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"When the country falls into chaos, Patriotism is born." -Lao Tzu
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1- Society 2-Videogames 3-Art 4-Society II 5-Society III 6-Society IV 7-Society V 8. Society VI 9. Me Myself & I next
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| (fall 2003) Reparations for Slavery: |
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Please do not misunderstand me on this topic. This is a two-fold topic, one of morals, and one of realistic goals. The moral argument differs in that America MUST acknowledge the atrocity of its history...all of it. Even though physical slavery has ended, we cannot simply "get over it". Slavery has a legacy that still confronts us today. The realist side of the argument follows as such: I do not believe that this is worthy of time spent. I do not believe that the US government will ever accept this idea without inherently accepting the moral obligation to history, and that has never happened.
Talking
about Race is a topic most white-americans avoid. We want to deny that
it's a problem, pretend that all the turmoil ended with the Civil Rights
movement of the 50's & 60's. Obviously, with the long history in my
artwork- I don't avoid the topic. I am white, but because of
lost/adopted family history- I do not know my ancestry beyond a generation
or two. If I discovered that my ancestors suffered in the Holocaust,
or in Hiroshima, or at Wounded Knee, or through slavery, or
I can only ask one question: How much is enough to repay the suffering? Of all the wealth in the U.S., most are below the ever shrinking middle income- and always have been. Generations of hand to mouth. The Irish died in droves. Asians were slaves, and unconstitutionally interned during world War II. Many Europeans arrived as indentured servants, and lived in obscure poverty. Women had little to nothing for centuries, and the American Indians were (and are) pushed to the brink of extinction. Even Holocaust survivors-not descendants...actual survivors, were paid Nazi blood money at only $400.00 a person, some 50 years later. I also understand that African slavery lasted for more than 400 years. The real issue is no longer the physical slavery, but the by-product being racism and the after effect of socio-economic slavery. This created an obvious un-level playing field in communities and schools, but as time has shown this has effected anyone below the middle class income. The schools and communities are shared. The real solution does not lie in a one time payoff, it lies in repairing the aftermath. One paycheck would amount to what? $1,000.00 maybe per person, and only for those who can provide a lineage back to slavery. Slavery was not an astute record keeping practice. Is that enough to repay 400 years of slavery and be done with it? Is it going to reverse the lost 40 acres and a mule? A reparation should do justice to the past, help the present, and ensure a future of equality. To receive a one time payoff, only continues the oppression of institutional racism. Would doling out a small amount of money make the problems go away? Fixing our communities and schools, repairing the after effects of slavery, and honoring the legacy to assure that it is never repeated should be a priority- not a paycheck.
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| (May 2003) The 2003 War in Iraq: |
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I am an American, but that does not mean
that I blindly support everything that our runaway government does in the
name of American interests. Being an American means that I have freedom,
not obedience. I am embarrassed by the treatment of those few who
spoke out against the US reasons for the war. I am angered by Saddam Hussein, his bloated
dictator-esque ego, and thumping his chest at
the world. He is in no real risk of death, the actual citizens of
Iraq are the
There is no greater illusion than fear. While working on an editorial piece on journalists in war, I was told that my image "did not showcase the dignity of war". What?! There is NO dignity to war. How can we rejoice in the victory and delight of the slaughter of men? What a nice distraction it is from the white collar crimes that seem to have increased in the last few years. Saddam is not the only robber on the block. The idea of "us" versus "them" creates the perfect breeding ground for leadership by Fear. (Three years later: March 2006) That war that was "over" continues to produce dead US soldiers. But, President Bush sure did look heroic in his flight suit announcing the end of the war. What continues to happen in this situation is no longer a just cause (was it ever?), nor is it heroic, or sane. |
| (Spring 2003) "4,000 fetuses a day, we do have human sacrifice" |
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This was the bumper
sticker I read the other day. But before the shock sets in...hold
on. 4,000 a day- That amounts to a lot of abortions. That's
28,000 fetuses a week, 112,000 a month, 1.4 million a year (It's
actually closer to 1.5 million a year). Most women make a
sensible choice when left with this decision. Those that can have a
child, and raise it well- do. Those that know they cannot do so-
seek an abortion. From my perspective,
that's 1.5 million unwanted children. Children who would grow
up under a weight that has been positively linked to a criminal future.
But before that, they can
We have millions of homeless people on the streets. The same number times 50 of kids who wake up to dead bodies, gunshots, or drug and alcohol addicts littering their impoverished neighborhoods. BUT, this "man" in this car worries about the choices that a "woman" makes about her body. Reality is that if the number 4,000 is used, men participated in 4,000 acts of creation- but I would bet that less than 40% know or care about it. These are the real "human sacrifices". The homeless. The poverty stricken. And the women, who men prey on and walk away from the pregnancy - consequence and responsibility free, but not without telling women what they can or cannot do with the baby. Religion unchecked creates as much distress as drugs in society.
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| (Spring 2003) F**K the media, think for yourself: |
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I am sick and tired of the media
mishandling stories, dumbing them down or twisting the facts. OJ did it.
There is no random Satanic Cult that murdered Laci Peterson in Modesto
California. Weapons of Mass Destruction- Al-Quieda... fear of people
who can't even afford the 25 cents a week to send their children to
school. Oh, Ossama is our enemy...but also has a family tie to the Bushes. Who can believe
anything anymore
Speaking of thought: does anyone really care or need to know who the 50 most beautiful people are in the world according to People magazine? Do I really give a shit that Brittney Spears pays thousands for a private jet to fetch her coffee each week? Or which celebrity is married, then divorced, then married, and then divorced...you get the idea. All this garbage cuts out the important news, which is now reduced to a one sentence sound byte squeezed in between the commercials. Cure to cancer...Captain Morgan Rum Tumblers...thousands starving in Mozambique...KFC ! Do I need branding on everything I own? Are we people or just consumers? "Market value" is a term that should never be used in reference to human beings, even in the workplace. Who cares anymore after so much fluff? It's turning my brain to mush, and also making me angry. It's all about FEAR, and telling you what you NEED to OWN in order to be accepted. Taoist philosophy asks: Fame or integrity, which is more important? Money or happiness, which is more valuable? Success or failure, which is more destructive? (update 5/07)
Our media just continues to decline. I see stories on that retarded
waste of humanity Paris Hilton every single day, but rarely on any
average person that spends their life doing good for others. I was
nauseated by the never ending death coverage of Anna Nicole Smith and
The Virginia Tech tragedy was covered
with never ending (and confusing) footage of the murderous nutjob, every
network analyst was looking to decipher the endless clips of him
brandishing weapons with a scowl for the viewers. Here is a tip for the media...stop the fake claim of senseless tragedy. If we really want it to end, then produce a few SERIOUS stories on gun control. We need to stop allowing every average kook access to piles of guns and ammo...unless the media is intentionally avoiding that type of controversy, but that would take away the supposed neutrality of media now wouldn't it? This all boils down to another Chubb Rock quote: It's humanity without human beings. If news is negative garbage all the time, what effect does that have on our collective social psyche?
(update #2 6/08)
A local TV news chan A) They carefully photographed the house from a low turned angle to avoid what was written on the driveway (see photographs) 2 days earlier. B) In fact, they never mentioned the driveway at all. C) They failed to mention that staff shifts are 10 hours, which means that you may have a car coming and going every 10 hours with 1 or 2 more (or less) in that timeframe.
window? I have cars coming and going every 10 minutes on my street. D) A "business"...since when is a group home a business? How many people on that street have a home office? It's a NON-PROFIT. E) The group home, the organization, and the disabled individuals are the bad guys in this story for forcing the neighbors to deal with them. *sigh* It's those pesky civil rights again that allow equality and freedom. F) That town supervisor (who it turns out I know...I am so disappointed in him) failed to mention that the "neighborhood" just happens to be a very wealthy area for the town. Wouldn’t want to piss off the money and property values there. G) …and the worst aspect of the story: That one of the parents of one of the guys slated to move in was interviewed (and at the community meeting) and explained he just wanted his son (who is high functioning and capable) to have a chance to achieve his dream and live on his own...isn't that a dream that we all want when we get older? H) Now I have another rant on the word retarded here on my site (Rants page 4)- but that is about semantics and proper use of the word. The "retards" (defined as those that slow down societies growth) are NOT the individuals that would move into the home, the retards are the ones who wrote that on the driveway.
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| (Spring 2003) Afghanistan & 9/11: |
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What
secret promises were made to Afghanistan when they were fighting Russia in
the 1980's? Put yourself in the shoes of one of the poorest
countries on earth, devastated by war for the last 20 years. As you
fight for your freedom against a superpower (Russia), the US slides in to
whisper sweet nothings in your ear concerning a "donation" of some weapons
and training to defeat that other "evil empire". There are also
vague promises to help re-build after the destruction of your country is
complete. You are a patriot for the freedom of your country.
Hey look! The war is over, and the US is nowhere to be seen...that's
because the Soviet Union is crumbling- your Vietnam style war is no
longer needed.
Now you watch your country, still billowing smoke from the war that lasted generations, starve and die as the US chants they are now number one! Wouldn't you be pissed off enough to try anything to pay them back? To align yourself with anyone for some measure of respect. I am not by any means all knowledgeable on Islam, but I do respect the difference of ideology. Cultures should celebrate the difference, maybe in the hopes of finding a better view of life as a whole on this planet. I am ashamed of how targeted any Muslim group became post 9-11. Terrorists, and extremists come in all religions...just ask anyone who visits a planned parenthood. I do not believe that flying a jet into a building of business people was the right answer, I think that was an act of desperation. And I think it was an act of mass murder. Desperate times=desperate measures. This is yet another case of the US supporting questionable leaders, until they no longer serve our interest. We turn a blind eye to the terrible atrocities these people commit as long as it means more money, and more business. (Three years later: June 2006)
One
thing that I have come to believe in, is that to set your mind on one
idea, one view, one belief- is to never again have an open mind. Maybe the reason for 9/11 lies not in the past Afghanistan war and promises, but in the religious conflict itself. The Koran and the Bible both are clear with their mandates to destroy the non-believers (infidels). Rather than have the act of flying the planes into buildings be the acts of madmen, maybe they are acts of faith. A belief that you are acting in accordance with God. Muslims believe the words in their texts are from God, just as Christians believe they are acting in Gods name. The sooner we dispose of all religions, the better off we will all be. I am no longer willing to tolerate everything in the name of being politically correct. Everything in the name of freedom is not good, it is a case of the blind following the blind. The "evil" in the world is not from the stories of the bible, but the bible itself.
"Believers, make war on the infidels who dwell around you." (Koran 9:123) "As a man believes, so he will act." (Sam Harris, the End of Faith)
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| (Spring 2003) American Idol & Reality TV: |
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What is this garbage? Why is this a phenomenon? If
someone is that desperate to see some common joe make an ass of
themselves, borrow a surveillance tape from Wal-Mart. Is there not
enough bad music and embarrassing events that offer karaoke to drunken
7-11 I think there is something un-nerving in reality TV to sit and watch other people make fools of themselves. It's a parade of the lowest form. And now there's even a MOVIE! Did "From Justin to Kelly" do well? Because I missed it in the theater. Maybe it's just me, but I would rather stuff angry hamsters in my ears than waste an hour or two or four a week with this crap. Reality TV is based on the play of a viewers emotions while watching people commit shameful acts. If people around me behaved this way, would I put up with it? Nope, so why watch? It is well known that many of these events are edited or staged to appear even more "thrilling" than they really are, but I thought this was reality? Whose reality is this? Not mine. |
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1- Society 2-Videogames 3-Art 4-Society II 5-Society III 6-Society IV 7-Society V 8. Society VI 9. Me Myself & I next |
during the
Black plague, I would not seek financial reparations. That is nonsense-
and saying so does not
make me a racist, just sensible.
ones at risk. I am angered by a United Nations filled
with out of touch
hypocrites. I am angered at the US charging in with
the claim that we are after weapons of mass destruction, and then locating
nothing. And to have it all based on lies. Then changing the claim of war from weapons search to
"ending the bloody regime". What about the weapons of mass
destruction? Whose war is this? Is it about Weapons, Regimes, or Oil?
Who is fighting this war? Where are the wealthy offspring?
It's all middle and lower class, which has become just one big American lower
class. It's a case of
the haves and the have-nots. We shouldn't pretend otherwise.
And the casualties are lower class on both sides be it American or Iraqi. Does anyone
think the average citizen in Iraq wants this any more than the average
US citizen? Terror by Saddam, or terror by the US...it's the same
situation of the haves in control, and the have-nots losing limbs
and lives. I am mad that the war was announced to be "over"
(according to president Bush) in May of 2003, as soldiers continued to die . I am angry that my tax dollars paid for it,
and that "400 and some odd Billion" more will go to
finishing the job.
Meanwhile our education system, child welfare, and job outlook are going
belly up. Where is common sense? We cannot help the world if
we cannot even care for ourselves. 
expect to live in poverty, be undernourished,
neglected, well behind the curve of their classmates in school- that is
until they drop-out, and then in their teens hit drugs, crime and jail.
even then, there is one more irony- they are statistically likely to have
children under the same circumstances from which they experienced. Our country can't
handle the millions of unwanted "it's" that already exist. I know, I
worked with the disturbed children who were the "leftovers" of parents who
really weren't ready or interested, and I have seen first hand that this
situation is not isolated- it is passed own from mother to daughter, and
father to son. .
after
so many half truths and outright lies. Hey Mr. Clinton...a blowjob is SEX. We never needed to buy Duct tape and create "safe"
rooms during the Iraq war. Hell, WE sold them the only
biological-chemical weapons they ever had in the first place! Level orange, yellow, green, mauve...am I
in danger or just be bombarded with irrational fear to keep me compliant? John Edward "crosses over" and talks to
the dead. On Animal Planet they have a lady who talks
to dead pets.
Really? Can she tell me where Lady, my childhood dog buried my Pete
Rose autographed baseball? Psychics are fake. The mind may
offer evidence of being
capable of more in the future- but not a single soul on earth has
harnessed abilities beyond thought as yet evidenced.
the
revolving question of who the father was of her baby on Fox and MSNBC-
who cares? What did she EVER do for anyone? Do I need to remind all
those tuned in that she pretended to bonk a 90+ year old man when she
was a stripper to gain access to millions of dollars? ew. 
Duh, that's exactly what he wanted. He was ignored in life, and
momentarily famous in death...for what?! Good work NBC. I am happy that
the parents and survivors banded together to boycott your shows. But
rarely a story of the nazi holocaust surviving professor 
nel
(WHAM TV-13…again...curse them!) did a story on the neighborhood where this driveway
text was created here in Rochester. They mentioned how the "community"
was concerned that a group home constituted a business, and therefore
could not be in a neighborhood. They also mentioned that the neighbors
were concerned about the excessive traffic safety from staff, and the
danger it presents to the street. The town supervisor sided with the
neighbors, and suggested another site in the community.
The story then
ends with an explanation that a group home has the right to move in, and
the community can appeal to the State- but will likely lose. Here is
what they failed to mention in this generic story:
Does anyone live on a
street that does NOT have cars coming and going in a 10 hour 
This is ignorance. To continue to learn with an open mind, means
confronting incomplete ideas, or a belief system. My first taste of
this was in reading the biography of Malcolm X when I was a sophomore in
college. Through the reading, I understood that he challenged the
limitations that were first imposed on him in understanding his Islamic
faith. He grew as a human being with the tough decision to NOT
accept every aspect of his faith as truth. I greatly respected that
approach to education. And so, here I sit amending the view stated
above.
clerks 
already? And who are these people calling in their votes?
Are they destined to be an idol by regurgitating either lame pop songs or
out of date seventies re-mixes? Am I actually tone deaf?
Because many of these people are terrible singers. Is the media frenzy
with actual news stories so worn out or uneventful, that they now have to
create drama?