2022 - A Ranting Retrospective.

 

The predominant focus for 2022 has to be the war in Ukraine. A close second is proof that certain government agencies have colluded with social media platforms to spread disinformation about various essential issues. This real conspiracy revealed the suppression of news that would have significantly influenced the 2020 Presidential election. Yes, I'm talking about the Hunter Biden Laptop. With the aid of social and corporate media, the government spread the lie that the laptop was an effort by the Russians to influence votes in the United States. Specific statistics show a sway of at least 16% of votes in favor of the Trump campaign.  For agencies like the FBI and CIA, running interference in American elections (suppressing the truth and forwarding lies) should have been a significant scandal. For the most part, however, this anti-constitutional corrupting influence was barely covered. This is merely another reason for not trusting mainstream corporate media. 

What naturally follows here is the severe censorship of particular voices on social media, as revealed by the Twitter Files. Those who control the narrative will dictate people's views of the world. The misinformation spread by corporate news and the censorship on social sites has forced many to seek alternative media. From one survey, I discovered that the corporate media is less trusted than the American government - and that's saying something. 

What many call a "mask-off" moment, the extent of censorship across the board is more severe than anyone could imagine. Those promoting a different perspective of the Russian proxy war in Ukraine were banned, shadow-banned, or banished entirely from any platform. War is a divisive issue for people, no matter what they believe. Personally, I lost a good friendship from my views of Ukraine. We agree on just about everything else except this stupid war. For our authorities to expect us to believe everything they vomit out daily is ridiculous. Many people do not have the time to read alternative media and varying points of view on any given subject. Family, two jobs, etc., collapsing on the couch, and switching on the major networks is about the extent of knowing what is happening in the world. 

In an unprecedented move, the US government approved over 780 billion to the war budget. Though it seems to change weekly, close to 100 billion was given to Ukraine for the US's proxy war with Russia. This is a massive amount of money, a massive dent in the American tax dollar. While the US has a huge homeless problem, a corrupt medical system designed to bankrupt families, and the average family working paycheck to paycheck, 100 billion dollars handed over to Ukraine is a slap in the face for the common American citizen.  

Over 2022, I've often commented on why our governments are handing over so much money for war. Our government is not for the people but is the servant of the corporations. Ukraine is a boon for weapon manufacturers and related companies producing military products. Our politicians are rewarded by their donors, ensuring they remain in office. Like all recent wars over the 20 years, including Libya, Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan, this is our capitalism in motion. War for these people, although shrouded in jingoistic rhetoric and nationalistic cliches of 'freedom and democracy,' is a money laundering exercise and racket. More people are beginning to understand this caper of war, which can only be good. 

In Australia this year, the Labor Party was elected, and there were high hopes that the Prime Minister would speak up about Julian Assange. He finally spoke up about a month ago, but in all reality, the Assange case is out of his hands. The Intelligence agencies are the ones running the show in this case. No one can go against the permanent state because, as one politician has said, "they can screw you six ways from Sunday." Assange remains in a high-security prison without charge in the UK for exposing the machinations of these agencies. These organizations are above the law. 

From a personal perspective, the Russiagate hoax was all a lead-up to the proxy war with Russia. Russia was and currently is rammed down our throats as the west's number one enemy. I remember the movies and TV shows over the last few years that all have posted Russia as the antagonist. Undoubtedly, we have been systematically conditioned to see Russia as a threat. Russia was never a threat after the fall of the Soviet Union. America requires an enemy to ensure its goal of economic and political hegemony of the planet. 

Other big news for 2022 is the amount of disinformation and the suppression of true information regarding COVID-19. Over the year, I refused to comment for fear of being banished. Those maintaining the establishment narrative made a ton of money. Many lost their businesses and homes as a result. 

There have been other important issues and revelations in 2022 that I've failed to mention. Censorship, government agency influence in our elections, and unrelenting war propaganda to promote more destruction are the issues that stand out for me. 

We should see more light in 2023. (fingers crossed).

Happy New Year.

Charles Bukowski - Post Office - Review

 

This is Bukowski's debut novel, written and published in 1971 when the author was 51 years of age. His publisher requested he write a novel after publishing a smattering of his poems. He received the manuscript within three months. When asked why only three months? Bukowski's reply: "Fear." To the author's surprise, the novel became a success, and more novels, poems, articles, and essays followed. Bukowski is considered by many to be one of America's top poets. 

My reading experience with this author was limited to his poetry. During my 'beat' phase, reading Kerouac, Ginsberg, and Burroughs, I came across a collection and couldn't get enough. Post Office is an obscenely honest, hard-drinking narrative of a working man with a curious attitude of "I don't give a stuff about anything" way of life. The novel is about a man who gets a job at the post office, quits, is hired again, and remains there for eleven years. 

There are only three activities our narrator cares about: women/sex, and drinking. He's living with his wife in a small hotel room, where both are devoted to alcohol and each other. He only works enough to drink, bet on the horses, rent, and have a little food. This wife finally leaves him, though they remain good friends. Some years pass, and they run across each other again and have another go at their relationship. Both have aged, and that old 'love spark' has vanished. Later she dies a lonely, slow death due to alcohol. He's right by her side at the end. 

The tedium of working at the post office is well expressed. In his early days as only a temporary carrier, his experiences in the rain and the aggressive and sad customer reactions are, at times, hilarious. There is one exchange with a woman who demands a letter from him. She goes into a rage when he says he doesn't have anything for her. It's somehow the mailman's fault she doesn't have mail. Another experience on the mail line is he's seduced by an angry customer. This is a bit of a cliche, "Having an affair with the mailman," though he pulls it off, and it reads truthfully. 

The character's second wife comes from a wealthy Texas family. He's certainly out of his league, but the woman loves him. In fact, she's a nymphomanic and wants it at every turn. All will be well if he just hangs in there for a while. They return home from a Texas trip, and she demands he get a job. She will as well; this is to show her parents that they can survive on their own. It's here he returns to the post office. This marriage ends in divorce because she has met another man at work. After they divorced, she wrote him a letter. Once the man realized she was divorced, he ignored her. 

I totally enjoyed his experiences at the race track. His method of picking the winner could be more scientific, though, for a time, it works wonderfully. So much so he takes a three-month leave of absence from the post office to try his hand at professional gambling. He has a good run, eating at fine restaurants and staying at first-rate hotels, and of course, the winning streak ends, and he returns to the grind. 

I personally love this style of transparent, no-frills prose. 

Post Office gave me the first taste of Bukowski's story-telling, and I'll be returning for more. 

O’ Henry and the Spirit of Giving: A re-telling of "The Gift of the Magi."

 

After teaching for some years in Australia, it is only after the reports are completed that I can finally breathe a sigh of relief and look at the festive season. It is only tonight that my list was made for gifts; although rather slim under the circumstances (less cash than usual), lack of $ somehow turns Christmas into a more meaningful event. Why? One needs to think about the gift because we want the gift to “mean” something to the receiver.

This reminds me of an O’Henry story.

 I recall reading The Gift of the Magi as a teenager, which significantly affected my outlook on Christmas and the world.

It has been many years since reading this gem, so bear with my sparse and general prose; at least, hopefully, the primary theme, the “message,” will be made clear:

Around the 19th century in grand old London, a couple lived in a very small flat on the East end, but a flat was only large enough to cook their breakfast and dinner and sleep together in a single bed. Their home was humble yet clean as the wife ensured their home remained spotless, their sheets crisp and white, their windows transparent, ensuring what little sun they captured would shine through…

Unfortunately, the husband lost his job as a clockmaker because times were hard, and people could not purchase fine-crafted timepieces. But it was Christmas, the season for giving, acknowledging life’s miracles, and the birth of a true Man of God.

In only a few weeks, all their money evaporated, not from frivolous wants but from basic needs.

One thing you should know about this special couple is that they were wonderfully in love. Fine home, beautiful clothes, and objects of beauty made no difference to them as long as they had each other.

She had the longest, most beautiful hair in London. In fact, people on the streets, gentlemen, and ladies, would stop her and comment on its color, sheen, and magnificent appeal.

Though dressed in an old suit, he managed to maintain an air of respectability. His most prized possession was a gold pocket watch that had been given to him by his father, which had been given to his father by his grandfather, and so on. The watch had been in his family for many years.

Carelessly, as a young man, he lost the gold chain attached to the watch. From that day on, he kept the watch in a special box above the fireplace, fearing losing the object representing a long and vital family tradition.

Christmas meant so much to both of them.

Because of their intense love for each other, both felt a need to give each other a gift at this most important time of the year. But with no money, what could they do?

On Christmas Eve, both ventured out into the city, determined to find the perfect present.

Christmas morning arrived, and they rose from their single bed to the chilling cold of their flat.

Excited, he opened his present to find a gold chain for his most precious watch.

She looked at her lover’s face to find disappointment. Why would he not want a gold chain to wear his precious watch?

His lover opened her present to find the most beautiful ivory comb for her lovely long hair.

They looked at each other, and the truth had become clear to both: She removed a string from her hair to reveal that she had cut her beautiful hair.

“I am sorry, my love! I had to cut my hair to sell it to buy the gold chain for your watch!”

He smiled though he felt a pang of guilt.

“I am sorry, my love! I sold my gold watch to buy this ivory comb for your lovely hair.”

To them, it did not matter.

It was Christmas, and they had each other.

This is a beautiful story about the true spirit of giving.

I’ve never ever forgotten this beautiful tale and seem to remember it at this time of the season.

Icon of Modernism - Review of Marc Chagall (Bio) by Jonathan Wilson

 

The reader turns the first page of this little book to see the 1929 oil on canvas painting, "Lovers" by Marc Chagall. The painting depicts a man and woman seated and embracing; the woman's head turned inward on the man's breast, while the man, an expression of calm and contentment, peers upward, watching a winged angel flying overhead across a deep purple sky. The painting has the deep and rich signature color of all Chagall's work, though it lacks the intense emotional suffering and ambivalence that makes up so much of his oeuvre; however, this painting evokes a mystical love, a true love which, in my opinion, expresses the relationship between the artist and his beautiful wife, Bella.

As part of the Jewish Encounter project, Marc Chagall by Jonathan Wilson is one contribution devoted to promoting Jewish literature, culture, and ideas.

It can be observed that most of Chagall's work, according to the author, is an expression of his philosophy, his religious sensibility if you will, in the form of the "literalization of metaphors", deeply grounded in the mystical and symbolic Hasidic world and Yiddish folktales, which include in their writings the "repository of flying animals and miraculous events." (P. 13)

It is impossible to label Chagall's work as "Expressionism", but the representation of an acute imagination, colored in fantasy, depicting highly charged religious symbols, including in several works, Christs Crucifixion, in a variety of contexts. What I love about Chagall is the viewer is drawn into the work by its striking color and busy subject matter and is compelled to study it because the meaning of the painting must be discovered as it is not apparent on a superficial viewing.

Wilson does a wonderful job of narrating Chagall's life in terms of the major events that the artist experienced, spanning through the Russian revolution, two world wars, the Holocaust, and the establishment of the State of Israel. Wilson suggests that in viewing Chagall's paintings against the backdrop of these major historical events will see the artist's work as a response to them and his personal inner conflict between his "Jewishness" and his focus on Christ's Crucifixion and also his attempt at secularism in many of his paintings.

My favorite paintings by the artist are his various representations of love that display an ethereal, mystical quality, a sublimeness that to me, captures love in their most revealing forms; as Wilson comments, "Chagall's vision of love, so appealing to the human soul, frequently involves a merging of two faces, or bodies, into one. In this regard, he is Platonic, as his figures pursue their other halves in an apparent longing to become whole again. Over and again, he paints the myth that Aristophanes recounts in The Symposium." (P.174)

Chagall's life, Wilson suggests, was an attempt through his art at the reconciliation between two worlds, a genuine effort universalizing or merging opposites; he writes, "In his paintings, past and present, dream and reality, rabbi and clown, secular and observant, revolutionary and Jew, Jesus and Elijah...all commingle and merge in a world where history and geography but also the laws of physics and nature have been suspended." (P. 210)

Wilson's Marc Chagall is an erudite biography and insightful critical work. Although relatively short in length, it manages to capture the artist who is considered, along with Picasso and Matisse, one of the icons of Modernism.

Homage to Apollinaire. 1911-1912. Oil on canvas, 209x198 cm.