Do You Swear To Uphold The Constitution?

Maybe you understand what I’ve been saying about Donald Trump for the past seven years now that he has demanded that the Constitution be overturned so he can declare himself emperor.

Fight To Win

If you want to be a Winner

Gotta fight for every inch

Might as well be a Sinner

And a Brawler in the Clinch

You’ll need to push past

The mighty limits of Hell

‘Cause the hardest fight to Win

Is the one against Yourself

Seventeen Words From The Heart

If you love someone

When you embrace

Hold them as though

You’re going to lose them

Tomorrow

A Clockwork Orange - Film Commentary

“A Clockwork Orange” is about politics. The Conservatives, who are currently in power, launch a “get tough on crime” approach to regaining control of the violent streets. Their policies include hiring ex gang members as police officers and a draconian reprogramming technique that transforms violent criminals into meek, helpless weaklings.

The opposition party, the Liberals, see an opportunity to make a martyr of one of the early subjects of the reprogramming technique. That subject is Alex, whose life we follow throughout the story. One of the Liberals is a writer whose wife had been brutally attacked by Alex and his gang earlier in the story. That attack gets Alex convicted and sentenced to undergo the reprogramming technique.

The Liberals don’t try to help Alex. Rather, they prey on his weakness in an attempt to get him to kill himself. He will become a poster child for the excesses of the Conservative government.

Since music was played during the reprogramming sessions, Alex, who used to love listening to Beethoven, now becomes violently ill whenever he hears music. The Liberals lock Alex in a room on an upper floor and blast music until he jumps out of a window in a desperate attempt to escape his excruciating discomfort.

The plan fails because Alex survives, and the Conservatives see their own opportunity. They rehabilitate Alex as a gesture to win back public opinion after their reprogramming technique is viewed as unacceptably cruel, even when used on horrible criminals.

Favorite scenes:

- The scene where the Liberals torture Alex with music has Kubrick’s signature visual devices all over it.

- The scene where Alex picks up girls in a book shop is inventive and visually arresting.

- The scene where Alex gets a home visit from his school’s disciplinary officer reminds us of the unsettling parallel between his youth and his ferocious battles on the streets.

- The reprogramming session is bizarre and unsettling. We feel the heavy hand of abuse and intrusion when the government invades our personal space in a diabolical way.

From Afar

I sense

Your sexual energy

Even

From afar

It’s always there

When we talk

And share

Mysterious

And Exciting

Confidently Enticing

I hesitate

To mention it

Should I be so cavalier?

Or

Maybe

I’m just

Wondering

Whether that wondrous power

Might ultimately

Consume me

So this remains

Unspoken

A sensual spell

Unbroken

Distracting me

And Quietly

Beguiling me

Inspiring me

I like

How it makes me feel

The things

It makes me

Want to do

Those sweet

And tender

Dreams with you

A specific fascination

Captures

My imagination

And makes me think

Of Words

That You might want to Hear

And how

And where

You’d love

To be touched

And

In my heart

I start

To  believe

That anything

Is possible

I picture a time

When we’ll spend the day

Chatting and laughing

The hours away

Loving

Every moment

Of our time together

I want to watch you smile

When I tell you

What I’m

Feeling

I want to Breathe

The Air

That floats Around you

And Gaze

Into your eyes

In warm romantic light

Caress the softness

Of your clothing

As a warm electric energy

Fills the room

Flips the switch

And Draws us

Ever closer

Passing Time

Faces fade

Bleached by the sun

Of passing time

Once the race is run

We played a good game

We had our fun

But echoes fade fast

When the dance is done

LGBTQ Advocacy

To my friends in the LGBTQ+ community, I want you to know that I stand with you, and as an ally I will always stand up for you.

I see how dangerous the world has become for you. I won’t let that stand unchallenged.

When I see the demonization of trans children for political expediency, I speak out against it.

When I see teachers and counselors who try to help those children being labeled as “groomers,” I speak out against it.

When I see same sex couples being ridiculed for raising children, I speak out against it.

When I see attempts to ban books that discuss sexual identity, I speak out against it.

When countries enshrine discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community in official policy, I speak out against it.

When people attempted to deflect blame from the right wing extremist who attacked Paul Pelosi by claiming that the attacker was his secret lover, I spoke out against it.

When I hear hateful speech and “dog whistles” aimed at the LGBTQ+ community, I speak out against it.

I speak out because I must. This vile, hateful rubbish is worse than just tasteless and hurtful. It’s dangerous. It is being spewed constantly on powerful platforms, and people are dying as a result.

When people inflame hatred, whether deliberately or by virtue of their ignorance, we must stand up against it. We must challenge malignant words, ideas, gestures, and innuendo. Letting it stand is tantamount to encouraging more. Hatred cannot be tolerated.

If we want to live in a society where everyone’s rights are honored and protected, where every citizen can live safely and peacefully, it is our duty to push back against hatred and division and prejudice and to do so as firmly and as clearly as we can. Staying silent is not an option.

Rhinoceros

The Northern White Rhinoceros

Went extinct

Because weak old men

Half a world away

Believed that its horn

Would restore

Their youthful virility

God curses

The arrogance 

The greed

And brutal ignorance

Of our oft-misguided species

We may not be

The next

To go extinct

But be forewarned

A day of reckoning

Is coming

For all who inhabit

A scorched and barren planet

Friday Fun

Friday

Fun Day

Time for Flowers

And Lingerie

Add some Chocolates

To the mix

And you Might just

Win a Kiss

To Remember

Forever

Radicalization

Ordinary people can be convinced to commit acts of violence if they believe three things:

1. They are in grave danger

2. Violence is the only way to resolve the situation

3. The people who are putting them in danger do not deserve respect or empathy

Statements like the following can encourage such beliefs, especially when the statements are made by trusted sources and repeated frequently.

Group X is going to take your job away.

Group X is going to bring crime to your neighborhood.

Group X is going to take away your way of life.

Group X is going to rape your women.

Group X is going to kill you.

Group X is going to replace you.

Now, let’s do a thought experiment. In the statements above, replace Group X with any of the following:

Immigrants

Elites

Liberals

Democrats

Gay people

Trans people

Black people

Jewish people

Muslims

Public health officials

Do the statements sound familiar? Have you heard some of these things said before?

In recent years, statements like this have been broadcast relentlessly online, over the airwaves, and by politicians who speak to large audiences.

Sometimes the messages are stated directly, which can be jolting to hear. Sometimes, the messages are expressed in code to make them sound softer.

Words such as “border”, “crime”, and “bathroom” will make people think if particular segments of the population. Words like “rights”, “mandate”, and “election integrity” suggest nefarious actions by a political party. The code does not dilute the impacts of the message.

The result is the demonization and dehumanization. If people can be convinced that Group X is not only threatening but also unworthy, it becomes easier to commit acts of violence against Group X.

Combine a sense of imminent danger with the sense that the people who want to harm you are unworthy, and you can convince people to do just about anything: storm the Capitol, plot to kidnap a sitting governor, assault the spouse of a high ranking official, run into a pizza restaurant with an assault rifle.

This is not theoretical. This is happening NOW. These messages are being transmitted constantly on radio, podcasts, social media, and cable TV. The violence will continue as long as the messages are being sent, and over time it’s going to get worse and worse.