On the Subject of the Shooting in CT, and "Evil"

(I posted this comment on Rational Nation this evening and wondered if anyone else would like to take it up)

I have never seen or heard of evil - ya' know, some mystical force like the Dark Side, right?  Only from Hollywood, politicians, and/or religious people, have I heard of such a thing.

In the real world there is stupid and there is crazy.  Those are the bad elements in any society.  They overlap, too.  They manifest in all sorts of ways, but in the end, it is some combination or one of the two that are at the heart of all malice.

I could write for a million hours on the subject, and I'm no psychiatrist, or theologian, but suffice to say, if you believe there is evil in the world, you may be stupid enough to suffer it.  Be careful what you believe in.  You can undo stupid.  Crazy is a harder thing to beat.

JMJ

I do not believe in evil.  Do you?

JMJ

11 Years From 9 Eleven...

...and what have we learned?

Have we learned anything yet, still, after all this time, about the influence of the military sector?

Have we learned that some people will simply never get along with us and so we should endeavor to find ways to leave them alone rather to engage them in the first place?

Have we learned the lesson of the turtle and the hare?

Have we learned the terrorists are really just organized criminals, putting themselves out for their criminal brotherhood?

Speaking of...

Have we learned anything about unregulated trade in American citizens credit, loans and mortgages?

We sometimes are just as damaging to ourselves as any terrorist could even understand.

9/11?

It reminds me of people's trips to Europe back in the 80's.  Soldiers everywhere.  Simple as that.

But no. We're busy policing Oilistan.

And for that, a lot of people have died.

JMJ

Republican Courts Blur Party Differences

Aside from all the trifling nonsense that drowns us in political banality, there are some substantive differences between the two major parties vying for the White House today. First among them, are the sorts of picks for our federal justices.

Our two major parties do share some structural corruptions, and those, theoretically, could be addressed by constitutional interpretations of the the courts - and yes, they are interpretations, no matter who is, by definition, interpreting.

There's a log jam these days, and though rarely said, it's in the supposedly "conservative," "constructionist," "textualist" (what Scalia says he is) courts.

Take "Citizens United."  It has to be among the worst decisions of the SCOTUS, ever.

We now have this complex web of interstate campaigning, something the Founders simply hadn't envisioned at all, running amok, even though billions of dollars of interstate commerce is taking place, while the federal government is essentially forbidden to know what's going on. It's insane, and unconstitutional.


The modern SCOTUS was able to hold up the "Obamacare mandate," while also reading narrowly, "textually," in the Ledbetter decision, while allowing unlimited abuse of tax exempt political organizations to spend unlimited money on interstate campaigning.

How does it do this? Well, for one, it's also all theoretically constitutional. And of course, to any decent person, it's abhorrent and unnecessary, because it would be just as easily constitutional to have decided the opposite in each of those major cases.  It just goes to show how a few well-written words can go a long way, even in the wrong way.

The "Obamacare mandate?"

The court should have thrown it back to the congress to either make constitutional law of direct taxes on non-transactions, or hand it to the states to make an amendment. They decided it was impossible to do so as we have extensive federal taxes on indirect taxes. And in all those taxes, essentially, we all pay taxes for doing nothing.

Roberts made that decision for long-term political considerations. He wants to keep the corporate tax up so as to keep the personal high-income taxes low. All Republicans secretly want that, as they sound the drums ostensibly against it. Democrats are suckered into this as well, because of that structural corruption I mentioned above.

That's part of why Romney won the nomination - he had the most meager cut in the corporate tax.

Unfortunately for we average Americans, this makes us less competitive abroad with our exports, and with our employer-based healthcare system, we are two lengths behind.

I wish "conservatives," who truly love "their country," would think on that.

Ledbetter?

The violations perpetrated on her dated back for years and years before she recognized them. The law certainly allowed for the court to consider her losses over time dating far before they decided. Just read it. It was the most narrow interpretation one could imagine.  Read it.

Citizens United...

...has the court throwing up it's hands, and throwing out the 10th Amendment - without even looking at it. This while the way election law was structured then, and all the possible other law that could relate, it was not structured to deal with the influx of powerful private interests that could unbalance the elections, the society, the nation, the U.S. of A - all of us.

The SCOTUS could have thrown it back to the states, given their interpretation, but rather they saw a open, crooked, whore house door, and decided to walk us all through.

The difference between the Democrats and the Republicans?

The Dems are a little better at picking judges, and we need that today to halt the radically conservative, activist courts sitting in America today.

Our laws are useless if our courts intellectually reside in the 18th century. It is the Supreme Court, and the mostly conservative rest of the Third Estate, I blame for our political log-jam today. A vote for Romney will guarantee such bad decisions. And those decisions are foundations of the structural corruption we have in our politics today.

Please think about that, "conservatives."

JMJ

Looking at Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman... Er, Uh... Myself.

When I was about twenty years old, more than twenty years ago, in a city in New Jersey (and this version of the story has all the detail you'll ever get out of me), I bumbled into a situation that could have cost my life.

It was about two in the morning, in the summer or fall, I think, and I was leaving a rather hard-partying get-together at a friends place.

As we were leaving, walking down the stairs, with windows facing the outside, we heard then saw a car crash into the car I was riding home, and then it sped away.

I, being at the bottom of the stairs, turned and demanded the keys to the car. I jumped in, alone (though I could have had a pretty big dude accompany, it didn't occur to me at the time), and I followed the other car through some pretty tricky little streets (I knew them).

It was a pretty cool full-on city chase (I've had a couple of them back in the day). Quickly, we hit the intersection of a local highway, and the light went against them, and it was a bad spot for them. I gunned ahead, hit the brakes, turned the wheel, and they were cornered.

Then I got out of the car.

Then they did.

Three of them.

They were all a little older and shorter than me, but they were not to be underestimated. I decided to attack the biggest of them, hard, with a luckily solid right swing. He only caught a bit of it, but like I said, I got lucky, and it hurt, and he fell back around the trunk of their car. The other two then decided it would be best to withdraw.

At that point, I thought I was a big man... Little did I consider the fact that we had initiated this little conflict just across a small park from the city police HQ.

So anyways... The cops came running across the park to see what was going on, and broke up our little fight just after I initiated a violent conflict, and they took us all in.

...

Later on at the station, a policeman sat me down and had a little talk with me. He said something like this, 'Ya' know. You're very lucky. First of all, you should never had done anything you did tonight. Second, those three guys are serious wanted felons and easily could have been armed and would have killed you. Finally, you would be a big hero right now were it not for the fact that you should never had done this in the first place.' It really was pretty close to that.

It seemed very funny to everyone at the time, the police included, but in fact it was a suicidally dangerous thing to do.

So, they sent me home and the three guys went on their way back to jail.

One of them, though, happen to be walked near me as I was talking to the policeman, and he looked right at me, mad as hell and said, "I will kill you." I think he meant it. Poor schmuck.

Any of this sound familiar?

Trayvon Martin, I think, reacted to a bad situation by trying to "prove" himself. And for that he died.

George Zimmerman was playing cops and robbers with a loaded gun. He may well have been three short, old fugitives on the town.

In this way of looking at the story, you can see Zimmerman is the foul player. Just the same, we should show mercy on him. He's an idiot.

And as for "Stand Your Ground," it is stupid.

JMJ

Look at Yourself...

For you Americans who think we are the best and brightest and the rightest and the righteoust (new word, thank me for it later...).

For all you who believe your uniquely "Christian" way of life is the "only" way of life to live (doesn't sit well with your republican virtues, ya' know).

For all you convinced foreign Muslims are more of a threat to you than your own spouse... I've got news for you, sunshine...

Take a look at your country.

As I wrote on a good blogger's site today,

"We are among the most violent people in the developed world. Every day, wives and children and girlfriends are beaten, neighbors assault one another. Set aside all the other violence, just among those acts, we are among the most violent.

We are also, if I'm not mistaken, the most professedly Christian people in the developed world."

I dare anyone to prove me wrong.

Before you go complaining about everyone "else," look at yourself. We really may be just as much the threat to "them" as they are to us.

JMJ

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!!!

Uploaded by TeeWing on Oct 27, 2007
Lyrics:

On my heavy metal Christmas my true love gave to me,
a tattoo of Ozzy!
On my heavy metal Christmas my true love gave to me,
2 pairs of spandex pants
and a tattoo of Ozzy!
On my heavy metal Christmas my true love gave to me,
3 studded belts
2 pairs of spandex pants
and a tattoo of Ozzy!
On my heavy metal Christmas my true love gave to me,
4 quarts of Jack
3 studded belts
2 pairs of spandex pants
and a tattoo of Ozzy!
On my heavy metal Christmas my true love gave to me,
5 skull earrings
4 quarts of Jack
3 studded belts
2 pairs of spandex pants
and a tattoo of Ozzy!
On my heavy metal Christmas my true love gave to me,
6 cans of hairspray
5 skull earrings
4 quarts of Jack
3 studded belts
2 pairs of spandex pants
and a tattoo of Ozzy!
On my heavy metal Christmas my true love gave to me,
7 leather jackets
6 cans of hairspray
5 skull earrings
4 quarts of Jack
3 studded belts
2 pairs of spandex pants
and a tattoo of Ozzy!
On my heavy metal Christmas my true love gave to me,
8 pentagrams
7 leather jackets
6 cans of hairspray
5 skull earrings
4 quarts of Jack
3 studded belts
2 pairs of spandex pants
and a tattoo of Ozzy!
On my heavy metal Christmas my true love gave to me,
9 tattered t-shirts
8 pentagrams
7 leather jackets
6 cans of hairspray
5 skull earrings
4 quarts of Jack
3 studded belts
2 pairs of spandex pants
and a tattoo of Ozzy!
On my heavy metal Christmas my true love gave to me,
10 pairs of platforms
9 tattered t-shirts
8 pentagrams
7 leather jackets
6 cans of hairspray
5 skull earrings
4 quarts of Jack
3 studded belts
2 pairs of spandex pants
and a tattoo of Ozzy!
On my heavy metal Christmas my true love gave to me,
11 black mascaras
10 pairs of platforms
9 tattered t-shirts
8 pentagrams
7 leather jackets
6 cans of hairspray
5 skull earrings
4 quarts of Jack
3 studded belts
2 pairs of spandex pants
and a tattoo of Ozzy!
On my heavy metal Christmas my true love gave to me,
12 silver crosses
11 black mascaras
10 pairs of platforms
9 tattered t-shirts
8 pentagrams
7 leather jackets
6 cans of hairspray
5 skull earrings
4 quarts of Jack
3 studded belts
2 pairs of spandex pants
and a tattoo of Ozzy!

JMJ

Thanksgiving and Memorial

Strangely enough, even dry ol' Jersey McJones suffers from depression during the winter holidays.  Mind you, I know why I get depressed.  It's not the change of season, and I don't seek help for it or take happy pills to make it go away, because I don't want to forget why.  The holidays make me long for my youth - as it does for everyone.  I had a wonderful, lucky, happy childhood, with a big loving family, in amazing places and times.  I can't help but deeply miss that.

Meanwhile, many, many, many people are not so lucky as to deeply miss hardly a thing.

We usually set aside time during a holiday called "Thanksgiving" to remember the many, many, many who have little for to give thanks.  That's not enough.

Why don't we have a memorial day for Native Americans?

Isn't it right in the particular holiday's theme?  We should remember what we did to the original people of our country - their country.

The other day, I was having a casual conversation with a federal court officer (no, I wasn't up to no good...).  Somehow we got on the subject of the American Indian Holocaust.  He is essentially a "denier" just as some people today deny the Jewish Holocaust, as far as I'm concerned.  An older southern couple was in on the conversation.  Their compassion for the American Indian surprised me at first, and then I realized I was assuming things about southern people that I should not.  I was minding my tongue when I didn't have to.  It humbled me a bit, and so then we all had this fascinating conversation.

What we "Americans" (Europeans) did to the native population of this country is indefensible.  It's not okay to say, "It was the times," or "They didn't know any better."  We did know and we did it anyway.  To the officer it was an inevitable making-way for progress.  His moral position?  They brought it on themselves and behaved the same way among each other anyway.  A double moral equivalency.  Here we had a conservative sounding like his caricature of a progressive, justifying inestimable human suffering for something we could have without it, something no decent person wants.  It would be so ironic is it wasn't so selfishly moot to him.

Anyway, simply put:  We didn't have to kill the Indians.  We could have worked around them, and they around us.  Right???

We should remember on Thanksgiving the reason we give thanks for anything is that we're lucky enough to have something at all.  Most people work and toil and fight and raise families to protect what they have and to try to get more.  Many, many, many, no matter what they do, can barely survive.  When we are being thankful for what's our's, we should also be thoughtful of them.

JMJ