A few more thoughts, as I watch more people I know accept 2nd best.

1. Bad therapy teaches us that it is ok to be where you are and to accept it, be ok with it, and is a nicer euphemism for suck it up. Drugs help people cope with their inability to move from a place they do not wish to be. This is the “Matrix” cliche.
2. Good therapy helps hone your tools to change and grow and get what you want out of life. It shows you the mediocrity in the world.
3. Surrounding yourself with anti-mediocrity forces you, by some kind of relational osmosis, to no longer be mediocre. People in this position seem to rise up with the tide.
4. Boy-o-boy is the opposite true, when you spend time around slum dwellers - I mean this mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually, and beyond, there are many kinds of slums - you start to think and see the world as they do.
5. The ability to lift a slum dweller out of the slum is reserved for a very few. Keep in mind literature and film are replete with examples of the do-gooder who falls. It is impossible to be unchanged by a journey into a slum. Just watch Star Wars already!

And do I find my self regurgitating Zen and The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance…

We win. America Wins. The World Wins. Thank G-d we finally showed the world we are not all idiots. Democrats are on the way back.

Now!!!! No blow jobs, keep the curruption down, and fight for America. The America we all want, open, free, equitable, Christian right wing bullshit free, and a better world citizen.

One more though: DON’T FUCK IT UP!

This is great from The Times:

”The Democratic Party … will protect the interests of small and medium American enterprises and labor and that could produce an impact on China-U.S. trade relations,”

One can only hope. Can you imagine a day when jobs come back to America? A day when you can actually shop without sending $$ to China? A day when we force them to raise the value of their commie currency, slowing our economy down and returning us to normal instead of this bloated Wal*Mart/Target binge we are on now.
The nightmare is almost over, I might just cry.

Read this, the Israeli Declaration of Independence.
Why was I reading this today? I forget, but I was curious about this moment in history. Notice this:

The catastrophe which recently befell the Jewish people - the massacre of millions of Jews in Europe - was another clear demonstration of the urgency of solving the problem of its homelessness by re-establishing in Eretz-Israel the Jewish State, which would open the gates of the homeland wide to every Jew and confer upon the Jewish people the status of a fully privileged member of the comity of nations.

Notice the use of the third person. Not even once does this document say ‘we’ or ‘us’. Odd, since so much of what it written about Jews by Jews purposefully uses the first person.

Also, note the seeds of what was to come:

WE APPEAL - in the very midst of the onslaught launched against us now for months - to the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to preserve peace and participate in the upbuilding of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions.

No Zionist rah-rah here today. Just primary document research I wanted to share.

In another outstanding article, which makes the Economist worth the hefty subscription price, there is an analysis on the difference causes for the rift in support for Israel between America and Europe. While going through historical detail on the basis of left vs. right politics and how both have changed in all three locations cause realignment over time, there is an interesting position posited:

Some Americans blame rising anti-Semitism in Europe, which they also attribute in part to its growing Muslim population. But there is a difference between being anti-Semitic and being anti-Israel. And in any case, it is not obvious that anti-Semitism is a big factor. In central Europe, for example, there seems to be both greater anti-Semitism and more support for Israel. And some polls suggest that more Americans think Jews have �too much influence� in their country than do Europeans.

I used to think you could be anti-Israel and not antisemetic. But in seeing how Jewish Israel is my mind was changed. I do not see distinction between the two concepts or states of being. If there were no Israel there would be more Jews living in other nations and I wonder how that would change the sentiment of the local populations towards Jews. The fact is Europe is antisemetic. Europeans invented the concept. I am certain in stating that there are a large number of Europeans who were glad to see Jews go - and by go I mean killed, expelled, and “willingly” emigrate to America and Israel.

I tend not to be a moral relativist and thereby I view war, death and destruction, and aggression as morally reprehensible not matter who is involved. However, Europe has very little moral ground upon which to stand and wag a finger at Israel. I do not need to list the actions by nation and century, we all know the history. However, even if you can dismiss this, you have to wonder what Europe will do when it is 60% Muslim (I would relish the chance to see the look on Ferdinand & Isabella’s face) or how Germany would react if France started kidnapping citizens and lobbing missiles across the border.

If you want to see how this is manifested in a modern European psyche, observe how suspicious England still is of France and Germany or of the rest of continental Europe as a whole. If, still, you wish to dismiss my argument, then imagine a situation where France, oh wait, France is a bad example, so let me suggest Germany. What might happen if Switzerland were moderately hostile and Austria and Poland called for your destruction while funding an army in Denmark to “snipe” at your citizens with missiles? Do I need to continue this thought experiment?

I was once told, by a wise man, that transference is the bane of human existance. It prevents us for judging people and situations for what they really are, or are not. This is the concern with anti-Zionism. Is it actually antisemitism transferred to the State of Israel from the People of Israel? There is no simple answer to this question. I am certain some people use this transference as an excuse to mask their hatred of Jews, however, at the same time I know Jews who are deeply troubled by the actions of the State of Israel and care deeply for the People of Israel. In fact they deride the State’s actions precisely because they are so concerned with the People. If you want more proof of this check out my long running letter battle in AdBusters or the writings of Tikkun.

While I do see both sides of this issue. I come to two conclusions: Poison the water and you should have killed them all in 48.

In front of Twilo maybe 8 years ago, maybe longer, I was berated by Sean B. and George M. because I was taking a stance about sending garment production to Asia. I maintained that it was fundamentally un-American to allow your neighbors to loose their jobs so that you could have the perception of cheaper garments. They were so caught up in the PC notion that all people are equal, blah blah blah, that they couldn’t see the point. Here are the bullet points:

1. we have not seen a dramatic decrease in the costs of good and services in the country
2. increases in productivity and ease of shipment has allowed production of goods overseas to appear seamless to us
3. goods produced overseas are cheeper, but Levi’s are going up in price
4. profits are astonishing for modern corporations, stockholders have been forcing company to go abroad to increase stock values
5. healthcare is seen as something that can be shuffled off to the government
6. war on the middle class: people are poorer and poorer every year
7. shipping goods around the world is killing us through emissions
8. oil prices, or a transit shock will cause an economic disaster

And look-e-here: American Apparel has built a franchise on the notion. Whole Foods is another example. As much as you hate them, Starbucks is a semi-good corporate citizen.

This is only moderately effecting me, I have a very good job with amazing benefits, live in a degree of ease and wealth that my great-grandparents would have never imagined. But, this is about our neighbors, our countrymen, our planet.

Why have we lost our way? Why don’t we care about our neighbors? This labor day ponder when you lost your way. When a cheap piece of plastic shit from China suddenly became more important than a healthy thriving society.

More importantly, knowing a bit about Jewish and Christian thought I state here and now: obsession with the material and failure to live a balanced life with a concentration on ethics and community are the exact opposite of what we are taught. Stated more clearly: your 1000$ handbag is the devil.

I will add sources to this shortly, I have an errand to run.

You have to be dead to not recall the pain and suffering caused by the last two presidential elections. It was simply embarrassing to have the supposed standard bearer of democracy show that it has the same problems as the Democratic Republic of Congo. We have continued to allow bug business and wealthy power brokers take control of America. There is no need to detail the relationships between Republican party officials and Diebold, you can google the topic and make up your own mind. The mandate of congress to reform the voting system put a contract in Diebold’s lap. I am certain they are thankful. Time and time again the machines they are supplying us, yes us, the citizens of USA, have failed to perform as expected.

The Diebold electronic voting machines nationwide have been criticized by voter groups and computer scientists who say they are vulnerable to fraud. Diebold has defended the machines, saying they are secure when elections officials follow proper procedures.

The only next logical conclusion is for us, again the people of the USA, to ask the UN for election monitors. How else can we expect super partisan Secretaries of State to oversee the counting of votes in a fair and honest manner? I could not imagine making the decision to loose votes to aide my party. How un-American and you get? But then again we are just a declining, soon to be cut-rate, nation. I just shake my head and say, “This is going to be interesting, to see how it all turns out.”

So if anyone knows who I call to ask for monitors in my home town, I will gladly make the call.

I came across and read a post about 2 kids locked in a court battle over the lost iPod.

Making the rounds in the media this week is the news of two almost-highschool-freshmen girls, both 14-years old, involved in a nasty court battle against each other over… an iPod nano. Or, to be more accurate, the parents of two.

I am shocked and amazed. What lesson are these people teaching their children? We are such a shit-for-brains deluded nation. Why are 14 year olds walking around with iPods? They can’t read in their spare time instead of listening to whatever tripe bullshit pop music they have on their iPods? I bet the parents are so upset because they have 9 mortgages on their homes to keep the lovely offspring in this artificial reality of a lifestyle. I need a shower this is making me feel disgusting.

How about a simple solution that teaches your kids a lesson on good citizenship? Offer to split the cost of the misplaced iPod between the 2 families and teach a lesson on the value of objects by making each girl work for the money by spending a little time raking the yard of a local church with a follow up conversation on how to properly lend and be lent items of value.

Damn these people make me sick!