Mickey Z
Cool Observer
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Your assignments...should you choose to accept them
Hence the obstacle of laxity.Our mind is stable but not clear. The bird can’t land on the meat; it can only fly around it. We need awareness to home in, sharpen sensibility, pull our mind in tighter.
This is from the book “Turning the Mind into and Ally” by Sakyong Mipham. He is a Shambhala Buddhist teacher here in Halifax and the book is about learning to meditate. I am takin a course for beginners, in part to learn how to deal with all the anger that arises in me when I observe the world around me. RMJ’s piece on the “justice” system today was nothing if not infuriating. Why is the world like this?
This a wonderful blog by the way and the people who post here seem like the kind of people it would be really nice to meet someday.
Chau for now
Edson
Posted by Edson Castilho on from Halifax, Nova Scotia 01/26 at 07:54 AM“On the fifteenth he was brought before Tetepachsit. The old chief was broken, but he did his best for Joshua. His statements had been false, he said, made in fear.”
from ‘Tecumseh: A Life’ by John Sugden, a book which I am currently reading. Its an extensive biography (492 pp) of the legendary Shawnee chief, in part describing how he tried to organize tribes across the land to unite against the aggression of white settlers of the U.S. in the early 19th century.
Sidenote: every year, in Chillicothe, OH, there is a reinactment of the battle of Tecumseh, which I saw as child with my uncle during summer vacation. Also noteworthy is that I am part native myself (Potawatomi tribe) on my mothers side…
re: RMJ’s article—saw it posted yesterday @ Press Action (and I thought Texas was bad)...
Posted by RT on from The Buyou City 01/26 at 08:04 AMGood morning Mickey, Edson & RT,
Sadly I’m in a book free building at the moment, but I like this idea and am curious to see what else pops up as more Expendable drop in.
Rosemarie I hope this morning is a start to a good day for you and I’m eager to see the suggestons that will doubtless be put forth here.
Today I’ll tell someone who’s not “heard” of the Cool Observer to stop by.
See you all later…
Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 01/26 at 08:28 AMIt has been accepted, and without argument, that americas foremost problem is the economy. All the candidates have stated repeatedly the need to ‘put america back to work. Simultaeneously all the candidates have come out in favour of the free trade agreement with mexico. Which will allow US corporations to shift their operations south of the border where they can hire a peasant workforce willing to work long hours for low pay without insurance or health benefits (retirement being a moot point, as the lack of enviornmental controls will return the average life span to what it was during the jurrasic period).
This begs the question - if there are no jobs in america, what exactly will americans work at? is it impossible to imagine in the not to distant future,Americans sneaking into mexico, en masse, seeking regular employment and a better way of life.” Bill Hicks - Love All the People
Hi gotta dash he hePosted by declan on from dublin 01/26 at 08:34 AMGood morning, RT, Empress, Declan...and welcome, Edson. Thanks for your kind words.
Glad to see the book excerpts. As for RMJ’s plight, I’m trying to conjure up a worthwhile suggestion. I’ll check back later (off to the city now) to see what others advise.
And remember: Tell-a-Friend.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 01/26 at 09:30 AMGotta split to a dentist appointment and will check in later. This is from Patrick O’ Brian’s novel “Post Captain” which I’m currently reading.
All around him the shrieking Lascars fought with there pikes, axes, pistols. A rush of Company’s men from the waist and the quarterdeck cleared the gangway, where a dozen privateers had come aboard, and carried on to the forecastle, charging with pikes.
The Indiaman’s deck was higher by a good spring than the Bellone’s; she had a pronounced tumbleshome - her sides sloped inwards - which left an awkward space. But the Frenchmen clung there obstinately, hitting back, striving most desperately, crowding to come aboard.
Peace and love,
LunaCaptcha = lived
Posted by Luna_C on from the Delta 01/26 at 11:35 AM“El tiempo es robado literalmente por una banda de ladrones. Para desenmascarar a esa fría organización necesitamos, precisamente, vuestra ayuda. Si todos estáis dispuestos a colaborar, toda esa miseria que ha caído sobre la gente se acabará de golpe.”
“Time is literally robbed by a band of thieves. To unmask this cold organization we need, literally, your help. If each one of you is disposed to collaborate, all this misery that has fallen upon the people will end at once.”
This is from Momo by Michael Ende, though originally in German. I´m writing a childrens´ book in Spanish with friends (only one nativespeaker, the rest Portuguese, Italian and English) and our illustrator recommended this to me. I´m on page thirty and far as I can tell, it´s about a girl with big eyes who helps people free themselves from a flat grey bureaucratic world where people are always saving for the future, the old ´eternal tomorrow´ trick we´ve been falling for for about 10,000 years.
Posted by Owen on from Batcelona 01/26 at 12:17 PMp.s. the second ´literally´ should be ´precisely.´
Posted by Owen on from Batcelona 01/26 at 12:18 PMHi MZ’ers ....I am in an exceptionally good mood today because of all of you. I have never in my life felt more nurtured and supported than all of you make me feel. You are truly my family. OK, enough mush for now. You all are making me blush. I’ll get back to my legal woes later.
For a change I’ll follow the rules. Here are my sentences from a book I have had for a long time, but have not completely read yet. It is “Harvest of Rage” by Joel Dyer.
“...We have once again entered the world of J.P. Morgan, a world of great gains for the rich and powerful and of great suffering for the working classes. Conspiracy theories are irrational explanations for what’s going on. But the scary part is, they’re less laughable than we’d like to admit. Consolidation in the food industry and in most other industries as well is just one of the components propelling the antigovernment movement toward violence. There are more....”It is a great book, from what I have read so far...a very interesting book jacket too. It has bullet holes in it.
BTW....a personal note. Josh Frank has some old writings that deal with the situation/corruption/politics in Vermont. He has written a lot about the connection between Howard Dean and Bill Sorrel. Sorrel is the Attorney General whose office is responsible for the way that Vermont deals with Plaintiffs, such as me. He is the Goliath in my case.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 01/26 at 12:47 PMThe nearest book is Zygmunt Bauman, Society Under Siege:
We base our judgement on the general rule (which we believe to be true) that all or most people tend to experience the state we would be inclined to describe as happy when they find themselves in a condition ‘like that’ and when things ‘like that’ happen to them. When I say ‘she is happy’, I refer ostensibly to that other person’s subjective experience, but in fact I assert an expectation derived from a certain theory of connection between the state of the world and the state of the spirit. I know what has happened ‘in the world’ (she has been promoted, passed a difficult exam, won a jackpot, become a celebrity) and I suppose that the happening should have made her experience happiness.
Whatever the hell that means.
Posted by Keir on from The Hague 01/26 at 02:09 PMA Well, I would say it is as serious as anything else I do.
Q Now we come to “Bunna Dik” (sic). What is the concept of “Bunna Dik”?
From The Real Frank Zappa Book.
Lovely to see the usual feastlike flow of wit & wisdom. RMJ, people like you are an inspiration so rock on, & when things seem tough or dark please remember this advice a very experienced teaching colleague (& friend of mine told me):
In times of stress, difficulty & woe, the most important words in the English language are “#### it.”
Posted by Chris Wood on from Manchester, England 01/26 at 02:18 PMGood morning from Daylesford, Australia where it is 6:33 on a quite warm Friday morning (up to 92F today). Thank God your post did not self-destruct in 5 seconds, Mickey! On page 123 of ‘The Great War for Civilisation’, Robert Fisk writes about the history of Iran and quotes the Shah as saying to the ‘Sunday Times’ in 1978 that on human rights ‘we have no lessons to learn from anybody’.
Here is Ivan Eland’s take on present-day Iran and all the threats emanating from the US (did I hear Rumsfeld say that the US military was NOT thinly stretched but battle-hardened?):
http://consortiumnews.com/2006/012406a.html
Hello to Epson, RT, Amelopsis, Declan, Luna_C, Owen (ah, Barcelona ..), Rosemarie, Keir and Chris. May you all have a good day!Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 01/26 at 02:34 PMI have already emailed several of your posts to email friends, Mickey! And I keep doing that ..
It seems I got the other assignment wrong: here are sentences 5 to 7 on page 123 of ‘The Great War for Civilisation - The Conquest of the Middle East’ by Robert Fisk:‘This act of self-aggrandisement counted for nothing when the end came. Indeed, the very detritus of the banquet was effortlessly turned by the Ayatollah’s regime into a symbol of emptiness. When the Shah, long exiled, was undergoing surgery in New York, I travelled down to Persepolis from Tehran and found his special tent, still standing beside the ruins of the city.’
There you have it: an excerpt from Chapter 4, ‘The Carpet-Weavers’.
Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 01/26 at 03:06 PMHi All and Rosemarie,
I haven’t had any brainstorms on your situation re jail, Rosemarie, other than thinking of the alcoholics prayer (aka the Serenity Prayer) the shortened version of which Chris posted earlier!
Similar is the Taoist concept (or reality) of Wu Wei. If you are not familiar with it, I reckon it would be worth googling it.Re plaintiff/insurance bullshit, getting together with other wronged people will give you a much better idea of what is really going on. Find that out and you have a very long lever to use.
Questions that come to mind are:-
Who decided to drop the State insurance?
Who benefited from this?
How did they benefit?
Who needs to be co-operating with this for it to be ongoing?
And are any of these people seemingly living beyond their means?Do you have any friends of friends who work for the Attorney Generals Dept or any of the other depts that might be involved?
Do you have friends of friends who work in the insurance industry who might have background info on this situation?
And beware of lawyers that pop out of nowhere offering to help. Check ‘em out thoroughly beforehand.
It is usually pretty easy to find out what is going on. The hard part is proving it but you may not need to. Just know the scam puts you on the front foot and “them” on the back foot (for a change). When they start making all sorts of threats, know you’ve “got ‘em” and push on!
Hope this helps.
Posted by Jim on from 01/26 at 03:15 PMFound this on a website - had to share!
“I need to deconstruct the absurdity of “Racial Profiling.” Racial Profiling is nothing more than bigotry. It is suspecting people of wrongdoing based solely on their genetic makeup. Furthermore, I am well aware of the fact that 2,792 people were killed by nineteen Islamic--mostly Saudi nationals--men on September 11, 2001. I am also aware of the fact that Timothy McVeigh took out 168 folks on April 19th, 1995. If you multiply 168 by 19 you get 3,192 dead. And if you divide 2,792 by 19 you get not quite 147. McVeigh had a better batting average! So I ask you, who is more dangerous?”
Love it!
Posted by Chris Wood on from Manchester, England 01/26 at 04:34 PMLast Chance To See, Douglas Adams:
“He nodded curtly to us and squatted down to fuss with his dog for a moment. Then he seemed to think that perhaps he had been a little over curt with us, and leant across Boss to shake our hands. Thinking that he had perhaps now overdone this in turn, he then looked up and made a disgruntled face at the weather. With this brief display of complete social confusion he revealed himself to be an utterly charming and likeable man.”This is Arab the Kakapo tracker, and his Kakapo tracking dog Boss. Adams and his mate are trying to find a Kakapo. “Hmm. Sounds just the sort of person we need,” says Adams.
Posted by Mew on from England 01/26 at 05:48 PMHi All, Chris, yes, I agree about the most important words in the English Language.
Jim...you have a lot of good ideas there. No, none of my friends work in the AG office. I had insurance that I had paid into for many years. I think I had been with that insurance company for about 35 years, faithfully paying premiums. I never made a claim. After this accident, that insurance company said that they would not help because the accident was NOT my fault. When I complained about that to them they told me that they were friends with the State insurance commissioner. I fired that insurance company immediately and got another one. ......This whole long ordeal has been very much like living in a giant chess game where THEY make all the rules and keep them secret. That is as good a description as I can give of the legal process. There is no doubt in my mind that provisions of the State Constitution and also the US Constitution have been violated. The problem is finding someone who cares and who has enough power to do something about it. The legal community is like a closed, elite, secret society....a Star Chamber. In view of the fact that the national spotlight is already on Vermont’s judicial system, some changes are possible. At times, it has seemed to me, that the AG’s office was being run like a frat party or the Animal House. I thought a lot about what motivates people to do the things they do. I keep coming back to the fact that individual human beings are behind every decision that harms others. I, and others, make the mistake of blaming the government but that removes individual responsibility. I believe that the individuals have made the decisions in my case because they are motivated by self-interest, career advancement, etc.Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 01/26 at 06:18 PM“The legal community is like a closed, elite, secret society....a Star Chamber.”
I was going to say something about that but thought it might come across as paranoid. I would expect it to be a nest of Masons. They are especially big in the law and police. The grandfather of my Ex was a Supreme Court judge here and he said he was very unusual in that position as he was NOT a Mason.
Yeah, forget about “the government” and focus on “names and faces” as it were. Start digging anywhere. One lead to procede to the next. You’d be amazed. You can’t keep massive corruption hidden. Each industry or gummint dept is like a little country town. Lots of people will know lots about it and will most likey welcome someone to tell it to.
Hang in there, Rosemarie
Posted by Jim on from 01/26 at 06:39 PMHello everyone. Thanks for all the excellent book excerpts.
I haven’t been home much but I’m sorry to see it’s been such a slow day here when Rosemarie could use some ideas. Let’s not let this drop. If you have a blog or you post regularly at a forum, etc. please spread the word. I will post some contact info here tomorrow. Those of you with blogs (Hawk, Michael, Youngfox, etc.) are invited to do the same (in fact, it was the Empress who came up with this idea and “provided” me with the info).
RMJ: You might wanna try posting an ad in the community section at Burlington Craig’s List (http://burlington.craigslist.org) to find: a) others who have had similar experiences; and b) someone willing to step up and help. Also, there’s Vermont Indy Media: http://vermont.indymedia.org. Other Indy Media outlets might work, too. You can post a link to your Press Action story all across the globe. In fact, each of us here can help with that.
What about Amy Goodman, Democracy Now, WBAI radio, etc.? Does anyone have connections with the media on any level?
RMJ: I will also send you an e-mail address for Elaine Cassel (http://blogs.citypages.com/ecassel). She might be able to offer the kind of advice you can use.
More soon…
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 01/26 at 07:19 PMMickey and all MZ’ers...thanks. Actually I had been thinking about contacting Elaine Cassel but did not have her address. A lot of good ideas are starting to emerge here. For the first time in 6 years, I feel optimistic about all of this.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 01/26 at 07:27 PMRMJ: I just e-mailed you two different address for Elaine. Let me know when you get them, okay?
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 01/26 at 07:28 PMMick....yahoo address is not good. I am now waiting to see if the e-mail to the cox address goes through....so far, so good.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 01/26 at 07:56 PM“For the first time in 6 years, I feel optimistic about all of this.”
Damn good to hear, Rosemarie!
Some insurance companies knock back claims as a matter of course and wait to see how many apply again. The “not you fault” excuse would not wash here in OZ and I doubt it’s valid where you are.
I’m sure a lot of people would be interested in the name of the insurance company. It is not libel to publish the fact that a company you had a contract with knocked back you claim. It’s just a fact.
I’d drop the name wherever you talk/write about it.
Even if some one influential comes onboard, you are still going to have to drive it and keep it on track.
Have you thought of contacting the truck driver? He might have some interesting things to say. Even if he won’t talk to you, that tells you all you need to know about him.Good on ya, Mickey. And you too Rosemarie.
Oracle says “provided”
YES!
Posted by Jim on from 01/26 at 07:58 PMCaptcha sez “see” as in: I’ll see you all tomorrow.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 01/26 at 10:35 PMGo, Rosemarie, go! Those insurance companies are really something - I once knew someone who worked for one in Germany. Some of the shenanigans they get up to are well and truly unbelievable. Best of luck to you.
Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 01/27 at 12:05 AM“We want to get al Qaeda moving into enclaves, which may allow us to target and exploit them.”
“How does the strategy work domestically?” Rumsfeld asked. “We don’t want to look like we are pounding sand.”
***
Bush at War, by Bob Woodward
This book was sitting on the floor, on top of a stack of other books, by my chair at my desk. It was the nearest one to me. It was there because I had looked up the references to “anthrax” in the index, as I had, at the time, been researching for an article on the topic of Iraq’s anthrax. I found no useful information on the topic, but the book was still sitting there, as I had not yet re-shelved it.
The book takes an inside look at the Bush administration during the initial phases of the war in Afghanistan, the so-called “war on terrorism”. While it tends to be apologetic, in my humble opinion, there are a few rich nuggets of information between its covers.
I finished and posted the anthrax article today, for anyone who is interested:
Regarding Rosemarie’s story, I regret that I have few suggestions. I think MZ is right to suggest trying to get some media coverage. As for legal help, you’ll be glad to know I’m not a lawyer. The downside is that I don’t have any advice anyways.
This story is shocking to me. I can’t understand how such miscarriages of justice can occur. My best to Rosemarie and her efforts to bring this matter to others’ attention (and hopefully to see at least a bit of justice done as a result).
Posted by Jeremy on from Taiwan 01/27 at 05:24 AM
Next entry: Rehumanize Yourself (start by helping Rosemarie Jackowski)
Previous entry: No Child Left Behind...at the Central Intelligence Agency
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