Author: Stucky

I'm right, you're wrong. Deal with it.

PUT THE LIME IN THE COCONUT

Disclaimer (for AWD): 1) this is not a “cure-all”. 2) I’ve been using Coconut Oil (CO) for several years now. It is the ONLY oil I use for frying. The only other oil I use is Olive Oil.

Lew Rockwell had this article today. It is heavily redacted / altered for brevity and additional data. Vegetable oils and most other oils clog arteries and do other damage. Coconuts are a superfood. Stay healty, my friends.

1. CO is THE BEST / SAFEST oil of all —–  Coconut oil IS BETTER THAN OTHER VEGETABLE OILS. Those oils contain polyunsaturated fatty acids, which aren’t good for the cardiovascular system. Many nutritional experts recommend switching to coconut oil to avoid the health risks. Studies in humans show that coconut oil improves important risk factors like Total, LDL and HDL cholesterol, which may translate to a reduced risk of heart disease.

2. Useful Against Harmful Organisms —–  One of the most astounding facts about coconut oil is how potent it is against harmful organisms. Almost 50% of the fatty acids in coconut oil is the 12-carbon Lauric Acid. When coconut oil is enzymatically digested, it also forms a monoglyceride called monolaurin. Both lauric acid and monolaurin can kill harmful pathogens like bacteria, viruses and fungi. A 2007 study found that CO was 100% effective against candida.

3. Coconut Oil is Great for Hair and Skin —– With its low molecular weight and straight linear chain, coconut oil can effectively penetrate the hair shaft to reduce protein loss, leaving it nourished and healthy. Coconut oil is also very moisturizing and beneficial for the skin. The reason? It’s chemical structure. The short-chain and saturated fatty acids, which prevent it from oxidizing and becoming rancid, are nourishing to the skin and have even been found to encourage wound healing.

4. Massage Oil for Newborns —– Giving oil massages to newborns has been found to improve thermoregulation and encourage healthy weight gain. A 2005 study evaluated the effect of coconut oil on the growth of newborns in India. Starting on the second day of their lives, an oil massage was given four times a day until the baby was discharged, and then by the mother until the baby was 31 days old. The results? Coconut oil massage significantly increased weight gain and growth.

5. Food tastes better —– CO does not leave an oily heavy taste in your mouth. CO is flavorless, Foods fried or sautéed in CO are crunchier, crispier, less soggy, look better, and taste FAR better than ANY competing oil.

6. Coconut Oil Can Increase Your Energy Expenditure, Helping You Burn More Fat. —– The medium chain triglycerides in coconut oil have been shown to increase 24 hour energy expenditure by as much as 5%, potentially leading to significant weight loss over the long term. The fatty acids in coconut oil can significantly reduce appetite, which may positively affect body weight over the long term.

7. Stick a lime in it …. Your liver will LOVE you —– Lemons and limes … especially the peels … are nature’s Superfood in terms of detoxifying your liver. Study after study shows that more enzymes are produced by the liver when processing lemon water than ANY other substance.

Akron Children’s Hospital KILLS CHILDREN

I am posting this for the following reasons;

1)- Natural News is asking for a Call To Action. I will do so. I’ll be emailing and phoning the Gestapo bastards at ACH all day. We get a lot of readers here. I hope some of you do likewise.

2)- Lord God Almighty …. now a Children’s Hospital is going all Gestapo on us?? Is it just me or does it seem like every fucking institution in America is against freedom and liberty? I want to vomit in my mouth every time I hear jagoffs from Oreofuk to Neoconfuks breathlessly exclaim “We are the free-est nation on earth”. Bull-fucking-shit.

3)- I know firsthand what it feels like for the Fascist State to take your child, and without cause force their will upon them. It makes you, the parent, feel helpless. Angry. Frustrated. Depressed. Hopeless. All horrible feelings, trust me, but perhaps the worst is the Loss Of Control …that it is no longer I or my offspring who is the Master of their Fate … that it is The State, and we are but their Slaves.

4)- Slaves eventually revolt. If you ever read headlines “Austrian Oak Goes Batshit Crazy” it will because of either the Gestapo Health Regime or the Fascist Food Mongers. You can take away a lot of my freedoms, and this old man will probably just take it up the ass. You faggotfuks have conditioned me well. But take away MY choice of what goes in MY body (food and/or medicine) … well, I’m willing to die for that …. and take down as many of you motherfuckers as possible. I’ll be easy to spot … a tall dude doing the Austrian Dick Dance on you corrupted bodies.

Note: Some, especially our docs here, may take offense at his extreme position regarding oncology. Fine. But try to see the bigger picture.

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COURT RULES AMISH GIRL TO BE FORCEFULLY POISONED WITH CHEMOTHERAPY; AKRON CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL NOW PRACTICING PREDATORY MEDICINE

Tuesday, October 08, 2013
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger

(NaturalNews) Just weeks after an Ohio court ruled that medical authorities could not force chemotherapy upon a 10-year-old Amish girl against the wishes of her parents, an appeals court overturned the rule, allowing the hospital — which profits from chemotherapy treatments — to force this girl to receive chemotherapy against the wishes of her parents.

This is, essentially, chemotherapy at gunpoint or what I call “predatory medicine.” If the parents refuse the court order, they will be arrested at gunpoint and charged with various crimes. The Akron Children’s Hospital, which stands to profit from this decision, is the new medical mafia, poisoning children with mandatory “life sentences” handed down by a corrupt, medically ignorant justice system.

The Akron Children’s Hospital describes their actions in this case as heroic, moral, lifesaving and necessary. So I called the Akron Children’s Hospital to ask whether the hospital would release the names of these “heroic” doctors who spearheaded the lawsuit. I was told the hospital was not releasing any names and that the hospital refused to answer any questions whatsoever. Instead, they had a “statement” they would email me, but nothing more.

How heroic, eh? These “heroes” of medicine are so moral, so ethical and so “in the right” that they won’t even reveal their names. They choose to hide behind anonymity, probably because at some level they realize their actions violate fundamental human rights and parental rights. These are crimes against families.

That’s what I told Akron Children’s Hospital public relations spokeswoman Lori Shuler, even encouraging her to “do something more meaningful with her life” than be a P.R. front woman for a destructive institution. Her answer to this? Literally, she screamed, “What an asshole!” and then slammed the phone down.

That is an on-the-record quote from Akron Children’s Hospital, by the way: “What an asshole!” This is the level of professionalism these people exhibit. They poison children for a living, then scream profanities at honest journalists trying to ask them intelligent questions about the names of the doctors involved in the lawsuit that’s forcing an innocent child to be poisoned with potentially deadly chemicals. For the record, I didn’t raise my voice at all. I was calmly asking questions and offering this person my view on the actions of their hospital.

Her response, like everything else I’m seeing from the world of oncology, was an irrational outburst that completely avoids any actual thinking about the issues at hand. She’s probably the perfect person to work at an irrational institution now engaged in the inexcusable violation of human rights. She would probably be right at home running the human experiment P.R. department for the Nazi regime, where she could scream “Achtung!” before announcing new experiments using chemical weapons agents on Jewish prisoners.

This is not a wildly off-base comparison. The chemotherapy agents used today are, in fact, derived from the research of Nazi scientists and the chemical conglomerate known as IG Farben, which was later broken up into multiple companies, including Bayer, the modern-day pharma company. For example, the chemo drug thalidomide is actually an off-shoot of Nazi chemical weapons research.

Based on my research into all this, it is my opinion that the Akron Children’s Hospital is engaged in heinous crimes against children. Where to even begin in explaining the seriousness of these crimes and human rights violations? Let me attempt to lay out the obvious issues here:

Issue #1) The medical fraud of oncology

Let’s start with the issue of oncology and the entire cancer industry which is based largely on scientific fraud. Here are the facts:

Chemotherapy is a toxic poison. The No. 1 side effect of chemotherapy is cancer. Chemotherapy causes permanent damage to the heart, liver, kidneys and brain. This is not a medicine without side effects, it is a medicine with serious side effects that include permanent organ damage and death. Chemotherapy is so toxic that pharmacists contract cancer just from handling chemo drugs.

The idea that toxic chemotherapy is the ONLY viable treatment for cancer is utterly absurd. That the state would force all children into just one toxic, patented, high-profit treatment is a travesty of justice and a violation of fundamental human rights.

Issue #2) Human rights

Speaking of human rights, the forcing of a child into a poisonous treatment that may kill her — and will undoubtedly cause immense suffering — is a violation of fundamental human rights. How can America claim to be the “land of the free” when you aren’t even free to choose what kind of medicine you prefer as treatment?

The position of this Akron Children’s Hospital is, essentially, “You are all too stupid to know what’s good for you, and therefore we are going to sue you and force you to submit to our high-profit poisons, even against your will.” They don’t describe their actions in such words, of course. They claim they are being “ethical” and “moral” and “saving a child’s life,” etc. But these are just the ramblings of pharma-indoctrinated medical robots who have virtually no knowledge of any systems of medicine other than the pharmaceutical system. So they are unqualified to speak about healing in the first place. Their knowledge of healing cancer is strictly limited.

But they don’t admit to this. Like nearly all other western medical doctors, the people at Akron Children’s Hospital are infested with arrogance and a total disregard for basic human dignity.

In my opinion, every person at Akron Children’s Hospital involved with this decision, including hospital president and CEO William H. Considine, should be arrested at gunpoint right now and charged with “conspiracy to endanger the life of a child.” They are child predators running a system of predatory medicine. This is pure medical evil rising to the surface and ensnaring our children, then sentencing them to possible death.

Issue #3) Parental rights

Don’t parents have the right to determine what treatments their children should undergo? In a free society they would, but in America today, parents are denied nearly all rights. Instead, the state assumes them.

Keep in mind the Hershbergers are a thoughtful, loving, religious family seeking the best possible outcome for their daughter. They are acting out of love and compassion, and they are rightly skeptical of the false claims of the corrupt, criminally-operated cancer industry.

Do parents no longer have the right to be critical thinkers? Can they not question the lies and propaganda of a corrupt, for-profit medical system that offers no real answers for cancer? For the state to take away the rights of these parents is to declare that all children are now the property of the state. Parents, apparently, are only temporary guardians whose job is to give birth to new children which are then turned over to the state for vaccinations, chemotherapy injections, public school indoctrination and imprisonment in the nine-to-five labor pool.

“Obedient workers,” as George Carlin says.

Issue #4) Extreme arrogance of doctors and hospitals

What truly astonishes me about western medicine is its extreme arrogance. There are over a hundred systems of medicine practiced in our world, including western medicine (drugs and surgery), Ayurvedic medicine, Tibetan medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Western Herbal Medicine and so on.

Importantly, every one of these systems of medicine offers treatments for cancer. Most of these systems are based on plant-based anti-cancer compounds supported by a mountain of scientific literature that confirms their safety and efficacy. For example, see our sister website SCIENCE.naturalnews.com for research on vitamin D and cancer.

Or check out Broccoli and cancer. Or even resveratrol and cancer.

And if you really want to learn about natural cancer therapies, learn more about polysaccharides from medicinal mushrooms. The anti-cancer potential of medicinal mushrooms will blow your mind. See SCIENCE.naturalnews.com.

Keep in mind that the Akron Children’s Hospital did not give this little Amish girl the option of using medicinal mushrooms as a cancer treatment. She was never given the option of Gerson Therapy, involving juice detoxing and powerful lifestyle changes. She was probably never given any options other than chemotherapy. We’ll never know, of course, because the Akron Children’s Hospital refuses to answer any questions, preferring to scream, “What an asshole!” as their official response.

Keep in mind that western oncology is derived from chemical weapons developed in World War II. These chemotherapy agents are extremely toxic and cause permanent organ damage. You can read about the secret history of medicine in this free downloadable report.

Although such poisons “shrink tumors,” such tumor shrinkage is not a cure, and most cancers come right back. Meanwhile, the immune system is destroyed by the chemo poisons, further compromising the patient’s health and longevity from that point forward.

Yet, despite the fact that western medicine is just one system out of a hundred, and despite the fact that chemotherapy is extremely toxic and causes more cancer, somehow western doctors are so incredibly, inexcusably ignorant that they have convinced themselves — and even many courts — that their way of treating cancer is the ONLY way! Everything else be damned! (Including prayer, fasting, juice feasting, medicinal mushrooms and more…)

Such a position can only come from nauseating arrogance combined with the kind of extreme ignorance of health that you can only learn in medical school, where all common sense is pounded out of your brain and replaced with pharmaceutical propaganda. No wonder tens of thousands of doctors in America routinely receive bribes from drug companies, including chemotherapy manufacturers.

The cancer industry today is, in every way, a murderous scourge on society. It kills more Americans than all modern-day wars and acts of terrorism combined. And yet, even though the body count from oncology keeps increasing by the day, the courts have been so befuddled by “expert” doctor testimony offered by arrogant, control-freak medical profiteers, that they actually condemn children to die via chemotherapy.

Chemotherapy is, in other words, just a slow-acting form of lethal injection. This is potentially a court-ordered death penalty for a 10-year-old girl, and as long as the Akron Children’s Hospital is making money from it, they seem to have no moral qualms whatsoever in forcing children into this “treatment” even against the wishes of the parents.

The Hippocratic Oath of “first do no harm” has morphed into, “first seize the child!”

The state owns your children

This decision once again reaffirms that the state believes it owns your children. Parents have zero rights. Zip. Nada. And cancer hospitals fully support the state kidnapping children essentially at gunpoint.

Any time the state (i.e. the government) believes it can make a better decision than parents, the parents will be kicked out of the picture and denied any say whatsoever in the wellbeing of their own child. This is the North Korean approach to medicine, by the way: predatory medicine.

As CBC News reports, “The ruling said that while adults can refuse medical treatment regardless of the consequences, children do not have those same rights because of their vulnerability and inability to make critical decisions in a mature manner.”

This excuse intentionally sidesteps the entire issue of parental rights. In fact, it assumes parental rights do not exist at all. This is all being supported by “medical ethicists,” nearly all of whom are brainwashed lapdogs of the pharmaceutical industry. In their minds, the only “ethical” treatment is a patented pharmaceutical treatment.

No hospital has a right to force any treatment on anyone, period!

Let’s get honest about fundamental human rights, parental rights and human dignity here. It should be a foundation of the very fabric of freedom in America that no hospital can force any treatment upon any patient against their wishes, period!

This should be written right into the Bill of Rights. Any person denied this fundamental right should be able to sue the hospital for violating their civil rights.

“Andy Hershberger, the girl’s father, has said the family agreed to begin two years of treatments for Sarah last spring but stopped a second round of chemotherapy in June because it was making her extremely sick,” reports the Detroit Free Press.

“Sarah begged her parents to stop the chemotherapy and they agreed after a great deal of prayer, Hershberger said. The family, members of an insular Amish community, shuns many facets of modern life and is deeply religious. They live on a farm and operate a produce stand near the village of Spencer in Medina County, about 35 miles southwest of Cleveland.”

How on Earth does a group of Big Pharma-indoctrinated oncologists in Akron have any right to order a rural family, essentially at gunpoint, to subject their own daughter to a lethal injection? This is medical insanity. It is a crime against families. It is a violation of medical ethics and human rights.

Even if you don’t agree with the Hershberger’s decision, if you support the court’s ordering their child into treatment, then you support the medical mafia operating at gunpoint in every context. Maybe soon the government will decide that everyone in the nation must take statin drugs. If you don’t, you are arrested or fined. Got a problem with that? You’ll be called “anti-science” and thrown in prison, then force-fed statins until the drug companies collect enough profit off your body. If you happen to die during the “treatment,” don’t worry: there are plenty more bodies to take your place.

Is that really the kind of country you want to live it? Do you believe a doctor has the legal right to force his favorite toxic chemicals into your bloodstream just because he has been indoctrinated by the drug companies into falsely believing such chemicals are “treatment?”

Unbelievably, the Akron Children’s Hospital website actually states that “Akron Children’s Hospital values family-centered care and considers parents as partners in their children’s medical decisions.”

Except, of course, when parents disagree with the hospital’s for-profit chemotherapy demands, in which case the hospital will take extraordinary measures to deny parents the basic human right to choose what’s best for their own children.

Join Natural News in protesting this criminal act against children

With this case, western medicine has reached the point of unbridled criminality. This has crossed the point of sanity and entered a disgusting new realm of lining up children in front of a “chemotherapy firing squad” and subjecting them to potentially lethal injections as some sort of sacrifice to corporate profits. With this, we have now devolved back to the age of the Aztecs and their blood sacrifices of children to their delusional gods.

Today, in America, we sacrifice our children to the false gods of pharmacology. And this sick, animalistic ritual is actually enforced at gunpoint by the court system.

This is worse than what Jerry Sandusky did to little boys at Penn State. This is killing children in the name of pharmacology, a false, corporate-run junk science medical sham that helps almost no one.

Join me in protesting this inexcusable violation of human rights and dignity by contacting the Akron Children’s Hospital:

Phone number:
330-543-1000

Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/akronchildrens

Email:
[email protected]

Website:
www.akronchildrens.org

If you visit the hospital’s website, by the way, prepare yourself for a wild propaganda ride. The website shows only the pictures of living children, not pictures of all the children who have died under the hospital’s care. A more appropriate website would have imagery of small body bags, Big Pharma patents, deadly chemotherapy drugs and broken families being held at gunpoint while the state kidnaps their children.

What we demand here at Natural News

Here’s the conclusion in all this. Even though I happen to know, from years of research, that chemotherapy is largely a fraud, I do not demand that the government take away the rights of parents who wish to have their children treated with chemo. Even though it is a terrible mistake, it is still their right to make that mistake, and I do not believe that one group in society has the right to take away the freedoms of another group. (In this, I am a “radical thinker” for believing in civil rights, you see.)

Unlike the cancer industry, I believe in human rights and parental rights, and I believe the state has no right whatsoever to interfere with a parent’s right to choose the method or style of medical treatment for their own children.

Hospitals should compete based on voluntary agreement, not mandatory “gunpoint medicine.” Who needs free market competition when hospitals can simply threaten to have people arrested who don’t capitulate to their toxic treatment demands?

Besides, if chemotherapy worked so well in the first place, you wouldn’t need to threaten parents with arrest in order to force their children into treatment. That’s a clue about what a sickening failure chemotherapy really is: it’s so bad that people have to be lined up at gunpoint to receive the “treatment” against their own will.

This is truly “concentration camp medicine” because it’s based on the premise of imprisoning patients by force. The Akron Children’s Hospital is actually following in the footsteps of Nazi Germany, and it’s even using derivatives of chemicals originally developed by Nazi scientists. Furthermore, the widespread killing of children with chemotherapy treatments is nothing less than a chemical holocaust against our children.

There is a reason most oncologists don’t choose chemotherapy for themselves, folks. Chemotherapy doesn’t work most of the time. But it causes great harm and suffering, not to mention great financial burden for the families forced to use it.

This isn’t medicine. It’s a medical concentration camp that targets children for victimization, then invokes the power of the state to force parents to comply against their will. Somehow, in a wild, delusional, demonic twisting of logic and ethics, the Akron Children’s Hospital thinks all this is perfectly acceptable.

There are profits to be had, after all.

Bottom line: NEVER take your children to an oncologist

The upshot in all this is simple: NEVER take your children to see an oncologist. Because if you do not agree with his monopolistic, junk science “recommendations” for treatment (often for a false diagnosis, no less), he can simply call the police and have you arrested, have your children kidnapped by the state, and force you to subject your own children to lethal injection.

That’s the reality of the “free” society in which we are living. No wonder millions of Americans are now in a state of revolt against the failed, corrupt, criminal institutions of government and medicine. No wonder the FDA has to keep enforcing a medical monopoly while destroying knowledge of natural cures. No wonder drug companies continue to be engaged in the widespread bribery of doctors. These are the tactics and strategies of a medical mafia, not a system truly based on healing and informed consent.

Western medicine is a failure. It offers no answers to cancer, diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, autism and a hundred other chronic conditions. It has almost no useful role in society other than mending broken bones and treating acute injuries or emergency surgeries. Western medicine is a failure because it is founded on a set of false beliefs: that everything is mechanistic; that no natural substances can prevent any disease; that the body is a “war zone” to be carpet-bombed with chemicals and antibiotics; that mind-body interactions do not exist; that patients must be forced to pay monopolistic prices for treatment, and so on.

These are false, failed beliefs, and that’s why western medicine is doomed. The only thing propping the whole system up right now is Big Government debt spending, and even that is headed for its own collapse in the very near future. Once Big Government falls, western medicine collapses with it. In a truly free market, almost no one would voluntarily choose western medical treatments. They’re too expensive, too dangerous and mostly ineffective. Given an economic choice, nearly everyone would choose natural treatments for disease: they’re safer, more affordable and even more efficacious (they work better).

The Hershberger family tried to choose a safer treatment, but were forced at gunpoint to capitulate to the demands of the Akron Children’s Hospital. Given an actual free, informed choice, the Hershbergers and countless other families would avoid oncology centers like the plague.

No wonder 80% of the people in the world use plant-based medicine. America’s broken, monopolistic system of failed medicine is an aberrant defect that kills more people each year than any other single cause (by a long shot).

The day predatory medicine collapses is the day we all experience a leap forward for freedom and human rights.

Please join me in praying for the Hershberger daughter, and let us all hope that the parents are well-informed enough to give that child spirulina, medicinal mushrooms, antioxidants, astaxanthin and a heavy course of natural plant nutrients that can protect her body from the toxic chemotherapy the state is forcing upon her.

.

Sources for this article include:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57606328…
http://www.freep.com/usatoday/article/293619…
http://www.naturalnews.com/042393_Akron_Childrens_Hospital_Amish_girl_chemotherapy_court_case.html#

TOWER OF BABEL: fact or fiction?

PROLOGUE

Along with The Arky Arky and the Great Flood, the Tower of Babel is one of the best known bible stories.

But it is famous beyond its ACTUAL content … a mere 236 words (in English). Yet, the story has come to mean much more than its actual words. For example, the idea that God is so afraid of tall brick structures that he has to create multiple languages to keep people from becoming too smart for their own good.

Most have at least a vague idea of what the story is about, or at least know the name “Babel”. But, let’s take a look at the entire brief text. I will follow-up with my usual outrageous observations.

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THE BIBLICAL TEXT — GENESIS 11:1-9
“And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built. And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.”

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BACKGROUND

The Babel story is a great example why a literal interpretation of many OT stories makes no sense whatsoever. A literal interpretation makes a mockery of science, tortures logic, and detracts from the author’s actual spiritual meaning (if any) he intended to impart.

Genesis is a narrative dealing with “beginnings,” as its title indicates. It records the beginning of the universe, plant life, animal life, and even mankind. Hence, one is tempted to apply a literal interpretation that the primary lesson of the Babel passage is the record of how human beings began to speak different languages. This is incorrect, as you will soon see.

That being said, “Babel” may very well be a story of beginnings. The city “Babel,” is the same exact term used of “Babylon” elsewhere in the Bible. Indeed, the Tower was built in Mesopotamia, not Israel. So, more than just a possible explanation for the confusion of languages, it may also function as the etymology of “Babylon” …. the very same Babylonian empire that would wreak tremendous havoc on Israel in sixth century B.C.E. … and the very same Babylon called a “Whore” in Revelation, representing all that is evil, and ultimately destroyed.

Before I get into specifics, it is worth mentioning the origin of the word “Babel”. Strong’s Concordance says the word means “confusion”. That may be true regarding the meaning, but that’s not its etymology. In Hebrew “el” is a name for God … any God, actually. In Ezekiel — “I am el (God), in the seat of elōhîm (Gods). The Hebrews called God El-shaddai (God almighty), ImmanuEL (God with us), and dozens of other “el-” names. The Miriam Webster dictionary gives the following etymology — “Middle English, from Hebrew Bābhel, from Akkadian bāb-ilu, gate”. So, what is Babel? Literally, the Gate of God. So, is it the city that’s called Babel because that’s where God “came down” … as the text says? Or, was the actual tower the people were constructing the “gate of God” … their attempt to “reach to heaven”, or more likely, their attempt to provide a means for God to come down? The text is not clear. So, we’ll leave as interesting speculation.

THE MYTH OF A UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE

“And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.”

A literal interpretation presents problems right from the get go. That’s because there has NEVER been One Universal Language spoken by all humanity. However, I don’t wish to debate philology. A fine overview of the origin of languages is here; — http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_language

Rather, I am much more interested in the status of human language AT THE TIME referred to by the text. Scholars diverge wildly regarding the possible date the Tower of Babel could have been built – anywhere from 3500BC – 2500BC. So, let’s take the earliest possible date (3500BC) and briefly examine the archaeological evidence.

I need only one example. Spirit Cave in Thailand is a stratified site showing human occupation from BEFORE 5000 B.C. We do not know what language they were speaking in what is now Thailand …. but we can be darn sure it was not Sumerian, or Hebrew. Also, an archaeological dig in Pakistan revealed trident-shaped writing on fragments of pottery dating even further back at 5,500 years BC. Pretty sure they weren’t speaking Sumerian or Hebrew either. There, I gave you two examples.

The fact of the matter is the writer of Genesis 11 was oblivious to the existence of the Far East, Australia, the Americas, and pretty much the rest of the world beyond a few hundred miles of his locale. . Had he been aware of these lands, the peoples, and their cultures … which existed AT THE SAME TIME as when The Tower was built …. then he would have had a much better understanding regarding the history of language, and he would NEVER have said “.. the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech”.

Furthermore … and quite significantly … the previous chapter in Genesis, Gen: 10, seems to completely contradict the Babel story. Gen 10 is known as the “Table of Nations”. It lists all the nations that derived from Noah’s sons (Shem, Ham and Japheth) after the flood; Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, dozens of other “ites” and even including Egypt and …. Babylon. No one in their right mind would suggest that ancient Egypt and ancient Babylon spoke the same language. We have written texts from both areas to prove otherwise. So,now we have at least two languages. Of much, much greater significance is the fact that the Bible itself states that once dispersed …. these people spoke “after their tongues”! Let’s be clear about this; the Bible states people spoke in unique tongues BEFORE the construction of the Tower.

Either the author of Chapter 11 was being redundant at best (an unlikely repetition in Chapter 11 of what was just reviewed in Chapter 10), or much more likely, he didn’t know that God ALREADY dispersed the nations … each speaking after their own tongues. That’s quite a conundrum for literalists.

GOD GETS ALL PARANOID, ONCE AGAIN

“ And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower … Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down,”

1)- God says, “let US go down”. Who is this “us”?? Some folks say it is a figure of speech; such as when a British Royal Queen refers to herself as “we”. Unfortunately, there was no British royalty back then … and the royalty that did exist simply didn’t talk that way. But most Christians say God was talking to Jesus in his pre-incarnate form .. cuz Jeebus existed before he was born. I don’t know how to debate time-travel fantasies, so I won’t. The more logical explanation is that the ancient Jews, before they developed monotheism, believed in multiple Gods. Even Abraham’s father worshipped multiple Gods, and almost certainly Abraham was raised by his own father to do likewise (until he didn’t). Many years later, perhaps decades, Rachel was caught hiding the “household idols” inside her camel’s saddle. Then after the Jews escaped Egpyt, one of their first acts was to construct and worship a Golden Calf. However Christians want to interpret this. The fact of the matter is that early Judaism adopted very many of the Gods they left behind, they believed in multiple Gods, amd monotheism actually took centuries to fully develop.

2)- Why does an omniscient, omnipotent God need to “come down” to see anything?? And, where exactly is he coming down from? Does he walk, or take a bus? Theologians call this anthropomorphism; “the attribution of human form or other characteristics to anything other than a human being, such as a God.”. These attributions must be made because no one has ever seen this OT God. Moses came closest, and even then, he only saw God’s “backside” … literally, “ass”. Who said there’s no humor in the Bible? “Anthropomorphism” is just a way of saying; “We make our Gods in MAN’S image.” Have you ever noticed that Western Gods behave just like humans? Especially the Greek and Roman Gods with all their fornication and backstabbing and jealousy and murder. And the OT God who laughs, cries, repents, has massive bouts of anger so much so that he has attempted to wipe out the human race, is often driven to jealous rage, and suffers from severe bouts of paranoid insecurity. We “anthropomorphize” deities because the more the Gods become like men, the easier it is for men to believe in the Gods.

3) Regarding paranoia in the Tower of Babel story —- why would an omnipotent God be so damn afraid of humans [supposedly] speaking one language? Why is he so afraid of humans building a structure that is, at best, about 300 feet high? Why didn’t he strike dead the builders of One World Trade Center who just completed a 1,776 foot skyscraper? Why is God afraid of technological progress? Does God REALLY believe that by having one language that “NOTHING” will be “impossible” for mankind? The implication being that puny finite mankind can (will) overthrow an all-powerful eternal God …. unless their language be confounded. Isn’t this idea just beyond silly, and indicative of massive paranoia?

And this isn’t the first time God exhibited his paranoia. He freaked out when Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit …. fearing that mankind is “now like us”. (There’s that ‘us’ again.) Really?? Humans are now like God because they ate some fruit? Shortly thereafter God freaked out again … afraid that Adam and Eve might eat from a tree that would give them eternal life, so he had an angel with a flaming sword drive them out of the Garden to prevent that. Another time God was so freaked out over man’s wickedness that he sent a Great Flood to wipe out all but eight people from the face of the earth …. you know, because this all-powerful God was totally powerless to influence humanity. There are dozens more stories in the OT where God freaks out, and when God freaks out, humans die. A strange and paranoid God.

HOW DID GOD PULL THIS OFF?

Almost always in the reading of God’s miracles, they are almost always simply accepted at face value. The reasoning being that God is All-Powerful, and therefore He can do anything He wants. So, when the Bible states that the planet Earth stopped spinning, or the sun stood still, (so that Joshua could kill more Amorites), well, not one in a hundred Christian readers stops to ask themselves “how in the hell is that even possible without the earth exploding into space in a million fragments?” “More miracles” is the only possible response. But that answers absolutely nothing. Such cop-out explanations are akin to the Hindu idea that the elephant holds up the earth. Someone asks, “What holds up the elephant?” Answer: Another elephant. And so on, ad infinitum, ad absurdum.

So, exactly how did God pull this off? Did folks suddenly and immediately in the blink of an eye start speaking, for example, German? Were they suddenly able to pronounce “umlauts” and that crazy “ch” sound? Did they suddenly and immediately understand the nuances of the German language and realize that one can now end a sentence with a verb? Did they suddenly wear Lederhosen? Language is in the brain, of course, so did God have to “rewire” each and every person’s brain, from 5 year olds to 100 year olds? Key question; did they forget their original language … or were they bilingual, in which case, of course, the people would all STILL have a common language! Lol

WAS CONFOUNDING LANGUAGE A GOOD IDEA?

It doesn’t seem that confounding human language was all that brilliant. SAME language / culture unites … MULTICULTURALISM divides. It is significant to note that up to this point in biblical history, man had not fought against his fellow man other than in conflicts between individuals. There had been no mention of wars, no racial strife, no religious bigotry, no patriotic blood baths. Man had no reason to gang up and attack other groups of men. At that time, man was not at war with his fellow man and all men communicated freely in one tongue. It was this free communication which God knew he must put an end to if he planned on keeping men enslaved. Brilliant!

IS GOD BIPOLAR?

I ask this because thousands of years later in the New Testament book of Acts (2:1-11), God has a totally different agenda. This agenda is the antithesis of Babel … ONE language. This is the narrative. Believers were all in one place and of one accord (just like in Babel). The story even uses the word “confounded”, but for a different reason. This time after having received the Holy Spirit, the apostles preach … and men of diverse languages hear the sermon IN THEIR OWN LANGUAGES. Back in Babel the plan was to separate people, and now in Acts we’re seeing the exact opposite; a great re-integration. Bad one time. Good the next time. I wish God would make up His mind.

It seems that God’s primary reason for “coming down” was not necessarily the Tower structure itself – that was merely the means to an end — but because the people of Babel wanted to “make a name for ourselves”. But, in the very next chapter it is God himself who makes Abraham’s name great. King David spends a good portion of his life making a name for himself (2 Sam 8:13) without any negative repercussions or divine reprisals. It can be really hard to figure out what God really believes / wants.

WHAT LESSON CAN WE LEARN FROM THE TOWER OF BABEL?

Are we really supposed to believe that the Builders of the tower were motivated by building a structure that could reach heaven? How stupid would that be? They built the thing on “the PLAINS of Shinar”. A FLAT plain. There were MOUNTAINS nearby which would have given them a few thousand feet head start. Lol Are we to believe that they thought they could build a structure higher than a mountain? If they really wanted to reach the heavens, wouldn’t they have built the tower on the nearest high mountain? Yes. So, there must have been a different motivation … one we will never know. However, I can speculate on what the writer of the Babel story intended.

We can all certainly agree that the end result in the Tower story is one of division (one of God’s specialties). Let’s take a very brief look at one other major example in how God divides. OK. So, God chooses one race to his people … creating Judaism in the process. God later sends a Messiah to create a second division of his people …. creating Christianity in the process. God then chooses another guy, Mohammed, to create a third division of his people …. creating Islam in the process. And don’t tell me it wasn’t God who did all this. You should know that for ALL three of these divisions, God used the angel Gabriel as the messenger. Of course, these divisions have resulted in the longest and bloodiest conflicts in human history … which continue to this very day.

So, what are we to make of all this?

The 16th century philosopher, Machiavelli, may be able to help understand what is going on. Machiavelli described how a third party could manipulate two other parties … and maintain control over them both. It works like this;

—– 1) The Ruler creates a division amongst the people.

—– 2) The Ruler does this by creating conditions which accentuate the differences between groups. This causes conflict, and so the groups fight amongst themselves rather than against the ruler.

—– 3) The Ruler hides that HE is the cause of the conflicts, going so far as to feign innocence.

—– 4) The Ruler then offers support to ALL parties involved, thus maintaining their loyalty and faith in him.

—– 5) The Ruler is now viewed as The Beneficial One – Machiavelli uses the term “concerned parent” — no matter how bad and evil The Ruler might be in reality. After all, ONLY The Ruler can help bring everyone back together. There is a steep cost, of course. Many will suffer. Few will benefit. But, no one will ever blame The Ruler … which is just the way he likes it.

Now, am I saying that God is some type of Machiavellian monster? No. But, I am saying that that’s how the writers of Scripture often portray Him. Some may not want to hear this, but I am 100% convinced that the various authors of Scripture had no clue whatsoever that they were writing Scripture. There was no voice from heaven thundering “Hezekiah! Grab a pen. Let’s write some Scripture!”. They had no clue that the words they penned would take hundreds, sometimes thousands, of years to be considered “The Word of God” … and even then, only by a fatally flawed procedure of humans voting. The Ancient Sages had even less of a clue as to how the world works, human psychology and all that, but that didn’t stop them from trying to explain it.

So they wrote stuff, lots of stuff … some of it eventually became God’s Word … based on their observations and very limited knowledge. I imagine some smart (at the time) guy trying to explain to the people how multiple languages came into being, so he fabricates a story that at one time all humanity spoke just one language (a blatant misconception). No one apparently knew better, so people believed it. They believed it for so long, that even when the truth of the matter was made know … people STILL believed it. That, my friends, is the power of propaganda, believing the temporary lie until it becomes permanent truth. So, people have a choice to make. For me, the Tower of Babel story is an interesting piece of ancient literature. Nothing more.

Stucky Tells The State Of Michigan To Stick It Where The Sun Don’t Shine

Dear ACT Team,

At 8:35 AM this morning my son got on a train bound for Newark, NJ.

You Gestapo Goons tried to keep that from happening, but couldn’t. Then you Gestapo Goons decided that you’d pump him up with your Poison Shots a week earlier than scheduled … you thought he was leaving next week ….. haha, fooled ya!!

Then you Statist, Control-Freak, assholes decided to call me and give me all kinds of instructions; giving me the contact-names and clinic names where you want me to take my son and force him against his will to take your Poison Shots. And I mumbled, “Yeah, sure.” … cuz I just don’t feel like arguing with brainwashed retarded Gestapo Goons.

But, the joke is on you, you assholes. Now that he’ll be in my care for the next few months … WE’LL DO IT MY WAY!! I won’t be taking him to no fucking clinic. And don’t bother calling … I won’t be accepting, or returning, your calls … except I might refer you to this post. Here’s my final word to you; KISS MY LILLY WHITE ASS!!!!!!

Cordially,
You know who

HUMAN THUMBS ARE WAY OVER-RATED

A couple months ago I bought an Excelsior Food Dehydrator. I’m drying fruits, veggies, and even meats. Homemade beef-jerky … nothing quite like it.

So, I bought a new mandarin slicer because it’s important to get ALL the pieces the same thickness … otherwise they dry unevenly.

So, I tried it out. It came with a protective sliding guard. The instructions said, in huge 800-point bold print — DO NOT USE SLICER WITHOUT THE GUARD — BLADES ARE EXTREMELY SHARP!! So, I tried it with a potato. However, I found it to be too cumbersome to hold the potato in place. So I didn’t use it. Next thing you know, in the blink of an eye ..BAM!!! … there’s blood gushing out all over my new slicer. This pissed me off.

I sliced about an 1/8 of an inch of flesh right off – about the same thickness as a thick slice of bologna — from my thumb joint to almost the tip. Did it hurt? Ummmm, YES!! Did I mention there was a lot of blood, everywhere? Oh, yeah, I did.

Well, I very quickly grabbed the first thing I could find to stem the blood flow. It was a dish cloth. It was not a clean dish cloth as I had been using it to wipe down the countertops. (The doctor said this was not a very good idea on my part.) Then I ran to the bathroom, poured iodine over the wound (holy fuckme in the ass … do I have to tell you that hurt?), wrapped it in 5 layers of gauze, and wrapped that with 6 feet of white tape. My thumb then looked like it belongs on The Hulk. Ms Freud and I take off to the RediMed Emergency Clinic.

So, we arrive. Not even one person in the waiting room! Great. This should go fast. I go to the front desk and the conversation goes something like this;

CLERK: How can I help you?

ME: I sliced off part of my thumb from the joint to the tip. (I show her my Hulk Thumb.)

CLERK: Have you been here before?

ME: No.

CLERK: You need to fill out this paperwork. (She hands me 5 sheets of paper … some need to be filled out on both sides.)

ME: I can’t. I’m right-handed. (I show her my right thumb again).

CLERK: Then your wife will have to fill it out. You can’t see a doctor until the paperwork is done.

ME: Look, I’m in a fair amount of pain. And, my blood is oozing from this retarded bandage job. (Despite all the bandaging, I didn’t cover the very tip of my thumb, and droplets of blood are making their escape.) It’s not like we’re gonna run away or anything. How about Ms. Freud fills this out while I see the doctor?

CLERK: Do you believe your injury is life-threatening?

ME: Of course not. But if I don’t see a doctor right away, yours might me. (I said this in a light hearted manner, but Nurse Ratchet had no sense of humor, and didn’t even crack a smile.)

CLERK. Then I’m sorry, you must fill out the form first.

So we take the 10-15 minutes to fill out all the bullshit … I’m still not sure why it was important to ask if either of my parents have hypertension. We go back to the front desk.

CLERK: That will be $200 for the doctor visit. You have to pay NOW. (Yes, she emphasized “now” … she’s only “known” me 15 minutes, and she’s already tired of my bullshit.)

ME: Here ya go.

CLERK: We need collateral.

ME: What the hell are you talking about!!??

CLERK: The $200 is for the consultation with the doctor. If other supplies or services are provided there will be a charge for those. We need collateral to insure payment.

ME: How about my damn pants, I wouldn’t dream of leaving without them. (Yes, I said that. But, once again, Nurse Ratchet finds me very unfunny. I think she’s related to Calamity.)

CLERK: No. We need car keys.

Well, I toss the keys to her while mumbling to Ms Freud loud enough for Nurse Ratchet to hear ‘well, at least she didn’t ask for the deed to the fuckin house’. We’re told to take a seat. It takes another 5 minutes to actually receive Top Secret Clearance to see the doctor. I’m thinking I would have gotten faster service if I kept the house-deed comment to myself.

Finally, I am escorted to the Secret Back Room. I am attended to by two young people who are not doctors. The girl is entering stuff in the computer … she’s asking me the same shit that was in the forms I just filled out! No, I don’t have AIDS. No, I don’t have diabetes. No, I’m not allergic to drugs. But, I’m nice to her because she has a nice ass, of which I have a birds-eye view, as long as she’s typing on the computer. Also, the guy is doing something productive. He’s taking off the bandage. It takes him several minutes. “Wow, this is some kind of wrapping you did!”. I suddenly feel so proud of myself. That is, until he gets to the gauze that actually against my raw flesh which is stuck to my flesh even though I am bleeding … ‘a most amazing fucking phenomena’ I think to myself. The guy cleans it out, holding my hand over a little pan, but at one point he pours some solution on it, and my hand involuntarily jerks … just a little bit … but enough to send the pan careening to the floor, Stucky-blood spattering on Ms Freud’s shoes. She hates the sight of blood and semi-freaks out, and the girl comes over to calm her down. Damn. There goes my nice ass view.

Shortly afterwards, a Physicians Assistant shows up, takes a look at Hulkthumb, and I swear on my everlasting soul the first fucking thing he says is “Wow!”. This is probably the 3rd worst thing a patient ever wants to hear a doctor say after, 1) ‘Huh, I’ve never seen that before’, and 2) ‘Let me go get another doctor’. He did a good job though. Plus, he was attending Seton Hall, the same school Ms Freud graduated from so, short of amputating my thumb he was Golden in her book. I got antibiotics, a tetanus shot, and some oxy-whatever pain pills … which I believe I can sell on the streets of Newark for $30 bucks a piece, thereby recouping my loss, plus some. I will have a scar. My thumb, once beautifully proportionate and well formed is now ugly. Will I ever be loved again??  Yet, somehow, I found the will to live. It’s the kind of guy I am.

Let me conclude by giving ya’ll two Stucky PSAs; 1) God help you if you ever need extensive medical care and you can’t fill out a fucking form and, 2) ALWAYS use the blade-guard on slicers

Fall Down Seven Times … Get Up Eight

I talked to my older son last night, the one who has struggled mightily with some mental issues. He has made remarkable progress in the past several months. He sent me pictures of his apartment. It’s a lovely place … he can see a bit of Lake Michigan in the distance … and nicely decorated.

But, he called to tell me about a small setback – a very minor one actually – and he said he was afraid he was going to slip back into his old ways.

I said to him, “Nonsense!!!”. I told him how proud I was of him that he never game up, despite the horrific crap he’s been through, and that he wasn’t going to start now. I reminded him of the old Japanese proverb that I have beat into his head many years hence; “Nana korobi ya oki” — fall down seven times, get up eight.

That’s not necessarily about “winning”. It’s about remembering that when times are dark, there IS a way out. That there are no quick fixes in life. That anything of real worth will likely take much struggle, and perseverance. Success does not have to be fast. It’s more important that he continues to do his absolute best and remain persistent. I encouraged him to reach down deep within himself — which is the best source of motivation — gather strength for one more battle, and say ‘go to hell’ to whatever voices try to keep him down.

Then, I told him to log on to youtube, and we watched this video together, and he was moved by it. I hope a few of you like it as well.

 

3 x 4=11 …. is the CORRECT answer

I know we beat the sad state of American Edukashun to death. Sorry for another post. But this is getting crazier than I ever imagined.

Many here have good solutions. They will NEVER be implemented. Oreo’s “ new educational initiatives” aimed at “closing America’s school readiness gap” …. that’s where we are headed … straight to the toilet.

See video below —- “But even under the new Common Core… even if they said 3 X 4 was 11, if they were able to explain their reasoning and explain how they came up with their answer, really in words and in oral explanations, and they showed it in a picture but they just got the final number wrong, we’re really more focusing on the how and why.”

Can you fucking believe this shit? Would you like to be flying in an airplane designed by some cockfuk engineer who believes 3 x 4 = 11 … because he FEELS GOOD about that answer??

Not all American students are dumbfuks. Over half of the world’s top universities in the entire world are still in America. The 1% cream still lives here. It’s the other 99% that are total dumbfuks.

— 25% of high schoolers think Columbus discovered the New World after 1750

— 40% could not identify the name of the ocean on the eastern side of the United States.

— 60% could not identify the two major political parties.

— 75% failed to identify the First President of the United States

I am told the future of Amurika resides in the hands of Millennials.  I guess we’re talking about the 1%.

Lies, Myths, and Bullshit …… aka Oreo’s Press Conference

Goddammit. Five minutes into Oreo’s press conference and I’m already on my knees praying that Jeebus take this chocolate fucker “home”.

Pretend you’re a reporter at the news conference.

You are allowed to ask Oreo exactly ONE question. Furthermore, Jeebus will guarantee that Oreo will answer TRUTHFULLY.

I would ask; “Tell us all the ways you violated the Constitution the past 5 years.”. For starters, he would be forced to talk about ….

— Violating religious freedom (Catholics / forced to buy condoms)
— Signing the annual National Defense Authorization Act…twice
— Obamacare and the individual mandate
— Wars without congressional approval.
— Bank Bailouts, Chrysler Bailout, etc
— Authorizing Drone use on U.S. soil
— Assassinating American citizens
— Taxing political contributions
— Extending the Patriot Act
— Warrantless wire-tapping
— Sucking Bernanke’s dick

…………… and maybe by the end of the three day speech the reporters would have built a gallows.

A close second question; “WHO controls you?”

A distant third question; “Are you this fucking stupid by accident, or on purpose?”

What would you ask?

A Slice Of Life From Chester, PA

We all know how bad things are in Detroit, Chicago, and other Big Shitties.

But it’s just as bad in Everytown, USA. Linh Dinh, a Vietnamese immigrant, is a pretty good observer and writer of every day life.

Chester, PA sounds like a lot of small towns in NJ.

==============================================

Chester on the Edge

by LINH DINH

Traveling by train to Philadelphia, going North, you will pass by Chester, PA, a city that has been in decline for more than half a century. Founded in 1682, the same year as Philadelphia, Chester was a major manufacturer of US Navy ships from the Civil War until World War II. It also made ammunitions and automobile parts. Despite its relative small size, with a peak population of 66,039 in 1950, Chester was an industrial powerhouse.

In 1926, Mrs. Marin Garvey won a $160 washing machine for coming up with an enduring slogan for her city, “What Chester Makes Makes Chester.” This was fashioned into a huge electric sign that impressed countless rail passengers until 1973, when it was dismantled. Who can forget the sight of Mr. D’ancona taking down the S, T, E and R? Many have sobbed to this day. Though Chester no longer produces anything, saves babies and premature corpses, the same slogan adorns bright blue banners in its mostly derelict downtown. Entire buildings are abandoned and falling apart, its windows boarded up with graying plywood or left hollow. Others have first floors occupied by gasping businesses offering cheap clothes, wigs, way too expensive sneakers or Obama posters and T-shirts. “WE WON!” “HOPE WON!” “YES WE DID!” On sidewalks, black marketeers offer incense, body oils, bead necklaces, underwear and sox. The Cambridge Restaurant has been put out of its misery, thank you, Lord, for I sure won’t miss their home fries, but Italian Brothers is still hanging on. They do make decent hoagies. It is claimed that Chester’s Catherine DiCostanza made the world’s very first in 1925, to feed a starving gambler ambling over from Palermo’s Bar down Third Street.

Lots of Italians back in the day, as well as Irish, Poles, Jews and Ukrainians. With Chester’s industries gone, they have mostly scattered. Recently, though, I walked by a downtown store front and saw all white people inside, a truly rare sight in contemporary Chester. It turned out to be an art opening, with tentative or frustrated watercolors and oils of a snowy pine tree, a pensive cat, a covered bridge or Cubistic jazz musicians… On pedestals, lumpy ceramics. A shy, charcoal nude lounged on a smudgy, charcoal sofa. A man waved at me to come in, so I did, “Hey, what a surprise to see an art opening! Is everybody here from Chester?”

“Not all of us, but we live nearby.”

A woman appeared, “Did you sign our guess book? Come, come, sign our guess book.”

As I printed my first name, though, she said, “We do have a suggested five dollar donation.”

I have attended many art openings, from Soho to art school, to suburban old ladies’ watercolor society, but I have never encountered an admission fee, and five bucks also mean two Rolling Rocks at the Gold Room, one block over. Seeing me cringing, the lady added, “It’s for the wine and cheese.”

“Forget it, forget it,” I crossed my name out, and walked out to her “No! No!” At many art openings, you do see hungry art students, an odd bag lady or a clearly homeless guy stuffing their faces with cheddar and crackers while draining Yellow Tail Shiraz or Duck Pond Chardonnay, so the five buck fee may be a measure to prevent undesirables from crashing this schlock fest.

What made that art bad wasn’t so much execution but orientation. Rootless, it was indifferent to its surroundings, that is, it didn’t pay attention to Chester, didn’t care at all for it. No art is worthless if it reflects in any way its place of origin, so no painting, photo, poem or short story about Chester can be bad if it reveals any aspect of this place, but to do this, one must first pay close attention. Folk art is never without charm and interest, but much of cosmopolitan art is mediocre since it is removed, in time and distance, from its original moment of inspiration. This cosmopolitan art may be partly salvaged by its backwoods dilution, distortion or bastardization, however, but the pleasure is likely mild, the humor unintentional. Seeing a show of Canadian Impressionist paintings in Ottawa, I remember thinking, Why? And would you care for Thai Suprematism, Ugandan Constructivism or Fijian Neo Geo? With globalism unraveling, we can return to the local in each sphere of our lives, and that means a revival of regionalism in all the arts. We’ve been jerked about by the distant media long enough, teased and dictated by distant cultural centers. It’s time we observe and listen to what’s right in front of us.

It was a Saturday evening, but Chester’s main drag, Avenue of the States, was mostly empty. Even fifteen years ago, there would have been many shoppers, or loiterers, at least. Now, there was hardly a parked car to break in. On both sides of the street for an entire block, there was only one business open, Huddle Barbershop. On this scorching night, two box fans were kept on high. The owner/barber would work until 10PM, at least. In his window, a flyer with “Get To Know Your Candidates. ‘Let’s Get Back To Progress,’” with the faces of two smiling, suited yet unnamed individuals, one man, one woman, with the man much taller.

Wanting to meet, or at least see some people, I decided to go to the Gold Room. On the way, I walked past the old Excelsior Saving Fund, with its sign reduced to “UND.” The Gold Room is large and cool, with three pool tables and five televisions. Once settled at the bar, one will notice two shelf altars featuring incense, the Vajaradhara and a beer-bellied Chinese God of Wealth, so is the owner Asian? No, just a black Buddhist. I came in as the daytime bartender was finishing her shift. Walking out, a middle-aged white guy hollered, “Your husband must be a wonderful man, because you are a wonderful lady!” She smiled, naturally. Minutes later, she said to some young guy, “Ah, you look wonderliscious today! That’s a new word. I’m gonna patent it!” Then she complimented some giggling and boobiliscious apparition, hovering at the far end of the bar, backlit by a Southern Comfort light from heaven or hell, “You’re so sexy. I can just hug you!” A man in his late twenties then chimed in with a false note, I think, “I’d love to spend money on both of y’all.”

This verbal orgy finally stopped with the new bartender, but she also gushed in her own way, with a low cut dress that flaunted a glittering, burning skull on her buttocks, and “MISFIT” in bold black on her back. What a pun, eh, with a skull as pelvic girdle, or dead head as live bottom, with the anus where mouth should be? “From my booty, death will rise,” she emitted wordlessly. “You may think you’re staring at my ass, but you’re just seeing your own cracked skull, sucka. I mean, sugar.”

Thirty-years-old, Misfit was born in Chester, but left at 17 to work in a home for retarded people in Williamsport, in the idyllic Poconos. It didn’t pay very much, but it got her out of Chester. After nine years doing that, however, she took a $950 course to become an emergency medical technician, that is, an ambulance attendant, for which she was paid less than $2,000 a month, take home, then she was let go. She tried hard, but couldn’t land a similar job anywhere else, so she settled for this bartending gig. Misfit admitted that business was also down at the Gold Room, and no one she knew was doing well, “But we’re in a recovery nationally, right?”

“No,” I said, “and it’s only going to get worse.”
“You think so?”
“Yes, I travel all over the country, and it’s the same shit all over, and everyone I talk to says they’re not doing well. Well, eight or nine out of ten, anyway. Almost no one is doing well.”
“So what should we do?”
“You just have to cover your own ass, that’s all.”

I should have said, “You just have to cover your own skull, that’s all,” or better yet, “We just have to cover each other’s flaming skull, that’s all.” As the only bar in downtown Chester, the Gold Room should survive for a while, so Misfit’s job is probably safe, but like many people these days, she must be willing to switch jobs at a moment’s notice, do something entirely different to survive. The word career has become nearly meaningless. We have all become career improvisers.

At someone else’s mercy, we can fit in momentarily, but from their careful, cost-cutting calculation or sudden, inexplicable whim, we become misfits again, for that is what we are. We’re not misfits as fashion statement, but essentially. Try as we might, we cannot adjust ourselves dexterously enough to our rapidly shifting surroundings, of which we have no role in shaping. In Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” there’s a misfit who says, “I was a gospel singer for a while […] I been most everything. Been in the arm service, both land and sea, at home and abroad, been twict married, been an undertaker, been with the railroads, plowed Mother Earth, been in a tornado, seen a man burnt alive oncet.” He has also killed, robbed and been jailed, and though everything has happened to him, nothing matters, because nothing makes sense. Sounds familiar?

You think you’re a housepainter? Wrong! A secretary? Wrong! A nurse? Wrong! A professor? Wrong! A pipe fitter? Wrong! A dock worker? Wrong! Though nothing adds up, one still has to eat daily, so one solution is to become a mass murderer, if only in an auxiliary capacity. At Concord and 7th, I saw a flyer in a torn plastic sleeve, stapled to a light pole:

US MARINES

WE HAVE EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES
NON COMBAT JOBS AVAILABLE
FULL TIME (ACTIVE DUTY) OR PART TIME (RESERVE PROGRAM)
FULL BENEFITS TO START/ FAMILY COVERAGE
DO THINGS THAT OTHERS ONLY DREAM ABOUT DOING

BETTER YOUR FUTURE, CALL OR TEXT SERGEANT WILLIAMS

To kill or be killed is here presented as improving oneself and one’s family, as sheer survival, for in trading in one’s freedom, humanity and conscience, one will get adequate health care and nutrition, maybe even a home in a safe environment. To attain these basics, however, one must first become a berserker. Kill! Kill! Kill! I In Harrisburg, I had encountered a National Guard poster:

There are all kinds of moments you’ll experience where you serve the people of your community in the National Guard. If you’ve got it inside you, this is your time to act.

The accompanying image showed soldiers standing outside a suburban home during some kind of rescue mission. This is very reassuring, for they are not threatened in any way, nor are they menacing anybody. They’re not kicking down some foreigner’s door and terrorizing his family, and most importantly, they’re not getting their nuts blown off seven or eight time zones away. As a National Guardsman, you’ll only be rescuing your neighbor’s siamese from some midget tree, this poster was implying, and you’ll be home in time to watch your dreadful Phillies.

I wanted to get away from downtown Chester, drink in a neighborhood dive and hear, or overhear, what those folks have to say, so I decided to go to the Love People Lounge on Highland Avenue. I had no idea what that neighborhood was like, but I had seen this bar from the train, many times, and had always wanted to walk in because of its irresistible name. When I got there, though, I found out that it had been closed, with even its sign removed. Oh well, I thought, let’s find another place to drink, so I started walking.

In many distressed cities, as in Detroit, Gary, East St. Louis or Camden, to walk into the unknown is to be a reconnaissance scout or a suicide, not so much a tourist, and Chester has a violent crime rate more than four times the national average, and it was sunny that day, meaning perfect for a mugging, but also ideal for a pleasant walk, and I was getting very thirsty for a Colt 45 or a Yuengling, so I kept walking. In truth, it wasn’t half bad. I passed Give Me Suga, an inviting Caribbean joint serving jerk chicken and oxtail. I saw people sitting on their porches or steps, and two pudgy, middle aged men, one black, one white, sprawled on folding lawn chairs beneath a bouffant tree. Every so often I’d see a desperate sign offering a home for less than $20,000, cash, and presently I came to another house that looked abandoned, with no glass in its windows and its door boarded up, but there was a newish Direct TV dish attached to its wall. Is it possible that someone was watching a movie on demand, say, Titanic or The 40 Year Old Virgin, while lying on a bare mattress, with a half finished bag of Cheetos next to him? In winter, snow drifts into the gaping windows as he cheers our hapless Flyers. Since it is dark, and nobody’s outside, no one who’s up to any good anyway, he can comfortably piss from the second floor, his dick en plein air, as they say. With tall grass and weeds besieging, and no air conditioning or heat, this home is a rough-and-tumble, back to nature dwelling, a cabin in the woods, except no bears will attack you here, only men down to their last quarter or fix.

There were no lit beer signs at the front, so Sporty’s West End Cocktail Lounge didn’t even appear open, but I could hear the hum of the air conditioning, so I opened the door and walked in. Sporty and his bartender seemed a bit startled to see me, but everything was cool as I sat down and ordered a bottle. It was just after 1PM, and I was the only customer. For the next two hours, the only other patrons only sneaked in to buy a six-pack or can to go. As she left, a woman in her late 40’s shouted to Sporty, “Make some money now!”

“I’m with you on that!” Sporty then returned to his video game, with its thin, whistle like gun shots constantly discharging. Video blood splattered as he charged through his enemy, shedding corpses by the wayside. There was a pool table and five televisions, all left on, with the biggest one showing an episode of “Have Gun—Will Travel.” A sneaky Chinaman was caught reading other people’s mail, then later, some mustachioed crank snarled, “Who cares what any woman wants.” During a firefight, a bullet merely grazed a man’s elbow, causing him to rub it.

In most working class bars at this hour, you’d find old men, at least, and perhaps contractors who have finished their work early, but here, like I said, I was the only drinker. Dangling from the drop ceiling were stars, astroids and a round cornered piece of cardboard urging me to “CELEBRATE.” I noticed the young bartender had on a snug tank top, and a pair of black and white shorts, showing some sort of African design. There were signs all over the walls:

FOUR THINGS YOU CAN NOT RECOVER
1- The stone after the throw….
2- The word after it’s said….
3- The occasion after it’s missed….
4- The Time after it’s passed….

A BIG LATINO NITE
Featuring A Ethnic Diversity
For A Rollicking Good Time

A ATLANTIC CITY BUS TRIP $25

NO LOITERING PERMITTED
In This Establishment
If You Don’t Have A Drink
Or If You’re Not In Line
To Play Pool.

FEDERAL PRISON
CONVICTED FELONS & DRUG DEALERS BEWARE
1 GUN = 5, 10, 15 YEARS OR MORE
NO PAROLE
OPERATION CEASE FIRE
REPORT ILLEGAL GUNS 1-800-ATF-GUNS

On the last was an illustration of a prison cell, with the silhouette of a man sitting on a cot, his head down. Across from him, an open toilet and toilet paper. A large handgun hovered outside the prison bars.

There was also a group portrait of movie gangsters, with Al Pacino’s Scarface in the middle, hoisting his badass M-16A1, then, high up on the wall, an image of Martin Luther King and Obama, their heads merging into one another, with “I HAVE A DREAM” on top, and “I AM THE DREAM” on the bottom. In almost every black bar, you’ll find images of Obama. At Scotty’s, near my South Philly apartment, there’s an Obama shrine complete with red tinsel, foil flags and a string of tiny lights resembling condomed pricks or aerodynamic milk bottles, all surrounding a sacred likeness of our Chief War Lord and Patron Saint of All Banksters.

Hardly loquacious, Sporty finally grunted that the bar was empty because it was the end of the month, “Come back in a couple days, there’ll be people here.” Running out of beer money is hardly the poor’s biggest concern these days, for towards the 28th and 29th, the fridge may have long been empty, not to mention that pile of ignored bills, some still in their envelopes, unopened. Soon, the cable may be shut down, then gas, electricity and water, in that order. Chester is already half shut down.

Martin Luther King spent three years in Chester, and graduated from Crozer Theological Seminary in 1951, and outside the Crozer Library, there’s a large bronze bust of King. On another visit to the Gold Room, I met a woman who said she was born on King’s birthday, “And that’s very special to my family, because King was such a special man, you know.”

“I’d say he’s more important than any American in the last 50 years.”

“I’m very glad you think so,” she smiled.

I could feel myself getting a bit worked up, “Obama ain’t shit compared to King! King threatened them, and that’s why they had to kill him. King wanted to change this society. Obama doesn’t want to change shit!” I stared hard into her eyes. “If they’re propping up Obama now, that can only mean Obama is serving them! He serves them!”

“I agree with you,” she said, “I’ve always felt the same way. I’ve always known they had to kill him. Oh Lord, I think I’m going to cry. I’m going to cry!”

http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/08/02/on-the-edge-chester/

HOME DEPOT SUCKS A$$ — DON’T EVER SHOP THERE

One a couple occasions I’ve started a thread just to rant. I appreciate Admin letting me do that. It is that time, again.

A couple weeks ago we order a floor from Home Depot. They send the measuring guy. Fine. They want to charge $80 to transport 10 boxes about 3 miles. I enlist Ms Freuds son and we get it ourselves.

Today the installer comes. He lets us know that if we install the floor the fridge will never fit back in the cubby hole as there isn’t enough clearance for the overhead cabinets. Also, we’ll never be able to remove the stove or dishwasher as the “lip” will prevent it. Also, the wrong padding and wrong trim were ordered. Fuckin A !!!

So, I make two trips to haul everything back. No argument with the material return. We order a new floor. This process took two hours.

I haul all the shit home. Once the boxes are in the house I decide to open one box so I can lay it on the floor to see what it looks like next to the cabinets. IT’S THE WRONG COLOR!!!!!!!!!!!! We ordered light maple. They gave us dark walnut. Fucked in the ass once more.

At 9:30PM we call Home Depot. They fucked up … so I want them to pick up the wrong shit and deliver the new shit at no charge. NO ONE ANSWERS THE PHONE!! We had two phones calling. The land line we used to call the customer disservice desk. The cell phone we used to call the flooring dept. They close at 10PM. For 30 minutes no one picked up either phone. Of course, the phone message said over and over “Your phone call is important to us …”. Bull fucking shit you LIARS.

They open at 6AM. Guess where Stucky will be at 6AM? I feel sorry for the Store Manager (not really). There will be HELL to pay. I’m not joking. I might need George Zimmerman’s lawyer.

Official STUPID F*****G AMURIKANS thread

Yesterday I posted about my Obama-luvin libtard seester who cares more about chicken liberties than those of human beings. It is an epidemic.

Below vid shows her libfuk comrades actually signing a petition to repeal the Bill Of Rights!!

One thing I love about TBP is reading personal stories. So, if you have any first-hand “Stoopid Amurikan” stories, please share them.

If you don’t have any (how could that be??) then please tell us you you hate.  Remember, hate makes the world go ’round.

Have you ever wanted to KILL YOURSELF … even if it was just a passing thought?

I’ve been reading this guy James Altucher, a damn fine writer, several years now. Here -http://www.jamesaltucher.com/

His amazing heartfelt article below titled, “THERE’S NO PAINLESS WAY TO KILL YOURSELF” caused me to reflect on my own such thoughts over the years.

Mostly I’ve had thoughts in the past such as “I wish I were dead!” I guess that’s not the same as “I want to kill myself”. Or, is it? I don’t know, but it might be.

The first time was around 3rd grade. I had zero friends … for years since we arrived in America. No one in our Newark neighborhood — predominately Polish, Jewish, Italian, and Russian — wanted anything to do with the Nazi family (as they perceived us) in the neighborhood. Not knowing English I didn’t know jackshit what was being taught in Catholic school. I got bad grades. Very bad. My dad would kick my ass when I brought home a bad report card. One day I brought home a particularly bad one. We lived in a 3rd floor apartment. As I heard him come up the stairs I ran to my room, and hid under the bed, absolutely terrified. I distinctly remember as if it were yesterday how I wished I were dead. The evening did not end well for me.

The second time was around 11th grade. Stuff that happened in Catholic school finally came home to roost. Don’t want to go into the details but you can use your imagination. It was the only time I actually attempted suicide. My parents were gone to visit friends about an hour away. I sealed the garage, pulled out a lounge chair, had a bottle of Vodka (for courage), turned on the car … guzzled a large amount of Vodka, and closed my eyes. Fortunately for me, I suppose, my parents came home several hours earlier than expected.

The last time was when I got divorced after 19 years of marriage. In a nutshell I let her keep ALL the assets, and I took ALL the debts, which were significant. You know that saying,”he doesn’t have a pot to piss in”? That was me, overnight. But, the worst part was that my ex-wife decided that I was actually possessed by Satan (she meant that literally), and that contact with my two sons should cease. I don’t want to get into the reasons why I didn’t fight it except to say I thought it was best for DN and SJ to not be involved in ugly fighting between parents. Then 9-11 happened and within the year the software company I was heavily involved with went belly up. No job. No money. No kids. And when all that happens you eventually wind up with “no friends”. I was never more down, and I wished I could just die.

Thankfully, I no longer harbor any such thoughts. Probably because I am a masochist. I WANT to be around when the shit hits the fan. I WANT to see bankerfuks and their ilk hang from lampposts. I WANT to be part of that process. Lol

But the real reason is probably because I simply don’t give a shit about material things anymore. My kids are grown and on their own. What the hell do I need a lot of shit for? I don’t. I appreciate the little I have without wanting to have more. Except for my new food dehydrator. That little fucker brings me great joy. I made strawberry rollups the other day. LIFE IS GOOD!!!

I hope you all don’t think this is a morbid post. It is what it is. My life, that is. I’m guessing there won’t be many responses. Who the hell wants to admit they ever even THOUGHT about offing themselves? Lol I hope I’m wrong, though. Maybe you can share your general thoughts about the topic. Or, stories you know about other people.

How shall I then live now? My pal Jeebus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Later on it is written, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.”.

That’s my ultimate GOAL, to live like that … but it IS difficult with the Amerika I used to love crumbling all around me. That’s the final reason I don’t dream of offing myself. I have this teeny tiny sliver of hope that America will be restored once again … and I want to be around to see it, if possible.

====================== =

THERE’S NO PAINLESS WAY TO KILL YOURSELF

I gave my 11 year old daughter important advice the other day: there’s no painless way to kill yourself.

“What about with a gun?” she said.

I told her about a friend of mine who shot himself in the mouth. He put the gun in his mouth and pointed upwards towards the brain.

He missed.

He shot off half his face, he went blind in one eye, and he is now in a wheelchair.

If you type in “I Want to Die” into google, my website is the first result.

My first business I sold for $15 million. We built websites for entertainment companies. Bad Boy Records, Miramax, Time Warner, HBO, Sony, Disney, Loud Records, Interscope, on and on. Oh, and Con Edison.

Mobb Deep would hang out in my office. Trent Reznor from Nine Inch Nails would stop by. RZA from the Wu-Tang Clan would want to play chess. We even made a website for a brothel in Nevada. Then I saw that kids in junior high school were learning HTML. So I sold the business.

I bought an apartment for millions. I rebuilt it. Feng Shui! I bought art. I played a lot of poker. I began investing in companies. A million here. A few hundred thousand there.

Then I started more companies. Then I bought more things. Then I became an addict. The worst kind of addict.

From June 2000 until September, 2001 I probably lost $1 million a month. I couldn’t stop. I wanted to get back up to the peak. I wanted to be loved. I wanted to have $100 million so people would love me.

Writing this now I even feel like slitting my wrists and stomach. I have 2 kids.

I felt like I was going to die. That zero equals death. I couldn’t believe how stupid I had been. I lost all my friends. Nobody returned calls. I would go to the ATM machine – from $15 million to $143 left.

There were no jobs, There was nothing.

One weekend when I had $0 left in my bank account I called my parents to borrow money but they said “no”. “College was enough” they told me, even though I had ended up paying for every dime of college. That was the last time I spoke to my dad, who had a stroke six months later.

I tried meditation to calm down but it didn’t work. I never slept. I lost 30 lbs. I’m 5’9″. I went from 160 to 130. I couldn’t talk to anyone. I couldn’t move. I stopped having ideas. I cried every day.

There was never a moment when I didn’t feel sick. I had let my kids down. I would die and they would never remember me.

We moved 80 miles north of NYC with the tiny bit of money we took out of our apartment after being forced to sell at a million dollar loss. I couldn’t leave the house for three months. I was depressed. I gained back all my weight and then another 30 lbs.

Finally I had to either die or feed my family. I was forced to choose myself.

– I started to exercise every day. I started to eat better. One item for breakfast. A healthy lunch. Tiny dinner. No snacks.
– I started to sleep 9 hours a day.
– I started to only be around people who loved and supported me. I broke off all ties with anyone who I felt bad to be around.
– I wrote down ideas every day of articles I could write and about businesses I could start. Bit by bit I started to get paid to write. If you don’t exercise the idea muscle it atrophies.
– I decided I wanted to help people every day and be honest every day. I was grateful for my daughters. I was grateful for what I had. I didn’t fight reality or regret. This was my reality and I had to make the best of it.
– Every day I came up with ideas for new businesses. I had a waiter’s pad. I would go to a cafe at 6 in the morning with about 4 books and read for an hour or two and then start writing down ideas for new businesses, articles, etc.
– I started a hedge fund. I started a fund of hedge funds. I started a newsletter. I did deals. I made introductions every day, expanding my brand new network from scratch. At least 5 introductions a day.
– I got involved in a mental health company I sold for $41 million.
– I started a website, Stockpickr! which got millions of unique users. I found advertising for it. I sold it to thestreet.com
– I had made millions again from scratch.

Then I stopped using the fundamental techniques I described above. Every time I’ve lost money it’s because I squandered my physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health.

I was really bad. I did everything you should not do. I was like an addict. Picture the worst abuses. That was me. Again.

And then I lost it all again. Everything. Agh!

I had to start over. I couldn’t even believe I had to start from scratch atgain.

Every day without fail I focus on physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health. And it’s worked. I hope. I hope I don’t squander again.

People say it’s not about the end, it’s about the journey.

This is total BS.

It’s not about the journey and it never was.

It’s about right now. Right now is the only place you’ll ever be. Choose yourself not to waste it.

.

http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2013/05/theres-no-painless-way-to-kill-yourself/

 

A HOMOPHOBE WINDS UP HAVING A GAY TIME IN NYC

FLIRTING WITH THE ENEMY

It was Andrew and Richard who got married. So, there we are at the dinner reception, and Richard is thanking us for coming to such a momentous event, and then he says to Ms Freud; “You’re lucky to have found such a handsome man.” I say to Richard, “Well, if you weren’t married I’d ask you to go see the Superman movie with me.” Ms. Freud says, “Take him off my hands, please!”. Andrew says, “We’re married just three hours and you’re already turning into a whore!”. The whole table is cracking up. Wow. Me … flirting with a gay guy ……. and enjoying it. That’s the kind of evening it was. But, let me start at the beginning.

GOD TOLD ME SO

Yeah, I was a homophobe going way back to high school, where me and the guys made life hell in gym class towards those we suspected of being gay. Then, while in Basic Training the guys had a blanket-party for someone who we knew was gay. I did not take part in the beat-down, but I cheered it on, and did not report the perpetrators when given the opportunity to do so. While in the Air Force I became a born-again Christian. Oh-oh! We all know how God feels about that; Mr. Sausage is only allowed fraternization with Ms. Clamwich. Any other use thereof is evil and verboten. At first I was in the “hate the sin, but love the sinner” camp. But, in all practicality, that’s hard to do for too long a period of time.

As a Christian one is expected to hate what God hates. After 20 years of being preached at regarding the wickedness of homosexuality, and reading it for yourself in the Bible (at least the way THEY want you to interpret the message), and knowing that these people are going straight to hell ….. well, at some point one eventually drifts little-by-little far away from the “love the sinner” ideal, and into full blown god-like hatred for BOTH the sin and sinner. It got so bad for me I couldn’t even stand homogenized milk because it had ‘homo’ at the beginning. That’s really not far from the truth. As most of you know, I eventually embraced Agnosticism. Since there was no deity telling me to hate someone else, of course, the “hate” part went away relatively quickly. But, I still found the lifestyle to be abnormal. My attitude became one of “to each their own” … but, please, keep ‘them’ as far away from me as possible. Some beliefs die very slowly, if ever.

30 MILES OF SQUALOR

The train ride to NYC has always been a depressing one. We’re not talking about the Pacific Coast Highway here. The only green thing you see is the air. We’re talking industrial land; factories of every kind, tool and die shops, warehouses, refineries. Only thing is, they are now mostly empty. It’s about 30 miles of Philly-like squalor, except it’s about industry, not people. For sale / for lease signs, broken glass, caved roofing, dilapidated buildings (even the few that are still open). I did see a lot of convenience stores, bars, check-cashing places, liquor stores, and one “service” type business after another. Maybe the best thing that happened to Germany and Japan in WWII was that we bombed the crap out of them, and they got to build anew. America, at least many parts in the Northeast have a ‘tired-and-old’ feel. Like a worn-out engine desperately trying to not give up the ghost.

Then bam!!!! Out of the middle of nowhere — a few empty acres of dirt, garbage, tires, and glass on the right and an abandoned warehouse on the left —- appears a fancy-shmancy row of new townhouses, literally across the street from the train station. There’s a huge billboard out front proclaiming “Starting prices in the low $500’s”. Certainly the locals aren’t buying them. Almost certainly people working in NYC are. With today’s low interest rates, a $500k home would still be less than rent in the city for a cheap-ass apartment. Anyway, it was weird to see crappy crap homes, then suddenly, these luxury homes. It kind of reminded me of third world countries where there is no middle class. Which, I guess, may happen here someday.

A MOST SOLEMN EXPERIENCE

There were only eight of Richard’s and Andrew’s closest friends at the wedding. After the wedding we all took a short stroll to see the new World Trade Center. It is magnificent. Then we stood in line for an hour and a half to see the Memorial. Trust me, if you’re ever in the city it is a MUST-DO event. (But, buy tickets on-line and you’ll cut your wait time in half, or more.) There were probably a few thousand people in the park. Yet, it was almost as quiet as a church. The reflecting pools are scary magnificent. Scary in that the spot one choose to look into the pool, may very well have been a spot where someone jumped to their death. It is a place that can’t be explained. It is a place that must be experienced.

But I want to talk about a tree. This is from their website —

“The callery pear tree, which miraculously survived the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001 on the World Trade Center, blossomed just in time for the first day of spring. The “Survivor Tree” which stood only 8 feet tall when uncovered from the rubble, was badly burnt, and only had one living branch, was transplanted from Ground Zero and efforts were made to nurse it back to health at a nursery in the Bronx. The tree was not expected to survive. Miraculously, in the spring after the attacks, new growth was observed on the tree and it was continued to be nursed back to health. After surviving another incident in March of 2010 in which the tree was uprooted during a storm, the tree has become a symbol of hope and rebirth. After the uprooting of the tree, Mayor Bloomberg said “Again, we and the tree refused to throw in the towel. We replanted the tree, and it bounced back immediately.” The tree was returned to the World Trade Center site, as an integral part of the 9/11 Memorial and a reminder to New Yorkers and Americans “of the thousands of survivors who persevered after the attacks”, and now stands at over 30 feet tall.”.

C’mon! How cool is that?? I thought it was so damn cool that I went and hugged that tree. On the train ride home Ms. Freud and I are recalling the events of the day and she laughingly says, “Flirting with my gay friend, hugging trees, .. what are you going to do next, Save the Whales?”. I said “nah, in keeping the day’s theme I’m going to save the Spotted Dick Owl, unless you’re talking about Moby Dick”. She didn’t think that was very funny. Humor, it IS a difficult thing at times.

WHO THE HELL IS EARL?

So, earlier in the day when introductions were made I was introduced to this black fella named “Earl”. Seemed like a nice guy right off the bat, but very quiet … shy, even. So, back to the restaurant. I happen to be sitting next to Earl. After a few glasses of wine he becomes more talkative. He tells me he earns a living as a musician. Cool. As the conversation progresses he tells me that he got started in music by listening to Chet Atkins, and then eventually played with Chet. He also tells me that his favorite musician … and best friend … is Johnny Mathis. Now, I think JM is okay, but Ms Freud loves him. Earl then says if we ever come visit Atlanta, and if we give him enough lead time, that he would arrange for us to meet Johnny Mathis. Oookaaay. This guy has had too much wine. He goes to the bathroom. I lean over to Richard, tell him about this fantastical conversation, and ask if this Earl guy is for real. Richard says, “Don’t you know who that is??” Yeah, it’s Earl. “No, it’s Earl Klugh!!!”

Well, that new knowledge still did nothing for me. Do you guys know who he is? Richard tells the dumbass (me) that Earl is one of the top 5 guitarists in the world. Goddamn!! Is everybody fuckin drunk at this party? So I google Earl Klough when I get home. Holy shit! Sho ‘nuff, the guy has sold millions of records and CDs, been nominated dozens of times for Grammy’s, and has a slew of #1 hits. And there I was telling him why I thought CCR was one of the greatest groups of all time. What a fuggin dumbass. I gotta make a trip down to Atlanta … assuming Earl doesn’t secretly think I’m a dick.

3 minutes of MY PAL, Earl. Lol

DA JUDGE IS IN DA HOUSE

The Courthouse is a full city block long. Weddings take place on the first floor, and that area runs the length of the building. There must have been 200 people waiting to get married. It was a Human Zoo exhibition. Brides in gorgeous wedding dresses. Brides in jeans. Beautiful brides …. and one bride who was about as fat as an AWD picture who had the most ginormous boobs I’ve ever seen, about 65% exposed, of course … and I stared at them too long and I know this because Ms Freud actually stabbed me in the side with her pen. Now I have this blue dot on my brand new shirt and I feel everyone is looking at me … just like that Seinfeld episode with the red dot on the cashmere sweater. The place was an amalgam of Walmart and Tiffany, with a few Sears folks mixed in. It was a cattle call …”Number C120, report to the chapel.” There were only two “chapels” … small garishly colored and decorated rooms where some low-level clerk performs a quick and dirty ceremony. Well, that’s for most people. Andrew and Richard are not “most people”.

They were married across the street, by a judge, in chambers. Not just any judge … but a New York State Supreme Court Judge, Judge Tingling. You guys would LOVE him … cuz he’s kinda like a mini American Hero. Why? Cuz he told Mayor Joomberg to basically go fuck himself. Here’s a pic of da Judge.

Here’s an article titled “Justice Milton Tingling is the man who doused Mayor Bloomberg’s ban of oversized drinks in city”

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/judge-doused-mayor-soda-ban-article-1.1290935

This is a remarkable man, and we got to hang out with him for a while. He introduced himself to all of us, shook out hands, and just chit-chatted before formalities began. He stuck around for quite a while after the ceremony. I noticed that he and Earl were getting along splendidly, laughing it up. I later found out that da Judge knew exactly who Earl was, and even had some of his music. I think Earl also invited da Judge to his home in Atlanta. Maybe me and da judge can go down together. I hope da judge likes CCR.

THE WEDDING
The ceremonial aspects lasted about 15 – 20 minutes. First of all, Judge Tingling told us he only does a handful of weddings a year. He did not have any written notes whatsoever. No teleprompters, either. He spoke directly from the heart. At first, Da Judge had us in stitches. When he asked Richard if he would take Andrew as his lawfully wedded spouse, and Richard said “yes”, da judge said, “Good answer, but you could say ‘I’ll think about it’ and I’ll still marry you”. At another point he said to Andrew, “will you still love Richard when he’s a pain in the you-know-what?” … and a few other zingers, as well. But, when it was time to be serious, he was REALLY serious. He gave about a 7 minute “sermon” where he talked about love, commitment, the trials they would face [as a same-sex couple in Georgia], the importance of ‘sticking to it no matter what’, and that every day of their lives no matter how they feel at the moment that they should do at least one kind, loving thing for the other person, and in so doing love will triumph at the end of every day. There wasn’t a dry eye in the chambers, including mine.

Andrew and Richard each wrote out beautiful vows to each other. I’ll leave the details private. I just want to share my reaction. As I was watching intently and listening closely, it was one thousand percent abundantly clear to me that these two people truly loved each other. To be honest with you, I still don’t know how that’s possible since it is so far removed from what I believed was “the right way to fall in love”. Nevertheless, there was love in that room yesterday, and it didn’t require my approval, or disapproval. Love, just was there. And I felt privileged to be allowed to share in it.

LABELS DON’T MATTER … PEOPLE MATTER

A funny thing happens when you see a person, not a label. You, yourself, becomes more of a person as a result. My parents don’t hate Jews, they just don’t like them. Then one day while in college I introduce them to my Jewish girlfriend, and my dad wouldn’t even come out to meet her. Really. But, as time passes and he sees what a wonderful giving person she was … well, one day he gave her a big hug. He no longer saw a Jew girl. He saw a human being, my girlfriend. Neither parent would go to my younger son’s wedding. He committed the unspeakable sin of marrying a black girl. But, as time passes he sees what a wonderful wife and doting mother she is and “suddenly” she is no longer a “Schwartze”, but a human being, the mother of his grandchildren. And, yeah, he hugs her now also.

So as we are having dinner, laughing, and having a helluva great evening, I wasn’t thinking that I was having a great time with two homosexuals. No. I was having the time of my life with two people who got married. I’m lucky they consider me a friend. And I’m damn happy they are mine.