T.G.I.F Rotations: MME's Jazzy Soul

(Check out more cool jazz vibes here &  here.)

Rain always has a tendency of putting one in an introspective mood & today is one of dem dayz! For me, Jazz & classical music provide the sumptuous backdrop for deep thought. As  Hazrat Khan once stated, "From the metaphysical point of view there is nothing that can touch the formless except the art of music which in itself is formless". He pretty much nailed it. Charlie Parker said the same thing, but in a more evocative way, "Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art"

(Note: Enjoy this stream while it lasts - SOPA/PIPA legislation, if passed, will shut it down for sure).

Have a great weekend!


OneLove


:::MME:::

Musings

If Wile E Coyote (aka Super Genius) had enough money to buy all that ACME shit, why didn't he just buy dinner?

(Moral of the story: Sometimes you just have to give up & walk away...or end up like this.)

OneLove


:::MME:::

MME's (Double) Jam Of The Day

Two of my favorite cuts from Stephen Marley's latest RootsReggae classic, "Revelation Pt. 1: The Root of Life".


OneLove


:::MME:::

Camouflaged Excellence

 I struck up a conversation a few weeks ago with a taxi driver in Washington, DC & we almost immediately began chatting away on subjects ranging from politics to technology before reaching my destination. You will be surprised by the number of foreign-born taxi drivers who are college graduates in DC. This particular taxi driver had more than just a bachelor's degree: he was a medical doctor. I have spoken to accountants, businessmen, graduate school teachers, writers/poets & lawyers who moonlighted as cab drivers, but this was the first time speaking to a cab driving doctor. One thing which they all shared in common: they were African. This highlights a little-known but myth-defying fact: African immigrants are the most successful immigrant group in the US in education,  income & employment. Why is this fact not more well-known? Perhaps it is too disconcerting for many to place the African scholar ahead of the pack, but the facts remain :-


=> 48.9 percent of all African immigrants hold a college diploma which  is more than double the rate of white Americans, and quadruple the rate of African Americans.

=> In 1997, 19.4 percent of all adult African immigrants in the United States held a graduate degree, compared to 8.1 percent of adult white Americans and 3.8 percent of adult black Americans in the United States



=> Of the African-born population in the United States age 25 and older,  87.9% reported having a high school degree or higher, compared with 78.8% of Asian-born immigrants and 76.8% of European-born immigrants, respectively.

One factor which I think contributes to the success of many African (& Caribbean) immigrants in the US is the high expectations others have for them - teachers, parents, children, friends, relatives, colleagues. Sadly, the history of institutional/structural/internalized racism in the US has created the opposite affect within many African American, Native American & Latin American communities. The power of expectations should not be dismissed or taken lightly (read this very enlightening study). Kids pick up on it quickly & if all they're experiencing are people low-balling/underestimating them, it is highly likely that they will come to believe it - as countless already have.
 
The stereotype of Asian Americans as the only “model minority” endures, perhaps owing to their high concentration in places like California & New Jersey where they comprise a sizable number of the student population in many premier institutions. However, I think it is more likely the case of a racially-charged American narrative which has rendered the high academic achievements of black immigrants from Africa (& the Caribbean) invisible, as if this truth would collapse some carefully constructed, immaculate order. There's way too much foolishness passing as truth - let's just give credit where credit is due!


OneLove


:::MME:::

Poet's Nook: "Imagination As The Path of Spirit" by John O'Donohue

(Penetrating observations...)

OneLove

:::MME:::

Some Cold Hard Truths

OneLove


:::MME:::

Musings

In the point of rest at the center of our being, 

We encounter a world where all things are at rest in the same way.

Then a tree becomes a mystery, a cloud a revelation, 

Each man a cosmos of whose riches we can only catch glimpses.

The life of simplicity is simple, but it opens to us a book

In which we never get beyond the first syllable.

~Dag Hammarskjöld, Markings

OneLove

::::MME::::

Calculated Destruction

I won't pretend to know the details of the age-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but one thing is clear: Israel's heavy-handedness towards the poor inhabitants of Palestine would not have been possible without the billions of dollars in US military aid, numerous UN vetoes cast by Washington, bullying of lesser powers & the lack of courage & honesty from the US media that, for the most part, sways public opinion in support of the Israeli position. One should keep in mind that at one time Nelson Mandela & the ANC were considered terrorists by the US media/government. U.S. officials justified their dealings with the apartheid government by pointing to the ANC's place on the State Department's list of terrorist groups. The bottom line is this: The unremitting ethnic cleansing (& demonization) of the Palestinians will continue unless we become better informed & join the voices of resistance. 


Stay alert...


OneLove


:::MME:::

T.G.I.F Rotations: MME's Throwback Sugar Shack

This playlist takes an ol' playa back to a time when the high-top fade, Members Only/FUBU windbreaker jackets & nut-hugger shorts w/long tube socks (see NBA) thankfully evolved to the looser, more manly gear. Where did the time go?!! Oh well, with the high-top now faded & the Members Only jacket ridiculed out of existence with the rise of hip urban designers, all that remains is the blazin' music of that period which I feature on this playlist (I threw in  a couple of golden oldies as well--couldn't resist! )

Have a great weekend folks!


(More throwback joints here & here ).

OneLove


:::MME:::

MME's (Double) Jam of The Day

Two of my favorite jams by the legendary R&B group Heatwave. 

OneLove


:::MME:::

The Blackout

Censorship is to art as lynching is to justice.
~Henry Louis Gates

The first condition of progress is the removal of censorship.
~George Bernard Shaw




What if-
-You were to sing your favorite song then proceed to post it on a video sharing site like YouTube? A: You & your screechy voice may be sued for copyright infringement.
-You used or published a logo or trademark of corporation X and that corporation doesn’t fancy your website (regardless if you intended to use the logo/trademark as a critique or promotional/instructional tool)? A: You and your freedom of expression may be muzzled.
-The  House of Representatives' Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Senate's Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) were in existence when Facebook, YouTube or Twitter were created? A: The Internet as we know it (for those of us outside the orb of the 13 countries that censor the Internet) would be drastically different. 

These bills being debated right now, if enacted, would affect a countless number of Internet users who have no idea of intellectual property violations & will  force websites (like this one) to block access to other sites suspected of some vaguely-defined copyright breaches. Are we witnessing the early stages of American Fascism or are we already there? It can (or may have) come like a thief in the night that escapes (has escaped) easy detection.Everything may seem normal on the surface - folks going to work, voting, shopping, etc - but just below the surface, something has changed: We no longer matter in this "democracy" as control of the government of the people, by the people, for the people has shifted to a small and privileged group who rule for the benefit of their wealthy peers and corporate patrons. Be aware. Here is a good infographic of what is at stake here


The silver lining is even if Congress approves the bills, President Barack Obama may decide to veto them.The White House issued a statement over the weekend saying that "we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cyber-security risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global internet".

Take action  here or  here.

OneLove

::MME:: 

The End Of An Era?

(Very interesting discussion...Not exactly the best panel, I must admit, but they do raise some very critical points worth thinking about).

"Nationalism is our form of incest, is our idolatry, is our insanity. "Patriotism” is its cult. It should hardly be necessary to say, that by "patriotism” I mean that attitude which puts the own nation above humanity, above the principles of truth and justice; not the loving interest in one’s own nation, which is the concern with the nation’s spiritual as much as with its material welfare — never with its power over other nations. Just as love for one individual which excludes the love for others is not love, love for one’s country which is not part of one’s love for humanity is not love, but idolatrous worship."

- Erich Fromm


OneLove


:::MME:::

Musings

(image via to wake/to see)

Your love should never be offered to the mouth of a stranger,
Only to someone
Who has the valor and daring
To cut pieces of their soul off with a knife
Then weave them into a blanket
To protect you.

~ Hafiz

OneLove

:::::::MME:::::::

T.G.I.F Rotations: The Unforgettable Amy Winehouse

Drift up, lovely smoke, drift up

Her voice was like smoke
that rose in tune to the
soul-shaft rumblings
of a coal-consuming furnace.

Drift up, lovely smoke, drift up

Her eyes were like smoke
that revealed and concealed
a flame too wise for believing
in love that is stronger than death.

Drift up, lovely smoke, drift up

Her arms were trellises
entwined by smoky vines
clinging to the rise and fall
of each despairing note.

Drift up, lovely smoke, drift up

~David A.Welch

Amy's tormented genius crafted lyrics that opened our souls to her anguish,vulnerability & unadorned honesty. Her art was her pain and you can't help but be drawn into her audible sound painting. I recently opined to a friend that it seems odd that so many highly gifted people burned out so early. Carl Jung once stated, “Great talents are the most lovely and often the most dangerous fruits on the tree of humanity. They hang on the most slender twigs that are easily snapped off.” Tragically spot-on. I know I left out some of her more popular hits like "F*** Me Pumps" & "Rehab"on this playlist, but they never resonated with me as much as these selections--hope you enjoy.

Have a great weekend good people..

OneLove

::::MME::::
 

Poet's Nook: "In Search of a Moment" by Octavio Paz

From birth to death time surrounds us

with its intangible walls.

We fall with the centuries, the years, the minutes.

Is time only a falling, only a wall?

For a moment, sometimes, we see

not with our eyes but with our thoughts

time resting in a pause.

The world half-opens and we glimpse

the immaculate kingdom,

the pure forms, presences

unmoving, floating

on the hour, a river stopped:

truth, beauty, numbers, ideas

and goodness, a word buried

in our century.

A moment without weight or duration,

a moment outside the moment:

thought sees, our eyes think.

~ Octavio Paz

                                                                    OneLove
                                                                   ::::MME:::

Conscious Eating

So what do you get when your government spends more than any other nation in the world  on health care? You would expect a healthier population with lower rates of disease & access to quality & affordable health care for all. However, as many of you know by now, we're better off going to Columbia or Barbados to get a higher quality of health care. The politics of health care is complicated, but in a nutshell, if my understanding is correct, it goes something like this: As stated, we (the US population) spend more than anyone else in the world on health care. Each health insurer adds its' bureaucracy,  outrageous salaries/bonuses, advertising,& profits to the actual cost of providing care. All of  this money is siphoned away from actual health care, but it pays for a  broken system that often makes it harder to receive the care we’ve already goddamn paid for! Health insurers don't give a crap about us - they're in it for the money & their primary concern is consequently with the shareholders. These jokers on Capitol Hill - & President Obama's backtracking on a universal single-payer system - know the costs of siding with the majority of citizens who want a health care system that works - their re-election. 

This documentary is quite disturbing, but it just might save your life I have to give credit to a buddy of mine who runs & maintains a great website (You-Be-Fit) & also to my sister who watches everything she puts into her mouth as if her very life depended on it - & it does!! They have both been instrumental in my growing awareness of my own health.

(Well..bye bye mozarella sticks w/marinara sauce & so long glazed doughnuts w/ shimmering sprinkles - I will miss your enchanting & decadent charms....(sniff)...)


OneLove


:::MME:::

MME's Jam Of The Day

This cut takes me back to when I first came to the USA, fresh off the banana boat & ready for the world! The beat is still infectious & the lyrics timeless. In fact, this has to be one of the few funked-up yet existentially poignant jams to make it to prime time...


"Searching for a destiny that's mine
There's another place, another time
Touching many hearts along the way
Hopin' that I'll never have to say"


This is nothing but our Ego which is always searching for something somewhere/anywhere as if the present moment is not enough.


"Follow your emotions anywhere
Is it really magic in the air?
Never let your feelings get you down
Open up your eyes and look around"


We all know that following our emotions can be a double-edged sword. If we follow & act upon our darker emotions w/ our Ego at the controls then the consequences can work against us & we end up hurting others. By opening our eyes, waking up and loosening the grip of the Ego, we step closer to the better angels of our nature....The Ego is but an illusion.


OneLove


:::MME:::

The Threat The Weak-Minded

There is absolutely no reason in this day & age for people to be so ridiculously ignorant. When I say ignorant, I am not implying that one needs a degree or certifications to escape that pejorative label as some of  the most ignorant people I've ever met have college/post-graduate degrees. Ignorance to me implies a shutting off of one's critical faculties in order to maintain a degree of cognitive coherence & harmony. It's too disturbing to consider contrary viewpoints for some so instead of considering the challenges head-on (& possibly reformulating their position(s)), it's easier to remain in some unlit, dusty corner where other like-minded mice dwell. That's how I think of the Tea Party supporters. They're not totally to blame as this video demonstrates, but the level of gullibility/unquestioning acceptance of propaganda truly astounds. The notion of being skeptical & verifying the facts for oneself seems to escape this tiresome but potentially dangerous group. Remember: Hitler had a nation under his spell during Germany's worst atrocities - beware the power of propaganda & damn it - think for yourselves!!

OneLove


:::MME:::

Musings

                                       (excerpt from: The Last Rites of the Bokononist Faith)

God made mud. 

God got lonesome. 

So God said to some of the mud, "Sit up!" 

"See all I've made," said God, "the hills, the sea, the sky, the stars."

.

And I was some of the mud that got to sit up and look around. 

Lucky me, lucky mud.

.

I, mud, sat up and saw what a nice job God had done. 

Nice going, God. 

Nobody but you could have done it, God! I certainly couldn't have. 

I feel very unimportant compared to You. 

The only way I can feel the least bit important is to think of all the mud

that didn't even get to sit up and look around. 

I got so much, and most mud got so little. 

Thank you for the honor!

.

Now mud lies down again and goes to sleep. 

What memories for mud to have! 

What interesting other kinds of sitting-up mud I met! 

I loved everything I saw! 

Good night. 

.

~ Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

(Cat's Cradle)

OneLove
:::::MME:::::

Pedagogical Excellence

I thoroughly enjoyed this documentary which centers on a remarkable instructor who teaches his students not only how to be good students, but how to live as well. He does a fantastic job in mentoring these 4th graders & actively engaging them in the learning process, teamwork, community, the importance of openness, coping strategies, having compassion and the harm caused by bullying. I wish all teachers could be like this! This would be a different world indeed.


OneLove


:::MME:::

Poet's Nook: "Oceans" by Juan Ramon Jimenez

I have a feeling that my boat

has struck, down there in the depths,

against a great thing.

.

And nothing

happens! Nothing... Silence... Waves...

.

-Nothing happens? Or has everything happened,

and are we standing now, quietly, in the new life?

.

~ Juan Ramon Jimenez

(This piece reaches deep....I think everyone can feel what he's trying to convey here. Jimenez himself describes the process of wording the sublimely indescribable: "“Inner poetry eludes words. When one wishes to express something profound, one does not express it in jingles. In my first period I used adjectives, later the adjectives became substantives. Literary artistry is constant suffering for the poet; one doubts the exactness of words, their ability to express what we feel within us. We strive to find that spirited asset, the inner essence.”....Beautiful!!)


OneLove


:::MME:::

T.G.I.F Rotations: The Music of Sona Jobarteh

Very interesting interview....

Sona Jobarteh is quite an exceptional talent. The selections above are from her latest release Fasiya . Check out this review which highlights this CD beautifully. Also listen to the music she did for the movie Motherland (preview in iTunes) here.

OneLove


:::MME:::

MME's Jam Of The Day

What a smooth, jazzy joint by Melody Gardot! Kinda sounds like a young Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone & Astrud Gilberto all rolled up into one. The lyrics to this song, "If The Stars Were Mine", remind me of a Pablo Neruda poem--simple yet sensuous...

If the world was mine
I'd paint it gold and green
I'd make the oceans orange
For a brilliant color scheme

I would color all the mountains
Make the sky forever blue
So the world would be a painting
And I'd live inside with you


If the world was mine
I'd tell you what I'd do
I'd wrap the world in ribbons
And then give it all to you

I'd teach the birds such lovely words
And make 'em sing for you
I'd put those stars right in a jar and
Give them all to you


The back story of her sound is just as intriguing as her voice - check out her story here.  Another favorite of mine is her beautiful Latin-Jazz interpretation of "Over the Rainbow":

OneLove

:::MME:::

Reading Rant: The Works of Chris Hedges

I found this interview of noted author & activist Chris Hedges. quite interesting...He speaks deeply on varied subjects, from the fall of empires to spirituality to the role of Oprah Winfrey in a decaying society. I had to take a second & third listen throughout this interview as his insights are quite profound.

Absorb & reflect....


OneLove


:::MME:::

Musings

OneLove


:::MME:::

Poet's Nook: "Pedagogue of Young Gods" by Saul Williams

(saul williams - pedagogue)

Are you afraid to have someone believe in you?
Can you commit to your ideals?
Even if you think nothing of it,
are you willing to allow others to think the world of it,
and of you?

Pedagogue of Young Gods.

All slavery ever does is free you.
All anyone ever does is an example.
All power is just collective energy.
To abuse the privilege is to sell your soul
and that is to rent with the illusion of owning.
We are the landlords.
If you misunderstand us,
you're dead and deserve your demise.
Your dominion is your overthrow.
The controllers are controlled.
Spread the word,
it will save you
and depends on you to be understood.
There is no school bell, only nursery.
Our heroes reward us with stars,
ever-still, ever-moving.
We sing to ourselves in our cars.
Music is our sanctuary.
Anywhere you put it it's ours.
Our living voice,
our living testament.
We dream aloud,
we scream and shout.
Our courage will defeat them.
Our struggle will unite us.
Our wisdom is ourselves,
our resources our own,
our blood ocean,
our skin oil.
We are mountain and waterfall,
they cannot contain us.
Their prisons will not restrain us,
their customs will not un-name us.
We are what they know in their hearts,
you guessed it,
you knew that,
you felt it,
you tried to doubt it,
denied it,
but you knew it,
ain't nobody had to tell you.
We had them from the start.
A world apart, a world within,
ancient and luminous.
The before before and the hereafter.
We are the essence of laughter.
The comforting prayer
and the gatekeepers
and the street-sweepers.
A mountain of ports outside of a city of dreams.
A bird that prays, yet offers its wingspan to the wind.
Things are not as they seem.
We hover above while giving the appearance of scurrying below.
All is as it should be.
We are more than we know.
More than we hoped and dreamed,
a generation of generators,
a power source and supply.
The better we learn to live,
the better we learn to die.
Old as anything,
old as everything,
we are participants in a ritual
older than our collective memory,
a marriage of heart and mind,
secular and divine.

All is as it should be.
Slavery carefully bred us.
No child of Greece or Rome can behead us.
We are ahead of our time.
Slavery was simply a state of mind.
Hip-hop reminded us of confidence.
Overcoming now is simply common sense.
You deserve the ice and the riches of Solomon.
But don't let warped values turn you into hollow men.
Education is the only thing given that cannot be taken.
Learn to think for yourself,
analyze the forsaken.
Pimp your fears,
surrender to love,
dance all night when you need to.
Play this song for a thug,
let 'em know ain't no judgment.
We all hustle and grind,
any system against us is against the divine.
But there's no sense of glory in repenting,
and repeating,
their mistakes.
You have a greater calling.
Answering it is all it takes.
Take a second to hear this
and go back about your day.
Know that laws don't govern us,
we're governed by what we say.
What we think, why we think it, how we handle.
Place no blame, point no fingers, take your aim.

Shoot to kill. The bullshit.

(Stay alert good people..)


OneLove


:::MME:::

From Endings, New Beginnings

“A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.” ~Oscar Wilde

 As 2011 draws to a close, I shudder at the depth & magnitude of what has happened/is happening to our society/world & what may await us in the year(s) to come. On a personal level, I am thankful for being here right now - breathing, thriving  & forever hoping - and pray that we can all escape the vortex of turmoil, greed, manipulation for power and possession & avarice. It's hard for me to be optimistic about what's going on in the world right now, but I will remain a prisoner of hope. I end the year & begin the new on the wise words of the great Uruguayan writer/poet, Eduardo Galeano. In many ways, his vision of a better world in this poem prefigured the countless souls the world over who dare challenge the madness of our condition :-


 The Right To Dream (slightly abridged)

Although we cannot imagine the time to come, 

At the very least we have the right to imagine how we would like it to be.

In 1948 and 1976 the United Nations proclaimed extensive declarations of human rights; 

But the vast majority of humanity possesses no rights other than those of 

watching, listening and remaining mute. 

What would it be like if we began to exercise the never proclaimed right to dream? 

What if we raved without constraints for a while?

Let us fix our eyes beyond infamy and imagine a possible world.

The air would be cleansed of all pollution, 

Except that which emanates from human fear and human passions.

In the streets automobiles would be run over by dogs;

People would neither be driven by cars nor programmed by computers 

Nor bought by supermarkets nor stared at by TV’s. 

The television would cease to be the most important member of the family; 

It would be treated like the iron or the washing machine.

People would work to live instead of living to work. 

The crime of stupidity would be added to the penal code, a crime committed by those 

Who live to accumulate or hoard rather than simply to live.

Economists will no longer measure standards of living by levels of consumption 

Nor the quality of life by how many things one owns. 

Cooks will no longer imagine that lobsters enjoy being boiled alive. 

Historians will no longer believe that countries appreciate being invaded. 

Politicians will no longer conclude that the poor are happy eating promises.

Solemnity will no longer be considered a virtue, 

& no one will take anyone seriously who cannot laugh at him or herself.

Death and money will lose their magic powers, 

& neither through death nor fortune will the criminal become a sainted knight.

The world will no longer go to war against the poor but against poverty. 

& the weapons industry will be forced to declare itself bankrupt.

Food will no longer be considered merchandise because food is a human right. 

No one will die of hunger because no one will die of obesity. 

Street children will no longer be treated as if they are garbage 

Because there will no longer be children living in the streets.

Rich children will no longer be treated like gold, because there won’t be any rich children. Education won’t be the privilege of those who can buy it. 

The police won’t be the curse of those who cannot buy them. 

Justice and freedom, those Siamese twins condemned to separation, 

Will finally be rejoined, back to back and inseparable.

The Church will also dictate another commandment, one that God forgot: 

"You will love nature, of which you are a part." 

The world’s deserts will be replanted, along with the deserts of the heart. 

We will be the compatriots and contemporaries of all those willing to work for justice&beauty, No matter where they were born or where they live. 

The frontiers of maps and of time will become meaningless. 

Perfection will continue to be the boring privilege of the gods,

But in this clumsy and messed up world, 

each night will be lived as if it were the last 

...& each day as if it were the first......

OneLove

:::MME:::

Peace & Good Tidings To You

Also check out the following Xmas selections by St. Lucia's own, Ronald Boo Hinkson & The Tru-Tones:

Pentecost

Better a jungle in the head

than rootless concrete.

Better to stand bewildered

by the fireflies' crooked street;

winter lamps do not show

where the sidewalk is lost,

nor can these tongues of snow

speak for the Holy Ghost;

the self-increasing silence

of words dropped from a roof

points along iron railings,

direction, in not proof.

But best is this night surf

with slow scriptures of sand,

that sends, not quite a seraph,

but a late cormorant,

whose fading cry propels

through phosphorescent shoal

what, in my childhood gospels,

used to be called the Soul.

Aah yes....Given that I am away from the warm, festive delights of my beautiful island of St. Lucia this season, I chose the above poem by St Lucia's very own Nobel Laureate, Derek Walcott, out of a sense of deep nostalgia. This is primarily a poem about the nature of belonging. The Christmas season embodies this need to belong to something bigger than oneself (God, family, land...). Not to downplay the beauty of snow and the warmth of being inside with loved ones or playing outside in the snow, this poem highlights the power of the Caribbean sea/land on one's soul. For Walcott, and I would gather for many people of Caribbean descent, there is a strong contrast between spending Christmas in a cold Northern metropolis & spending it in the wild freedom of an island's landscape surrounded by childhood friends & family. Of course, Walcott's genius frames this contrast in the most beautiful way that few can imitate. 


I sincerely wish you all a safe, deeply meditative & enjoyable Christmas season and an auspicious 2012. 


OneLove


::::MME::::

Poet's Nook: "Tron" by Ursula Rucker

(I understand that Grooveshark cannot play in some countries, so here is a link to this masterpiece)


 I was thinking
I want to do away with
the Technology Section of the newspaper
All talk of new-fangled/bigger/faster thingamajigs
I want the world to slow down
                                    look around
                                          take notice
To who's standing /living /breathing /struggling
Right next to you 
And i know this sounds like a naive old-fashioned pipe dream 
But I just can't stand how machines move forward
                      while people stand still

Are cell phones gonna bring about world peace?
Or stop the negative shit that happens in the street?
I realize we cannot escape or halt technological advance
But can we balance humanity with machinery?
Can we find a way to talk /to see /to spend time with each other
                         face to face
                        voice to voice
                        heart to heart
With no gadgets as the middlemen?

Can we find that...find ...balance between machinery and humanty?
Can we......can we......can we.......find that... find... find balance
Between machinery and humanity?

Can we......???


OneLove


:::MME:::

Farewell Christopher Hitchens (1949 - 2011)

Christopher Hitchens—the incomparable critic, masterful rhetorician, fiery wit, and fearless bon vivant (Source)

I became a fan of Christopher Hitchens when I first picked up a copy of The Nation many moons ago (in the Minority Report bi-weekly column). The thing I discovered about Hitchens quite early, judging from his writings, was that he didn't give a f*** about what people thought--he said what he meant/meant what he said. That was something I had a problem with earlier as I didn't know where to place him. In one moment he was my intellectual hero when he tore into Henry Kissinger & aligned himself with another hero, the late great Edward Said, and in another moment I wanted to kick his ass for trashing Noam Chomsky, supporting Bush's foreign policy & pretending to know all that there was to know about religion (his over-reliance on pure reason in matters that can barely be explained by it, was deeply flawed & contradictory, in my view). Years later, it dawned on me that I was doing what most of us tend to do: idealizing & categorizing. The thing is, the people we most admire tend to disappoint (i.e they don't live up to the image we have constructed)& the ideas which we hold on to so tightly, frequently unravel with new information, re-imagination, observation, revelation--i.e, they turn to dust. Hitchens' independent thinking, which raged across the ideological spectrum, & his enmity towards people who were convinced of their absolute certainty, were exemplary.I may not have agreed with a lot of what he uttered/wrote (much of it quite crude & condescending)  , but I grudgingly respected his gumption which is sorely lacking in journalism that brims with the spineless, the complacent & the disingenuous. Below are some of my favorite quotes from Hitchens:

“The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks.” 

“We live only a few conscious decades, and we fret ourselves enough for several lifetimes.”  

'Good people do good things. Evil people do evil things. If you want a good person to do an evil thing, that takes religion.'”

“What better way for a ruling class to claim and hold power than to pose as the defenders of the nation.”  

(On Henry Kissinger, but applies to many): “His own lonely impunity is rank; it smells to heaven. If it is allowed to persist then we shall shamefully vindicate the ancient philosopher Anacharsis, who maintained that laws were like cobwebs; strong enough to detain only the weak, and too weak to hold the strong. In the name of innumerable victims known and unknown, it is time for justice to take a hand."

“Hero­ism breaks its heart, and ide­al­ism its back, on the intran­si­gence of the cred­u­lous and the mediocre, manip­u­lated by the cyn­i­cal and the corrupt.”  

"I devoutly believe that words ought to be weapons. That is why I got into this business in the first place. I don't seek the title of 'inoffensive,' which I think is one of the nastiest things that could be said about an individual writer."

"The fox knows many small things, whereas the hedgehog knows one big thing. Ronald Reagan was neither a fox nor a hedgehog. He was as dumb as a stump."

"To be in opposition is not to be a nihilist. And there is no decent or charted way of making a living at it. It is something you are, and not something you do." 

“The one thing that the racist can never manage is anything like discrimination: he is indiscriminate by definition.” 

"Human decency is not derived from religion. It precedes it.”

“What is it you most dislike? Stupidity, especially in its nastiest forms of racism and superstition.” 

“Organised religion is violent, irrational, intolerant, allied to racism, tribalism, and bigotry, invested in ignorance and hostile to free inquiry, contemptuous of women and coercive toward children.”  

“I try to deny myself any illusions or delusions, and I think that this perhaps entitles me to try and deny the same to others, at least as long as they refuse to keep their fantasies to themselves.”  

“ Your favorite virtue? An appreciation for irony.”

“I have not been able to discover whether there exists a precise French equivalent for the common Anglo-American expression 'killing time.' It's a very crass and breezy expression, when you ponder it for a moment, considering that time, after all, is killing us.”  

“There can be no progress without head-on confrontation."

“He's a man [George W. Bush] who is lucky to be governor of Texas. He is a man who is unusually incurious, abnormally unintelligent, amazingly inarticulate, fantastically uncultured, extraordinarily uneducated, and apparently quite proud of all these things.”  

“Part of the function of memory is to forget; the omni-retentive mind will break down and produce at best an idiot savant who can recite a telephone book, and at worst a person to whom every grudge and slight is as yesterday's.” 

"The person who is certain, and who claims divine warrant for his certainty, belongs now to the infancy of our species. "

"Beware the irrational, however seductive. Shun the ‘transcendent’ and all who invite you to subordinate or annihilate yourself. Distrust compassion; prefer dignity for yourself and others. Don’t be afraid to be thought arrogant or selfish. Picture all experts as if they were mammals. Never be a spectator of unfairness or stupidity. Seek out argument and disputation for their own sake; the grave will supply plenty of time for silence. Suspect your own motives, and all excuses. Do not live for others any more than you would expect others to live for you."

  ....& a video tribute to the irksome wit...



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:::MME:::