Raider Nation - Hold Your Head High

They just don't understand. When it comes to being a fan of the Oakland Raiders, you're all in. Real fans never quit their team. There is no switching allegiance to another team or colors. You might disagree with team decisions and possibly even boycott them, but the love remains intact. Because you are a proud member of a silver and black fan base that's loyal to the core. You've got history with your team.

Raider Nation is more than just followers of a football team; it's a collection of humanity who've found integrity in slogans like "commitment to excellence" and "just win baby." It's a group of individuals coming together to share in what it means to support an idea, a vision, a cause and a community. It's a membership that can't be bought, borrowed or bartered for. You can only earn membership with love & loyalty. And as with most relationships of commitment there's times when it hurts. Times you wish you'd maybe not gotten so seriously involved. Times when you question whether to stay in the relationship or just walk away, because of the pain. But you stay because you know you'll never find another like it. The pain makes you stronger. 

Then you remember the good times, the "One Nation" feeling that only a stadium full of screaming silver & black fans can give you. You smile with thoughts of witnessing the most unpredictable wins and unlikely outcomes. Thoughts of clutching fellow fans as the Raiders pull off another classic win at home are etched in your game memory scrapbook. You warm to the idea that you have been and continue to be a part of sports most committed and recognizable fan base, regardless of how villainous others might perceive you. The warmth brings about a radiant glow of pride in your face and stoic victory in your heart. You hear the late John Facenda narrating lines to the "Autumn Wind" poem and you're ready to strap on a helmet and run through a brick wall. Because YOU ARE A RAIDER. And there's nothing like it in the world of sports.

So Raider Nation, should anyone question how you can remain loyal to a 4-12 team that's about to move to Las Vegas and leave you football homeless, you tell'em they'll never understand what it means to be part of something bigger than the NFL. Bigger than sports. You tell'em there's nothing on this earth next to God & Family that fills you with a love and loyalty so powerful it takes your breath away. You tell'em what it means to be a part of Raider Nation. Then ask if their team and fan base makes them feel anything like what you've just described. Chances are they've never experienced anything like Raider Nation. And as fans of other teams they likely never will. How could they? 


Say Goodnight to the villain -

Put Yourself In Mark Davis Shoes

Sharing A Relic in Oakland

Occupying A Palace in Las Vegas

What Oakland really needs to be upset about are the politicians and/or city officials who waited until the fourth quarter to try making serious adjustments in the game to keep the Raiders in Oaktown. Then with the clock winding down they fumbled the ball, turning it over to the opposing team.

Hell yeah, somebody dropped the ball. But the play has been reviewed and the ruling on the field stands. 

Now they want to throw a red flag and challenge the call on the field long after the game ended and the final whistle was blown? Come'on Man!

What NFL owner in his right mind would have his team play another season, much less another game, in a town or county that has brought a lawsuit against him for seeking better pastures? 

I'm just glad they returned from L.A. in the 90's and stayed long enough for me to become a part of Raider Nation. I've enjoyed the Raiders from the time they returned right up until last weekend's incredible comeback win against the Pittsburgh Steelers. I don't know what the future holds for me and the Raiders personally, but I can't go hatin' on Mark Davis for wanting to improve his business prospects. And anyone with any business sense knows that its "Just Bizness,' nothing personal.

I'm gonna miss the Raiders in Oaktown. What I would like to see the folks threatening a lawsuit against the Raiders do is put together a plan to replace the Raiders with a new team and new stadium in Oakland. Show the NFL the revenue potential of investing in Bay Area sports. Show Oaktown's willingness to be a partner instead of a plaintiff. That's how you attract good business. Stop playing the victim and start envisioning victorious dealings with the NFL. It's a new day; time for a new attitude. Continue holding on to old ways of doing business and you might find yourself out of a baseball team next. 

The Mills of God Grind Slowly

Which means that no matter how long it takes, he who needs to be punished will be punished. God watches all, and the day of reckoning will come.


From the book "Retrospection" by Hubert Howe Bancroft (1912):

Pray the gods that their mills may be kept running until the superstition and chicane which govern our courts shall be ground out, when justice and judges shall be something more than mechanisms chained to the Juggernaut of form, when right shall precede precedent, when lawyers shall not be allowed to insult men and torture women on the witness stand, when competent and responsible judges shall do the work of ignorant and stupid jurymen, when accusers shall be required to act promptly and make good their accusations or drop it, when court routine shall be conducted more upon the principles of common-sense and common honesty, more work and less delay being required of judges who should dispose of their cases in one-fifth of the time now taken, when justice shall be considered before law and the spirit of the law before the letter of the law, when rich and poor shall be treated alike, and insanity, informality, or other like trivial pretense shall not shield a convicted criminal.

The world moves. We may be sure that a change will come, that our courts of law will  not always be courts of charlatanry, and that administrators of the law will be something else than images cast in bronze set up for the embarrassment of the people. 
pages (192-193)

Old technology: Millstones for grinding grain are seen at the Lacey Green Windmill

When The Cover-up Exposes the Crime

I’ve been outta the loop politically since the first African-American was elected President of the United States. My understanding of his tenure was that he courageously fulfilled his obligations as Commander-in-chief through two terms, fighting tooth and nail against an opposition political party that attempted to hinder his every move. Now I’m tuning in and watching a fiasco unfold with a President and his associates who represent that same political party that opposed the first African-American President. Yes, the same man who stoked the angry flames of the birther movement.

Now let me get this straight. The President’s personal lawyer was sentenced to 3 years incarceration for lying to congress about hush money payments made to women the President had extramarital affairs with years ago. Well why would a lawyer lie about that? I wouldn’t call a pornstar and playboy playmate credible witnesses that could hurt the President politically. Oh, the money was paid during the 2016 Presidential campaign? Did the campaign report the money as an expense? I see. And did the President know about these payments? Well if the President says he didn’t know anything about it, let the loyal lawyer take the fall, what’s the problem?

What! The lawyer confessed? What made him do that? So, you’re saying the raid on the lawyer’s office turned up evidence that proved him guilty of lying about the payments? And why should the President be concerned when he has said all along that he knew nothing about the lawyer’s payments to the pornstar and the playboy playmate?

Is the President heard referencing the payments on the recordings? Don’t the lawyer’s recordings fall under attorney-client privilege material? I see, so the lawyer cut a deal claiming everything he did was under orders from the President.  I wonder what made the lawyer paranoid enough to not only record conversions with the President but to keep the recordings in his office for years. Yeah, it does kind of sound like a low-level mobster insurance policy. Guess I would feel Untouchable too with evidence like that in my possession? Ever heard of J. Edgar Hoover? He had something on just about everyone.

And please tell me again, why was the lawyer initially questioned about the President? Russia? You mean the lawyer was trying to do business with Russia on behalf of the President? The same Russia that United States intelligence organizations have confirmed interfered with the 2016 Presidential Election? I see, so the lawyer is just the pawn protecting the business King from being prosecuted for collusion with Russia in U.S. election interference. Why would the President collude with a sanctioned country like Russia? Yes I know of the President’s business organization. You say the President’s business org. was working on a billion-dollar deal to build a hotel-casino in Russia? No they didn’t! They actually threw-in a free penthouse suite for the Russian President as a bonus if the deal went through? Now I get the picture. 

So when the President started advocating removing U.S. sanctions on Russia, his motive was to get rid of the U.S. imposed restrictions preventing American businesses like his from doing business there. That sounds like a bigger plan than one man or one business could pull off. Is there anything I might’ve missed? I would begin coming unhinged too if a day after my personal lawyer was sentenced for lying for me, that National Enquirer newspaper, under threat of prosecution, finally admitted this:

The company that publishes the National Enquirer admitted that it paid $150,000 in hush money to silence alleged mistresses of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump prior to the 2016 election, prosecutors said Wednesday.

The publisher, American Media Inc., will avoid prosecution by stipulating that it worked with Trump's campaign to buy the silence of women — who have identified themselves as adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal — ahead of the vote two years ago, prosecutors said.

So the National Enquirer bought and buried the pornstar story as an agreement with the President’s 2016 campaign, that’s rich. Who knew that when an enhanced and aging pornstar came forward with allegations of a tryst between her and the President, that the story would kick up dirt exposing illegal actions taken by the President to influence the election and possibly pave the way for him making lots of money in Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Its so true that the cover up is always worse than the crime.

You mean the President of the United States has been implicated in a felony? And his business organization, per the prosecution, is documented as paying back the felonious lawyer money he paid National Inquirer who in turn paid the playmate? I swear you just can't make up stories like this. You do think we'll see indictments for the President and family members running his business organization, right? Wow...…….

And one final question or two if you don’t mind. What, besides the unhinged blowup on national tv to shutdown the Government if he doesn’t get his wall , has the President said of late? I know the President continues to call the Russian election interference investigation as nothing more than a “witch hunt.” And I'm not surprised he has labeled his once trusted and good-fellow lawyer with one little word, “weak.”

How does the always elusive White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders feel right about now?

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on Tuesday that she hopes to be remembered as being “transparent and honest” when her tenure in the role comes to an end.

Transparent – clear, crystal clear, undisguised, evident, apparent, unmistakable

Honest – truthful, sincere, open, candid, frank, authentic, impartial, trustworthy

And now for the scary question I'm sure many Americans are wondering tonight.

Who's carrying the football and the codes?

Raider Nation Wipes A$$ With Terrible Towels

You damn right we did! We fans of the Silver & Black came to our Oakland Coliseum on Sunday only to find ourselves outnumbered by a boisterous, yellow-towel toting fan base of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Our first thought was "what the hell is going on here, did the NFL fly them in with Franco Harris to remind the Raiders of the Immaculate Deception?

But instead of hatin' on Steelers fans we welcomed their passion and commitment to their team. They're as loyal a fan base as Raider Nation. But it was hard watching all those yellow terrible towels being swung around in our house. It was even harder seeing our offense having to execute silent plays because of the disruptive noise the Steeler fans tried to impose. Just who the hell did they think they were and who's house did they think they were in? This isn't Denver or Santa Clara (49ers) for chrissakes, this is Oaktown, home of the Panthers, home of the Silver & Black. 

So we did what any Raiders fan base would and should do; we shouted them down in the stands (verbally) and our team broke them down on the field (physically) as the Raiders overcame penalties, bad calls and the hard fought efforts of a championship caliber opponent. In the stands those terrible towels became nothing more than a "butt wipe" once the game clock struck 00:00.

The Raiders had to win this game for the fans. The team came to the stadium knowing they would be competing against a tough opponent. But we Raiders fans were caught totally off guard by the overflowing Steelers fan contingent. Dressed in their yellow and black, they were cheering and rooting and laughing it up as if the stadium belonged to them. And had the Steelers won it...……….I can't even think of what it would have felt like. Bottom line, nobody comes into our house like that and is allowed to walk out unbloodied and smiling, not even the towel toting Steelers fans.

Nope, Not Up In Here!  You can say that Raider Nation saw the enemy Sunday and the enemy was ours. This from a famous quote of American naval commander Oliver Hazard Perry after a stunning victory over British battleships.

"We have met the enemy and they are ours"

Thank you Oakland Raiders for turning the Ben Rothlisberger led Pittsburgh Steelers away in defeat once again (Rothlisberger is 0-4 in Oakland). With a 2-10 record coming in, the Raiders didn't have much to play for other than pride. It turned out to be enough encouragement. So let this be a lesson to playoff bound teams and their fans; when visiting a team who has no chance of making the playoffs and nothing to prove, be careful not to awaken a sleeping panther lying in its lair, hungering for a juicy win and the pride that comes with it. Because nobody wants to be robbed of their gold by what they thought was a harmless pushover. 

The Autumn Wind is Still a Raider!

Final Score

Steelers 21

Raiders 24

One World

A scene from the martial arts movie "The Grandmaster." The push hands lesson symbolizes the higher realization that martial arts philosophy can lead to. It is a practice to be shared with men and women of the world. A Youtube commenter (see below) explains it very well. We can be limited by our independent styles and visions or we can become limitless by joining in our styles and visions. One World!

crawlFace 2 years ago (edited)

(Part 2 of 2)

Ip realizes he cannot or should not actually or directly break the cake.  His greater understanding of the situation is that a torch and legacy is being passed on to him through the grandmaster, so the same understanding is applied to the technique to break the cake: the grandmaster must break the cake or through the grandmaster or together with the grandmaster the cake can be broken.

What Ip realizes is not the limitation of the grandmaster’s skill but how the cake naturally limits and restricts the grandmaster.  In ideology/theory, the grandmaster is bound by the cake.  Ultimately the grandmaster has to hold the cake and keep it from Ip.  Ip realizes he will not go for the cake but he will go for the grandmaster.  This is why on Ip’s third consideration he readies his hand past the cake and in challenge of the grandmaster.

The grandmaster can defend the cake but not truly or entirely defend himself.  In harmony with this and the grandmaster, engaging, Ip reaches the position where he is able to make contact with the grandmaster and transfer the energy/chi through to the cake.

Technically Ip never actually/literally breaks the cake.  It was the energy/chi transfer from Ip through the grandmaster that breaks the cake. Or it takes both the grandmaster and Ip together to break the cake.

Through this process, Ip understands how to answer the riddle:

“The world is a big place; why limit it to North and south?”  the next sentence is key:

“It holds you back”.

(The limitation of having to hold on to the cake and defend the cake and treat the cake so specialized, the same limitation of only seeing North and South and country when ultimately it is all part of life everywhere)

“To you this cake is the country; to me it is much more.”

“If the Southern arts go far, what boundary is the North?”

-Meaning: since the north and south are each other’s border, each is as large or small as the other.  If one is large then so is the other.  No matter how far one expands they will still be together as borders of each other.  Ultimately: there is neither without the other.

The grandmaster confirms our analysis of Ip’s understanding and answer to the question:

“Well said.  All my life I have been the victor; my technique has never failed me.”

** “I never thought I’d see the limits of my own vision.”

-I was through those limits that Ip was able to effectively solve the riddle.  The grandmaster was bound by the bread, connected to the bread, so through the grandmaster the bread could be broken.

If Ip would have tried to directly break the bread itself he would have failed the riddle.

Raiders Show Up Against Chiefs

No, the silver and black didn't upset the division leading Kansas City Chiefs today. But, and that's a big Butt, they put some serious doubt into the Chiefs reputation as an unstoppable juggernaut. With the Chiefs releasing their rushing leader due to a damaging TMZ released video this week, all eyes were watching to see if it had any impact on the teams' on-field execution. Well, they still scored 40 points, so I guess not.

What did impact the Chiefs play today were the feisty homefield (2-9) Raiders bringing their A-game to the show. On paper the team stats are almost even, but for that glaring turnover box. The Raiders had 3 fumbles that left them fighting an uphill battle most of the day. None by the QB, which is an improvement. As good as Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is, the Raiders helped them win today. But I ain't mad at my Raiders. They competed and gave us fans watching from the cool, autumn windy Coliseum seats something to cheer about; 33 points. The defense broke a few times but also had some dominant stops.

The game today was one of the best I've seen the Raiders play in quite some time. I was skeptical of some of the play calling but understood that Carr's compromised pocket protection dictated him getting rid of the ball quick. 

Special teams blocked an extra point attempt today, Hooray!

As I realized this could be one of the final three Raiders games I'll see at the Oakland Coliseum, I felt a ping of emotional nostalgia bubble up in me for a second. I was able to swallow it down and shout out my curses like the sour-mouth sailor we silver and black pirates are known to be when watching our Raiders. It felt really good to release all that pent up "leaving Oakland" stuff. What's the word I learned, "Cathartic" (purging, purifying).

Yes, today Raiders game was Carthartic. That's what keeps us sports fans coming back for more; win, lose or tie...……. 

Final Score
Chiefs 40
Raiders 33

Thunder in the Heart

Thunder in the Heart (1954 edition)

By John Lee Weldon

I just finished a southern novel that pulled me into its unsettling 1930’s atmosphere. The author wrote the story in a semi-looking back style and it worked perfectly, revealing suspected secrets as it strolled along to its fulfilling conclusion. A love starved woman pleading for her married lover to stay, and giving all the reasons why, is the narrating voice that accompanies the drum march in "Thunder of the Heart."

What this - making of a prostitute - story shares is how incidents in an innocent young life can leave scars that never stop haunting, even into adulthood. It is what can happen when one holds onto a dream that in-reality was shattered many moons ago.

Listening to the young woman Zalphia at the end of the story think about love and the security of having her own man was kind of sad. You realize that she might have given in to the mental illness that caused her father to do what he did to become an unrecognizable victim of circumstance.

What made reading this novel so enjoyable, grabbing me completely, were the characters and the build-up of their explosive circumstances. The blowup was inevitable. Like watching two armies spending days preparing for the big battle that will leave some dead and many scarred and knowing that the survivors must somehow find a way to go on living with their scars.

Do I think this novel was too depressing for the average reader to enjoy? Perhaps, especially if the reader is looking for an escape from pressures in their own life. But to the credit of this novel, I think it brings a deep understanding and empathy to readers who have experienced enough life to recognize the pressuring circumstance of at least one of the characters. 

Whether you’ve known: a young person scared and confused by their homosexual feelings; a bitter, alcoholic mother unable to love a weakly perceived husband and jealous of her physically blooming daughter; a protective father trying to provide the best he can for his family without getting too caught up in their emotional needs; or a daughter who is at an age where nature is introducing her to the beauty of love while her home life has become an ugly battlefield with enemies and victims, this book shows us this and much more.

And then there is Whit, the young Mulatto field hand who’s innocence is what the tragic episode in this story turns on. His true love is the gold standard by which all other loves in the story appear cheap, childish and unrealistic in comparison. And yet he unknowingly marches onto the battlefield to become prey. Tragedies almost always require a sacrificial lamb.

I give Thunder of the Heart 5 out of 5 stars for its engaging and entertaining happenings. It’s not only a creatively written style of a story, but what it shares of human interactions  and needs carries a truth in it that is all too familiar.

Note: I was attracted to this book partly because of the eye-catching George Salter cover art of a red lip-sticked, hazel-eyed young woman with an odd gaze in her eyes and dreamy smirk on her lips. 

After finishing the book I have a theory on what the female cover image was meant to reveal to would be readers; the woman looking into the mirror that was described in the story as once belonging to Zalphia’s mother is the embodiment of all three family members (mother, father, brother). There’s as much male facial features as female hidden in the portrait. On the outside there’s the appearance of innocent beauty; but you can see just below the surface a seductively, sinister and disturbing thing that seems out of touch with reality. I wanna say that Zalphia, who seemed to be the most normal and level headed of the family throughout most of the story, became the dreamy, haunted and unhinged byproduct of her disturbed family members. And all any of them really wanted was to be loved. 

What a price innocence must pay in life when searching just to be loved.