Bandits. . .

. . . or messiah. . .


(from Zealot;  The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan. . . )
". . . It was around this time that a new and far more fearsome group of bandits arose in Galilee, led by a magnetic teacher and revolutionary known as Judas the Galilean.  The traditions say that Judas was the son of the famed bandit chief Hezekiah, the failed messiah whom Herod had captured and beheaded forty years earlier as part of his campaign to clear the countryside of the bandit menace.  After Herod's death, Judas the Galilean joined forces with a mysterious Pharisee named Zaddok to launch a wholly new independence movement that Josephus terms the "Fourth Philosophy," so as to differentiate it from the other three "philosophies": the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes.  What set the member of the Fourth Philosophy apart from the rest was their unshakable commitment to freeing Israel from foreign rule and their fervent insistence, even unto death, that they would serve no lord save the One God.  There was a well-defined term for this type of belief, one that all pious Jews, regardless of their political stance, would have recognized and proudly claimed for themselves:  zeal. . . "

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Tribis Hippocriticus. . .

Mother always told us it's not nice to hate
She'd been practicing that golden rule for years
If we'd only treat each other how we want to be ourselves
God will love us
God will love us

When I first met you I was quite impressed
So much more than pretty face among the crowd
And it didn't happen overnight but the curtain slowly fell
And the colors of your rainbow were revealed

You are the tribis hippocriticus
You are the tribis hippocriticus
You are the tribis hippocriticus
We don't like you
Just trying to be honest

From your position of authority
You looked down and not across our great divide
With a smile upon your face and hands placed firm on the controls
You're so artistic
You're so artistic

Expertise portrayed for all appearances
Pure professional facade to face the crowd
But just beneath that thick veneer reside reality
The truth is evident and there for

You are the tribis hippocriticus
You are the tribis hippocriticus
You are the tribis hippocriticus
We don't like you
Just trying to be honest

'Cause that's the way we all should be
We're not islands
We're not stones
And just what will it take
To make you see this truth

Let me make it crystal clear how strongly that I feel
'Bout the way you take advantage for yourself
If you took the power devoted to your cold conniving ways
And you turned it
And you turned it totally around
Direct it to another place
Try to do what you have done unto yourself
Just a little understanding there are others here with you
This revolving's not designed for only you

You are the tribis hippocriticus
You are the tribis hippocriticus
You are the tribis hippocriticus
We don't like you
Just trying to be honest


Tribis Hippocriticus
©2013 Raymond M. Jozwiak





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Unsung. . .

. . . or unfocused? . . .

(from http://mentalfloss.com/article/30140/acdc-tesla%E2%80%93edison-feud#ixzz2cKrbbFpN)
". . . Edison’s least favorite of Tesla’s “impractical” ideas was the concept of using alternating current (AC) technology to bring electricity to the people. Edison insisted that his own direct current (DC) system was superior, in that it maintained a lower voltage from power station to consumer, and was, therefore, safer. But AC technology, which allows the flow of energy to periodically change direction, is more practical for transmitting massive quantities of energy, as is required by a large city, or hub of industry, say. At the time, DC technology only allowed for a power grid with a one-mile radius from the power source. The conflict between the two methods and their masters came to be known as the War of Currents, forever immortalized by the band AC/DC.

Tesla insisted that he could increase the efficiency of Edison’s prototypical dynamos, and eventually wore down Edison enough to let him try. Edison, Tesla later claimed, even promised him $50,000 if he succeeded. Tesla worked around the clock for several months and made a great deal of progress. When he demanded his reward, Edison claimed the offer was a joke, saying, “When you become a full-fledged American, you will appreciate an American joke.” Edison offered a $10/week raise, instead. Ever prideful, Tesla quit, and spent the next few months picking up odd jobs across New York City. Nikola Tesla: ditch digger. . . "

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Find . . .

. . . the most important instruction on the list. . .

1.  Clean up after yourself instead of leaving it

2.  Wipe all kitchen surfaces after you prepare and eat food - rinse all crustiness out of the sink.  (Dried food is difficult to clean later)

3.  Put dirty dishes in the washer or wash them

4.  Take trash out when bag is full

5.  Take recycleables out frequently (the bag gets hard to get out if its too    
full)

6.  Please make sure doors are closed and locked when you leave

7.  Please make sure doors are closed and locked when you come in

8.  Put lid on trash can (recycle) and bring back in yard Monday

9.  Put blue trash can(s) in alley Wednesday night

10. Put lid on (blue) trash can(s) and bring in yard Thursday

11. Please squeegee the walls and use the handiwipe to mop up water from where the walls meet the tub AFTER YOU SHOWER.  (Please!)

12. Please wipe up splashes from the bathroom sink and shelf with the handiwipe.  Please leave no puddles.

13.  Slow down, be careful

14.  Don't exert your back

15. Be careful

16. MOST IMPORTANT -

    H A V E   F U N  !  !  ! 


(If you guessed #16. . .
YOU WERE CORRECT!!)

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Puff. . .

Yeah, sure, Puff the Magic Dragon, blah, blah, blah. . .

Whether you love that song or despise it, Peter, Paul and Mary were much, much more than that!

(from wikipedia.com)
". . .Manager Albert Grossman created Peter, Paul and Mary in 1961, after auditioning several singers in the New York folk scene. After rehearsing them out of town in Boston and Miami, Grossman booked them into The Bitter End, a coffee house, nightclub and popular folk music venue in New York City's Greenwich Village.

They recorded their first self-titled debut album, Peter, Paul and Mary, the following year. It included "Lemon Tree", "500 Miles", and the Pete Seeger hit tunes "If I Had a Hammer" (subtitled "The Hammer Song") and "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?". The album was listed in the Billboard Magazine Top Ten for 10 months, including seven weeks in the #1 position. It remained a main catalog-seller for decades to come, eventually selling over two million copies, earning Double Platinum certification from the RIAA in the United States alone.

In 1963 the group also released "Puff, the Magic Dragon", with music by Yarrow and words based on a poem that had been written by a fellow student at Cornell, Leonard Lipton. Despite urban myths that insist the song is filled with drug references, it is actually about the lost innocence of
childhood. . .

The trio canceled several dates of their summer 2007 tour, as Mary took longer than expected to recover from back surgery and later had to undergo a second surgery, further postponing the tour.

Travers was unable to perform on the trio's tour in mid-2009 because of her leukemia, but Peter and Paul performed the scheduled dates as a duo, calling the show "Peter & Paul Celebrate Mary and 5 Decades of Friendship."

The Peter, Paul and Mary trio came to an end on September 16, 2009, when Mary Travers died at age 72 of complications from chemotherapy, following treatment for leukemia. It was the same year (2009) they were inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.

In 2010, Peter Yarrow and Paul Stookey, the surviving members of Peter, Paul and Mary, requested that the National Organization for Marriage stop using their recording of "This Land is Your Land" at their rallies, stating in a letter that the organization's philosophy was "directly contrary to the advocacy position" held by the group. . ."

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Both Sides. . .

So I've got to say that I certainly hear both sides of the debate (see Pianogonzology August 14th & 15th) and empathize with each.  Our society is all too quick to vilify and then we seek revenge.  (See Mel Gibson movies-Any)

While Anthony Weiner, Bob Filner and Eliot Spitzer have all done despicable deeds, some with more hubris than others, as Howard Bess says, dwelling on these things will only make us miserable human beings.

I certainly have no desire to bring additional or excessive misery upon myself.  First, and I'm sure Howard would agree, any illegal activity must not go unpunished.  And I most certainly believe Howard is spot-on that we must forgive and move on.  Based upon sincere remorse and a willingness to make amends (and restitution, if applicable) everyone deserves another chance.

What I have difficulty with, and I'm sure Howard is a much better man than I, is re-electing someone to the same position (or higher) when deficient remorse has been exhibited and excessive lack of scruples demonstrated.

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The Other Side . . .

. . . of the coin. . .

(from The Rational Optimist Frank S. Robinson)

". . .And now it comes out that the married Weiner (a/k/a Carlos Danger) engaged in even more and even dirtier stuff with even more women, since his resignation. (Alas, Spitzer may now seem almost clean by comparison.)

I never liked any of them. Spitzer and Weiner were both “progressive” blowhards. Spitzer was acclaimed as the “Sheriff of Wall Street;” I thought him a bully who abused his position and the law to curry popular favor shaking down unpopular targets. His governorship was a disaster even before the sex thing because he foolishly continued to act the bully. Weiner was no legislator, just a self-promoting publicity hound. . ."

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