20160904 (aspire)

Dr. Jill Stein, 2016 Presidential Nominee of the Green Party. Haven't heard of her? No surprise. Avoided by the MSM Dr. Stein will likely not be on the debate stage at Hofstra College either. The debate commission is comprised of only the two major parties who will take no guff from the Greens.

Peggy, my partner in protest, Ms 

Kacerek, suggested we attend

A Green Party Rally last Friday

In Cuyahoga Falls to see Dr.

Jill Stein, the party’s 2016 

Presidential nominee. we had

Tried to see her several weeks

Earlier at David Ellison’s office

In Ohio City but she and Cornel

West were meeting elsewhere

With local media and they 

Thought that more productive

Than meeting with fifty or so

Devotees. Compared to the 

Estimated billion dollars of

Free publicity given Donald

Trump, Dr. Stein, so often 

Snubbed, couldn’t pass it up. 

A similar rumor buzzed around

The Falls gathering but at 8 PM

She strode confidently into 

The auditorium eager to rouse

Two hundred party faithful and

Some like me just curious. Having

Heard in the prior hour various

Green lesser lights, all of whom

Lacked the moxie for polished

Public speaking, I welcomed

Her spirited stump speech. She 

Is a woman of striking physical

presence. When she opened

The floor to questions I raised

My hand quickly. The director

Pointed to me  but one of the earlier

Speakers seated a couple rows

Ahead mistook the signal for him.

We both rose and he began

Talking. They pointed again to

Me as soon as he finished.

“Dr. Stein,” I spoke loudly, “when

You are elected president . . .” 

(Crowd broke into wild cheers)

“You will need people to help

Govern. Not only your cabinet 

But sympathizers in the legislative

And judicial branches to get anything 

Done. Who will those be, and

Will announcing them now add

To your credibility as a serious

Contender?” She smiled 

That I had motivated those

Attending and referred me to

Her website list, a “Shadow 

Cabinet,” of potential occupants, 

Then proceeded to name several

Well known activists and stated

How each would help her agenda.

Later I told Peggy I felt egg 

On my face for not knowing more

Of her web content. Home again

I looked them up and was as 

Disappointed by the list as I’d 

Been by the amateurism of the

Earlier Green speakers. I knew

A few of those named: Leah Bolger, 

Defense; Ellen Brown, Treasury; 

Medea Benjamin, State. But Tim

DeChristopher as “Emergency 

Climate Action Coordinator” 

And Lee Camp as ”Commissioner

For the Comedic Arts”?  It compared

With Click and Clack’s staff of

Car Talk: Seat Tester, Mike Easter; 

Lawyers, Dewey, Cheatham, and Howe.

Although activists are sincere

And capable people in their own

Right, a government needs more 

Of those drab bureaucrats who 

Can get things done. Just as

Grass roots organizations

Eventually develop articulate

Spokespeople, the Green Party will

Have to recruit for competence in

Managing change over fiery

Commitment to seeking change

Before they’ll inspire enough

Confidence in the electorate to 

Put them in office.

c. J.S.Manista, 2016

20160903 (future)

US Labor Day - day off, sweet corn, hot dogs, burgers, military displays, and recruiting

Yemen any day - US-made cluster bombs blew this child's arms off and charred his body
 

I wasn’t supposed to be here

This weekend for the annual

Cleveland Air Show which

Prominently features aerobatics

By US Navy flyers in F-18s.

I was to have left town the day

After closing, traveled west

For a week with Loki and 

Sophia in the cab of a small

U-Haul with the X-B on a 

Trailer behind. We’d have 

Been there a week by now 

And I’d know a little better

How my life would be for 

Its last years. None of us

Manistas make it to 80

And I’m counting on my

Genetics to play true to form.

But the “best laid plans

Gang aft aglee” and now

After a bit of moping (as I

Am so prey to bitter birds)

I've finally cheered enough

To resume writing, dieting,

Philosophizing, and reading.

As for the books Andy tells

Me I’m making a big mistake

Reading Angela’s Ashes while

Any bit depressed. “So the

Irish drank and were poor

And suffered,” he said, “No

Reason for you to go through

It if you’re feeling bad already.”

Maybe not. Can’t really explain

What draws me to these poor

When the world is full of so 

Many others and nobody seems

To care to count them. Not just

As a total—but to count them 

As people, not in this country

Nor where we’re daily 

Bombing them. Yeah, I know

We can say we’re currently not

Bombing anybody. We’ve got

Proxies to do it—Saudis in

Yemen, and word is we’re

Helping both sides in the 

Syria/ISIS melee blow each

Other to kingdom come. And

Nobody cares. Last year on

The Labor Day weekend I

Went to a corner on East 9th 

And passed out handbills 

About our drone programs where

We're daily killing God

Knows whom or how many

In the war on terror (WOT).

When the light turned red I

Could do a little bit about

Obama’s Killer Tuesdays when

He reviews files and decides

Who they should assassinate

The next morning. Or I’d tell 

Them about how pilots who

Sat at the video screens in New

York and Nevada playing Blast-

A-Bug for twelve hours are

Reporting PTSD from explosions

Halfway around the world

Because they had no assurance

They were killing enemies

And not enemies’ children.

Maybe next Labor Day I’ll be

Too busy thinking of my own

Three granddaughters to worry

About the people our nation

Is terrorizing, maiming, and 

Killing somewhere too far 

Away for people to care.

But I doubt it. As long as I’m

Alive enough to think and to 

Write, they won’t be

Forgotten.

c. J.S.Manista, 2016 

20160829 (knowing)

Nice painting but anything like the truth?

Do you believe in Science? Depends

On what you mean when you use

The capital S for science. If you

Mean, “Does the scientific method

Allow us to obtain useful facts

Reliably?” Sure, I’m on that train.

But if you mean, “The scientific

Method is the only reliable path

To any and all truth,” then I’ll

Let that train go and wait at the

Station. For centuries now we’ve

Enjoyed a whirlwind of discovery

Which challenges so much of 

Our unscientific thinking we

Feel it only natural to question

Everything. “Question Authority”

Is a fairly straightforward rule

For maintaining independence

While annoying just about

Everyone in sight. It’s a judgment

Call to accept common practices

Out of deference to the numerous

Others who have found obedience

To be beneficial if not always

Justifiable. It’s reasonable to

Plant corn in rows as one’s

Forefathers did and we’ll learn

The reasons why once we’re

Old enough to discuss the 

Matter knowledgeably with

“Those who know.” At least

If they accord us the respect

Of sincere curiosity rather than

Deem us mouthy young

Whippersnappers. But that’s

Accepted technology of which

One doesn’t find all that much

Dispute. Touch on, “Why is 

Marrying your sister wrong?”

And you’re on shakier ground,

More so if you and your sister

Have been rumored to be 

Especially close of late. Several

Years ago asking why marrying

Outside your ethnic group,

Nationality, and God forbid, race

Was wrong could get you at least

A bloody nose if not tarred, feathered,

And run out of town. These last

Queries were not scientific in 

The manner of “Why do our cattle

Weigh less than Rancher X’s at

Round up for market?” They are

Questions of governing human

Behavior which seem more products

Of primeval understanding rather

Than contemporaneous choice.

Only now is science looking at

The roots of “accepted human 

Behavior” through the lens of 

Evolutionary psychology to 

Explain basic morality as well

As other articles of faith which 

Resist being taken into a lab. 

We’re not about to test facts 

About murder from letting one

Group murder and comparing

It to a control group who were

Not allowed to murder. Instead

We use the “lab of real life” 

And draw conclusions from 

There: Do men who were abused

As children abuse their children

At higher rates than those who

Weren’t? The studies are plagued

With selection issues—were the

Subjects chosen randomly enough

As not to determine conclusions?

Or did one look at only those

Cases supporting the “findings.”

And ultimately, if scientists 

Propose humans in the main

Believe in a God because of

An inward need for reason 

And order in their otherwise 

Inexplicable and chaotic lives,

Does that mean there is no God? 

Or that asking such questions

Has no merit because there

Is no way of testing the thesis 

Scientifically? If one “believes”

In Science, there is no other

Way of knowing.

c. J.S.Manista, 2016