Showing posts with label sad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sad. Show all posts

20.2.09

open letter to Dog the Bounty Hunter

In the spirit Foulweather I would like offer up this open letter to Mr. Duane Chapman, aka Dog the Bounty Hunter.

First off let’s get the obvious out of the way. The people who gave you a contract for your show are clowning you. No doubt. Everyone knows that the ugly ass futuristic Oakley’s and dirt rock ultra-mullet, combined with the mini feather boas hanging down your temples are only there to drive the clowns home. You see, the thing is that people probably like your show because: a. there’s lots of violence and b. because it makes them feel like their lives are more meaningful than yours and your captives. Don’t get me wrong Dog, I’m not knocking your profession. I’m sure that it’s a good gig and perhaps even a necessary public service. But is it entertainment? And the prayer circles holding hands before you spray someone with mace in the face? Are you asking forgiveness before your pre-meditated attack? I don’t know how that would hold up at the pearly gates but surely in court pre-meditated violent acts are a no no.

Not sure how the locals in Hawaii feel about you and I dare not speak for them. However, I get the sense that in your holier than thou cavalier attitude going around arresting cracked out offenders you rarely show the Hawaiian people in anything but a negative light. And there’s not a whole lot of Hawaiians on TV so this really must make an impact on public perception. I wonder if you’re considered haole offender number one? Don’t you see that it’s people like yourself who are to blame for many of the social problems in Hawaii? I’m not gonna go into a deep discussion on the adverse social impacts of post-colonialism on local cultures but you get the idea.

Here’s the bottom line Mr. Dog. You represent all of the shitty American character traits that the world loves to hate. You are loud and overbearing. You use your religion like a badge to abuse people (by broadcasting for all to see their lowest moments) who you feel are in the wrong and lesser than you. You are a bigot. You willingly make an ass of yourself and your family for a fucking paycheck. And you flaunt all of it. But the biggest offense is that you have your little contrived self-deprecating act going making us think that you are working hard to be empathetic and god abiding for the good of society. You and GW Bush are the same excepting fashion.

So please stop playing yourself. Do your work and do it well but don’t use your captives as a means to add to the bond money you’re collecting. And stop proselytizing already it’s embarrassing. Maybe if you spend more time surfing you’d be less of a kook eh bra.

6.1.09

Prayer = War

I'm over it! It's time to stop pretending and lying that religion is the way to save our souls or whatever. It's bullshit. Religion is to blame for most of the current violent conflicts world wide. From the Lord's Resistance Army's despicable tactics in Northern Uganda, to the still ongoing genocide in Darfur, to the Palestine Israel conflict, to the Muslim vs. Christian terrorism in the Philippines there's war for a god. Then there's the more subversive stuff like the Christian Right in North America and who knows what else.

If you really want to make a change in the world then STOP PRAYING. Religion sets up hierarchies and divides us based on blind faith and archaic ideology. Religion causes hatred and breeds war. Religion takes our money, our self worth, our ancestral beliefs, our cultures. The decimation of hundreds of indigenous and First Nations tribes in the Americas and the Caribbean are because of religion.

What should you believe in then if not your God? Believe in your breath. Believe in your ability to choose and to give and to love. Believe that we are in this moment and that this moment is what we have. Believe in Peace and tolerance.

Current Religious Wars:

Afghanistan:……Extreme, radical Fundamentalist Muslim terrorist groups, non-Muslims. Osama bin Laden heads a terrorist group called Al Quada (The Source) whose headquarters were in Afghanistan. They were protected by, and integrated with, the Taliban dictatorship in the country. The Northern Alliance of rebel Afghans, Britain and the U.S. attacked the Taliban and Al Quada, establishing a new regime in part of the country. The fighting continues.

Bosnia:……Serbian Orthodox Christians, Roman Catholic), Muslims. Fragile peace is holding, due only to the presence of peacekeepers.

Côte d’Ivoire:……Muslims, Indigenous, Christian. Following the elections in late 2000, government security forces “began targeting civilians solely and explicitly on the basis of their religion, ethnic group, or national origin. The overwhelming majority of victims come from the largely Muslim north of the country, or are immigrants or the descendants of immigrants…”
A military uprising continued the slaughter in 2002.

Cyprus:……Christians, Muslims. The island is partitioned,creating enclaves for ethnic Greeks (Christians) and Turks (Muslims). A UN peace keeping force is maintaining stability.

East Timor:……Christians, Muslims. A Roman Catholic country. About 20% of the population died by murder, starvation or disease after they were forcibly annexed by Indonesia (mainly Muslim). After voting for independence, many Christians were exterminated or exiled by the Indonesian army and army-funded militias in a carefully planned program of genocide and religious cleansing. The situation is now stable.

India:……Animists, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs. Various conflicts that heat up periodically producing loss of life.

Indonesia, province of Ambon:……Christians, Muslims. After centuries of relative peace, conflicts between Christians and Muslims started during 1999-JUL in this province of Indonesia. The situation now appears to be stable.

Iraq:……Kurds, Shiite Muslims, Sunni Muslims, western armed forces. By mid-2006, a small scale civil war, primarily between Shiite and Sunni Muslims started. The situation appears to be steadily degenerating.

Kashmir:……Hindus, Muslims. A chronically unstable region of the world, claimed by both Pakistan and India. The availability of nuclear weapons and the eagerness to use them are destabilizing the region further. More details Thirty to sixty thousand people have died since 1989.

Kosovo:……Serbian Orthodox Christians, Muslims. Peace enforced by NATO peacekeepers. There is convincing evidence of past mass murder by Yugoslavian government (mainly Serbian Orthodox Christians) against ethnic Albanians (mostly Muslim).

Kurdistan:……Christians, Muslims. Assaults on Christians (Protestant, Chaldean Catholic, Assyrian Orthodox).

Macedonia:……Macedonian Orthodox Christians, Muslims. Muslims (often referred to as ethnic Albanians) engaged in a civil war with the rest of the country who are primarily Macedonian Orthodox Christians. A peace treaty has been signed. Disarmament by NATO is complete.

Middle East:……Jews, Muslims, Christians. The peace process between Israel and Palestine suffered a complete breakdown. This has resulted in the deaths of thousands, in the ratio of three dead for each Jew. Major strife broke out in 2000-SEP. Major battle in Lebanon during mid-2006. No resolution appears possible.

Nigeria:……Christians, Animists, Muslims. Yourubas and Christians in the south of the country are battling Muslims in the north. Country is struggling towards democracy after decades of Muslim military dictatorships.

Northern Ireland:……Protestants, Catholics. After 3,600 killings and assassinations over 30 years, some progress has been made in the form of a ceasefire and an independent status for the country.

Pakistan:……Suni, Shi’ite Muslims. Low level mutual attacks.

Philippines:……Christians, Muslims. A low level conflict between the mainly Christian central government and Muslims in the south of the country has continued for centuries.

Russia,Chechnya:……Russian Orthodox Christians, Muslims. The Russian army attacked the breakaway region. Many atrocities have been alleged on both sides. According to the Voice of the Martyrs: “In January 2002 Chechen rebels included all Christians on their list of official enemies, vowing to ‘blow up every church and mission-related facility in Russia’.”

South Africa:……Animists, “Witches”. Hundreds of persons, suspected and accused of witches practicing black magic, are murdered each year.

Sri Lanka:……Buddhists, Hindus. Tamils (a mainly Hindu 18% minority) are involved in a war for independence since 1983 with the rest of the country (70% Sinhalese Buddhist). Hundreds of thousands have been killed. The conflict took a sudden change for the better in 2002-SEP, when the Tamils dropped their demand for complete independence. The South Asian Tsunami in 2004-DEC induced some cooperation. The situation in mid-2006 is degenerating.

Sudan:……Animists, Christians, Muslims. Complex ethnic, racial, religious conflict in which the Muslim regime committed genocide against both Animists and Christians in the south of the country. Slavery and near slavery were practiced. A ceasefire was signed in 2006-MAY between some of the combatants. Warfare continues in the Darfur region, primarily between a Muslim militia and Muslim inhabitants.

Thailand:……Buddhists, Muslims. Muslim rebels have been involved in a bloody insurgency in southern Thailand — a country that is 95% Buddhist. The army has seized power and has agreed to talks with the rebels.

Tibet:……Buddhists, Communists. Country was annexed by Chinese Communists in late 1950’s. Brutal suppression of Buddhism continues.

Uganda:…. Animists, Christians, Muslims. Christian rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army are conducting a civil war in the north of Uganda. Their goal is a Christian theocracy whose laws are based on the Ten Commandments. They abduct, enslave and/or raped about 2,000 children a year.

-List obtained from religioustolerance.org.

20.10.08

goodbye Jack

I originally wrote this in 2006 after a brief visit with my grandfather. He passed away yesterday and I wish him a good journey. It's difficult when those close to you die. But death is probably the only real absolute in life and a natural state. I am sad that I cannot be with my family at this time. I hope the rest of you out there are faring well and living the lives you dream of living. Love you Gramps.



My grandfather is 88. He taught me how to ride a bike. I remember that quite well actually. It was in first grade, and he’d got me a used yellow Schwinn Crate look-a-like with ape hangers and banana seat. At the parking lot of the church across the street from his house he would steady me and then let me go. One day I rode straight up a big oak tree and came crashing down out of it boughs. It was a funny day to be a grandfather.

He has a hell of a legacy too. A few years back, I’m not sure maybe four or five; we went to an alumni ceremony at his college. As I walked down the corridors designed by Frank Lloyd Wright I thought about myself. Then the orator turned to my grandfather and began to list off his accomplishments. From serving in the Navy as captain in the Korean war, to a succesful legal career, to his service in the courts as an appointed judge, and finally to his many years of devoted community service, I stood in awe of a body of work which I could only hope to achieve. I’d lived my life in the last two decades of the 20th century in complete comfort. He’d lived through great poverty in the depression, been to war, fought in the courts to save a man from capital punishment, raised four children, championed causes for youths at risk, and all with a smile and a lack of arrogance to be admired.

He is not a selfish man but he is stern. As long as I can remember he would wake up in the morning and go for his run. He never drank more than a Cuba Libre in the evening and never smoked, his dress, always clean and unassuming. The only thing he wouldn’t share with me was golf. It was his thing, his time to be free. He has a hole-in-one trophy. How in the hell someone can get a hole in one is still a mystery to me. But golf was the only thing he kept to himself, to share with his close friends and peers. And now as I sit with him in the living room I again think about myself. About how I will miss him, about all the things he’s done for me. It’s as if his selflessness never rubbed off on me. I feel sorry that he can’t really engage in conversation, I feel sorry that I can’t be around more than just a few days, and I feel sorry that I didn’t ask him more questions. But I am grateful, for he gave us much.

17.10.08

jody brooks - rest brejren rest


Dis one goes out to my brejren Jody. Rest in Peace. I remember your easy style. I remember crazy times too –offroading in the government truck in New Kingston. big heads on my porch in Mandeville. I remember your smile and grace. I remember that everyone loved you then as now. maybe it was charisma. maybe you jus lived an I life. I remember you last in PDX, purple snake skin shoes and still flowin. you got us expelled from that spot and then the night continued. I remember north coast roaming and south coast relaxing. don't wanna imagine the legions of pickeney that remember you in Kingston, Japan, Atlanta –your brejren dem in Oregon and beyond. You’ll be missed no doubt. when I knew you you lived fully and I’m sure fully you lived ‘till the end. respec and walk good me frien.

more time.

dennis brown - no man is an island

each man has a friend


garnet silk -lion heart