An Observation on Love in the 21st Century

No woman was ever cherished by her vibrator.

Further Observations, A Week Later

My aim in the statement above was to note with the brevity of aphorism the distinct difference between simple sexual satisfaction and the inescapably human dynamic of affection. Having made it, I moved on to what I thought were weightier comments.

Interestingly I received (as usual) no comments. However, when I later tested the blog stats (number of pageviews, origins, and audience) I was stunned to find the largest spike this blog has ever experienced. Over a hundred pageviews--nothing short of incredible.

I had been passing out business cards with careless abandon for about a month. Had I found my niche? Hardly. The stats indicated that 61 Serbs and another 66 others distributed around the world had taken notice. Without listing their websites I can tell you it was pretty much a concentration of dating services--if you are exceptionally liberal in your concept of a date.

Gone was the heady notion that my writing was finally attracting its deserved attention--or that the cards or word of mouth was generating the spike. Curious as to the source I hit on the website and was confronted with a young woman in a blatantly provocative pose which displayed all those parts with which she might hope to--let's say--provoke.

In the space over her head were two bright red arrows which swelled and vibrated in the leftish or rightish directions which invited action. Curious again, I hit the one on the left, and was transported to another view of the same person in another provocative posture this time in some apparently Romish hinterland--judging from the cabins in the background. Hitting the arrow again yielded another image, etc. I should point out that below each image was a selection of choices for the particular type of provocation one might wish to explore--which I didn't.

Who knows what type of bots I had accumulated in this query? or for that matter due to the spike of views?  I figured that the sites in question scoured published comment in search of possibly suggestive diction and had latched onto a sentence of mine which contained both the words woman and vibrator--something like an NSA of the former Yugoslavia. 

I apologize therefore to you, Dear Reader, who may only be on a quest for literary substance and are innocently drawn thereby into the nether regions of Balkan porn. And to those of you who are drawn away for good, well, you're probably not my reader type anyway.  

My War on Words

Granted, My War on Words, is not quite the title a non-violent resister comes to easily. But so much usage today is offensive in its banality, imprecision, absurdity, or pedestrian character that it is the subject of frequent scrutiny--of which this is only one brief list among many compilations. And these have often been pointed out by others, but they refuse to die.

Come back frequently. This list will grow based on my wrath and your submissions:

vibrant --- If it ain't pulsating, as in full of life, steer clear of this overused term.

very unique --- It's either unique or it ain't--can't be shades of uniquity.

too simplistic --- Just say "too simple"; simplistic already means too simple.

on the ground, boots on the ground --- Verbal tics to fill dead air in news reports; "our reporters on the ground in Iraq" and where would they be if not "on the ground"? Our reporters in Iraq says it all.

what the fuck?--Not trying to be goody two shoes here--I'll lay an F bomb as quick as anyone else but I fail to see how this says it any more efficiently than "Huh?" Even "Da fuck?" isn't as simple; and plain old "Fuck?" can be too easily misconstrued.

whatever --- Euphemism for "your comments do not merit replies," or "Go away, boy, you bother me."

May I ask you a question? --- Another verbal tic, another way of getting more time to think; ask the damn question first time around. And besides, if you haven't noticed, you just did.

how rude! ---You don't have to tell me. I know it's rude. Why do you think I did it?

game plan --- Actually any sports reference, e.g, "This project is rounding third." It's just a plan; not everybody is playing the game.

polish that turd --- Anyone who's tried this knows turds are shiniest when first produced; spraying them with varnish only reduces their olfactory impact.

pro-active --- Does pro add anything to active?

It is what it is --- What insight! This wisdom vies with the Preparation H claim that "It works in all cases except those requiring surgery," or "The glass always breaks on the last bounce."

previously-owned --- Even new cars were once owned by the factory, and again by the dealer

wellness --- What does this word say that health did not say with fewer letters and syllables?

play out --- Sincerely,  isn't develop much better?

unpack --- Hey, you mean explain? Discuss? Analyze?

disconnect --- As in, "There's a disconnect between what he says and what he does." Are you implying he's a hypocrite? There's more than a slight disparity, discrepancy, contradiction, etc.

tiny little --- He was either tiny or little unless of course he was Tiny Little from Hee Haw. Maybe he was only minuscule, microscopic, or nanonical.  Or maybe he was short, brief, or succinct.

real time --- is there any other kind? I witnessed it in real time? I actually saw it? I was there when it happened? You can't really witness something on video, film, etc.

fun (as an adjective) --- Instead of "that was fun" some say "that was a fun thing" just plain verbal tic that adds nothing. What would be the comparative - "funner"? the superlative - "funnest"? Clumsy at best

Footing the War Footing

Dear Family, Friends,  and Colleagues,

Few have ever written so succinctly about the present links of the American war economy to the American war foreign policy as in this piece by William J. Astore reposted by TomDispatch:

http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175762/tomgram%3A_william_astore%2C_war!_what_is_it_good_for_profit_and_power/#more

Love, Peace, and Hope,
James Manista

Identifying With the Victims of War in Afghanistan

Dear Family, Friends, and Colleagues,

Recent news reports indicate that despite the regular 4 to 5 average weekly

deaths of American soldiers in Afghanistan (scheduled to close at the end of
2014) few of us even remember that a war is continuing there. 

4.5 x (52+13) = 292 dead Americans still to go.

And if those deaths are likely to be ignored, how many more deaths in the
nations we cavalierly trample will also escape our attention? Are we too busy
to turn away from the stark realities of Dancing With the Stars, NCIS, Breaking
Bad, Mad Men, or America's Got Talent?

Please take a look at Nick Turse's article linked below for a brief and pointed
reminder that our 292 dead Americans--tragic as that loss will be--does not
compare with the suffering of the people among whom we prosecute our wars:

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/01/civilian-suffering-afghanistan
-and-vietnam-kill-anything-that-moves

The closest we've come to war on our own land in the last two generations
is 9/11. How would we feel about war if we suffered something like a 9/11
every day for 12 years?

Love, Peace, and Hope,

James Manista

No Pair Is Perfect

No pair is perfect, heaven-made or here,

Nor mystery why so many disagree,

Since none can share the point from which we see.

But, if among these temples ruined long years

Before our memories began, you’d say

“This tree so pleasantly resides upon

This mound,” or call the leaden-clouded dawn

Into account for lack of blue the day

It fails our eyes, and I concur, so when

I say then, “I vow all ways to pursue

Your good,” and you forever pledge to do

The same for me, our flaws with words we mend.

And thus two treasures mix, two pleasures find,

Two loves we fix and form a single mind.

2nd Yr's the Worst

The second year’s the worst, I’ve found: nervous

Tic grown charmless, thuds like water-torture

In the eye; belching, worse, noted, endured;

The fog of romance cleared, clay feet abound.

Nor am I sinless in this withering

Review:  I knew which buttons to push and

Trigger-happy, put sand in your panties,

Conjured ogres of your past, revived bad dreams.

It’s hard to play the silver knight, wiping

Mustard on the invariant sandwich. Still,

Come slog with me this muck of daily chores,

And press ‘til we emerge renewed. 

Let this noxious tedium drum: love’s test

Is almost done. We’ll rest and overcome.

Don't Get With the Program

How do you want to kill people? Individually or in a group? I guess by that I meant to ask if you as part of a group wanted to kill people or would you rather just do it yourself. Course it could also mean would you rather kill one by one or would you prefer several at one whack. The whack is open to interpretation: two? three? ten? a thousand? a million?

And how would you do it? Strangulation? With a knife? A sword? A gun? A bomb? Maybe just a needle in the arm. Poison. Poison dart from a blowgun? Fire? Flamethrower? Suffocation from smoke in a fire? Heroin overdose? Electrical shock? Hanging? Crush body when a bridge collapses? Crush head with a baseball bat?

And to whom would you do it? Irritating neighbors? Irritating friends, colleagues, employees, employers? Only men? Only women? Only rich, poor, black, white, young, old, children, doctors, lawyers, Indian Chiefs? Only irritating foreigners? And only in their irritating foreign countries?

And how quickly would you do it? Instantaneous vaporization? (They wouldn’t know what hit them.)  Suffer but it’s over quickly? (They‘d feel pain for a short time, some for longer.)  Suffer but it’s not over quickly? (They’d linger in agony, praying for death.)

There’s no need to answer.  Actually you’re already committed to all of these methods, the full spectrum of killing, but you probably don’t think about it much if ever.

Say you’ve never agreed to any such program. Nobody ever asked you to support such a plan. You pay taxes? Well, then you’ve paid for the program, you’ve supported the plan. In underground silos throughout the plains states, on any number of air force bases, below the surface of the seas in submarines are weapons paid for with your tax dollars, in various stages of readiness to kill on your behalf in all the ways specified above.

Perhaps I misunderstand the delicate distinction between weapons for killing and weapons for deterrence. Even if I do, I think the weapons wouldn’t be much of a deterrent if they couldn’t deliver on the killing--make that gruesome killing. And they wouldn’t be much of a deterrent if we weren’t committed to using them.

Suppose for a moment we weren’t committed to using them: we’d let them rot, or take them apart, use the parts for something else--rockets for Fourth of July, bomb materials for medical research. If we did it openly the whole world would know we had no intention for their imminent death. 

With no threatening weapons aimed at them, they could think: “Now’s the chance to blow them out of the water! Get rid of their kind for good. Let’s just turn their whole country into one stinking radioactive crater.”

Of course in that case they’d never get to enjoy Disneyworld, Hollywood, expensive Manhattan apartments, or grass-fed Angus beef from the Midwest. They’d just have a stinking radioactive crater whose clouds of radioactive waste would blow all over the world killing everybody and everything--slowly.

So if they thought it through they might conclude: “I’m tired of paying for all these expensive weapons if the best they can get us is a stinking radioactive crater, leukemia, and infertile mutant children. I’d rather spend my money on grass-fed Midwestern Angus beef. Maybe even go to Disneyworld. Or get a little pied a terre high atop the East Sixties overlooking the park.”

Did you ever tell anyone you were not with the program?