatz leader.

They are yelling at each other like sibling rivals, when they could be talking about the real issues and moving the conversation forward. After all, we share 99% of our DNA with chimpanzees, yet Royal Republicans and Democrats cannot see eye to eye on just about anything. These people would rather have you believe that the Halls of Congress and Business are filled with well-meaning people who would do otherwise if it were not for the ‘absurdity of human behavior.’

The Elites Architects would have us believe that ‘The Masses’ are the main cause of our own demise. The ignorant, huddled masses who are misled by shiny baubles and promises of instant wealth and happiness. According to Zakaria’s philosophy, the people’s immature “fantasies” are at the heart of most of our socio-political problems. Z might even believe in this nonsense, these modern elite media pundits are not as well-rounded and thoughtful as they would have you believe.

Z and his cohorts are not grizzled veterans with years of investigative reporting and ‘on the ground’ experience, but chiseled professional Ivy Leageurs who are groomed for the corporate boardrooms and game-rooms that are the revolving door of the Oligopolistic House of Cards.

The sad truth is, they treat us like spoiled children who watch too much TV because they live in the center of that TV World they are trying to project onto us. This is mostly a case of their projection, which when projected from their projection screen TV’s, projects their shallow understanding of reality onto our realities.

All this nonsense of theirs would be quite suspicious if the Duo-Oligopolics were not already outed by most political analysts who are already onto the fake Dem\Rep paradigm which hides the big players behind the scenes. Z is not only on the front lines of the debate, manipulating and distorting public opinion through his CNN show and GPS Blog, but is also deeply ensconced in the behind the scenes machinations that masquerade as public policy.

Z  belongs to this new breed of International Globalists, many of which are now foreign born but are still mostly Ivy League educated, and usually from prominent families who are already aligned with either a conservative or liberal ideology. If they toe the line, they are then recruited by the Think Tanks and Media Outlets who then push their well-crafted and researched ‘conservative’ or ‘liberal’ viewpoints from the left or right side of the aisle into the public discourse.

The names and faces may change but this type of modern media paradigm has been prevalent since the 1990’s, when the FCC allowed the corporate takeover of our media, and prevails with the mass monopolizing and gentrification of most of our beloved mind and soul-scapes at this point.

Now to the original article in question with a bit of background on Mr Fareed Zakaria.

Fareed was born in Mumbai, India in 1964 to a politician father and a journalist mother. He earned a BA from Yale and a Phd in Political Science from Harvard then of course worked for the major media outfits such as Newsweek and now sits atop his perch at CNN, where has hosted Fareed Zakaria GPS since 2008.

See the original article here at his sites blog:

http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/22/fareed-zakaria-on-the-donald-trump-fantasy/

Z all too willingly jumps on the Donald Trump bashing bandwagon and exposes himself as either a naive scrutinizer of the American political scene, or a sinister neo-globalist who is obviously trying to muddy the waters of an otherwise serious debate with the politics of obfuscation.

Ever since ‘The Don’ ‘threw his hair into the ring’ and brought up the ‘birther issue’, he has been under constant attack by the left-wing of the duo-oligopoly and their spin machines, while being pseudo-supported by the right-wing. Set your wash cycle for whites, or color safe, and spin spin spin.

Although I have not been following Z or any other of the MSM players on the field as of late, I am even more disheartened than usual at this ‘hit piece’ he has tried to pass off on the mostly unsuspecting public. Perusing the 1000+ comments under his article remind me that I am not the only one who is on to him. If I were to write a disingenuous piece that would smear Trump, while reducing the importance of American Populist figures and movements, this would be it.

The article begins here, in italics, with my commentary embedded for those who dare venture into the murky depths of this nefariousness, masking as otherwise wisdom and good-sense.

ARTICLE BEGINS-Bold headlines are his.

“A number of you have been asking me on Facebook, Twitter and iReport what I think about Donald Trump, the ‘birther’ issue and the Republican presidential field. Here are my thoughts:

1. Donald Trump’s appeal is based on a fantasy

“Americans have always had an appetite for a populist, non-politician who promises to cut through the mess in Washington and provide simple, commonsense solutions to the problems ailing the United States.”

“The peculiar American twist is that the populists tend to be billionaires. People think the very rich are immune to the usual pressures in government.  In some cases this turns out to be true (Mayor Michael Bloomberg is a good example).”

“But, fundamentally, this is wishful thinking bordering on fantasy. The mess we’re in is not a product of a handful of idiotic politicians engaged in venal behavior. The problem is that Americans want low-taxes and lots of government services.”

Z reduces everyone’s realistic desires for politicians to represent the people’s interests. While American Populists of the past such as Huey Long, or more recently Ross Perot have captured the naive “fantasies” of a large swath of the public, most American Populists have not been billionaires or even millionaires as  Z asserts. Huey Long was certainly not a billionaire, Kucinich neither. Let’s refresh Z’s memory with some definitions.

The popular definition of a Populist:

“a member or adherent of a political party seeking to represent the interests of ordinary people.
• a person who holds, or who is concerned with, the views of ordinary people.”

“a member of the Populist Party, a U.S. political party formed in 1891 that advocated the interests of labor and farmers, free coinage of silver, a graduated income tax, and government control of monopolies.”

Z seems to reduce the American Populist Movement to Donald Trump, Mayor Bloomberg and Ross Perot, while recent Populists such as Dennis Kucinich, Al Sharpton, John Edwards, Ralph Nader, Jesse Ventura, Ron Paul are ignored in his analysis.

The founders of legendary Populist parties, such as Teddy Roosevelt leading the Progresive Party of 1912, and Huey Long with his Share the Wealth movement of 1933-35 are the beginning of the American Populist movements, but even Ronald Reagan could be accused of populist tendencies.

Z reduces the Populist movements to suit his and his benefactors needs, hoping that most people will not do the research or have the ability to deconstruct his methods. This is the updated elitist philosophy that says “people only read the headlines” or “reality is too complicated for the masses so we must direct them,” both of which are shallow points of view.

What’s egregious is that Z dares to accuse the American people of living in a “fantasy world” where Populist heroes like Donald Trump or Ross Perot are merely caricatures of their naive distorted dreams, and it is his duty to remind of our ignorance.

You have to be wealthy to run as a Populist now because it is hard to raise money outside the Dem/Rep Big Tent System, which excludes most independents from even debating the chosen few handpicked contestants. Somehow Z misses this angle which really weakens his argument.

While people like Trump are a new breed of politician who have celebrity status, he is not one of the elite cadre of institutional professional politicians, but is a NY boy made international star. Donald Trump is a danger to the establishment, he likes to speak his mind and is a savvy businessman who is unafraid of the media.

‘The Don’ graduated from Wharton Business School, but according to Z, he is not educated enough in the reality of international politics that only a Harvard Phd can provide. Although Z might be concerned that Trump has little geo-political experience, neither does Mitt Romney, whom Z feels is a “credible guy.’

Trump is not a credible guy  according to Z, but what credentials is Z using? Is it that Trump does not know how to play the inside Washington game that well, that his business and TV experience will not be enough to deal with the political finesse that our Insider Politicians are so adept at. So where has all this political finesse got us, not any closer to solving any of the important issues of the day but further and deeper into the muck of economic and socio-political turmoil, now on a grand scale and continuing to spiral out of control. Not to worry though, Obama is at he wheel and Romney might create an interesting conversation about nationalized health care, so Z will be happy with his “credible guy” pageant…hmmm…no comment.

Z also tries to come off as good fiscal conservative and neo-liberal realist but behind his wide-eyed zeal and assumed expertise lies an opportunist. Zakaria is a transnational globalist who is more than willing to use his skills to help the Duo-Oligopoly hide their schemes behind our tele-vision daydreams.

Mr Zakaria constantly scolds and admonishes the ‘American People’ for not working hard enough, or not being realistic enough in their endeavors. I am sure Mr Zakaria knows about ‘tightening his belt’ of course, his Ivy League credentials and telegenics  are all he needs to get our heads to nod at the scoldings.

Next he wags his finger at us about how unrealistic we are to demand that Medicare be left alone and that there is no broad middle class increase in taxation.

“If you look at the recent polls, most Americans think there should be no changes to Medicare and no broad increases in taxation. This is magical mathematics. There is no way to make the budget work without doing both of these things – or at least one of them.”

Of course, that the tax cuts to the rich were extended and the out of control Military/Industrial/Prison Complex is off the table, the only reasonable solution is to cut Medicare. I am sure Z was out there on the front lines of the media establishment in their assurances that the ‘public option’ was magical thinking as well when the people petitioned for it.

Forget about the Wall St bailouts and the Iraq war, that is the cold hard hand of reality taking care of those who determine these things, the people in their fantasies are naive about geo-politics and are fiscally irresponsible. And guys like Z will steer us to accept things for how they are, and then admonish us when we get too optimistic or fall prey to our tendency towards “magical thinking.”

“The reason people like Donald Trump have appeal is they seem to promise that through their superior business talent they will magically solve problems and save Americans from having to make hard choices. That’s a fantasy. It’s never going to happen.”

Wrong Z.

People like Donald Trump have appeal because he is not part of the professional political and media establishment like Fareed Zakaria and his friends are. These socio-political priests who look down on us now from 52 inch Plasma screens think they are going to get away with this nonsense.  The emperor still has no clothes, even in high-def. Sorry.

Fareed desperately wants to get through our heads that we are fantastical “magical thinkers” who need to grow up. This is a line that a tired conservative like George Will would take, it is pure nonsense. Like so many others in the establishment media, Mr Zakaria likes to portray Americans as fantasists, who live their lives through a TV fantasy world, but the absurd truth is, he is the one living in the fantasy world.

His is a fantasy world where someone who has no real world experience outside Ivy League academia and mainstream corporate owned media is the harbinger of reality. Zakaria and others feel they are entitled to talk down to us, and he hopes we are all impressed by his credentials and telegenic demeanor and do not see through this ‘mirage’ of wisdom.

When the ‘hall of mirrors’ come down, we are left with just another banal attempt at mis-informing and manipulating information for nefarious purposes.

Next ‘Z’ uses a new tactic from the Demo-crat playbook, “When an opponent questions Obama, or any other Demo-crat who is of color, using the ‘race card’ is recommended. It is referred to as a ‘Trump Card’, in essence, Trump’s reputation is destroyed by his namesakes overt meaning. As if Z could ever be so clever, and one should know, “no need to be clever when your hand is on the lever.”

Now that Z has scolded you for your magical thinking, he is ready to show you the reality of Trump’s racism, which is of course ‘coded’…oooohhhhh!

2. The ‘birther’ issue is coded racism

“Then there is the ‘birther’ issue.  I regard this as coded racism, frankly. I don’t think there’s any other word for it.”

There are plenty of other words for it Fareed. While there are plenty of racists in this country to go around, the elite medias love to exaggerate the race issue on both sides. Z and others on the professional left love to hurl insults at the people on the right, knowing full well that the views of the actual people are closer to the middle. Social issues such as abortion or religion are used to segregate the lower classes into more manageable divisions. It all seems so real now, the media has been creating this divide for decades…people are desperate and angry, and it shows.

Next……

“For goodness’ sake, George Stephanopoulos displayed Obama’s Certificate of Live Birth on network TV and this rumor still doesn’t die. Put it this way: If the President was a white man named John Smith with the other background issues being the same – foreign student father, mother in Hawaii, etc. – would there be any of these dark insinuations? Trump should be ashamed of himself. But then, I suppose, he wouldn’t be Donald Trump.”

“For goodness’ sake”….really Z? I think “aw shucks” would be the colloquialism to ingratiate yourself  us silly Americans.

According to Zakaria’s logic, Obama is a person of color…Donald Trump questions the legitimacy of his birth certificate…that proves he is a racist. Zakaria”s “John Smith” argument is a “straw man”argument if there ever was one.

There is conveniently no modern American President who had such an international upbringing, but that is of course besides the point. If Obama was white, nobody would care that his father was Russian, and he was born in Alaska and raised for years in Denmark? Really, nobody would raise an eyebrow?

Z assures us that these are “dark insinuations”, which sounds a bit racist to me, it sounds like coded racism actually.

“I don’t think that the ‘birther’ issue the real appeal of Trump, anyway. It has just helped Trump get free media and rise up in the polls. His real appeal is the fantasy that he can somehow get us out of the mess we’re in.”

So Donald is in desperate need of negative attention, which is what he is mostly getting from the press now that he is outed as a ‘birther?’ Trump is a savvy businessman, he is not going to grasp at straws.

Of course the birther issue is not the main issue anyway but just happens to be the one that Z can use keep the Trump campaign grounded should it gain too much steam. While they may want to attack him with everything should he get a ‘hair of steam’ going, they know that he is good ratings, which at the end of the day is what matters. They will of course play this ping-pong game with us till the cows come home, just as their masters sell arms to both sides of the war.

“The reality, however, is that only we can get us out of the mess we’re in.”

Who is “we” Fareed?

He wants US in on the decisions maybe…not the same US that you have been accusing of magical thinking and living in a fantasy land? Oh, I guess he means “WE” as in “WE the people shall foot the bill? While the same time allowing “we”-him and his friends, to tell us where to send the money.

3. The Republican presidential field is weak

“I think the most serious Republican candidate is Mitt Romney. He has run a big business. He was the governor of a big state. But he’s probably disqualified from the Republican nomination because his healthcare plan is too close to Obama’s.”

Of course Mitt Romney, never mind that he is a Mormon, no problem, he is the establishment candidate par excelllance. Ron Paul is of course crazy because he is not approved by Harvard/Yale establishment, or even the Republican establishment, even though he is from Texas.

Funny, Fareed is always saying how bad the Republicans are, but he must mean the stupid voters, he still likes the establishment candidate. You would think that Z would like someone who was outside the establishment. Ron Paul is an astute politician who is is very popular with independents, and he is also a practicing medical physician.

“I think this is unfortunate because he would spur a serious debate if he were the nominee. I don’t agree with everything he says. (He’s said some pretty nutty stuff about Islamic extremism and terrorism). But I do think he’s a credible guy who could plausibly be a good President.”

Fareed does not need to say why he is “credible guy” but he would know.

“Tim Pawlenty and Mitch Daniels strike me as minor figures who are unlikely to have the kind of firepower that you would need to take on a sitting President.‘

“And Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann are ideological statements that fire up the base but would be overwhelmingly rejected by the American people. If either of these two were nominated, it would say that the Republican Party was more interested in being true to its perceived causes than in actually winning elections.  This has not historically been true of the Republican Party, which has tended to be a more practical party.”

Of course Ron Paul is not even mentioned. How odd…or rather…how obvious.

4.  President Obama is in good shape
“The single most important factor determining a president’s reelection is the economy. And through a combination of good crisis management and luck, I think Obama will end up entering the 2012 campaign stretch with an American economy that’s improving, which is probably more important than everything else.”

Of course Z, Obama is your man, Wall St loves him. All the bankers and corporate CEO’s love the man, why not you?

“So those are my thoughts. I’d love for you to continue the conversation below, and to follow me on Facebook and Twitter. You can also send me video questions through iReport.”

Maybe I will send him a video question soon.

Peace

Is Cupid a Terrorist?

 

 

'Cupid', by Sir Joshua Reynolds

 

 

*

I saw some hippies in a jiffy.

Man they looked spiffy,

Fresh from a spliffy.

*

They met in the park

on a lark

and

a shot

in the dark.

*

They wanted to

make a mark,

moondance

under the moonlight

in the park.

*

Sirens! Sirens!

Hark! Hark!

Alert! Alert!

*

Someone is digging

in the dirt!

*

“Flirting with danger

deranged and contagious.”

*

“What they

felt was so

dangerous!”

*

“What they did

was so outrageous!”

*

They are

now caged

for their

out-rage.

*

Does this enrage us?

Will this engage us?

*

Some say they

are courageous.

Others say it

is contagious.

*

Are we staring down

the barrel

of a loaded gun?

*

Is their no place

for a little

court and spark?

*

Have the jesters

all

had their fun?

*

Are we all alone,

dancers

in the dark?

*

Have we all

come

undone?

*

Have the slings and

arrows

hit their mark?

*

Is Love

now

on the run?

*

Is Cupid a Terrorist?

Is Cupid a Terrorist?

The Beet Butterfly

Did you see the Beet Butterfly

there  in the grass?

Holy sarsaparilla

and sassafras!

Time will come

and time will pass.

The Beet Butterfly

meditates on

a blade of grass.

The Beatific Beet Butterfly

The Beet Butterfly says ‘Beat it!”

Your wings that is!

Can’t beat the Beet Butterfly.

The Beet Butterfly, always beating it’s wings to the beat!

Put your hands and feet together for the Beatific Beat Butterfly!

‘Let’s Go Back Jack and Do It Again’

Now that’s what I call taking back the commons!

“You go back, Jack do it again
Wheel turnin’ ’round and ’round
You go back, Jack do it again”

Cheers!

Bruce Lee-Emotional Content vs Anger

The master at work. Never has their been, or never will their be a greater example of the merging of the spiritual and the physical. In beauty, grace and depth, Bruce Lee is on his own island.

One of our greatest tragedies on par with the losses of the Kennedy’s, John Lennon, MLK. Bruce Lee is the epitome of what can be achieved with hard work, determination and grace.

This scene is from “Enter the Dragon”. Bruce’s best known work. There are so many dynamics to talk about and I will probably elaborate in depth at a later time. I write from memory as I have seen the movie twenty times.

It is the beginning of the movie and Bruce is teaching at a Shaolin Monastery in China. In the scene before this you will see Bruce do an amazing flip over the outstretched arms of ten monks, after he defeats the great vaudeville martial artist Sammo Hung in a demonstration.

He then sits down for tea with a Mr Braithewaite, a British Intelligence Agent who is sent to enroll Bruce in the effort to take down a Mr Han. Mr Han is the evil guy that gave Bruce those famous bloody tiger claw marks on his chest at the end of the movie.  I could get into all the socio-political ramifications of Bruce’s life and this movie but, I will save it for another time. An example of one of the ‘slings and arrows’ that took down Bruce is the directors insistence that the agent’s name be Braithewaite, even though Bruce had a hard time pronouncing it. What makes people do this to the great ones, even other artists? Bruce still had a lot to teach us, but the death by a thousand cuts or rather a thousand ninja stars is what took him. Not the ‘brain aneurysm from an allergic reaction to aspirin’ that is in the file.

Bruce was always haunted by a sinister and powerful dark force. The force took the form of a giant samurai in the biopic “Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story.” Which is also the iconography that Terry Gilliam used for his heroes nemesis in “Brazil”, but I digress.

You cannot tell here the toll that everything had taken on Bruce, but he had lost much weight by the time he was making this movie. Why were so many people intimidated by a man who only stood 5’7 and spoke softly? His energy and charisma were probably the cause. You would be amazed at the effect that quiet, powerful, spiritual energy has on those who have agendas and are motivated by the rusty gears of their egos or worse. They squeak and squirm.

Now the fact that Bruce only made four or five movies, three of which are in Chinese before his tragic death in 1973, makes me cry, he was only 33. The fact that the 70’s TV show “Kung Fu” was his original idea, and that he could have starred in it if it weren’t for racist attitudes in Hollywood and elsewhere, is the biggest tragedy of all. Kwai Chang Caine,  as played by David Carradine is one of the great TV characters of all time. It went on for 4  or more years and while David was good in the role, Bruce would have taken it to another level. Despite his suspicious and tragic death,  the real tragedy is that we would have had 80 or more hour long episodes of Bruce showcasing his talent and art, if it weren’t for the racist attitudes of those in charge.

His death is controversial but it is obvious that racism and stress led to his early departure.  The depth of his ’emotional content’ could not overcome the pain and sorrow that an unjust and uncaring society places on those who try to make positive change. Bruce gave it his all though, and will live on forever as one of our great cultural and spiritual heroes.

Bruce was a great artist in many realms. His martial art choreography is unmatched, and his drawings and writings on the Tao are sublime. He was schooled in art and philosophy and his charm and charisma were off the charts.

In this video Bruce is able to show his beauty and grace in a softer way. Instead of whirlwind spin kicks sending an army to the ground…it is “Lao’s time”.  Lao Tzu is an ‘old master’, the author of the Tao Te Ching, which can be translated as ‘the way of virtue.” The Tao also has a mystical quality about it, a oneness with nature and the natural elements which allow us to experience eternal truths and live more in harmony and accordance with natures laws. Chinese Transcendentalism if you will. Lao Tzu and Bruce Lee are great demonstrators of the beauty and power of ‘the way.”

Now in the video, a young student has come for a lesson, and a lesson he will get, but it is softer than it looks.  The little slaps you see are not hard, but are meant to focus attention, to snap one out of it.

What you see first is Bruce and his student bowing to one another with equal respect. This is very rare  in western society. Bruce is meeting his student as an equal, the bow and respect is for spirit, not hierarchy.

He then asks the student to kick him, which he does and Bruce easily moves away. He then says, “Again with emotional content.”

Again the kid kicks and it is a better effort but Bruce is still not satisfied. He wants emotional content, not anger from his student. Again he asks the kid to try again, “with meaning.”

“That’s it. How did it feel to you?” he asks the kid.

The kid replies, “Let me think.”

Bruce slaps him and gets in his face, “Don’t think! Feel!”

“It is like a finger pointing a way to the moon.”

The kid looks at finger and then get’s slapped again.

“Don’t concentrate on  the finger”says Bruce, “or you will miss all the heavenly glory.”

“Do you understand?” he asks gently.

One of my favorite scenes from any movie, Bruce uses his voice, face and grace to ‘point to’ the beautiful metaphor of ‘the finger and the moon.’ It is a way to show how focusing on the trappings and peripherals of the activity rather than grasping its essence, is akin to focusing on the finger instead of the  moon. The finger is there to ‘point’ the way, but the essence is the moon, or the experience of being. It is akin to Yoda’s famous quote, “there is no try, only do” or the sport’s analogy of ‘be the ball.’

The student bows and then is slapped again!

“Never take your eyes off your opponent, even when you bow.”

He sends him off  encouragingly, “That’s it.”

PEACE

Sting Theory

"Twilight" was my idea as well," says Sting.

Theoretical Physicist all over the globe have taken an interest in a new theory of everything. It seems “String Theory” is evolving into “Sting Theory” and the scientific community is a “buzz.”

Theoretical Physicists are warming up to a new theory of relativity which is connected to the famous Renaissance Man himself. It seems there is some talk within the the scientific community about the idea of  testing some of their hypotheses with actual humans in mind…and they are starting with Gordon Sumner or ‘Sting’, as he is more widely known.

And Sting’s DNA, just might hold the ‘keys’ to unlocking the mysteries of the universe! From the  beginning of recorded time music has been the language of the spheres. As a virtuoso musician who meditates, Sting has been able to give detailed accounts of unbelievably complicated quantum mechanic theories and shed new light on many ideas that have confounded modern physicists and the physicists of old.

As Gary Zukov described in the “Dancing Wu Li Masters“, there is a deep connection between eastern mysticism and quantum physics. It is a musical dance of course and who better to blend the two than ‘Sir Sting?’

And Sting is taking it seriously of course. The enigmatic, self-described “Renaissance Man of the Century” sat with me and divulged the ‘essence of Sting Theory.’

Here are excerpts from the interview. Video by request.

Sir Sting in all his regalia:

“Yes, I have conquered all realms of music, from avant-garde rock, to avante-garde jazz, to avante-garde classical, to avante-garde new age, to avante garde-elevator music. Yes, I have somewhat conquered film in roles that were at least noteworthy, but in undeniably artful and important films. I have of course mastered the art of tantra and yoga. Why not try and conquer the sciences?

“Ever since the Greeks, the sciences and music have been wed in an eternal dance. Da Vinci might have had an inkling as to what I propose. While the Da Vinci Code is all well and good, it is just the beginning and ‘Sting Theory’ is just the next evolution of man and his relationship with the Celestial Heavens, the music of the spheres if you will.”

Embracing the Universe?

Sting elaborated further.

“I think I am able to connect when I do my meditation and yoga. I have been practicing tantric yoga for twenty years now. I don’t even have sex anymore really, I just vibrate like a bronzed, blonde tuning fork. I am a very sensitive instrument,  I can orgasm just by a butterfly flapping it’s wings in China or Tibet. Of course it depends on the genus of the butterfly. The Tibetan Monarch Butterfly or the…oh I digress. But their isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t whisper ‘thank you’ to a butterfly somewhere.”

“And I am of course, if you haven’t noticed, a very talented musician, actor, teacher and all around provocateur of mischief,  who just happens to be as a god to the Amazonian Rainforest People; The Yanamamo and such”

He lugubriously pined:

“Don’t think of me as a savior per se…of course you can argue that I saved music, but I am much more of a  guide or wizard if you will, than a god or deity. But you will never here me bragging about it or making movies and books like it was the Da Vinci Code or some trivial Dan Brown bullshit that the media just loves to throw around.”

Sting at the Vatican? Has the Pope weighed in yet?

He then sadly refrained, “Everyone thinks I am so pompous, I cry about it sometimes…as valuable as my tears are.”

Is the western world ready to make the jump from The Da Vince Code to Sting Theory? One can only hope. What does Dan Brown or Tom Hanks have to say about such things? One can only wonder.

Sting continued.

“Just look at the titles of my albums. All the clues are there. “Ghost in the Machine” and what have you.  I mean,  I called the Police’s last album “Synchronicity”. What more proof do you need.?”

“Really,  what more do I have to do?” he said sarcastically. ” Zenyatta Mandatta baby! Cheers!. The other fellas are so jealous of me!” seemingly referring to the Police’s two other band members, “I am so beyond them now, those days are long ago.”

Sting continued.

“The most critical part of my theory though is achieved through the essence of meditation and yoga. This experience is at the heart of my theory.  I always perform in full or half-lotus position when I play my priceless antique instruments, in order to commune with the higher universal states.”

“Steve Jobs is trying to build some device for my feet so that I can write spontaneous poetry for people while  I am playing my Ukranian Ukelele or what have you. That will add a new dynamic. I am also talking about going into space so that they can study Sting in low gravity! Ha! And people accuse me of being heavy, well not  anymore!”, he madly chortled.

He opined some more.

“When I was saving the Amazon Rainforest from destruction while I was touring with my avante-garde jazz band back back in another time (the 1980’s), I feel like I experienced a oneness with myself. My album “The Dream of the Blue Turtles” references that. I was a giant blue turtle battling Godzilla above a volcano. I think Quetzalcoatl was there too. It was wild.”

I was a bit lost at this point but somehow it was starting to make sense.

He went on.

“Yes, we are all  ‘spirits in the material world’ as I was telling everyone eons ago. Finally everyone is catching up to Sting! La te da! Bravo! Hakuna Matada mofos! ”

“It’s all proven in my songs. For instance in the song, “Love is the Seventh Wave”, I allude to Schrodinger’s Wave equation’, but I will divulge no more. I am sleeping anyway so you will have to excuse me.”

With that he whispered something in an indecipherable language and evaporated into thin air.

Danny Glover and “The Love That Will Not Die”

Danny Glover is one of our great ‘Statesmen.’ One of the men who state the truth about the state of our state in a state of grace.

Mr Glover is ‘a brother from another mother’, to use the parlance of our times. Mr ‘G’ Lover Danny Glover is an old soul and old school all the way. His performance in ‘Lethal Weapon’ is comedic genius, and his range of characters and depth of portrayals speak for themselves. Lethal Weapon, Predator, The Color Purple and The Royal Tannenbaums are all great films for their respective genres, but his work outside Hollywood is what’s really impressive.

Link to wonderful interview here with much more info on his work: http://www.abilitymagazine.com/glover_interview.html

Our fictional “2012″ President, is actually one of our great unheralded leaders in ‘unvirtual’ reality. He co-founded  Los Angeles’ The Robey Theater in 1994 in memory of Paul Robeson, carrying on the fine American tradition of stage as social engagement and upliftment.

The vivacious 63 year old has been heavily involved in many humanitarian and social causes over the years. Like many of our great artists, Danny was able to transcend a ‘dis-order’. He suffered from epilepsy as a teenager and young man, but was able to overcome it through the sheer force of will and grace.

While you will hear the ridiculousness of Mr Glover’s more popular and quite insane partner in crime-stopping Mel Gibson paraded all over our ‘media’, Danny is doing very important and unheralded work. Another blatantly ironic example of how the corporate media pollutes the waters of public discourse and debate, and to top it all off it seems purposeful. Why do we hear that crazy jerkwater Aussie Mel Gibson’s rants ad nauseum over and over again while the valuable work and spirit of the great American Danny Glover goes relatively unrecognized by the MSM?

There would be so many obvious segues to use…one of which is the recent racist rants of Melly Mel which include the N-bomb. What better way to soft fade into a story about Mr Glover and what is going on in neighborhoods like Detroit and with people of color all over the world. I guess the Mainstream Media missed that one, as they do over and over again. Oh well.

For an idea of the type of character assassinations the media like to do go here for some BS.   http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2010/05/09/danny-glover-booed-not-putting-hand-over-his-heart-during-flag-ceremony

He is gettin’ way to old for this shit! Let’s let him retire and give him the accolades he deserves while he is still here. I am afraid that until we start honoring the people who are helping us instead of those who are hurting us, we will not be able to transcend our collective dis-order. Let’s not let our great American Statesmen end up marginalized like Paul Robeson was and is.  It pains me to see this happening to Danny Glover in 2010.

Here he sits with Shihab Rattansi for “Fault Lines” from Al Jazeera English TV. Trance-scripts follow Pema’s words.

He sits like Sitting Bull and speaks like Black Elk. He is one of those wonderful peaceful warriors who seems honored to speak for the disenfranchised and dispossessed. I feel enlightened and elevated by watching people like this, I feel moved and inspired to be a better person. I am making a citizens arrest on ‘Detective Murtaugh’ and charging him with being a wonderful and courageous individual who deserves to be honored and acknowledged. We could at least send him some virtual hugs and support the causes that he works so hard for.

Danny is someone who can speak from the heart on a tragic and sad scene but is somehow able to hold the emotion of the people and their stories in witness and testimony. As a master storyteller and cultural ambassador, Mr Glover is doing the important work of what the Buddhists refer to as tonglen.

In Pema Chodron‘s wonderful book, “When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times“, she de-scribes the Buddhist practice of tonglen, “sending and receiving.” It is a breathe and mindfulness technique that allows you to transcend pain and suffering through connecting with our deeper shared truths.

In Chapter Fourteen entitled “The Love That Will Not Die” she speaks beautifully of the art and heart of tonglen, and it’s connection to Bodhichitta-“an awakened heart.”

The beatific sage Pema Chodron is a foremost student of Choygam Trungpa and the Shambala School of Buddhism, which may qualify them as the “Coolest Buddhists.” Shambala is Jazz Buddhism. The soundtrack would be Coltrane’s and Kerouacs ecstatic Waxxstax.

“I can tell my sister by the flowers in her eyes
On the road to Shambala
I can tell my brother by the flowers in his eyes
On the road to Shambala”

Three Dog Night

From Wiki Tiki Tavi:

“Shambhala Buddhism partly derives from the teachings of Shambhala, as originally proclaimed by Chögyam Trungpa, which state that “there is a natural source of radiance and brilliance in the world, which is the innate wakefulness of human beings. This is the basis, in myth and inspiration, of the Kingdom of Shambhala, an enlightened society of fearlessness, dignity and compassion.” Furthermore, Shambhala vision applies to people of any faith, not just people who believe in Buddhism… the Shambhala vision does not distinguish a Buddhist from a Catholic, a Protestant, a Jew, a Moslem, a Hindu. That’s why we call it the Shambhala kingdom. A kingdom should have lots of spiritual disciplines in it.”[2]

These are the Pema Chodron quotes from Ch 14:

I ended up typing the entire chapter except for a few paragraphs, but it is only six pages.

My notes are in bold as they are bold notes.

And away we go!

pg 86. “This kinship with the suffering of others, this inability to continue to regard it form afar, is the discover of our soft spot, the discovery of “Bodhichitta.” Bodhichitta, is a Sanskrit word that means “noble or awakened heart.” It is said to be present in all beings. Just as butter is inherent in milk and oil is inherent in a sesame seed, this soft spot is inherent in you and me.”

pg 87. “We awaken this bodhichitta, this tenderness for life when we can no longer shield ourselves from the vulnerability of our condition, from the basic fragility of existence. . In the words of the sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa, “You take it all in. You let the pain of the world touch your heart and you turn it into compassion.”

“It is said that in difficult times, it is only bodhichitta that heals. When inspiration has become hidden, when we feel ready to give up, this is the time when healing can be found in the tenderness of pain itself. This is the time to touch the genuine heart of bodhichitta. In the midst of loneliness, in the midst of fear, in the middle of feeling misunderstood and rejected is the heartbeat of all things, the genuine heart of sadness.”

“Just as a jewel that has been buried in the earth for a million years is not discolored or harmed, in the way this noble heart is not affected by all of our kicking and screaming. the jewel can be brought out into the light at any time, and it will glow as brilliantly as if nothing had ever happened. No matter how committed we are to unkindness, selfishness, or greed, the genuine heart of bodhichitta cannot be lost. It is here in all that lives, never marred and completely whole.”

That is the trick they play, the trompe l’oeil or what I like to call the ‘trompe de la soul.’ Mos Def are we caught up in a trick of the senses…defenseless and desensitized, the eyes and ears are all up for sale…if they could send you smells through the TV to sell you they would. They are all excited about 3D, but are we?

Their is a jewel within. Original sin? The origin of sin is not within or without you.  Fear is used to doubt you.  Don’t be distracted, the truth is didacted. These false statements of  hate need to be retracted.

https://jasondylan.wordpress.com/category/i-mind-control/

“We think that by protecting ourselves from suffering we are being kind to ourselves. The truth is, we only become more fearful, more hardened, and more alienated. We experience ourselves as being separate from the whole. This separateness becomes like a prison for us, a prison that restricts us to our own personal hopes and fears and to caring only for the people nearest to us. Curiously enough, if we primarily try to shield ours-elves from discomfort we suffer.”

Is this the same modality that expresses itself in the strengthening of our immune system by adapting and working with bacteria in our natural environment? It seems as if it might not be in our best interest as a species on so many levels to sanitize everything. A la, playing in the mud might actually be good for you.

pg 89

“Yet when we don’t close off and we let our hearts break, we discover ourkinship with all beings. His Holiness the Dalai Lama describes two kinds of selfish people: the unwise and the wise. Unwise selfish people think only of themselves and the result is confusion and pain. Wise selfish people know that the best thing they can do for themselves is to be there for others. As a result, they experience joy.”

Selfish joy. The joy of self-lessness. Sell fish of joy not fish of hate. In other words, don’t be a fishmonger, unless your name is Molly Malone.

“When we see a woman and her child begging on the street, when we see a man mercilessly beating his terrified dog, when we see a teenager who has been badly beaten or see fear in the eyes of a child, do we turn away because we can’t bear it? Most of us probably do. Someone needs to encourage us not to brush aside what we feel, not to be ashamed of the love and grief it arouses in us, not to be afraid of the pain. someone needs to encourage us that this soft spot in us could be awakened and that to do this would change our lives.”

We are told pain is bad, to be avoided at all costs. Maybe pain can teach us things about ourselves. We need to ask ourselves if avoiding pain all the time is preventing us from the discovery of a higher self.

“The practice of “tonglen”-sending and receiving-is designed to awaken bodhichitta,to put us in touch with genuine noble heart. It is a practice of taking in pain and sending out pleasure and therefore completely turns around our well-established habit of doing just the opposite.”

“Tonglen is a practice of crating space, ventilating the atmosphere of our lives so that people can breathe freely and relax. Whenever we encounter suffering in any form, the tonglen instruction is to breathe it in, with the wish that everyone could be free of pain. Whenever we encounter happiness in any form, the instruction is to breathe it out, send it out, with the wish that everyone could feel joy. It’s a practice that allows people to feel less burdened and less cramped, a practice that shows us how to love without conditions.”

“When we breathe in pain, somehow it penetrates that armor. The way we guard ourselves is getting softened up. This heavy, rustic , creaking armor begins to seem not so monolithic after all. With the in-breathe the armor begins to fall apart, and we find we can breathe deeply and relax. A kindness and tenderness begin to emerge. We don’t have to tense up as if our whole life were being spent in the dentist’s chair.

When we breathe out relief and spaciousness , we are also encouraging the armor to dissolve. The out-breathe is a metaphor for opening our whole being. When something is precious, instead of holding it tightly, we can open our hands and share it. We can give it all away. We can share the wealth of this unfathomable human experience.”

What is this tightness and tension? Is it caused more by our confusion then the actual fear itself?  This indecisiveness  may be the cause of most of our tension and the MSM, or ‘Main-Stream-Media’ seem to  be confusing the situation even more and adding to the tension of an already chaotic world by inflaming our fears with their inflammatory ways. How much of the tension is real and how much is caused by our confusion and inaction, or wrong-action?

pg 90.

“Awakened heart can always be discovered like that. It does not take gearing up or struggling to achieve. when strategies are not yet formed and we feel uncertain about which way to turn, in those moments of vulnerability, bodhichatta is always there. It manifests as basic openness, which Buddhists call shunyuta It manifests as basic tenderness, basic compassionate warmth. When we walk around like we’re expecting to be attacked, we block it. When we release the tension between this and that, the struggle between us and them, that’s when bodhichitta will emerge.”

“At the relative level, our noble heart is felt as kinship with all beings. At the absolute level, we experience it as ground-lessness or open space.”

pg 91.

“When we experience the soft spot of bodhichitta , it’s like returning home. It’s as if we had amnesia for a very long time and awaken to remember who we are. The poet Jalludin Rumi writes of night travelers who search the darkness instead of running from it, a companionship of people willing to know their own fear. Whether it’s in the small fears of a job interview or the unnameable terrors imposed by war, prejudice, and hatred; whether it’s in the loneliness of a widow or the horrors of children shamed or abused by a parent, in the tenderness of the pain itself , night travelers discover the light of bodhichitta.

“Bodhichitta is available in moments of caring for things, when we clean our glasses or brush our hair. It’s available in moments of appreciation, when we notice the blue sky or pause and listen to the rain. It is available in moments of gratitude, when we recall a kindness or recognize another person’s courage. It is available in music and dance, in art, and in poetry. Whenever we let go of holding on to ourselves and look at the world around us, whenever we connect with sorrow, whenever we connect with joy, whenever we drop our resentment and complaint, in those moments bodhichitta is here.”

“Spiritual awakening is frequently described as a journey to the top of a mountain. We leave our attachments and our worldliness behind and slowly make our way to the top. At the peak we have transcended all pain. The only problem with this metaphor is that we leave all the others behind-our drunken brother, our schizophrenic sister, our tormented animals and friends. Their suffering continues, unrelieved by our personal escape.”

“In the process of discovering bodhichitta, the journey goes down, not up. It’s as if the mountain pointed toward the center of the earth instead of reaching into the sky. Instead of transcending the suffering of all creatures, we move toward the turbulence and doubt. We jump into it. We slide into it. We tiptoe into it. We move toward it however we can. We explore the reality and unpredictability of insecurity and pain, and we try not to push it away. If it takes years, if it takes lifetimes , we let it be as it is. At our own pace without speed or aggression we move down and down and down. With us move millions of others, our companions in awakening from fear. At the bottom we discover water, the healing water of bodhichitta. Right down there in the thick of things, we discover the love that will not die.”

Is their a almost total suspension of self-judgment when we confront our highest and ultimate reality? Pema, is a shining example of what confronting the sorrows and heartaches of life can do for your spirit. To be a witness and to teach this to others is her beautiful way.

It is a concept and breathe-work that goes deep down. That allows us to feel and honor the suffering of others without becoming hopeless or despaired.

And back to Danny:

When I watch someone speaking in a spiritual way about a political subject, a point of view that is never expressed in the mainstream media or often in independent media, I feel and see our false socio-political compartmentalizations dissipate and dissolve.

This is a challenging interview, while I don’t love Mr Rattansi’s tone I think he does a good job here. His skeptical and pointed questions allow Danny to show his wisdom and depth. The first part is Danny speaking on the domestic scene, the paradigm of the Social Forum. In the second part, Mr Glover speaks on Latin America, Haiti and Education.

Is there a more generous and gracious person on the planet? One of our great actors and humanitarians, Mr Danny Glover on “Fault Lines”.

And away we go!

Mr Shihab introduces Danny:

“In 1968 he took part in the longest campus strike in US history at SF University, fighting for and succeeding in founding the first school of ethnic studies in the country. His activism spans HIV awareness to union organization, to peace and justice in the middle east. In 2004 he was arrested outside the Sudanese Embassy in Washington DC at a protest over Darfur”

The beautiful and brilliant Danny Glover speaking from the McDougal library in downtown Detroit, MI.

“This library is an edifice of the dysfunctional-ism of the collapse of an idea, of a way of life. Forty percent unemployment in Detroit, so there is a different connection to 40% unemployment and this right here, this library a very functional library, and the significance of what a library means in people’s lives, a communities lives.”

“With this collapse, which is the obvious collapse of a paradigm, a failure of a paradigm, what happens now? What do we do now, how do we begin to reconstruct and re-imagine our world.”

“One of the disconnects that we often have in this country is the disconnect between ideas, ideology and real practice, and using that ideology to move forward in some proactive practice.”

“How do we now activate ourselves, and begin to plan the world and plan communities we envision.”

“Since history is about stories and who’s storied are elevated, who’s stories are validated. How do we validate our story? And those validations of the story could be in the midst of this forty percent unemployment here, but in the midst of this something is happening here in Detroit.”

“I think it is important for us to acknowledge our victories and sometimes our victories don’t show up in the electoral process , sometimes our victories don’t show up in the decisions that’s made in Congress and the President. Sometimes the victory shows up in the level and intensity of mobilization that comes as a result of that and I think the intensity and mobilization is coming up cause across this country it is vital for real action and real change. “

In an analogy to Chavez and MLK, Danny speaks on how the movement of the people rose these figures up. It was not a ‘cult of personality’ which the media like to promote.

“Dr King would tell you this, ‘I may have been a simple preacher but the movement itself rose me to the heights I’ve rose, I’ve come. So the question becomes, at this particular time in Latin America this change is occurring. How it changes within the framework of changing attitudes, relationship to people within respective societies and respective countries. What it means in terms of consumption, what it means to bettering their lives, those are real things. People went from the vantage point that we want a better life, labor aligned with things that they did not have alliances before saying we want a better life, indigenous people aligning themselves.”

“My interest came out because in this hemisphere there are 150 million African descendants in this hemisphere, only 35-36 live here here. The majority of them live in Latin America….90% of them live in poverty, how do they begin to signify their own presence in this whole changing apparatus that is happening. That’s what important, that’s what I am watching. I am not a rock star worshiper, I am watching what the people are doing.”

And about Haiti.

“I think Haiti is very capable of managing it’s own affairs, if they are given the opportunity…my argument is that they have never been given the opportunity to manage their own affairs.”

“Haiti could be a real model for what we talk bout ecological redevelopment, development. It could be a real model of when we think about how does a country from the global south, a underdeveloped country develop itself, it could be a real model for that. I am afraid it is not going to be that model but models that we all envision and what we would like to see is an inclusive model, that also involves the Haitians in Haiti but also the expatriate community. I think it has to be a model that involves Latin America. Cause as much of Latin America’s history and current political situation, the arc revolves around Haiti.”

“There has to be an encompassing discourse about development, poverty, education, health…given the enormous technology we have, insight we have and information we have. So when we talk about Haiti at this time and how we frame this agenda. Haiti is a country of only 8 million people, think and imagine if we were able to support the Haitian’s own action for development. When I say support, we know what happens with NGO’s (Non-Government Organizations), with what USAID has done, what has happened with USAID since it’s inception. We know that most of the money doesn’t go to the project itself but to those contractors and sub-contractors who manage the problem. So how do we get the money to people who begin to shape the context of their own lives and begin to shape the way they become the architects of their own rescue.”

And on childhood education Danny just shines. No script, no teleprompter, just someone speaking from the heart in a beautiful way about  a painful subject. So rare and so uplifting.

“Everyone who talks about education from Jonathan Corsaw to all of the great people who talk about education, will tell you what it means and what it takes to educate a child. Why do we talk about a child losing their curiosity by the 4th grade? What is the magic about that? You look at a third grade class, 1st, 2nd, 3rd grade class you find these incredibly creative kids, by the fourth grade they’re zombies. What is happening here in this process, how do we reverse this process? It takes the resources and political will to do it.”

“How do we institutionalize that change as well. How do we institute the sense that people have the right to have expectations and how do we do that in such a way that we create the new communities of the 21st Century. To remind you, we haven’t even talked about what’s happening to our precious planet here and what we done to that.”

“The answer comes with forcing our will. The question always becomes, is that if we mobilize that will we can win…That will has been mobilized on numerous occasions. That will has been mobilized during the Civil Rights Movement, mobilized in our activities to bring about the election of Barack Obama. That will has the capacity to be mobilized. If we organize that will and move that will in a way in which we talk about the practical things that we have to deal with in life. How do we get food, how do we service our communities, how do we raise our children, how do we create an atmosphere of love and compassion.”

“That’s what is being talked about in this room right here, in these room right here.”

And scene.

Here are some of  my notes in closing.

When I look at a man like this I see someone who has achieved a high level of understanding and compassion because of what he has to overcome. Danny is a large, dark-skinned black man living in a society where a large percentage of the population views the African American struggle as threatening. If Danny was in college at SF State back in the late sixties, it means he grew up in the fifties and early sixties in a pre-civil rights era, where Jim Crow still dominated culture and society. While I hope Danny and his family were spared, I am sure he at least saw first hand the hatred and violence that came with being regarded as a second class citizen, as being less than human.

And instead of using his size and strength to intimidate or influence people he uses a gentle kindness and child like wonder and hope to help open our eyes. When I close my eyes I hear the Dali Llama or Mahatma Gandhi. Then I laugh and hear him say, “I am getting too old for this shit!”

The African American experience is one of “soulforce” as MLK put it. Just because the AA experience is “loud” or “in your face” does not mean it is not spiritual. The cultural contexts may be Afro-centered, but the spirit is one that is found in all cultures, Gaelic, elves…Braveheart you name it. It is not a “black thang.” It’s our shared struggle against negative forces that joins us.

The sad thing is that the corporate media likes to introduce and reinforce negative psychological paradigms at the expense of our beautiful and historically valuable stories and people. We have way more in common, no matter what culture or race or religion we come from with each others stories than the ‘corporatized’ version of events.

Think Howard Zinn’s “Peoples  History”, of which Danny took part in recently. These are our stories, important stories that your Mother or Grandmother might have told you, if you were lucky enough. These are stories that weave the fabric of our neighborhoods and societies. These are the fibers that strengthen Ariadne’s Thread.  She is the great grandmother that weaves our story and brings us together in our shared humanity.

Kerouac from “America’s New Trinity of Love.”

“There is the need all around to be recognized and adored by some other human being, the need all around for kindness, for the ideal of love which does not exclude cruelty but is all-embracing, non-assertive, simply lovely. Not necessarily the Dionysian orgy but the tender communion.”

It is this thread that is woven in the hearts and minds of our shared fate, along with our beauty and so called ugliness into an amazing tapestry of human potential and courage. At the heart of this design is love and compassion reinforced by the strong bonds that a shared fate instills in an engaged and just society.

If we can put aside our fears of whatever, and begin to see how a corporatized society with overwhelmingly corporate values may not be the best thing for building strong bonds that reinforce our communities strengths, we can then reach out to the rest of the world with more openness and understanding. And it will return.

A corporate owned infrastructure cares not for our history or stories. Walmart may hire Grandpa as a greeter, but they don’t care one nit about him.

Let’s stop being nit-wits and start being knit-wits.

Capitalism wants to pave over our history and struggle with a cleaner and more sanitized version of what it means to be human. Humans need to feel safe but we are sacrificing our cultural and historical identities to only feeeeel safer. This isn’t a bummer, it is a tragedy of epic proportions.

Three Dog Night has a beautiful story of love from the early 70’s called “Shambala.” And here are some shiny happy people sharing their story of  Shambala with us now.

UK Trailer for Terry Gilliams “Brazil”