Orange is the new Black
Go Get'em Scottie!
R A I D E R L E G E N D
Friday, May 17, 2024
Monday, May 13, 2024
Giants Injury List Motivation
April 03, 2024, Starting Lineups
For tonight's game 1 of a three-game series at Oracle Park the Giants are missing four starters due to injury (Lee, Soler, Conforto, Ahmed). Starting Catcher Patrick Bailey is listed day-to-day. Last I checked on the Dodgers injury list Jason Heyward, who didn't play April 03, is still out and Ohtani is day-to-day.
Bottom line, the Giants, coming off a 2-1 series win over the Cincinnati Reds cannot let the injury bug distract them. They have the division leading Dodgers in town and it's "next man up" mentality time. Both teams are 3-2 in their last five games. Everybody knows that when these two teams meet you can throw out all the recent stats and win/loss records. It's Dodgers versus Giants once again, no time for licking wounds or making excuses. Let's Play Ball!
Saturday, May 11, 2024
Karl Haushofer - Hitler's Inexhaustable Idea Man (1939)
Life Magazine
Article - November 20, 1939
Germany’s
Brain Truster Produces Nazi War Aims
Excerpt
The root of
Haushofer’s advice is to be ready for anything, to suit the demand to the
supply in international politics, to seek the weak point and to be bound by no
principles. This advice is what the Nazi leaders have always believed in
internal politics. Haushofer tells them, out of an immense scholarship, how to
apply it to international politics. Strangely, the first complete report on
Haushofer to reach the democratic world was contained in several chapters of
the book by the renegade Nazi Hermann Rauschning, “The Revolution of
Nihilism.”
Karl Haushofer’s
ideas, according to Rauschning, are responsible not only for Germany’s alliance
with Soviet Russia but for the development of a totally unscrupulous
revolution. The Nazi elite, according to Rauschning, have come to know that the
whole Nazi program is just balderdash to feed the people. They look on the
hard-working, patriotic, march-loving Germans as the most marvelous suckers ever
handed to a small, tight group hungry for power. Their true program, says
Rauschning, is to pulverize and “Atomize” the German people into one classless
mass, suited to any purposes the High Command may decide. This is to be the
instrument for the great external aims improvised by Haushofer.
Knowing that
the elite of any revolution’s first phase are overthrown by later elites,
Hitler trains the young Nazi elite in special leader schools. In the
competitions for admission, lower-middle-class candidates are more and more
often beaten out by merciless young men from the aristocracy and upper-middle
class. The same type of young man is making his appearance in the ranks of Army
officers. Rauschning says that they listen to Hitler today with embarrassed disgust,
that they believe the revolution cannot stand still and the old Nazis must go.
Either the Army will take over Germany, according to Rauschning, or this new
elite will launch a further “pulverization” of the German people and the “eternal
war” of German dominion.
For all
these “sons of chaos” infected by Haushofer’s ideas, Rauschning has such
epithets as primitive, vulgar, ungrammatical, amoral, immoral, anti-social, déclassé,
hooligan. Like their Fuhrer, they await the turn of events to take over whatever slogans will excite and
delude the people. These slogans are continually changing. Behind the screaming
voice of Adolf Hitler, the actual words are so vague and ambiguous that they
can be used in any way he chooses. Rauschning describes a total breakdown in
Germany of everything once meant by German character, a triumph of cynicism, the death of all hope and
principle, the glorification of rapid action and crafty opportunism. The Revolution,
he says, will whirl on, either forward or backward.
Haushofer
picked Adolph Hitler and his Deputy Chief, Rudolf Hess, as pupils of his in 1920,
saying that Hess should have been a priest and Hitler an architect. He has
never let go of them and calls them by their first names.
He won his
first hold on Hitler when he and his Jewish wife brought to Hitler’s jail in
Munich in 1923 books and flowers to keep the future Fuhrer happy, while he
wrote Mein Kampf.
Personal notes:
I typed this
up after reading it because the methods Haushofer suggested to Hitler for
taking power seem very similar to what GOP Republicans grabbed hold of in Donald
Trump in 2016. “primitive, vulgar, ungrammatical, amoral, immoral,
anti-social, déclassé, hooligan”
Haushofer’s son, Albrecht, would later be executed by the Nazi’s for his work with the German Resistance. Albrecht was implicated in the July 20, 1944, attempted plot to assassinate the Fuhrer. (see Wikipedia)
Karl Haushofer and his wife on the night of March 10-11, 1946, committed suicide. Both drank arsenic, then his wife hanged herself from a tree branch.
Haushofer developed Geopolitik from widely varied sources.
World War II began on Sept. 1, 1939, with the German invasion of Poland.
Guilt
Moabit Sonnet by Albrecht Haushofer
(found on his person at the time of his execution)
I am guilty,
But not in the way you think.
I should have earlier recognized my duty;
I should have more sharply called evil evil;
I reined in my judgement too long.
I did warn,
But not enough, and not clearly enough;
And today I know what I was guilty of.
Saturday, May 04, 2024
Comfortably Numb Music Lesson
I know, it sounds crazy, but this musical instructor, with her Mary Poppins delivery style, is awesome in teaching the harmony and balance of a song I've always enjoyed.
How does it feel, comfortably numb?
I know, it's not an electric guitar, but the harp gives a visual flow to the relationship of chords, scales, and notes. And I think it is a great talking instrument, in that it mimics speech or has "a way of articulating musically expressive intention."
I came to this video while searching for a beginner's guitar lesson. Yes, finally, after years of being a musical observer, I've jumped into the pool of creative arts, determined to discover through practice what I've admired from afar.
Why Comfortably Numb? My history with the song and group goes back to a time in the 1970's, while working in a record store. Pink Floyd was the music of young people tripping on the mysteries of life. Their music was a dream-walk through the cosmic universe, making you the captain of your journey.
The seventies were still an age of psychedelic experiment, going where no man has gone before. There were leftovers of the sixties "Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out" message which accompanied protest and a strong desire for collective change in society. It was still the "Age of Aquarius."
How does it feel, comfortably numb?
So, I find it interesting to hear this musical instructor, with a Mary Poppins flavor, breakdown the musical theme and composition of a song which once led partying, protesting young people to the promised land. And for some, led to a place of no return.
I have become, comfortably numb!
Tracing the Life of Syd Barrett
Thursday, May 02, 2024
Lawyer Cross-Examines Doctor
Q = Lawyer
A = Doctor
Q: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?
A: No.
Q: Did you check for blood pressure?
A: No.
Q: Did you check for breathing?
A: No.
Q: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?
A: No.
Q: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
A: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
Q: But could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?
A: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law.
I'm not one for bashing lawyers, or doctors for that matter, but when I read the above interchange between a doctor accused of malpractice, and the prosecuting attorney, I laughed out loud. Visions of a highly educated doctor calmly and confidently answering questions directed at him in the witness box from a stalking, snake-like lawyer immediately come to mind.
As any good prosecuting lawyer would do on cross-examination of a defendant, he tries punching holes into the defendant's previous testimony with the defendant still on the witness stand.
Q: "So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?"
This is where the stalking-snake lawyer so arrogantly slithers unexpectedly into his own concocted trap. He has mistakenly slithered too far into a field of questioning (medical diagnosis) advantageous to the doctor.
A: "Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar."
Here, the doctor calmly and confidently insults the lawyer's intelligence, nudging his ego to commit a defense of his arrogance. The snake has crossed the point of no return.
Q: "But could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?"
The legal snake tries desperately to wriggle his way out of the trap, only to entangle himself more completely in its grasp. The die is cast. The doctor only needs to deliver the fatal blow.
A: "Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law."
Yes, A brainless lawyer could still be alive AND PRACTICING LAW in this courtroom.
And there you have it, a simple scene taking place in a courtroom where a man-snake in the legal field (lawyer) tries outsmarting a doctor, not using legalese methods but instead with clever medical questions which would backfire in his face. Humorous!
Saturday, April 27, 2024
SF Giants Friday Night Walk-Off: Bailey's Comet!
Orange Friday at Oracle Park in San Francisco. A great pitching duel between two upcoming rookies (Kyle Harrison, Quinn Priester). Both throwing six innings, allowing zero runs. Relievers relieving and fielders fielding. Each team had its speedy centerfielder track down what looked like an extra bases blast off the bat. The game stayed scoreless going into the ninth inning.
In the top of the ninth Giants closer Camilo Doval got himself out of a bases loaded, one out jam with a double-play ball. Up come the Giants, bottom of the ninth, no score. With Oracle Park growing wilder and wilder with every pitch, Michael Conforto battles out of an 0-2 count, earning a walk. Pirates closer David Bednar did himself no favors on a 1-2 count Automatic Ball Pitch Violation, making it 2-2.
Next, Giants Matt Chapman gets a single on a 1-2 count fastball. Up to this point he'd gone 0-3 on the night, while as a team the Giants had four hits to the Pirates 8, striking out eleven times.
With men on second and third, nobody out, Giants catcher Patrick Bailey comes to the plate. Oracle is rocking with 37,000 loyal fans pushing the ballpark decibel meter off the chart. Former Giant Joey Bart, traded earlier this month to the Pirates, is catching the ninth. Bailey fouls off a high fastball then takes a splitter for a ball. On a 1-1 count, with the fans ready to explode, Bailey gets the same high fastball pitch as before and blasts it over the right-field brick wall into a mosh pit of screaming, celebrating Giants fans. A walk-off homerun for Patrick Bailey, his second walk-off homer of the season. Friday Night Fireworks immediately lit up the night skies of the bay.
Patrick Bailey LEFT NO DOUBT! See the FULL half-inning for the Giants WALK-OFF! (youtube.com)
Orange Fridays are alive and well at Oracle Park!
Pirates 0
Giants 3
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Question For U.S. Supreme Court
After a day of hearing United States Supreme Court Justices question lawyers about Presidential Immunity, I have a really basic question for all of the Justices.
Where were you all during the 3 hours 11 minutes of the January 6th Attack On The U.S. Capitol?
Were you all still in your Washington D.C., Supreme Court Building chambers doing business as if the attackers were not there for you? Could you see or hear the mob, or did you tunein to live coverage of the attack? Did you all have or need additional security? Were you all escorted to a secure alternative location? Were your families worried for your safety?
I am trying to understand how you Justices could have been 1,523 feet from the Violently Attacked Capitol on January 6, 2021, a five minute walk, and not feel it your duty today to protect the U.S. Constitution from an criminally indicted former President, instrumental in planning, inciting, and supporting the attack by refusing to order any combative response to the attackers. The National Guard were on standby waiting for the order to deploy.
Do the Justices not see the fault of their not wanting today to address a Presidential coup immunity question? Why are they tiptoeing around what the entire country and world witnessed on “Live TV” when this former President’s supporters, at his direction, marched to and stormed the U.S. Capitol not 5 minutes away from them.
I want to believe the Supreme Court Justices take their duty of interpreting the meaning of law, finding relevancy in the law to a particular set of facts, or ruling on how laws should be applied, very seriously and professionally. But much of what I heard today makes me question if perhaps the Supreme Court is compromised in some say. Something to me just didn’t feel genuine and sincere in the way many of the Justices, not all, were carrying out their duties. It almost felt like a staged production of “Inherit the Wind” or “12 Angry Men.”
I, and I am sure many of my fellow U.S. citizens are left feeling as if today’s Supreme Court Justices’ questions on Presidential Immunity was a farce. Why? What is behind the decision for the highest court in the land to ignore the obvious Presidential coup of Jan. 6th, choosing instead to debate Immunity of hypothetical official and unofficial Presidential acts. And then take weeks/months to decide on a ruling or no ruling. One must ask if they are serving the country or the individual who was named Wednesday as an “unindicted co-conspirator” in the Michigan fake elector scheme.
Maybe it is time to seriously consider term limits for Supreme Court Justices. When the wife of a Justice is in touch with some of those indicted for trying to overturn the election, and said Justice does not recuse himself from hearing any arguments related to the case, it’s time for a change.
VOA News Jan. 01, 2024
CNN Politics April 25, 2024
Bill Hennessy
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Twas The Night Before Draft Day
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds;
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow,
Gave a lustre of midday to objects below,
When what to my wondering eyes did appear,
But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny rein-deer,
With a little old driver so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment he must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
Football fans will tell you; NFL Draft-Eve can be the most exciting anticipation since waiting on Santa Claus to deliver Christmas Eve gifts when you were a kid. Questions swarm around in your head about what impressive new toys will be left under the Christmas tree for you. Will you get Tonka, GI Joe, Rock'em Sock'em robots, or what. Perhaps a Hot Wheel racing car track.
Mind you I'm a child of the 60's-70's era. Tonight is the night that grown men like me become as children, hoping and praying for that special gifted football player. For tonight is the eve of the NFL Draft, and if I don't get a top prospect added to my teams' roster, it'll feel like a Charlie Brown Christmas or Halloween, choose your pick.
The difference between Christmas and the NFL Draft is the drawn-out anticipation. Because you don't get to play your new toys on Draft Day. You see, after the draft, the gifts your team acquires will not play in a meaningful NFL game for another six months. So, you are left waiting to see if the toy you got can actually satisfy and fulfill you and your teams' needs. Can it take the bruising play of NFL football, or will it easily break and be useless after one or two games. Or worse, will it not make the cut.
Whether he be a lineman, running back, wide receiver, quarterback or defensive player, your gifted player is all hype and speculation until he suits up and participates in live game action. Until then, all you can do is talk about what Santa delivered on Draft Day. Until then, you are back to hoping and praying that your gift will be as good or better than predicted. And unfortunately, like Christmas, there's always a mean Grinch in the equation just begging to trade away or steal your joy.
So, for now, enjoy the hype, the promise, the anticipation, the dream. For tomorrow is "the day the lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad in it." Tomorrow is Draft Day!
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
Nuggets Buzzer Beat Lakers
Nugget’s beat Lakers on buzzer beater by Murray
Incredible!
What I enjoy from every angle isn’t just Jamal Murray’s buzzer beating walk-off, but also Lakers Antonio Davis getting gobbled up in the Denver Nuggets bench afterword. Some angles look as if the whole Arena mobs AD, swallowing him up like some alien Blob monster. The shot sent Ball Arena into such pandomonium that any visiting opponent could easily have been trampled and buried in the celebration.
Davis survived the celebration, but the Lakers go home defeated and down 0-2 in the series, to face a charged up Nuggets team. If Jamal Murray continues to bring clutch shooting fire like he displayed in this comeback win, no Lakers lead is safe. Lebron and AD are gonna need more than homecourt advantage to stop this determined defending champion. Denver is on fire!
Lakers 99
Nuggets 101
Monday, April 22, 2024
Great Quarterback Roman Gabriel
NFL's First Filipino-American quarterback, dies at 83
I remember the name more than watching him play in the 1970's. It's a name when spoken or heard, automatically exudes strength and heroism. Who knew back then that Roman Gabriel had Filipino roots. And to be honest, who really cared just as long as he could sling the football and lead his teams to victory.
2018 NBC News Article by Sheng Peng:
Gabriel headlined at North Carolina State before being drafted second-overall by the Los Angeles Rams in the 1962 NFL Draft.
"Once you become an athlete, you're a little more accepted," Gabriel said. "As I became more proficient as an athlete, I wasn't a Filipino, I was just an American."
But he was more than just any All-American athlete. At 6'5", 220 pounds, Gabriel was the tallest quarterback in the history of the NFL when he started playing in 1962, according to data from Pro Football Reference. Cont'd . . .
When you think of a Roman Gabriel you think of a courageous man standing strong in the face of oncoming danger and fighting the good fight. You think of someone gifted with the skills and mindset to lead men to victory come hell or high water. You think of someone with a "never retreat, never surrender" competitive philosophy, and you are motivated to follow his lead without question.
Roman Gabriel, there's just something in the name that begs honor and reverence. And the man who made the name recognizable, lived up to the respect and admiration of its thundering mythological sound.
1940 - 1924
Thursday, April 18, 2024
A Union Soldier Asks Equality & Protection For Southern Blacks
Excerpts from the book "A Private's Reminiscences of the Civil War," written in 1882 by Rev. Theodore Gerrish. The book chronicles his experiences as a Union Soldier during the American Civil War. Here in the final Chapter XXII, it appears he wrote to the U.S. Government asking/demanding equal rights and protection not be deprived the blacks who did all they could to save the nation and help its Union Army defenders against Confederacy rebels who fought to destroy it from 1861-65.
Chapter XVII
Pages 364-65
“OUR BROTHERS IN BLACK.”
There were
some facts developed in regard to the negroes in that bloody strife which
appear remarkable when we consider their moral condition and the positions in
which they were placed. When our white brothers in the South look in haughty
disdain upon the negroes, and question as to what rights they should expect to
exercise under our Government, I think it would be wise for “Uncle Sam” to
whisper these facts, thus developed, in the ears of his proud spirited sons. In
all those eventful years no negro was ever found in a traitor’s uniform. The “stars
and bars” had no beauty for them; they had not forgotten the old “stars and
stripes.”
There were
plenty of white men in the South who were willing to shoot and starve Union
prisoners, but no black man was found base enough to do such work, although
slavery had kept them in ignorance and
degradation, although their virtues had been debauched to gratify the passions
of their owners, although the Government itself had allowed them to be placed on a level with the common animal. But
notwithstanding all this, beneath each black skin there was a human heart that
disdained to descend to depths of infamy that would permit them to so treat
their fellow creatures.
They never
misused a Union prisoner, but were to them angels of mercy, aiding them in
their terrible flight for life from those prison pens, giving the last crumb of
bread and meat in their possession, guiding them through the trackless forests
and across the bayous and rivers, concealing them by skillful devices when the
hoarse deep baying of the pursuing blood-hounds came too near. They fought
heroically when marshaled under the stars and stripes, so that, when the war
closed, they had nobly earned the ballot that the Government placed in their
hands.
With deep
interest and much gratitude the old soldiers have watched their struggles and
rapid development in all the elements of good citizenship since the close of
the war. As these two races march beside each other in the struggle of life, we
only ask and demand that those who, in their poverty, did all they could to
save the nation and assist its defenders, shall not be deprived of their sacred
rights by those who fought to destroy the nation, and rejoiced in the death of
its soldiers.
Give the “brothers
in black” an equal chance with other citizens. Let the general Government
protect the rights of every citizen, without regard to color or race. That is
all we ask, and that we have a right to demand.
Chapter XVII
A Review
Page 350
It is fitting that one chapter in this volume should be devoted to a review of the record that our soldiers made through those eventful years of the war. This is of special importance, as we are living in an age that is concentrating its thoughts and energies in the present and the future, and is too rapidly forgetting the events of the past, while, consequently, the rising generation is but very imperfectly informed as to the great events of the civil war, of the situation in which the government was placed at its outbreak, and the sacrifices that were made to preserve its life.
About the Author:
Theodore enlisted Company H of the 20th Maine Regiment when he was just 16 years old. He was with the regiment from its founding in 1862 through its mustering out in 1865 except for the summer of 1863 when he was sick in a hospital in Philadelphia and in 1864 when he was recovering from a wound suffered in The Wilderness. After the war he wrote several books including "Army Life: A Private's Reminiscences of the Civil War" which is the only history of his famous regiment written by a member of it.
After the Civil War, he became a minister before moving to the Dakota's where he became wealthy through land speculating. He died in Tennessee in 1923.
The Black Congressmen of Reconstruction: Death of Representation - Mobituaries
Thursday, April 11, 2024
A Great Running Back Passes
Today it was announced one of the best running backs in football history passed away. Orenthal James Simpson played professional football nine seasons for the Buffalo Bills, during which he executed some of the most amazing, jaw-dropping runs ever recorded by NFL Films. He was the first running back to rush for 2,000+ yards in a season and is one of only nine Heisman Trophy winners to win an NFL MVP.
I grew up in New York State watching #32 O.J. run around and through defenses as if he were a sleek cat gracefully alluding wild dogs. He was built to run in the mode of a Gale Sayers before him, and a Barry Sanders to follow. Throw in Adrian Peterson down the road and you have the gift that is a once in a generation running back.
And we're not talking unstoppable power and size like Earl Campbell or Derrick Henry. We are talking juke-spinning, tackle-slipping quickness and finesse. There's no real name for it, but you know it when you see it. Call it field vision with instinctive presence. They had moves! And the guys I'm talking about consistently delivered those moves.
To watch these athletes create spectacular, escape artist runs on the football field was like watching poetry in motion. I'm sure there are others who could and should be included, but these four, playing mostly on bad teams, were undeniably the most entertaining and untacklable (if such a word exists) running backs to ever step on the gridiron.
Thanks for all you gave us on the field of football OJ.
Rest Juice, Rest!
July 1947 - April 2024
Was OJ Simpson THAT Good? - Heisman Season USC Football Highlights - YouTube
Buffalo Bills player will wear O.J. Simpson's No. 32 for first time in more than 40 years | Fox News
Wednesday, April 10, 2024
Warriors 26-Threes Eclipse Lakers
One day after a rare Solar Eclipse blotted out sunshine across the globe, the Golden State Warriors darkened Crypto.com Arena with a historic long-range shooting performance over Lebron James and his Lakers in Los Angeles.
The Warriors shot an historic 63.4% from 3-point range on 26-of-41 shooting against Lebron and company minus Anthony Davis. They led by as many as 18-points and although ‘King James’ put up 33-points, his efforts were OVERSHADOWED / ECLIPSED by a full cast of Warriors dropping threes in front of all the bright and glittery stars who come out to be seen at Lakers games.
It was a disappointing night for Lakers fans at Crypto.com Arena. They should of brought specially made eclipse sun glasses to experience a rare blotting out of L.A. stars and star athletes by a Warriors full moon. When Warriors bad boy enforcer Draymond Green is hitting five threes in the first half, you knew the visiting team from the SF Bay Area was on a mission. Steph, Klay, Wiggins, Podziemski all had long-range success to pressure the Lakers and spoil any talk for now of Lebron moving his team to up to 8th-seed.
As of this win the Warriors are the 10th-seed, a half game behind the 9th-seed Lakers. With the win the Warriors own the head-to-head win/loss record over the Lakers and will get the better (lower) seed should they end the season tied. The Warriors are a full game behind the 8th-seed Sacramento Kings. They need to win their remaining three games and have the Kings lose two out of three games left in order for the Warriors to grab the 8th-seed.
The 7th & 8th seeds need only to win one Play-in game, while 9th & 10th seeds must win two games. The Phoenix Suns are currently the 7th-seed, with a one game lead over the Kings.
The NBA Playoffs are right around the corner. And the Warriors have an opportunity to put on more rare and stunning performances as they focus their sights on another championship. They know they have a long road to travel to get there. No Play-in tournament team (7th-10th seed) has yet to win a championship. The Miami Heat did reach the Finals last season as a 7th seed, but lost to the Denver Nuggets.
Whatever is in the stars for the Warriors, I expect them to put on a show(s) to match or outdue last night’s galactic show in Los Angeles. The Playoffs are coming, time to get out the special viewing spectacles if your team is playing the Golden State Warriors. Because this Bay Area basketball team darkens skies and causes stars to magically disappear.
Warriors 134
Lakers 120
https://fanarch.com/blogs/nba/has-an-nba-play-in-team-ever-won-the-finals
Monday, April 08, 2024
Sunday, April 07, 2024
Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery"
This video gives the perfect breakdown of the famous short story by Shirley Jackson. I remember first reading this story in grade school. It didn't hit me so hard at the time but did awaken questions. Why?
Why? was to become my battle cry when reading stories of senseless and/or cruel human behavior. Why do humans treat other humans with such cruelty at certain times, sometimes justified by laws supposedly enacted for the greater good?
As an adult it still boggles my mind when I think of a civilization which appears to have advanced so far beyond the primitive, yet unable to rid itself of human illnesses such as greed, hate, prejudice, and tyrannical rule. It is as if the human race, for all its genius and innovation, has a flawed gene built into its DNA code which threatens the organism's progress. The old "two steps forward one step back" formula always seems to be in play when it comes to advancements in humanity.
It just can't seem to get out of its own way. Is human civilization destined for self-destruction, or as in the Lottery, is it doomed to fearfully tread a dark road of isolationist tribal traditions?
In the year 2024, with the brotherhood and bonding of humanity as close as ever due to a recent worldwide pandemic, why does it appear some peoples and nations continue down the dark path of cruel treatment toward fellow beings? Is it the thought of having power over others, or perhaps the fear of others having power of them. Is it the supposed DNA flaw which brings human illnesses of greed, hate, prejudice, and tyrannical rule to the forefront, or was man never meant to be more than a primitive animal, living in wolfpacks and fighting amongst themselves and other packs for a measly patch of territory.
Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" gives a great example of a community living comfortably with a cruel tradition of killing one member for the "greater good" of the community. Why? Perhaps to appease the Deities of Harvest found in most agricultural cultures of the past. Or maybe to ward off evil spirits of unexplained calamities in nature, like earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanoes, and such. It seems when communities of men have no answers for failed crops, plague, or natural disasters, it turns to looking for someone or something to point the finger of blame. And should that finger point toward an evil spirit or aggrieved almighty deity, fearful superstition can overtake a community, thus instigating cruel and unusual treatment of a member(s). A sacrifice, for the greater good.
"The Lottery"
The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny,
with the fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the
flowers were blossoming profusely and the
grass was richly green. The people of the village
began to gather in the square, between the post
office and the bank, around ten o'clock; in some
towns there were so many people that the lottery
took two days and had to be started on June
27th. But in this village, where there were only
about three hundred people, the whole lottery
took less than two hours, so it could begin at ten
o'clock in the morning and still be through in
time to allow the villagers to get home for noon
dinner. cont'dThe Most Outraged Reactions to Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" (earlybirdbooks.com)
Salem Witch Trials - Events, Facts & Victims | HISTORY
"Final Solution": In Depth | Holocaust Encyclopedia (ushmm.org)
Monday, April 01, 2024
Dr. Erich Fromm on Wellness (1960)
On my bookshelf sits Dr. Erich Fromm's book "Escape from Freedom." I can grasp it at any time, open to any page, and while reading feel as if I have opened my thoughts to what man is capable of mentally (good and bad). Dr. Fromm has a gift for stripping away the blinders acquired by our humanity and revealing to us an honest reflection of our minds, our societies, our potentials and our shortcomings. If we as a human civilization truly want "Peace on Earth and Goodwill for All Men & Women," we can begin with addressing our own mental wellness and rehabilitating/rediscovering what it means to be well (mentally, physically, spiritually, socially).
What I take away from Dr. Fromm is not the absence of illness, but the cultivation of wellness as the key to a healthy and purposeful life. A wellness of one can be reciprocated and shared with a community of many.
Imagine if you were given a community garden to cultivate and maintain. Over time, you decide to only water and maintain what you have labeled your favorite plants, vegetables, and flowers. Eventually, through lack of nourishment, neglected plants and such die.
The once community garden has become fitting only for your own personal tastes, appealing more to yourself than others who might want to share in the garden. Not only might you have lost certain high-level vitamins and nutrients of vegetables, fruits, beans and greens you have let fester and fail, but your ignorance of their nutritional value for human consumption has compromised your own personal health. What you thought space consuming, distasteful, and unappealing plantings were actually important to your very well-being and that of others.
The effects a vibrant, colorful, sweet-smelling flower can have on individuals whose lives might be lacking love and beauty can be healing and transforming. The taste of a ripe, juicy and sweet strawberry can force even the most irritable neighbor to close his/her eyes and dream of pleasantries once experienced, perhaps a young love or favorite dessert.
The varieties of beauty and nourishment found in the sights, flavors, and aromas a diverse garden produces are endless, if only the gardener is open to its full potential. This is the gardener's responsibility and what he is accountable for as a cultivator and caretaker.
Wpowell
note: The Country of the Blind, by H.G. Wells (1904)
Sunday, March 31, 2024
Giants Baseball is B.A.C.K. Baby!
The San Francisco Giants are in the midst of their season-opening series against the San Diego Padres. And so far, it looks as if they're executing the old tried and true formula of "Get'em On, Get'em Over and Get'em In" perfectly. In other words, the hitting is there, and runners are being driven in at a high rate. Higher than what we saw much of last season anyway.
I know it's just opening-weekend baseball, but seeing the Giants put runs on the board right out the gate gives promise to a magical season ahead. Even in their 4-6 opening day loss, the Giants matched the Padres in hits. Games 1, 2, and 3 saw the Giants with 9, 13, and 9 hits.
Granted, the Padres have swung the bat decently against our pitchers, but with their big money line-up its expected. Speaking of pitching, the Giants seem to have a lot to work with. Giants' pitchers have the stuff to compete. The 2024 NL West, with last year's NL champion D'Backs and Ohtani's Dodgers, is gonna be a blast.
Today is game 4 of the Giants-Padres series. And win, lose, or tie, I'm very satisfied with the upgrades and additions I see so far on the Giants, including new manager Bob Melvin. You gotta have a manager who knows when to hold'em and when to fold'em. So far, Bob's 'Kenny Rogers act' is looking good. Because it's all really just a gamble, "when the dealing done!"
Giants 4 Padres 6 game 1
Giants 8 Padres 3 game 2
Giants 9 Padres 6 game 3
Giants Padres game 4
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