So, alright already! I’ll get back to my Blog!

Sheesh! Stop goading me; can’t you see that I’m suffering from Terminal Heartbreak? Gimme a break! What can you expect with the whole world crashing in on us and around us. One year ago I wanted to believe that we Earthlings could actually create change. I wanted to believe that we could get-it-together and unite in common purpose in at least one activity…for instance, such as generating a little respect for this mind-boggling, amazing way-station in the Universe; and even embarking upon the task of actually trying to save our Mother Earth and learning to live in harmony with Nature. This is not even to mention generating some respect for the beings and creatures who live here.

I thought that our voices could be heard!

You know….I even wanted to believe that we could actually create a democracy, the very one that many of us Americans believe that we already have. But, I wonder if most of us might feel like I do: thwarted, like little urchins with our faces pressed on the window where the hither-to only dreamed-of, and tantalizing goodies are displayed….out of reach. For a short while, I could actually taste the delights of a democracy. Even believing that our voices, the voices of the workers, the parents, the teachers, the students, the small farmers, the shop keepers, the small business owners, the retired, the unemployed, the homeless and the hungry, and whoever else is not represented… might be heard over the beguiling and demanding din of corporate interests.

Efforts seem futile!

Now, I’m back to the old routine of alternate bouts of frustration, disillusionment, sprinkled with tiny rays of hope that truly inspire me. I scramble to call Congress; click here to add my name to a petition; write to the editor, try harder to promote the Humanist philosophy; try to get publicity for the books of Corliss Lamont, etc. but seeing the Bill fail, and the petition ignored, and my letter not published, little interest in these ideas, my hopes again get dashed. Then the whole cycle of depression sets in again. The Corporate Networks pundits keep spewing out sound-bites of garbage and lies, and yeegods! some of my apparently normal friends fall for this stuff and repeat it!

Illogic prevails!

Someone in my world, who shall remain nameless, was gloating over what he alleged was Obama’s neglect in “allowing” the BP oil spill to take place. This was a shocker, but I queried rather calmly…what do you mean? The answer was surprisingly logical…he should have had more people in place to do inspections. Well, that was good news, I said; you approve of more regulatory agencies and governmental control in behalf of the best interests of the people and the environment? Hell no, was the answer…we’ve got to get the damn government off our backs and stop wasting our hard earned tax money with all that baloney! Oi! What can I say? There was no point in pursuing the issue any further with this non-thinking person who couldn’t connect the two ideas. I sort-of mused to myself, though, about nature’s interesting design of our species, particularly the ratio of ears to mouth. Doesn’t it actually seem like an admonition from nature for us to listen twice as much as we speak?

But, unfortunately, the fatal flaw in nature’s interesting design might ultimately become the death knell of our Species: the amazing cerebral circuitry between the ears and the mouth can be totally by-passed!

Hope in cyberspace?

Despite the permeation of our airwaves with Limbaugh-like illogic, a little voice in the back of my head keeps saying “don’t give up…good things are happening…more young folks are becoming aware…the Internet makes the sharing of ideas possible like never before. Maybe this could create an information stream that might eventually render irrelevant the vested interests of the television networks, and completely out-do them in meeting the People’s hunger for truth. I’m always quick to cite The Declaration of Independence of Cyberspace by John Perry Barlow, former lyricist for the Grateful Dead, and co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, who says, in essence, but in eloquent prose, you governments and you corporations, keep your hands off of Cyberspace; it belongs to the people, who will communicate with each other, and we will do a better job than you have.

Give the Guy a break!

No matter how discouraged I get, there is an undying hope that underlies it all, as evidenced by my angry response when I hear any criticism of Barak Obama! I just fly into a tizzy! Give the guy a break…I’ll retort. He inherited a mess! What do you expect him to do? He’s trying (overlong, in my opinion!) to be conciliatory and he listens to all sides of the various appeals…after all, he’s supposed to be the President of ALL the People, not just the President of us Raging Grannies and Peace Persons and the ecologically astute and the alternative energy advocates, and insisters on more access to better education, and those of us who are screaming for change! I have to admit grudgingly that he must hear advice from Generals and Wall Streeters, BUT! Alrightalready! Enough!! We need the cabinet level Department of Peace advocated by Dennis Kucinich and dozens of Congresspersons. (1) We need jobs! How about putting people back to work, but with efforts to convert to a peace economy, and to transform our dependency on oil and gas toward solar, wind, geothermal and tidal energies. We could even use something akin to Roosevelt’s WPA and the Civilian Conservation Corps for service to the community.

(1) For additional information about the Department of Peace, please visit The Peace Alliance Web site.

Captaining the Titanic!

If I can get Obama critics to hold still and listen to my Grannyrant…here’s what I tell them: Imagine you’re on the Titanic in its last moments, but this scene is playing out in agonizing slow-motion.. Our trajectory is set! We are headed for disaster….there’s no denying it! Those persons who made the decision to throw caution to the wind, disregarding the danger surrounding us, in favor of gaining speed to set a record, or with this metaphor, in favor of an exercise of “shock and awe” power, aren’t even at the helm in charge, or even owning any responsibility for the devastation that they set in motion. Are you with me on this? Got the picture?

Now, airlift Obama onto the bridge! Please, Mr. President, now let’s see you turn around the Ship of State!

Be a real help to the cause of change:

Go to Organizing for America and please let’s don’t just sit there: please pledge your support in some manner, phone banking, voter registration, flyer distribution, etc. You know what they say: it ain’t over ‘til it’s over. We have a long way to go. Millions of Folks who had long felt disenfranchised and felt no incentive to engage in even political discussion, let alone vote, came out to register their faith in change. Their hopes were short lived, alas. We truly understand this great disappointment. But in our conversations, we can try to rekindle in others some hope that we together can ultimately achieve the needed change. We can try to explain and emphasize the truth that democracy is messy. The voice of the People might even prevail over the noise of corporate power. Please, come out and help?

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The Anti-Empire Report

Here’s a brilliant essay that caused me to rededicate my resolve to keep hope alive. Bless you Bill Blum!

The Anti-Empire Report, July 5th, 2010, by William Blum
https://williamblum.org/aer/read/83?/bblum6/aer83.html

Some thoughts on “patriotism” written on July 4
Most important thought: I’m sick and tired of this thing called “patriotism”.

The Japanese pilots who bombed Pearl Harbor were being patriotic. The German people who supported Hitler and his conquests were being patriotic, fighting for the Fatherland. All the Latin American military dictators who overthrew democratically-elected governments and routinely tortured people were being patriotic — saving their beloved country from “communism”.

That’s just the start of his essay. Go there. Read the rest of it for yourself. Then sign up for his messages.

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Who on earth ever heard of herding donkeys?

Come to think of it, I’ve never ever seen a circus act with donkeys following each other like those silly elephants with tails and trunks entwined. Donkeys must truly be mavericks, and maybe that’s why they can’t cooperate long enough to out-do the elephants. Maybe Chimps will do a better job? I’d vote for them over elephants or donkeys if they could get themselves on the ballot. But, back to herding donkeys: What do you say? Let’s try to find out? Please bring friends and come to the following Program:

Herding Donkeys: Howard Dean and Ari Berman on the Future of the Democratic Party
at the 92YTribeca, 200 Hudson Street, New York, NY, on Tuesday, October 5, 2010 at 7pm. Hope to see you there!