Mickey Z
Cool Observer
Saturday, October 15, 2005
The day we won the lottery
Where is everybody? I was happy to discover the end of your story, Micky. I guess I’m too cynical-I kept expecting your story to tell us about someone holding up that newspaper stand, and stealing your karmic winnings. I was delighted by the humorous conclusion. Thanks for the laugh.I wonder how you and Michele celebrated those winnings.I imagine that might be another great story altogether…
Posted by bc on from 10/15 at 12:28 PMI have a story. When I was graduating from high school in Pennsylvania I wanted to go on the class trip but did not have any money so I entered the annual essay contest held by the American Legion. The topic that year was, “What I Think of the Constitution”. I won. The prize was an all expense paid trip to Washington. I was so excited to be on the class trip that when we arrived at the Washington Monument, I was the first one to jump out of the bus and and ran all the way up to the top of the monument. When I arrived at the top, a huffing and a puffing, all of my classmates were already there waiting for me. They asked me why I did not take the elevator. I said, “Oh, you mean there’s an elevator here?” I took the elevator on the way down.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 10/15 at 02:42 PMHi Mickey and BC -
Mickey, I think I must be afflicted with the same malady as the rest of the Expendables. I stopped in a while ago, noticed no posts at all, and resolved to leap in. I sat for quite a while, however, and nothing came to mind. ( Mind: That space so often filled with trivia, blab, and bluster...)
I’ve been back for several minutes, now. I read BC’s post, and waited for something “special,” as the Church Lady says, to arise. Still nothing.
However, I just noticed yesterday’s animated “uphill” gif, and thought I’d comment.The animation is surely based on the Myth of Sisyphus, an old Greek tale. I’ve come across a few different reasons for Sisyphus’ punishment. Whatever the reason, the Gods were so pissed at him, they condemned him to hell, in which he was to push a huge boulder up a steep hill. At the top, there was not quite enough room to accommodate the boulder, so it inevitably rolled back down again. Sisyphus had to walk down and begin the whole ordeal, once more. He was to repeat this dreadful task - forever.
Albert Camus, ( kah - moo )the Algerian “sort-of-existentialist,” wrote a long essay about this myth. He saw it as a metaphor for life in the modern world: enormous work at absurd, repetitive, demeaning, essentially meaningless tasks, followed by certain death…
I have to admit, I really love this guy. He spent much of his life just staring death right in the eye. He never blinked. Apparently, he once said that to die in a car accident would be particularly absurd. He died in a car accident in 1960.
Camus was born into miserable poverty in an occupied country. He went to France in his 20’s, joined the French Resistance against the Nazis, went on to become one of the most respected thinkers and writers of the century. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957 - the official reason being to acknowledge his writings against capital punishment.
Dr. Rieus, the main character in his novel “The Plague,” sums up what I’ve always felt was the best of Camus:
“We refuse to despair of mankind. Without having the unreasonable ambition to save men, we still want to serve them.”Posted by joe on from The Top, however briefly 10/15 at 03:18 PMHi Rosemarie -
I missed you while blabbing.
Great Story, and, I’d opine, vaguely similar to mine. Perhaps aging dissidents tend to think alike. Or, maybe just coincidence…
Good to see you, Ms. Jackowski.Posted by joe on from the bottom, again 10/15 at 03:23 PMHi everybody.... Joe, Your story is much more meaningful than mine...Here is something that I often think about....it’s kind of a stupid and silly theory, but did you ever stop to think how much of life involves just moving something from one place to another. Eating is just moving the food from the plate to your mouth, getting dressed is just moving your clothes from where they are to your body, washing an apple is just moving the dirt from one place to another, even using the computer involves just moving....I know that it is a stupid topic but something that has amused me often.....
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 10/15 at 03:41 PMHello all. Michele and I just returned from a bargain matinee of “Good Night and Good Luck.” Highly, highly recommended. Check this out: http://wip.warnerbros.com/goodnightgoodluck.
BC: I think the story of how we spent that money could be summed in one word: bills.
RMJ: Sure, there was an elevator, but I’ll bet you had more fun than anyone getting to the top. And thanks for the theory. I found it, uh, moving.
Joe: “The Stranger” is a big favorite of mine but, after reading Edward Said’s critique of Camus, I’ve come to rethink some of that book.
Gotta get back to the boulder-pushing now…
Captcha word: more
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 10/15 at 04:04 PMhello all…
after weeks of saying nothing about the case and their reporter’s (miller) involvement in it, this is what the NYTs came up with:
In a notebook belonging to Judith Miller, a reporter for The New York Times, amid notations about Iraq and nuclear weapons, appear two small words: “Valerie Flame.”
Ms. Miller should have written Valerie Plame. That name is at the core of a federal grand jury investigation that has reached deep into the White House. At issue is whether Bush administration officials leaked the identity of Ms. Plame, an undercover C.I.A. operative, to reporters as part of an effort to blunt criticism of the president’s justification for the war in Iraq.
Ms. Miller spent 85 days in jail for refusing to testify and reveal her confidential source, then relented. On Sept. 30, she told the grand jury that her source was I. Lewis Libby, the vice president’s chief of staff. But she said he did not reveal Ms. Plame’s name.
And when the prosecutor in the case asked her to explain how “Valerie Flame” appeared in the same notebook she used in interviewing Mr. Libby, Ms. Miller said she “didn’t think” she heard it from him. “I said I believed the information came from another source, whom I could not recall,” she wrote on Friday, recounting her testimony for an article that appears today.
Posted by JOS on from Puerto Rico 10/15 at 04:20 PMDid anyone see the Louis Farrakhan speech on C-span a little while ago? It was very moving. One of the ideas that he presented was that blacks, Latinos, native Americans, and poor whites should all ban together and change almost everything in the US. I always agree with most of what he says and would like to hear some other opinions. Today his talk was so powerful it made me want to dye my skin dark.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 10/15 at 05:31 PMHey JOS.
RMJ: I must admit I find Farrakhan to be a negative force. He’s been known to adhere to some rather bizarre theories (most recently about the deliberate destruction of New Orleans levees), calls Hitler “a great man,” is pro-capitalism through and through, and is mired in yet another reactionary religion. That doesn’t mean, of course, he can’t make a speech that inspires. But sometimes we must focus on the singer not the song.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 10/15 at 05:43 PMMickey, I respectfully disagree. To focus on the singer instead of the song is an ad hominem fallacy, right? He has explained the “Hitler” thing. His religious views seem to me to be much less important than the actions that he advocates. The Capitalism-bent is a bit troubling but today his tone was very socialistic and anti-capitalistic. I still want to dye my skin dark.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 10/15 at 06:15 PMRMJ, I found this from Manning Marable. I pretty much agree with him: “The problem is that Farrakhan has no program to challenge racism and no program to advance the movement. He’s essentially the late 20th-century version of Booker T. Washington. He’s homophobic, anti-Semitic, deeply conservative, and patriarchal. He’s opposed to women’s reproductive rights; he’s developed a political relationship with Lyndon Larouche; he’s traveled to Nigeria and embraced the junta that executed Ken Saro-Wiwa, the writer and Ogoni activist. He represents a kind of Black authoritarianism that can’t be tolerated and can’t be accepted as any kind of program to advance Black issues and interests. But as my mother always said, something always beats nothing. We have not put forward a model of political and social change to represent a viable alternative to Farrakhan among many African Americans.”
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 10/15 at 06:26 PMHi JOS & Mickey & Rosemarie -
JOS - ya gotta wonder where all this will lead. Yet, of course, wherever it leads, even if it leads to impeachment, it will still be “business as usual:” i.e. - they win, we lose. Every silver lining has its thick, dark, ominous cloud.
Still, I admit, JOS, it’s delightful to watch them squirm for a bit.
Rosemarie - wonderful, goofy insight. George Carlin would have a ball with it. My friend Rick used to lament “the endless repitition of it all:” You eat, then get hungry then eat, then..
You bathe, then get dirty then bathe then…
You sleep then get tired then sleep then…
He could go on for quite a while, and he was so painfully right.I don’t know much about Louis Farrakhan, but the idea you mention is very old and very, very powerful. Such an alliance is, and will continue to be critical, if there is to be any real change. The Elites have always been *terrified* of it, and so have jumped on it quckly and savagely, each time it “tries” to manifest in the real world. I hope the thought catches fire…
I’ve not read enough Said, Mickey, to offer an intelligent response. I did read a neat critique of the Clinton administration, some time ago. He’s obviously a serious guy. I’d like to read his analysis. It’s too bad we can’t read a similar piece, about Said, written by Camus.
Posted by joe on from hillside, ugh 10/15 at 06:36 PMMickey, thanks for that reference to Marable. I know that those are widespread criticisms of Farrakhan. I am not sure that they are all accurate. I found nothing in today’s speech (what I heard of it) that I disagreed with. He was talking about setting up an alternative government and an alternative economic system. He talked about setting up People’s Farms, owned and operated by the people. In any case, I think that I like him more than I like Monsanto. He is also one of the few who has pointed out that the Mexicans coming across the border are just coming back to the land that they own. The “authoritarianism” and some other things that you mention are a bit troubling but I have often said that I would prefer a benevolent dictatorship to what we have now.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 10/15 at 06:57 PMJoe: Since Said passed away not so long ago, we unfortunately will not read anything more from him either. I think the basic premise of Said’s critique was demonstrated in the way Meursault’s victim ("The Arab") was portrayed in “The Stranger.” Said says Camus “reproduces the pattern of an earlier imperial history.” He says Camus is “no friend of revolution” and this seems to be true. (Said also looks closely at Jane Austen, Rudyard Kipling, Joseph Conrad, and E.M. Forster.)
Still, in no way am I downplaying Camus’ work or his personal discomfort over French occupation of Algiers. I was just offering a rarely discussed angle on his work, e.g. how his voice was shaped by and perhaps supports an imperialist perspective. I’m not sure I agree with Said fully on this but just hearing this analysis resulted in me becoming a more aware and critical reader (I hope).
Something I wrote on Said:
http://tinyurl.com/7aurkRMJ: I will try to find the transcript of Farrakhan’s speech today. You have me very curious.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 10/15 at 07:11 PMHi Mickey & Rosemarie -
Mickey, I’d be interested in looking into what’s happening, as well. If L.F. is serious, he’s in for some very serious, very very serious trouble. That there is such rabid loathing of blacks by so many whites is absolutely no accident. It was contrived, beginning long before Jefferson even learned to read, and it’s one of the ruling elite’s most sophisticated and successful efforts. People here have come to believe that racism is basic, biological, inescapable… I doubt very much that this is so.
If poor and working people can create an alliance, a serious alliance, almost anything would be possible - thus, the elite’s profound dedication to preventing it.
I hope Farrakhan IS serious - it might be a spark we need. Hell, we need a blaze, an inferno…I saved your CounterPunch essay to my desktop about 1/2 hour ago, Mickey. I “googled” Said, and your essay popped up in a couple of places. I’ve just been skimming an interesting piece, which I saved shortly after yours. I hope to get to them both, soon:
http://tinyurl.com/dpo2u
The author refers to Said’s analysis, toward the end, or so it seems.Let us know more, you two, about Farrakhan’s proposals, and how they’re playing, OK?
Life sucks so profoundly, so consistently. Why, then, do I love it so much? I must be fucking nuts!
Posted by joe on from Oregon 10/15 at 07:49 PMJoe, there’s a line from the book (and film) “Rumbliefish” that makes me think of you: “Some people are just born with a different view of the world… Acute perception doesn’t mean you’re crazy, but it can make you crazy.”
Keep loving life, Joe.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 10/15 at 08:06 PMSomething I’d like to share:
http://tinyurl.com/9zerqPosted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 10/15 at 08:07 PMHi Joe, Mickey and all others looking on here....I did not hear the whole LF speech but another point that he made was that blacks, Latinos, native American, and poor whites should join with others around the world. That was an interesting point because he was calling for the lessening of our nationalistic power. He carefully slipped in the comment that the U.S. is a great country probably for the benefit of those who monitor citizen speech with the purpose of a crimal prosecution.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 10/15 at 08:17 PMA little about Farrakhan’s speech: http://tinyurl.com/9jm93
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 10/15 at 08:50 PMThanks for the links, Mickey.
I remember Rumblefish, great movie, amazing cast. Even Tom Waits, who pops up so rarely.
Also, I’m intrigued by “Good Night and Good Luck.” It looks great. (I’ve played the trailer several times, listening to the music… It’s playing in the background, even as I type.) Thanks for the heads up.
Everywhere I go, Mickey - you’ve already been there. How do you do it?
It’s great to get a peek at Bush’s vision of the future, eh? I guess he doesn’t give much thought to his daughters or to their eventual motherhood. Great little article, though. Life IS irrepressible! Thanks much.
In the Myth of Sisyphus, Camus says he’s most interested in what Sisyphus is thinking about as he walks back down the hill, toward the waiting rock. Basically, Camus decides, he thinks: “Hey, I push rocks. That’s what I do. #### `em! I think I’ll go down and do it again! All is well.”Rosemarie, I guess we’ll have to wait and see what, if anything, develops from L.F.’s speech and plans. The article Mickey linked to, and what you’ve described, all sound interesting, but now he has to “do” something.
I don’t know how the guy is perceived in the Black community. Do you guys know? I admit that, like Mickey, I’ve always seen him as a marginal, hyper-religious sort of guy but I admit I’ve not tried to study his life or his efforts. If you continue to monitor what takes place, please let us know, Rosemarie. I admit, he’s gotten my attention, today. I wish him well, and I wish him success.Posted by joe on from Oregon 10/16 at 12:06 AMWhy is it that, as soon as one pushes the “submit” button, so many goofs become obvious, which seemed hidden, just moments before?
This is now my question and my quest…
Wish me luck.Posted by joe on from Oregon 10/16 at 01:37 AMMickey, where does Said write about Camus? I’d love to read it as I’m very fond of both writers. I must say I think that, had Camus lived through the ‘60s--were he alive today--we would find him an ally against imperialism and a foe of racism. But yes, as do we all, he had some flaws (most notably I think his attitude toward women).
As for Farrakhan, it seems he has done a great deal to discredit himself. But this is what Russel Simmons had to say recently on focusing on the song: http://tinyurl.com/dhhye
Rosemarie, your comment (#5) reminds me of Carlin’s spiel on “stuff”. Joe, your comment (#15) reminds of a quote from Vonnegut’s Timequake: “Somebody shoot me while I’m happy!”
Posted by KBN on from The Hague 10/16 at 05:41 AMHey Keir, how are ya? Said writes about Camus in “Orientalism” and “Culture and Imperialism.” It’s been years since I read either so I can’t be more specific.
Joe: I’d like to explain the secrets of the “submit” button but, for national security reasons, I cannot. I’m sure you understand.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 10/16 at 07:27 AMHi Keir & Mickey -
Good to hear from you, Mr. Keir -
Great link, and great quote from Vonnegut; I’ll remember it forever, no doubt.
Mickey - I applaud your commitment to national
security. In the future, I’ll restrain myself…Posted by joe on from O-O-Oregon 10/16 at 12:23 PM
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