These Guys Look Familiar

Imams kicked off Delta flight in Memphis.


When I worked at the airport, I had a few run-ins with people trying to create racial and ethnic incidents. I knew it and they knew it. I managed to keep things just under the boiling point. They egg you on and show utter disdain, as if you are a dirty dog. I think one even called me a dirty dog.

One of those guys looks like the one I caught one on one after an unnecessary bunch of trouble and insult. We exchanged words about how we really felt, both knowing the other could not substantiate any claim later. He'd lost whatever the battle was which was more public and in sight of video cameras. I won't say what I told him, but I think he left with the idea that I was as crazy as the craziest radical of his clan.


Speaking of clan, how is it less of an abuse of free speech when crowds gather in London to protest the death of their hero Osama, carrying signs that read, "Islam will dominate the world" than it is when Black Panthers or KKK do their insane rants? The outcry in the case of fanatics who support violent Islam is actually not that loud, partly because mind dead governments of the west and people who deny reality refuse to take these threats seriously. But up close, the mistrust is there. That's why passengers freak out easily, and a pilot who elects to fly a peaceful ship catches hell.


In this case, I don't know if the pilot was right or wrong, but it is his call and you are far safer not usurping the traditional authority of the pilot to make that call. My guess is that their behavior and disrespect of other passengers made them nervous. They are Americans and purposely wear the garb and play it up when they fly to spur on some incident which gives them the chance to cry that they are victims.

I don't really sympathize with them. They got their apologies and another flight, but it will not end there. CAIR is getting involved and on and on.

And I'm one who has questioned our policy in the Arab world and with Israel forever. But when people are trying to bully through playing victim and pervert our own laws to give themselves special privilege, I have no use for them. I've seen people show respect and make effort and I've seen the opposite. Knowing you are going to create discomfort and annoy, and purposely going that route is looking for special privilege. If the pilot found it unworkable then that is how it goes.

I swear I think I dealt with these clowns in the past. They behave as if they are going to spit on you.

They want to improve the bad image, dissipate alleged islamaphobia? Quick purposely fueling it. Quit being jerks, and do something about the stonings, beheadings, and human bombs who blow up for the glory of the prophet (pbuh). Speak up loudly and visibly when people get killed over friggin cartoons. Things like that would help.

Religious states, and absurdly catering to every religion is suicide. Let people do what they want on their own time but keep the state out of it. Wash your feet when you leave home, don't saddle the tax payer with your airport foot wash.

Intolerant groups always push the most tolerant of societies, and do all they can not to assimilate and to punish the host society for their own inflexibility and arrogance. These groups are the ones who ignore the values of the place where they elect to settle. All the while accusing everyone else of intolerance--only because they know the society under attack values tolerance. They don't. Many groups play this game. Their homelands would not yield one thousandth as much as most western european and the nothern two countries in north America do.

Mississippi Rising

They say the end of Beale street, which runs perpendicular to the Mississippi River, is getting a bit damp. I've been down there when the river was high but nothing like now, and it is nasty. It stinks and you feel the sticky, hot humid catfish droppings become one with the mist.

I hope it doesn't do too much damage. The casinos in Tunica are going to be in really tough straits I think. Floods, tornadoes, and hot weather on the way. Let's hope the Westboro cult doesn't go down to harass the people, telling them it is God punishing them for something to do with "fags". Sorry. I guess I could have gone a lifetime without giving mention to that group of psycho-cultists.

Anyway, at first I thought this would mess up the blues harp fest in Mississippi, but it looks to be far enough inland to be OK. Not so sure how some of the upper MS blues towns located on the river will fare.

Maybe I'll get there after all. If so, I am pretty sure I am going to have to do most of my TX and other visits between here and there on the back swing. Time will be too tight, and I hate to rush everything. It is a long way there, and I am a little apprehensive about the river crossing at Memphis. In case there is damage on the road in Arkansas, I need to have time to go another way.

We shall see. It could be I make Dallas for a day or two then go from there. But I may have to go straight there, continue on, then catch all the rest on the way back home, although I still feel like I have yet to find home. This is as close as I've got, and some people here do feel like family, so there is that. I know it puzzles them that I am so unsettled and nuts. It puzzles me.

What puzzles me about myself and my life is a lot, actually. On the other hand, I probably am more at peace than most in some ways.

I'm counting on being physically up to this endeavor, and hoping the adventure actually promotes a little better fitness and energy. I also am allowing the possibility that I decide I can't do it and turning around early. It could go either way.

Most likely, once I get rolling I won't want to stop.

Prediction

Current mysteries will remain mysteries, however, in time for the 2012 elections, intelligence gathered by whatever means during whatever went down in Pockeestohn will serve to ensure one or more very dramatic operations which will divert attention from the obvious inflation of the dollar and resulting restrictions on travel and lifestyle. Not to mention lack of long term job growth.

Don't assume I would have any different prediction if a mainstream Republican was at the helm while totalitarianism seems to loom large. I wouldn't.

The good news is that it is hard as hell to control so much from a central power base, manned by the relatively few, who consider it their duty to control the lives and interactions of others. We vote and they assume they are elite and above us. Hell, if people keep voting for the obvious choices, I guess they have a point.

I will say, that without being convinced of any story I hear, and having only one alternate possibility in mind (which I hope is true), the whole thing does not give me a good feeling. Maybe nothing is amiss, but it doesn't seem good at the moment. No facts to back that up, so I can't say my feeling has any validity.

Like when they caught Saddam, I was kind of happy. But when his hanging was on video I felt like we'd let these people drag us back a few centuries. Other incidents over the last decade have reinforced that observation. Since when did we cheer in the streets and demand to see bodies? I understand the reasons, but the reactions are suspect. What has lead up to all this is suspect, and I'm going back many decades with that reference. We've had beheadings on tape. Tell me we aren't dealing with some people stuck in a time warp back in the worst of the Medieval period.

Anyway, I predict there will be more unusual and momentous expeditions and they will provide a big bump in the polls. I seriously doubt it will backfire politically. That would be no big deal if I did not think it would distract from some serious domestic encroachment on lives like mine.

I'll survive and be happy and insist you buy my book whenever I'm done. The rest I cannot control, but I do take notice. If only I had such a keen sense of the dynamics of the market.

Secret Photo Found!! Speculation Can End [WARNING!! Graphic Image]

Not I, however, many people have been disturbed at not having visual evidence that Osama is now a corpse. Due to my secret connections to the White House, I was able to obtain a definitive photo.
Anything else you see was probably altered on a computer.
Personally, I gain no sense of well-being, closure or even financial security as a result of seeing this irrefutable evidence. Apparently many others feel this is needed in order to put calm and meaning into their lives.

I still have difficulty wondering why it happened now, given that he was persona non grata soon after he was the opposite, and even Clinton could have taken him out. But that is all hearsay. It could be that things are not as they seem. I'd bet on that, but what is actually true in that world, I haven't a clue, even though I am an insider.

Definitive proof of demise of OBL, straight from secret sources in the White House

All those books. Probably just secret hiding places for dope and guns.

Wow. I just noticed that he was carrying a man purse when he was nailed. Photos don't lie. Far be it from me to make assumptions based on that. Oh well, you know what they say; Don't ask, don't tell.

Once again, I take risks for the larger good. Another public service. My sense of community spirit prevented me from selling to the highest bidder. No, I do this out of my obligation to society.

The real question of the moment is , Who will now become the poster boy of our enemy? Who will be the face that justifies ignoring the pesky 4th amendment and whatever else is needed in our war against drugs, obesity, terror, and bullying?

Again, due to my inside track on such matters, I can supply the answer.

Ladies and gentlemen, quit that breathing easy and false sense of relief you experienced when Bin Laden was put down. Meet the New Face of the Enemy!

Hide if you can. Jaba wants to eat your children, and ruin everything. He also is known to disguise himself as an elderly American woman, a two year old child, or who knows what, so we must conduct our security accordingly. He is believed to hide bombs in body cavities, so be prepared to prove your innocence to help us fight this menace

Thinking Again: part N(2)X

Too bad I don't have mathematical symbols on this keyboard. Then I could use that summation symbol, show exponents and integrals. And maybe even remember what they mean.

It is difficult for me to maintain a sense of what I'm doing. On the one hand I care about being a good influence on people and life, in general. On the other, if I think I do have any influence, it worries me a lot. I doubt I can ever live up to a good opinion. I'm a slacker, I think. Not a reason for being hated or run out of town, but that should disqualify me from having the slightest influence.

Over the years I have done a good job at avoiding situations which could influence anyone. No one gets too close for too long. I live miles away and never have company. I wanted to change that, but my fear of company snuck back into my psyche somehow.

Nothing I would like better than to have things in order, regularly have people around, and behave like the philanthrope that I am. I'm also a philogynist.

Isn't it ridiculous that more people know what a misogynist is, than know what a philogynist is? I think more people love women than not, yet the term for the opposite is all you hear. That is because what you hear does not reflect the pulse and heart of humanity, but rather the lies of those who would, for some absurd reason, want to control humanity. More information is put out with intent to manipulate than intent to inform. I have sadly grown to be of that opinion.

Would you want to be the supreme ruler of the world? Not me, and I wouldn't want you or anyone else to hold that title. It is odd that some people would want that.

Of course I do want to be the supreme ruler of my own life. Even if I do not want to influence others in some scary way, I don't want my life to be their responsibility either.

That influence thing is a tough one. I don't mind being an influence if it means someone lives a great happy life and cures the ills of the world.

But what if, due to something involved with knowing me, a person moves to some city, then that place gets flooded or overrun with lava from the volcano, and the poor person perishes?
Then I'll feel like they shouldn't have met me.

Probably happens all the time. I wonder how many are now one with volcanic ash due to my existence. A sobering thought.

Not Reacting, Not Much of an Opinion

Well, Jim, what does this mean for the USA?

That is the sort of news babble over the Osama take out.
The damned circus just won't leave town. One dazzling display after another.

My only real reaction is that I would much rather the Navy's SEAL Team 6 never be under the impression that I am a threat. If that target ever landed on my back, I guess I'd get a bunch of term life insurance and try to make some people better off than they are now.

Other than that, I am stunned by the reactions. None of it struck me like it did the people on the left or those on the right. Really, what info do I actually have? It is very limited and what I do know makes little sense.

So, I am trying to get things in quick order for a launch into the beautiful countryside very soon. I'll be communing with the bears, sending Joel to moon, and be on a great adventure very very soon. I'm counting the days and have plenty to do to make it happen. I've had some unexpected work come up which is good and helps me get things moving.

One thing I do not look forward to is the higher humidity in the southeast. It is way too easy to get spoiled here in San Diego county. But I enjoy being on the road with only a partial idea of what will happen next. I hope I can get it all done, and still be able to take my time and pass through some places where I am a stranger.

No telling. I am looking forward to this continuation of my search for the meaning of life, or whatever that represents in my mind. It may be code.

Joel [edited slightly]

My bass/harp playing NC friend expressed that he felt insulted that I did not list him here by name. He will soon be sorry, after I tell his story, and include insight and assessment.

One thing I decided not long ago: don't lose contact with the long time real sincere friendships. Re-connect and keep them alive. This Tour will include some of that. This is one of those. Few people have the ability to argue with my brilliant ideas and make me think about them. Joel would argue no matter what I said, just to see how wound up I'd get over it.

If you see a UFO go flying to moon next month, you will know Joel and I had a discussion in NC. He'll be the UFO.

I should point out that I met Joel at the wild and crazy jam bar, Somewhere Else Tavern in Greensboro back when the music scene was quite remarkable there. This was in the early '80s. Well over 25 years ago. Seems it was right about the time I had half way broken the ice and was somewhat the harp player of choice at the jams. At least I was rarely getting pushed off the stage by the in crowd.

Who knows, I was on a fast downhill spiral in other ways. Joel was the first straight forward honest person I'd talked to in ages, and he wanted to break into the jam clique. He asked the right guy for advice. I was always on the side of the new person who wanted to play, if they had any soul. And he did. We had many adventures related to jams and playing with bands around the area after that.

What we have in common is that we have, in our own ways, spent far too much energy tilting at windmills, both figuratively and literally. I can't prove the literal part, but I do suspect it. We both have fairly strong intellects, and find ourselves puzzled with the ways of the world at times. Misfits, and at the same time no real good reason for that. I've come to terms with that more than in the past. He's probably still in the dark. I said that just out of spite.

As a matter of fact he blames me for once placing us in a situation in which the odds were 18 plus a large, seasoned 175 pound female bartender vs the two of us. He claims it was his extraordinarily rigid code of honor and loyalty which prevented him from walking away or offering to help them thrash or/and maim me. He did comment at the time that if we escaped alive he was going to beat me up or some such nonsense.

In the end, we not only got out alive but got offered a regular gig playing there. We declined. I had experienced as much as I could take of the place. Besides, when you sort of challenge that many people, it is best to avoid doing it again. It often works the first time because it looks so stupid and they wonder if you are pitifully dimwitted, or maybe you know something and could really do a number on them using powers they can only imagine.

It is a one time only tactic at any given venue, and always a gamble. I've only been moved to engage in such foolishness while heavily under the influence, so I believe my days of challenging large groups to a duel have passed.

Anyway, Joel's integrity and loyalty are legendary. He's also somewhat of a badass, but not one to go around fighting. He has that Clint Eastwood thing going. If he didn't take himself too serious to act, I would think he could have done well in movies.

But that is the real crux of the matter. He thinks like I used too, that unless I made a notable mark on the world, and people knew about it, that my life would be a waste. That would be nice, I guess, but I no longer see that as the point.

I'm not sure Joel has let that perspective go. That is not to say that if I scheme a way to do some things that I have long dreamed, that I would not go for it. But most important is that I learn to do what is in front of me, treat people well, and put more positive out there than negative. I think if more people benefit than not from crossing my path, I've done OK.

My biggest problem is just taking care of my basic life. Plus there are some other uncertainties, but I have faith it will be OK. It is not too bad now.

I was thinking about the number of betrayals vs the number of people who have proven loyal throughout. I realized that I could probably list a huge number of betrayals of one sort or another, but I also realized I don't tend to think of those as often. Many are pretty much forgotten. I have to search my mind to find them. I'm glad of that.

When I think of the number of really good friends who would not throw me under the bus, I realize that there are more than I may even deserve. Considering that Joel has had to go out of his way more than once in the past, at crucial times, I have no idea why he remains a friend. Maybe I did not put his life in jeopardy that much.

I did do the driving sometimes and I was still drinking--a lot--so I guess he is lucky he survived. I may have never made it out of NC the first time, on my journey to live without alcohol had he not come over and forced me to get packed up. Actually he did a lot of the packing and that forced me to participate. He would have thrown it all out if I didn't man up.

So now, my goal is to help him step back in some way, forget what you can't change, and see how to work with what comes in. Everyone can't have the big Hawaiian waves, but they do find some they can ride, if they pay attention. Nifty metaphor, no?

Anyhow, it always pissed me off that if I was wiped out or whatever he'd blame it on the fact that I am not, and have never been a carnivore. He's one of those who can't let it go that I don't eat meat. Don't care what he eats, and if you count instances of being sick, I know he has more colds, flu etc than I. Most people do. I doubt diet is the reason, but the point is, who cares what I eat as long as I don't cook you or your belongings?

Joel was also there to help me move P and K in when I returned to NC, and that was a mess. She brought everything I specially asked to be left in the garage behind my mother's house, and she arrived with less than a team player, cheerful attitude. Lesson learned: maybe the child is great, but you might do yourself in playing hero if mom just wants the Jerry Springer show lifestyle.

OK. Deep down I knew it, but I thought there was a chance it would work. Joel knew it was hopeless but didn't push the point or even bring it up, I don't think. I had things to move and squeeze into a tiny upstairs apartment and he appeared to help because it was needed.

He also let me know before I stopped drinking that I'd lost my pride and self respect. I recall it clearly. That actually helped me finally give up and change.

So, as big of an egomaniac and whatnot as he is, I expect to see some places in NC that he insists I see. And he wants to personally introduce me to the places. I wonder if he'll round up some dancing girls for the occasion? I doubt and that is so politically incorrect. I guess we can rule out members of NOW and many other groups, after such a statement.

Anyway, Joel is a good harp player. I may have taught him cross harp and how to play the high end. He got me a little studio gig when I was up there with P and K. I'm more the slow simple rhythm type. He's like Mr Funky on bass, like Jocko and Stanley Clarke or whoever. Lots of slapping and complicated beats. Very complex, actually. He could do some stuff on harp that I'm not so sure I can do as well. I'm glad he has put more time into bass over the years.

I think the thing is-I like people but am not too comfortable around them very long. I am comfortable with short interaction then a bunch of solitary. It is kind of odd I guess because I like people more than most people do. And I do like it if a group I know well is together having a good time. But I doubt most of my friends would get along with one another. That is a bitch.

Possibly I have a compulsion to run if I get too included in people's lives. I good for watching pets, helping move, etc., but something seems to physically force me to keep it limited. Out here I forced myself out of that a time or two, but there was usually a project or something which served as excuse. I never quite realized this was guiding me so much until now.

I'm going to see if Joel will go chase the bears off my vertical plot of land in the NC mountains. If they eat him, I'll know not to hang out up there.

Neither of us drink now, which is a good thing for America and the universe. Well I don't, and guess he doesn't. No. That would be dumb and he ain't dumb.

Well, this did not really do Mr Ego justice, but I did mention him by name and threw in a few compliments. You have to be very careful with some people because praise so quickly goes to their head. I am not like that, of course. I am only made better by praise and it should be lavished on me thickly at all times.

Joel, on the other hand,...

Just Wondering What It Is Called

Pakistan. I always thought the way Americans, and maybe even Bits, referred to it was "pack-e-stan". (Short E. Stan as in Musiel or Clarke)

Tonight I've been hearing a bunch of "pockee-stahn". (stahn rhymes with John) I've heard it before, but thought it was like calling the Marine Corps, "Marine Corpse", one of those things that would pass.

That is all.

Now back to the ever evolving dog and pony show. New acts introduced daily, and sometimes hourly.

I'm sorry, but there are times I detect absolutely no emotion or sincerity in public officials at press conferences, or elsewhere.

Makes you wonder if the bearded nomad was ever even a real person, or just a manufactured face in this era of personalizing everything, as if one person does and should wield immense power. I tend to think no one wields power without cooperation and help.

Dog and Pony Show Continues

It gets to be far too bizarre to be believable. Manufactured drama in the world of the people who have the guns and the cages---government, (for the far too conditioned to reason folks).

No more than I care if anyone in professional baseball uses steroids or lies to lying congress hooligans, do I care about the president's alleged father or anything else of that nature. I do care about what he and his pals, and even his alleged enemies are doing to the illusion of freedom and justice for all.

But to think that any of the sides in this carnival act are true representations of some sincere philosophy is foolish. Just because you can't make good sense of this puzzle from the pieces given doesn't mean the projected picture is accurate. That part can be shot down with the info at hand.

Some people don't get that. They think that they have to know the real deal, so they buy whatever is thrown out there. The thinking is, "So, if this isn't true, then what is?". That is actually the reasoning process. It's like saying, "So, if you don't believe the sky is made of concrete, then what is the exact molecular composition of it?" That is too prove the concrete idea. You have to have the answer or that confirms the sky is made of concrete. Uh, I don't know, air and stuff, mostly.

At best, you get accused of believing B if you don't believe A. If I think Obama is the figurehead of an evil philosophy then I must love George Bush and old school Republican methods, and I am a racist if I agree with any Tea Party ideas. That's a bit more than just A and B. They do give a modified B these days.

It is all based on lies. And lies about the lies. For example, many who claim to be tea party come up with some lame assertions, but then they are represented in an even more distorted way. Often, Obama is painted in a distorted way. I find his policies radically weird, and more or less, on international matters, an unsupervised version of Bush foreign policy. That means highly irresponsible and cold blooded.

But the truth is, we have no idea from the info we get why our country is doing anything it is doing, domestically or internationally. If you actually look at facts and reasons given, they do not wash. All the medicare scare, etc. Lies on both sides. One side, in my view is preferable but that's an easy call when you want government out of medicine, education, food, and almost all else.

Spending money, tax money, to arrest an Amish guy for selling milk? As long as he did not represent it as pasteurized then forget it. We don't have the right to take our chances or follow our beliefs and choices?

I'm telling you, if the long arm, and the smug and smarmy arm, of government does not back off soon, this country is liable to blow. Kicking up food prices, killing the dollar and with gas prices going through the roof, things could go a couple of different ways. Maybe with the class warfare that has accelerated, post Obama, people will just act out against other races, the "rich", etc. There is a very small chance that enough people get it, or are motivated enough, to just quit contributing and cooperating with the dogs and ponies.

Kitchen Do's and Do Nots; part 52911

If you have a stove top espresso maker, and you think it needs cleaning, and maybe white vinegar is the way to go and you are working in dim light because the lamp at the back of the cabin is all that is on and you don't want to turn on the kitchen light because you worry about the landlord's electric bill, remember; the vinegar bottle under the sink looks exactly like the ammonia bottle and it could make for some very odd coffee.