A n a r c h i c _ U n i v e r s e ®

"Why Am I Surprised?"

While I was socializing, at my orthopædic doctor's office, a Mexican mom, from Jalisco, where the sing-song of Spanish is easily identifiable, told me the Pope had excommunicted all the politicians  who'd voted for the legalization of abortion in Mexico.  I need to check for that piece of news because:

In Brazil he declared the same thing.  There are two identical front pages of big newspapers.  However,  the official word of the Vatica omitted his threat.

Just click on the link inside my law school/journalism student, Gabriela Zago.

Then there are people surprised to learn Sarkozy, called by his detractors Sarkoh-fashoh, is Jewish.

I must confess I read about this two days before the election, which was on May 6.

As John Lennon would say, "So what so what, so f***ing what?"  What's the big surprise?

Take your pick.  I like the Google alerts.  You choose the subject they send you news once a day.  Très kewl? There are our delicious links , too.

I knew about this Pope from a article in the NYer.  I read it when I can.  My social life is so intense, from doctor to doctor; Check it out, please.

Mothers of the world, happy Sunday.  A cover of John Lennon's "All I Want Is the Truth."

Bush and the Blue Bus

Here in the Socialist Republic of Santa Monica we do have a pretty good bus transportation system, as long as you don't want to cross from the less privileged part of town to the very privileged part of Santa Monica. If you are in the gardener/maid category of primary ocupation you are doing fine riding the bus to the posh Pacific Palisades. There are many buses in the early morning into the PacPal and in the afternoon out of PacPal. Otherwise, forget it. Why people dare live on hills made of clay and dirt beats me. I know I live far enough form the beach in case of a Santa Monica tsunami. Maybe despite our secular pose, we do have enough temples and churches and even places of worship for others to protect SM from the wrath of superior beings, Hollywood stars excluded.

I am bluer than usual sure I am in good company. I saw B12 Partners had the scoop on Bush's Christian wish to throw some more grief on more famillies and drag more kids into Iraq. I was too drained to go to the blog and read. I waited for the morning after news in the Los Angeles Times. It was kind of fun to be a hippie in Rio, away from the angst here. I forgive my boomer friends who misconstrued the situation in 2002. After all, they were trained at school to hide under the school tables in drills to prepare Americans in case the Russians would attack us.

All of this time since the elections thrown in a platter to Bush, all of this time has been depressing. Today I bring a note of holiday cheer, it's a little animation film, made in Brazil, I hope it makes it big.

It's the discovery of the identity of Santa Claus, courtesy of bluebus, a great little Brazilian blog.

Its name is Oh! Oh! Oh!

And if you still are thinking of shopping for Xmas, or you like musicals, check this out, from this major polluting company :P

Can the Dream Come True?

Finally, the opportunity to see Dr. Martiin Luther King, Jr. delivering "I Have a Dream" on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in D.C. on August, 28, 1968 has come true. I had bought the LP. With it and a copy of the speech I taught figures of speech to my fourth-grade students. Now I play the LP every MLK day, loud and clear.

There is a huge set of worries on the political front these days. There are two years to go, please go and go soon. Then there are the Democrats themselves. They need t try very hard to act like the party the people expect them to be: fair, just, for the people, for our constitution, for health care, for jobs... There is no mystery about what our people want.

The problem is what the Democrats want. Do they want to smothe rin bacon, pork, oinc, oinc and lose the elections or for once in our era act dignified?

Then there is the Supreme Court. The pending decisions regarding race and school boaards, Seattle and Louisville. TIME magazine had a short article about this. It is true quotas and racial percentages aren't the ideal solution. What is the solution for a country in which people have grown up used to categorizing others according to color of skin or ethnicity or religion and today, 42 years after the Civil Rights Act high school children don't know it's against the law to use such slurs?

A parent said to me kids talk that way. Then they have to learn not to. My father didn't know any better. I know better, my son knows better. The USA is multi-racial. And the USA is multilingual. These are fact that will change after many generations of mixing and mixing. You don't like the truth, you can't handle the truth? Go to ... mmmm.... Greenland?

Martin Luther King, Jr. Like many of our heroes, he was assassinated. These are the words.

An American Sundae

An older lady enter an icecream parlor. Her grey long skirt suit is pressed prim and proper. She goes to a table at this icecream parlor, "Taste It Like It Is." A brown attendant comes to her. With his cap on, it is hard to tell if his hair is straight or frizzy. She's a little frazzled; those people don't make part of her world.

"Do you speak English, young man?"

"Yes, I do, I am from Chicago, actually." Anyone can tell he's used to people like the older lady.

"Well, this is what I want. I want a sundae with oats on top, then bran, then a banana, sliced. Under all this you can conceal some icecream, vanilla, please, and chocolate syrup, can you not?" The lady nearly whispers.

"Yes, ma'am."

And that is our posture. We pretend we are sacrificing, we are dieting, we are making efforts to swallow bitter pills. We emasculate/castrate our libido, get happy with violence, in our arts, in our entertainment. Or we are happy with money. Or we pretend we believe all that stuff pushed down our throats at temples and churches and then we push down our throats all possible food till we nap and wake up for more of the cycle of the fake healthy sundae.

Five years ago two girls died at a party in Westwood. I read the whole thing all over again. One was killed, the other overdosed on antidepressants, apparently. At a moment at the party where all this happened, the girls were egged on to keep on fighting.

Would the presence of parents have changed all this?

This is America.

Then four years ago two boys were killed in gang-affiliated shootings, it seems.

Then last year honors student Eddy López was murdered. A mistake.

Tom Hayden has marched.

The kids marched for Eddy López.

When SAMOHI was smeared with grafitti against African-descent kids, there was a huge protest. Eileen Strauss was fired and Hugo Pedrozo was hired, sorry I forgot to mention both are Drs.

Pedrozo's beginning was not auspicious. The guy promises to conduct an investigation on a hazing story, lets two weeks go by, says he won't do anything about it and does the minimum. The kids, as usual, don't know why anything happened. Who were the adults in the cars? They were busy savoring the vanilla icecream with chocolate syrup.

Don't you see? We are as hypocritical as Nathaniel Hawthorne's ancestors. To this day I may be thankful they taught the males how to read, and they had grueling work ethics. Alas! How arrogant, how smug, how fond of violence they were...

Damned is the human race.

Download violentfemmes.m3u
Violent Femmes download from official site. Violent Femmes play in San Francisco at the Filmore on December 28.