In 1964, I was a student at Arizona State University. I had a white Corvair which I drove to and from the campus, which was perhaps 16 or 17 miles from our home in Northwest Phoenix, to which we had moved in 1961, from South Phoenix. The South Phoenix location was only 5 or 6 miles from campus, and there was a direct bus connection.
Sometime in March the Corvair broke down, which it did frequently. This time it was an expensive repair (transmission) and was going to be in the shop for 3 days for repairs, and another couple waiting until I got paid. This put me in a quandary. How to get to school for a week?
Taking the bus from our place was out. The first bus passed nearby at 7:30, and arrived downtown 5 minutes after the second bus I would have to take, which meant I'd have a 55 minute "layover" downtown. The second bus would arrive at 16th and Broadway in South Phoenix 10 minutes after the final bus I would have to take to arrive at the campus in Tempe. A 50 minute layover. I would arrive at school about 10:15. My first class on MWF was at 8:30, on TTh it was at 9:15.
Thus I arranged to spend the week with some friends in the old hood, problem solved. One bus, a 20 minute ride.
I had to catch the bus at 20th Street and Broadway at 7:30. The first day while waiting at the bus stop, a girl began talking to me, asking all kids of questions. She was 16, a high school drop out, overweight, and not very attractive. She informed me her name was Ora Mae Criddle, but everyone called her Yo Yo. She also let me know how she got that name; she was famous for the way she went up and down like a Yo Yo. She had a younger sister, Marsella, 15, who was nicknamed "Ring A Ding" because she "knew how to ring a guy's bell".
I was relieved to get on the bus and hoped I had seen the last of Yo Yo. The next morning, arriving at the bus stop, one guess who was there. Yo Yo. This went on for the rest of the week. I don't know why she was there on Monday, but the rest of the week, it was obvious she was there to see me. I had told her I'd be taking the bus the rest of the week
Well, I got my car back and was free of Yo Yo. Or so I thought.
A couple weeks later, on a Saturday night around 10, I was watching TV in my room when I heard my sister screaming. I rushed down the hall, as did my dad, and opened the door to my sister's bedroom. There stuck in the window, was Yo Yo. The house had crank out windows, and Yo Yo was caught. My sister was screaming and crying (she was 17) that there was a woman stuck in her window. Yo Yo was also crying loudly, shouting loudly for help.
My dad and sister were not amused, especially when I had to admit that I knew the lady in the window. I had no choice since she was calling out my name.
To add to the confusion, there was a knock on the door, I went to answer it and there were two police officers. It seems on of the neighbors had seen a "large black woman" trying to get in the window.
I t seemed as though, despite Yo Yo being dumb as a stump, she had asked me to show her my driver's license and quickly noted my address. It was 12 miles from her home, and how she ever found it is a mystery. She had borrowed her dad's car (later on I learned, without his permission), even though she had no license. Her dad also was not happy and I heard he grounded her for a month.
Well, the cops were bemused, and arranged for my dad to drive her dad's car to their house, and I drove Yo Yo home. Yo Yo got a good lecture from the officer, still crying. My dad was very unhappy, my mother was furious (what will the neighbors think? She was at work at the time), and my brother and my friends thought it was hilarious.
I never saw her again. I heard several years later that she had a couple kids and was unmarried, living in a public housing project.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
LURCHING FORWARD...INTO THE PAST
"How many bubbles are there in a bar of soap?"
Say what? That probably sums up the response of thousands of African Americans when they were confronted by questions such as the above iconic example in the Jim Crow South...literacy tests were part of the tactical disenfranchisement of almost all potential Black voters, along with poll taxes, property requirements and plain ol' physical intimidation. Not a pretty picture which necessitated the passage of voting rights legislation in the 60s, laws still on the books regarding some Southern states. But voter suppression is back...and not just in the South!
An old axiom of politics is to never let a crisis go to waste, and this truism far precedes Rahm Emmanuel...I heard it cited in PoliSci courses in the 60s. This is a case of an invented crisis....voter fraud that doesn't exist. The Bush Admin made a lot of noise about it after 2000, which is funny in itself given the mess in Florida and the fact that they took office after losing the popular vote by 500,000 votes:
"A major probe by the Justice Department between 2002 and 2007 failed to prosecute a single person for going to the polls and impersonating an eligible voter, which the anti-fraud laws are supposedly designed to stop. Out of the 300 million votes cast in that period, federal prosecutors convicted only 86 people for voter fraud"
"How many bubbles are there in a bar of soap?"
Say what? That probably sums up the response of thousands of African Americans when they were confronted by questions such as the above iconic example in the Jim Crow South...literacy tests were part of the tactical disenfranchisement of almost all potential Black voters, along with poll taxes, property requirements and plain ol' physical intimidation. Not a pretty picture which necessitated the passage of voting rights legislation in the 60s, laws still on the books regarding some Southern states. But voter suppression is back...and not just in the South!
An old axiom of politics is to never let a crisis go to waste, and this truism far precedes Rahm Emmanuel...I heard it cited in PoliSci courses in the 60s. This is a case of an invented crisis....voter fraud that doesn't exist. The Bush Admin made a lot of noise about it after 2000, which is funny in itself given the mess in Florida and the fact that they took office after losing the popular vote by 500,000 votes:
"A major probe by the Justice Department between 2002 and 2007 failed to prosecute a single person for going to the polls and impersonating an eligible voter, which the anti-fraud laws are supposedly designed to stop. Out of the 300 million votes cast in that period, federal prosecutors convicted only 86 people for voter fraud"
Friday, September 21, 2012
For several years I was a poster and then moderator for 'Spirit Cam' on justintv . com. The site owner was a man from England who said he was a 'spirit medium'.
He seemed normal, humble, and had typical English humor, so I, and the many rest came to believe him.
He never showed a reason to disbelieve him, and we, the cyber group grew close. In fact some of us are still cyber friends.
His purpose for the site was to teach people, to educate them in spirit matters.
He succeeded. He asked for nothing, he only gave all of himself.
His wife, a very straightforward woman and their daughter, as well as their son (adults) would also post, and appear on the broadcast.
A number of the members who became moderators had ongoing, interesting experiences of their own. I entered extremely skeptical, but seeing how much fun the site was I remained.
Eventually, I had to admit to myself that I had, in real life, seen a spirit of a child, an eight year old little girl who was killed when a dumpster fell on her at the dance studio where I took my two young children for ballet classes, crushing her as she, on order by her alcoholic mother was trying to take out the trash.
Back then dumpsters were metal and had off balance roll bars for loading onto the trucks.
Sherice had to pull herself up onto the bar to open the door and put in the trash.
That day it rolled over onto her.
She died there a little later after two of the town's worst doctors arrived to the scene.
He seemed normal, humble, and had typical English humor, so I, and the many rest came to believe him.
He never showed a reason to disbelieve him, and we, the cyber group grew close. In fact some of us are still cyber friends.
His purpose for the site was to teach people, to educate them in spirit matters.
He succeeded. He asked for nothing, he only gave all of himself.
His wife, a very straightforward woman and their daughter, as well as their son (adults) would also post, and appear on the broadcast.
A number of the members who became moderators had ongoing, interesting experiences of their own. I entered extremely skeptical, but seeing how much fun the site was I remained.
Eventually, I had to admit to myself that I had, in real life, seen a spirit of a child, an eight year old little girl who was killed when a dumpster fell on her at the dance studio where I took my two young children for ballet classes, crushing her as she, on order by her alcoholic mother was trying to take out the trash.
Back then dumpsters were metal and had off balance roll bars for loading onto the trucks.
Sherice had to pull herself up onto the bar to open the door and put in the trash.
That day it rolled over onto her.
She died there a little later after two of the town's worst doctors arrived to the scene.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
COMING HOME IN BODY & MIND
I came home from Vietnam in 1968, left the Marines and attended City College for a year...and an exciting and vibrant year it was! My sister was, at the same time, attending UCSD as a member of its first freshman class. Also at UCSD was an obscure German Philosopher named Herbert Marcuse....but he would become, depending on point of view, famous or infamous in that time.
The best explanation I can find is this documentary done by a Danish film maker. It's almost an hour, but well worth it for a bit of San Diego History:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5311625903124176509#
I thought of this period recently when the Manchester-Lynch SDUT showed their true colors in a hilariously over the top editorial "Obama in 2016" which predicted all manner of catastrophe to come. In those days the UT was owned by the Copley family, rabid right wingers in the old "commies everywhere" vein. Along with the local American Legion, they made Marcuse the most controversial man in America, and provoked numerous threats on his life in the process. His graduate students armed themselves and the SDPD provided various manner of security. This was the era of assassination...Martin Luther King & Bobby Kennedy were both murdered in 1968...the threats were real!
I met Marcuse along with Angela Davis after I achieved a bit of notoriety...getting arrested at a Max Rafferty Senatorial campaign event. Actually I wasn't really protesting the obnoxious Rafferty...I was defending a gal friend from a YAFer (Young Americans for Freedom) in the crowd. He pushed me, I decked him, and half a dozen cops decked me....wee, my 15 minutes of fame!
I would often go out to UCSD to visit with my sister and her friends....they were "Clean for Gene" types, I was for Bobby Kennedy, but we both lost that nite in June when Sirhan Sirhan pulled a trigger. The Chicago DNC had happened...we were stuck with choosing between Nixon & Humphrey...the mood was sour. I met a graduate student of Marcuse who introduced me to their inner circle as "the Vet who was beat up at the Rafferty rally..." ah well!
Marcuse was a small vibrant man in his 60s...as threatening as your Grandpa...he was a Jewish refugee from Germany, a former OSS (precursor to CIA) employee, and a critic of Fascism, Communism and Capitalism,,,not that I was ready to understand it. I slogged thru Reason & Revolution but I didn't understand it...I wasn't ready. I did understand that this man was a good man who was being vilified by the worst of American political inclinations...a return to McCarthyism, pure and simple.
So, view the video when you have time...well worth it!
I came home from Vietnam in 1968, left the Marines and attended City College for a year...and an exciting and vibrant year it was! My sister was, at the same time, attending UCSD as a member of its first freshman class. Also at UCSD was an obscure German Philosopher named Herbert Marcuse....but he would become, depending on point of view, famous or infamous in that time.
The best explanation I can find is this documentary done by a Danish film maker. It's almost an hour, but well worth it for a bit of San Diego History:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5311625903124176509#
I thought of this period recently when the Manchester-Lynch SDUT showed their true colors in a hilariously over the top editorial "Obama in 2016" which predicted all manner of catastrophe to come. In those days the UT was owned by the Copley family, rabid right wingers in the old "commies everywhere" vein. Along with the local American Legion, they made Marcuse the most controversial man in America, and provoked numerous threats on his life in the process. His graduate students armed themselves and the SDPD provided various manner of security. This was the era of assassination...Martin Luther King & Bobby Kennedy were both murdered in 1968...the threats were real!
I met Marcuse along with Angela Davis after I achieved a bit of notoriety...getting arrested at a Max Rafferty Senatorial campaign event. Actually I wasn't really protesting the obnoxious Rafferty...I was defending a gal friend from a YAFer (Young Americans for Freedom) in the crowd. He pushed me, I decked him, and half a dozen cops decked me....wee, my 15 minutes of fame!
I would often go out to UCSD to visit with my sister and her friends....they were "Clean for Gene" types, I was for Bobby Kennedy, but we both lost that nite in June when Sirhan Sirhan pulled a trigger. The Chicago DNC had happened...we were stuck with choosing between Nixon & Humphrey...the mood was sour. I met a graduate student of Marcuse who introduced me to their inner circle as "the Vet who was beat up at the Rafferty rally..." ah well!
Marcuse was a small vibrant man in his 60s...as threatening as your Grandpa...he was a Jewish refugee from Germany, a former OSS (precursor to CIA) employee, and a critic of Fascism, Communism and Capitalism,,,not that I was ready to understand it. I slogged thru Reason & Revolution but I didn't understand it...I wasn't ready. I did understand that this man was a good man who was being vilified by the worst of American political inclinations...a return to McCarthyism, pure and simple.
So, view the video when you have time...well worth it!
Friday, September 14, 2012
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powell_Doctrine
As I watched Romney in his disastrous press conference the other day I noted his brief description of a Romney foreign policy. He did emphasize another tenet of what has come to be called "The Powell Doctrine"...use overwhelming superiority of forces to exercise the mission (I have no idea why that was not covered in the brief Wikipedia link, but there are plenty of other sources, including his original article in Foreign Affairs Quarterly, circa 1992.) Well, Romney is being encouraged, or forced, to give a major speech on foreign affairs. Watch carefully...lives could depend on it!
Certain things are clear. Romney is surrounded by the old Bush Neocon crowd who ignored the tenets of General Powell's admonition in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Try going through the list of questions...some can be answered in the positive, particularly in the AfPak theater...literally none can be affirmed in the case of Iraq but history shows that they didn't care to either ask nor answer any of them....they had their agenda, reason and history be damned. Thousands of lives later the Middle East is, well, different. Yet Nobody can predict even the near future as we are witnessing today. It is also clear that the West and America in particular has no control over that future!
So I ask you to note the questions above. You might try running through them concerning recent conflicts, or even those of other eras. Then ask...where can all of them be answered in the affirmative?
Romney is certain to echo the present Israeli government in beating the Drums of War with Iran. A Knesset & Likud member was on Morning Joe this week and clearly stated that, in his opinion, all peaceful means have been exhausted. He is representative of this most extreme and aggressive Israeli government in the history of modern Israel...are we to turn over our foreign policy to them?
Something to think about it as we await Romney's mandatory speech!
As I watched Romney in his disastrous press conference the other day I noted his brief description of a Romney foreign policy. He did emphasize another tenet of what has come to be called "The Powell Doctrine"...use overwhelming superiority of forces to exercise the mission (I have no idea why that was not covered in the brief Wikipedia link, but there are plenty of other sources, including his original article in Foreign Affairs Quarterly, circa 1992.) Well, Romney is being encouraged, or forced, to give a major speech on foreign affairs. Watch carefully...lives could depend on it!
Certain things are clear. Romney is surrounded by the old Bush Neocon crowd who ignored the tenets of General Powell's admonition in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Try going through the list of questions...some can be answered in the positive, particularly in the AfPak theater...literally none can be affirmed in the case of Iraq but history shows that they didn't care to either ask nor answer any of them....they had their agenda, reason and history be damned. Thousands of lives later the Middle East is, well, different. Yet Nobody can predict even the near future as we are witnessing today. It is also clear that the West and America in particular has no control over that future!
So I ask you to note the questions above. You might try running through them concerning recent conflicts, or even those of other eras. Then ask...where can all of them be answered in the affirmative?
Romney is certain to echo the present Israeli government in beating the Drums of War with Iran. A Knesset & Likud member was on Morning Joe this week and clearly stated that, in his opinion, all peaceful means have been exhausted. He is representative of this most extreme and aggressive Israeli government in the history of modern Israel...are we to turn over our foreign policy to them?
Something to think about it as we await Romney's mandatory speech!
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
The Hermit and the Mantra - Om Mani Padme Hum
An old story speaks about a similar problem. A devoted meditator, after years concentrating on a particular mantra, had attained enough insight to begin teaching. The student's humility was far from perfect, but the teachers at the monastery were not worried.
A few years of successful teaching left the meditator with no thoughts about learning from anyone; but upon hearing about a famous hermit living nearby, the opportunity was too exciting to be passed up.
The hermit lived alone on an island at the middle of a lake, so the meditator hired a man with a boat to row across to the island. The meditator was very respectful of the old hermit. As they shared some tea made with herbs the meditator asked him about his spiritual practice. The old man said he had no spiritual practice, except for a mantra which he repeated all the time to himself. The meditator was pleased: the hermit was using the same mantra he used himself -- but when the hermit spoke the mantra aloud, the meditator was horrified!
"What's wrong?" asked the hermit.
"I don't know what to say. I'm afraid you've wasted your whole life! You are pronouncing the mantra incorrectly!"
"Oh, Dear! That is terrible. How should I say it?"
The meditator gave the correct pronunciation, and the old hermit was very grateful, asking to be left alone so he could get started right away. On the way back across the lake the meditator, now confirmed as an accomplished teacher, was pondering the sad fate of the hermit.
"It's so fortunate that I came along. At least he will have a little time to practice correctly before he dies." Just then, the meditator noticed that the boatman was looking quite shocked, and turned to see the hermit standing respectfully on the water, next to the boat.
"Excuse me, please. I hate to bother you, but I've forgotten the correct pronunciation again. Would you please repeat it for me?"
"You obviously don't need it," stammered the meditator; but the old man persisted in his polite request until the meditator relented and told him again the way he thought the mantra should be pronounced.
The old hermit was saying the mantra very carefully, slowly, over and over, as he walked across the surface of the water back to the island.
SIMPLE INTERNET BOUNDARIES!
Good morning all. My first blog isn't my intended comment on the UT historically in San Diego...that can wait. The tragedy in Libya and the attack on the American embassy in Cairo brings another thought.
The American ambassador and three other personnel were killed in a fire set by attackers of the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya. The full story is here:
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/09/20129112108737726.html
The Libyans along with the Egyptians were riled up over a youtube video, allegedly produced in America and linked to this Florida pastor:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfPPtHtUfmQ
Supposedly the video, which I haven't located yet, is an amateurish attack on Islam and degrades their prophet. Prior to these events it had less than 3000 views. Rumors in the middle east had it as a Hollywood blockbuster coming out on 9/11...so think about it. A stupid video put out by irresponsible bigots has reached around the world and resulted in 4 deaths. The same pastor, Terry Jones, has previously caused riots and deaths in Afghanistan when he threatened public Quran burnings...welcome to the digital "create your own reality" age!
Can any of us write something or create a video here which we present to the world, come what may, and have similar results? Would we wish to do so? Do we think before we hit the post button, or in this case the publish link? Respect of ours and others boundaries, parameters of behavior, shouldn't disappear under the relative anonymity of cyber space...the above is an example of why that is!
Good morning all. My first blog isn't my intended comment on the UT historically in San Diego...that can wait. The tragedy in Libya and the attack on the American embassy in Cairo brings another thought.
The American ambassador and three other personnel were killed in a fire set by attackers of the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya. The full story is here:
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/09/20129112108737726.html
The Libyans along with the Egyptians were riled up over a youtube video, allegedly produced in America and linked to this Florida pastor:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfPPtHtUfmQ
Supposedly the video, which I haven't located yet, is an amateurish attack on Islam and degrades their prophet. Prior to these events it had less than 3000 views. Rumors in the middle east had it as a Hollywood blockbuster coming out on 9/11...so think about it. A stupid video put out by irresponsible bigots has reached around the world and resulted in 4 deaths. The same pastor, Terry Jones, has previously caused riots and deaths in Afghanistan when he threatened public Quran burnings...welcome to the digital "create your own reality" age!
Can any of us write something or create a video here which we present to the world, come what may, and have similar results? Would we wish to do so? Do we think before we hit the post button, or in this case the publish link? Respect of ours and others boundaries, parameters of behavior, shouldn't disappear under the relative anonymity of cyber space...the above is an example of why that is!
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