He Devil

This is Harlem. He is the devil. He is chock full of insecurity and has serious abandonment issues. He eats everything. He pees on everything. He has a bald spot below each floppy ear. I want to break up with him but I don't know how. He doesn't understand the word no and he thinks my bed is a fire hydrant. When he gets in trouble he wants me to rub his belly. He is dyslexic and, I believe, slightly autistic. He only sits for treats and he tries to hump my chihuahua Selah. He is cockeyed which only emphasizes his bad attitude. My room always smells like urine and it's because of him. I hope one day a dog pees on him. Karmic retribution.

The Divine Design of Nature

Have you ever woken up and seen the world differently? Everything is still the same and the dust particles are still dancing in the stagnant air of your recent slumber but something, you can't quite determine what, is...slightly augmented. We take our lives and the consequent balance of its tangibility for granted at times. We're surrounded by vortexes of gravity, atmospheric pressure and elemental equilibrium. Earth possesses those simple nuances that sprout from concrete or grow from the excrement of our pollution. And all the while this sublunary world is our perfect other, our soulmate in every way. For each breath we take we are responsible for the breath of a tree. For each photosynthetic reaction we are able to inhale life. The oceans are havens for our terrestrial ancestors and our birth. Each tree ring has a story of purpose, survival and potential as we have the fingerprints that kissed every endeavor and soothed every wound. We can count our gray hairs for each hardship as we can count each branch node for the strength to reach out and grow. The divinity in nature is that we can meet God everyday.

The Dems, The Republic And The People

I've always been partial to Hillary Rodham Clinton, despite her WASP-ish demeanor and look, she's been blunt, strong and unforgiving in her quest to the White House. Some may interpret her stratagem as edgy or perhaps even a little dirty (in reference to her attempts to low ball Obama in almost all the democratic primaries), but more so she is dedicated and unwavering in her crusade of a new America. But...yes, a but...her issues are teetering between Republican interest and new age Democracy. Hillary is synonymous with universal health care since the Clinton Administration yet her plan is riddled with smidgens of old school Republican policy with "tax credits" as the new money. In theory this works, in reality however, it could get a little shady. These tax credits are based on income and the level of health care is then based accordingly - which "usually" includes dental coverage. The model is based on the policies offered to Congress and acts to mimic the upper tier of economic prosperity to the other 98% of us. The hierarchy of health care will still be very much intact, give or take new regulations and/or restrictions (ie: outlawed discrimination on pre-exisiting conditions), which very well does change the face of insurance. But what if we take it a step further? As intriguing as Hillary's plan is, in all it's novelty and unburdening decor, will the tax credit eliminate the worry of health care despite it's mobility (or portability)? Obama offers subsidiaries to supplement income to reach a higher level of health care for families who choose to do so or who can afford to do so. Much like Hillary, the idea of socialized health care is still in its infancy for Obama too. His plan, his glorious plan, is much more comprehensive detailing each possible faux pas that could happen in this historical shift into realizing the American Dream. He holds employers, big corporations, pharmaceuticals and a list of other big money entities responsible for their affect on the common person. Albeit Hillary deigns the same but Obama's is invigorated hitting on many more key potentialities associated with socialization.

Obama is by far the better candidate although Hillary wouldn't be so bad herself. To me it is a win-win situation but Barack in office would only mean bigger leaps rather than half-steps. John McCain would just be a huge step backwards with his insistence that Iraq needs more soldiers to bunker down other parts of the country and counteract insurgent activity...does that even make sense? Let's get our country further into the trillions in debt and get the U.N to potentially revoke our involvement. Anyway, the point is that Barack Obama leads a multi-lateral approach in addressing the many new problems the Bush Administration has laid upon us, the national debt notwithstanding. I do not want the empty promises of Republicans who cater to lobbyists and hoity-toity corporations exploiting the very corrupt nature of politics. Why don't we try something brand-fucking-new and give the people a voice again. Why don't we pour money into education and not into this war so the teenager and pre-teens don't think shaking their ass is a ticket into wealth and security. WHEN DID A MIRAGE EVER TAKE THE PLACE OF SUBSTANCE? Morality aside, get with it America we are on the dawn of a new world and idiocy is the new packaged (and fat free) form of oppression.

The Devil Is Amongus

I've come across a lot of criticism being Catholic...well, raised Catholic - baptism, communion and confirmation. The Vatican has announced a new and improved list of deadly sins that, like its predecessor, leads to an eternity in the arms of Lucifer. From the seven, seven more have been implemented to wreak moral havoc on our God-fearing souls.

The original list: Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Wrath, Greed and Sloth.

The new, modern additions: Social Injustice, Pollution, Contraception, Genetic Engineering, Selling Drugs, Abortion and Obscene Wealth.

Pope Benedict XVI, as the 265th reigning spiritual leader of Catholics world wide, has roused archaic infrastructure into metamorphosis. The new body? Something more contemporary, something the kids can relate to. The original sins just weren't treacherous enough or maybe they were just too broad. These new additives are linear and precise - I'm guilty of more than half of them - I'm pretty sure all of America, maybe the entire world, will be going to hell in a basket if these were really the guidelines to which God tallied our worthiness. But isn't it in the very nature of religion, in all of it's man-made delusion, to muddle the intentions of God? The Bible is the greatest story ever told and it is, and always has been, a metaphor. Creationism will never achieve abolition of biology and maybe Adam and Eve were figurative creatures alluding to the human capacity of choice. The inner workings of the Bible are exceedingly exhausting and laden with historical agendas and social reflections. So maybe updating the sins is relevant? This could be true if the addendum didn't attempt to refute societal progression, to a degree of course. Contraception, despite its Eugenic birth, has liberated the female body from continual insemination. Intercourse, to be euphemistic, is both for procreation as well as pleasure - both duly noted in the bible. By condemning contraception the female body is then placed in servitude to perpetual motherhood. But then again, sex should only be practiced by married individuals, ideally with their husband/wife, but how can you expect to take care of an onslaught of babies? Does that mean that married couples shouldn't be having sex either? The reality of our species is not simply of procreation but emotional intuition and acts thereof. The denunciation of contraception is at best socially irresponsible and a reinforcement to stunted sexuality (which you can see with the priests and little altar boys).

These new supplementary and obtuse sins are amusing in their absurdity. By creating sins relevant to a new age the Pope has omitted the very reasoning behind them. Contraception has evolved from sex which evolved STDs. I'll admit that abortion is something I'd rather not touch on simply because I have never been in the situation, and I'm also pro-choice. That decision seems to be more between the person and God rather than the Vatican and a pool of "unworthy" individuals. Pollution, genetic engineering, social injustice, obscene wealth and selling drugs are definitely social issues that have a long, memorable impression on humanity but are they sin worthy? Genetic engineering shouldn't be used to work as the hand of God but instead used to cure the diseases detrimental to humanity...is it not the same with antibiotics or transplants? Especially due to the new discovery of not using embryonic stem cells. Point blank, these sins weren't thought through before released to masses. I'm more inclined to think the obsessively religious will swoon but for the audience they were aiming for, The Vatican should have done a little more research.

Generation Me

It's not the thought of kid suburbanites wearing sideways hats with the fresh new stickers placed strategically between recklessness and abandonment, no. It's not even the new breed of hippies with their American Apparel monochromatic outfits and stripped socks. I won't even go as far to say that it's the obsession with being real while ultimately being fake. What it is, to me, that I find truly disheartening is Generation Me...these kids today - The children who have somehow managed to omit their childhood while everyone else is trying to recapture, replay and reconcile their youth. How and why did humanity become so misshapen and backwards? Perhaps it's been salty pasts and shitty parents or good parents with shitty pasts, a proliferation of MTV subcultural transpositions, an ill-fated educational system or maybe a general disrespect for oneself. I don't think I'm alone in saying that I've had my traumas of adolescence and retrospectively, those deep set scars have manifested into a whole person. I see 13 year olds relinquishing themselves to destruction - drugs, alcohol, casual sex. These are things not unfamiliar to teenagers but certainly not lifestyles. And yet, there they are...like a parade of America's disillusionment and petty importance they define our future in every dirty and disappointing niche only The United States could conjure. It'd be easy to blame the parents, the toxicity of their surroundings and even absurd red herrings like music. The reality of the matter is a societal meltdown, a true and through, no holds bar, disembowelment of boundary and principal. Modernity has bequeathed a silent plague on our future and it's fucking depressing. Maybe it's a long-winded conspiracy theory with political agendas that demands a generation of complacency in mediocrity. I doubt it though, it's a little too optimistic. Instead, I see children stripped of their innocence and enigmatically forced into a psuedo-maturity, where the image misleads the experience. I've learned that to bring someone in to this world is the most selfless and selfish act all at the same time and with it comes responsibility. Not just as a parent, but as a community, a culture, a nation, a world. Lead those who have no leader and direct them to their path. Of course you can't walk it for them or save them from the inevitable (and almost endless) mistakes they will make...but you have to equip them with principles and convictions or they'll be lost forever. Love, like the sun, is transitional and constant...without it, our seeds won't grow.

Summa Theologica

"For I do nothing but go about persuading you all, old and young alike, not to take thought for your persons or your properties, but first and chiefly to care about the greatest improvement of the soul. I tell you that virtue is not given by money, but that from virtue come money and every other good of man, public as well as private. This is my teaching, and if this is the doctrine which corrupts the youth, my infulence is ruinous indeed. But if any one says that this is not my teaching, he is speaking an untruth. Wherefore, O men of Athens, I say to you, do as Anytus bids or not as Anytus bids, and either acquit me or not; but whatever you do, know that I shall never alter my ways, not even if I have to die many times." - The Trial and Death of Socrates

I was recently implored to read Summa Theologica by Thomas Aquinas as it is a tremendous influence in the very laws that orchestrate the world we live in - across racial, religious, judicious and classist divides. Apparently it is a work of great labor and eloquent theory based on the fundamental truth of God. I've gathered notes thus far and have decided that it is a bit Utopian. Thomas Moore is among my favorite philosophers with his paradoxical social constructs and implicit observation that humans are a maelstrom of contradictions and imperfections. Perhaps Summa Theologica is merely a supplement to the Bible? It's concepts of natural law and just war contain idealistic functionalities to play out divinity. Justice always requires a right or wrong, opposition or attraction and whatever contrariant that neutralizes. The Bible offers proverbial, metaphorical and literal guidelines in which to maneuver our lives. We are met with the obstacle of choice and the philosophy of right or wrong. Morality becomes an issue of the soul which is in direct consultation with God and hence we are simply the vessels of pre-ordination and, most of the time, fear. Summa Theologica is a hyperactive form of The Bible where in most cases than not it is used against the very ideals it dictates.
Perhaps I'm pessimistic..ok, even a little cynical but the ultimate truth is that we know nothing of God's plan. Some look to allegory, others to history and I myself look at everyone for meaning. I see dismal interpretations of humanity as much as I see transparent souls of good will. Summa Theologica seems to me as a commentary on what the world could be if humans were logical thinkers. Most of the time humans are in moral transit. Do we not know the right until after we've done the wrong?
Socrates was punished to death for his "conversions" of the young in Athens. By conversion, the Republic meant perversion as his teachings corrupted the minds of the youth by allowing them to think outside the supposed ancestral Gods. Despite his chances to escape and the pleas of his students, he stayed in jail awaiting his trial, "we ought not to retaliate or render evil to anyone, whatever evil we may have suffered from him". Socrates was a martyr for his intellectual beliefs and cast from Athenian minds as a traitor. Later those same men who ostracized him were sentenced to death. Was the afterthought justice or was justice served all along as the many outnumber the one? Is a just war just until it is proven unjust much as someone is innocent until proven guilty but reversed? Really, there is no such thing as a just war. Wars always claim to be in the name of God - from Palestine & Israel, Nazi Germany & Judaism, China & Tibet etc. But as time progresses and the wool is lifted, we see a menagerie of localized interest outside of religious overtones. We don't live in a comic book, there is no all-encompassing evil super villain trying to destroy our peaceful civilization. To have the religious grounds to start a war is dangerous. When there is a war, homes become the battlefield , children become soldiers and power struggles crush the struggle for peace. So, whose God is ultimate? Whose God is righteous? Do you know? As we occupy Iraq with the support of Christian leaders who say it is just, what do you as a product of our time, a distant relative to an Iraqi believe? The hundreds of thousands of human beings dead. Hussein dead. Americans dead. Kurds dead. Everyone all meeting the very tragic end to which justice acts to hinder. Who are we but the pawns of a false truth?



To Be Continued...