It's good to see you. Come on in, leave your shoes in the hallway, we've got fire on the stove preparing lunch for later. In the meantime, browse the bookshelves and plunk down on the sofa with one, or pick out some tunes from the music library or come in to the kitchen to help with the cooking. Our special blend of tea is steeping and will be right up.

Make yourself at home...

Good morning, dear, clear-eyed, seekers of truth.

On Sunday there was a 40-mile NYC bike ride through all five boroughs. One stretch of it comes by the picturesque park across the street from us. This year our street was cleared of cars (which makes us grumble since it seems at least once a month a film crew takes over our neighborhood for a couple of days), there were barricades at intersections, and hundreds of cyclists passed by - combining to make for a slight feeling of a high-speed, one-dimensional parade happening.

As the cyclists rode by, we stood watching them for a few minutes, mostly so that our infant son could wave at them, which is something he really likes to do at this stage, as they came down the incline and passed by. I enjoyed the couple of moments we did, and he so obviously did - and there were many smiles, waves and good tidings from strangers at the endearing universal sign of friendliness. If I may be allowed a digression about another universal gesture, did you know the handshake originally derives as a gesture between two strangers to show they come in peace, and not holding a weapon?

But as soon as we departed to go upstairs, Lennon's tune from Sgt. Peppers went off in my head:

"Good Morning, Good Morning"

Nothing to say but what a day, how's your boy been?
Nothing to do it's up to you
I've got nothing to say but it's okay

Good morning, good morning, good morning."

And it got me thinking. Does that innocuous pleasantry make the world a better place, as we recognize and reciprocate the simple fact that we're alive with that gesture? Or is it a kind of empty platitude that sets the tone for a stasis of sweeping all bad news under the carpet that we kid ourselves with to pretend everything is A-OK?

Visiting the small Swiss village, folks reflexively greet one another all day, varying the greeting to align with the various stages of the day. All day in Italy, whether entering a friend's house for lunch or a shop in the market or even passing by a stranger in the street, we're greeted with a, "Buon Giorno." And, it sounds nice. I find it kind of warming. But that may be because we're on vacation and in another language feels so quaint in the best way, Old World and comforting.

On the other hand, to the Europeans and anyone else abroad who has been here, we are known for an altogether different greeting: the completely insincere question, "how ya doin'?", which nobody means literally. It's the typically, confusing Americanism of misappropriating a question, by using it as a salutation instead. Visitors often express confusion upon first hearing it. They quickly learn, after searching for a sincere answer, that nobody has even the faintest interest in finding out "how you are."

Wearing political buttons many times reaps rewards.
Was leaving a place I had just eaten in and at the door, a guy I was passing, upon seeing my campaign button, gave a hearty, "Berr-nee." Usually I wear an Occupy-related buttons about economic inequality exclusively, but lately have taken to reviving the Bernie one next to it. Mostly to remind people that he would have crushed Trump, but also, if folks are willing to talk about it, to point out how he was cheated by the DNC, and that democracy is dead in American and ultimately we have to start thinking and acting for ourselves.

We got right into, after I said Bernie would have crushed Trump, and that the Democrats are to blame for giving us Trump. He thought so too. We talked about how money in politics destabilizes the whole thing, is responsible for the dysfunction and the banks lead in that regard. He mentioned Steve Schwarmann, one of my most loathed criminal bankers, as the kind of guy who should be locked up. I smiled, then said Obama really blew it. He said that, even as a black guy himself, he didn't really like him. We talked about how ridiculous the Democrats in Congress appeared, tauntingly singing like juveniles. I said Bernie's by far the only politician with gravitas, making him "the only adult in the room." He smiled and laughed, saying "Can I use that one? I love that."

He also said he worked upstate on the railroad, where most guys were Trump supporters. When they would say how Mexicans are the problem and taking jobs, he would cooly, rationally tell them it wasn't the workers who should have their ire. It was the bosses and CEO's who didn't want to hire workers for a decent salary, and sought out the cheapest labor, which happened to be from Mexico. More than a few guys went away thinking about that. Told him I use that same Socialist framework to explain to bigots I encounter. Admitted he wasn't aware of the the rampant voter suppression/electoral fraud in NY, so I gave him a mouthful on that.

We probably stood there for 10 minutes, at the door of the restaurant, having a pretty vibrant, respectful exchange, both sensing how rare and invigorating it was to be doing so. Anytime something like this occurs, I'm always mindful that people might be curious and listening, and try to amplify and project my points out. To me the best hope is that these kinds of spontaneous conversations, spurred by a political button, will encourage more folks to be unafraid to engage thusly. The greater hope of course is that it will conflagrate into bigger conversations, as they did all day long at Occupy, when perfect strangers were joining each other in small circles then moving on to the next one, to talk about the various ways the system is destroying the middle class and share their personal stories. We parted with a hearty handshake, deep smiles of mutual admiration/recogniton and hoped to see each other around.

I was glad to have had that uplifting encounter, because a couple of other conversations reminded me of the moat between what people regard as flavor-of-the-week "news" cycle stories and mainstream framing of the news, and the much more in-depth and probing conversations we're discussing here every day and the fundamentals of how things have developed in such a way.

Recently, we met a lovely couple who live in our neighborhood. They're each from different European countries, are progressive-minded, newly vegan, and engaged about the world we live in. They invited us to a picnic in the park with some other couples with kids, who as it turned out were all from abroad. It was delightful.

The woman reacted positively to the Bernie button, which started up a conversation about the election, American politics, what he's up to now. That led into talking about Podemos, with another couple from Barcelona. They seemed to believe the movement wasn't as effective as previously hoped for because of the campaign contributions they had gotten, as well as possibly being involved with some shady dealing with politicians from Venezuala or something.

Then when I told her about C99, she mentioned she was previously a journalist. She said she's not anymore, but said that she does read a lot, primarily the NY Times and Washington Post (I immediately thought to myself how this fosters a mainstream paradigm difficult to see out of sometimes. But having just met them I didn't proceed that way). Sure, from a literary point of view, perhaps, there is some excellent pure writing there. But their integrity, accuracy, agenda, subject matter, angles of the stories, the fact that they're owned by Bezos who owns Amazon, etc?). I found myself having the same sort of epiphany as bondibox expressed in his essay here.

And then it dawned on me, most of America is like Beth, and that is a dangerous fucking thing, because they are reshaping reality as it becomes a memory. Beth is a subscriber to the Washington Post. She reads the New York Times. She wasn't living in a vacuum during 2015 and 2016. But as that information became a memory it was overlaid on top of other fading and mutated memories, all of it shaped by the prejudices of the present.

I always thought Beth had a skewed take on the world. The deeper I delve into her point of view, the more I realize it really isn't grounded in reality at all. It's a fucking fantasy. No wonder the Democrats think all they have to do is think good thoughts and the voters will come back to them.

To illustrate further, I had a wide-ranging conversation with another neighbor, that covered political dysfunction and corruption. He's a bright and successful artist who holds some pessimistic views about the human race that I share, only possibly more. We eventually waded into the effects of comedy and the power of the comic to speak truth to power. We each expressed how great Bill Hicks was in that regard, and wondered if his take on the JFK assassination wasn't right on (something Hicks was obsessed with) and then laughed about the bit he does about every American president-elect being brought into a cigar smoke-filled room to watch a film of a never-before-seen footage of the JFK assassination, after which they ask the barely visible cabal ask the new president if there's any questions. When he mentioned that for today's comedians he likes Samantha Bee, I inwardly let out a sigh, and thought, now that's a big turn away from the radical, anti-mainstream, incisive, biting, anti-American comedy of Hicks. I made a mental note that next time when we had more time I'd be sure to turn him on to Jimmy Dore and Lee Camp, who are much more in line with Hicks than the Neoliberal, blinded, Hillary excuse-maker.

The two interactions with friends, those of whom share an intellect and concern similar to ours, was still a nutshell reminder of how far out of the mainstream we are. I respect and like both of these people, but I couldn't escape a feeling a being slightly depressed realizing that most folks (even those who would consider themselves progressive, or at least engaged and indignant about what is happening) only bob around on the surface of the mainstream current of "news." They're largely unaware of the heavy propaganda, monopoly ownership and class protection forces going on behind the scenes, that disseminates what many uncritically accept as "the news," through a very specific and often times narrow lens of omissions, which are the result of massive editing in order to protect their advertisers and shareholders.

Haven't looked at Twitter in a while but saw this, from an integral member of Occupy, and couldn't help but be reminded that the degree of loathing and disgust for this guy is intense. I bet the asshole is scared shit of returning to his hometown where he doesn't want to face the fact that the majority of folks here detest him.

NYC can't stand you, bro. https://t.co/ehf4yWXnoG

— Justin Wedes (@justinwedes) May 7, 2017

To me, Trump is the worst of the worst kind of human beings: a thin-skinned, braggart, incurious, narcissistic, dumb, ostentatious cheeseball. People despise him everywhere for good reason, and maybe even more so here. As a New Yorker, I've loathed this asshole for decades.

Was surprised, then, to find out that he is one of the subjects featured in a film I remember Russell Brand enthusiastically recommending that I've really wanted to see, called "HyperNormalisation." I watched the beginning of it a couple of nights ago and it looks great.

Here's Brand's take on it:

the trailer for the film:

and the actual full film:

Couldn't find an official site for the film, in order to furnish an overview for folks who prefer not to watch videos. But the BBC, where it debuted, had this:

We live in a time of great uncertainty and confusion. Events keep happening that seem inexplicable and out of control. Donald Trump, Brexit, the War in Syria, the endless migrant crisis, random bomb attacks. And those who are supposed to be in power are paralysed - they have no idea what to do.

This film is the epic story of how we got to this strange place. It explains not only why these chaotic events are happening - but also why we, and our politicians, cannot understand them.

It shows that what has happened is that all of us in the West - not just the politicians and the journalists and the experts, but we ourselves - have retreated into a simplified, and often completely fake version of the world. But because it is all around us we accept it as normal.

But there is another world outside. Forces that politicians tried to forget and bury forty years ago - that then festered and mutated - but which are now turning on us with a vengeful fury. Piercing though the wall of our fake world.

Wikipedia had this:

In the film, Curtis argues that since the 1970s, governments, financiers, and technological utopians have given up on the complex "real world" and built a simple "fake world" that is run by corporations and kept stable by politicians. The film was released on 16 October 2016...

The film consists of nine chapters.

1975

The fiscal crisis in New York City and the emergence of the idea that financial systems could run society; shuttle diplomacy between then-US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Middle Eastern leaders in the Arab-Israeli dispute and the subsequent retreat by Hafez al-Assad of Syria; and the onset of hypernormalisation in the Soviet Union.

It was really creepy to watch the beginning and see the filmmaker point to Trump taking advantage of New York's fiscal crisis/bankruptcy. It also appears this crisis was to be a major catalyst for allowing the Economic Terrorists of Wall St to achieve their coup d-'eat of holding hostage government, until they owned everything while forcing austerity on the denizens of revenue-sapped municipalities, Meanwhile the gaudy buffoon and most unlikely douchebag to become president (thanks Hillary!) began to seize New York City properties in his vainglorious mission to reshape the city as a haven for the rich.

This film looks like exactly the most focused exploration about what's happening right now, as we are headlong into a downward spiral of financial elites pillaging every aspect of our lives to further enrich themselves, while the 99% wallow impotently as debts slaves with ball and chains on our ankles of medical/consumer/student/mortgage debt.

I hope to find some solace this weekend in the company of other dreamers/radicals/truth-seekers for the 11th NYC Anarchist Book Fair, being held at the wonderful and indispensable social activist sanctuary, Judson Memorial Church.

Still, I greet you, friends..."good morning."

So, what's going on with you?

Back in the kitchen we're listening to:

Reading/Browsing List:
"When Will Jesus Bring The Pork Chops?" George Carlin
"The Real Frank Zappa Book" Frank Zappa with Peter Occhiogrosso
"Henry Miller: The Paris Years" Brassai

Mango Chutney Tuna Fish Sandwich

can of tuna fish
Greek yogurt
Mango pickle chutney (which is ginger, garlic, turmeric, red chili, coriander, mustard seed, black caraway seed, cumin seed, anise, cardamon, black pepper, cloves, mace, fenugreek, green chili)

mix together. serve on whole wheat pita.

Lemongrass Chai Blend

heaping scoop of dried Thai lemongrass
shards of cinnamon bark
a few cardamom pods
a few black peppercorns
A few cloves
fresh chopped ginger