Waxing Poetically: Addressing Culture with a Twist of Poetry

How would you define patriotism? Mirriam-Webster’s dictionary defines patriotism as love for or devotion to one’s country. Within reason, it seems that just by virtue of not hating one’s life in a particular country, a person finds a small sense of love for where he or she lives or has lived in the past. But does that appreciation have a distinct code of conduct, values and rules that one must follow, or is it flexible, fluid and dynamic… able to change with the course of events that might occur within a pesky little thing Albert Einstein liked to call, “time” or does it evolve with another little idea, “experience?”

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I’ve observed throughout my 27 years that Americans in particular have a very rigid idea of what it means to be patriotic. People drive around their towns with bumper stickers that read, “Support the troops!” or “God bless America!” Some cry bloody murder if a person criticizes any government policy, action or official in any way. They say to blame the U.S in any way for a failing Iraqi government is somehow un-American, that to question its anti-terror program somehow undermines operations. Today Reuters and The Wall Street Journal noted that Barack Obama had recently decided to wear a flag pin on his lapel due to the criticism he endured for not wearing one! Did I miss something? Did a flag pin become the Holy Grail? It could be possible. Then there are those I’ve met who, having never left the country, will repeatedly tell you how great it is! Sean Hannity recently devoted an entire Fox News show to telling his viewers why he thought America, was, “the single greatest, best nation ever created on the face of the earth!” Now with the utmost respect for Hannity’s right to feel this way, let me make this analogy: If you spent an hour or more with someone who told you every five minutes how he or she is the single greatest, best person ever created on the face of the earth you would very likely say that person is an arrogant megalomaniac of an a-hole! So why is America so surprised, vexed and perplexed that it has been received as atrociously as it has in other parts of the world? It’s common sense! For the record and for all I know Hannity may be right, but what ever happened to that whole concept of humility?

Patriotism is not wearing a pin of a teeny flag so that everyone knows how great you are or saying so with your words. (Pride used to be a sin for all you Judeo-Christians out in cyberspace…. What happened)? True patriotism is loving one’s nation for its virtues such as a guarantee to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, the right to free speech (in blogs or otherwise), the right to vote, the right to choose one’s career, and the right to criticize any and all persons places or things barring that no harm is threatened. If anything, being able to speak for or against anything is why I most love democracy and is without a doubt the antithesis of un-American! Barack Obama has a truly American and democratic right to not wear something as trivial as a lapel pin and his wife as well is free to be honest about her past feelings about the country for that matter! Only a dictatorship should care so much about unpatriotic things! The First Amendment is first for a reason! It is the cornerstone for democracy! Until next time… keep waxin’!

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As some of you may already know, last week Barack Obama drew criticism from conservative activist and Focus on the Family president James Dobson over remarks Obama made in 2006 while address a religious crowd. He opined about specific books of the Bible such as Leviticus containing absurd references to the allowance of slavery, and the total prohibition of shellfish and that the Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew would be too radical a document for many in Washington to even come close to fulfilling. Dobson accuses Obama of distorting the scriptures to fit his personal agenda, but when one examines the texts of which Obama speaks, is Obama wrong to think this way? Please comment…. Keep waxin’!

Here are some verses:

On Keeping “Servants”

Leviticus 25:44-46 “Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids. Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they begat in your land: and they shall be your possession. And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever: but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour.”

Leviticus 25:48-53: After that he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him: Either his uncle, or his uncle’s son, may redeem him, or any that is nigh of kin unto him of his family may redeem him; or if he be able, he may redeem himself. And he shall reckon with him that bought him from the year that he was sold to him unto the year of jubilee: and the price of his sale shall be according unto the number of years, according to the time of an hired servant shall it be with him.

Even if these people were to be treated well… the verses don’t sound good at all!

On Shellfish:

Leviticus 11:9-12:
These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat. And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you:They shall be even an abomination unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, but ye shall have their carcases in abomination.Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you.

Deuteronomy 14:9-10:
These ye shall eat of all that are in the waters: all that have fins and scales shall ye eat:
And whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye may not eat; it is unclean unto you.

I personally believe these passages to refer to health and safety precautions during a time where modern medicine was certainly not available… but that’s just me.

Jesus’ commands followers to love their enemies:

Matthew 5:43-48
You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.”
But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Does that include Osama? Whoa!

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If you think your economy has it bad where every you are in the word, try having a democracy with 80 percent of the people unable to find work, and a cost of living that has doubled in two months time and dictator whose associates beat to death his opposition’s wife!

Robert Mugabe came to power in 1980 to win political independence for Zimbabwe only to now refuse to leave his post by force though free elections are supposed to happen this Friday. All this is going on during what many view as the worst social and economic crash in modern history:

This is from a June 22, Yahoo News Report:

(Reuters) - Zimbabwe’s currency plunged to new depths on Friday as
the U.S. ambassador to Harare predicted galloping inflation will force
President Robert Mugabe from office before the end of the year.

The Zimbabwe dollar, which is pegged to the U.S dollar and was effectively
devalued by the central bank to 15,000 to the greenback in April, was
trading in the 170,000-200,000 range on the thriving black market on Friday.
Just a week before, the black market exchange rate was about 95,000 to one
U.S dollar, and 2,500 to one in January.

The country is now in it’s eighth year of recession with food, oil an even electricity at all-time desperate lows. Political freedom from Mugabe is the suggested answer but that may but many in the region wonder if that’s possible.

Charlie Rose conducted a roundtable on his PBS talk show last night to try to dig for solutions to this nightmare. Rather than give my view, I feel this situation in speaks well enough on its own. Please view the video below and comment. Until then… keep waxing poetically!

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Sunday night, as I happened to be flipping through my cable channels, I stopped at one of my favorite theological forums the Eternal Word Television Network. EWTN is an all Catholic Network which has some very interesting discussions on current events, politics, art and the like, and also has a daily mass for those of us Catholics who miss mass…. My point however is that during a break from one show there was a pro-life PSA saying how those who are of religious beliefs cannot, in good conscience, vote for a pro-choice candidate. So I began to ponder the assumption. Does who I vote for really matter in regard to the whole pro-life/pro-choice debate? The following is what I have concluded.

Abortion is probably the single most divisive issue in America and arguably the world. Pro-choice advocates argue that a woman has a right to choose her reproductive fate and to disallow abortion as an option violates that right. Pro-life advocates in turn object to this stance by saying that the unborn child is being killed before it has a chance to have any of its own freedoms and choices. I choose to side with the latter on the grounds that natural intent to be life precedes life in the same way that an idea precedes a completed project. In other words, although “full” life may not begin at conception, the idea or foundation for that life is laid down. Furthermore, that fetus is not a malignant cancer or a house built with bad blueprints…. It is supposed to be there and it is very likely to be healthy and well built so to speak, so why stop a perfectly healthy process?

I make this point to show just how pro-life I am. I am politically libertarian which basically means I believe in full social liberty (on the liberal side) and also believe in free markets with as little restriction a possible (on the conservative side). Yet on this one issue of abortion, unlike some liberals, I fight for the life of the unborn child who has no voice… but I have never voted for a fully pro-life candidate and I plan to vote for Barack Obama in November. According to Christian doctrine, I am voting against my conscience and my God, but I say I’m just a realist.

If a candidate is elected into office he does have veto power, the power to appoint judges, and the power to speak his mind. However, in America’s history no matter who has been in office, no one has been able to overturn Roe v. Wade in four decades! Therefore does it really make a difference who is president in regard to this matter? I don’t think it does. The only way to totally stop a social phenomenon to my thinking is through social means.

In the greater sense, society must take actions to curb unplanned pregnancy or at the very least make abortion less appealing through avenues such as a fully cultivated adoption system that nurtures and cares for its children and of course, a sociological system in which such expecting mothers can be made more secure in knowing that they’re not alone. America must build a culture of life around unplanned pregnancies and educate those who are not pregnant. The society at large needs to ease the fears of these women, give options, instead of opposition Only if these sociological changes happen will abortion be ended, it. If not, it will continue. Am I wrong about this? Please comment and please wax articulately.

Note to pro-choice readers: I’m not suggesting that pro-choicers want to kill babies. I fully understand you have a different view about when life begins. (Even some religions feel life is only life after birth).

Yesterday, I posted two videos of each of America’s presidential candidates being negatively attacked. In one Barack’s Democratic co-chair Jesse Jackson Jr. made a very off comment about the campaign against Hilary Clinton likening it to the OJ Simpson trial with a Black man vs, White woman angle or as the alleged quote said “[attacking] a white woman.” I’m not sure Jackson even ever really said this. This was the first I’ve heard this quote. The other video showed John McCain saying we could be in Iraq for 100 years. I can objectively say the both videos were obviously slanted to make both Obama and McCain look like whackos. Is this fair? In the contextual and content related aspects, each man was torn apart will equal ferocity. However, from a subjective standpoint, I doubt very seriously if Obama is hacking people up and having lunch with his buddy Jesse afterwards, nor do I feel McCain wants to be at war 100 years. He likely knows that.

Clearly to me, there are analogies to be drawn here. In Obama’s case, ol’ Jesse might be like that crazy relative we all might have that says nutballishly absurd comments at dinner after which the rest of the family excuses itself to the bathroom. McCain while not having any crazy uncles, might have the proverbial little fly on the wall who flew in midway through the conversation on Iraq with Grandpa with fly’s not realizing that Johhny meant that we can have troops anywhere so long as they don’t die or have to fight anyone at all. Then picture Johnny’s old friend Charlie Black saying, “Hey look on the bright side! This war is probably what you’re best at, Bud! Terrorism is your strong suit!” Then of course that little fly on the wall might go tell the family or other little flies in the little fly press…. Does the public really want to finance this stuff?

Note: Mr. Black referred to the assassination of Benazir Bhutto as an “unfortunate event” but acknowledged that “it helped us” referring to the timing of the assassination coinciding with the New Hampshire primary. He also said of a future terrorist attack; “Certainly it would be a big advantage to him (McCain)” (Houston Chronicle).

Hi, Folks! Here are two negative videos of each of the two presidential candidates. Are these fair to either candidate? You be the judge and of course… keep waxin’!

Barack Obama

John McCain

Please comment.

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“When it comes to God’s existence, I’m not an atheist and I’m not an agnostic. I’m an acrostic. The whole thing puzzles me.” - George Carlin from his book When Will Jesus Bring the pork Chops?

Comedian George Carlin has died and like many others, I was a great fan. The man who drew scathing criticism from some and riotous laughter in others has passed away, a euphemism he once joked about because in his words, “People don’t die anymore.” In my heart he most assuredly never, ever will.

Below is a collection of some of my favorite stuff from George. With a career that spanned nearly five decades, there is so much more to be seen and heard of his. To me he was the greatest social satirist I ever heard speak and I thank God and creation itself for that. George Carlin taught me to think critically about the world in which I live, to never stop learning and growing, to love language and above all to love my fellow man not for fear of Hell, but because it was the right thing to do… and as he spoke of to Jon Stewart in an interview, he taught me to “see the Universe in people’s eyes.” He was truly one who indeed waxed poetically. Carlin was highly critical of all organized religion. Yet, I pray that a loving God welcomes his wonderful humor into life everlasting. To George I will say, “I love you, George. I never got to see you perform live or meet you in person, but your memory will be with me always. Amen.”

On Power, Education, and the American Dream

From his 2008 HBO Special: Child Worship (I couldn’t agree more).

Copy and paste the link: http://www.youtube.com/v/V1VhzGa2jDs

Interview with Keith Olbermann

Satirical Jesus (I don’t believe this is meant as a companion to the Gospels lol)!

Inside the Actors Studio Part 1 of 5 (Please watch all five to truly understand the man often misunderstood as simply a foulmouthed offender).

On the Planet and Environmentalism (The planet is fine but the people aren’t).

On Our Similarities (One of my favorites :D)

On the Bad Side of Religion (As a believer, I fully get where he’s coming from. Note: Carlin wasn’t an atheist… at least not toward the end of his life as quoted in a recent interview and book. This is a social comment on the BS aspects of religion).

“When it comes to God’s existence, I’m not an atheist and I’m not an agnostic. I’m an acrostic. The whole thing puzzles me.” - George Carlin from his book When Will Jesus Bring the pork Chops?

Until we meet again, in the name of the honesty George Carlin stood for… keep waxing poetically!

This blew me away! Please comment!

Poughkeepsie, New York’s Kendall “Theory” Darnell has your usual emcee swagger, a tight and refined rap style and beats that get the clubs to blow the roof off the sucka as it were. But this emcee (who happens to be from my 845 area code) is bringing a message of self-awareness, personal responsibility and “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” work ethic to a generation all too eager for Barack Obama’s “Yes we can!” enthusiasm with his song and video “Change” from his most recent LP Theory is Everything, Plan: B. The video is currently being considered for a nomination for “Most Inspirational Video” at this year’s BET Awards.

This song for me, is a refreshing detour in a world of fake “gangsta” mentality and homogenized materialism that currently pervades radio and TV in many circles. The song talks about how change happens ultimately through the free will and actions of the individual and how there are those who expect the changes they want by a miracle or a government program, yet the final motivator is always within one’s self. It’s a reality I couldn’t agree with more and because I applaud it so, I present you with the video below. Until next time… keep loving, keep living and keep waxing poetically!

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Stephen Colbert pointed to some interesting new data on his show Thursday night. He begrudging, regretfully and comically told his Colbert Nation about how the kiddies these days are passing on the cookies and lunging at the fruits and veggies. Yes, believe it or not, cookies have been demoted to the number two spot on the list what kids go ape**** loony for in the middle of the supermarket. This might be hard to believe, but the crafty and prodigious culprit is everybody’s favorite cookie junkie newly rehabilitated ala Dr. Drew or one of those random felt puppet with a blue face and a nerfy, green nose. Yes, Cookie monster now loves “fruits and veg-i-ta-bles!” He made a hilarious appearance on the Colbert Report to tell Stephen all about it.

Click the red lettering below to watch the video.

After seeing this, I can think back to all the dope fiend-like characters from my youth, from Cookie Monster to the Trix rabbit, and the how Sonny was “Koo-koo for Coco Puffs”. Stay off the Coco Puffs, Kids, they might be laced with magic fairy dust! Just kiddin’! Keep waxin’!