Toenail Moon

Sappho Pie

2011-12-23T11:30:00.003-06:00

The Poetry Dictionary, 2nd Edition, describes the Sapphic stanza as “Quatrain in which the first three lines contain eleven syllables and the forth line contains five syllables...The fourth line is called an adonic…The adonic effectively punctuates the stanza.” While I owe a gratitude debt to the writers of the dictionary for introducing me to Sappho, there is one extremely important issue- where the Poetry Dictionary is lax. They missed it, completely. They left out that I absolutely love it. I really really do. I even like the sound of the word “adonic.”

Wikipedia says that, “Sappho was an Ancient Greek poet, born on the island of Lesbos. Later Greeks included her in the list of nine lyric poets. Her birth was sometime between 630 and 612 BC, and it is said that she died around 570 BC, but little is known for certain about her life. The bulk of her poetry, which was well-known and greatly admired throughout antiquity, has been lost, but her immense reputation has endured through surviving.” (And, I would have liked to have asked her out)
Did I mention that I like Sappho? Yes, I do. So as often as a poem lets me, I write Sappho. I am always delighted when the Sappho stanza presents itself as it did with this silly poem about pie:

Pie

Now don't get me wrong, unless you think you must,
but pie is great— good as most manias get.
For how long do I crave pie? Long as it lasts.
Pie is for liking.

One sweet day, I would like to be like a pie.
I'd try hard to be good—as good as first-rate—
just like pie. And then pie and I could hang out.
I would so like that.

I seem drawn to a warm-on-window-sill
pie—temptation for wee mortals in passing.
And though I could be pie in a frozen box,
hot's still my first choice.

O how long till I knead the dough of summer?
When to lick spatulas of autumn and spring?
Then where should I set the ovens of winter?
I dream and I dream.

But then I wake up from this feeling stupid.
I could never be a pie. I'm a mere man.
Pie is the pie. And I'm anything but pie
—far from scrumptious.

So, I will fade away into un-pie-dom—
dessert-less. Yet, eating entelechy cakes.
Tell pie that I still like it. I always will.
I am just that way.

On the Hipness of Monsters

2011-12-23T11:27:00.001-06:00

Frankenstein's monster is the only notable monster. Vampires are lazy blood-suckers. Werewolves, aside from being coprophagous, are nudists who have no idea where their clothes went. In contrast, the Frankenstein—monster loves flowers— attempts to make the best of monster life but to no avail. He is hunted down and hated—why? Perhaps it is his inability to transform himself into a hipster.
Mary Shelley's Monster says, "There was none among the myriads of men that existed who would pity or assist me; and should I feel kindness towards my enemies? No: from that moment I declared everlasting war against the species, and, more than all, against him who had formed me and sent me forth to this insupportable misery." Sorry Monster, but that's not exactly a statement one would expect from a scary member of the "in-crowd," now is it?

Now, let's take a look at the Peter Boyle Frankenstein in Young Frankenstein. Here is one case where the monster overcomes some of the obstacles of the genre. Unlike a vampire in the same role, he never has to show teeth to be cool. Take teeth away from werewolves and vampires and there's not much there. Take teeth away from the Frankenstein monster and you still have a pretty darn good monster who delights in classical music, the ol' soft shoe, and Bernadette Peters.
Here's what people are saying about Monsters on Facebook:

Teri McGrath: "Frankenstein just wanted love."

Stephen Schwake: "The creature from the black lagoon is pretty cool."

Sharon Cheatwood: "You forgot the MUMMY! All it took was a little pot with 9 tanna leaves. Always the one that scared me. Take their pot and leaves, they stay asleep."

Gena Kish: "Frankie was also a pining lover of classical music and did quite a soft-shoe...(R.I.P. Peter Boyle)

Teri McGrath: "Sweeeeeeeeeeeeet mystery of life at last I've found yooooou...."

Stephen Schwake: "Frank always got the best parts..."

Frankenstein the hipster?

     No way. Werewolves and vampires but never Franky.
The Urban Dictionary gives this definition of a hipster: "I define "hipsters" as poseurs who are imitating people who are actually hip, or at least who they perceive to be hip," and,"Hipsters can be easily identified by their excessively portrayed personalities and attitudes of being "too cool for life, as well as their belief that they are "cooler" than others..." Well, there you have it, this definitely sums up werewolves and vampires.
     TV can't do monster, though it can try. Then again there was a failed attempt to manufacture a hip lame sit-com, The Munsters (1964) It was bad except for Yvonne De Carlo. Still, TV can't make monsters. Never once does Herman Munster utter anything as revealing and genuine as: "But I am a blasted tree; the bolt has entered my soul; and I felt then that I should survive to exhibit what I shall soon cease to be--a miserable spectacle of wrecked humanity, pitiable to others and intolerable to myself."

Fate or Destiny

2011-12-23T11:06:00.005-06:00

A barista person that I did not know asked another barista person (again someone I did not know) to describe the difference between fate and destiny. These two coffee experts where at the same time whipping up coffee for me at what can only be described as the best coffee shop in Oklahoma City, the Red Cup. I did tip well for the superb service, so I felt all right about being a coffee shop conversation interloper.
The question was raised, “What is the difference between Fate and Destiny?

     While butting in, I said this, "With fate you have no choice—it's going to happen, but with destiny you always have a choice whether to go with it or not." One of the barista persons said she would now have to use that line in the event of any future fate and destiny discussions.
     They thanked me, handed me coffee, looked at me oddly, did the cash register thing, and then went back to their contemplations where I saw one of them crack open a dictionary—standard equipment in a shop of this sort. Still, that book only defined the two words as synonymous leaving the two baristas even more perplexed. I sat down to get my morning buzz on with a cafe' latte, muffin, and my book by Kafka asking myself their question—what is the difference between fate and destiny? I set myself to Googling.

      Wow, "Fate is the cause, force, principle, or divine will that predetermines events (thanks Wikipedia) "Destiny may be seen either as a fixed sequence of events that is inevitable and unchangeable, or that individuals choose their own destiny by choosing different paths throughout their life." (thanks again, Wikipedia) Let me get this straight, fate gets forced upon you, but destiny can be ignored or embraced (Hey, I said that)

      Folks I talk to make real distinctions between fate and destiny although the difference may yet be semantic still. Like fate, you can't get out of it like death and breathing—might be genetic or something. On the other hand, with Destiny you can have a revelation, or not, and then that is your destiny. With destiny, one becomes destined for things like: fame, love, land, poverty, greatness, or not. This said, and here’s the kicker, one persons' destiny can lead to millions of other peoples' fate. Or, it can be global. Those with Destiny bring doom for those with mere fate.

Here's what people are saying about it on Facebook:

Teri McGrath: "Destiny hasn't had a chance to disappoint us yet."

Karen Jones : "Fate is a four letter word while Destiny ends with the word tiny."

Teri McGrath: "Aw! Tiny!!!"

Jason Poudier: "Destiny is the great thing that we think is planned for us and fate is what fks it up.”

The Greeks

The Greeks described it like this: @ God Checker.com and greekmythology.com

To the Greeks the fates are 3 nearly naked ladies, "they are: CLOTHO who spins the Thread of Life, LACHESIS who allots the length of the yarn, and ATROPOS who does the snip (the final one)."

The Chinese

The Chinese symbol for fate (ming yun)
is—I'm no expert, but what I have read—that this stands for "what life throws at you" or "your lot in life."

The Spider as a Symbol of Fate @ tribes.tribe.net On Spider Symbolism.

"Spider: The spider has symbolized the controller or “weaver” of Fate for a variety of spiritual traditions. Athena was associated with the spider in early writings as her totem animal, “spinning the web of Fate,” and later as the maiden Arachne whose weaving inspired such jealousy in Athena that she turned Arachne into a spider. Hindu mythology states that Maya, the virgin face of the Triple Goddess, was represented by a spider, “spinner of magic, fate, and earthly appearances” similar to the Wheel of Fate (Walker, 1983). Clotho and the Virgin Moera were also associated with the spider. Due to the spider’s habit of devouring her consort, she was depicted as the death goddess Kalu-Uma. Similarly, Aztec mythology held that spiders were the souls of dead warrior women of the pre-Aztec matriarchate, who would descend from heaven on silken threads at the end of the world to devour all the men on earth. The Amazonians also had Fate-spinners. Medieval Europe associated spiders with witches. The Ashanti (West Africa) spider God, Anansi, is pictured here." from www.ucmeta.org
Wow. Fate and destiny, the question of whether they are three Greek ladies or a web spinning spider, heck, I do not know the answer to that. But one thing is for sure, I do enjoy coffee and especially coffee with Kafka at the Red Cup. Perhaps I have found my destiny, or maybe this is my fate, or not.

A Book You Might Love from Jeanetta Calhoun Mish

2011-12-23T10:59:00.005-06:00

Jeanetta Calhoun Mish is a poet, writer and literary scholar; in 2009, she earned her Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Oklahoma. Her first book, Tongue Tied Woman, won the Edda Poetry Chapbook Competition for Women in 2002. Her second poetry collection, Work Is Love Made Visible (West End Press, 2009), won the 2010 Oklahoma Book Award for Poetry, the 2010 Western Heritage Award for Poetry from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum and the 2010 WILLA Award for Poetry from Women Writing the West. She has been awarded a 2010 residency at the Anderson Center for Interdisciplinary Arts and a scholarship for a 2012 Vermont Studio Center residency. Dr. Mish was previously Poet-Scholar in Residence with World Literature Today and is currently a member of the faculty of the Red Earth Creative Writing MFA program at Oklahoma City University.

Mish has published poetry in LABOR: Studies in Working Class History of the Americas, Oklahoma Today, Poetry Bay, Sugar Mule, Blast Furnace, and in "Walt's Corner" of the The Long-Islander. Mish's creative non-ﬁction essay, "This Oklahoma We Call Home," appeared in Crosstimbers. Anthology publications include poems in Returning the Gift and The Colour of Resistance, and the introductory essay for Ain't Nobody That Can Sing Like Me: New Oklahoma Writing. She is also the editor of Mongrel Empire Press (www.mongrelempire.org), and web administrator for the Oklahoma Poetry Portal and the PoetryArtsOK email list.

For more information, visit www.tonguetiedwoman.com.

Release party for the book that goes by the title of Woody's tune, "Ain't Nobody that Can Sing Like Me."

For Anyone with a Taste for the Writings of Elves

2011-12-23T10:54:00.005-06:00

For anyone with a taste for the writings of Elves, my hat is off to you. Elf is not easy and, therefore, it has not been my most favorite thing on earth. However, I have committed myself to the task of reading a bit more of the stuff over Christmas break. Here is an example of a piece of Dark Elf poetry that I think has some merit.

In this anonymous love piece, a didactic speaker reveals unto young Elves the virtues of a kiss. Clearly, one can deduce that the poem is more an encouragement or a suggestion than an all out prohibition of cannibalism—the author makes no specific mention of elves but addresses, “Jal ye har'dro's cannibals,” all ye earth’s cannibals. In the common language, it is entitled, Kiss Don't Eat.

Lu’ Nau Cal

Khruste aterrucen ssinssrigg ichl mzilt,
Usstan talinth.

Folt 'zil l' renor widow orbb,
vel'uss ycal ilta m'ranndii p'luin vith.
Nin nindel's ssinssrigg.

Lu' vel'bol bauth l' ortelanthin mantis
vel'uss trilen l' karliik dal ilta irresistible mrannd'ssinss.
Siyo, ssinssrigg zhah scrumptious.

T'yin gaer zhah l' elghinyrrok arisa orrl vel'uss
p'luin salkin l' promenade à deux lu', dos zhaun,
l' eventual rapturous vith,
ilta loktriam z'klaen z'haan naut tlu cal'tuu.

Erg'les: Zhah ol possible ulu kyon ichl mzilt whol jalbyr?

Usstan telanth, WHOA,
Aterrucen,
restrain dosst selves.

Usstan’m ikkask jal ye Har'dro’s cannibals
— nindyn vel'uss lovest excessively ichl mzilt—
qualla, ele xuat cha jiole ol jal'yur?

Kiel harl,
fridj ori'gato uns'aa tesso dos ‘bout l' invention d'lil tsoss.
Ol’s natha useful device.

O nindol xal ul'trin llaar preachy
drill vel'drav Usstan tlun keen pholor jalbyr,
instead d' digesting mina,
natha tsoss zhah 'zil feir 'zil Usstan tend ulu proceed.

Natha tsoss mumbaron pholor saph stopping bista,
Natha tsoss proceeds saph stepping pholor l' lassrinnen,
Natha tsoss shlu'ta adequately suppresses biu appetite.

Ji,
Aterrucen, Usstan zhaun dos inbau carried tarthe
—ssinssrigg shlu'ta xun nindel—
Drill xo'al l' tsoss,
ol’s naut ichl myar.

Gi lu' nau cal.

For more Elf Poems:
http://www.fairiesworld.com/fairypoems/elf.shtml
http://www.istad.org/tolkien/poetry.html

"Toenail Moon" 1sym, 2movement Marvin King Austin Composer / Sculptor Presents,,,

2011-12-02T01:05:00.000-06:00

The Dream: Langston Hughes’ Poetry by D. Simmons

2011-11-06T15:35:00.014-06:00

Equality in the world—political, economic, and social—has been accomplished. Bravo, World! It is a no brainer, anymore. Like smallpox, inequality has been knocked-out. Today, there is no longer call for marching, boycotting, or even voting. Moreover, people of all races can do everything as equals. People no longer have to dream. Amen!

This speech above is not exact. Several farm workers subsist in slavery even today-- even in the U.S. These people are not free to run off. According to Mark Bittman, writer for the New York Times, “Unlike corn and soy, tomatoes’ harvest cannot be automated; it takes workers to pick that fruit. And not only include workers been enslaved, they have been routinely beaten, subject to sexual harassment, exposed to toxic chemicals … and forced to wait for hours to find out whether they have work on a given day. Oh, and they’re underpaid.” This is not the America that Martin Luther King sought saying that he would not get there with the rest of us. This is not the America Langston Hughes wanted, either. What is that Dream?

Langston Hughes in his poem, “A Dream Deferred,” wrote that the dream can be like “a raisin in the sun” or a piece of rotten meat. The dream overlooked, obscured, and crushed can only assemble like this for so long before it detonates.

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

     The Dream is that everyone must be equal—a man must be acted toward like a man, a woman must be behaved toward like a woman— with no more Pharaohs. All people regardless of race, sex, or money must be treated the same in America. Still in voting, Jim Crow can set back that dream. In addition, in the fast food market as seen with the tomato workers, the dream can be deferred by slavery and cruelty.
      Langston Hughes, born in Joplin Missouri in 1902, aimed to write poems as if he was writing the blues. His first book was The Weary Blues. He considered himself American and Black.
Many people considered him a voice of his people. That African-American voice was trusted to people like Hughes and given to America. The Dream came from the plantation then migrated to the city.
     Langston Hughes was involved with the New York Harlem Renaissance. This was the golden age of black entertainment and writing. This was a time to throw worn-out ideas of the past and light the way for younger African Americans artist and writers. Langston Hughes wrote, “I, Too, Sing America” just like Walt Whitman.

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.

They send me to eat in the kitchen

When company comes,

But I laugh,

And eat well,

And grow strong.

Tomorrow,

I'll be at the table

When company comes.

Nobody'll dare

Say to me,

"Eat in the kitchen,"

Then.

Besides,

They'll see how beautiful I am

And be ashamed--

I, too, am America.

The Great Depression was hard on the Dream, the Black Renaissance. Yet, this Renaissance was about Langston Hughes, Martin Luther King, Tupac, Master P., Quincy Jones, Alice Walker, Tyler Perry— people contributing to America through their common dreams of art and politics.   Listen up America.
     No group of people should be kept down. All people deserve equality in political, social, and economic America. All people should have freedom of speech. All people should be free from slavery.
     The Dream should not be deferred, as Langston Hughes contends, or else it rises up. The dream can find a crack in the concrete as a rose wrote, Tupac Shakur:

“Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete?
Proving nature's law is wrong it learned to walk without having feet.
Funny it seems, but by keeping it's dreams, it learned to breathe fresh air.
Long live the rose that grew from concrete when no one else ever cared.”

Let us not stop writing about the Dream that comes from a hard place.

Work Cited

Bittman, Mark. "The True Cost of Tomatoes." New York Times. June 14, 2011: n. page. Print.

Tupac, Shakur. The Rose That Grew From Concrete. New York: Pocket Books, 1999. Print.

Hughes, Langston. The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes. 1st. New York: Random

House, Inc, 1999. 46. Print.

Oklahoma Voter ID Law

2011-10-03T15:21:00.012-05:00

Voter ID law:

The list of acceptable IDs for voting is intended to be intimidating. There are many who do not have a driver's license or other photo ID. The laws are intended to make potential voters nervous and fearful. Nervous and fearful people do not turn up at the polls, if they make it as far as registering to vote! There is more on this topic later in the document that is very important. Please continue reading.

The mechanics of voter registration drives:

Anybody can legally register voters!

To be eligible, registrations must be received 24 days before the election. For the upcoming 2012 election, that deadline is October 13, 2012. Registrations postmarked that date are still acceptable, but mailing them is not advised that late in the game. It is best to drop them off at the Comanche County Election Board (315 SW 5th St No 206, Lawton, OK, 73501 ph# 580-353-1880).

If someone has not voted in the last 6 years, they are purged from the voter rolls and will need to re-register. If someone states they haven't voted in a long time, don't worry about it having been less than 6 years, it's fine to have them fill out another registration form.

Felons: Felons are not totally barred from registering to vote in Oklahoma. All that is required is that they have completed their sentence. Example: If a felon was sentenced to 7 years, but serves 5 with 2 years probation, they are eligible to vote again. A common response by some in this category is “Oh, I can't vote.” Find a way to ask them why and reassure them that once their sentence is done they CAN vote. Please be tactful here.

If someone will turn 18 in the 60 days before an election, they can register to vote before the October 13th deadline. Example: If someone's 18th birthday is November 5th or even the 6th (Election Day 2012), they can register before the cutoff of October 13th.

At or around a university: Students can vote where they attend school, even if they are from out-of-state. Once someone registers to vote in Oklahoma, they will establish citizenship in Oklahoma. This is something to keep in mind for students that are receiving scholarships that may depend on their being an out-of-state resident. Keep this in mind when registering students or answering their questions.

Congressional contacts (after hours voice mail available):

Sen James Inhofe
205 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-3603
202-224-4721
email: http://inhofe.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=contact.contactform

Sen Tom Coburn
172 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5754
email: http://coburn.senate.gov/public/?p=ContactForm

Rep John Sullivan (CD1)
434 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-2211

Rep Frank Lucas (CD3)
2311 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-5565

Rep Dan Boren (CD2)
2447 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-2701

Rep Tom Cole (CD4)
2458 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6165

Rep James Lankford (CD5)
509 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-2132

See Also:

Change Oklahoma facebook

Change Oklahoma

Green 960

There is Some Truth

2011-09-23T16:34:00.024-05:00

There may be some truth to the idea that while progressives are busy studying political science and Law and such, the conservatives are busy studying marketing. And thus the conservatives tend to be able to effectively push their product much like soda pop.

Catchy targeted somewhat meaningless phrases like: Mama Grizzles, Christian family values, Sharia Law, Free Market, and such resonate a deceptively clear message that their voters rally around.

In a climate of exceptional-ism, we hear an extremely sexy religious message fueled on fear and mistrust--excludes others-- which is an easy message to sell for the GOP.

What to do? There may not be an easy solution for progressives to use as a remedy. Only encouragement. Have progressive movements ever been easy? Women earned the right to vote not until 1920, much much much went into that effort.

Might have to stick to the truth.

Christians, while Christ's experiences may have been one of the world's finest examples of progressive movements, since him even the intent of his tragic efforts have been hijacked and used for further atrocities.

(I once heard that trade Unions were one of the only places where Christ's efforts were being made reality--now Unions are being weakened)

So, maybe it's time to take back Christ, as well as the flag, the founding fathers, American values, and everything that conservatives have messaged into their screwed up now redefined talking points. Expose their message for what it is: counter to the message of Christ.

See also:
George Lakoff

Ann Danials I like the idea of the worker owned business model. There's a few here in OK. This doesn't need a Union. Problem of exploitation by bosses is solved. In the past, exploitation and being murdered, in many cases, were the cost of just working. O, and as for Christ, the poor must unite to weaken the aristocrats game. The Unions have in the past done what the Church did not; improve lives of workers in mines and other dangerous occupations. So, unite poor, we don't need the rich. I think that's what Christ was talking about. But one hardly hears about that in Church.

God of War

2011-09-05T11:23:00.008-05:00

Funny how many American Christians today talk about "our war with Islam" when in WW2 we were at war with Christians.

If one thinks about it, war is war no matter what religion is claimed. It makes no difference if one is fighting for control of industry or a pipe-line, religion is always immaterial and superfluous ( a god is really never that much involved when everybody has a version of deity on their side, anyway) Land grabs and mineral rights are the true gods of war.

"Hitler's Germany amalgamated state with church. Soldiers of the vermacht wore belt buckles inscribed with the following: "Gott mit uns" (God is with us). His troops were often sprinkled with holy water by the priests. It was a real Christian country whose citizens were indoctrinated by both state and church and blindly followed all authority figures, political and ecclesiastical" from Hitler Was Not An Atheist by John Patrick Michael Murphy

.

Links for Oklahoma Cooperative Network

2011-09-05T09:45:00.005-05:00

A worker cooperative is a business that is owned, controlled, and managed by its employee-owners.

http://www.american.coop/content/oklahoma-worker-cooperative-network

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Oklahoma-Worker-Cooperative-Network/209384672431915?sk=wall

http://www.oklahomacityrail.org/

Don't Ask Me about "Creation vs Evolution" as Someone Just Did

2011-09-04T16:50:00.012-05:00

I think there are things to learn from both Bronze Age stories and Enlightenment thinking--old and warn out as they both have become. I don't like the old stumps or sticks in the mud that much of that has become. Creation Vs. Evolution? What team am I routing for? Please, come on, impress me with a better question than that. I'm not in Junior High School anymore.

To me, as long as scientific knowledge remains fluid and not set in stone then progress occurs. I remain happy. When new fossils turn up, when dating methods are refined, when new facts are pooled, then I can know our past in a more defined way. Ask me tomorrow. Ask me about the past but know that I know it only at my present knowledge level, and nothing more. I am not a Superman.

New DNA research is proving useful, though. This along with the fossil record is becoming very insightful and exciting. But let's not get in a hurry, let's not throw out the Bronze and Enlightenment thinkers of the past so easily-- those poor fellows-- they just didn't have the tools available that we now possess. Kudos to them, they did their best. Those long ago investigators do give us a glimpse, however, at how primitive writers thought, and that can be valuable, as well, in learning about our past.

Other links:

Kenneth Miller on Evolution and Intelligent Design

Kevin Padian Investigating Evolution

F- fathers

2011-09-03T23:41:00.015-05:00

The "Founding Fathers" (Ugh, I cringe when I have to use that term) wanted a nation that worshiped White Protestant Males. Fall to your knees, please. Good thing The People had other ideas.

"In one form or another, the idea that "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny" has exerted its force since antiquity. At the peak of its influence, in the latter half of the 19th century, belief in recapitulation was the dominant viewpoint in evolutionary biology. Organisms were thought to replay their evolution in their embryonic growth, so that one could read in the development of a fetus the history of its lineage. Thus, a human fetus would initially resemble an ancestral single-celled organism. At a later stage its embryonic gill slits would recall a piscine forebear, a later step in evolution. It would then progress through the reptiles, birds and lower mammals to reach its human state. These resemblances, argued the recapitulationists, were the result of a general law operating in evolution. Development, they claimed, was constantly accelerated, so that ancestral traits were squeezed into earlier and earlier stages while new traits were tucked on at the end. And, they believed, at the end of evolution the most accelerated accelerated, and the most advanced, was man."
- James Gorman, an associate editor of The Sciences, the magazine of the New York Academy of Sciences.

How convenient when pseudo-science comes along to prop up one's racist worldview.

Democracy March

The F-fathers were pretty good forward thinkers for their day for what it was worth. But in saying that, and by them not having all the facts on hand, they also believed in the faulty enlightenment "scientific" concept approximating Ontogeny Recapitulates Phylogeny (White Supremacy) as justification for Africans being property (till 1865). All this is old news I'm sure, this non-Whites as children in an evolutionary since. The list of White male dominances increases if we add indigenous population's exclusion from legal and economic equality. (Also, Women, neither White nor Black, could vote till 1920) Granted, They may have written into the Constitution means that may one day lead to a more perfect Union, but it has been a hard fight. That fight continues to this day. Viva Democracy and the Constitution, in that order.

Oklahoma Labor Fest Slide Show

2011-09-02T23:28:00.002-05:00

Oklahomalaborfest.org

Oklahoma Laborfest Facebook

Tom Cole: Alms to the Rich

2011-08-20T12:20:00.033-05:00

Just as with the Texas Republican Party, Congressman Tom Cole, Oklahoma's 4th District, calls for a National Sales Tax. This includes elimination of: "incomes tax, gift tax, corporate tax, capitol gains tax, payroll tax, and property tax." Wow! sign me up. Who wants to pay taxes? Wait a second, reality is knocking...

Purchasing Power

Dang it, this "NO TAXES" business sounds great till realization gets in on the discussion to spoil it all. Just who will be paying the taxes under this plan, aka bamboozle?

Along with listening to what Tom says, one must listen to what he is not saying. Tom forgets to mention that the greatest burden will go to the poor and it would also place a greater burden on cities and counties that rely heavily on sales tax. Cost at the check out stand, I salute thee as you go up the flag pole.

Remember when, "The money was all appropriated for the top in the hopes that it would trickle down to the needy. Mr. Hoover didn't know that money trickled up. Give it to the people at the bottom and the people at the top will have it before night, anyhow. But it will at least have passed through the poor fellow's hands." -- Will Rogers

For last year, (I don't know if anyone is in the same boat as I am but my boat didn't sink this year) I paid less than half the Federal taxes as normal, hurray for 2010. I was surprised. Normally, April is not my favorite month of the year.

McJobs

Something else bothers me about Tom. I also realize that there is a demand problem in America, unemployed folks don't have a lot of money which results in those unemployed not being able to buy much stuff, even if it is "made in America." They might if they had money. Hence, employers are hesitant to hire since their stuff is not being bought. With Tom Cole in control, how much would unemployed folks have to pay for a loaf of bread or a cantaloupe if: Local, County, State, and Federal fingers were in there taxing the pockets of people barely buying: food, clothes, shelter, and transportation? (Big Government fingers would be in there more than they are now) Wages would have to go up and I don't think Tom of Oklahoma nor the Texas Republican Party, for that matter, have the get-up- and-go to move on decent wages even though I think they should get right on that. Oklahoma. I do wish your Representatives would think for a change.

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2011-08-19T23:18:00.012-05:00

The Tom Cole Town hall meeting was agreeable. How does he do it? He had something agreeable to say to all questioners, even those there to confront him on subjects like: taxes, Medicare, social security, Women's rights, lobbyists, military spending, and deregulation. It was such an agreeable evening that I'm sure if there had been a few babies to kiss, he would have spent the evening kissing babies. That didn't happen, so Tom had only asses to kiss.

The meeting started. After about a 20 minute lecture on how things are in Washington, Tom's staff, young female interns in skirts bulging with lots-a-leg, scampered around the room with a wireless microphone. I saw two of them ( they took turns) throughout the night, I said to myself, "gee, this must be some version of a daytime game show with Tom as the GOP version of Monty Hall." As it turned out, this wasn't far from the truth of it. His supporters were there, of course, the choir; then scattered among the faithful were his non-supporters. All I could hear throughout the evening was, "I agree with you." It was beautiful. Of course he did go on to explain his positions, but he agreed with everyone.

To a learning person, two important wisdoms were gleaned from the experience: 1) How to hand some constituent a microphone and agree with them no matter what, and 2) How to lie about being all for disclosure of sources of money-- the openness of the thing.

Within all this nauseating agreeing, the subject of lobbing was brought up in a question late in the evening. Here's where knowing a man's voting record comes in handy. Tom, in being the perfect game show host, may have not known it but he lied. And since I'm kind, I'll give him some benefit of doubt, or just plain doubt, since he may have been caught up knee deep in it. But, Tom's record on disclosing of money is NO on HR 5175, a "Vote to pass a bill that establishes new disclosure requirements for political advertisements and other regulations for the financing of campaigns and political advertisements." To Cole's credit he does vote in favor of HR 4975, a"Vote to pass a bill that requires more disclosure of lobbying information and which members request earmarked provisions." However, HR 5175, is a big NO. At the end of the night, constituents on Let's Make Tom Cole's Deal Show all received a prize of thinking they heard otherwise.
So remember, fellow Americans, GOP Town Hall meetings can be fun, and educational. First, just bring young cute hotties holding microphones (stop thinking dirty thoughts) And then don't forget to know when and how to agree with everyone. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, there's another ingredient that goes great at an agreement party-- lie, I mean, don't disclose everything about hidden money.

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Michele Bachmann, Renaissance, Taxes, and Serfs

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Michele Bachmann, Renaissance, Taxes, and Serfs

2011-08-14T10:51:00.126-05:00

Why not hate the Renaissance? Why love it? Some Christian Politicians don't care much for the re-birth of Europe (1330-1550) Some even say that today's problems in the U.S.are because of the Renaissance, while others say maybe they read too much Francis Schaeffer.

Medieval Taxing of the Poor

I like to bring everything including religious beliefs into the realm of money and taxes. Here's a thought: maybe some folks today want to be exempt from paying taxes. Maybe these same folks wish not to stick the paying of taxes to themselves-- the rich and politically powerful-- in a fair and just manner. Instead, they may wish to shackle the less powerful working Middle class with the entire burden while still holding to the notion that "We are all in this together." But, darn it, due to the Renaissance, serfdom became increasingly unpopular in most of Western Europe and eventually much of the world--not a cool turn of events if you are one of the rich and politically powerful. A serf, if one must know, in addition to being property (part of the land), paid all the taxes in the pre-Renaissance years.

They paid the taxes.

"In the centuries that followed the collapse of the Roman Empire the line separating slave and serf became less distinct. Of course, both slaves and serf lacked freedom and were subject to the will of the lord. Throughout the long history of medieval serfdom, the serf was required to perform labor services for his lord.", writes Steven Kreis.

"Serfs were laborers who were bound to the land; they formed the lowest social class of the feudal society. Serfs were also defined as people in whose labor landowners held property rights." say Wikipedia. Live stock is another term useful in referring to the serf.

Then the plague came.

Spread of Yersinia pestis

The plague changed much about Europe. "In this suffering and misery of our city, the authority of human and divine laws almost disappeared, for, like other men, the ministers and the executors of the laws were all dead or sick or shut up with their families, so that no duties were carried out. Every man was therefore able to do as he pleased", wrote witness and surviver, Italian writer, Giovanni Boccaccio. (left) Outside the cities, being tied to the Manors may have been the saving grace for many peasants while infected major City trade centers were becoming scenes of horror. In time, however, one significant thing the plague brought on was a shift of power by forcing many serfs off the land. As ex-serfs re-populated the plague ravaged cities, they started to help rebuild Europe; hence the rebirth or Renaissance. They rebuilt it in a manner that they liked. (Much much much more was involved and still life wasn't heaven, mind you)

Out of Serfdom They Looked Back and Called it the Dark Ages

Question: So why should we hate the Renaissance (as it seems Dominionists like Michele Bachmann do)? We don't. And we shouldn't. We should not wish to be opinion-less cows, oops sorry, I mean serfs. Serfs are relatively simple to work with from a Church, or even a State, prospective. It would be helpful to own a whole nation of them, no? Yet, a problem arises in the U.S since feudalism may not be the American way of doing things. It may not be the American Dream. Is there an American Dream? So what is the American Dream? Is it the economic structure of Dark Age Europe? Or is the Dream more in line with freedom from the shackles of feudalism? I'm thinking the answer lies more with freedom from. Sorry, rich and politically powerful, and, sorry, Religious right, a return to feudalism is not the Dream. And though some diluted Americans without thinking may think otherwise, it's not.

"Historically speaking, this simple, if hard, life began to get shaken up with the Renaissance. In the Renaissance, people started to see humanity as the center of the universe, instead of God. In other words, we didn't just look to the church (and other traditional establishments) for the path we were to take. Then came the Reformation, which introduced the idea of each of us being individually responsible for our own soul's salvation.And then came democratic revolutions such as the American and the French revolutions. Now all of a sudden we were supposed to govern ourselves! And then came the industrial revolution, and instead of tilling the soil or making things with our hands, we had to sell our labor in exchange for money. All of a sudden, we became employees and consumers! Then came socialist revolutions such as the Russian and the Chinese, which introduced the idea of participatory economics. You were no longer responsible only for your own well-being, but for fellow workers as well!", writes Eric Fromm. (1900 – 1980) German-American, social psychologist, psychoanalyst, humanistic philosopher, and democratic socialist. The Christian Right's retreat to an imagined backward moving fantasy yesterday-land is an escape from freedom.

Giving Alms to the Rich

Many people in the U.S. still feel that the powerful rich are going to come through for them if we just give them enough time and money so like in a cargo cult waiting for the boat or airship the rich will present themselves, show up, and things will be fine again. The reality is that the rich merely want masses of expendable low wage workers. This has been U.S. history, has it not? Stripping the middle class of all it has worked for is wrong. The anachronistic wanting of "America as it was" is not as wonderful as it is presented on FOX News. There are few today alive who really remember how labor was treated not so long ago in America. Labor was nothing. We were a third world country.

"Most assume that the Republicans want to take us back to the 1950's, but even going back to the 1850's isn't enough for them. They want a return to the Middle Ages -- pre Age of Enlightenment and the Renaissance, when all this independent thinking stuff started--If you listen to the main "thinkers" behind all this rightwing Christian stuff, you find people like RJ Rushdooney, who literally wants Biblical Law to supersede Constitutional Law-- it's PROFOUNDLY anti-American, and it needs to be called out as such." --Randi Rhodes

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