faggot!

So a friend of mine asked my opinion about the latest Hollywood slander fest. You know, where the one actor from Grey's Anatomy (an African-American) called another, a recently "out" white guy, a faggot. I'm editing this post from my email with her.

I've been having a hard time following this. Mostly cuz while I enjoy gossip, read Gawker several times a day, etc etc, I can't get too riled up by Hollywood types misbehaving. When so many people are being killed in Iraq and Americans seem blindfolded to Bush's imminent attack on Iran (set off by a pretext that, no doubt, will put the Reichstag fire to shame) it's hard to get worked up about some actors who haven't learned their social graces. I also tried to watch Grey's anatomy once and didn't really get it, so I dunno, yawn. :)

I mean, did you read that thing about Celebrity Big Brother where one cast member made racist comments about the resident Bollywood star? You know I'm glad that had a happy ending, but really, did it need to be the lead on cnn.com? I'm sure I can go someplace and be called "faggot" and my African-American friend can go someplace and be called choice names much easier than winning a place on a televised reality show. There's a lot of things a lot better about the world in the last few years but, well you know, it ain't THAT much better!

stop meddling?

the white house is issuing ultimatums to iran to "stop meddling" in iraq. c'mon. is that the biggest display of hypocritical chutzpah ever? the bush regime invades a country, knocks down its government and virtually its entire society, runs the country with puppet strings, and then accuses somebody else of MEDDLING?

this must stop.

ANY DEMOCRAT WHO ABETS THE BUSH REGIME'S FURTHER DRIVE TO WAR WITH IRAN (listen up, Hillary) OR EQUIVOCATES ON THE NEED FOR WITHDRAWAL FROM IRAQ IS NO BETTER THAN BUSH.

proud to be american?

I created this image shortly after the invasion. I'm saddened to think that now, 4 years later, it's just as relevant, just as sad. And not proud at all.

palestine

This is an illustration from a Chinese children's book from 1970. A classic example of Chinese inspirational propaganda art. More to come.

the best of fidel

it's pretty obvious that fidel castro is about to leave the world stage. there's plenty to criticize about fidel, though the creepy rich exiles waiting in miami to reclaim their fincas and mansions at the expense of the Cuban people do not exactly have my sympathy. anyway, here is an excerpt that caught my eye from his "second declaration of havana" in the early 1960s.

"The duty of every revolutionary is to make the revolution. It is known that the revolution will triumph in America and throughout the world, but it is not for revolutionaries to sit in the doorways of their houses waiting for the corpse of imperialism to pass by. The role of Job doesn't suit a revolutionary. Each year that the liberation of America is speeded up will mean the lives of millions of children saved, millions of intelligences saved for culture, an in­finite quantity of pain spared the people. Even if the Yankee imperialists prepare a bloody drama for America, they will not succeed in crushing the peoples' struggles, they will only arouse universal hatred against themselves. And such a drama will also mark the death of their greedy and carnivorous system. "

okay, forty years later. still waiting. I guess we've all become Job.

Not For Black People Only

Tomorrow is the birthday of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., probably the most heroic man of the last century. All people who live in this country--and not just African Americans--live better lives because of him and his brave and selfless pursuit of justice, peace, and equality. I'm saddened when I hear my white friends act like it's only a holiday for black people. Dr. King gave his life so that all of us could be free of the shackles of racism and injustice. While his struggle is not complete he took us light years from the remnants of pre-civil war barbarism into the light of hope and possibility. It's our responsibility to carry forward his vision and make that dream of love and civility and peace a reality for this and future generations.

All praises to Dr. King; may his light shine forever.

Turiyasangitananda Transcends

Several friends have forwarded me sad news that Turiyasangitananda, Alice Coltrane, has passed at age 69. I count her as one of my great musical inspirations and this news makes me very sad. I feel so lucky to have seen her perform twice. Her albums are things of singular, passionate, eccentric beauty, compelling in their purposefulness and spiritual dedication.

As her spirit joins the ancestors and transcends to other planes I thank her for her presence in our lives and may her music live forever.

people of the world, unite and defeat u.s. imperialism and all its running dogs

yeah those are the immortal words of chairman Mao, who didn't apparently mean them so much (visualize the photo of him toasting president Nixon in Beijing while u.s. bombs rained on Hanoi). anyway, as u.s. special forces carry out continuing attacks on Somalia and as president Bush announces his escalation of the war/occupation of Iraq with a new campaign of urban repression and warfare these words need to be repeated.

sigh.

gerald ford, we beg your pardon

I've been remiss in mentioning the passing of James Brown and Saddam Hussein and not Gerald Ford. I was alive during Ford's presidency, and it seems very different what I remember from what is currently being eulogized.

I choose to remember him through african-american poet and singer Gil Scott-Heron's masterful work "Pardon Our Analysis (We Beg Your Pardon)" from his 1975 album Midnight Band: The First Minute of a New Day.

We beg your pardon because the pardon you gave this time was not yours to give
they call it due process and some people are... overdue
we beg your pardon america
somebody said brother man gonna break a window
gonna steal a hubcab gonna smoke a joint brother man gonna go to jail
the main who tried to steal america is not in jail
get caught with a nickel bag brother man
get caught with a nickel bag sister lady on your way to get your hair fixed
you'll do big ben and big ben is time but a man who tried a fix America will not do time
say they gonna slap his wrist
gonna retire him with $850,000 and America is shocked
America leads the world in shocks
unfortunately America does not lead the world in deciphering the cause of shocks
.....
what are the results of this pardon...
we now have oatmeal man
anytime you find someone in the middle
anytime you find someone who is tepid
anytime you find someone who is lukewarm
anytime you find someone who has been in congress for 25 years and nobody ever heard of him you have
oatmeal man
oatmeal man straddling uncomfortably 25 feet of barbed wire
...
We beg your pardon America, because the pardon you gave, this time, was not yours to give.

I've left out many of the best parts. It's brilliant. Check it out and remember the truth.

happy new year

I spent a quiet new year's eve with my boyfriend watching tv. I'm very grateful to be able to say those words. I've had exciting new years' eves, and sad ones, and lonely ones, and over-stimulated ones, and boring ones, and familial ones. I'm not sure I believe any of the popular sayings about new years and its oracular effect upon the year: I felt no omens last night. But I was happy, and while I'm focusing on the selfish, may the rest of the year pass this way.

My prayers for the new year for my self:
Finding a new job/career
Restoring my spiritual center
Maintaining good health
Deepening my relationship(s)
Listening to lots of great music
Getting rid of some stuff
Continuing to rebuild my stamp collection
Doing something creative
Being happy
Spending time with my loved ones
Spending time honoring my ancestors and spirit guides
Good health and happiness for my mom, my boyfriend, my friends, my cats

My prayers for the world:
peace peace peace
no new wars or invasions, not even in Darfur, despite many peoples' good intentions
may the democrats not turn out as evil as the republicans
justice
gay marriage in new york
hope for the palestinians
no terrorism in new york or anywhere
may God save us from Rudy Giuliani or McCain as president
may God protect Cuba, and even North Korea and Iran from the US

hanging despots

They killed Saddam Hussein today. I feel a kind of sadness. Not for the end, exactly, of a man who was a cruel dictator, but for another milestone in an unceasing unfolding tragedy. I've been reading up on Iraq...its leaders seem usually to come to a bad end. Assassination is the usual method, and this was a kind of slow drawn-out one. A dictator who quite successfully played the world game, gathering support from sheiks and soviets, freedom fighters and criminals, secularists and spiritualists, Saddam possessed the personal power found in few good and many bad men. How odd that image of him from 20 years ago of him shaking hands with a smiling Donald Rumsfeld.. It kind of sums up the arbitrariness of the world of bad men who also play that world game.

As tempted as I am to suggest the further execution of the rest of these bad men, and I wonder what my emotional response would be to images of George W. Bush's lifeless corpse swinging from the same gallows, mostly I think, why don't these bad bad men just leave the rest of us alone.

pray for peace.

the death of soul?

James Brown died early this morning.

James Brown invented the funk. Completely his own man, he was raw sexuality, raw power, raw groove, questionable taste, bad politics, big hair, shiny clothes, a vital font of energy birthed by the caldron of African-American oppression. He was sheer excess, eccentric, kinetic, unrefined. He took a gospel shout, a field holler, and the rhythm of sex and gave birth to the funk.

When I was a little boy he was one of a few Black artists I was not allowed to listen to. Too black, that gyrating tightly clad crotch just a little too much for my otherwise liberal mom. But now we're all listening to him every day, and I can't think of a better way to spend Christmas then to let out the funk and play James Brown.

God Bless the funk.

light/dark

happy solstice. of all the holidays this time of year, take your pick, it's the one I prefer. nothing against the baby Jesus, weird red-dressed fat guys dispensing presents, miraculous oil lamps, or even Maulana's seven principles, but the imminently observable passing of light and darkness and the moment it gives us to pause and consider is what will have me lighting a candle tonight. no chanting, weird robes, or consumerism required. peace.

day of remembrance

it's world aids day, 2006.

peace and blessings to the memory of all those lost, including:

MICHAEL BOTKIN, my friend and roommate in Chicago in 1980 and 1981. a gay hero.
JOE (GALANTI) ALONGI, my friend; revolutionary hero; Michael's boyfriend.
STEVE ROSE, my friend and roommate in New York in 1983 and 1984; gay revolutionary hero.
ALBERT TORRES, my friend and revolutionary hero; Steve's boyfriend.
JOHN MORONEY, my friend in New York in the 1980s and the kindest man I ever met.
DOUG GOULD, my best friend David's boyfriend in New York in the late 1980s.
MARCO ANTONIO OSORIO R, my friend from Mexico and gay revolutionary hero.
DAVE FRECHETTE, my friend and African-American gay hero.
Celebrities ROCK HUDSON, RICHARD LOCKE, PAUL MONETTE, SHARON REDD I never met you but you helped me become who I am.
ALL THE OTHERS--neighbors, idols, friends, friends' friends, enemies, lovers, passers-by--whose faces or names I struggle to remember.

may God and the Spirits bless all of you and keep you forever in our hearts.

the smell of sulfur

well I suppose he's probably just another latin american tinpot dictator, and he comes dangerously close to slandering witches, but elected venezuelan president hugo chavez made a delicious speech at the united nations today.

"The devil came here yesterday," Chavez said, referring to Bush, who addressed the world body during its annual meeting Tuesday. "And it smells of sulfur still today."

"As the spokesman of imperialism, he came to share his nostrums to try to preserve the current pattern of domination, exploitation and pillage of the peoples of the world. An Alfred Hitchcock movie could use it as a scenario. I would even propose a title: 'The Devil's Recipe.' "

Chavez held up a book by Noam Chomsky on imperialism and said it encapsulated his arguments: "The American empire is doing all it can to consolidate its hegemonistic system of domination, and we cannot allow him to do that. We cannot allow world dictatorship to be consolidated."

...The U.N. was founded in an era of two superpowers, he said. "The Soviet Union collapsed. The United States empire is on the way down and it will be finished in the near future, for the good of all mankind."

He also said the U.S. government was the "first enemy" of its people.

"Their freedoms are restricted through the Patriot Act. They are sent to die in Iraq for no reason. The people of the United States are being deceived," he said.

Um, amen is all I can say.

five years later

five years ago, a beautiful day like today. what we saw, experienced, lived through, was awful. loss, pain, horror, bravery, courage, the gamut of the best and worst of people was expressed that day and the weeks that followed.

what do I summon up now, september 11, 2006. hard to touch the grief...remember what it was like that week when we all cried for days, the memorial in union square, the faces of the lost plastered everywhere, the inner thoughts so private so painfully shared. somewhere I have saved the newspapers of that week still too painful to reread. saved is the red cross paper cup handed to me on the manhattan bridge as I walked home with the thousands. it's an unneeded reminder, a souvenir I can't bear to look at directly.

but I also summon up anger. anger at the know-nothing red-state tourists who pose and gawk at something they can't begin to understand. anger at the politicians who use this tragedy not to right wrongs but as currency in their own savage crusades. anger at the arrogance of americans, unused to such violent intercession acting like this tragedy was more painful than the thousands of tragedies inflicted by those waving our flag yesterday, today, tomorrow on people not so very different than our flesh bone blood but worlds, oceans, lifetimes away.

how many september 11ths has the u.s. inflicted on iraq. how many lost husbands, wives, sisters, brothers, children, friends...blameless victims of tragedy wielded blindly, intently, by bureaucrats with murderously steely eyes and deadened hearts.

so stupid. so wasteful. so sad.

all empires fall. people, they cry.

in God we trust

"some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God." --Psalms, 20:7

it occurs to me (and I'm no Bible scholar) that if one sees this lovely psalm as the origin of the phrase "in God we trust," that this oft-coined phrase, excuse the pun, has a much different meaning than its coiners, I think, intend.

there's a lot in the old testament to be questioned, but here is a distinctly pacifist notion I find quite profound. don't trust in the machines and beasts of war, but rather, in the inspiration of spirit. is the world really that simple?

then there's that recent headline from the onion. "WAR-TORN MIDDLE EAST SEEKS SOLACE IN RELIGION."
that will bring you back to earth.

peace.

strained psyche

from president bush:

"These are challenging times, and they're difficult times, and they're straining the psyche of our country."

wow. it's a good thing "our country" is not iraq. i bet the collective national psyche of iraq is pretty strained. four years of uninvited destruction and bloodshed can wreak havoc on the mind (not to mention the body). four years of bombing, machine-gunning, search-and-destroy missions, and shock and awe. four years of having uninvited guests trample your towns and cities. four years of anarchy. four years of cultural and civil destruction.

every single death in iraq in the last four years is the work of one man. no, not saddam, not an agent of al-qaeda, but george w. bush.

i remember a picture from last year i think. a little girl was screaming; she was splashed and spattered with the blood of her parents. her arents' car had "failed to stop" at a u.s. occupation checkpoint and the american troops let loose with their trademark destructive force. the parents were killed. the little girl, well, she escaped with...a strained psyche.

it's time to stop this madness.

the new anti-imperialists?

here is an eye-opening interview with hassan nasrallah, leader of lebanon's hezbollah, by a turkish socialist newspaper.

http://www.emep.org/docs/press/nasral.html

self-defense

I think nuclear weapons are immoral. Heck I think AK-47s are immoral. Tanks, jet fighters, hand grenades, mines, improvised explosive devices, pistols, bayonets, machetes, bombers, rocket launchers, cluster bombs, flame-throwers: all of them too, there's really no difference.

But I have to say this: when terrorists are throwing their weight around dictating terms to nations (and by terrorists I mean the united states government) it's hard to blame countries for needing things to protect themselves.

The islamic republic of iran needs nukes. not to blow israel to smithereens, but to keep the united states from attacking. (why, one wonders, would iran be interesting in nuking israel when that would doubtless kill muslims and damage islamic holy sites is a good question anyway: I think ahmedinejad has said as much). The nutso north korean dictatorship has kept the u.s. terrorists from attacking by having nukes.

One suspects iraq was attacked precisely because the bush dictatorship actually knew that saddam had no nukes.

There weren't israeli commando raids or genocidal bombings into lebanon when syrian troops were there. So interesting to me that the u.s. terrorists were all so "syria must get out of lebanon" and then--surprise!--the israelis invade. So heck, syria needs nukes too.

One nation has used nuclear weapons, and we know which one that is. One nation continues to use nuke-ish weapons in the form of depleted uranium shells which have long-term health effects on cuvilian populations. Frightening as it is to contemplate, maybe nukes are the only deterrent for nations now threatened by the bush-ite terrorists.

Alternatively, we could all just get along.

Salaam. peace.