Today’s Alternative Blind Dates
June 16-19th
What are the odds?
A) On the 16th (1989)… four golfers shot holes-in-one on the same 6th hole ON THE SAME DAY of the U.S. Open, played in Atlanta, Georgia. I’d like readers to tell me what, if anything, this fact means to them.
B) On the 17th (1972)… five men are arrested at the Watergate headquarters of our DNC.
C) On the 18th (1815)… Napoleon meets his Waterloo.
D) On the 19th (1862)… slavery is outlawed in all U.S. territories, but Texas doesn’t free all slaves until June 19, 1865.
TWO FUN THINGS TO DO HERE:
1. Arrange the above letters in order of “least likely to have happened” to “most likely.” Cite your reasons, if you will, when you contact me at dueleft@yahoo.com for *the answer* as per my Las Vegas contact.
2. Try to come up with the short sentence I have in mind, based on the information provided above. To be more specific, working with two words from “A,” two words from “B” (including one *forced* clue-word), one word from “C,” and none from “D,” complete the following:
will be soon. That’s an eight-word sentence drawing upon five words (taken in order) from the first three informative sentences provided. As an added *hint*, I’ve created a sentence which alludes to the theme of this Alternative Blind Dates entry.
Please submit your responses to me at dueleft@yahoo.com. I’m going to, possibly, determine how many readers are *enjoying* this section…based on the number of responses I receive.
Loving regards, Oxlove
June 15th
In 1991, after a 600-year dormancy, Mount Pinatubo erupted, covering the Philippines in ash and sending a cloud of dust across the Pacific. The whole scenario is adequately covered in wikipedia, and if you read down through… and past the points about social, economic and global effects, you’ll see the extremely deleterious effects that came down… in spite of very good precautions being taken at the time. The reason this is being highlighted here today is that the devastation that was inflicted on the people of the Philippines by the U.S. abandonment of Subic and Clark bases… WAS MUCH GREATER, AND CONTINUES TO DEVASTATE THEM TODAY. Talking about the toxic waste that was left… when we left. Our Left continues to talk as if we can tolerate a U.S. military… under certain terms… those terms NEVER demanding that the institution cease and desist respecting its toxic dumping OR cease and desist altogether. Having already made a land mass in the continental U.S. (the size of Florida) uninhabitable forever… I think the scorecard is in. While leftists nip and tuck with potential “reforms,” they duck their responsibility to us all by tolerating a military… which has no intention of changing its ways vis-a-vis the above.
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June 14th
1903: The -New York World- newspaper reports that Theodore Roosevelt's White House has drawn up detailed plans to have the province of (a) secede, with U.S. support, from the nation of (b) , and then hand over control of a (c) to the U.S. Five months later, the plan unfolded exactly as reported.
Fill in the blanks, then… check your responses by clicking on ANSWERS. There’s a question posed there too.
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ANSWERS:
(a) Panama
(b) Colombia
(c) a proposed trans-isthmus canal
Question: Does this remind you of anything? Perhaps… something that took place 100 years later… and many times in between?
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June 13th
**13 of June Spot(ty) Quiz:**
Fill-ins are provided by clicking on ANSWERS. All occured on this date.
1. 1828 Simon Bolivar declared .
2. 1774 becomes 1st colony to prohibit the importation of slaves.
3. 1900 China’s Boxer Rebellion “begins” against foreigners and .
4. 1971 *The New York Times* begins publishing .
5. 1935 James J. Braddock defeats a boxer with blood to win the heavyweight championship.
6. 1966 The U.S. Supreme Court issues its ruling, which requires something of the police.
7. 1941 The Petain government in Vichy announces that Jews in France have been sent to concentration camps for hindering French-German occupation.
8. 1888 The U.S. Congress creates the Department of .
9. 1949 All faculty must sign oaths asserting that they *do not ascribe to* communist or the Communist Party.
10. 1935 birthday of Bulgarian artist (who did “Running Fence”) , and 1865 birthday of Irish poet and dramatist .
11. 1950 anniversary of the legal basis for South African .
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ANSWERS:
1. dictator
2. Rhode Island
3. Christians
4. The Pentagon Papers
5. Jewish
6. Miranda
7. 12,000
8. Labor
9. University of California/ideals
10. Christo/Yeats
11. apartheid
Maximum possible correct answers = 13. Anyone who gets 10 should let me know…and then I’ll let you know…what the prize is. Honor system is in place…like at the West Point Military Academy.
June 10th
Some June Bugs
June 10, 1985 French agents blow up Greenpeace boat Rainbow Warrior near New Zealand. On the same day, in ‘77, James Earl Ray…the alleged killer of MLK escapes. Now, why do people find it so easy to forget that European government’s conspiracy… why are they so quick to put those kinds of routine, illegal “shenanigans” behind them…and so slow on the uptake…to embrace the word *alleged* with regard to JER’s charge? And speaking of “charges,” what about the charges set off by *someone* (make that plural, if you like) to level that federal building in Oklahoma City? June 11th, 2001 Timothy McVeigh was lethally injected by The Powers… as the principal guilty party for the explosion. The 1995 crime posed as many (unanswered) questions as the WTC watershed events…which occured *exactly* three months to the day… following Tim’s execution. Too bad more people didn’t read Gore Vidal’s writing about meetings with McVeigh…instead of watching Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts compound ignorance with ignorance… presenting those who believe in “conspiracies” as being (like) the whacked-out New York cabbie of *Conspiracy Theory*, released two years after Oklahoma City’s *Boom Boom*. This June I’m really bugged about what Demme did with his *Manchurian Candidate*…along similar lines… wherein the updated version manages to leave audiences with pathetic patriotic points to rally around, essentially discounting serious consideration of “conspiracy theories” simultaneously. June 12th is not only the anniversary of the 1964 sentencing of Nelson Mandela (which the U.S. had a *secret* hand in making a reality)…but the birthdate (1915) of David Rockefeller. DR is important here ’cause I firmly believe that one of the main reasons citizens don’t give “conspiracy theories” their due…is that they don’t really know what a billion dollars is, means. All the predictable, cavalier discounting of such ideas is a function of ignorance. To “explain away” such notions because of the number of people who would have had to be “in on” a given plot is absolutely silly. Where there’s a will there’s a way… when a billion’s in the kitty. One of the weakest points in the latest version of *The Manchurian Candidate* is the fact that today…one doesn’t have to implant anything in a politician to get one’s way. Planting something in the back pocket does fine. And appropriate attitudes are all but guaranteed –and waiting to be plucked (from the f’d)– in our culture, by our institutions…for The Powers. I only wish Ward Churchill –during his recent national spotlight– had talked more about (at least) *the possibility* that the Twin Towers weren’t downed by foreigners. Instead of having his point of departure being something that The Powers want us to believe in very much. It is their Ace in the Hole of a fixed card game. Fold. And see what unfolds then.
June 9th
**The Question of Decency**
1954, Army counsel Joseph N. Welch confronted Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy during the Senate-Army Hearings over McCarthy’s attack on a member of Welch’s law firm, Frederick G. Fisher. Said Welch: “Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?” Our collective decay of “decency”…which was going on long before the HUAC hearings…represents, arguably, one of our very greatest challenges. Cell phones, computers and other modern “conveniences” contribute to our downhill spiral, and –unacknowledged *sufficiently* as such– guarantee the end of the world, literally. Yet…the end of the world in this sense –resulting from this– is virtually not discussed. This is a very different matter than –can be isolated from– *green* issues. Perhaps it is not discussed because it is not considered “decent” to do so.
June 8th
1963… The *Assassination* of Paris begins. As per the fascinating book of the same name by Louis Chevalier, the fateful decision to destroy les Halles takes place under the auspices of de Gaulle. There were huge protests against the demolition of the meat market plus. To quote John Merriman (who provides a terrific foreward to Chevalier’s book), “It was absolutely barbaric that the government did not leave a single one of Victor Baltard’s pavilions of glass and iron standing, so people could see what it had been like.” The protracted debate between business interests and advocates of Paris’ history…led to the construction of the so-called Forum, Tour Montparnasse and the cluster of skyscrapers of La Defense, among other horrors. There was no defense possible. *Proponents of progress* such as Pompidou created their counterpart to the inexcusable desecration of Iraq’s antiquities. I will probably be writing a bit shortly about how the battle rages today, what form such momentum takes now. The 1994 University of Chicago edition of Chevalier’s book has a very worthwhile epilogue, by the way.
1920…Italians riot when the price of bread, regulated by the government, is raised.
1980…Italians do NOT riot when nutrients are taken out of their bread Big Time.
1990…Italians do NOT protest when a scandal breaks documenting the toxins which are imposed on their bread regularly.
2000…Italians say zero as their bread becomes *tasteless*.
Those Italians.
June 7th
Mark Felt gives the green light for illegal operations (wiretapping, etc.) to be taken against AIM vis-a-vis the 1973 Wounded Knee prep. It is also the “approximate anniversary” for similar actions he took with regard to the Occupation of Alcatraz in ‘69. So… the *controversy* receiving such a spotlight these recent days is not limited to traditional Right vs. Left garbage. The “Lefty” hero has much to “explain”…which he’ll be allowed to take to the grave. Ditto for his beaming Jane Fonda lookalike daughter and all-American grandson… who couldn’t be prouder of ‘ole dad/grandad.
June 6th
On this day… two years prior to the assassination of Lincoln… something strange took place.
Abe and Mary had two boys, only one of whom survived to adulthood. Robert Todd (1843-1926) was an introvert by nature, never comfy in the glare of publicity that surrounded him. Many thought he might have become Prez himself, had he ever sought the office. He was unlike his dad in physique and in philosophy; he was a millionaire Big Corp Lawyer with decidedly conservative views, to say the least. Look at part of what he went through: Three brothers died…we know what happened to father Abe on an eve out at el teatro…his only son died young…and his mom’s mental illness eventually forced him to institute a sanity hearing that resulted in her commitment to a sanitarium. My *hysterical* historian buddies David and Irv have assured me that had he accompanied his parents to Ford Theatre on that famous fatal evening… he might have helped to avert his father’s assassination. Here’s the Mysterious Punchline: Robert had been rescued from a near accident on a train station platform by Edwin Booth, John Wilkes’ brother… two years previously. Some call that kind of thing *ironic*. I use another expression.
June 3rd
Adopt an artist? A composer? A writer? Franz Kafka died at the age of 40 (1924) on this date… never having seen his major works published. French composer Georges Bizet died at 36 (1875)… following a heart attack on June 2nd. What we know as his famous opera Carmen …he considered to be a total failure. Interesting sidenote from my buddies at the History Channel: “Prima Donna Mme. Galli-Marie, performing the title role at the time the heart attack occured, reported a vision of Bizet and a sudden pain in the chest.”
Bizet day, Bizet day… no time to make dessert. Don’t desert what’s worthwhile. Visions.
What happens when those with vision are ignored, or mired down in negative takes on their greatness? Each of us must ask such questions…for we all have greatness to offer whether or not it’s recognized. And it should not be compromised\*.
\*This is a point which I address in the last footnote of my new article on Los Gatos.
Right in between 1875 and 1924… in 1900…The International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union was founded on June 3rd. Perhaps the girls who labored in tenements on the Lower East Side of NYC… and the virtual slaves sweatshopping in L.A. over a century later could have benefited from some help too. But…one makes no advances “out there” without addressing the unacknowledged within. One main problem with “The Movement” –on this count– is that its contributors acknowledge *their need for a spotlight*, not the cry of their greatness begging to breathe.
June 2nd
**Turtle Day, June 2nd**
Sylvie’s birthday, my sweet ‘61 tortoise shell. Ray Charles’ “I Can’t Stop Lovin’ You” hits #1 in ‘62. How true.
“Turtle Power” by Partners In Kryme hits #13. It reminds me of two things:
a) A turning point, perhaps, in Theatre History. To wit, bald Aeschylus is hit on the head by a tortoise dropped from the grasp of a passing eagle… searching for an op to crack open his prey… for a meal. What a deal, this final *gasping*… no long drawn out death scene afforded for one of the greatest to ever hit the boards! Both the tortoise and the playwright died instantly.
b) The “arthiritic tortoise pace” I often speak of in my articles, whereby activists feel –to borrow from dramatic art– they’ll have time for an *encore*…for whatever they’re doing.
As the curtain is coming down fast, I invite one and all to dialogue with me on exactly how they’re preparing for the end of this… tragic scene. My readers… none of us… are the audience.
June 1st
Sojourner Truth’s chiseled “Libyan Sybil” features firmed up on her face…and faced South on June 1st, 1843. Free to do what she wanted…she took up that spirit lauded by Harriet Beecher Stowe in writing…and forced her way into the lives of racists, institutionalized torturers. On this date…she chose to be a conductor. A catalyst…for the Underground Railroad, the network which would escort fugitive slaves northward. Very very very very very very interesting how “progressives” believe they can bring about change without going “underground” these days. How *do* the figure?
May 31st
May 31st, 1870… U.S. Congress passes First Enforcement Act (concerning the rights of blacks). Reformists should take note, in light of the obvious lack of progress with their approach. Gradualists give radicals guff for advocating “pushy, edgy” alternatives, but…the fact remains that the rollbacks are undeniable, and recent electoral fraud with promise for more is not encouraging, to say the least. Only people’s lives which aren’t that bad can afford to have such unrewarded patience. And even that small segment of society is deluded into thinking that they can escape the fires coming up. It is not being pessimistic to predict absolute catastrophe…right around the corner.
My friends at the History Channel Television Series tell me that American playwright Arthur Miller –on the 31st of May, ‘57, was convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to denounce writers with alleged Communist views to the House of Representatives Un-American Activities Committee\*. How does that *fit* with the fact that those scammers –still at it– are contemptuous respecting the plight of…well, see above, why don’t you?
Please don’t let nice, talented guys like Jamie Foxx (who doesn’t have to worry about the price of Nikes or getting “stopped” too often) OR “well-dressed” popular women like Oprah fool you into thinking that blacks are not continuing to go down the tubes in this country. Ditto resepcting Nelly’s success and Cosby’s mouth. And/or the complexion of the NBA.
\*The HUAC horrors are touched upon in my latest piece “Too Proud to Run.” One of the lessons here is that Bush…and his stacked courts…and other right-wing stiffs are not the problem. That our challenge involves first having to acknowledge our long-running defeat. That when push comes to shove, MLKs are shoveled down a hole…and no one wants to play the Gary Cooper role (in *High Noon*). Cooper did play it to the hilt in real life –bless him– *as far as he could*. But like all of us, he had his limits. That’s why the plug must be pulled on The Powers. As the wisecracking kids of today might say, “It’s the *power outage*, stupid!”.
May 30th
May 30th entries respecting historical dates at HISTORY 4 2DAY include one on Biafra… and one on Christopher Marlowe. Both involve betrayal; a subject of concern in my recent article “Too Proud to Run.” One wonders what Amerika’s response would have been to Biafra –black skins and oil interests (+) notwithstanding– if the religious equation had been reversed (Christians, not Muslims killed). With Marlowe… once I get past the similarity with Beckett’s experience of being stabbed on the street… my mind wanders to the way in which Thoomas Kyd turned his former *roomie* in. Not so far from what was done to Marshall Will Kane of *High Noon* (spotlighted in my article)… as per the “real risk” I address. Ah yes, Marshall What’s His Name bombed the hell out *into* Cologne on this date, much to the pleasure of Winston Churchill. Finally, “Peanuts” introduced a “violent character” on May 30th way back when… when Schroeder began to play a key role in the strip.
1951 Schroeder’s first time in Peanuts
Schroeder, who idolizes Beethoven, brought classical music to the Peanuts strip. Reserved and usually unruffled, Schroeder reacts only when Woodstock tries to make his grand piano into a playground, or Lucy seeks to make it her courting grounds. The latter can lead to minor violence.
May 27th
As noted in yesterday’s writings, it’s the birthday of Death on the Installment Plan Celine. Ditto for (1878) Duncan, Isadora… with what might be an interesting 2002 essay, “Isadora Duncan and the Politics of Modern Dance“, courtesy of Ann Daly of *Centre National de la Danse*. Ditto for Dashiell (Hammett)… partner of Lillian Hellman, both of whom Louis Proyect projects political points onto… as per reflections on a PBS piece; addressing “the whole tangled subject of biography, truth and politics” in the Hellman segment is certainly worthwhile. And both, as per my writing yesterday, provide yet another kind of… “summer read.”
May 26th
For those of you who are *story-eyed* and have been asking about a summer reading list, without knowing your taste…please note:
On this date in 1822…Edmond de Goncourt is born. See Wikipedia for a rundown of the annual Prix Goncourt for fiction. Although Proust and Celine were passed up *at interesting times* (which are noted in the link), one can do worse than perusing the list of winners…for stimuli. Tomorrow is Celine’s 1894 birthday anniversary, by the way. *Ridders* should know his story.
May 25th
May 25, 1960, Jay Warner, six-time Grammy-winning music publisher, tells me that “while hanging out at Stuart Sutciffe’s apartment, John Lennon and Sutcliffe thought of a new name for their group from a line in a Marlon Brando-Lee Marvin film, *The Wild One*.” Marvin, talking to Brando, said: “We all missed you.” Then, pointing to girls in the gang standing nearby, he adds: “The beetles missed yuh, all the beetles missed…” Stuart suggested “the Beetles” because it reminded him of Buddy Holly’s Crickets. John then varied the name by making the “e” and “a”…as in rhythm/beat. Allan Williams, their new manager, didn’t approve, and suggested Long John and the Silver Beatles. Before they settled on “Beatles,” many other variations were placed on the table, including: Beatals, The Silver Beats, and Silver Beetles. **I focus on this silly fluff stuff for reasons that will become apparent, I trust, for *ridders* of my new article, “Imagine.”** It’s *really* the anniversary of things like the 1915 Second Battle of Ypres; if you don’t know about that abomination…try Kubrick’s *Paths of Glory* (for a variation). Or read. We need to know that stuff like the Battle of New Hope Church, Georgia (’64) and Battle of Winchester, Virginia (’62) will never end the way we’re going. All have anniversaries today. Let’s change gears here. Anniversaries like the the U.S. performing atmospheric nuclear tests at Christmas Island (1962) need to command our attention… as we set priorities… as per my new article.
May 24th
May 24, 1856 - This is the date of the Pottawatomie Massacre. Folks interested in the John Brown I’m always tooting a horn for…and his impact…can start with Pottawatomie Massacre to get a general early hit on it all. Please note that W.E.B. Du Bois has a Brown bio out in a (New York: Modern Library, 2001) paperback…which goes deeper and better…without taxing the brain too much. It also benefits from atmospheric coloring…and doesn’t suffer from the deficiencies found in other Brown bios. Eric Foner agrees with me on this. And David Roediger, the Kendrick Babcock Professor of History at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign provides a glorious introduction, among other contributions.
Oh yes, this is the day in ‘64 when…at only 21…I was told that I’d be teaching college kids the following semester…who I was *currently* having lunch with daily. Dramatic Art and Speech at Rutgers University-Newark. It was a verrrrrrrrrrrry *impressive* day as Barry Goldwater, while running for the U.S. presidency, suggested that our military forces use the atomic bomb in Vietnam… *to defoliate and destroy*. His “out” was that he was simply passing along info that “competent military commanders” had laid on him. It didn’t quiet the ensuing storm.
And same day, same year…a controversial decision by a soccer referee sparked a monumental riot between Argentina’s fans and Peru’s fans…leaving more than 100 dead…500 injured, 300 very seriously maimed. And I liked the call.
Ah, civilization!
Late Flash: Just found out that it’s not only Dylan’s birthday… but that for his 30th birthday in ‘71… he visited the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.
Ah, civilization!
May 23rd
May 23rd, 1934 - Noam Chomsky has a schoolyard encounter in the first grade, which spurs him onto a lifelong commitment…championing the underdog. Seeing a boy being taunted because of his weight, young Chomps started to intervene. However, when he saw that the rolled up articles with which he battled the bully were not having the desired effect…he got scared and ran away. The shame and regret he felt following the incident stayed with him.
And speaking of…championing the underdog, this is the day that infamous bank robbers Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker were shot to death by Texas and Louisiana state police. The authorities were then able to return the bullet-ridden stolen car the crooks had been riding in. Isn’t someone always *championing the underdog*?
May 20th
1990…Paul Abdul has a hit with “Opposites Attract.” Don’t you read the news?
1899… Jacob German of New York City is hit with a ticket as the first driver ever arrested for speeding. His taxicab exceeded the 12 mph speed limit on Lexington Avenue.
‘46…the birth of “Moonstruck” Cher (LaPiere)*…who dies (botoxed) in “Stuck on You” on the same date, ‘03
‘93…the death of NBC’s Cheers
‘96…John Pertwee, actor (Dr. Who), who would have been better off dying on the 19th…so as to fit into my “Who leitmotiff” of yesterday…in this section.
Well, “That’s Entertainment,” as they say…except for the hack note above. Speaking of which…was one of my greatest educational experiences, my tenure as a New York City hack.
Speaking of which…a lot of people don’t know that Gene Hackman was once a NYC cab driver. Although…never in May. Can’t someone get me a Syndicated Column for this kind of material? Speaking of which…Walter Winchell died on this day in ‘72. A very bad year for Vietnam…and the U.S. Like today.
\*I really liked Cherilyn Sarkisian’s performance in this Moon Hits Your Eye Like a Bigga Pizza Pie of a Movie.
Special note: One thing you can’t like about today is the following:
AIDS Becomes Leading Cause of Death in South Africa
In South Africa, researchers are now saying that AIDS is the leading cause of death in the country. One in three deaths in South Africa is caused by AIDS. In two provinces 40 percent of all deaths are caused by AIDS. The data is included in an unreleased report by South Africa’s Medical Research Council.
May 19th
**War Cries**
May 19th is a kind of Who’s Who of *Troublemakers*…by certain standards.
Imagine the party time with Napoleon, Ho Chi Minh, Pol Pot, Malcolm X and Joey Ramone all present…to blow away the candles! Oh yes, and Peter “Who” Townshend, alleged Internet Child Netter, could play the “Happy Birthday” tune ’cause it’s his day too. Remember his youth, so to speak.
With respect to dying of the light, I ask *ridders* to do a silent tap dance on the grave of Oscar Wilde…who passed this day in 1897. Three short years after release from imprisonment, hard labor having been imposed on his genius. I know Good Johnny Rotten didn’t care for him, but…that only makes me see through…to the rotten core of Mr. Punkie Junkie. And since this is also the ‘35 day of the passing away of T.E. Lawrence (of Arabia), a question is begged: Why did “all of Great Britain” mourn for the war hero/author/archaeological scholar…and not do the same for…his betters?
From friends at “The History Channel Television Series”: “Indians of the Comanche, Kiowa, and Caddo tribes in Texas kindap nine-year-old Cynthia Ann Parker and kill her family. Cynthia was adopted by the Comanches and was loved and treated well, eventually marrying a young warrior and bearing him three children. Twenty-five years later the Texas Rangers attacked her village, killing the warrior and capturing Cynthia and her daughter. She lived only seven more unhappy with a people she no longer understood.”
This is the date she was kidnapped. I feel like the same thing’s happened to me. Where are my mom and dad? I won’t be sad ’cause I’m gonna make the most of my time… before the massacre blossoms any more, wilting what’s precious and personal…and so delicate. The idea of *rescue* doesn’t sit well. S\*itting Bull comes to mind…when faced with *solutions*. “Don’t acclimate” echoes from behind…as a keeper…a closer here.
It can’t be said enough, Richie
May 18th
Alistair Horne of Time Out tells me that for a whole week in 1871 French Communards were driven across Paris by government troops at this time, the beginning of *la semaine sanglante* (bloody week). Eastward, burning the city as they retreated. Then, facing overwhelming forces, they dug in at Cimetiere Pere Lachaise –between imposing bourgeois vaults– and made their last stand. Around the same time the U.S. decided to punish Korea for defense of its national territory. (1) Simultaneously, U.S. forces Aravaipa Apaches *under their protection* in Tucson…with the help of a group of local civilian volunteers (closely resembling our civilian volunteers along the Mexican border today).
Anyway, back to France…matters culminated on May 27th, when bullets and shells shattered the sanctified white marble, splintering bodies left and right. Blood splattered all over the ornate gravestones. The last holdout went down pretty much in the center of the cemetery…to the left of Balzac’s tomb. There were 147 who gave up, but…they were disposed of the next day — Whitsunday — against a wall; martyrs mowed down mercilessly.
Ever since then, the bullet-splattered wall, the Mur des Federes, has served as a highly emotive rallying point for the country’s left wing. A touchstone, you might say.
Please note that today’s article, “I See Dead People,” touches upon Pere Lachaise.
(1) Anyone interested in additional info on this, or anything… let me know.
Loving best with the light of the grave, Richard
May 17th
**What has changed, what hasn’t…. Yes?**
May 17th, 1875
Aristides is the horse that wins the very first Kentucky Derby at the Louisville Jockey Club. How many of the 15 jockeys do you think were African-Americans? Take your time. Fourteen. A better question might be WHY has that kind of thing changed. And WHEN did it first start to change? Why not get your acquaintances who are interested in sports, and who want zero to do with social change…research that for you? That might be a way to make inroads in recruiting through the backdoor, yes? Interesting name for the pony, yes? What with what’s happening vis-a-vis Haiti, yes?
Same date…1974: 500 L.A. cops surround a home in Compton –same place where a hundred rounds were fired at a motorist cops had been chasing, an unarmed motorist who had been cornered and *stopped*– and rout a group of so-called terrorists known as the Symbionese Liberation Army. Earlier, the SLA had kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst. Six SLA members died in the raid.
The numbers in the SLA raid remind me of the outnumbered Native Americans…who battled with Geronimo for three decades against invading, marauding/murderous Euros. In 1885 on this same date…the Apache Indian chief…last Native American to surrender to the U.S. Whites…broke out of his Arizona reservation incarceration…for the second time. But he couldn’t get his homeland back. They still can’t, can they? See a proposal designed to help them do so, Buffalo Commons Cum Indian Territory: An Uncommon Need/Demand. The version of this “Buffalo Commons” article might be a more updated one; it has some back and forth (51 comments) attached to the piece.
May 16th
MAY 16TH, LONG BEFORE… Judy Garland became a star… the movie rights to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz were sold.
May 15th, 1856… its creator Lyman Frank Baum was born. He’s the guy who urged the wholesale extermination of all America’s native peoples:
“The nobility of the Redskin is extinquished, and what few are left are a pack of whining curs who lick the hand that smites them. The Whites, by law of conquest, by justice of civilization, are masters of the American continent, and the best safety of the frontier settlements will be secured by the total annihilation of the few remaining Indians. Why not annihilation? Their glory has fled, their spirit broken, their manhood effaced; better that they should die than live the miserable wretches that they are.”
I got the quote above…long ago in Hawaii…from David E. Stannard’s American Holocaust (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992) p. 126. It’s quite the definitive work. He precedes the above Baum quotation with:
“The tale of the slaughter at Wounded Knee in South Dakota is another example too well known to require detailed repeating here, but what is less well known about that massacre is that, a week and a half before it happened, the editor of South Dakota’s Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer, a gentle soul named L. Frank Baum….” And he goes on.
And so does Amerika. In the same vein. Education, entertainment, etc. all reinforcing something other than what came down, what’s coming down…still.
Blessings for your taking a different yellow brick road, Ox
May 13th
Friday the 13th, 1995… a singular individual died quite a mysterious death. There’s a DVD available titled “How to Draw a Bunny,” which –to quote the jacket notes– “explores the fascinating, often hilarious and always enigmatic world of artist and underground icon Ray Johnson. The fact that it was January 13th shouldn’t deter us from acknowledging this as the 10th anniversary of his demise. Again, from the producers of the DVD: “Little has been written about him, yet the man who many have dubbed ‘the most famous unknown artist’ was considered a genius whose career spanned nearly fifty years… .” I haven’t had a chance yet to review the special features, but they sound luscious.
Most of the first airmail stamps were inadvertently printed with airplanes upside down –as per the visual which leads off this page– in 1918… on May 13th. I cite this light item ’cause I want to move into this also being the date for South African prime minister General Louis Botha, personally leading his WWI troops… to capture the territory of German South West Africa. Which makes me think of the most excellent literary treatment of the horrid treatment of the territory delineated by Thomas Pynchon in Gravity’s Rainbow. Here’s where the “light” element comes in. That great creation is a bit too much for most people. BUT… everyone can visit a library, and at least read the opening paragraph of that work… which has to rank with the best of all else by any standards. A shattering, shimmering description of the London Underground during bombing. Which reminds me a lot of Orwell’s description of miners’ lives in Inside the Whale.
On a darker set of notes, this is the anniversary of two U.S. airmen being shot to death in the Philippines as the two countries prepare for talks respecting the islands’ hosting American bases. Much is made about the “viscious” New People’s Army which claimed responsibility for the killings, but absolutely zero is mentioned in the American media about one of their main gripes. To wit, that our military is making their islands totally toxic. To date, the disgusting, deadly sludge plus is still not cleaned up. And, still, we hear little about it… in spite of the fact that we have parallels in this country. See how ignorant educated people can be about this by quickly reviewing
34 Bases on Worst Toxic Waste Sites List
Base Closing OK With California City
Only if you have such time. ‘Cause I don’t know if the absolute, terrifying stupidity of the Mayor of Concord, California warrants such attention. Sucking in the thrust of the two articles in light of what I’m touching upon here, however, should make it clear that we are past the point of no return with the military… environmentally. And past the point of no return with the public in general respecting what’s happened, and what continues to happen. We are in the midst of well-respected individuals claiming –in the name of progress, protection and pure dollars– that there’s “no shark in the water.” This is all related, by the way, to my little line in the “I Recall… : Mad Ox Disease” article about mold. The military has mixed a lot more worse than mold into our children’s lives.
By the way, I just learned recently that Princess Caroline of Monaco… the daughter of the late Grace Kelly… has been working for quite some time… quietly… low profile… to help the terrorized citizens of the Philippines deal with our toxicity. Our legacy.
May 12th
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, May 12, 1985, 11 people were killed by police, when authorities dropped a bomb on a house containing members of MOVE, including five children, and it’s founding member, John Africa (Vincent Leaphart). Ramona Africa was the only adult member to survive this brutal attack on civilians. The U.S. government and its federal agencies have never hesitated from murdering those who opinions it disagrees with… as with the ruthless slaughter of 80 civilians at the Waco compound in Texas. At Waco, according to irrefutable video evidence, the U.S. authorities set the building on fire, knowing that there were defenseless women and children in the building including some 23 British citizens; not a word of protest was uttered by the British government. In Compton, earlier this week, police fired 100 rounds aimed at a African-American SUV driver… unarmed. He had been cornered following a chase.
Between cases like this, which are very common, official policies regarding the treatment of the so-called mentally ill –forcing drugs on individuals along racial lines– (See www.mindfreedom.org/roots.shtml) to ground yourself re these accusations), abominable AIDS-related policies at home and abroad (which clearly target Blacks), etc. WHEN ARE BLACKS GOING TO GET IT?* I mean, the signficance of institutionalized practice which herds African-Americans down the same street Native Americans have been led along. Of course, I’m not counting those who have appeared on –or watched regularly– Oprah. Well, maybe some of those. I trust you know what I mean.
*”GET IT” refers to getting with doing something radical… without getting caught.
Just watch what kind of non-fuss is made over the upcoming Jackson State murders of 1970 relative to the hoopla vis-a-vis the recent Caucasian/Kent State comparable massacre/tributes. Everyone should bone up on what came down on May 14th-15th… down at that Mississippi university. It’s called the Memory Hole.
With regard to the so-called “equality” which keeps popping up in classrooms across the country, I have only to cite Yogi Berra (respecting our high-falutin’ theories): “I theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is.”
Blessings in solidarity, Richard
May 9th
Yesterday, the 8th, was Thomas Pynchon’s birthday. I spent all day scouting the local candle shops hoping to run into him, but…. You’ll be the first to know if I ever get lucky. May 9th is the anniversary of the FDA approving the Pill in 1960…which is related to the Nick Drake and Vera Drake article we’ll be posting here shortly. It’s also the ‘95 anniversary of Clinton embracing Yeltsin in Moscow… following a longstanding U.S. policy of treading very lightly around his dangerous antics and authoritarian rule…whereby zero is said in public that’s critical (that means anything or has any impact). More importantly,…on this day…John Brown was born in 1800. He was executed in 1859 (Dec. 2)…and I urge all readers to remind everyone they meet of the importance of observing all anniversaries related to Brown…if we’re going to observe any at all in relation to African-American history. Happy B-Day to Glenda Jackson…if she’s reading this, and James M. Barrie…who is not.
May 6th
May 6th, on the surface, seems like quite an anniversary day for blacks:
In ‘94, Nelson M & his ANC are confirmed winners…in their electoral fight.
Same day, same year… Lennox Lewis TKO’s Phil Jackson (not the fake Zen basketball guru)…for a victory in his fight, taking the World Heavyweight Championship.
Eugene Antonio Marino settles into his new digs as the first African-American Roman Catholic bishop, having been installed as archbishop of the Atlanta, GA archdiocese the previous day. Atlanta, a place I frequented quite often as a kid, goes absolutely bananas on this 1988 festive, sunny day. President Ike signed the Civil Rights 1960 Act… and L’Ouverture revolts against France in Haiti. The Smithsonian Institution approves the creation of a National African American Museum… in 1991.
Well, look at South Africa today. Whites from there also invaded Angola on this day…and they’ve still got their filthy paws all over the place…where the moolah is. Why do blacks have to box their way out of their boxes, brains bashed…to make a living? And when they do…why do we all have to be subjected to the disgusting sight of them pathetically –as a rule– emulating the latest White Trash Capitalist Fashion? Why did it take sooooooooooooo long for Marino’s kind to make a mark within that religious context? What was there really to celebrate? Isn’t like all of those who “made it” going on Oprah for the High Five? Models for who? For what? Why won’t schoolchildren be talking about how long it took Marino to make such strides, how long it took the Smithsonian to acknowledge this and that? How disgusting it is, the state of awful affairs in Haiti today…after so much sacrifice, so much…so much? This is NOT a day for blacks to applaud. Not unless they’re the type that tunes into Oprah’s harmful schtick. Not unless this being the day that Michael Jackson got inducted into the Rock ‘N Roll Hall of Fame brings a smile to their face. In ‘97 that, with the Brothers Gibb. Gibberish, this fuss about black anniversaries. Red herrings for the blacks, I say.
Richard Oxman… wondering what his first black girlfriend, Geraldine (”Butch”) Fitzgerald, is doing these days. He trusts that life has treated her well. And still spits on this day that his family and friends dragged him out of her life…so violently…for such ignorant reasons.
May 5th
May 5th was the date The Coasters’ “Yakety Yak” was released on Atco. The guys had six Top Ten hits, but this was their only #1 ditty. One of their big appeals was the saxophone riffs of King Curtis. An amazing musician who…when Larry Brown (the future L. Russell Brown of “Tie A Yellow Ribbon” and “Knock Three Times” and “Sock It To Me, Baby” fame) and I were cutting a record in NYC’s Belltone Studios in the 50s…we turned down. The two brilliant geniuses from the Seth Boyden Housing Projects of Newark somehow decided that they should go with a guitar riff…’cause guitars were in. Here’s hoping it was Elvis’ Scottie Moore and not Ricky Nelson’s guitar player who steered us away from that golden, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Oh yeah, my buddies at The History Channel TV Series tell me that:
On this day in 1990, Jesse Tafero was executed in Florida after his electric chair malfunctioned three times. It was an inhumane execution that sparked a new national debate. Flames had lept from his head. Several states stopped using the electric chair and adopted lethal injection. What advancement, ey? How we doin’ today? Apparently, technical problems –aside from all other considerations– associated with both methods linger into the 21st century. But…what the hell are we doing? What we did then. Still.
May 4th
May 4th the Ohio National Guard actually marched onto Kent State University and killed and maimed students. Murderer Nixon had announced that he had ordered U.S. troops into Cambodia during the Vietnam War…and students with a conscience actually decided to do something about it. Like go crazy…and stop business as usual. To join in solidarity with others nationwide. Actually, if you want to honor the dead…don’t just listen to the CSN&Y song. Consider taking part in something comparable –albeit in different form– today. I hear that the so-called insurgents are actually calling for an outsurgence of action from Iraq. Whatever you do, however, don’t do what Ron Howard did in creating Apollo 13. In that masturbatory movie, the director would have us believe that the reason no one was paying attention to Apollo’s takeoff was jadedness…when, in fact, it was a matter of early May priorities at the time. To wit, the entire nation was actually engaged in meaningful protest… or focused on it.
May 1st
Spike Jones –NOT Spike Jonze, the director– died May 1st of a disease that a well-known Counterpunch writer is about to die from…before very long. Gossip, upon request, possibly. Jones was a 40s bandleader who struck up 18 chart hits between the year I was born (’42) and 1943. The unconventional, zany arranger’s “The William Tell Overture,” “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” and (especially) “Cocktails for Two” should be heard by everyone. As much must-listens as the best of Louie Prima. Another kind of death: This is also the date I passed up tickets to the New Musical Express Poll Winners Concert, Empire Pool, Wembley, which featured The Beatles (in their last Great Britain gig), the Rolling Stones, the Walker Brothers, Dave Dee, Dozy Beaky, Mick, and Tich, the Spencer Davis Group, The Shadows, the Yardbirds, Cliff Richard, Herman’s Hermits, the Seekers, the Fortunes, Roy Orbison, the Overlanders, the Alan Price Set, the Shadows, Sounds Incorporated, Dusty Springfield, Crispian St. Peters, and the Who. For a very stupid ‘66 reason…which I will share with you in an article soon. Spike was spiked in ‘65.
Mark Twain delivered intense lectures each day throughout April, 1867. On… the devastating impact of civilization… on Hawaiians. They represented a 180 degree turnaround from his previous take on our relationship to the Sandwich Islands; that take is all schoolchildren ever hear…here, and…on the islands. For all practical (mass) purposes.
On April 27…so long ago…yet not so long ago…a blind, impoverished poet John Milton sold the copyright to his great work Paradise Lost for a mere ten pounds. As soon as it was printed it was hailed as a masterpiece. I’d say it would be a good idea for readers to commit the year to memory…and there’s no better way to do so than to start with a lookup.
The 27th was also the night (this year!) when KQED did a Sparks segment on Richard Kamler, the great, idiosyncratic, cancer-ridden artist. Whereas the segment –in and of itself– should be applauded, it’s revolutionary meat was co-opted by the producer choosing to have it share the stage with a “Traveling Jewish Theatre” segment and a “Fat Bottom Review.” The former and the latter served to make Kamler’s unit appear to be just another one of those quirky artist presentations. See…the endless angst of the Jewish questions. See…the endless angst of a given woman’s type being out of fashion. See…passion and mortality battling it out…for our entertainment! It’s a very common, undermining mainstream method. If Bank of America –one of the sponsors– allowed Kamler’s vision and anger to settle stage center alone…viewers might have been moved to…try to make a difference. So they relegate everything to a Three Ring Circus. It reminded me so much of what was done to Henry Miller…whose truly revolutionary spiel was never allowed to settle with a single, still spotlight. The red herrings or the well-hung labels always had to be trotted out. Entertainment fanfare fandango.
My friends at The History Channel Television Series also tell me that in 795 –during a procession in Rome– Pope Leo III was attacked by assailants attempting to blind him and cut out his tongue.* It took almost a half a year before he could return. Charlemagne had to provide a military escort.
We need more of the former, and less of the latter.
*That was on April 25th…the date we originally slated for the Grand Opening of this website.
It is also the day I met Phil Ochs…at the House of Pegasus in Fort Lauderdale, Florida…long before his social protest material (example below) became popular.
“Sure, once I was young and compulsive,
I wore every conceivable pin,
Even went to Socialist meetings,
Learned all the old union hymns.
Ah, but I’ve grown older and wiser,
And that’s why I’m turning you in.
So love me, love me, love me,
I’m a liberal.”
As Michael Schumacher (author of bios on Allen Ginsberg and Eric Clapton) put it, that’s the penultimate verse for “Love Me, I’m a Liberal.” We are obliged to size up every activist in these terms; wonder (out loud) whether or not they’re willing/able to honor your radical secrets.
Oh yes, and it’s May Day. May Day, May Day!
