Mickey Z

Cool Observer

Saturday, November 19, 2005

Little corner subway bench

Posted by Mickey Z on 11/19 at 08:33 AM

Testing, testing, testing....Hi everyone, I am trying to see if I figured out how to do that tiny url thing without changing anything on my toolbar. I hope that this works. It is a link to the story about Katherine Jashinski. I think that she is the first female CO in the Iraq war.
http://tinyurl.com/8eaoy

Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 11/19 at 09:17 AM

Worked like a charm, dear RMJ. Not to mention that the story itself was remarkable. Thank you for sharing this.

Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/19 at 09:33 AM

You’re welcome, Mickey. Now I have to learn all of the new things that Mudge talked about last night about italicizing on this site etc....whew, you guys are keeping me busy. BTW, it was fascinating to watch the Dems squirming last night in the House. I think that the final vote was 403 to 3. This is important because it exposes the hypocrisy to the mass of Democratic voters, not that it will make much difference but 3rd parties could use this vote to expose the Dems.

Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 11/19 at 09:47 AM

Hey Mick. Congrats on the successful talk, I think Joe is right that a couple more of those before the end of the year and you might have yourself a sales surge.

The Adventures of Big Country and G-Love, con’t:

G-Love used to describe himself as CIC-CHO, half psyCIC, and half psyCHO and as time went on I began to think of myself in the same way. We could read each other’s minds in a way, so one day as we entered an Upper Eastside corner grocery store it didn’t surprise me when G started acting like he didn’t know me. What followed was spontaneous street theater and our audience had no idea we were acting. Call it the original reality TV, but without any cameras.

Let me give you a little background first…

Big Daddy Love was aptly named. Often, he would drop to the floor and slam out 50 push-ups so fast it would make your head spin. His chest was a barrel. I had a couple of inches in height over him, but only a couple and his skin was as black as night. He would use these attributes equally well for intimidation or for charm-ing.

Back to our reality episode…

Most customers already assumed we were not friends, one of us being white, the other black. But our actions assured this as we moved throughout the store. As we reached the counter simultaneously, G growled,

“I’m first, muthafucka.”

I immediately put on my proper UES white guy accent and said,

“Excuse me, sir. I believe I arrived ahead of you.”

G-love took a threatening stance as a rich old woman drenched in fancy clothes stared wide-eyed and started to back away from what she must have imagined to be my impending demise. Our voice rose above the background noise of the shop and everyone else fell silent…

“You best take your shit back off me, cracker-muthafucka.”

“I will do no such thing! I am so sick and tired of you blacks ordering us around. I simply won’t stand for it.”

“Let’s do this.”

“Would you like to take it outside, sir?”

At that, Big Daddy tackled me out the door and we began roughhousing it out on the street. After a few minutes, and before the police were called, we dusted ourselves off and gave each other a hug while laughing. We bowed to our audience watching from the store window and the crowd that had gathered on the street and walked off together.

Don’t ask me why we did it or if it was right or wrong. We enjoyed the thrill of messing with people’s heads and perhaps we got them thinking about a thing or two.

Posted by JOS on from Calle Colón 11/19 at 09:56 AM

Morning RMJ! Sorry, as you can tell I was typing away there for a while...it is story-telling Saturday after all. Off to read your tinyurl…

Posted by JOS on from Calle Colón 11/19 at 09:58 AM

Great stuff, Big Country. Sometimes you just don’t need a reason to do something offbeat like that. Just adding a little chaos to the mix.

Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/19 at 11:50 AM

I have a story.

I landed in The Hague a week or two before 9/11/01. I never really made much serious use of the internet beforehand. But now I came across ZNet, CommonDreams and other similar stuff. I sort of remembered something about Z because my older brother used to subscribe to Z Magazine when I was a teenager. Never read much, but saw it around the house enough to know that there was this guy called Noam Chomsky who wrote for the magazine quite a lot.

Anyway, so I’m reading ZNet all the time post 9/11 and soon figure out that a certain Michael Albert is one of the main people behind the thing. I read many of his articles and quickly became familiar with his style. One day an article appears on the site by a guy called “Mickey Z”. Wait a second. This guy’s writing style is completely different from Albert, from Chomsky, from Pilger and Fisk and all of the other incredible writers posted at Znet. Yet his first name is the same as Albert’s, and his last name is the same as the site Albert coordinates. So it was months before I figured out that “Mickey Z” was not Michael Albert’s pseudonym when writing shorter, punchier articles that more often than not contained a whiff of Mr. Vonnegut.

Mickey, I used to think you and Mike Albert were one person.

Posted by Keir on from The Hague 11/19 at 12:47 PM

i am always impressed that you can come up with these recollections every saturday.

when i look through my past i see a lot of same old same old. i don’t manage to stick them together in a useful way.

i have had some crazy moments tho. at the risk of being rearrested i was in a dealers house when he got busted.nothing happened to me (as i hadn’t done anything) but that didn’t stop a somewhat invasive search from taking place.

at the risk of boring mudge… all the yankees chat on this site can take a sidestep. i posted a little talk about the football (soccer) thang last week and mentioned a game in this city where on average one person gets killed every time. well it was on today and for once there was no trouble i know of and my team fucked the other lot royally. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_prem/4444214.stm

so i am happy.

p.s. joe - yesterday u mentioned time stuff. the UK is 5 hours ahead of new york and barcelona (and the rest of western europe) is one hour ahead of here. i think scandinavia is generally two hours ahead and eastern europe gets complicated.

Posted by michael on from scotland 11/19 at 12:51 PM

RMJ: This sentence depresses, frightens, maddens and glavanzies me all at the same time: “When I enlisted I believed that killing was immoral, but also that war was an inevitable part of life and therefore, an exception to the rule.”

THIS IS THE RESULT OF CORPORATE MEDIA CONTROL. KNOWLEDGE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DISSENT IS VERBOTEN.

Clear Channel and its ilk must be borken up and prevented from re-forming. Exactly as the Congressmen and woman of the 1940s intended when they crafted the laws that prevented the movie studios from owning TV stations, radio stations, and newspapers. Dear ol’ Ronnie Reagan was the one gifted us with Rupe the Poop Murdoch, by letting him, an Aussie national at the time, buy Fox and set up its high-quality TV operation. (Though he did have to become a US citizen for that bit.) Then came The WB and UPN, shining beacons of quality entertainment they are. Then the further loosening of ownership restrictions. Now, the sheep don’t even boter to look up (to misquote the title of John Brunner’s dystopian novel of the late 60s) because of the risk of getting shit in their eyes.

Mornin’ Keir, keep the Hague safe for us...we’ll need it for the war crimes trilas of the Bush administration yahoos in a decade or so.

Michael, does that mean your side won, or the injuries were all sustained by the other side? And how do you tell them all apart anyway? Buncha naked Picts painted blue with woad, I’d guess it was tough unless you *knew* them all.

MZ, >nyuknyuk< you were a right little bastard, weren’t you? I see being a tease isn’t new behavior for you. DELIGHTED with the Bluestockings results!! Go boy go!

Big Country, good work for you and G-Love! Shake ‘em up, even if (wait, especially if) it pisses ‘em off!

Short story. When I was an agent, we represented a book called the African-Maerican Book of Lists. I figured this would be a slam-dunk! It wasn’t. It took several years of meetings before anything happened with the book, and I left NYC before anything much was done. BUT...there was a memorable meeting with a person from one of the largest NYC publishers before I left. Important to note that I am the whitest of the white men, pale skin/red hair/green eyes/freckles (Scots and Polish Jews, when interbred, do NOT make swarthy children), and also the AIDS widow of a Bajan-American man. SO!

I was in this publisher’s office pitching the book, and the person stopped me after a few minutes by saying, “Yes, I see the idea, but really...blacks don’t buy books, how woul we ever recoup our money?”

There I sat with my teeth in my mouth, wondering which of the conflicting visions of this individual’s painful and slow demise to enact, when my brain came forth with, “I’m really sorry, X, if the fact that I’m from the South and a white guy led you to think I subscribe to that kind of horrible racist drivel. I am, in fact only recently widowed by the death of my black male lover from AIDS. Anything clever to say about that? I find what you’ve said already repulsive as well as repugnant.”

And I got up and left.

Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 11/19 at 02:32 PM

Hey Mickey! Thanks for a great time at Bluestockings and having me up to read your bios. The whole thing felt like a success to me! I’ll try to make the Barnes and Noble one and help out there, too.

And Roddy and Frank appreciate the exposure..

Posted by James on from Hell's Kitchen 11/19 at 02:46 PM

mudge - my side won 3-0 which in equivalent terms is like winning 35-0 at american football or 9-0 at baseball or 110-80 at basketball… in short, a thumping.

injuries were shared out equally. its that sort of match. 2 hamstrings were done. a couple of serious assaults(figuratively speaking) on either side leading to one near broken shin, two broken ribs and so on.

as i said, football (soccer) is a more serious
affair outside the US.

i can’t believe it but my captcha is that we got the right ‘result’

off out.its 8pm here. will be back in a state of disrepair later on.

Posted by michael on from scotland 11/19 at 03:01 PM

Hi everyone...I wish Mickey or James would tell us more about Mickey’s talk last night.
Mudge, when I enlisted I was a Pacifist. Now that I am a war-protester, I am not a complete Pacifist. I believe that the people in a country that is under invasion and occupation have the moral and legal right to defend themselves....not only those under the invasion, but maybe it is a moral requirement that all join in to help those under attack. My own history and the statement made by the female CO show how strong the effect of our culture and its brain washing is.
Hi also to JOS, Michael, and Keir.

Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 11/19 at 03:08 PM

Go Whichever Team Michael Roots For!! Sounds like a game for “lack"wits to me, this your football does, Michael. Enjoy getting trashed. Take two glasses of water and three aspirin before bed, save yourself a mega-hangover.

Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 11/19 at 03:14 PM

RMJ: “when I enlisted I was a Pacifist. Now that I am a war-protester, I am not a complete Pacifist. I believe that the people in a country that is under invasion and occupation have the moral and legal right to defend themselves”

I’d go further than that and say they have a moral and legal DUTY to defend themselves. Killing is wrong, and two wrongs don’t make a right, but it’s easy to say that sitting here alive and comfy. Every person has a duty to work at staying alive, so that individual’s unique contribution to the world’s fund of knowledge is maintained.

I watched a documentary called Trembling Before G-d, about the plight of Orthodox queers. In it, an Orthodix queer psychotherapist and rabbi saidm “The evidence of mankind’s ability to influence HaShem (God) is all over the Torah. Moses influenced HaShem, Abraham influenced HaShem...the Torah isn’t about HaShem’s control of mankind, but about a conversation between man and HaShem.”

I fear fundamentalism, no matter its source, and a big hole got blown in the fundamentalist hawkish cause with that statement. Going back to the original myths, that’s the point of mankind...companions for the Creator. Not little slaveys.

So even that argument that “God so orders it” can’t be supported...no war can be ordered by God if we’re all companions of God.

One day I’ll “meet” my maker and we’ll see then if I’m correct in my assumptions....

Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 11/19 at 03:25 PM

Hello Expendables…

Keir, I love that story. I’ve never imagined being mistaken for Michael Albert until now. Do you mind if I share that with him?

Michael: Love the photos in that football story. Makes me wish I was at the match.

James: Thanks again for being there last night. Would love to have you at B&N.

RMJ: I’ll leave it to James to offer more details. I’m trying to live down my reputation as a “self-promoting demagogue.”

Mudge: Your excellent story brought back memories. I’m not sure if many people here know it, but Mudge is the visionary who got me my first book contract. I recall meeting him at Union Square and taking the bus down to Soft Skull’s original Lower East Side offices. Mudge and I sat across from Sander Hicks in his basement headquarters as Sander announced that he had never given anyone more than a $100 advance. Mudge leaned back in his chair and grinned before declaring: “Let’s all agree that’s about to change.” Some 20 minutes later, we walked out with a deal and a $1000 advance.

Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/19 at 03:26 PM

Mudge, we were typing at the same time. I actually know a guy who was in that movie...an “Orthodox queer” named, get this, Israel. He jokingly insists that we all call him O.P. (for: Occupied Palestine).

Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/19 at 03:28 PM

Happy Saturday, Storytellers -
Great Stories, today, Mickey, JOS, Mudge, Keir and, Rosemarie, wonderful C.O. story / post… This quote particularly struck me…
“However, as anyone in the military can attest, GIs don’t get briefings on what to do if in a moral, ethical, or religious struggle with one’s conscience, or how to prepare evidence proving one’s sincerity. As was Katherine’s case, many in the military may not even know that a service member can apply for CO status and discharge.” Of course not. A true American Warrior should have no moral, ethical or relegious struggles whatsoever!

Mickey, JOS, you’ve revived in me some odd, painful, sometimes thrilling memories of life as a teen. Wow. That I’m not in prison or dead is quite impossible, yet, it’s really me, I suppose, sitting here in my drafty garage…
Mudge, I applaud your courage, there in the corporate offices. Bravo. I hope I would have done the same thing but, alas, I’m never sure what I’ll do - or might have done. As Elliot put it: “...between the desire and the potency, falls the shadow...” And, by the way, Mudge, isn’t that a bit of a “Curly laugh,” there? Nicely spelled: “NyukNyuk.”
--More in a bit, just to break up the long post, somewhat…
- joe… it’s 12:32 pm here in Oregon

Posted by joe on from Beneath the Wheel 11/19 at 03:32 PM

Thank you, Michael, for representing Football on the site. One day the world will realise the merit of the sport, and then it’s popularity will explode. Mark my words.

I know that historically the players and fans of Celtic and Rangers were divided along religious lines, Catholic and Protestant respectively. Obviously things have changed a bit on the players side. How much has changed on the fans side? The Celtic/Rangers derby is one of the most heated in soccer. Just curious if any of the violence stems from the religious aspect of the match.

Posted by Cart on from near Warshington DC 11/19 at 03:54 PM

Hi all.

Mickey, feel free to pass the story on to Mike Albert. Out of curiosity, are there any other Expendables who frequent ZNet, or the Z blogs, or are sustainers?

Posted by Keir on from The Hague 11/19 at 04:02 PM

Missed a few posts while my fingers were tapping away. Sorry.
Great Mudge tale, Mickey. I didn’t know you guys had a history in the quote real unquote world…
Mudge, I don’t think we’ll ever “recapture” the air / cables / satellites from the moguls. They’re an integral part of
dadadum “The System”
The system, itself, must go, if you’d be rid of the Murdochs (Morlocks) of the world…

Rosemarie - no one created you. The whole universe is beholden to you for peeking in on us, for a bit. On behalf of the universe: Thank You!

Michael, how did you lure Mickey’s barber over to Scotland? Well, in any case, he’s done a great job with your players, and ought to get at least partial credit for some of those “headers.”

Keir - I met Michael Albert in Seattle.
I’m a big MickeyZ fan.

Your posts almost always make me think of my time in Holland, Keir. I really loved Holland, especially Amsterdam. I’d move there in a heartbeat if I had lots of money, could speak Dutch, didn’t have a teenager at home, wasn’t taking care of my mother in law, could convince my wife to leave the country, didn’t have 4 cats and a dog, knew I could find some type of employment, and could get some sort of long-term employment visa.
Well, maybe in the spring…

Posted by joe on from Oregon 11/19 at 04:18 PM

Keir - I visit ZNet almost every day…

Posted by joe on from Oregon 11/19 at 04:20 PM

Oh, it’s 1:23pm, here, on 11/19.

Posted by joe on from Oregon 11/19 at 04:24 PM

hello all…

Keir, I was a sustainer for a while and I was first introduced to Mickey Z on ZNet. I identified immediately with his NYC writing style. Who knew I would eventually end up as an Expendable...I still visit there a few times a week...I don;t know exactly why I don’t visit as frequently as I used to, it was a huge part of my personal “awakening.” I actually had a sort of argument with Noam once about repressed memories of childhood sexual abuse. But what a thrill to be able to ask him questions and actually receive answers back from the man himself. (on Chomsky’s forum)

Wow! I suspected some sort of relationship between you and Mudge, Mick (as mudge would write >>wink wink<<), but never that he got you your first book deal. You the man, Mudge!

Joe, I figured you for a semi-retired rable rouser.

Posted by JOS on from Calle Colón 11/19 at 04:29 PM

it’s 5:31 here in PR.

Posted by JOS on from Calle Colón 11/19 at 04:31 PM

It’s 4:36 in Astoria. I’m heading out for a while. Cover me.

Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/19 at 04:37 PM

Joe, I agree it might be nearly impossible to reclaim the air from the moguls, but frankly, I don’t want to. The air and all that it is common territory, and I think the trick has been articulated by a favorite of the Expendables, Arundhati Roy, who in one of her more famous speeches (can’t find the link right now) talks about rendering Imperium irrelevant, shaming it, ridiculing it, and so on. I’m sure you all know the speech. Let Murdoch and the rest of those sick assholes keep broadcasting their inane bullshit, meanwhile we’ll keep spreading the real news in whatever ways we can.

As for The Netherlands: I can hardly speak Dutch, and I live hand-to-mouth (in a good month). True, I don’t have a teenager, mother-in-law, or herd of cats to worry about, but it’s not always a party. Far from it. Still, if you do manage to convince Mrs. Joe from Oregon, feel free to give us a ring when you arrive!

Posted by Keir on from The Hague 11/19 at 04:41 PM

Joe, what you say “...A true American Warrior should have no moral, ethical or religious struggles… “ reminds me of that old saying, “If we wanted you to have morals, we would have issued them to you.”
Mickey. Whoever said “self promoting” about you proves that they do not know you at all and besides that it is not you that you promote it is the Message, and besides that(again) accusations such as “self promoting” are made to attack your message. The same thing has been said about Cindy Sheehan and everyone else who goes against the system. Tell me who says things like that and I will go and protest them where ever they are. Let them wake up some morning with this old Grandma holding a sign in front of their house!
It was certainly predictable after last night’s vote. Bush is now saying that the Congress has voted to support his war plans. He is right. The vote was 403 to 3. The Dems really messed up this time. Even my Socialistic Congressman Bernie caved in. Only 3 voted to end the war now. What a message that has sent to the rest of the world. It will be an interesting night. I am off to a “Peace” gathering, mostly Dems will be there. Later.....

Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 11/19 at 04:55 PM

RMJ: That vote was the final blow to the closet door of these $(*^&!&^$)#) machine politicians. Not one of them deserves to be re-elected, party Demublican or Republocrat. This war is illegal; it is immoral, and it is inexcusable in a time wehen these a-holes are voting to cut $50bn out of the deficit over FIVE YEARS by cutting MedicAid, student loans, and SSI, when this $)(&!&^*&%)(*$# war costs TWICE THAT MUCH every two months.

It nauseates me what’s being done by my government in my name. Hand me a Kalashnikov, I’m goin’ out on the streets.

Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 11/19 at 05:51 PM

Hey all-- not much time online right now, I’ll type up some more description of the event last night a bit more later, but all in all I say that things are looking up for Mr. Z-- sold some books, made more readers, I mean, friends, and got the word out to a great crowd.

Only thing that would keep me from introducing you at B&N next time is a proofreading shift I couldn’t turn down…

Posted by James on from Hell's Kitchen 11/19 at 06:01 PM

Big Country, you’re right...MZ and I go way back, thought not THAT far back as you’re suggesting, evil imp. Over a decade. I remain confused and bewildered that Saving Private Power, MZ’s first book, isn’t atop the Lefty Must-Read list. SOft Skull has its problems as a publishing house, but they’re great judges of merit...why there isn’t a push behind a paper edition of this book at this moment in history, I simply don’t know.

MZ: I said that to Sander? No wonder he hates me. (Actually, he hates me because as an InterNewbie, I sent him every forward I found funny...,in the middle of the Hatfield book fiasco. I really don’t blame him for his animus.) If you will put aside your reservations about deities and PRAY LIKE HELL that I win the lottery, I hereiwth publicly pledge to send you, at entirely my own expense, on a national tour with books to sell at every stop, for at least four months. Deal?

Keir, nothing good is ever easy. I’m impressed you’re sticking through the tough times. I’d like to have that kind of courage. BTW, visit ZNet daily, it’s one of my regular stops.

Joe: Cats. Ugh. Minions of Satan, to whom I say only two words as a collective entity: “Extinction Event.” Yeah, the Z-man’s New York neighborhoods book is the one he’s proposed to me that I’m saddest not to see get done. I’d bring it out, if that notional lottery win were to come true. The “plans” I have for that moolah....

Cart, your words about Celtics and Rangers bewlldered me...how can a Boston basketball team play a New York hockey team? At what, baseball? Then I realized you were talking about soccer, and went back to sleep. >nudge<

Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 11/19 at 06:04 PM

MZ, you know Israel of David and Israel and the 25th anniversary party?! Israle of the 98-year-old father who finally t��&k�&k though fails to listen to him?!

When next you speak to him please let him know that he made me weep from sympathetic pain: “I’m fifty-eight years old, and I want my daddy.” I thought my heart would break! I don’t want my daddy, but that’s neither here nor there; I wanted my mommy, only not the one who did what she did, and that’s a loss, an ache, a betrayal that never heals. I was so impressed that he said this to the camera, with God and everybody listening! What a ballsy, gutsy, wonderful man!

Has he written his book yet? The one he needs to write? He’s the “learned” son of a “learned” father, he shoujld do it.

Of course, so should Joe and Rosemarie, but they won’t hear it. Nyah nyah, both of you.

Speaking of books, Big Country...my inbox is bereft....

Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 11/19 at 06:18 PM

I’m back. Nice crisp fall NY evening.

RMJ: I was only kidding about the whole “self-promoting” thing. I find such labels amusing...especially when they’re aimed at me. However, I do appreciate your offer to set things straight and will keep it in mind.

What’s up, Cart? You know, we call it soccer here but by any name, I truly wouldn’t have minded if I learned it as a kid. But when I was young, soccer was alien to us.

James: No pressure for Dec. 6.

Hey Keir and Big Country Jo. a pleasure as always.

Mudge: Yes, I know Israel...but not very well. I do believe James from Hell’s Kitchen knows him much better. James? Either way, I do sometimes see him when I make it to vegan night at NYU and will happily pass along your message. Btw, Mudge, you win Lotto and I’m packing my bag to hit the road.

Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/19 at 06:24 PM

Keir, thanks much.
Mudge, I’m between prayers for your lottery win, right now. I’ve got an old string of Buddhist prayer beads, so I’ll count out a few thousand more, after this post.
Oh, yes - about “your” government.
Here are a few paragraphs from Jerry Fresia - exposing the Constitution, & Other Illusions…
“Consider the lives of three men. The first...many considered...the richest man in all the thirteen states. His will of 1789 revealed that he owned 35,000 acres in Virginia, 1,119 acres in Virginia. He owned [very expensive] properties in Washington, Alexandria, Winchester, and Bath. He held US securities, and more than $18,000 worth of stock in [various] companies and banks. His livestock alone was worth over $15,000. As early as 1773, he had enslaved over 200 human beings who were not emancipated till after he and his wife were both dead.
“The second man was a lawyer who often expressed disdain and contempt for common people and his profound admiration of monarchy. After the Boston Massacre, he became the defence attorney for the British Soldiers, against the working people of Boston, whom he described as “a motley rabble of saucy boys, negroes, and mollatoes, Irish teagues and outlandish jack tarrs.
“The third man was very wealthy, owned over 10,000 acres and by 1809, had enslaved 185 human beings. A biographer said: ‘He lived with the grace and elegance of many British Lords. His house slaves alone numbered 25.’ He gave his daughter 25 slaves as a wedding present. Deeply indebted at the end of his life, he remarked that, ‘at least his slave-holdings constituted liquid capital.’ He had several children with one of his slaves, and he completely disavowed his relationship to them.”

The three men:
Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson.

These men created a nation in which only wealthy white males could participate politically. Women could not vote. Blacks could not vote. Indians could not vote. They all had great disdain for and fear of ordinary people. They and the other “founding fathers” routinely referred to our great, great, great grandparents as “scum,” “a great beast,” “low,” “wicked,” “licentious.”
In 1776 - 10% of the population owned nearly 1/2 of the wealth of the entire country - and also
OWNED almost 1/7 of the population!

The “Founders” and their class “exterminates the native peoples, replaces them by raping Africa for humans it then dehumanizes as slaves, while cheapening and degrading it’s own working class… “
****
Considering the above, can anyone really believe that they intended to create liberty and democracy and equality for the general population of the United States?

Posted by joe on from Oregon 11/19 at 07:00 PM

Sorry about Virginia, Virginia, and whatever other errors. I’m gettin old, and loosin “control.”
Welcome back Mickey Z.

Posted by joe on from Oregon 11/19 at 07:05 PM

mudge… “Cart, your words about Celtics and Rangers bewlldered me...how can a Boston basketball team play a New York hockey team? At what, baseball? Then I realized you were talking about soccer, and went back to sleep. >nudge< “

there r three things about this
1. the sentiment is correct
2. it shows an exceptional level of arrogance. the rest of the world seems to be an irrelevance in your terms. you may believe these things to be pointless. so do i. doesn’t mean that they can’t be fun.
3. you haven’t been to one these matches or been in this town (of a million people) when all sorts kicks off and therefore all sorts of shit that you hadn’t considered might b happening.

cart - like everything else its becoming corporate at the organisational level but that is not how people relate to it.

on another note… hello! i hope whatever u r doing this saturday night it is nice. its almost 1am here and as a general rule i disagree with whichever ‘order’ someone tries to impose

Posted by michael on from scotland 11/19 at 07:46 PM

Michael, did you notice the >>nudge<< from Mudge?

I’m passionately against imposed order as well, my friend. I want the right to remain the goofy, passionate, pathetic, not-such-a-bad-guy, weirdo that I am - at least off and on…
It’s 6:00 PM here in Oregon, and there’s not been one single glimpse of the sun for almost four days.

Posted by joe on from Oregon 11/19 at 09:01 PM

Hi all, to go on from Joe´s post, I read in Buckminster Fullers´ Critical Path that in the the seventies he was contracted by the Indian govt to design airports there and taking a tour of the castle of the British fortress in Madras saw painted on a wall a likeness of Queen Elizabeth v.01 with the flag of the East India Company, which had thirteen red and white horizontal stripes with a blue rectangle in its upper lefthand corner. At the Boston Tea Party, the fake Indians climbed the mast of the biggest ´Indiamen´, tha Dartmouth, and removed the company flag which George Washington used when he took charge of the Continentals in Massachussets. Many of his men complained about the use of a corporate emblem and were told to cram it. Fuller notes that “while the British Empire as a world government lost the American Revolution, the power structure behind it did not lose the war.” The US revolution, along with the French, were grand pieces of theatre to shift from overt control by monarchies - messy because you give people something to rebel against - to ah bold new experiments in freedom. Any organisation that calls itself free isn´t - when you are free it is implicit and you don´t need to say it. Same goes for “democratic.” Take South Africa: apartheid, the Oppenheimer family owned 80% of the companies on stockmarket and most of diamonds and gold in the country. Then it becomes Hey you´re free now here´s a vote and they dangle a smiling Mandela in front of everyone, apartheid is over and what do family Openheimer own? why 80% of the companies on stockmarket and most of diamonds and gold in the country. This is a trick being played the world over and it´s ever so pangenerational, hell panmillenial or more but fortunately for the Aryan-stock-racy, for the average schmo social engineering comes in four-year stages. Now the countries that have been under covert control for longer are becoming more transparent in their dealings and though it might not seem this way, as this Nazi control raises its head above the parapet, it is simultaneously at its most vulnerable – with great danger comes an equal opportunity and all that. Too, they´re getting more openly violent which means they´re getting quite demented which always stacks things in your favour, this is what empires do when they roll over and die.
When people give reasons for not speaking out of acting differently to the herd it is never “What would Rumsfeld/Blair/Zapatero think?” but always “What would my friends/family think?” and there is a simple reason for this: the few cannot control the many, they have to get the many to control each other. Once we all get the hang of this, this ugliness is over. There´s no need to go fencing at Pentagons or any of that nonsense, as Joe said in that wonderful piece a while back, it is with ourselves everything lies. I figure a good place to start is by quitting any job that involves a boss this instant.

P.S: went to see the new Jim Jarmusch film called Broken Flowers with Bill Murray tonight and I strongly recommend it. He thanks Paul Auster in the credits, it did remind me of one of his novels.

Posted by Owen on from Barcelona 11/19 at 09:02 PM

Hello all. I just snuck in a little work on my novel. More editing than adding. I know 50,000 is the ostensible goal but I’m gonna finish this story (sic) with no more than 35,000. Maybe I’ll cut and paste an urelated novel excerpt to technically win...but I doubt it. I also will likely change the name to Crash Tests for Dummies.

Speaking of novels, since Owen brought up Paul Auster, I’d like to say I genuinely like his work but I never fail to dislike the way he ends his books.

Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/19 at 09:08 PM

Hey, Joe, let the man alone...he’s right, I am arrogant. At least he realizes I’m exceptional. A short trip away from getting his vote when I announce my candidacy for Emperor of the Universe, when complete and total order shall be imposed. Heil Me!

Owen, good lord man, you’re awake enough to think and write like that?! This one’s a special gem: “Any organisation that calls itself free isn´t - when you are free it is implicit and you don´t need to say it. Same goes for ‘democratic.’” Good stuff!

Will watch out for Broken Flowers here in Cinephiletown.

Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 11/19 at 09:13 PM

Mudge: Curse your disdain for the game I played for years without distinction or success. I can’t wait for my son to grow up so that I can put undue pressure on him to play soccer at an extremely high level, enabling me to live vicariously through him.

Posted by Cart on from near Warshington DC 11/19 at 09:25 PM

I had to type it three times so I got a good stride going, the first draft was far patchier.

About Auster, I can understand the ending feeling, the worst offender I felt was Moon Palace. Then one I want to read again is Oracle Night, at first I was disappointed that the three most famous novelists I like in New York (Rushdie, DeLillo and Auster) wrote books set before 2001 but in ON there´s some good sly stuff about gubbermints creating fictional foes.

Posted by Owen on from Barcelona 11/19 at 09:28 PM

Mudge, an incomplete chapter one should be in your mailbox now…

evening all…

I fricking missed Broken Flowers here in PR, it was showing at our one good theater for about a month and is now gone, damn it.

I watched Coffee and Cigarettes the other day and overall it was OK, but Bill Murray with Rizza and another guy from Wu Tang Clan was hilarious.

Also liked Tom Waits and Iggy Pop.

Posted by JOS on from Calle Colón 11/19 at 09:36 PM

Mudge, I love your comment #28. You do have a way with words. Your colorful language is like a never-ending song that makes my soul ride on the crest of a periwinkle blue ocean wave. The sea breeze caresses my cheek and tousles my hair each time you speak.

Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 11/19 at 10:14 PM

Is anyone else jealous of the poetic love affair going on here between Mudge and Rosemarie?

“special”

Posted by JOS on from Calle Colón 11/19 at 10:17 PM

Owen, it’s been a while since I’ve read Auster so I can’t be specific...but I recall reading along, enjoying the twists and turns and then feeling cheated at the end almost every time. However, the journey is typically good enough to keep me coming back for more.

Big Country, we are bearing witness to cyber-love. The Outlaw Meets the The Mudge. From the virgin snows of Vermont to the moist heat of an Austin night. And all that…

Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/19 at 10:22 PM

RMJ, speaking of the 403 to 3 vote...I have to hand it to the Republicans for shoving the Democrat’s BS right down their throats. Now those who had any doubts about our politician’s warmongering ways can see the truth.

I must say that Chomsky’s “other superpower,” world opinion, is having an effect though. In that all of these assholes are being forced to discuss immediate withdrawal from Iraq.

the captcha oracle says “thought.”

Posted by JOS on from Calle Colón 11/19 at 10:22 PM

It’s a beautiful thing to witness, Mick.

and I kid you not, captcha says “love.”

I swaer, this is getting wierd.

Posted by JOS on from Calle Colón 11/19 at 10:24 PM

Hey Humans -
Great Gab!
Owen, thanks very much - very much for that post, and for the reference to Fuller’s book. I’ve only read some of his stuff on Geodesic Domes, back in the 70’s… Critical Path is now on my list…
Great Post. Of course, I say that because it so consistently reflects my own view…
I guess we’re both running for Emporer, Mudge.
Hi Again, Mickey & JOS.
What’re you guys going to do with all your free time, come December?
JOS, I just love Tom Waits, not even sure why, the guy just makes me feel “at home,” somehow.

Cart - your post was great, too - I can’t stop chuckling.

Man, I love this place. Thanks, Mickey.

Posted by joe on from Oregon 11/19 at 10:28 PM

on the topic of Iraq, anyone who is on Dahr Jamail’s email list will have already seen this, but it is very much worth reading when you have time...there are a TON of links within the post to look at:

http://tinyurl.com/8dkfy

Posted by JOS on from Calle Colón 11/19 at 10:31 PM

Rosemarie, Please!
Is it getting warm in here?
Is the atmosphere “charged?”

Posted by joe on from Oregon 11/19 at 10:32 PM

Joe!

Waits gives me that same feeling...it comes out a lot in his scene in Coffee and Cigarettes (a Jarmusch film).

Posted by JOS on from Calle Colón 11/19 at 10:34 PM

I’ve wanted to see that movie for quite a while, JOS. Something about the title made me feel at home, as well…
You’d think the censors would have made them shorten it to: “Coffee”

Posted by joe on from Oregon 11/19 at 10:37 PM

JOS...It is hard to believe that the Dems are so dumb. If they had voted the other way, they would have maybe gained the confidence of some of the voters. It seems that they are hell-bent on continuing to be Republicans-lite. The Repubs set this trap and they ran right into it. Dems all across this country now are trying unsuccessfully to explain this latest fiasco. The Dems in Congress are so dumb that they’re dangerous...probably more dangerous that the Republicans because at least the Repubs have a consistent/predictable history of being war mongering, greedy, criminals. The only thing predictable about the Dems is that if it is dumb, they will probably do it.

Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 11/19 at 10:40 PM

I was going to say exactly that...you being such a friend of cigarettes and all.

Posted by JOS on from Calle Colón 11/19 at 10:41 PM

RMJ, there was a funny skit on Saturday Night Live the other day...a Hardball (Chris Matthews) skit...the Dem Rep on the show said that the party had a new strategy, keep there mouths shut...because whenever they opened them, something incredibly stupid would come out. The lady said (some demo congresswoman) they still had ideas, but instead of sharing them, they wrote them down, put them in a box and buried it. The line was, “It’s working very well for us, Chris” I guess the box was opened today…

Posted by JOS on from Calle Colón 11/19 at 10:45 PM

JOS - I read just a few paragraphs on that link. It looks to me like that Iraqi lady wasn’t hauled away because of suspicions of planting a bomb, eh?
It looks like they’re playing hardball with the family.
Man, can you imagine how terrifying such a thing would be? You step outside with your dad and mom, and suddenly you’re surrounded by armed men who arrest your mom and brother and haul them away?
I guess we’ll have an opportunity to find out, if they initiate martial law…
You know, sometimes we get one of those mass emails which says:
“Did You Know?”
- Did you know that most of the electricity is back on, in Iraq?
- Did you know that more than 1/2 of the schools are rebuilt?
- Did you know that employment has almost returned to pre-war levels?

Jesus.

Posted by joe on from Oregon 11/19 at 10:45 PM

I swear, Joe/RMJ, it makes me want to take up arms and stop this shit...there is also a link in there about children being raped by US troops and US trained Iraqis. Woman being raped. Men being raped. Children. Rape and murder. ####!

Posted by JOS on from Calle Colón 11/19 at 10:49 PM

Hi Joe and Mickey...I just got home a little while ago and immediately came to Mickey’s. While I was out at the “peace” gathering I did have a bit of wine....started to think of all of the things that I love, the ocean, everybody at Mickey’s......

Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 11/19 at 10:50 PM

It’s 11:12 in Astoria. Now I lay me down to sleep…

Evening, all...and thanks for everything.

Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/19 at 11:13 PM

Yeah, Rosemarie, I think of this place as a cafe of sorts, where you often run into people you enjoy and respect, and just have to gab with… I know just how you feel.

JOS, I was about to say: “Imagine the horror of being in a war. Imagine how it would change you. Imagine how it might damage you and drive you over the edge...”
But then it occurred to me that literally millions of fathers who’ve been to war, passionately encourage their sons - and now perhaps daughters, as well - to enlist and “serve their country.”
I don’t know how to deal with that. I can’t process it. I can’t place it into a context that makes sense.
One thing’s for sure - without the enthusiasm of folks who have already “been there,” there would be no more wars…

Posted by joe on from Oregon 11/19 at 11:24 PM

G`night, Mickey.
Thanks for being open late…
Thanks for opening up in the morning.
Thanks.

Posted by joe on from Oregon 11/19 at 11:26 PM

that’s for sure, Joe. Good night, all.

Posted by JOS on from Calle Colón 11/19 at 11:28 PM

Cart, from #40: “I can’t wait for my son to grow up so that I can put undue pressure on him to play soccer at an extremely high level, enabling me to live vicariously through him.” I had no idea you were so thoroughly Americanized! Sounding like a Little League coach, you are!

RMJ: “Your colorful language is like a never-ending song that makes my soul ride on the crest of a periwinkle blue ocean wave. The sea breeze caresses my cheek and tousles my hair each time you speak.” Damn, girl! You do make a switchable blanket a positive thing in this unforgiving world. Seriously...if I’m that good, how come no man within 15 years of my age will give me the time of day?! Half my age, sure...close enough to remember life before ubiquitous microwaves or PCs, nope. What am I doing wrong?

Then this: “The Dems in Congress are so dumb that they’re dangerous...probably more dangerous that the Republicans because at least the Repubs have a consistent/predictable history of being war mongering, greedy, criminals.” You are proof, chere madame, that some are better thinkers drunk than most are sober. Politicians are out to get elected and re-elected and devil take the hindmost when it comes to their theoretical duty to serve their constituents’ needs. Joe put it best when he ran down the list of founders and their foibles: “Considering the above [foibles], can anyone really believe that they intended to create liberty and democracy and equality for the general population of the United States?” no.

Joe, be careful...I am a crafty candidate for Emperor and will ruthlessly eviscerate those who run against me and fail....

Big Country, file received. Sunday reading. Just spent a few hours having a lovely fight with my father. Need to get past the feelings before I do anything creative.

I “picture” peace...a rolling field of timothy, a few huge old live oaks dotted around it, with one of the Hill Country’s ubiquitous outcroppings of limestone defining its edges...light gray cumulus clouds dappling shadows over it, a breeze blowing from before me, and my dogs running ahead of me...a bottle of cool water and a soft cloth bag of apples to refresh me under the first big tree.

Father? What father?

Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 11/20 at 01:13 AM

I’m glad to hear that your appearance at ‘Bluestockings’was such a success, Mickey! Richly deserved, too!
And a belated hello to all of you MZ’ers/expendables on this comment thread.

Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 11/20 at 06:14 PM

Michael, this bears repeating: ‘i am always impressed that you can come up with these recollections every saturday.

when i look through my past i see a lot of same old same old. i don’t manage to stick them together in a useful way.’
Same here, is all I want to say!

And Mickey, you make an interesting point re Paul Auster’s books (which I also love) ..

Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 11/20 at 06:27 PM

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Mickey Z

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Saturday, November 19, 2005

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