Mickey Z

Cool Observer

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Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Is 9-1-1 a joke in your town?

Check out this police video to see what I mean by the above question.

You could also re-visit the story of Fred Hampton or, for the truly absurd, there’s this bizarre story about a “bike bomb."

Btw, if you’ve had issues with the police, here’s a site for you.

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Head’s Up: I might have to slow down a little bit at Cool Observer soon. I need to concentrate more on making money, getting ready to move, etc. and the time I spend here (and the time I spend writing) must and will be reduced...for practical reasons (hey, it’ll give my tired old eyes a much-needed break). I’ll try to maintain a daily post but, as you can already see, I may not be able to guarantee my regular participation on the comment board. I’m not sure if and when this will happen...so we’ll see how it goes. Either way, the comment board will remain open for your discussions.

John Lennon sez:
"Why on earth are we here? Surely not to live in pain and fear."

Posted by Mickey Z on 03/07 at 05:43 AM
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Monday, March 06, 2006

If voting could change anything...(well, you know the rest)

I recently came across a self-important “manifesto” of sorts that I penned back in 1993 or so, and thought it might be interesting to post an excerpt here, re: voting. It begins with a quote from poet Kenneth Rexroth.

Rexroth sez: “Fifty percent of the people in this country don’t vote. They simply don’t want to be implicated in organized society. With, in most cases, a kind of animal instinct, they know that they cannot really do anything about it, that the participation offered them is a hoax … they know that if they don’t participate they aren’t implicated, at least not voluntarily.”

From there, I continued: However, not voting is not enough. It is a purely defensive measure that does nothing to seriously challenge the political status quo. Making a statement by staying home on Election Day may clear our individual conscience…but the two-party fraud continues unchecked, and we all remain silent accomplices to the misdeeds of our government.

So, whaddya think?

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Wiki Update

I haven’t said much lately about my fake Wikipedia page because someone was kind enough to slap it with a “disputed” label and offer a rebuttal on the “talk” page. Also, it appears my (sic) page has made the Wiki Hall of Shame. However, while Wiki’s lack of reliability is becoming well known, my trolls/stalkers have opted to not leave well enough alone...and have continued to tamper. Let me be clear: I never wanted a Wiki page...but if I’m gonna have one, I don’t see why I should allow my meager efforts to be unfairly maligned by anyone with a web browser and an Internet connection. It’s depressing enough to work so damn hard as a writer for all these years with so little result...I sure don’t need potential newcomers to my work dismissing me thanks to a couple of bored kids exploiting Wikipedia’s naïve editing policy. Thus, I have a request: I’d love it if the Expendables would occasionally check out my fake Wikipedia page and use the open editing option to turn it into my real Wiki page. Remove the unverified innuendo and personal slander and replace it with fact (I can supply more details if you’d like). Be sure to check back every now and then because these trolls will likely try to revert your edits.

Posted by Mickey Z on 03/06 at 05:12 AM
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Sunday, March 05, 2006

Driven to Tears

I’m no fan of Sting or his safe, trendy political stances...but he did write some provocative lyrics back in the day, e.g. “Driven to Tears":

“How can you say that you’re not responsible?/What does it have to do with me? What is my reaction, what should it be/confronted by this latest atrocity?”

Noam Chomsky sez: “You are responsible for the predictable consequences of your actions.”

...but how many of us ever consider the “predictable consequences” of how we eat, what we say, where we shop, how we spend, whom we trust for information, what stances we’re willing to take and/or support? Terror attacks have become increasingly common. More often than not, these atrocities can be traced back to something the US government or the corporations that own it or nations aligned with it have done while we averted our eyes. As Americans, it is our tax dollars that fund the US war machine...and the retribution that war machine provokes cannot be shrugged off by any of us. Our lack of curiosity and suspicion enables the corporate media. Our willingness to trust and believe our leaders empowers them far more than our votes.

“Seems that when some innocent die/all we can offer them is a page in some magazine. Too many cameras and not enough food/this is what we’ve seen.”

Billions of our fellow humans live in abject poverty. Yes, Sting...there are too many cameras (not to mention all the other diversions disguised as consumer electronics) but there is enough food (at least for now). Why are so many starving in places overflowing with resources and what does that have to do with me, you, and every single one of us?

“Protest is futile, nothing seems to get through/What’s to become of our world? Who knows what to do?”

Amen to the protest line (as Mitch Hedberg sez: “I’m against picketing, but I don’t know how to show it.")...and we can readily see what will “become of our world” if we remain on the current path: if a select few continue to rape the planet, hoard the resources, and spend billions to keep our eyes averted and our focus distracted.

Look around...it’s already happening.

Who knows what to do? Just about every single one of us knows what to do...but most have yet to find the impetus to start doing it. It requires seeing with new eyes, making changes in way we live, and perhaps exposing ourselves to a fair amount of sacrifice and risk. The sides are being drawn...but the world’s 587 billionaires cannot stare down the hungry, angry eyes of three billion living on two dollars a day without the support of proxy armies and the tacit approval of distracted, disinterested Westerners.