As our vacation ends, and we look "forward" to returning to Redding, and its 110 degree heat, the following musings are made.
Ulalena in Maui is a wonderful show, that tells a musical and cultural history of the Naive Peoples of Maui. It begins with much spiritualism, ends the same, with a sharp comment in the end of what the white man has done to the island and to the Native Americans.
Like the mainland, the Native Americans (and they are all Americans since 1959) were virtually wiped out. There was little bounty hunting like in the mainland, sickness did the work of reducing the native population.
Be that as it may, measles and smallpox left the natives unable to protect themselves, and the island was confiscated from a greatly weakened Hawaiian monarch by the United States in 1898.
Today, the climate plus magnificent views make Maui a island paradise, for everyone but the native peoples. They mostly are resigned to lives of poverty, holding on to small parcels of land, with little compensation for their island's riches. The only time you see poverty in Maui is when you drive by a native's shanty town.
And the weather is changing here too. The humidity has increased markedly, as with the heat.
It is summer, and we know to expect sticky days, but the citizens here are remarking that it is hotter, the ocean is hotter.
As with Redding, the heat and the summer are more difficult to stand, but certainly better here in Maui.
And then there is Haliburton. In the last few days, they have admitted they covered up evidence of their complicity in the Mexican Gulf Spill of a few years back, that was an environmental disaster. These were criminal charges they plead guilty to, with I hope massive fines and even jail time.
The worst thing, is by covering up what they knew, they could have forestalled efforts to stop the leaking of oil, that turned yet another beautiful place into a disaster.
So, the oil industry once again thumbs it nose at the environment, does what it wants, and pays a small fine for its criminal behavior.
How are these linked to Maui?
The heat links them.
As we continue our fanatical addiction to oil, we repeat the same tragedy that killed so many Maui natives. The free market honors profit over everything else.
Whaling and sugar cane were the first economic booms to hit Maui. They almost killed all the whales, and the sugar can bleached the soil for generations; and the influx of immigrant workers carried the disease that killed almost all of the Hawaiians.
The whale population still has not recovered from the whaling abomination of the 1870s. The only thing that stopped the slaughter of one of the world's treasures, was the whales could no longer be found, and mankind discovered petroleum; both a curse to manking.
Greed, and the homage to unbridled capitalism did its work once again, reducing a natural resource to nothing in a few decades.
And now, mother nature is exacting her revenge on all of us. Maui is changing, Redding is changing, its getting hotter.
And just like the whalers, we are running out of oil.
But, we all keep getting in our cars and R.V.s, rev up the engine, and go for a ride, pouring yet more CO2 into the air, burning up a finite resource because we won't change.
Halitburton was led by Dick Cheney, who gave us unregulated fracking, that is killing the environment as we speak. Haliburton represents the same lunacy of the whaling industry and the sugar cane industry; destroy the environment for a quick profit.
Ulalena teaches that the earth mother does not forget. There is an ultimate revenge that will be exacted from all of us....Mother earth does not forget!
Friday, July 26, 2013
Sunday, July 21, 2013
The Future is in the Opportunity We Provide for All
Hawaii is quite an experience and quite different, especially from the Northern California area we call home.
If you think the Bay Area and L.A., are heterogeneous areas, try Maui on for size. Asian American, Native Hawaiians, Swedes, Germans, you name it, they are all here.
There is a tension of course. On the way to Hana, which is where the ancient kingdoms of Hawaii started, you definitely get the idea that native Hawaiians are not happy that the United States basically stole the islands in the 1890s. Signs abound about native rights lost, and several active (and unsuccessful) legal attempts have been going on for years to get native lands back.
That is not going to happen. If you spend two seconds in Oahu or Maui, there is no way the billions in dollars invested in the islands will be turned over.
Besides, pure blood Hawaiian natives are now practically extinct. Hawaii is the most heterogeneous state in the union. There is simply no going back.
What you see is a blend of white, brown, black, Asian, you name it. And, you also see some of the most beautiful people on the planet.
But, there is poverty. The native peoples of the islands have not shared in the enormous wealth that exists here. There are no casinos, there are health centers for the Hawaiians, and I know aid for education; etc., Hawaii is a very progressive state.
But there still is poverty. There still is the potential for disaster. Bring poverty rates down takes years and cost a lot of money. There are no easy ways, to overcome years of racism.
We all got fooled by that when the War on Poverty Programs of the 60s and 70s were implemented. Most of these programs lasted for only a few years, with limited success.
Programs to reduce poverty rates must be in place for decades!
I just read an excellent article, "Forging a Future" in the Associated Press. It listed the following depressing statistics: children of color (African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans (including Hawaiians), suffer with a 30 to 40 percent poverty rate.
Whites and Asian Americans are less that 25 percent.
In California this year, people of color (a rather broad category) now make up a majority of our citizens. In Hawaii there is no doubt that people of color (counting Asian Americans) make up a majority.
"Forging Our Future" points this out. The article also points out that the white middle class of the United States will soon be depending for its care in old age, on the social security and medicare/medicaid, contributions of the younger generation, who by 2030 will be made up of a majority of people of color.
In short, Hawaii is already there, California just got there, and the rest of the 48 will soon be there.
The cold hard statistics are there the demographic studies are solid. Caucasians, whoever they are, will very soon be depending on young workers of mixed and colored race to keep the economy going and provide the health care services, retirement income; etc., that retiring baby boomers count on. Racist white elders will need the very people they now seek to repress; ironic isn't it?
Unfortunately, right now, the children who we will be depending upon are living in a 40 percent poverty rate.
That means 4 out of every 10 future workers are living in conditions that lead to under education, crime, sickness, and underachievement. Reducing those numbers to rates that will not kill the future economy will be a massive undertaking, will cost a lot of money, for better education, better health care, and better opportunity for all.
Republicans especially don't get this. The 2012 elections should have been a wake up call, that white only attitudes just don't get it anymore, and the anti-immigration lunacy that many Conservatives cannot seem to get out of their systems, means even less chances to bring in skilled workers to staff the future economy.
In short, we are cutting our nose off to save our racist face.
It is madness to continue a system that impoverishes the very human resources that simply must be able to work in the economy of tomorrow.
Caucasians have practiced birth control too well. White upper class couples have 1.8 children, richer couples even fewer children.
And, the baby boom, who could have contributed more white children are long since done with child bearing age. In short, whites can't create enough babies to make up a worker class to save them.
The dye is cast as they say. The United States either educates and helps advance the lot of poor children of color, or our economy is simply doomed to shrink and retreat, leaving millions of baby boomers stranded without an old age future.
And, the cost of a 40% poverty rate on the economy for forging a future are staggering. The cost of doing nothing about it, is game over! The United States will cease to be a world power economically.
The key is a new investment in education, in pre-school, in food stamps, in everything we can think of to drive down that poverty rate as fast as we can. The President was not fooling when he asked for a new dedication to education, especially to pre-school education for children in poverty. As a bi-racial example, he know exactly what he is talking about. His personal story of achievement must be replicated a million plus times, for our country to survive!
And that is what Republicans do not get. They are working overtime to kill programs that attack poverty in children of color, while limiting voting rights, hoping that a white supremest approach, that has always failed to render a successful social fabric or a successful economy, will somehow make things better. IT DOES NOT WORK!
It didn't in the era of Jim Crowe, the south suffered a repressed economy, because human capital was under utilized. It was only after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that the southern economy began to grow and prosper. It was the embracing of diversity and tapping all human potential that led to the growth of the southern economy. The person who got that, and pushed hard for the Civil Rights Bill, was a southerner named Lyndon Baines Johnson.
Sadly, in Texas today, Lyndon Johnson could not get elected. The man who got it, who helped grow Texan's economy probably more than anyone else, could not represent Texas today over the Tea Party racist party apparatus.
And the irony is demographic studies and computer analysis of data is far advanced from the Jim Crowe era, showing the real danger to the American way of life if a poverty rate is allowed to exist that cannot possibly provide the human capital our future needs. We are not guessing here. The statistics are spot on. We know how to fix this! The data is there. Education is one of the key elements.
This is what I see in Hawaii today. I see that they get it. I see opportunity growing for all children. I see a progressive state, working to reduce the waste of human capital. They have a long way to go, but they have begun.
I do not see that in the mainland. And that may be our downfall!
If you think the Bay Area and L.A., are heterogeneous areas, try Maui on for size. Asian American, Native Hawaiians, Swedes, Germans, you name it, they are all here.
There is a tension of course. On the way to Hana, which is where the ancient kingdoms of Hawaii started, you definitely get the idea that native Hawaiians are not happy that the United States basically stole the islands in the 1890s. Signs abound about native rights lost, and several active (and unsuccessful) legal attempts have been going on for years to get native lands back.
That is not going to happen. If you spend two seconds in Oahu or Maui, there is no way the billions in dollars invested in the islands will be turned over.
Besides, pure blood Hawaiian natives are now practically extinct. Hawaii is the most heterogeneous state in the union. There is simply no going back.
What you see is a blend of white, brown, black, Asian, you name it. And, you also see some of the most beautiful people on the planet.
But, there is poverty. The native peoples of the islands have not shared in the enormous wealth that exists here. There are no casinos, there are health centers for the Hawaiians, and I know aid for education; etc., Hawaii is a very progressive state.
But there still is poverty. There still is the potential for disaster. Bring poverty rates down takes years and cost a lot of money. There are no easy ways, to overcome years of racism.
We all got fooled by that when the War on Poverty Programs of the 60s and 70s were implemented. Most of these programs lasted for only a few years, with limited success.
Programs to reduce poverty rates must be in place for decades!
I just read an excellent article, "Forging a Future" in the Associated Press. It listed the following depressing statistics: children of color (African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans (including Hawaiians), suffer with a 30 to 40 percent poverty rate.
Whites and Asian Americans are less that 25 percent.
In California this year, people of color (a rather broad category) now make up a majority of our citizens. In Hawaii there is no doubt that people of color (counting Asian Americans) make up a majority.
"Forging Our Future" points this out. The article also points out that the white middle class of the United States will soon be depending for its care in old age, on the social security and medicare/medicaid, contributions of the younger generation, who by 2030 will be made up of a majority of people of color.
In short, Hawaii is already there, California just got there, and the rest of the 48 will soon be there.
The cold hard statistics are there the demographic studies are solid. Caucasians, whoever they are, will very soon be depending on young workers of mixed and colored race to keep the economy going and provide the health care services, retirement income; etc., that retiring baby boomers count on. Racist white elders will need the very people they now seek to repress; ironic isn't it?
Unfortunately, right now, the children who we will be depending upon are living in a 40 percent poverty rate.
That means 4 out of every 10 future workers are living in conditions that lead to under education, crime, sickness, and underachievement. Reducing those numbers to rates that will not kill the future economy will be a massive undertaking, will cost a lot of money, for better education, better health care, and better opportunity for all.
Republicans especially don't get this. The 2012 elections should have been a wake up call, that white only attitudes just don't get it anymore, and the anti-immigration lunacy that many Conservatives cannot seem to get out of their systems, means even less chances to bring in skilled workers to staff the future economy.
In short, we are cutting our nose off to save our racist face.
It is madness to continue a system that impoverishes the very human resources that simply must be able to work in the economy of tomorrow.
Caucasians have practiced birth control too well. White upper class couples have 1.8 children, richer couples even fewer children.
And, the baby boom, who could have contributed more white children are long since done with child bearing age. In short, whites can't create enough babies to make up a worker class to save them.
The dye is cast as they say. The United States either educates and helps advance the lot of poor children of color, or our economy is simply doomed to shrink and retreat, leaving millions of baby boomers stranded without an old age future.
And, the cost of a 40% poverty rate on the economy for forging a future are staggering. The cost of doing nothing about it, is game over! The United States will cease to be a world power economically.
The key is a new investment in education, in pre-school, in food stamps, in everything we can think of to drive down that poverty rate as fast as we can. The President was not fooling when he asked for a new dedication to education, especially to pre-school education for children in poverty. As a bi-racial example, he know exactly what he is talking about. His personal story of achievement must be replicated a million plus times, for our country to survive!
And that is what Republicans do not get. They are working overtime to kill programs that attack poverty in children of color, while limiting voting rights, hoping that a white supremest approach, that has always failed to render a successful social fabric or a successful economy, will somehow make things better. IT DOES NOT WORK!
It didn't in the era of Jim Crowe, the south suffered a repressed economy, because human capital was under utilized. It was only after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that the southern economy began to grow and prosper. It was the embracing of diversity and tapping all human potential that led to the growth of the southern economy. The person who got that, and pushed hard for the Civil Rights Bill, was a southerner named Lyndon Baines Johnson.
Sadly, in Texas today, Lyndon Johnson could not get elected. The man who got it, who helped grow Texan's economy probably more than anyone else, could not represent Texas today over the Tea Party racist party apparatus.
And the irony is demographic studies and computer analysis of data is far advanced from the Jim Crowe era, showing the real danger to the American way of life if a poverty rate is allowed to exist that cannot possibly provide the human capital our future needs. We are not guessing here. The statistics are spot on. We know how to fix this! The data is there. Education is one of the key elements.
This is what I see in Hawaii today. I see that they get it. I see opportunity growing for all children. I see a progressive state, working to reduce the waste of human capital. They have a long way to go, but they have begun.
I do not see that in the mainland. And that may be our downfall!
Friday, July 19, 2013
Money Ball?
I post this in reaction to Dan Walter's article in today's Sacramento Bee comparing Moneyball to cuts in government:
Your article comparing government in California to Money Ball is interesting but wrong headed.
Repeat after me: you cannot compare the private sector, especially sports to government.
I earned my MA in Government many years ago and part of my thesis was the role of bureaucracy in government.
Bureaucracy is dull and studying it is like watching paint dry. But, it holds government together. And, comparative political studies, show that the more effective, professional and efficient a bureaucracy is, the better the government; regardless of the political change that swirls around it.
Teachers are bureaucrats in a sense. And your Moneyball analogy damages them greatly.
Conservatives will be jumping at what your article points to as cutting the "fat" and making government more efficient. And, since conservatives hate government and government bureaucrats, they then will logically assume that reducing the teacher corps, making them more efficient by cutting the most senior in a layoffs rather than the most junior, will work like money ball. Ruthlessly reduce your fat experienced ball players, get less senior and cheaper ones, and you will win, right?
Wrong! Teaching is an art. Baseball is an art. You cannot apply business efficiency models to them and CONSISTENTLY succeed.
You did not remind the readers that Oakland, of moneyball fame, has NOT won the World Series yet! In other words, the theory they are using has not succeeded.
Let me give you a real life example.
I was the coordinator and Principal of all alternative education in our district. We hired a raging conservative as Superintendent who hated alternative education. He saw any extra money paid on difficult students as wasted, he thought continuation schools were a waste of money.
So, he took the idea of converting about 75% of alternative education to Independent Study, started a Freshman intervention program (called Opportunity Education) and cut alternative education by millions of dollars.
The Board was happy because it realized about a five million dollar savings. Independent Study teachers make way less than regular teachers . And, drop outs, whose numbers tripled, were hidden statistically the way the Superintendent set it up. Moneyball wins!
And how about the kids? Well they are losers anyway, right? And what about the vocational education that was obliterated? Well, everyone should go to college right?
So the crime rate of our town moved up. The poverty rate moved up. The real drop out rate moved up. Lives were lost, futures destroyed.
Look, Moneyball is not good government. Yes, government needs to be constantly improved, effective governmental structures are essential to a society's success.
But reform does not come with a meat axe. And reformers cannot have "smaller government" biases because good government also costs money. So does good education.
Why not try the biggest reform yet to government. Ban all lobbyists! Reform the voting system and make it mandatory. And reduce the election cycle to a month, with open access to all media fairly distributed between candidates for a limited time. That will change this cesspool of privilege and greed we call politics.
Why don't you write about that?
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
How to lie with "statistics", enough with the lies!
The madness continues. A friend on Facebook recently posted that 90 percent of crime was black on white in the United States, or even worse, he is hard to follow sometimes, that 90% of crime in the U.S. is committed by African-Amerians.
When I challenged him on this absurd claim, he quoted the FBI statistics and some off the wall web site that actually chronicles every crime they can find by African-Americans. Of course there are pages after pages of crimes. Of course the website is raging racist, and is no doubt on the FBI List as a hate site.
But the real statistics have been fairly constant over the years. A Caucasian is far more likely to be a crime victim by a fellow Caucasian. The FBI hate crimes, racial crimes based on racist hate, shows almost a two to one preponderance of whites attacking blacks than the other way around.
Census figures are hard to ignore here. African Americans make up about 12 percent of American's population. For there to be a even close to majority of crime against whites is simply statistically impossible. And to commit 90% of all crime is ridiculous!
But, the racists wold have you believe otherwise. They push the idea that a black person is always a potential criminal, and that my friends is profiling.
And it is profiling without any statistical backing.
Now, if a person of Swedish descent, decides to walk the streets of Hunters' Point and hurl racist slurs at citizens, he will probably get his ass kicked.
To the racist that is again proof that African-Americans are more violent, more prone to criminal behavior.
And there are a disproportionate number of young African American males incarcerated in American jails. But that is a product of the racial profiling that immediately suspects blacks, that is quick to detain, to question yes, to convict.
The vast majority of black youth incarcerated are for drugs and non-violent offenses. In fact, many of them are in jail for marijuana, which is legal in some states.
But, my facebook buddy felt compelled to throw out unsubstantiated "facts" that prove blacks are more "dangerous" than whites, and should be feared.
Little wonder Trevon Martin was killed. The hatred and seething racism of a person who you would never guess is a racist in his heart, always takes me aback.
In Redding, it is still ok to be a bigot in may quarters. Redding, and the surrounding rural towns, are filled with reactionaries, who act like it is 1920.
And so lying with statistics, using a blatantly racist web site to "prove" that blacks are more criminal , is the claim.
We cannot tolerate this crap. I distancing myself from any more dialogue with Gary, and will defriend if I have to.
I have found that the only thing a racist understands is for good people to say ENOUGH!
When I challenged him on this absurd claim, he quoted the FBI statistics and some off the wall web site that actually chronicles every crime they can find by African-Americans. Of course there are pages after pages of crimes. Of course the website is raging racist, and is no doubt on the FBI List as a hate site.
But the real statistics have been fairly constant over the years. A Caucasian is far more likely to be a crime victim by a fellow Caucasian. The FBI hate crimes, racial crimes based on racist hate, shows almost a two to one preponderance of whites attacking blacks than the other way around.
Census figures are hard to ignore here. African Americans make up about 12 percent of American's population. For there to be a even close to majority of crime against whites is simply statistically impossible. And to commit 90% of all crime is ridiculous!
But, the racists wold have you believe otherwise. They push the idea that a black person is always a potential criminal, and that my friends is profiling.
And it is profiling without any statistical backing.
Now, if a person of Swedish descent, decides to walk the streets of Hunters' Point and hurl racist slurs at citizens, he will probably get his ass kicked.
To the racist that is again proof that African-Americans are more violent, more prone to criminal behavior.
And there are a disproportionate number of young African American males incarcerated in American jails. But that is a product of the racial profiling that immediately suspects blacks, that is quick to detain, to question yes, to convict.
The vast majority of black youth incarcerated are for drugs and non-violent offenses. In fact, many of them are in jail for marijuana, which is legal in some states.
But, my facebook buddy felt compelled to throw out unsubstantiated "facts" that prove blacks are more "dangerous" than whites, and should be feared.
Little wonder Trevon Martin was killed. The hatred and seething racism of a person who you would never guess is a racist in his heart, always takes me aback.
In Redding, it is still ok to be a bigot in may quarters. Redding, and the surrounding rural towns, are filled with reactionaries, who act like it is 1920.
And so lying with statistics, using a blatantly racist web site to "prove" that blacks are more criminal , is the claim.
We cannot tolerate this crap. I distancing myself from any more dialogue with Gary, and will defriend if I have to.
I have found that the only thing a racist understands is for good people to say ENOUGH!
Monday, July 15, 2013
The Lone Ranger, Zimmerman, and other musings
Two things of note happened this weekend. After weeks of endless reporting, the Zimmerman verdict was handed down. As expected, Zimmerman was declared not guilty. A little more of a surprise was no manslaughter consideration.
So, basically George Zimmerman shot Trevon Martin to death, after disregarding police advice to leave the kid alone, while getting his ass kicked in a fight. Supposedly, Mr. Zimmerman, who sought the altercation, lost control of it, and had to shoot Trevon Martin because he feared for his life. One wonders why he didn't pull the gun first (or maybe he did), and get Trevon to put his hands up?
That is what the Lone Ranger always did, he got the bad guys to put their hands up; he didn't kill them!
Whatever else you believe , Mr. Zimmerman "solved" an altercation by killing his opponent with a gun: one shot to the heart. This is almost romantic in its impact, depending on whose side you are on. I listen to my conservative friends, who almost choke up, with the RIGHT of a person to "stand his ground" and shoot someone; even a 17 year old kid!
And, then we went to see the Lone Ranger. This movie is not doing as well at the box office, because of a variety of complaints; some about the stereotyping of Native Americans, others about the barrage of special effects, even Johnnie Depp, who never misses in a Disney flick, is criticized.
We liked the movie. When the William Tell Overture was played, I went right back to Tonto, Silver and the Lone Ranger, over our black and white T.V., the first T.V. show I remember.
And the film was good, I think; I don't care what the critics say.
And the film glorified solving disputes by shooting people with guns; especially bad guys and Indians.
Lots of guns, even Gatling Guns, were used against an heroic, final (and fatal charge) of what is left of the Comanche Nation.
Historically the Gatling Gun is not what did the Comanche's in (and they were the most fierce of all Native American armies). What did it was the repeating pistol (six shooter) and the repeating rifle.
Until after the Civil War, Texas basically could not move westward (also getting its butt kicked in the Civil War didn't help), because the Comanche's would simply dare the Texas Rangers to fire their single shot pistols or rifles, then charge and kill the Rangers who didn't have time to reload.
The Texans just couldn't figure this strategy out, and kept sacrificing people to the Comanche's trap.
And, even the Texas Rangers, who carried the fight to the Comanche's, could not match the bravery and sheer fanaticism (Comanche's were also crazy) of the Native Americans and lost battle after battle.
Only repeating weapons; ie, overwhelming firepower, swung the pendulum in the manifest destiny direction.
And in that at least, Disney had it right, but not with Gatling Guns.
Firepower has been depicted as the major reason the "West was Won". And there is a lot of truth to it. Native Americans, in a fair fight with comparable weapons, were far superior to Army cavalry, until repeating rifles were introduced. This fire superiority came about after the Civil War (which was the birthplace of modern warfare) and it took about 25 years for most Native American resistance to be wiped out.
Genocide is another term for it. Massive firepower can kill everyone in a battle. It also works well when you have people lined up against pits (Germans were really good at this ) and Indians trapped in canyons, done several times by the U.S. Cavalry.
This all culminated of course, at Wounded Knee, when hundreds of women and children were slaughtered, and the soldier firing the Gatling Gun into masses of unarmed women and children, was awarded the Medal of Honor! I am not kidding, he got the Metal of Honor for killing unarmed women and children.
The antecedents of the shooting of Trevor Martin run deep in American soul. Many Americans, especially white Americans, believe fervently that guns will bring safety and justice. Small wonder, when one looks at the historical record of American firepower, and what it has done to people of color in our history.
So, the final scenes of the Lone Ranger show even the hero, the Lone Ranger, blasting away and killing people (in the T.V. episodes the Lone Ranger always shot the gun out of the bad guy's hand).
It is no wonder George Zimmerman reported than when he shot a 17 year old kid in the heart, while getting his pathetic ass kicked, that Trevon said "You got me". That is right out of the Lone Ranger.
Of course, when a person really gets hit with a high velocity bullet, it blows off an arm, or explodes a head. Hollywood has very seldom shown what really happens when overwhelming firepower is turned against human beings. The first fifteen minutes of "Saving Private Ryan" made many movie goers ill, as arms and legs flew into the air, entrails all over the sands.
But the carnage was for a just cause, right?
This is right out of the myth of the American West. When people are killed, it is always for a just cause, always allowing the good guys to win, always showing the Lone Ranger and Tonto making a more just society by killing, or at least wounding a lot.
And in the end what will this mean?
No society has ever lasted for long that was based on violence and divisiveness, none. Genocide will ultimately destroy the very fabric of a society.
The Thousand Year Reich, only lasted 12 years, and ended with Germany a smoking rubble; a product of superior American and Russian firepower. And of course, there is Japan and the Atomic Bombs, the ultimate in superiority through explosives.
It may take a few hundred years, but societies that rely on killing people to settle disputes, usually disintegrate into chaos and fail. Or, in the Atomic Age, fall victim to a massive exchange of explosive power that wipes out all life on the planet.
But I cheered when the William Tell Overture was played, I winced when the Comanche's were slaughtered (but the only good Indian is a dead Indian...right?). I rooted for the Lone Ranger and Tonto as always.
And I pity us all, for allowing the worst of our natures to root for an asshole like George Zimmernan, and knowing that someday, we will probably all be victims of our romanticized violence.
So, basically George Zimmerman shot Trevon Martin to death, after disregarding police advice to leave the kid alone, while getting his ass kicked in a fight. Supposedly, Mr. Zimmerman, who sought the altercation, lost control of it, and had to shoot Trevon Martin because he feared for his life. One wonders why he didn't pull the gun first (or maybe he did), and get Trevon to put his hands up?
That is what the Lone Ranger always did, he got the bad guys to put their hands up; he didn't kill them!
Whatever else you believe , Mr. Zimmerman "solved" an altercation by killing his opponent with a gun: one shot to the heart. This is almost romantic in its impact, depending on whose side you are on. I listen to my conservative friends, who almost choke up, with the RIGHT of a person to "stand his ground" and shoot someone; even a 17 year old kid!
And, then we went to see the Lone Ranger. This movie is not doing as well at the box office, because of a variety of complaints; some about the stereotyping of Native Americans, others about the barrage of special effects, even Johnnie Depp, who never misses in a Disney flick, is criticized.
We liked the movie. When the William Tell Overture was played, I went right back to Tonto, Silver and the Lone Ranger, over our black and white T.V., the first T.V. show I remember.
And the film was good, I think; I don't care what the critics say.
And the film glorified solving disputes by shooting people with guns; especially bad guys and Indians.
Lots of guns, even Gatling Guns, were used against an heroic, final (and fatal charge) of what is left of the Comanche Nation.
Historically the Gatling Gun is not what did the Comanche's in (and they were the most fierce of all Native American armies). What did it was the repeating pistol (six shooter) and the repeating rifle.
Until after the Civil War, Texas basically could not move westward (also getting its butt kicked in the Civil War didn't help), because the Comanche's would simply dare the Texas Rangers to fire their single shot pistols or rifles, then charge and kill the Rangers who didn't have time to reload.
The Texans just couldn't figure this strategy out, and kept sacrificing people to the Comanche's trap.
And, even the Texas Rangers, who carried the fight to the Comanche's, could not match the bravery and sheer fanaticism (Comanche's were also crazy) of the Native Americans and lost battle after battle.
Only repeating weapons; ie, overwhelming firepower, swung the pendulum in the manifest destiny direction.
And in that at least, Disney had it right, but not with Gatling Guns.
Firepower has been depicted as the major reason the "West was Won". And there is a lot of truth to it. Native Americans, in a fair fight with comparable weapons, were far superior to Army cavalry, until repeating rifles were introduced. This fire superiority came about after the Civil War (which was the birthplace of modern warfare) and it took about 25 years for most Native American resistance to be wiped out.
Genocide is another term for it. Massive firepower can kill everyone in a battle. It also works well when you have people lined up against pits (Germans were really good at this ) and Indians trapped in canyons, done several times by the U.S. Cavalry.
This all culminated of course, at Wounded Knee, when hundreds of women and children were slaughtered, and the soldier firing the Gatling Gun into masses of unarmed women and children, was awarded the Medal of Honor! I am not kidding, he got the Metal of Honor for killing unarmed women and children.
The antecedents of the shooting of Trevor Martin run deep in American soul. Many Americans, especially white Americans, believe fervently that guns will bring safety and justice. Small wonder, when one looks at the historical record of American firepower, and what it has done to people of color in our history.
So, the final scenes of the Lone Ranger show even the hero, the Lone Ranger, blasting away and killing people (in the T.V. episodes the Lone Ranger always shot the gun out of the bad guy's hand).
It is no wonder George Zimmerman reported than when he shot a 17 year old kid in the heart, while getting his pathetic ass kicked, that Trevon said "You got me". That is right out of the Lone Ranger.
Of course, when a person really gets hit with a high velocity bullet, it blows off an arm, or explodes a head. Hollywood has very seldom shown what really happens when overwhelming firepower is turned against human beings. The first fifteen minutes of "Saving Private Ryan" made many movie goers ill, as arms and legs flew into the air, entrails all over the sands.
But the carnage was for a just cause, right?
This is right out of the myth of the American West. When people are killed, it is always for a just cause, always allowing the good guys to win, always showing the Lone Ranger and Tonto making a more just society by killing, or at least wounding a lot.
And in the end what will this mean?
No society has ever lasted for long that was based on violence and divisiveness, none. Genocide will ultimately destroy the very fabric of a society.
The Thousand Year Reich, only lasted 12 years, and ended with Germany a smoking rubble; a product of superior American and Russian firepower. And of course, there is Japan and the Atomic Bombs, the ultimate in superiority through explosives.
It may take a few hundred years, but societies that rely on killing people to settle disputes, usually disintegrate into chaos and fail. Or, in the Atomic Age, fall victim to a massive exchange of explosive power that wipes out all life on the planet.
But I cheered when the William Tell Overture was played, I winced when the Comanche's were slaughtered (but the only good Indian is a dead Indian...right?). I rooted for the Lone Ranger and Tonto as always.
And I pity us all, for allowing the worst of our natures to root for an asshole like George Zimmernan, and knowing that someday, we will probably all be victims of our romanticized violence.
Monday, July 1, 2013
Heat indexes unusual for our area.
The polar ice cap just about disappears every year now. Just twenty years ago, it never disappeared. Climatologists predicted that this would be happening in about forty years: it is happening now!
In Redding California we endured months of steady north wind, and rainfall levels at record low levels. This drought and wind was also predicted by climatologists. The surrounding forests, which run into the town in the north where I live, are tinder dry!
And now it begins. Record high temperatures, highs in the teens, with record humidity. We are talking India here.
And it is the start of summer!
And I got a note on Facebook from one of my conservative buddies, who claims 3000 scientists have signed a note saying climate change isn't real. I can't find the reference...its made up!
And yesterday 19 Firefighters lost their lives in Arizona fighting one more of the record wildfires.
And yesterday another one of my con buddies, said the problems of local and state government can be traced to high pensions for firemen and police.
Who are these people? What are these people?
North Carolina evidently is trying to end its unemployment insurance program. The theory is that unemployment encourages people to not look for a job.
What are these people?
Hateful, spiteful, racist, ignorant, and reactionary sums it up.
And with climate change they have hit their height of lowth. They actually, along with every gas company on earth, are resisting the obvious, while people die and the heat ends productive activity on earth.
Today I went to the golf course. Today is a discount day for seniors. Nobody was there. It is going to be 109 today with high humidity. And thunder storms, with lightning, are predicted for later in the week, in the mountains, that are tinder dry. I live at the edge of the forest!
But we attack firefighters and the police?
The good news is probably tomorrow, the Latino population will exceed the white population in California.. This change is forever.
Thanks to the incredibly stupid policies of the Republican Party, Latinos vote heavily Democratic and more so every day. A Republican has not been elected to a leadership position now for two election cycles, and more failure is sure to follow.
In Colorado, ravaged by wildfires, some T.V. workers decided to bake cookies in a parked car. It worked! It is so hot you can bake cookies in your car.
Are you kidding me! And there is no such thing as global warming????
We don't stand a chance!
In Redding California we endured months of steady north wind, and rainfall levels at record low levels. This drought and wind was also predicted by climatologists. The surrounding forests, which run into the town in the north where I live, are tinder dry!
And now it begins. Record high temperatures, highs in the teens, with record humidity. We are talking India here.
And it is the start of summer!
And I got a note on Facebook from one of my conservative buddies, who claims 3000 scientists have signed a note saying climate change isn't real. I can't find the reference...its made up!
And yesterday 19 Firefighters lost their lives in Arizona fighting one more of the record wildfires.
And yesterday another one of my con buddies, said the problems of local and state government can be traced to high pensions for firemen and police.
Who are these people? What are these people?
North Carolina evidently is trying to end its unemployment insurance program. The theory is that unemployment encourages people to not look for a job.
What are these people?
Hateful, spiteful, racist, ignorant, and reactionary sums it up.
And with climate change they have hit their height of lowth. They actually, along with every gas company on earth, are resisting the obvious, while people die and the heat ends productive activity on earth.
Today I went to the golf course. Today is a discount day for seniors. Nobody was there. It is going to be 109 today with high humidity. And thunder storms, with lightning, are predicted for later in the week, in the mountains, that are tinder dry. I live at the edge of the forest!
But we attack firefighters and the police?
The good news is probably tomorrow, the Latino population will exceed the white population in California.. This change is forever.
Thanks to the incredibly stupid policies of the Republican Party, Latinos vote heavily Democratic and more so every day. A Republican has not been elected to a leadership position now for two election cycles, and more failure is sure to follow.
In Colorado, ravaged by wildfires, some T.V. workers decided to bake cookies in a parked car. It worked! It is so hot you can bake cookies in your car.
Are you kidding me! And there is no such thing as global warming????
We don't stand a chance!
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