Again a Game... Again

Take my hand
Colors seem so black inside your head
Does everything reflect the time you spend?

So tired of thinking
You hide your face
Don't ask me to excuse

...

Save your words
They're never there for those who try
A stranger in a world, no longer mine

Sometimes I'm feeling used
I'll change my place
I'd sooner be excused

...

There are times, I confess, I'm not easy to accept
So come find, I'll react
I'm a reason to be there

I'm only laughing...

-- Mark Hollis (Talk Talk) 1984

Working Class Hero

As soon as you're born, they make you feel small
By giving you no time, instead of it all
'Til the pain is so big you feel nothing at all

They hurt you at home, and they hit you at school
They hate you if you're clever, and they despise a fool
'Til you're so f*cking crazy you can't follow their rules

When they've tortured and scared you for twenty-odd years
Then they expect you to pick a career
When you can't really function, you're so full of fear

Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV
And you think you're so clever and classless and free
But you're still f*cking peasants as far as I can see

There's room at the top, they are telling you still
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill
If you want to be like the folks on the hill

A working class hero is something to be

-- John Lennon (1970)

Russians

In Europe and America, there's a growing feeling of hysteria.
Conditioned to respond to all the threats in the rhetorical speeches of the Soviets.
Mr. Krushchev said, "We will bury you."  I don't subscribe to this point of view.
It'd be such an ignorant thing to do if the Russians love their children too.

How can I save my little boy from Oppenheimer's deadly toy?
There is no monopoly on common sense on either side of the political fence.
We share the same biology, regardless of ideology.
Believe me when I say to you, I hope the Russians love their children too.

There is no historical precedent to put the words in the mouth of the president.
There's no such thing as a winnable war; it's a lie we don't believe anymore.
Mr. Reagan says, "We will protect you." I don't subscribe to this point of view.
Believe me when I say to you, I hope the Russians love their children too.

We share the same biology, regardless of ideology.
But what might save us, me and you, is if the Russians love their children too.

-- Sting / Prokofiev (1985)

abortion politics

During my time in Congress, I regularly introduced legislation forbidding organizations that perform abortions from receiving federal funding. The US Government should not force taxpayers to subsidize an activity they believe is murder....

The federal government has no constitutional authority to permit, fund, or even outlaw abortion. Therefore, efforts to make abortion a federal crime are just as unconstitutional as efforts to prohibit states from outlawing abortion. A Congress that truly cared about the Constitution would end all federal funding for abortion and pass legislation restricting federal jurisdiction over abortion, thus returning the issue to the states....

One factor hindering the anti-abortion movement's ability to change people’s minds is that too many abortion opponents also support a militaristic foreign policy. These pro-lifers undercut their moral credibility as advocates for unborn American lives when they display a callous indifference to the lives of Iraqi, Iranian, and Afghan children....

[A]ll those who wish to create a society of liberty, peace, and prosperity should join me in advocating for a consistent ethic of life and liberty that respects the rights of all persons, born and unborn.

-- Dr. Ron Paul (from his website) Aug. 2, 2015

finite resources

Beyond a critical point within a finite space, freedom diminishes as numbers increase. This is as true of humans in the finite space of a planetary ecosystem as it is of gas molecules in a sealed flask. The human question is not how many can possibly survive within the system, but what kind of existence is possible for those who do survive.

-- Pardot Kynes, First Imperial Planetologist of Arrakis (Dune by Frank Herbert)

Minstrel in the Gallery

The minstrel in the gallery looked down upon the smiling faces.
He met the gazes -- observed the spaces between the old mens' cackle.
He brewed a song of love and hatred -- oblique suggestions -- and he waited.

Then he called the band down to the stage, and he looked at all the friends he'd made.
The minstrel in the gallery looked down on the rabbit-run.
And threw away his looking glass -- saw his face in everyone.

-- Ian Anderson / Martin Barre (Jethro Tull) 1975

words from a big wave surfer

Anything I do, I want to be good at. I honestly don't get that stoked beating people or being better than people. Contests are fun sometimes, but I don't have that crazy drive. So I like to challenge myself and get past any mental barriers that I have.... I expect a lot out of myself, and the fact that I ... live this amazing lifestyle, I better be pretty damn good at it and try and do some stuff.... If you're not, what the hell else are you doing with your life? You'd better have some passion for things or hold yourself to high standards or you're just getting by. I don't want to just get by.

It's just the challenge of being new at something and actually picking it up quickly and trying to be really good at it, you know? There's a difference between cannon fodder and actually getting a job done. I like applying and challenging myself. And I'm out actually doing something. I mean, I can challenge myself to beat some fucking video game, but what do you get out of that? What are you going to tell the grandkids one day? "I beat level 10 of WitchCraft." Or whatever the fuck it is. At least these are real experiences.

[T]he only guarantee you have in life is that you're going to die. So why can't you accept that that's going to happen and live your life now? Live like every day's your last instead of acting like [you] will be around forever. People get locked into this routine like they will have another opportunity another day. Ever since I was a little kid, I've been aware that I could be gone tomorrow, so I'm taking advantage of it while I can and trying to get some things done.... Everybody wants to pick [how they'll die], but it's not up to me, it's up to God. But I'm not trying to die; I'm trying to live.... I'm a firm believer that God's got my date written down and that's when I'm going. All I can do is make the most of what He's given me until then.... You don't know when you're going to go; you have to make sure that all of your friends and family know you love them... 'cause you might not see somebody again, or you might not be around.

[C]ut the bullshit and be yourself and start living life. Get to the point. Stop beating around the damn bush and get to the point on things.... Stop worrying about what people think of you. Cut loose. Get things done. I just hate seeing fear. Like, everybody has fear, I have fear of all kinds of stuff, I guess, but it's just insidious. It doesn't get you anywhere.... It's just all the crap we learn, like not to trust people, that make us all scared. You get a little older, have some experiences; and... you get all that scar tissue from the world you grow up in and people you're around, bad experiences and good experiences, and we get scared. We need to get back to the human we're created as....

I'm not curing cancer here; I'm paid to surf. I could be doing more noble pursuits than I am now. But hopefully what I do helps inspire somebody to actually live, and get out of their routine, and do what they're put on earth to do.

-- Mark Healey (Surfing magazine) April 2011.