Wayne 1

It was late afternoon. We stood on Wayne’s porch enjoying the cool breeze; the children were milling around with the dogs and horses in the paddock: shrieking, barking, neighing.
"Government," said Wayne, "government..."
I actually had not mentioned government, but muttered a slight "hmm?", as to encourage him to complete his thought.
“See that slope?” said my imaginary friend, pointing at the side of the mountain facing us, still visible in the failing light. “See anything wrong with that? Looks pretty darn good, doesn’t it.”
It looked undeniably good. It rose to a few hundred feet above the valley where we stood: mainly Ponderosa, some Spruce, occasional patches of bright green first-growth Aspen, perhaps sites of small long-ago fires.
“Yes, nice. What about it.”
“I look after that,” he said. “The wood you buy from me in the fall each year? It all comes from those slopes. Year after year. Still looks good though, doesn’t it”.
“Yes, well,” I replied,” that’s because you know what you’re doing.”
“So I don’t need no environmentalists, tree huggers, regulators, Indians, forest experts, commin’ here telling me what to do.”
“But that’s just you. Another person would make a mess, clear-cut, make landslides, torch it, drive all over it...”
“I drive all over it,” said Wayne.
“Still,  you probably don’t destroy the watercourses, churn up the whole place and scare the owls.”
“Yeah, right. I say who needs those owls.”
Wayne never used the word “fuck” or any other obscenity in his talk. He wasn’t that kind of cowboy. But here, “fucking” was clearly a missing adjective before the word “owls“.
“Too many animals in these valleys. Elk and deer destroy the pastures before the cows can get to them in spring. But you try culling them...”
“Me? No, I’m a vegetarian.”
“I don’t mean you, I mean you try culling them.”
“There is a hunting season.”
“And I take out as many as I can get in my sights. As many as my permit allows...Take all that Elk, every one, get rid of them, send them to France, they would love them there, love them to death, with luck.”
We stood in silence for a while. The kids retreated up on to the paddock railings and were wiping horse shit of their legs and sneakers.
"Government," said Wayne, "government...they want to take care of me, but they don't take care of what really matters. You know, a lot of things just don't get talked about. Did you know that gay illegal aliens come here and get married, adopt some of our children, take every job that there is, then take the adopted children, load them with explosives and send them into government buildings, airports and the like for Al Qaeda? Does anyone dare mention that?"
"No. Is that true? I didn't know that."

Wayne

Wayne is a cowboy; he lives up in the high country, home schools his brood, herds cows, wears chaps, funny boots, beaten up black hats, and holds strict right-wing political views. His wife is a nice woman, and does not have big hair. Dirt poor, forever scrambling for odd jobs, he beamed with pride when I once commented on a statement of his:
"Spoken like a true capitalist," I said.
He furrowed his brows when I spoke of Cuba's medical statistics.
"Castro? Fidel? Yeah, right."
On Native Americans:
"Assimilate. Why can't they just assimilate."
But, he didn't shoot me, ever, like I never pulled his hair in spite. Must like me a bit, like I like him, a bit.
His name is not really Wayne, it's worse than that. And some of the details I mentioned above are both true and false, but be assured of both his unique and multiple existence.
I rarely see him any more. Our children used to be friends, but they drifted apart as they grew into their teens, separated by lifestyle choices, and political views. Yes, all our children are "political". My daughter plays in chess tournaments, winces as she streaks between the front door and the car door on her way to public education, his rides in rodeos, and gallops through driving blizzards astride hoofed animals. They could find common ground, but they don't search for it. They are both champions in their chosen areas, neither boasts of triumphs in front of the other. They are "friends" on Facebook, but never linger on each other’s walls.

I use Wayne the way I use imaginary Moslems, Jews, Christians, Commies, realtors, or fanatics at the end of any spectrum, to have these worrying discussions with, where I can attribute to them absurd views, which I assume they hold, and then demolish them (their views that is).

I will let you know what stupid things I think on Wayne’s behalf in the next blog installment.  

The erased ones

I realize, of course, that the images, which I posted below, have now become iconic. They do represent different things to different people; some interpretations and reactions are most odd. I have recently become aware how anti-woman Orthodox Judaism is. Here where I live, there is a "progressive" Jewish faction, who's Rabbi is a woman. One step ahead of most Christian factions. She appears to be a "shining light" of tolerance, engages in cross cultural, religious, and denominational exchanges, engaging her own, and also Moslem and Christian groups (though I imagine that both Jews and Moslems are few in number in our valley).

I have heard that there is a drive by the Orthodox to have women sit in the backs of buses in Israeli cities, but that at least acknowledges their existence, somewhere...back there. Today, I read that in a US Jewish daily (Der Tzitung), both Hillary Clinton and the other woman lurking in the back of the group have been photoshopped out. The very image of a woman is considered so unacceptable, perhaps provoking uncontrollable lust in members of that particular congregation, that it needs to be erased. How do they deal with men who lust after other men, I wonder. Nothing but luscious hunks in that photo.

I still do not quite connect how societies like that, but especially ones with strong fundamentalist Moslem elements, manage to produce women leaders. They seem to occur in Moslem nations more frequently than in the US, and several other "Western/Christian" nations. Israel too, after all, had Golda Meir. I assume that this extremism is a recent trend, and perhaps is growing in strength to counter the world-wide rise of women in all areas. At best, it will soon become overwhelmingly apparent, that societies that are successful are ones where women are allowed to realize their potential, and that their success will be so overwhelming that they will make flaccid  all those little retro dicks

(Tragic) Situation Room situation

Nice one.
It turns out that this photograph of Obama, Hillary et all watching "Osama Death Live" was staged. The connection with the camera mounted into one of the Seals' helmets was long lost, in fact all those folks looking clearly in awe of the historic drama unfolding before them were at that very moment feeling most irritated by the fact that they did not know anything about what was happening in distant Abbottsabad. Very good acting indeed, considering that there must have been some distracting tension in the room: was the extrajudicial murder going as planned? (The official version tells us: The photos show the President consulting with Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, Vice President Joe Biden, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton among others.  Some photos are very intense, such as the photo (...below...) which shows the entire team intensely focused on a screen while they all receive live updates on the operation.  Other photos show the President clearly under an enormous amount of stress in the final hours of the operation. The actual raid (...) lasted only 40 minutes.(...) None of the United States service members in the operation were killed or injured.  The major objective of the operation was clearly the capture or killing of "Geronimo," the code name for Osama bin Laden.  In the last minutes of the attack the President and the rest of the team were informed that "Geronimo" was "KIA.")

Ah yes, Geronimo.




Clinton is the best: hand clasped over mouth is a masterful touch. Obama wins first for subtlety, almost humble, as if hidden in a discreet corner of the room, but on closer inspection sternly focused, clearly in charge of Western Civilization and its destiny. Others are either overacting or looking a bit embarrassed, Biden seems not to have understood his instructions and appears to be watching a B&W Ronald Regan movie.

 

Here, a reaction:
Candice Mathers
"So fascinating that the intelligence gotten from Waterboarding...which all Navy seals must do to get their credential...is what helped our cia and military find Bin Laden. I thank George W for this and Obama for having the balls to do a covert operation and to not trust Pakistan--a country that should never be trusted again! Thank God for Waterboarding which should always be used when Innocent lives are at stake!"

Innocent is capitalized, because Innocent R-us.

Aleister and Osama

More thoughts on Osama bin Laden.

I read, a long time ago, of an encounter between Aleister Crowley and an Indian holy man. This has faded in my memory so much that I am no longer sure if I either read, heard, or invented this fragment, but what remains in my memory serves well to illustrate a point, an issue. 

Embellished with detail:

Both Crowley and the holy man were sitting outdoors, by a body of water,  engaged in conversation. Crowley was being bothered by mosquitoes, and he noticed after a while that the holy man was not. He turned to the man and questioned the situation, to which the holy man replied somethin'  loike:
"Gott'a love 'em, mate. Gott'a love 'em."

Now  the epic scale of this event overwhelms my long term memory storage banks, but I do vaguely recall a satisfactory resolution for this problem of Crowley's.

Mosquitoes are not my first choice for projectile love, but when I view them objectively, neo-Wiccan and a bit Eastern like,  I push them aside, gently so as not to damage their blood sucking instruments.
"Pass the word, guys, I'm at peace.  I love you all! No harm will come to you on my exposed forearms, but just go suck someone else, will you?"

This doesn't really work; they do come back. I blame that on a deficit of true love for the insects.  I'm getting there, but it needs more work.

Simply simplistic allegory-wise, but at the core of ethical codes amongst us, creatures on Earth. As Elton put it: love is what we're here for. 

But, unethical rulez.

Osama bin Laden

Triumph?
This morning Osama bin Laden was executed, without trial, by an "elite" US squad. Crowds chanting USA! USA! waving flags, tears streaming, hugging, singing, gathered throughout the country. "Justice has been done," said President Obama.
And now? The pursuit of "justice" has led to the deaths of countless thousands of people around the world. Were all those people, mostly civilians, executed in the name of justice? Is that going to end now?
My feeling is that the cycle of violence will become invigorated by this act, the manner in which it was conducted, and then celebrated.