Sub-titled: Tales from the 1970s Counterculture: Drugs, Sex, Politics and Rock and Roll
By Steve Otto
Book review by John J. Mesh, aka, Ohnjaye
First of all as a small-town, semi-poor journalist, I have no shame. If there's free stuff -- food, beer, books, CDs, etc. -- I'm there without batting an eyelash. I have few ethics in this regard.
I am also a big suck-up.So when my friend Steve Otto sent me a copy of his book for free -- which I will refer to by its first name Memoirs -- in the mail, I was euphoric.Then I started to read the book and realized what a deprived, sheltered upbringing I had.So my review -- like Steve's book -- should have a sub-title:
"I was born a poor, deprived, sheltered, small town, middle-class Catholic white boy."I had a sister who ran away from home when she was 15 to become a hippie -- she's now the yuppiest of yuppies who owns two homes. But that's the closest this sheltered child of Hutchinson, Kansas got to the counterculture other than listening to his sister's Beatles records.However, I am trying to make up for lost time and I am living vicariously in the 60s and 70s, and this book is helping me do that.What's bizarre is Steve Otto is one of my best friends and I knew nothing of this life in the 1970s and early 1980s which is the backbone of the book, which is a realistic but fictional account of Steve through the experiences of Mark Spies -- his alter-ego.
The book details the fact that -- much to the surprise of many -- there was a thriving counterculture in the late 60s to mid 70s in Kansas.Mark Spies was there.
Spies started as a casual pot smoker as a 14-year-old high school student to being a habitual user of pharmaceutical narcotics and cocaine. He also becomes a dealer.The book also goes into full-blown detail on all the things associated with drug use such as the "rigs" used and violent confrontations and guns.
Sex also plays a big part in Memoirs -- Mark gets laid a lot. The sex and the drugs are interwoven throughout Mark's experiences.Then we have the rock and roll part. Mark goes from grooving on the best music of the 60's and early 70's -- John Lennon and Frank Zappa among others are a big part of the soundtrack of Mark's life -- and hooks on to the punk music scene in the late 70's -- bands like the Sex Pistols and Blondie and icons like Patti Smith.
Disco music in the late 70's and the drug use associated with it -- namely cocaine -- is also examined.Politics is also front and center in Memoirs -- from Nixon, Cambodia and Vietnam to various revolutions that occurred in 1979.
The best thing about Memoirs is that it takes me to places I never really got to experience -- that's what happens when like me, you are born in a vacuum 10 years too late and you miss all the good stuff.Steve Ottos is a free-lance writer living in Maize, Kansas. He is the author of War on Drugs/War on People, published by Ide House in 1995. He has also owned and worked for several newspapers and written numerous articles in magazines, journals and newspapers.
He currently runs a political blog:http://ottoswarroom.blogspot.com.
Memoirs costs $18.95 can be found at these sites:
At Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1420821067/ qid=1109800493/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/102-1412908-5766520? v=glance&s=books&n=507846At Barnes and Noble.com:http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp? userid=LF8RrP2BeB&isbn=1420821067&itm=1Straight from the publisher:http://www.authorhouse.com/BookStore/ItemDetail~bookid~28016.aspx
Counter-culture Journals (文革)
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Conservatives, such as Karl Rove and Cal Thomas, win arguments by making them up
The good thing about being a conservative commentator is that you can make outrageous statements, attribute them to your opponent, then easily win an argument, because you made it all up in the first place.We saw George “Frat-boy” Bush’s hatchet man Karl Rove do just that the other day in an address to the Conservative Party of New York City. He said that “liberals” saw the savagery of 9/11 and wanted to indict and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers. Did he offer one example of this? No. He couldn’t because nothing like that was ever said by anyone on the left. Cal Thomas repeated the same lie shortly after that statement was made. As proof Thomson pointed to “liberal organizations” such as MoveOn.org which did appeal for “moderation and restraint in responding to the terrorist attacks.” Where’s the sympathy and understanding part of that statement? Many of us did make that statement and the reasons for that are apparent now.We didn’t want innocent people tortured or killed. We didn’t want countries invaded that had nothing to do with 9/11. We didn’t want legitimate dissidents, here a home, harassed in the name of “national security.” All of these things have happened. The results are that we are despised abroad by just about everyone. People abroad have forgotten 9/11 and they see Bush as about as moral as Osama bin Lauden. We have created more terrorists and there are people here at home that have completely lost faith in this government.Just the other night I saw Bush smirking on TV and bragging that we took the war to the terrorists. He has no relatives over there and neither do the people around him. So he has the will for the glory, while we provide our children’s guts to make it safe for old farts to drive gas-guzzling S.U.V.s and oversized pick-up trucks. So if you love your gas-guzzling vehicle, thank a vet.
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
"My Land" by Die Toten Hosen
Although this song was performed years ago, by Die Toten Hosen several years ago, it could just as easily be about this country today. These lyrics really fit the song:
This is the street where people live in fearof senseless crime and poverty.
And the colour of your skin decidesif you should pay the penalty.
This is the city where only money talks,of power gain and influence.
Where the poor stay poor, the rich stay richand we're still told it's coincidence.
it's the same old sad survival-dancethat we're all born with an equal chance.
But who could be so blind that they could never see
that this is my land?I can't pretend that it's nothing to do with me.
And this is your land,
you can't close your eyes to the things you don't wanna see.
This is a country filled with greed and hateand cops on the take are common place.
The next generation are condemned to wasteby bent politicians and magistrates.
This is a world at war for the liquid gold,but there's still no cure for the common cold.
We raise our flags and battle crysin the name of God and national pride.
And the lie we use to convince ourselves,it's not our fault, it can't be helped.
Don't tell me we're so blind we cannot see
that this is my land!I can't pretend that it's nothing to do with me.And this is your land,
you can't close your eyes to this hypocracy.
Yes this is my land,I won't pretend that it's nothing to do with me.
'Cause this is our land,we can't close our eyes to the things we don't wanna see.
This is the street where people live in fearof senseless crime and poverty.
And the colour of your skin decidesif you should pay the penalty.
This is the city where only money talks,of power gain and influence.
Where the poor stay poor, the rich stay richand we're still told it's coincidence.
it's the same old sad survival-dancethat we're all born with an equal chance.
But who could be so blind that they could never see
that this is my land?I can't pretend that it's nothing to do with me.
And this is your land,
you can't close your eyes to the things you don't wanna see.
This is a country filled with greed and hateand cops on the take are common place.
The next generation are condemned to wasteby bent politicians and magistrates.
This is a world at war for the liquid gold,but there's still no cure for the common cold.
We raise our flags and battle crysin the name of God and national pride.
And the lie we use to convince ourselves,it's not our fault, it can't be helped.
Don't tell me we're so blind we cannot see
that this is my land!I can't pretend that it's nothing to do with me.And this is your land,
you can't close your eyes to this hypocracy.
Yes this is my land,I won't pretend that it's nothing to do with me.
'Cause this is our land,we can't close our eyes to the things we don't wanna see.
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Is Jesus really better than crack?
When people with an addictive personality “turn to Jesus” the rest of us have to be a little skeptical. Can Jesus, or any religion, simply replace one addiction for another? And if it does, is it really any better for a person’s brain than other drugs? Does a person’s ability to think cognitively for him or herself improve with religion? The answer is NO!
In War on Drugs/ War on People, I looked at the uselessness of treatment programs that only trade religion as a substitute for drugs:
“The addict must “give his /her life over to God” and vow to live by strict standards imposed by the church “to be saved“ What is wrong about this concept and happening is that not all addicts can or desire to develop deep religious convictions that are demanded if this program is to work.”
And:
“Psychologically it is a darkening of their reasoning faculties: religion hasn’t become their hand maiden, but is an escape from reality.”[1]
People obsessed with religion often put Jesus before their own family. They throw away old records and CDs. They throw away their old friends and associate only with people who share their new enthusiasm for their religion.
So why should the rest of us care about this? Our present day courts routinely put people in treatment, as a diversion from all types of crime, not just for drug use. It allows conservative religions to infiltrate our public court system and use it as a recruiting ground. And this is not just about religion. These churches have a tight relationship with the Republican Party and religion is a tool of control.
Karl Marx had argued that religion was a tool of the state and if there has been doubt about that in Amarikkka’s past, one only has to look at Kansas today, to see how affective a tool fundamentalist religion is to the Republican Party. Thomas Frank’s What’s The Matter With Kansas? documents the relationship between fundamentalist religion and greedy corporations and their handpicked politicians.
And yet people in Kansas dare to compare religion with evolution, stating that it is based on faith, just as religion is. They conveniently ignore the mountains of scientific evidence that proves that evolution is a science and not just a belief. On the other hand, there is no physical evidence that god exists or that such a being created the universe. Many Kansas clearly cannot see a difference between science and mythology in their perception of reality.
Although there are members of the religious left, they are a minority and do not promote their beliefs as much as evangelical conservatives.
It is helpful for the majority of us to recognize the “Jesus cult of personality.“ From ancient times men have believed in Godheads, or divine people who are both God and man. One of the earliest of the divine god persons was Gilgamesh. According to the story:
“When the gods created Gilgamesh they gave him a perfect body. Shamash the glorious sun endowed him with beauty, Adad the god of the storm endowed him with courage, the great gods made his beauty perfect, surpassing all others, terrifying like a great wild bull. Two third they made him god and once third man.”[2]
It is a ridiculous idea that Jesus, or anyone else, would become a human to enlighten mankind. Can a human become an ameba? Can an ameba understand the complexity of a human mind? The difference between our species must be the closest we can come to comparing ourselves to an omnipotent being such as a god. The idea that any human can be God in whole or part is ridiculous.
A lot of famous people have seriously questioned the divinity of Jesus. Thomas Jefferson said:
“It is in the history of a personage called Jesus. Keep in your eye the opposite pretensions: 1, of those who say he was begotten by God, born of a virgin, suspended and reversed the laws of nature at will and ascended bodily into heaven; and 2, of those who say he was a man of illegitimate birth, of a benevolent heart, enthusiastic mind, who set out without pretensions to divinity, ended in believing them, and was punished capitally fore sedition, by being gibbeted, according to the Roma Law.”[3]
He went on to say that it didn’t matter if a person found belief in God in order to attain a sense of virtue.
Earlier religions, such as that of the Egyptians, saw gods differently. They were more like humans and divided up various tasks. The afterlife was completely different, almost an exact replica of this world. Their religion was typical of what people believed at the time. Yet Osiris, Ra and Horus were as real to them as Jesus is to modern Christians. Unlike Jesus, Muhammad, is believed to be only a messenger of God, not a god-form, according to Islam. In this way, Islam also rejects the idea that man and God can be one. The intense belief in religions only proves that mankind creates both religion and what seems to be a rational view of human environment. In other words, we create our own reality. The view of gods and god change over time, yet the belief in them remains constant. Jesus is reality to a Christian. Allah is the absolute reality of the Muslim religion.
Since God’s existence cannot be proven scientifically, it is an abstract idea. Religion is also. We know that some gods of earlier religion do not exist. Belief in the gods of Ancient Egypt are extinct. No one believes that Zeus still lives on Mount Olympus. That demonstrates that religion has been forced to change in order to fit into modern ideas of science and reality. Religion is purely a product of mankind, not the other way around- a product of God.
Religion is not necessary for a happy life. Doubt about the supernatural came as early as the Ancient Greeks. It was Protagoras who wrote:
"As to the gods, I have no means of knowing either that they exist or that they do not exist. Form many are the obstacles that impede knowledge, both the obscurity of the question and the shortness of human life."[4]
Marx came up with the philosophy of Dialectic Materialism in direct response to religion. It was "The question of the relation of thinking to being, the relation of spirit to nature is the paramount question of the whole of philosophy.... The answers, which the philosophers gave to this question, split them into two great camps. Those who asserted the primacy of spirit to nature ... comprised the camp of idealism. The others, who regarded nature as primary, belong to the various schools of materialism.”
And further:
"The material, sensuously perceptible world to which we ourselves belong is the only reality.... Our consciousness and thinking, however supra-sensuous they may seem, are the product of a material, bodily organ, the brain. Matter is not a product of mind, but mind itself is merely the highest product of matter."[5]
Friedrich Nietzsche also wrote against religion.
Those of us who are not Christians must defend ourselves and if necessary, expose the superstition and absurd beliefs of fundamentalist Christianity. It is not just a question of protecting tolerance of our personal beliefs, it includes protecting us from a Theocracy that is being constructed by the Republican Party. It will effect way more than simply our religious beliefs.
Notes:
[1] Steve Otto, War on Drugs/ War on People, (Ide House, Los Colinas, TX, 1995), p. 182.
[2] The Epic of Gilgamesh, English version, introduction, N.K. Sandars, (Penguin Books, London, 1972) p. 61.
[3] Thomas Jefferson : Writings : Autobiography / Notes on the State of Virginia / Public and Private Papers / Addresses / Letters, (Library of America, August 1, 1984), pp. 399 – 400.
[4] Diogenes Laertius, Lives of the Eminent Philosophers, Vol. II, (Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2000) p. 463.
[5] Marx, Selected Works, Vol. I, p. 329 and p. 332, Quoted by J. V. Stalin, Dialectical and Historical Materialism, 1938; Transcribed by M, http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1938/09.htm
In War on Drugs/ War on People, I looked at the uselessness of treatment programs that only trade religion as a substitute for drugs:
“The addict must “give his /her life over to God” and vow to live by strict standards imposed by the church “to be saved“ What is wrong about this concept and happening is that not all addicts can or desire to develop deep religious convictions that are demanded if this program is to work.”
And:
“Psychologically it is a darkening of their reasoning faculties: religion hasn’t become their hand maiden, but is an escape from reality.”[1]
People obsessed with religion often put Jesus before their own family. They throw away old records and CDs. They throw away their old friends and associate only with people who share their new enthusiasm for their religion.
So why should the rest of us care about this? Our present day courts routinely put people in treatment, as a diversion from all types of crime, not just for drug use. It allows conservative religions to infiltrate our public court system and use it as a recruiting ground. And this is not just about religion. These churches have a tight relationship with the Republican Party and religion is a tool of control.
Karl Marx had argued that religion was a tool of the state and if there has been doubt about that in Amarikkka’s past, one only has to look at Kansas today, to see how affective a tool fundamentalist religion is to the Republican Party. Thomas Frank’s What’s The Matter With Kansas? documents the relationship between fundamentalist religion and greedy corporations and their handpicked politicians.
And yet people in Kansas dare to compare religion with evolution, stating that it is based on faith, just as religion is. They conveniently ignore the mountains of scientific evidence that proves that evolution is a science and not just a belief. On the other hand, there is no physical evidence that god exists or that such a being created the universe. Many Kansas clearly cannot see a difference between science and mythology in their perception of reality.
Although there are members of the religious left, they are a minority and do not promote their beliefs as much as evangelical conservatives.
It is helpful for the majority of us to recognize the “Jesus cult of personality.“ From ancient times men have believed in Godheads, or divine people who are both God and man. One of the earliest of the divine god persons was Gilgamesh. According to the story:
“When the gods created Gilgamesh they gave him a perfect body. Shamash the glorious sun endowed him with beauty, Adad the god of the storm endowed him with courage, the great gods made his beauty perfect, surpassing all others, terrifying like a great wild bull. Two third they made him god and once third man.”[2]
It is a ridiculous idea that Jesus, or anyone else, would become a human to enlighten mankind. Can a human become an ameba? Can an ameba understand the complexity of a human mind? The difference between our species must be the closest we can come to comparing ourselves to an omnipotent being such as a god. The idea that any human can be God in whole or part is ridiculous.
A lot of famous people have seriously questioned the divinity of Jesus. Thomas Jefferson said:
“It is in the history of a personage called Jesus. Keep in your eye the opposite pretensions: 1, of those who say he was begotten by God, born of a virgin, suspended and reversed the laws of nature at will and ascended bodily into heaven; and 2, of those who say he was a man of illegitimate birth, of a benevolent heart, enthusiastic mind, who set out without pretensions to divinity, ended in believing them, and was punished capitally fore sedition, by being gibbeted, according to the Roma Law.”[3]
He went on to say that it didn’t matter if a person found belief in God in order to attain a sense of virtue.
Earlier religions, such as that of the Egyptians, saw gods differently. They were more like humans and divided up various tasks. The afterlife was completely different, almost an exact replica of this world. Their religion was typical of what people believed at the time. Yet Osiris, Ra and Horus were as real to them as Jesus is to modern Christians. Unlike Jesus, Muhammad, is believed to be only a messenger of God, not a god-form, according to Islam. In this way, Islam also rejects the idea that man and God can be one. The intense belief in religions only proves that mankind creates both religion and what seems to be a rational view of human environment. In other words, we create our own reality. The view of gods and god change over time, yet the belief in them remains constant. Jesus is reality to a Christian. Allah is the absolute reality of the Muslim religion.
Since God’s existence cannot be proven scientifically, it is an abstract idea. Religion is also. We know that some gods of earlier religion do not exist. Belief in the gods of Ancient Egypt are extinct. No one believes that Zeus still lives on Mount Olympus. That demonstrates that religion has been forced to change in order to fit into modern ideas of science and reality. Religion is purely a product of mankind, not the other way around- a product of God.
Religion is not necessary for a happy life. Doubt about the supernatural came as early as the Ancient Greeks. It was Protagoras who wrote:
"As to the gods, I have no means of knowing either that they exist or that they do not exist. Form many are the obstacles that impede knowledge, both the obscurity of the question and the shortness of human life."[4]
Marx came up with the philosophy of Dialectic Materialism in direct response to religion. It was "The question of the relation of thinking to being, the relation of spirit to nature is the paramount question of the whole of philosophy.... The answers, which the philosophers gave to this question, split them into two great camps. Those who asserted the primacy of spirit to nature ... comprised the camp of idealism. The others, who regarded nature as primary, belong to the various schools of materialism.”
And further:
"The material, sensuously perceptible world to which we ourselves belong is the only reality.... Our consciousness and thinking, however supra-sensuous they may seem, are the product of a material, bodily organ, the brain. Matter is not a product of mind, but mind itself is merely the highest product of matter."[5]
Friedrich Nietzsche also wrote against religion.
Those of us who are not Christians must defend ourselves and if necessary, expose the superstition and absurd beliefs of fundamentalist Christianity. It is not just a question of protecting tolerance of our personal beliefs, it includes protecting us from a Theocracy that is being constructed by the Republican Party. It will effect way more than simply our religious beliefs.
Notes:
[1] Steve Otto, War on Drugs/ War on People, (Ide House, Los Colinas, TX, 1995), p. 182.
[2] The Epic of Gilgamesh, English version, introduction, N.K. Sandars, (Penguin Books, London, 1972) p. 61.
[3] Thomas Jefferson : Writings : Autobiography / Notes on the State of Virginia / Public and Private Papers / Addresses / Letters, (Library of America, August 1, 1984), pp. 399 – 400.
[4] Diogenes Laertius, Lives of the Eminent Philosophers, Vol. II, (Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2000) p. 463.
[5] Marx, Selected Works, Vol. I, p. 329 and p. 332, Quoted by J. V. Stalin, Dialectical and Historical Materialism, 1938; Transcribed by M, http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1938/09.htm
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Our new empire must squash dissent
Two people now realize that it is illegal to hate America. FBI agents, posing as al-Qaida members, tricked a doctor and jazz musician into singing a pledge to support of al-Qaida, according to The Wichita Eagle, May 31, 2005. The two prospective members had admitted they wanted to join a training camp in Afghanistan.
In the past The FBI has tricked some of these people in to doing stupid things, such as making bombs for them. But this goes beyond that. This is an example of arresting people for supporting or backing movements that the Bush administration has declared to be "terrorists." This is in clear violation against the constitution that has always held that a person has a right to voice support for revolution or revolutionary groups. It has never been legal to arrest someone for his or her beliefs.
Those of us who have seen the new Star Wars Movie: “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith”, have noticed the subtle similarities between the Emperor in the film and President George Bush.
“You are either with me or you are my enemy,” the leader says.
Many of us are already enemies of the system. The two people arrested were Tarik ibn Osman Shah and Rafiq Sabir. By now we should all be aware that the new U.S. empire plans to squash all dissent as if we were all insects.
The Bush Regime also has such allies as David Horowitz, who viscously attacks liberal college professors under the guise of “protecting student’s rights” --that is the rights of snot-nosed Republicans who want to go to college and never have their beliefs questioned.According to the newspaper Revolution, May 15, 2005:
“Horowitz rants that those who dare deviate from the government’s propaganda are themselves "terrorists" and "terrorist supporters." The left in the antiwar movement and on the campuses is portrayed as having " alliances with the Islamic radicals." "Treason" is a legally lethal label slapped on those who dare to critique U.S. designs of empire. Horowitz’s treatment of Noam Chomsky is a perfect example. Described by The New Yorker magazine as "one of the greatest minds of the 20 th century," Chomsky is also one of the most outspoken critics of U.S. foreign policy. Horowitz vilifies Chomsky’s work as "demonic and seditious" and declares that "its purpose is to incite believers to provide aid and comfort to the enemies of the U.S." (Horowitz, The Unholy Alliance, Radical Islam and the American Left, 2004).
And now the FBI is actually going after such “treason.”
In the past The FBI has tricked some of these people in to doing stupid things, such as making bombs for them. But this goes beyond that. This is an example of arresting people for supporting or backing movements that the Bush administration has declared to be "terrorists." This is in clear violation against the constitution that has always held that a person has a right to voice support for revolution or revolutionary groups. It has never been legal to arrest someone for his or her beliefs.
Those of us who have seen the new Star Wars Movie: “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith”, have noticed the subtle similarities between the Emperor in the film and President George Bush.
“You are either with me or you are my enemy,” the leader says.
Many of us are already enemies of the system. The two people arrested were Tarik ibn Osman Shah and Rafiq Sabir. By now we should all be aware that the new U.S. empire plans to squash all dissent as if we were all insects.
The Bush Regime also has such allies as David Horowitz, who viscously attacks liberal college professors under the guise of “protecting student’s rights” --that is the rights of snot-nosed Republicans who want to go to college and never have their beliefs questioned.According to the newspaper Revolution, May 15, 2005:
“Horowitz rants that those who dare deviate from the government’s propaganda are themselves "terrorists" and "terrorist supporters." The left in the antiwar movement and on the campuses is portrayed as having " alliances with the Islamic radicals." "Treason" is a legally lethal label slapped on those who dare to critique U.S. designs of empire. Horowitz’s treatment of Noam Chomsky is a perfect example. Described by The New Yorker magazine as "one of the greatest minds of the 20 th century," Chomsky is also one of the most outspoken critics of U.S. foreign policy. Horowitz vilifies Chomsky’s work as "demonic and seditious" and declares that "its purpose is to incite believers to provide aid and comfort to the enemies of the U.S." (Horowitz, The Unholy Alliance, Radical Islam and the American Left, 2004).
And now the FBI is actually going after such “treason.”
Friday, June 03, 2005
New items
Although this blog is used to promote my new book, Memoirs Of A Drugged-up, Sex-crazed Yippie, I also try to include interesting and relevant topics.
Some of my latests are:
*Evolution embarrasses Kansans once again- yes were back in the 1500s here in Kansas,
*"High Across The Prairie"- a very good book review by Tim Pouncey.
*PBS portrayed the Symbionese Liberation Army- an impressive look at a 1970s phenomina that I covered in my book.
Some of my latests are:
*Evolution embarrasses Kansans once again- yes were back in the 1500s here in Kansas,
*"High Across The Prairie"- a very good book review by Tim Pouncey.
*PBS portrayed the Symbionese Liberation Army- an impressive look at a 1970s phenomina that I covered in my book.
Evolution embarrasses Kansans once again
The whole country, by now, is aware of the controversy of evolution in the state of Kansas. For those who aren’t up on the situation, the Kansas State School Board will probably either drop evolution from required science or insist on Intelligent Design (ID).
Intelligent design sounds innocent enough, at first. The process of creation is too complex to be random. That doesn’t sound controversial since evolution could be argued to have a pattern and intent. But the ID people are creationists. Their view of creation is that a big invisible man in the heavens did a magic show, said a few magic words and the universe was created 6,000 years ago.
These people, with totally ridiculous arguments, ridicule studying fossils, carbon dating and all manor of physical science.
*They argue that the universe was created 6,000 years ago, even though we can see the light from galaxies millions of light years away.
*Living cells are simply too complex to have evolved from chemicals. This is like arguing that the Keebler Elves made the Empire State Building in the trees because it is simply too complex for the human mind.
*There is no evidence that one species evolved to another. They ignore all the new evidence that now proves conclusively that birds evolved from dinosaurs. Tyrannosaurus Rex is related to the common sparrow and we now know that.
These arguments might seem funny or amusing if the ID proponents weren’t bombarding The Wichita Eagle with letters complaining that “evolution has so many hole in it, that most scientists are now questioning it all together.” These people want to teach our youngsters that the universe was created during a magic show rather than teach them science.
Kansas’ folly is getting noticed all across the country. The newspaper Revolution, May 15, 2005, reported:
“To get a sense of the sweeping anti-science agenda at work here, one has only to note that the first Kansas board of education decision, back in 1998, did not stop at removing important aspects of biological evolution from their science standards. That same 1998 Board decision also eliminated statements mandating that Kansas students study the evidence that the earth is much older than 10,000 years, the theory of plate tectonics (the motion of the earth’s crust) and the Big Bang. The 1998 decision led to such outrage that those Board members were voted out, and their rules overturned; but now the "Flat Earthers" are back in charge and poised to attack evolution again.”
As for the Kansas School Board: ‘And now for our next magic trick’
Intelligent design sounds innocent enough, at first. The process of creation is too complex to be random. That doesn’t sound controversial since evolution could be argued to have a pattern and intent. But the ID people are creationists. Their view of creation is that a big invisible man in the heavens did a magic show, said a few magic words and the universe was created 6,000 years ago.
These people, with totally ridiculous arguments, ridicule studying fossils, carbon dating and all manor of physical science.
*They argue that the universe was created 6,000 years ago, even though we can see the light from galaxies millions of light years away.
*Living cells are simply too complex to have evolved from chemicals. This is like arguing that the Keebler Elves made the Empire State Building in the trees because it is simply too complex for the human mind.
*There is no evidence that one species evolved to another. They ignore all the new evidence that now proves conclusively that birds evolved from dinosaurs. Tyrannosaurus Rex is related to the common sparrow and we now know that.
These arguments might seem funny or amusing if the ID proponents weren’t bombarding The Wichita Eagle with letters complaining that “evolution has so many hole in it, that most scientists are now questioning it all together.” These people want to teach our youngsters that the universe was created during a magic show rather than teach them science.
Kansas’ folly is getting noticed all across the country. The newspaper Revolution, May 15, 2005, reported:
“To get a sense of the sweeping anti-science agenda at work here, one has only to note that the first Kansas board of education decision, back in 1998, did not stop at removing important aspects of biological evolution from their science standards. That same 1998 Board decision also eliminated statements mandating that Kansas students study the evidence that the earth is much older than 10,000 years, the theory of plate tectonics (the motion of the earth’s crust) and the Big Bang. The 1998 decision led to such outrage that those Board members were voted out, and their rules overturned; but now the "Flat Earthers" are back in charge and poised to attack evolution again.”
As for the Kansas School Board: ‘And now for our next magic trick’
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
High Across The Prairie
Steve Otto's latest novel takes an honest look at 1970's Kansas. Memoirs Of A Drugged-up, Sex-crazed Yippie ---Tales from the 70's Counterculture: Drugs, Sex, Politics and Rock and Roll.
By Steve Otto
Authorhouse Press/2005
Reviewed by Tim Pouncey
Kansas in the late 1970's was so different from today; the Sunflower State might as well have been located in Holland.Remember what it was like to share drugs with close friends and complete strangers? Remember when casual sex was so casual you didn't even know your partners name? Remember when the political climate of Kansas came down squarely on the side of tolerance? Remember when your personal philosophy of life was defined by rock lyrics and not a mission statement? You don't?
Well, Steve Otto does. In his latest semi-fictional novel, Memoirs Of A Drugged-Up, Sex Crazed Yippie (Authorhouse Press/2005), Otto excavates 1970's counterculture like an archeologist loving dusting off a Mastodon tusk. In a brisk 349 pages, Otto gives us a lucid look at a Kansas few people remember --- or can't remember due to a plentiful supply of "controlled substances" that were constantly and cheaply available. Characters romp through Wichita, Lawrence and even Sedalia Missouri when a cheap thrill was worth what you paid for it and pleasure was just the flipside of danger.But to dismiss this book as just another nostalgic stoner reminiscing about the last days of the counter-culture would be a major mistake. Although there is a certain "back-in-the-day" wistfulness about the time before political correctness was a mantra, Otto tempers his dreamy history lesson with brutal honesty.The narrator of the story --- a composite of just about every old druggie you ever met --- may graphically describe the bliss of mainlining MDA, he also reminds us that brief moment of pleasure most often occurred in a squalid apartment at broken kitchen table next to sink full of dirty dishes.Like all good storytellers, Otto takes the reader places they've never been before. Like William Burroughs and Charles Bukowsky, Otto sometimes takes you to places you've never really wanted to visit. Yet, Otto makes it worth the trip by including generous portions of political discourse, Cyrenaic philosophy, post-adolescent lust and near-suicidal thrill seeking to keep the narrative moving along like a junkie careening through a police roadblock.Otto's work is always provocative and this book will undoubtedly draw the wrath of both solid conservatives and neo-feminists. Otto's characters never mask their contempt for the right-wing agenda and Otto's narrator never hides his obsession with female anatomy. However, criticizing Memoirs because it baits conservatives and objectifies women is missing the point. Filtering 1970's Kansas counterculture through the sensibilities of a naive middle-class, catholic school educated, twenty-something is no easy trick but Otto mostly pulls it off. He has a good ear for times-past and tries --- often successfully --- to make his prose read like it would have been written by someone experiencing these situations 30 years ago. Trying to be simultaneously innovative, entertaining and honest is a juggling act on a unicycle, but Otto is generally at his best when everything's up-in-the-air and he's peddling frantically. When the narrator's budding Marxist politics and his discussions with Iranian nationalists clash with his dawning awareness that Kansas politics has taken a sharp turn to the right, Otto makes it work.Is Otto's look into the rear-view mirror a true reflection on the 70's, or do the objects simply appear bigger than they were? Ultimately, it doesn't matter. Memoirs resonates with characters buckling under the weight of the America Dream with redemption harder to find than next snort of Cocaine.
"This reveiw can also be seen in F5. There are Other articles by Pouncey" -Hellbender.
By Steve Otto
Authorhouse Press/2005
Reviewed by Tim Pouncey
Kansas in the late 1970's was so different from today; the Sunflower State might as well have been located in Holland.Remember what it was like to share drugs with close friends and complete strangers? Remember when casual sex was so casual you didn't even know your partners name? Remember when the political climate of Kansas came down squarely on the side of tolerance? Remember when your personal philosophy of life was defined by rock lyrics and not a mission statement? You don't?
Well, Steve Otto does. In his latest semi-fictional novel, Memoirs Of A Drugged-Up, Sex Crazed Yippie (Authorhouse Press/2005), Otto excavates 1970's counterculture like an archeologist loving dusting off a Mastodon tusk. In a brisk 349 pages, Otto gives us a lucid look at a Kansas few people remember --- or can't remember due to a plentiful supply of "controlled substances" that were constantly and cheaply available. Characters romp through Wichita, Lawrence and even Sedalia Missouri when a cheap thrill was worth what you paid for it and pleasure was just the flipside of danger.But to dismiss this book as just another nostalgic stoner reminiscing about the last days of the counter-culture would be a major mistake. Although there is a certain "back-in-the-day" wistfulness about the time before political correctness was a mantra, Otto tempers his dreamy history lesson with brutal honesty.The narrator of the story --- a composite of just about every old druggie you ever met --- may graphically describe the bliss of mainlining MDA, he also reminds us that brief moment of pleasure most often occurred in a squalid apartment at broken kitchen table next to sink full of dirty dishes.Like all good storytellers, Otto takes the reader places they've never been before. Like William Burroughs and Charles Bukowsky, Otto sometimes takes you to places you've never really wanted to visit. Yet, Otto makes it worth the trip by including generous portions of political discourse, Cyrenaic philosophy, post-adolescent lust and near-suicidal thrill seeking to keep the narrative moving along like a junkie careening through a police roadblock.Otto's work is always provocative and this book will undoubtedly draw the wrath of both solid conservatives and neo-feminists. Otto's characters never mask their contempt for the right-wing agenda and Otto's narrator never hides his obsession with female anatomy. However, criticizing Memoirs because it baits conservatives and objectifies women is missing the point. Filtering 1970's Kansas counterculture through the sensibilities of a naive middle-class, catholic school educated, twenty-something is no easy trick but Otto mostly pulls it off. He has a good ear for times-past and tries --- often successfully --- to make his prose read like it would have been written by someone experiencing these situations 30 years ago. Trying to be simultaneously innovative, entertaining and honest is a juggling act on a unicycle, but Otto is generally at his best when everything's up-in-the-air and he's peddling frantically. When the narrator's budding Marxist politics and his discussions with Iranian nationalists clash with his dawning awareness that Kansas politics has taken a sharp turn to the right, Otto makes it work.Is Otto's look into the rear-view mirror a true reflection on the 70's, or do the objects simply appear bigger than they were? Ultimately, it doesn't matter. Memoirs resonates with characters buckling under the weight of the America Dream with redemption harder to find than next snort of Cocaine.
"This reveiw can also be seen in F5. There are Other articles by Pouncey" -Hellbender.
PBS portrayed the Symbionese Liberation Army
The Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) was a major news media event, during the mid-1970s. PBS’ “American Experience”, 8 p.m., May 23, 2005, gave us a fresh look at the organization and its short history.
As it pointed out, in the beginning of the show, many young people, including myself, distrusted authorities. When the SLA called the government “Fascist insects” many of us could identify with that analysis. Much as the Weather Underground, which formed out of the “new left” Students for a Democratic Society, there was a serious belief among young people that our country was sliding into pure fascism. Richard Nixon was our president and even before the Watergate Scandal, we could see our president showing outright contempt for all civil liberties. He was also fighting a vicious war in Indo-China.
The program had plenty of interviews by many of those who were involved or new those involved in the movement.
I remember those days because many of us sympathized with the guerrillas. They scared a system that seemed dedicated to intimidate and disrespect its young people. Of course the SLA probably had no chance of succeeding, even if they hadn’t made several serious errors as the show pointed out. Building an army and taking over the government was not an easy task then, it’s probably impossible today.
However, history does repeat itself. We have a Republican controlled congress and presidency that show at least as much contempt for civil liberties as Nixon did. Our young people are fighting needles war and dying for a pack of lies, in the Middle East, just as in Vietnam in the 1970s.
So we’re not likely to have another guerrilla movement take on the system, but many young and old people, locked out of the system by right-wing ideologs, is causing a slow simmer which is leading to a boil. Our anger is building. We won’t pick up guns, but we will find someway to react to the modern “Fascist insects” of our present government.
And the SLA emblem, the seven headed cobra, looked pretty cool.
As it pointed out, in the beginning of the show, many young people, including myself, distrusted authorities. When the SLA called the government “Fascist insects” many of us could identify with that analysis. Much as the Weather Underground, which formed out of the “new left” Students for a Democratic Society, there was a serious belief among young people that our country was sliding into pure fascism. Richard Nixon was our president and even before the Watergate Scandal, we could see our president showing outright contempt for all civil liberties. He was also fighting a vicious war in Indo-China.
The program had plenty of interviews by many of those who were involved or new those involved in the movement.
I remember those days because many of us sympathized with the guerrillas. They scared a system that seemed dedicated to intimidate and disrespect its young people. Of course the SLA probably had no chance of succeeding, even if they hadn’t made several serious errors as the show pointed out. Building an army and taking over the government was not an easy task then, it’s probably impossible today.
However, history does repeat itself. We have a Republican controlled congress and presidency that show at least as much contempt for civil liberties as Nixon did. Our young people are fighting needles war and dying for a pack of lies, in the Middle East, just as in Vietnam in the 1970s.
So we’re not likely to have another guerrilla movement take on the system, but many young and old people, locked out of the system by right-wing ideologs, is causing a slow simmer which is leading to a boil. Our anger is building. We won’t pick up guns, but we will find someway to react to the modern “Fascist insects” of our present government.
And the SLA emblem, the seven headed cobra, looked pretty cool.
Thursday, May 05, 2005
They just can’t leave pot alone
In a throw back to the days of Nixon, the US has refocused on harassing people who use marijuana. By now most US adults know that marijuana is less harmful than alcohol and yet most of the drug arrests are for that drug. According The Wichita Eagle, May 4, 2005, reported a rise in drug arrests from 1.1 million in 1990 to 1.5 million presently.
This should not be too surprising. Since the Reagan years and the Republican revolution, marijuana, along with any cultural tradition that grew out of the 1960s and 1970s liberalism is under attack. Marijuana may take away a person’s loyalties to the government. That’s especially true if a person uses the drug and realizes how much our government lies about it. Such enforcement is sure to please the Christian fundamentalists who would rather rope us into their church, rather than let us smoke pot. They are sure to bring up the bogus “gateway drug” argument.
“Take away pot and you take away all other drugs,” they argue. The problem is, it doesn’t work. Some crack addicts have never used marijuana. The high that comes from narcotics and cocaine are completely different from that of pot. It’s like arguing that drinking orange juice will lead to alcoholism, since many people mix vodka with orange juice. The argument just doesn’t make sense.
Arresting pot smokers is a terrible waste of resources anyway. The main purpose of pot prohibition seems to be to force clients into state ordered rehab. There’s money to be made and it’s another opportunity for Christian fundamentalists to use the system to rope in new members.
Remember: a brain on Christian fundamentalist religion or the influence of the present day Republican imperialists is no better than a brain saturated with drugs. All three impede the cognitive ability to use the brain.We should also know better than to trust a man who spent the Vietnam War stateside, getting drunk at frat parties, smoking pot and snorting coke, yet portrayed himself as a patriot over a man who actually went to Vietnam and had something to say about it. See: Bush sucks weed.
This should not be too surprising. Since the Reagan years and the Republican revolution, marijuana, along with any cultural tradition that grew out of the 1960s and 1970s liberalism is under attack. Marijuana may take away a person’s loyalties to the government. That’s especially true if a person uses the drug and realizes how much our government lies about it. Such enforcement is sure to please the Christian fundamentalists who would rather rope us into their church, rather than let us smoke pot. They are sure to bring up the bogus “gateway drug” argument.
“Take away pot and you take away all other drugs,” they argue. The problem is, it doesn’t work. Some crack addicts have never used marijuana. The high that comes from narcotics and cocaine are completely different from that of pot. It’s like arguing that drinking orange juice will lead to alcoholism, since many people mix vodka with orange juice. The argument just doesn’t make sense.
Arresting pot smokers is a terrible waste of resources anyway. The main purpose of pot prohibition seems to be to force clients into state ordered rehab. There’s money to be made and it’s another opportunity for Christian fundamentalists to use the system to rope in new members.
Remember: a brain on Christian fundamentalist religion or the influence of the present day Republican imperialists is no better than a brain saturated with drugs. All three impede the cognitive ability to use the brain.We should also know better than to trust a man who spent the Vietnam War stateside, getting drunk at frat parties, smoking pot and snorting coke, yet portrayed himself as a patriot over a man who actually went to Vietnam and had something to say about it. See: Bush sucks weed.
Friday, April 22, 2005
Put another body on the Pyre
Yes we need songs to go with our wonderful war. World War II gave us so many memorable songs. Iraq is a new opportunity for song writers and I have answered the call. I feel this is both patriotic and romantic for couples who have served in the front.
The lyrics are my own and the music is from Put Another Log on the Fire, sung by the Outlaws and Tompall Glaser
Put another body on the Pyre:
Put another body on the pyre.
Cook me up some bacon and some beans.
And go out to the car and burn the tyres.
Toss in my coffin my socks and old blue jeans.
Come on, baby, you can fill my pipe,
And then go fetch my slippers.
While you’re at it another pair of feet.
Then slam another body on the pyre, babe,
Together we’ll sizzle and face eternity.
Now won't I let you ride the car-bomb Sunday?
Don't I warn you when you're gettin flattened?
Ain't I a-gonna take you on a tour of dutty someday?
Well, a man can't love a woman more than that.
Ain't I always nice when you’re blistered?
Don't I let you handle dynamite?
So, sit here at my feet 'cos they got blown off in the street,
And you know it’s OK for chicks to fight.
So, slam another body on the pyre,
Cook me up some bacon and some beans.
Go out to the car and rig a bomb to blow off the tyres.
Wash the shrapnel from my socks and old blue jeans.
Come on, baby, you can fill my pipe,
And then go fetch my slippers.
While you’re at it another pair of feet.
Then slam another body on the pyre, babe,
Together we’ll sizzle and face eternity.
The lyrics are my own and the music is from Put Another Log on the Fire, sung by the Outlaws and Tompall Glaser
Put another body on the Pyre:
Put another body on the pyre.
Cook me up some bacon and some beans.
And go out to the car and burn the tyres.
Toss in my coffin my socks and old blue jeans.
Come on, baby, you can fill my pipe,
And then go fetch my slippers.
While you’re at it another pair of feet.
Then slam another body on the pyre, babe,
Together we’ll sizzle and face eternity.
Now won't I let you ride the car-bomb Sunday?
Don't I warn you when you're gettin flattened?
Ain't I a-gonna take you on a tour of dutty someday?
Well, a man can't love a woman more than that.
Ain't I always nice when you’re blistered?
Don't I let you handle dynamite?
So, sit here at my feet 'cos they got blown off in the street,
And you know it’s OK for chicks to fight.
So, slam another body on the pyre,
Cook me up some bacon and some beans.
Go out to the car and rig a bomb to blow off the tyres.
Wash the shrapnel from my socks and old blue jeans.
Come on, baby, you can fill my pipe,
And then go fetch my slippers.
While you’re at it another pair of feet.
Then slam another body on the pyre, babe,
Together we’ll sizzle and face eternity.
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Memoirs of a Drugged-Up, Sex-Crazed Yippie: Tales from the 1970s counter-culture: Drugs, sex, politics and rock and roll
Once again I’m plugging my new book Memoirs of a Drugged-Up, Sex-Crazed Yippie. It takes the reader through the life of a 1970s counter-culture drug user. Mark Spies goes from casual pot smoking to habitual use of pharmaceutical narcotics and cocaine. Due to the changing sexual attitudes, Spies has several unconventional sexual encounters. The 1970s brought us the “Woodstock generation.” There was a sense of idealism that developed at the beginning and died at the end of that decade. Many counter-culture books focus on the 1960s, yet there are plenty of events in the 1970s that deserve attention. Nixon’s war in Vietnam and Cambodia dominated the news and affected America’s youth. Nixon’s war on drugs impacted the counter-culture life style. Then there was punk rock, disco, casual cocaine use and revolutions braking out around the world by 1979.With politics in the background, this book gives the reader a look at drug use and the difficult business of drug dealing. The drugs, sexual attitudes, music and politics made the 1970s what they were. Taken as a whole, this book will give some insight into the people and events of the 1970s counter-culture. The Author is a free-lance writer, living in Maize, KS. He is the author of War on Drugs/ War on People, published by Ide House, 1995, an expose of government corruption connected with the “war on drugs.” Otto has published numerous articles in magazines, journals and newspapers.For More information the book can be seen at Amazon.com. The picture of it can be seen on the Barnes & Noble.com website: or can also be purchased Direct from the publisher.
Indian Army intervenes in Nepal’s Civil War
Nepal’s Royal Army, with the help of the Indian Army, attacked members of the 毛-ist People’s Liberation Army in the western part of Nepal. According to the Revolutionary Worker the battle took place February 28. The government has been in trouble with the guerillas controlling 80% of the country-side. King Gyanendra declared an emergency on Feb. 1, banning all opposition, including freedom of speech, in both print and radio and all activities by political parties of any kind. Indian troops captured seven fighters and took them back to India. The Indian army has captured and imprisoned members of the PLA before, but the 毛-ist were found in India. This is the first time India has taken foreign prisoners from Nepal.
There has been some fear by many in Nepal that Indian would like to intervene and control Nepal as a neo-colony, so it’s hard to say if this will backfire or if India can actually take enough advantage of the situation to make Nepal a neo-colony as President George Bush has done to Iraq.
There has been some fear by many in Nepal that Indian would like to intervene and control Nepal as a neo-colony, so it’s hard to say if this will backfire or if India can actually take enough advantage of the situation to make Nepal a neo-colony as President George Bush has done to Iraq.
Friday, April 01, 2005
Toten Hosen; “Hier Kommt Alex.”
I’ve always liked the Toten Hosen song; “Hier Kommt Alex.” Now I found a copy of their song in English. I always liked the music real well, but I never new the lyrics were so good. They’re satirical and make a political statement. It’s an insightful statement. I found their album “Love Peace & Money” in a Lawrence, Kansas record store Love Garden Sounds.
“The Return Of Alex”
In a world designed by the men in greywho decide how we live and breathe,there's a masterplan for the company manfrom the cradle to the company grave.
They thought that you'd be happywith your place in the national schemeand your carefully measured freedomto conform to the corporate dream.
But there's a virus in the software herethat shows like a cancer trace.When you thought it was safe to relax,it's back right in your face.
Hey, here comes Alex -and there's nowhere left for you to go.Hey, here comes Alex -yes it's true, your darkest nightmare, horrorshow.
There's something here can't be deniedto satisfy their greed,if they say we don't care what you want'cause we know what you need.
As history will repeat itselfand hate on violence feeds,in every man a darker sidejust waiting to be freed.
Hey, here comes Alex -and there's nowhere left for you to go.Hey, here comes Alex -yes it's true, your darkest nightmare, horrorshow.
So you watch the meters ridinand the silent pressure grows,the hate inside is rising,the one you've always known.
When the time is passed for talkingand you've stepped across that line,I will return - vengeance will be mine.
Hey, here comes Alex -and there's nowhere left for you to go.Hey, here comes Alex -yes it's true, your darkest nightmare, horrorshow.Hey, here comes Alex -and there's nowhere left for you to go.
http://www.dietotenhosen.de/en/veroeffentlichungen_songtexte.php?text=alben/love_peace_money/return_of_alex.php
“The Return Of Alex”
In a world designed by the men in greywho decide how we live and breathe,there's a masterplan for the company manfrom the cradle to the company grave.
They thought that you'd be happywith your place in the national schemeand your carefully measured freedomto conform to the corporate dream.
But there's a virus in the software herethat shows like a cancer trace.When you thought it was safe to relax,it's back right in your face.
Hey, here comes Alex -and there's nowhere left for you to go.Hey, here comes Alex -yes it's true, your darkest nightmare, horrorshow.
There's something here can't be deniedto satisfy their greed,if they say we don't care what you want'cause we know what you need.
As history will repeat itselfand hate on violence feeds,in every man a darker sidejust waiting to be freed.
Hey, here comes Alex -and there's nowhere left for you to go.Hey, here comes Alex -yes it's true, your darkest nightmare, horrorshow.
So you watch the meters ridinand the silent pressure grows,the hate inside is rising,the one you've always known.
When the time is passed for talkingand you've stepped across that line,I will return - vengeance will be mine.
Hey, here comes Alex -and there's nowhere left for you to go.Hey, here comes Alex -yes it's true, your darkest nightmare, horrorshow.Hey, here comes Alex -and there's nowhere left for you to go.
http://www.dietotenhosen.de/en/veroeffentlichungen_songtexte.php?text=alben/love_peace_money/return_of_alex.php
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Conservatives want academia next
It was reported by Time, “Fighting Words 101,” March 14, 2005, that conservative students are filing bias complaints against professors who criticize Republican points of view or their icons. According to the article, legislators are now trying to pass laws, such as David Horowitz’s Academic Bill of Rights, which sounds like an attempt to protect freedom of speech. But it is actually intended as a tool for students who want to fight against the teachings of what they consider “liberal bias.”
This is not surprising. The Republican Party has complete control of all branches of government. They control most of the media, especially the pundits and spin doctors. Academia is one of the last liberal strongholds and the conservatives are determined to eliminate it. Buzz phrases such as “Lose touch with the community” are used to dissuade universities from having such speakers as Michael Moore, or hosting the “Vagina monologs.” The so called community excuse seems to imply that the community’s politics, which at this time is mostly conservative, have a right to insulate themselves from the minority viewpoints.
Conservative students are complaining about a lack of balance on the teaching staff at many universities. Of course no one is pushing for such “balance” on TV news. Our two party system leaves no room for a balance of political diversity in our house or senate. The Democrats, the party in decline, try to act more like Republicans to win over the center, while they continue to alienate the progressives, liberals and leftists. They keep loosing elections; yet keep on the same political track. At the same time, we are one of the last bourgeois democracies that restrict access of third parties in our elections.
Another question is can a person who has stolen one election, and excluded input from all other political groupings, our own President George “Dubya” Bush, really promote democracy in Iraq? The resistance in Iraq continues. The Wichita Eagle, March 9, 2005, reported “Syria backers outdo critics.” Bush can’t promote what he doesn’t understand and he doesn’t understand democracy.
This is not surprising. The Republican Party has complete control of all branches of government. They control most of the media, especially the pundits and spin doctors. Academia is one of the last liberal strongholds and the conservatives are determined to eliminate it. Buzz phrases such as “Lose touch with the community” are used to dissuade universities from having such speakers as Michael Moore, or hosting the “Vagina monologs.” The so called community excuse seems to imply that the community’s politics, which at this time is mostly conservative, have a right to insulate themselves from the minority viewpoints.
Conservative students are complaining about a lack of balance on the teaching staff at many universities. Of course no one is pushing for such “balance” on TV news. Our two party system leaves no room for a balance of political diversity in our house or senate. The Democrats, the party in decline, try to act more like Republicans to win over the center, while they continue to alienate the progressives, liberals and leftists. They keep loosing elections; yet keep on the same political track. At the same time, we are one of the last bourgeois democracies that restrict access of third parties in our elections.
Another question is can a person who has stolen one election, and excluded input from all other political groupings, our own President George “Dubya” Bush, really promote democracy in Iraq? The resistance in Iraq continues. The Wichita Eagle, March 9, 2005, reported “Syria backers outdo critics.” Bush can’t promote what he doesn’t understand and he doesn’t understand democracy.
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
The Sexual Life Of Catherine M/ sex sells
One of my readings was The Sexual Life Of Catherine M., by Catherine Millet, published in 2001. I like her frank talk of sexual adventure. She doesn’t hold back. She is an editor of an art publication in France. She is no slut or prostitute. She is married and working as a full-time journalist. Yet her book is full of sexual adventures she can recall from her past.I learned a lot about her use of words and her descriptions of sexual acts. I have enjoyed reading the book. I got a lot of tips on writing sexual experiences for my own book Memoirs of a Drugged-Up, Sex-Crazed Yippie.
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
My writing inspirations
In my writing experiences, I have learned a lot from many writers. I have learned a lot from reading Hunter S. Thompson, but I have also learned a lot from reading (Mao) 毛澤東. What I really learned from him is how much he came to appreciate the earlier writers and philosophers from his own past, such as 老子 who wrote the (Tao Te Ching) 道德經 and 孫子, author of (The Art of War) 孫子兵法. Even though he didn’t care much for (Confucius) 孔子, he did occasionally quote him and one of his followers (Mencius) 孟子.
I have learned to appreciate such ancient writers as ΔHMOKPITOΣ (Democritus),
APIΣTIΠΠOΣ(Aristippus) and EΠIKOYPOΣ (Epicurus). There’s also T. Lucretius Carus and Thomas Jefferson. It was Antonio Gramsci who wrote that we should not judge a person, in the past, for having some wrong views. He said people are a product of their time. He pointed out that Giordano Bruno, who was burned at the stake as a heretic in 1600, was a monk, yet he inspired Karl Marx.
I found some similarities between Aristippus and his Cyrenaic school of philosophy; and the ideas of sexual liberation of the 1960s and ‘70s, while writing my new book, Memoirs of a Drugged-Up, Sex-Crazed Yippie.
I have learned to appreciate such ancient writers as ΔHMOKPITOΣ (Democritus),
APIΣTIΠΠOΣ(Aristippus) and EΠIKOYPOΣ (Epicurus). There’s also T. Lucretius Carus and Thomas Jefferson. It was Antonio Gramsci who wrote that we should not judge a person, in the past, for having some wrong views. He said people are a product of their time. He pointed out that Giordano Bruno, who was burned at the stake as a heretic in 1600, was a monk, yet he inspired Karl Marx.
I found some similarities between Aristippus and his Cyrenaic school of philosophy; and the ideas of sexual liberation of the 1960s and ‘70s, while writing my new book, Memoirs of a Drugged-Up, Sex-Crazed Yippie.
Monday, March 07, 2005
APIΣTIΠΠOΣ and EΠIKOYPOΣ are just as good as the Bible
Unlike a lot of the narrow-minded people in Kansas, I have read more than just the Bible. I’ve read Epicurus and have read about such great thinkers as Aristippus. There were many great philosophers besides Jesus Christ. He may have been a philosopher, but he was nothing divine. Gilgamesh was one of the first God-heads and if we can stop believing in myths such as Gilgamesh we can stop believing in fairy tales, such as divine people and creationism.
毛-ist Rebels kick as in Nepal
The ruling Nepal government is in a state of crisis. The Maoist guerrillas might now control 80 percent of the country and the King has declared a state of emergency. All political parties have been banned and the King has taken full control of the government, dissolving parliament. Newspapers have been shut down and heavily censored by the military. The Bush administration is quite alarmed at these events. Bush had declared the guerrillas “terrorists” and fears the new state of emergency will only make matters worse. The US, Britain and India, which has Maoist guerrillas of its own, are all pumping weapons and aid to Nepal.
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