Electoral Politics: The Illusion of Choice

(political reality)

This past week on my way to & from work, I saw a number of folks standing on the side of the road with big signs which read "Vote Democratic: Help Obama Out", "Vote Early", "Vote for Continued Change", & so on. This was to be expected as my area is the third most Democratic state. What has always bothered me about electoral politics in the U.S is the fact that it is, for the most part, a sham. I don't need a civics lesson to know the importance of voting and the hard-earned right to participate in the democratic process, especially for people of color like myself. I also understand that socio-political change is a very slow process so one should not expect structural and institutional change to happen overnight. OK--I get that.

What has gone terribly wrong in electoral politics in the U.S is the fact that Big Money has a more powerful influence over electoral choices & outcomes, especially now after the Supreme Court this past January opened the floodgates to allow big corporations to, without any limits, fund any candidate or issue of their choice. Of course, corporations have been doing this for quite some time (soft money) in the shadows, but now direct corporate campaign finance is law which signals the closing of the door to any third party that had any notions of taking on the two-headed Hydra (Democrats & Republicans) running the block.Your vote, what so many died for to give you this right, has been rendered to nothing but toilet paper.Every politician, including the President,  can now be legally purchased lock, stock and barrel. And who benefits? Not you, not me, but the health care, banking, investment & oil and gas industries. The dirty water that is politics is now a fucking swamp (examine what the billionaire Koch brothers are doing to influence the current elections as ONE instance of how the deck is stacked against us).

So on November 2nd when you go out to vote, keep in mind what we're up against. As the late great George Carlin once observed, “The next time they give you all that civic bullshit about voting, keep in mind that Hitler was elected in a full, free democratic election”.Here are some more shards of sanity from Carlin:



If voting changed anything, they'd abolish it-Ken Livingstone

Peace

::::MME::::

MME's Jam Of The Day

 Listening to religious/spiritual music from various faith traditions is one of my many joys. From Youssou N'Dour's Sufi classic, "Medina" to Andreas Vollenweider's non-denominational, "Drown in Pale Light" to the Hasidic reggae chant of Matisyahu's, "I Will Be Light", the love & devotion shines through regardless. One of my favorite contemporary Christian pieces is "Ordinary Just Won't Do" by Commissioned. Their harmonies are celestial & deeply inspiring and have left a lasting impression on artists who came after them (BoyzIIMen, 112, Dru Hill....). These brothers can saaang.....







Music is love in search of a word.  ~Sidney Lanier


Peace & Guidance


:::MME:::

Heart of Darkness

I have read many news articles, books, magazines & seen many interviews of scholars & experts either for or against the Israeli military occupation of Palestinian lands. However persuasive both sides may appear to be, it is from the mouths of babes & sucklings that the unadorned truth is uttered to still the heart of Man and his pretensions.

Listen to this Palestinian child decry her peoples occupation, violation & dehumanization by the state of Israel. If only the leaders of the world would pay attention to the children & thereby reclaim their humanity & get to the real cause of the unending cycle of violence......




It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare. ~Mark Twain


OneLove

:::MME:::

An Easy Seduction: Digital Narcissism

 A lot of us hesitated to get on board the Facebook Express for a variety of valid reasons, chief among them, the inherent vanity of the platform itself. Some of us have succumbed to the need to simply communicate with friends & family with no additional frills like explaining what we're doing every minute or where we're going to dinner tonight. Sure enough, many people have been compromised by their words, images & whereabouts on Facebook, foolishly ignoring its various privacy settings. We have all read the stories of fired or prospective employees, husbands, wives, lovers, friends & foes who have all been scorched by what they chose to share with the world. Let's not even mention our children & their quickly-vanishing innocence through this vortex of vacuity. 

Unsurprisingly, the tentacles of the National Security State are wrapped tightly around Facebook and other social networks mining our personal lives for evidence of malfeasance of various sorts. According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Department of Homeland Security operates its "Social Networking Monitoring Center" to keep tabs on what we're saying/doin. Indeed, George Orwell's Big Brother nightmare now has a more interesting twist: our narcissistic complicity. (Read the details of EFF's lawsuit here.)

Stay conscious.

OneLove!

::::MME::::

Empire FAIL

“As human beings we have the most extraordinary capacity for evil. We can perpetrate some of the most horrendous atrocities. That would be awful if that was the end of the story. But, exhilaratingly, people also have an incredible capacity for good. People who should have been consumed by anger and bitterness and lust for revenge have shown in so many instances a remarkable magnanimity, a nobility of spirit. That's the chief lesson I have learned. That in spite of all the horror of injustice and oppression, and the sense that those who perpetrate evil tend to appear invincible, the texture of our universe is one where there is no question at all but that good and laughter and justice will prevail. In the end, the perpetrators of injustice or oppression, the ones who strut the stage of the world often seemingly unbeatable — there is no doubt at all that they will bite the dust. (Laughs) Wonderful! Wonderful! Wonderful!”.~~~Archbishop Desmond Tutu 

~~Follow the money & you will discover the Puppet Masters~~

Peace & Guidance

::::MME::::

Obscure (& Not So Obscure) Rhythms

I am sure most folks have wondered from time to time why the best songs on any given CD are not the ones promoted or made into singles. I can recall classic Barry White, Bee Gees, Commodores & Prince albums that had a number of obscure "fillers" that sounded better to me than the promoted pieces. Sometimes the intended hits are overshadowed by B-side tracks--Prince's "Erotic City" (B-side)sounded better than "Let's Go Crazy", Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" (B-side) was better than the crappy "Substitute" & Bill Withers "Aint No Sunshine" (B-side) was better than the A-side "Harlem". For the most part, these "fillers" remain on the album/CD and not released at all like many of the songs on the following playlist. You have to dig deep sometimes to find quality.....




Find more music like this on Soul Commune


MME's SoulCommune Playlist


Peace & Guidance

:::MME:::

"We are simply, dramatically stupid": An Interview with Manfred Max-Neef

Chilean economist Manfred Max-Nee gave a fascinating interview with Amy Goodman yesterday which should be closely listened to. Two observations he made really struck me:

"We have reached a point in our evolution in which we know a lot. We know a hell of a lot. But we understand very little. Never in human history has there been such an accumulation of knowledge like in the last 100 years. Look how we are. What was that knowledge for? What did we do with it? And the point is that knowledge alone is not enough, that we lack understanding."


"We are simply, dramatically stupid. We act systematically against the evidences we have. We know everything that should not be done. There’s nobody that doesn’t know that. Particularly the big politicians know exactly what should not be done. Yet they do it."
Check it out:

(PART 2)

Transcript:  

“The wise understand by themselves; fools follow the reports of others”-Tibetan Proverb


Be Guided


::MixMasterE::

Musings

“Night, the beloved. Night, when words fade and things come alive. 

When the destructive analysis of day is done, and all that is truly important

Becomes whole and sound again. 

When man reassembles his fragmentary self

..and grows with the calm of a tree...”

OneLove


:::::MixMaster E::::::

Dangerous Distractions

Celebrity culture is a cancer to the living soul. Not a day passes when we are not drenched in the lifestyles of the priveleged celebrity--where they vacation, what car(s) they drive, their palatial mansion(s), their position on Forbes Wealthiest or their latest multi-million scheme. The Celebrity has become a Demi-God. When they cry, we cry. When they die, we mourn. With some thought, one should question the utter bullshit of it all. .

Millions of dollars are spent on studying & altering human behavior towards controllable & profitable ends for a select few at the expense of the bamboozled many. From as early as the 1920s, it was evident that perceptions & opinions could be manipulated by using the subconscious.Hence, we have today the socially-engineered herd behaviour of 'preferring' certain brands, ideologies or the lastest flavor of the month (Lady Gaga, Vans clothing line, Kindle 3G eReader, etc). We blindly think that the choices are ours to make without recognizing the deeper forces at play.

Meanwhile, back on the ranch, income inequality is at record levels, the poor citizens of this Earth getting poorer, sicker & more exploited every day and the ecosystem is under severe disress with the now prevailing opinion that we have reached an irreversible point putting us all in jeopardy. One can surmise that the powerful commercial interests (& the politicians they buy) are hell-bent on keeping us close-minded, depoliticized and indifferent to the chaos.It's good for business.

This is where the antics of the slavish artist comes in. Where the downfall of a politician or businessman grabs the spotlight. Where the latest curvacious model or entertainer steals the show. Where the latest infidelity of the deified  entertainer/athlete/businessman takes center stage...and so it goes....This constant flow of decontextualized fluff filling the air and rendering us mute & defanged (well, that is the aim). Those who control the media know exactly what they are doing.

Governments notoriously misappropiate & squander money as the politicians have to pay off the rich donors who sponsored them in the first place, so nothing short of taking it to the streets will ever change this unsavory paradigm. It's funny how money becomes available for some bank bailout or how the US government can spend more than half a trillion dollars on military expenditures annually, but will get bent out of shape to invest more for education, environmental management/sustainability or unemployment benefits. What a racket! It's the biggest con in the world! The world can be teetering on the brink of destruction but the profiteers will still draw your blood.

This is why I find this celebrity culture so loathesome & dangerous--we are entertaining ourselves to death as Neil Postman wisely observed. Our minds have been hijacked & led away from what is real & vital . We have been primed to buy the latest gadget, fashion or vehicle while Rome burns. Jay-Z can make Forbes list & buy Beyonce an exclusive island for $20 million yet the folks in his hometown of Bedford-Stuyvesant (New York) suffer from the highest poverty rates, high school drop-outs, hunger & homicides in the region.That $20 million sure could have done a lot of good in Bedford-Stuyvesant instead of it being wasted on some over-rated diva. This is part of the the danger that besieges us.....

Be Guided.

:::MixMaster E::::

Don't Give Up

Something has gone terribly wrong. We can all feel it...No need to elaborate.One thing that remains glaringly obvious to me about our journey here on this beautiful blue orb is our capacity to endure the most onerous circumstances yet hold on to the flimsiest threads of hope. This impulse seems as natural as the air we breathe & is arguably what has allowed us to still be here as a species.

Herbie Hancock's latest masterpiece, 'The Imagine Project', is a masterful, cross-cultural, transpersonal gumbo which I enjoyed thoroughly. 'Don't Give Up' is the best cut on the album, in my opinion.It captures the pulse of our collective nature & provides the soundtrack to the teeming, suffering humanity looking for that silver lining...

Be Guided.

::MIXMASTER E:::

Concept: Music as a Starting Point in a Mind's Liberation

 

...and through a black hole in the fabric of a weirdly fantastic spacetime continuum, she flashed through back to the year 2010 mantled in the joyful melodies of the spheres & a simple mission: to save us from ourselves.




Now, if only she can avoid the vortex of commercial crassness, poisonous fame and a retinue of make-up artists to mask her true beauty before returning home to her sphere of endless possibilities.....

“When I look into the future I see danger in its eyes/Babies die before they’re born and no one ever smiles/The writers and the artists are all paid to tell us lies/To keep us locked inside…”~~Lyrics from "Locked Inside".

Keep your third eye open (it will save you).

::MME::

The Feminine Mystique

   

Woman

   will define herself... naturally. 

   will talk/walk/live/&love her images. 

   her beauty will be. 

   the only way to be is to be. 

   Man, absorb her. u don't need
   music to move; your movement toward her
   is music 

   & she'll do more than dance.

-Haki Madhubuti

 















Peace


:::MIXMASTER E::::

..the mystery of ourselves..

~Nasa scientists have just discovered what they believe is fresh evidence of life on Enceladus, one of Saturn's seven moons~

We all wonder about life & its origins whenever we gaze upon a cloudless, starlit sky. Theories abound from Charles Darwin's "Origins" to Chandra Wickramasinghe of Cardiff University whose new research "overwhelmingly" supports the view that human life started from outside our Earth (he claimed microbes from outer space arrived on Earth from comets, which then "multiplied and seeded" to form human life). It's mind-boggling to ponder the possibilities, no matter how wayward they may appear. We (humans) are indeed mysteries to ourselves in many respects. This reminded of a strange song Stevie Wonder made entitled "Saturn" from his classic, "Songs in the Key of Life" where he uses the planet as a metaphor or trope for humanity's proclivity towards war and division. How strangely ironic Stevie's symbolism now appears in light of NASA's latest discovery.......



OneLove

::MixMasterE::

The Unknowns Who Mattered

Every year during Black History Month, I've noticed how the mainstream media parades the same cast of heroes for us to honor & appreciate--Martin Luther King, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Frederick Douglas are all celebrated & rightfully so. After all, people of their kind were not supposed to dream far less become anything more than what the larger white majority felt they could be. Dehumanization was systematic and became the 'natural order of things'. With such a tortured backdrop, it's a wonder that African Americans accomplished as much as they have in so many spheres of endeavor. What has always intrigued me personally are the stories of the lesser-known, unheralded heroes who worked brilliantly in the shadows and never got the credit they deserved. I recently watched a HBO movie, "Something The Lord Made" which exemplifies what I'm speaking of. It illustrates the pioneering work of an African-American, Vivien Thomas, who pioneered the field of cardiac surgery with a procedure to alleviate a congenital heart defect. Sufferers faced brutally short life expectancies & his genius revolutionized a new procedure to change that.

Stories like these litter the American landscape and they need to be told. The lazy-minded habit of regurgitating the same biographical sketches of well-known historical figures, though instructive, needs to stop. A little work and imagination is all it takes.

::MixmasterE::

Don't Believe The Hype!

Hip Hop music can take several trajectories, but the dominant one is the trend-altering commercial one which has its moments, but for the most part, we are all the poorer as there is so much more to Hip Hop than the acquisition of material objects & the pursuit of the flesh. As I've mentioned before, the best of Hip Hop is seldom heard on plantation radio, but for those of you who keep an ear to the riveting underground sound & know where to seek it, you know what's up! Give me Immortal Technique or Mos Def over Lil Wayne & Jay-Z any day. Intelligent lyricism with clever hooks is where it's at! Here's a small dose I concocted in the lab......

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

OneLove!

::MixMasterE::

A Mugging In Broad Daylight

“I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. Corporations have been enthroned, an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money-power of the country will endeavor to prolong it's reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until the wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.”

-Abraham Lincoln

...question everything...



Stay Tuned

::MixMasterE::

Modal Shifts

When a song is well ahead of its time and cuts deep into the nature of our collective experience, it belongs to the eternal spheres. Stevie has created many memorable classics that reside in this sphere to include the piece featured below. Take one line like, "Change your words into truths and then change that truth into love.." and one can feel the wisdom of the ages at the core of one's being. His words are like scripture pointing to a path to a more enlightened mode of being....


"As"

As around the sun the earth knows she's revolving
And the rosebuds know to bloom in early May
Just as hate knows love's the cure
You can rest your mind assure
That I'll be loving you always
As now can't reveal the mystery of tomorrow
But in passing will grow older every day
Just as all is born is new
Do know what I say is true
That I'll be loving you always

Until the rainbow burns the stars out in the sky
Until the ocean covers every mountain high
Until the dolphin flies and parrots live at sea
Until we dream of life and life becomes a dream

Did you know that true love asks for nothing
Her acceptance is the way we pay
Did you know that life has given love a guarantee
To last through forever and another day
Just as time knew to move on since the beginning
And the seasons know exactly when to change
Just as kindness knows no shame
Know through all your joy and pain
That I'll be loving you always
As today I know I'm living but tomorrow
Could make me the past but that I mustn't fear
For I'll know deep in my mind
The love of me I've left behind
Cause I'll be loving you always

Until the day is night and night becomes the day
Until the trees and seas just up and fly away
Until the day that 8x8x8 is 4
Until the day that is the day that are no more
Did you know that you're loved by somebody?
Until the day the earth starts turning right to left
Until the earth just for the sun denies itself
I'll be loving you forever
Until dear Mother Nature says her work is through
Until the day that you are me and I am you

We all know sometimes life's hates and troubles
Can make you wish you were born in another time and space
But you can bet you life times that and twice its double
That God knew exactly where he wanted you to be placed
so make sure when you say you're in it but not of it
You're not helping to make this earth a place sometimes called Hell
Change your words into truths and then change that truth into love
And maybe our children's grandchildren
And their great-great grandchildren will tell
I'll be loving you

Until the rainbow burns the stars out in the sky--Loving you
.. the ocean covers every mountain high--Loving you
.. the dolphin flies and parrots live at sea--Loving you
.. we dream of life and life becomes a dream--Be loving you
.. the day is night and night becomes the day--Loving you
.. the trees and seas up, up and fly away--Loving you
.. the day that 8x8x8x8 is 4--Loving you
.. the day that is the day that are no more--Loving you
.. the day the earth starts turning right to left--Be loving you
.. the earth just for the sun denies itself--Loving you
.. dear Mother Nature says her work is through--Loving you
.. the day that you are me and I am you...

Now ain't that loving you
Until the rainbow burns the stars out in the sky
Ain't that loving you
Until the ocean covers every mountain high

...I've got to say ....always

OneLove/One Humanity

::MixMasterE::

There Are Angels

You may never get to hear this quality music in the mainstream for the simple fact that it is not formulaic & mind-numbing (like a Lil Wayne "song"). Such a pity as Georgia Anne Muldrow's aim is to awaken the consciousness of all who care to listen (her message: we're all One in this Grand Mystery). First check out this incredible 70's throwback video of her current release, "Run Away", then take a listen to her CD which I predict will be hailed as one of the finest recordings of 2009.



The Beauty of Creation Bears Witness to God

Question the beauty of the earth,
the beauty of the sea,
the beauty of the wide air around you,
the beauty of the sky;
question the order of the stars,
the sun whose brightness lights the day,
the moon whose splendour softens the gloom of night;
question the living creatures that move in the waters,
that roam upon the earth, that fly through the air;
the sirit that lies hidden, the matter that is manifest;
the visible things that are ruled,
the invisible that rule them,
question all these.
They will answer you:
'Behold and see, we are beautiful.'
Who made these beautiful changing things,
if not One who is beautiful and changeth not?

From the poem Saint Augustine by Joseph Mary Plunkett

OneLove!

::::MixMasterE::::

Metaphor-phosis: From Chrysalis to Butterfly

Cowardice asks the question - is it safe?
Expediency asks the question - is it politic?
Vanity asks the question - is it popular?
But conscience asks the question - is it right?
And there comes a time when one must take a position
that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular;
but one must take it because it is right.

-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.


There is so much going on in the world right now that it is impossible to keep up with it all. Instability from the individual to the global level is spiraling into unchartered territory. Whether things get better any time soon is anybody's guess, but I submit to you that unless we shift our consciousness away from the pitiful modern absurdities to a more encompassing and progressive mind-set that is able to discern truth from fiction & the unity behind the seemingly different, we will all continue to gnash our teeth in this hell that we have created for ourselves. Conspiracy theorist I am not. I can't even say that I am religious, even though I respect the various religious traditions. I am spiritual though (however you want to define it), and what I see happening now is nothing short of spiritual warfare within & without the mind of Man.

We have to kick the habit of following the herd and really think for ourselves without fear. In the end, we can reclaim what we all came here with from the start, our naked souls.

Recently, I took the time to watch an utterly fascinating documentary entitled, "The Freedom Movie Pts 1 & 2" which confirmed many of the things I've always believed and stated from time to time on this site. The first few clips in part 2 are OK--they could have presented a more convincing argument, but it really picks up from the 5th to the 14th clips. Check it out for yourself & get your third eye poked. (When the presentation is finished, click on the tabs to part 2, 3, etc...)



Stay awake...

:::MixMasterE:::

Mr Hudson's World

Every now and then an artist springs up out of nowhere and just dazzles & rockets to the top faster than Beyonce can change her weave. You can call Kanye West many things, but he is undeniably a musical wizard and credit goes to him for introducing a relative newcomer to a wider audience who goes by the name of Mr Hudson. This cat may not have the greatest voice in the world, but he has what many artists need more of, namely, raw honesty and a passion beyond the superficial. Mr Hudson reminds me of Chris Martin (Coldplay) & Rob Thomas (Matchbox 20, but he has a street/hustler mentality about him as well which sets him apart. I put together my "best of" playlist of Mr Hudson's work. For me, the standout track is "There Will Be Tears" which highlights a man's vulnerability & sense of loss which so many of us (men) try to camouflage, foolishly. We all gotta cry sometimes.

Selected cuts: http://www.filefactory.com/f/a18ec8fc5e7faba6/



::::Peace::::::