Do unto Syria as you would have Syria do unto you

    While walking through the streets of San Francisco the other day and totally admiring this beautiful city's "painted lady" architectural glory, I suddenly and inexplicably started wondering what this amazing place might look like if it too had been bombed all to crap in the same manner that Damascus has been bombed to all to crap by all those missiles and cluster-bombs and Al Qaeda operatives that American taxpayers are paying for -- as they happily torture, rape and/or maim women and children in our name.

    And this sudden unexpected vision of beautiful San Francisco as a bombed-out ruin has even further strengthened my resolve to do everything that I can to prevent America's ruthless War Street from spending our money on bombing other countries -- lest something like this happens to our beloved San Francisco too.  Or to my own beloved Berkeley.

     We need to stop all this expensive, bloody and worthless slaughter and seriously consider a far, far better alternative instead: "Do unto Syria what we would have Syria do unto us."

     And let's also consider what corporate America's current utter lack of a "Do unto Africa as we would have Africa do unto us" policy would do to us here if it also was reversed?  Can you even imagine what it would be like in America if what happens in Africa today daily was happening here too?  Really?  Would we Americans love to be perpetually in debt to the world bank, have our lands and resources seized by neo-colonialists, our crops polluted with GMOs, millions of our women and children raped and killed, and our pristine forests turned into a dumping ground for nuclear and industrial waste?  Hardly.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yydDBl_UlpQ&feature=youtu.be

     And while we're at it, let's also "Do unto Israel as we would have Israel do unto us."  America's relationship to Israel right now sucks eggs for the Israelis.  And what exactly is this relationship?  It might be easier to understand if we look at it from a different perspective and if our roles were reversed. 

     Imagine, for instance, that some huge gonzo super-power on the other side of the world was pumping billions and billions and billions of dollars into America's economy annually -- but with only one stipulation:  That all this gigantic wad of free Moola can only be used for one purpose:  To kill, torture, maim and and jail Native Americans.  And steal their land.  And establish an American Gestapo defense force and fund SSettlers to take over what few Indian reservations we have left (after 19 million Native Americans have already been slaughtered here already), and to treat native Americans like animals and to napalm their children.  And to do this all in the name of God.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTrbVf6SrCc

     Would we, as Native Americans -- or even as just plain American citizens -- see the cruelty and injustice in this?  Or would we just sell out to all those big bucks thrown our way like the Israelis have; and just relax and glorify in the joy of having a vampire-like power over others who are completely at our mercy?

     These same choices are the ones that America's War Street is forcing Israelis to make every day.  And so far, most Israelis seem to have chosen blood-money over the Ten Commandments.  What a waste.

     And also let's consider another new perspective:  "Do unto nature and the environment what we would have nature and the environment do unto us."  Always remember that Nature bats last.  Think Fukushima.  Think a thousand more hurricanes like Sandy, Haiyan and Katrina.  More fracking earthquakes.  More 140-degree days.  "Admiral Samuel J. Locklear III, the commander of the United States Pacific Command, [stated] that global climate change was the greatest threat the United States faced — more dangerous than terrorism, Chinese hackers and North Korean nuclear missiles."  http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/10/learning-how-to-die-in-the-anthropocene/?src=recg&_r=3&

     And America's War Street and Wall Street and related skin-flint tax-dodging huge corporations are obviously not clear on the concept of "Do unto Americans as you would have Americans do unto you" either. 

     In the 1940s, every American sacrificed their comfort and rationed their goods and went without in order to pay for the "Good War".

     But ever since that stupid and useless invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, 99% of Americans are sacrificing and going without in order to pay for some stupid and useless "Endless War" that in no way benefits them -- while America's top one percent make no sacrifices at all; dining on caviar, buying cruise-ship-sized yachts with their bloody "war" profits and fiddling like Nero. http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/20603-business-elites-are-waging-brutal-class-war-in-america. 

     And yet most Americans these days do nothing to protect themselves from being cheated, robbed and exploited, but rather spend their last decaying days as citizens of a formerly economically-viable democracy happily watching pseudo-myths and fables on Fox News -- as our beloved country slowly slips into third-world status.  "Welcome to Jakarta."  http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/11/22/chilean-socialism-1-indonesian-fascism-0/

     Are we finally getting the Big Picture here yet -- that what goes around comes around?  If Americans continue to let Wall Street and War Street run our domestic policies, our foreign policies and our environmental policies, then all we can ever expect to receive is blood and carnage in return.

     "The Bible tells us so."

PS:  Denmark, a country generally known to be a socialist/commie anti-war environmentally-conscious female-honoring democratic single-payer Tea-Party nightmare, has just been declared "The Happiest Country on Earth".  However, you will find no countries at all that are currently under the sway of corporate America at the top of this Happy List -- not even America itself.   And definitely not any countries that corporate War Street has invaded in the last 40 years!  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/22/denmark-happiest-country_n_4070761.html

     But changing from one economic system such as America's current Corporate Welfare state to another such as Denmark's economic democracy is clearly not going to help us either http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/20254-meet-americas-biggest-welfare-queens.  We need to make even bigger changes, and go from using any economic system for judging our success and failure -- to utilizing a philosophical system instead, one such as "Do unto others..."

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Advertizements for myself: In these hard times of brutal (and illegal) corporatist ball-busting socialism-for-the-rich-only, I am doing whatever I can to make a spare dollar. Here are some of my current alternate-economy schemes that never seem to work -- but I keep hoping!
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If anyone ever wants to hire me on as a travel writer (or war correspondent), "Have laptop, will travel!"

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Need someone to help you throw out stuff? I'm really good at deciding what needs to be thrown out (starting with all those corporate-owned bums in Washington!)

****
Need an actor to play an older woman in your movie? Then I'm your man! I can portray all kinds of older women -- from judges, business execs and other insane zombies to bag ladies, cancer patients, kindly grandmothers and dying patients in rest homes. I've played them all. So send me a script and let's do this. Hollywood, here we come! Here's my reel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C91uEYjLUXA
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Are you a plaintiffs' attorney who is tired of writing those pesky personal injury settlement briefs all the time? No problem! I can write them for you. Years of experience. And pay me only if you win the case.
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I recently got my Notary Public commission!

Need a Notary Public? Have seal, will travel. E-mail me at jpstillwater@yahoo.com and I'll stamp your document, make it official and only charge $10. Of course if you live outside of Berkeley, I may have to charge travel expenses -- but am well worth it!

****

Want something good to read? Buy my book! "Bring Your Own Flak Jacket: Helpful Tips for Touring Today's Middle East," available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. http://www.amazon.com/Bring-Your-Own-Flak-Jacket/dp/0978615719/ref=cm_pdp_rev_itm_title_1. It's like if Jack Kerouac, Mark Twain and/or Janet Evanovich went to war.

I also wrote a book about going on Hajj (also included as a chapter in "Bring Your Own Flak Jacket," but this book is cheaper -- but it's worth buying them both!) My book on the Hajj is so outstanding that I bet even Christian fundamentalists will love it! Please buy it here: http://www.amazon.com/Mecca-Hajj-Lessons-Islamic-School/dp/0978615700/ref=cm_rdp_product
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"Imagine a world where EVERY child is wanted, nurtured, protected and loved: World peace in one generation!"You can now buy T-shirts, coffee mugs, tote bags, truckers' caps, baby gear and/or teddy bears with this logo printed on them. They make great gifts, especially for parents and teachers. To purchase, just click here:http://www.cafepress.com/StillTWaters


"Life is a competition. The winners are the ones who do the most good deeds." You can also buy T-shirts, coffee mugs, tote bags, truckers' caps, baby gear and/or teddy bears with this logo printed on them. They make great gifts, especially for those of us who are still idealists in these troubled times. To purchase, just click here: http://www.cafepress.com/StillTWaters

Giants, fairies, Disneyland, war, archetypes: The role of mythology in our lives

    I want to go back to Disneyland!  Who in their right mind wouldn't want to return to a time when the Middle East was represented by flying carpets in the "Small World" ride instead of all those sad videos of dead babies that we now see on the news.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW5D9PCWvOA

    And even in today's modern world, there are still myths and legends in our lives that motivate us, spur us on and keep us going -- such as the myth of the Good War, the hero, the Patriot, the soldier and all those Marvel superheroes who stand between us and our worst nightmares.

     And then there are the nightmares themselves. 

     But on the other hand, we also have many sweet, gentle myths and archetypes that enhance our world and bring us gifts of love -- such as the good fairies who grant us three wishes, the Three Wise Men, and Glinda the Good Witch of the North.  "You're capable of more than you know..."

      "Please read me another story from the fairy tale book," says my granddaughter Mena every night before bedtime.  She loves fairy tales.  They help to explain a confusing adult world to her in a way that a five-year-old can understand.  The wicked witch in Hansel and Gretel.  Monster High's cool DracuLaura.  The town musicians of Bremen, the three little pigs.  Parents as giants, towering over kids.  Or even when Mena was a hero herself, during a deadly asthma attack last year.  Fairy tales help Mena to understand that there are both good guys and bad guys in the world -- and that the good guys sometimes actually win.

     Then we have all those other myths and archetypes which are deliberately created by clever PR campaigns, ones that make us believe that if only we buy this fabulous 4G high-speed cell phone or that sexy high-speed car, we too will become a Hero.  Not so, sadly.  All we really are doing is speeding up the death of the Earth as we know it.  And our deaths too.

     And did I forget to mention the myth of War?  That if you can just kill enough people, then Might will make Right.  Where mass murder becomes sanctioned and even glorified.  Where "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" becomes a tooth in exchange for a thousand cemeteries http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2SLvkUE8B0&feature=c4-overview&list=UUucnzI3V8FZgfgIXkxMqiqA.  What a bloody lie.  I myself prefer the "Love thy neighbor as thyself" myth much better.  Plus it's far easier than trying to get blood stains out of the carpet once all those murderous Heroes have moved on to the next Good War.

     And then, of course, there is the myth (and the reality) of our own evil twin.  I just finished reading a book called "The Tools," which advises us to harness the power of each person's evil twin in order to make them our allies instead, and to help us do Good.  Good luck with that one.

    Bottom line:  Legends and myths and fairy tales and giants and archetypes all come from somewhere deep within the dark reaches of our individual subconscious minds.  And these myths and archetypes have an important role to play in our lives.  I'm just saying.  Ignore them at your own peril.  Or else try to take advantage of them -- before they take advantage of you.

PS:  Am currently reading two fairy tales for adults:  "Summerland" by Michael Chabon and "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman.  Will let you know how they turn out.  And am also trying to figure out how to win the lottery so I can go back to Iraq with Hinterland Travel next October http://www.hinterlandtravel.com/iraq_upcoming.htm, to see where they wrote "1,001 Nights".

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Advertizements for myself: In these hard times of brutal (and illegal) corporatist ball-busting socialism-for-the-rich-only, I am doing whatever I can to make a spare dollar. Here are some of my current alternate-economy schemes that never seem to work -- but I keep hoping!
******

If anyone ever wants to hire me on as a travel writer (or war correspondent), "Have laptop, will travel!"

******

 
Need someone to help you throw out stuff? I'm really good at deciding what needs to be thrown out (starting with all those corporate-owned bums in Washington!)

****
Need an actor to play an older woman in your movie? Then I'm your man! I can portray all kinds of older women -- from judges, business execs and other insane zombies to bag ladies, cancer patients, kindly grandmothers and dying patients in rest homes. I've played them all. So send me a script and let's do this. Hollywood, here we come! Here's my reel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C91uEYjLUXA
****
Are you a plaintiffs' attorney who is tired of writing those pesky personal injury settlement briefs all the time? No problem! I can write them for you. Years of experience. And pay me only if you win the case.
****

I recently got my Notary Public commission!

Need a Notary Public? Have seal, will travel. E-mail me at jpstillwater@yahoo.com and I'll stamp your document, make it official and only charge $10. Of course if you live outside of Berkeley, I may have to charge travel expenses -- but am well worth it!

****

Want something good to read? Buy my book! "Bring Your Own Flak Jacket: Helpful Tips for Touring Today's Middle East," available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. http://www.amazon.com/Bring-Your-Own-Flak-Jacket/dp/0978615719/ref=cm_pdp_rev_itm_title_1. It's like if Jack Kerouac, Mark Twain and/or Janet Evanovich went to war.

I also wrote a book about going on Hajj (also included as a chapter in "Bring Your Own Flak Jacket," but this book is cheaper -- but it's worth buying them both!) My book on the Hajj is so outstanding that I bet even Christian fundamentalists will love it! Please buy it here: http://www.amazon.com/Mecca-Hajj-Lessons-Islamic-School/dp/0978615700/ref=cm_rdp_product
****
"Imagine a world where EVERY child is wanted, nurtured, protected and loved: World peace in one generation!"You can now buy T-shirts, coffee mugs, tote bags, truckers' caps, baby gear and/or teddy bears with this logo printed on them. They make great gifts, especially for parents and teachers. To purchase, just click here:http://www.cafepress.com/StillTWaters


"Life is a competition. The winners are the ones who do the most good deeds." You can also buy T-shirts, coffee mugs, tote bags, truckers' caps, baby gear and/or teddy bears with this logo printed on them. They make great gifts, especially for those of us who are still idealists in these troubled times. To purchase, just click here: http://www.cafepress.com/StillTWaters

TV violence: America's dark night of the knoll

     I was watching "The Mentalist" on TV recently, where some guy was being tortured, had a finger cut off with pruning shears and his face caressed with an acetylene torch.  Yikes!  And even during that nice little detective show "Castle," you can always count on seeing a whole bunch of blood and guts -- not to mention the torture scenes and disemboweling now available on "Elementary" and "Body of Proof" and "Revolution" and "Person of Interest" and "Scandal".  And these are just the milder prime-time television shows.  I'm not even going to get into the nightmare-producing horrors of "Criminal Minds" and "Law & Order SVU" -- because I can't even bear to watch those.

     And then there are all those currently-popular "undead" shows too.  How many times can you torture a werewolf or drive a stake through a vampire's heart before he or she is truly dead?  Apparently a lot. 

     I can think of at least eight TV series off the top of my head right now that face this very problem nightly in our very own living rooms:  Dracula, The Originals, Vampire Diaries, Grimm, Once Upon a Time, Sleepy Hollow, Beauty and the Beast, Supernaturals.  And, again, that's not even counting cable and "True Blood".  What are America's television viewers THINKING!  Are they that hungry for blood?  Apparently. 

     But thank goodness I can't afford cable TV because that would mean there would be 500 more channels with 500 more new and different ways to kill people off violently and with lots of blood and torture and gore.  Good grief, no wonder hardly anyone blinked when the horrendous secret tortures of Abu Ghraib, Zero Dark 30 and Palestine were exposed to America by social media http://www.roitov.com/articles/policeterror.htm.  "No big deal.  We see that kind of stuff on TV every night!" Americans replied.

     If one were to judge the American way of life solely by what its most popular television programs are, one would think that Americans were all murderous blood-thirsty psychopathic nut cases who dream only of blood.

     To quote George H.W. Bush, "The American way of life is non-negotiable."  Makes you wonder about that.

PS:  And speaking of TV violence and George H.W. Bush, wouldn't you just love it if, on his deathbed, Poppy Bush suddenly decided to make one last attempt at becoming one of the most famous men in history (in the grand tradition of John Wilkes Booth for instance -- or Marcus Julius Brutus) by finally confessing to his role in the assassination of John Kennedy.  Wow!  That would really earn Poppy a place in our history books for sure!  http://whowhatwhy.com/2013/11/06/bush-and-the-jfk-hit-part-8-prepping-a-patsy/

     But what I would really love to see would be Dick Cheney doing the same thing:  In a fabulous deathbed interview with Olivia Pope herself, Cheney would finally "tell all" about what he had really been doing on the day that the Twin Towers fell.  Hell, even Dracula himself would come back from the Undead to watch that TV show.  Me too.

     I bet there's a whole long list of creepy "Patriots" here in America, just like those creepy Patriots in "Revolution," who know exactly where all the bodies in recent American history are buried -- and these creepy guys are all getting up there in age.  So if any of these shadowy "Persons of Interest" should suddenly decide that they want to add to America's "Body of Proof," become an "Original" and create a huge "Scandal," now is the time!

PPS:  I have just one more thing to say about the mind-numbing violence of JFK's assassination:  If it had happened today instead of 50 years ago, every SmartPhone in Dallas would have posted that video on FaceBook in a nanosecond -- a la the shooting of Oscar Grant.  And that grassy knoll shooter wouldn't have stood a chance in Hell of getting away.  And there couldn't have been any slimy Warren Commission cover-ups either. 

     America's shadow figures and black-ops plotters can no longer get away with the low-life garbage they used to easily pull off 50 years ago, thanks to social media.  And that's "Elementary".

PPPS:  Overheard on a military base on Veterans Day:  "You gotta love America.  Even our gangsters are better-armed."

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*************************************

Advertizements for myself: In these hard times of brutal (and illegal) corporatist ball-busting socialism-for-the-rich-only, I am doing whatever I can to make a spare dollar. Here are some of my current alternate-economy schemes that never seem to work -- but I keep hoping!
******

If anyone ever wants to hire me on as a travel writer (or war correspondent), "Have laptop, will travel!"

******

 
Need someone to help you throw out stuff? I'm really good at deciding what needs to be thrown out (starting with all those corporate-owned bums in Washington!)

****
Need an actor to play an older woman in your movie? Then I'm your man! I can portray all kinds of older women -- from judges, business execs and other insane zombies to bag ladies, cancer patients, kindly grandmothers and dying patients in rest homes. I've played them all. So send me a script and let's do this. Hollywood, here we come! Here's my reel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C91uEYjLUXA
****
Are you a plaintiffs' attorney who is tired of writing those pesky personal injury settlement briefs all the time? No problem! I can write them for you. Years of experience. And pay me only if you win the case.
****

I recently got my Notary Public commission!

Need a Notary Public? Have seal, will travel. E-mail me at jpstillwater@yahoo.com and I'll stamp your document, make it official and only charge $10. Of course if you live outside of Berkeley, I may have to charge travel expenses -- but am well worth it!

****

Want something good to read? Buy my book! "Bring Your Own Flak Jacket: Helpful Tips for Touring Today's Middle East," available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. http://www.amazon.com/Bring-Your-Own-Flak-Jacket/dp/0978615719/ref=cm_pdp_rev_itm_title_1. It's like if Jack Kerouac, Mark Twain and/or Janet Evanovich went to war.

I also wrote a book about going on Hajj (also included as a chapter in "Bring Your Own Flak Jacket," but this book is cheaper -- but it's worth buying them both!) My book on the Hajj is so outstanding that I bet even Christian fundamentalists will love it! Please buy it here: http://www.amazon.com/Mecca-Hajj-Lessons-Islamic-School/dp/0978615700/ref=cm_rdp_product
****
"Imagine a world where EVERY child is wanted, nurtured, protected and loved: World peace in one generation!"You can now buy T-shirts, coffee mugs, tote bags, truckers' caps, baby gear and/or teddy bears with this logo printed on them. They make great gifts, especially for parents and teachers. To purchase, just click here:http://www.cafepress.com/StillTWaters


"Life is a competition. The winners are the ones who do the most good deeds." You can also buy T-shirts, coffee mugs, tote bags, truckers' caps, baby gear and/or teddy bears with this logo printed on them. They make great gifts, especially for those of us who are still idealists in these troubled times. To purchase, just click here: http://www.cafepress.com/StillTWaters