Prof. Mike Jordan's Everything INcluding the Kitchen Sink Pt.2 A Little Rock Hip Hop mix

1. Kitchen Sink by B. Dolan You can tune in to Prof. Jordan's shows every Friday night. c/o Professor Mike Jordan, host of the #oldschoolnewschoolneedtolearnthough show on KABF 2. Take A Risk by RJ Payne Ft. Lord Tariq & Tracey Lee (Prod. By Pa. Dre) 3. Out Of Sight by Run The Jewels feat. 2 Chainz 4. Let's Get It by G Dep feat Black Rob & P Diddy 5. Stay Cool by The Roots 6. Have Mercy by Silis & YodaRoc & Nacrobats 7. Dope Dealer by Schoolboy Q feat. E-40 8. God Is Perfect by The Alchemist Freddie Gibbs 9. The Phunky Feel One by Cypress Hill 10. Zoned Out by M.O.P Feat. Teflon PROD BY Amadaeus 360 11. Attitudez by Rumpletilskinz 12. Gunplay by Money Boss Players 13. Euro Step by Westside Gunn 14. Megatron by Ill Bill 15. Won't Be No Discussion by Starvin B Ft. Planet Asia (Prod. by Castle Money Beats) 16. It's Over by Black Soprano Family ft Benny The Butcher, Heem, Rick Hyde 17. Afrika Hot! by Dead Prez & DJ Green Lantern 18. Pig Feet by Terrace Martin feat. Denzel Curry, Kamasi Washington, G Perico & Daylyt 19. Dawn by RNLification 20. The Basement by Marlowe (L'Orange & Solemn Brigham) 21. Black Mirror by Mr. Muthafuckin exquire & Madlib 22. No Skips by Oddisee feat. Ralph Real 23. The Master's Lemonade by Self Jupiter 24. Pandemic by The Opioid Era 25. Pots & Pans by Boldy James & The Alchemist ft. The Cool Kids & Shorty K 26. Penny Hardaway by The Cool Kids ft. Ghostface Killah 27. Lucky Luciano (Tony Digz Remix) by Nuch Feat. Conway the Machine 28. Murder Game by Statik Selektah feat. Smif N Wessun, Young M.A and Buckshot 29. Normal Shit by Rome Streetz 30. Boogieman Vs Leatherface by RJ Payne Feat Ransom 31. Therapy by Alchemist feat. Evidence (of Dilated Peoples), Blu, Talib Kweli, Kid Cudi 32. Lord Family by Flee Lord Feat. G4 Jag Prod. By Milky Fella 33. Ghost Of Soulja Slim · by Jay Electronica Jay-Z 34. The Next Kendrick by Third Root Bavu Blakes · Kam Franklin 35. Skyline by Malcolm DeWayne feat. Fashawn Skyzoo 36. The Fresh by Spitzwell & Boog Brown feat. Ekundayo, Backwud Marc, Stanza, 37. Set In Stone by Rashid Hadee 38. Celebrate by Grxwn Fxlks 39. Roots Of Blue by Blu x Exile Jacinto Rhines 40. The Day by Curren$y Feat. Mos Def & Jay Electronica

A light in this world

 “There is a light in this world....a healing spirit much stronger than any darkness we may encounter. We sometimes lose sight of this force...where there is suffering, too much pain. And suddenly the spirit will emerge...through lives of ordinary people, and answer in extraordinary ways. God speaks in the silence of the heart and we listen.” - Mother Teresa

Wonderful San Diego musician ASTRA KELLY posted this.

Max Wasa: People have become addicted to the actions of anger and aggression,

 

 Thought-provoking. When I read that a couple of days ago,

I also replied to Max:

I guess here in Georgia there is such trouble brewing and ignorance abounding that a little reactionary undertone in posting basic facts is a bit empowering, because the masses are shouting it down and dragging out the pandemic dilemma. I am much more aligned with west coast thought: welcoming to new people and ideas ( despite a corrupting exploitative element). No one there ever spoke of Georgia with a metaphorical spit like Georgians speak of California.

I also met a young woman soon on her first visit to La Jolla and her boyfriend, so I want to be clear it's not entirely monolithic. That sense of drama and melodrama serves well in a story, but I mustn't obscure the sweet spirits even in some of the disagreeable thoughts that cloud auras I meet. We truly do wrestle not with the flesh, but principalities, if I may borrow a Christian verse that serves.

I feel a bit better any time I write or speak a bit, so it's essential to continue recognizing a kinship in the universe I attract. The rest is there to cut a visionary relief, to sense the stone from which they all carve meaning in their struggles and delights.

On the real: my dear friend over in Alabama's watching over her hospitialized Mom, same as my buddy in Texas, with his Dad, both COVID cases. I think the entire business has pushed many drained people to resort to out-of-bounds methods for what is, really, attempting to recover energy and what Southerners call 'my sanctification' (i.e. I'm about to Lose my Religion!).

Differing facts accompany the blame leveled: 'your leaders put us in this predicament, your media complex is muffling this cure, and that #1 hit, "This is a hoax to make us obedi--" blah blah. For anyone devoted to building empathy, and maybe lacking in more in-person resources of socialization, it's certainly a tempest.

The kids going back to school, and possible spread- ahh, you know, I needn't assess, here. Even triggering people with reasonable arguments brings folks like us to an edge, and a temptation to blow our cool, desperate to shake up circumstances that affect us, and those we love, but beyond our control. We look for ways to preserve and build character. I sense that intention, here: existing in you, my reader, a basic reverence for life and actual, unpretentious decency.

It's not at all wrong to seek some way to promote both empathy and reason. Trust your convictions and bathe in your serenity, and know the best in trouble times, with hope for better days

 I remember reading the moving account of how, by her own words, Mother Theresa had come to doubt God's existence, yet, never ever lost a recognition for some fundamental force emitting from Creation to show the face of Love in the desperate circumstances she heroically encountered.

 

 

The hydroxychloroquine controversy: a glance at the scientific community debate

First, a look at a Newsweek opinion, published today, authored by a Dr. Reisch, an epidemeologist from Yale's School of Public Health. "https://www.newsweek.com/key-defeating-covid-19-already-exists-we-need-start-using-it-opinion-1519535?fbclid=IwAR0_wOEHeE2N_n7cdZqj0GEeqeEx2PszCb3I3KCZBlLUC1GWsIIjJRA0Tk8"

 

His are the most impressive bona fides I have seen in connection with the drug, and he cites several studies, both in his paper and a follow-up letter.

 

There is also the dexamethasone steroid, contributing to the lower mortality rate experienced now, compared to Italy and the U.K., for example.  Its efficacy was discovered in June.

 

I realize this is discussed now in the context of the Dr. Stella Immanuel controversy this morning and the Frontline Doctors summit. But I'm willing to think separately of Dr. Risch's AJE paper, from that. It's just alarming there's such a number of outlets who have carried medical journal stories- such as the New England Journal of Medicine- against the drug.

 

I'm aware my local environment is very political.  I think that's true all over America at present.  There's a vocal presence in favor of conservatism of a sort which embraces Donald Trump, endorsed by both leading Republican candidates for representative.  (The 14th is likely to go to Marjory Greene.)

 

Me, I'm just sad sometimes the swimming pool's not open! I was so looking forward to that this summer. Not to mention what new friends or better friendships I might make. At least i have a job I love and preoccupations that busy me towards my dreams- I sympathize with the enormous stress for people worried for the fundamental situation. Especially teachers and people with children.

 

The secondary long term effects of Covid19 are much more nebulous and troublesome. Those, I would like to see additionally reviewed as well. I wouldn't make time to read papers beyond my expertise everyday, but it is invaluable to try the best sources. The issue of rampant ignorance and stubbornly risky behavior is the deeper issue, because that could pass along the virus in a manner which would allow it a longer foothold before detection and treatment.

 

The early administration of the drug - either one I mentioned- is a critical part of the study results. I do know a hospitalization would be very undesirable for numerous reasons. Precautions meanwhile are not bullshit. I like my clear conscience and feel free to pursue my life. Better days are coming, too. But I am glad news like this is coming out in a verifiable outlet, from peer-reviewed sources outside of political agendas. And thanks Jodye Treadaway for sharing !

 

Before we go any further:

Real scientists don’t hold flashy press conferences- they publish their work (which is carefully studied by other scientists first) in medical journals. Two good resources for good science are www.pubmed.com and scholar.google.com while the information there is “sciencey” the abstract, introduction and conclusion sections of papers are often easy enough to understand the general idea.

 

Thanks, Holly Kennedy Amerman!  (She posted from the New England Journal of Medicine.)

 

   It is a little confusing territory, but science is a process. The Zelenko study Risch cites was discredited by several sources, in May, but it's included in Dr. Risch's follow-up letter (not to be confused with a peer-reviewed study, but also published by AJE . I remembered, and checked, to find three studies promoted in sciencemag.org, a non-profit, and by reputation, highly factual source, which discounted hydroxychloriquine.

 

So I think I'll be looking for an opinion from my engineer friends, too.

 

This particular Risch opinion is backed by publication in the AJE, so it's a pretty heavy weight contender, albeit with two moving parts (his paper, and his follow-up letter). Interestingly, this same issue of Newsweek features an article on a conspiracy theory touted by the President, who says the drug's been discredited to hobble him politically, so editorial has found a way to kind of balance their presentation on the pro and con views.

 

I think, especially in light of the real world consequential decisions upon us, but also very generally, many if not most people are more satisified with encapsulated presentations that strongly affirm a position, particularly if they've developed a bias. I've been trying to ascertain what is the least biased, most nuanced viewpoint on the pandemic, but it's not my full-time job.

 

It was frankly a pretty exhausting hobby! So I had to take Occam's Razor and tailor activities accordingly, just like anybody.

Where are we in treating COVID-19? A glance.

First, a look at a Newsweek opinion, published today, authored by a Dr. Reisch, an epidemeologist from Yale's School of Public Health. "https://www.newsweek.com/key-defeating-covid-19-already-exists-we-need-start-using-it-opinion-1519535?fbclid=IwAR0_wOEHeE2N_n7cdZqj0GEeqeEx2PszCb3I3KCZBlLUC1GWsIIjJRA0Tk8"
His are the most impressive bona fides I have seen in connection with the drug and the best case made for its studies. There is also the dexamethasone steroid, contributing to the lower mortality rate experienced now, compared to Italy and the U.K., for example.


I realize this is discussed now in the context of the Dr. Stella Immanuel controversy this morning and the Frontline Doctors summit. But I'm willing to think separately of Dr. Risch's AJE paper, from that. It's just alarming there's such a number of outlets who have carried medical journal stories- such as the New England Journal of Medicine- against the drug. I'm aware the local environment is very political.

Me, I'm just sad sometimes the swimming pool's not open! I was so looking forward to that this summer. Not to mention what new friends or better friendships I might make. At least i have a job I love and preoccupations that busy me towards my dreams- I sympathize with the enormous stress for people worried for the fundamental situation. Especially teachers and people with children.

The secondary long term effects of Covid19 are much more nebulous and troublesome. Those, I would like to see additionally reviewed as well. I wouldn't make time to read papers beyond my expertise everyday, but it is invaluable to try the best sources.

The issue of rampant ignorance and stubbornly risky behavior is the deeper issue, because that could pass along the virus in a manner which would allow it a longer foothold before detection and treatment. The early administration of the drug - either one I mentioned- is a critical part of the study results.
I do know a hospitalization would be very undesirable for numerous reasons. Precautions meanwhile are not bullshit. I like my clear conscience and feel free to pursue my life. Better days are coming, too.
But I am glad news like this is coming out in a verifiable outlet, from peer-reviewed sources outside of political agendas.
And thanks Jodye Treadaway for sharing !

Before we go any further:

 Real scientists don’t hold flashy press conferences- they publish their work (which is carefully studied by other scientists first) in medical journals. Two good resources for good science are www.pubmed.com and scholar.google.com while the information there is “sciencey” the abstract, 

introduction and conclusion sections of papers are often easy enough to understand the general idea.

Thanks, Holly Kennedy Amerman!

It is a little confusing territory, but science is a process. The Zelenko study Risch cites was discredited by several sources, in May, but it's included in Dr. Risch's follow-up letter (not to be confused with a peer-reviewed study, but also published by AJE

. I remembered, and checked, to find three studies promoted in sciencemag.org, a non-profit, and by reputation, highly factual source, which discounted hydroxychloriquine.So I think I'll be looking for an opinion from my engineer friends, too.

This particular opinion is backed by publication in the AJE, so it's a pretty heavy weight contender, albeit with two moving parts (his paper, and his follow-up letter). Interestingly, this same issue of Newsweek features an article on a conspiracy theory touted by the President to discount the drug, so editorial has found a way to kind of balance their presentation on the pro and con views. I think, especially in light of the real world consequential decisions upon us, but also very generally, many if not most people are more satisified with encapsulated presentations that strongly affirm a position, particularly if they've developed a bias.
I've been trying to ascertain what is the least biased, most nuanced viewpoint on the pandemic, but it's not my full-time job. It was frankly a pretty exhausting hobby! So I had to take Occam's Razor and tailor activities accordingly, just like anybody.

Enough Facebook

I was dismayed somewhat to find myself unable to go back to sleep.  

I guess it's FAcebook overload.  Or Corn-oil-ah Vy-rust overload.  It sucks to find out you live somewhere, as you suspected, where people are full of shit.  They're too proud and listening to the wrong people.

(From my stand-up routine I should work on, again.  Instead of Facebooking- some 'action word' that makes!) 

So this is in the interest of getting Chill again, and Ceasing Ill.

  I woke up yesterday, dived into an hour or so of Facebook- this is in the afternoon- and uncovered later that I'd gotten distracted and missed turning in my after-class evaluations.

I spent that hour reading responses about the new mandate- for fines I fully expect to be ignored by much of the local populace, who are not going to put up with the government trying to stop Corn Oil-a Virus. I even tossed in a court case that gives precedent to the government asking you to do something in case of an extreme health situation.  It's 1905's Jacobson v. Massachusetts.

 So, I live in a place where they will have to get long-term damage to their brains, or lungs, or whatever, to believe it.  They are just like my Dad, ignoring the rules about masks at Bekaert years ago, for years.  And we know how great that worked out for poor Dad.

But you know?  I have found myself caring about a few people I really only know, online  I am lucky enough to have some sweet people from real life, in contact there now. 

And I will check in on them.  But holy mother of God, it's one thing to have your ideas keeping you awake.  This?

  My overall hours spent on Facebook, and some of my personal interactions in real life, limited as they are, all came crashing back in on me. The time I spent- even watching the late night comedians I enjoy on an almost-addictive level- meant I'd wake up, and my mind would treat me to an active ongoing churn of these ideas and events. If there's one thing we learned, I believe, it is that if you are not able to command your own mind and attention, it's really rather out of control.

  And I want to maintain friendships with people regardless of their political affiliations.  But now they are threatening the health of everyone- which, to be honest, they were already doing in various systematic ways.  Now when I find someone supporting Trump, it makes my skin crawl.  I snooze people for two reasons, but I've only dropped a small few people from my friend's list.  (The other is when a person posts so much, I can't see anyone else's posts.)

But what are those friendships, anyway?  Listening to each other's ideas, hoping to entertain people.  But it's not quite friendship.  There's no sacrifices or sharing of personal time in an activity together, I mean, actually having an experience outside of typing some shit on a screen.

  It's not unlike the way my buddy Bali used to pass time, holding court in town where you would get to know a couple hundred people.  But it's not.  And because our cities want to leave everything dangerous, it's not going to be that.

Then, I don't make time for the few people for more one-on-one conversations of any depth. (Like the friend I wrote, in this instance.)

But all I'm getting done are my classes and, most days, slowly moving forward on this Denny O'Neil thing.  I need to shut out social media- I couldn't help but get involved, since there's a pandemic and our city and county commissions were voting about masks, you know, the thing that made other nations safe. 

 I need to shut it out and work on my creative stuff.  I started just scrolling again today, like an addict.  Problem is, you start not caring about things that might otherwise evoke some empathy.  And that's fine, hell, by all means, only look at what engages you, I figure. I could write you a 'Arnold Rimmer-level detailed analysis of my time there, like his Risk campaigns ( but honestly!

But my intention was to just look up friends when I think of them.  It was an experiment to avoid addictive scrolling.  IF I wanted to socialize, I'd call my friend, DAK, or finally give Paynter a call.  I meant to do that.  I was perturbed that I'd told DAK I would.  but I tend to get on FB after classes- when I write, so there goes a few more thousand words over time, into a public forum where they can never be bound in a focused form.  Oh, sure, I think I do give people food for thought- I endeavor to- and do encourage some people to stay strong of heart and mind.  Any mind-changes have been most subtle and of the person's own accord.  Speak truth with kindness, Thoreau reminds us.

But I often get on whenever I'm just feeling too hazy to do anything else.  And sometimes, it works out, I get a bit of random creative inspiration, write some jokes.  But I said I'd just call my friend.  I haven't done it.  I was perturbed because I'd said something and made it untrue.  That's against my personal standards.  But I'm just not up to a conversation, or think I'm not, so I just pick up a device and sample the words and lives of others until I have I accidentally saturate myself.  Retention of information from said exchange has been a bit unsatisfactory.

So, I was just going to look on Facebook when I was wondering:  "How's Tiffany doing?  How's Janet and Gil?  How's Andy today?"  (Bear in mind I also teach approximately twenty different children every week, so I'm already talking online, but at least we have a central purpose, however fun I make it.)  Read a few posts.  Granted, there are some nice people who I might not look in on, by the nature of limiting said interaction, and the Feed has been kind of cool for that, reminding me of them, seeing, say, vacation photos, or interesting pursuits or personal travails.

But I was going to spend more time present in my own room, focused first on how my wife's doing, and petting my cats, and looking at the plants- we have a virtual jungle going here- then get really dedicated to revising my books and improving my set-up, and rehearsing my songs, even practicing martial arts somewhere I can tune out any staring.  Maybe expand my language pursuits past the few minutes I spend on Italian almost daily.  (It doesn't look like I will be able to absorb more than six or seven hours of television and movies- it's too passive an experience for me, unless I am deeply engaged.)

I have a new neighbor who might be cool to go on walks with us, and we met this unbelievable young woman at the Farmer's Market, Peaches. She runs an organic farm out in the country.  I could do with a friend like that.  She got our phone number.

I have a trio of family members I think we actually help greatly, whose company we occasionally enjoy, especially outside.  I have a Mom who called for the first time since we moved to the city, who doesn't answer texts for two days after we set up coming over to help with some transplants, so I can't say she really needs us, which is rather OK, too.

So it has been a smaller social circle than I anticipated.  No wonder I fell in, as I have many times over the years, to just Too Much Facebook.

So, just stick to looking up Specific Person A.  That was the July plan.  

If I had stuck to that, I'd mostly be free of exposure to some of the garbage thinking out there.  Of course, once you're saturated properly, now you know the lay of the land- now incorporate it into characters and whatnot.

Now, I don't want to discount the beautiful art, the heart-warming photos.  Sometimes, there's some solid information.  I was thinking I keep a pretty healthy selection of friends, from whom I learn, share energy, with whom I often share.  Though, I have grown tired of some of the ones that don't have any two-way basis.  They're just overwhelmed and we have little true acquaintance.  Nothing personal. 

So, staying off Facebook- it's a bit like staying out of a bar for a while.  But, let's say the bars are where you also make your living, performing.  I value getting out to an audience, just as I like putting on an online open mic or video composed by a friend to entertain us.  I even get texts- I have to remember to look at those. 

 I  have ongoing emails about business decisions, about which I sometimes dawdle, because I'm slowly slowly working on new material, even while my command of adjectives begins to deteriorate. Then I latched on to a memoriam/ analysis project that's taken way more time than I anticipated devoting over the past month- in part, because I have a little to learn, even if not all the material I'm reading for it really wows me.  And in part, because I can do that and maybe get a few readers, short-term, a few listeners, short term (not many people have a very popular podcast), and can hide, in chronicling other writers, in developing my essay skills while I say I hunger to revise two books of prose and a short story, to literally say nothing of the fiction I've put off.  

I'm avoiding a fear of rejection waiting on the other end of those complete processes, even while reading about online learning, for example, is a seminal topic of the day.  (I dread finding, as I revise, how many policies I discussed and detailed that are no longer relevant in my fun, ever-changing, and sometimes disappointing profession.  Workers everywhere are seeing a decline.)

   Our economy's just had its ass kicked, so I have to push that out of mind, and make things for their own sake, even while I acknowledge, once again, money's gotten tight- tighter for some people than I can imagine.  And that's just here in America.  Imagine living in Syria now as a refugee.  I do, sometimes.

 My writing performances, my music- they can't happen if I'm too unfocused by Facebook, or even too many YouTube videos.  But I value putting things out there for others, and the degree of feedback varies, but I love seeing where I've shared energy with a person.  I've been in their thoughts, and I want to be a great guest.

 I see, down the street, the karate establishment's open again, apparently or at least, there were a LOT of trucks there.  But if I caught corona virus there and it didn't go well, I'd feel so stupid.  I'm not sure how stupid.  But you can't have karate without sweat and flying spit, as far as I can tell.  And it's indoors.

So, I've got to learn: when is enough Facebook?

I guess when, as has become my habit, I wake up at 2:30 am, and just can't seem to turn my mind back off.  Which I did, but I had to get up and spend about twenty minutes before I had the right procedures in place - they're simple, I basically banish negative thoughts in the cardinal directions- to finally get my mind to say...nothing.  Deliberate nothing.   It's the one relief.

I'm going to pop in for things like the live streaming open mic I'm doing on Wednesdays.  If I practice more, if I am well-rested enough to pursue things more, I'll pop online to play- I am trying to evolve there, though screwing around playing some basic songs is, I guess, not a terrible activity.

I took the time to meditate, and finally got my brain to be quiet.  I think I can get my mind to be quiet with a focused effort any time again, now.  I guess I'm a true believer in the restorative power of what Zen practioners call  mushin.

I co-opted quite a bit of a message to a friend- I often recycle comments and things I've written and expand them here- to share a blog.  But you know how ridiculous it sounds usually when people declare they are taking time off from FAcebook, on Facebook.  Just bloody do it, already!  Or learn how to utilize it instead of-- whatever it's doing that you are conscious of not wanting to happen.

The problem is, basically, you keep reviewing and keep some of these conversations going, and if you don't get proper sleep, you avoid the stuff that takes real concentration.

It's one person at a time, so often, where we can make the most difference.  I am concerned about becoming too facile an individual, with too many shallow relationships that yield fewer real time life experiences.  So, let's see if I have some self-control!Follow this blog

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Why Should We Remember a Writer Named Denny O'Neil? A podcast memoriam about inventing modern superheroes.

"Make me laugh. Make me cry. Tell me my place in the world. Lift me out of my skin and place me in another. Show me places I have never visited and carry me to the ends of time and space. Give my demons names and help me to confront them. Demonstrate for me possibilities I've never thought of and present me with heroes who will give me courage and hope. Ease my sorrows and increase my joy. Teach me compassion. Entertain and enchant and enlighten me. Tell me a story.” ― Dennis O'Neil I have now uploaded the most complete audio presentationL fifty-two minutes of completed notes and insights. Enjoy, and feel free to follow my podcast. Jo Duffy is our guest this fall, along with a few other interesting writer friends, you'll see. So, from my notes: Why would we remember a writer named Denny O’Neil? On June 11th, 2020, comics writer and editor Denny O' Neil died. He first re-invented Batman as the Dark Knight Detective. Through his early 70s work with artist Neal Adams, and later as editor of the Batman comics line of the 1990s, Denny revamped Batman into the cool version you love at the movies, Ninjas and intense combat style? Earthquake in Gotham? Bane breaking Batman? It’s all there during O’Neil’s tenure as editor of all Batman comics in the 90s.
His career began its distinction and popularity in 1970, with Neal Adams, whose 'social relevance ' take on Green Lantern / Green Arrow intrigued me nearly two decades later. His Daredevil is the precursor to the successful Netflix MU.
He helped revive The Shadow with Mike Kaluta, about the time I was born. Given the direct inspiration of the earliest Batman stories, and how those were also O’Neil’s inspiration for his groundbreaking take on the Dark Night Detective, it’s no shock to find him spinning stories of the masked vigilante and his network of associates. He hired Frank Miller and edited the groundbreaking Miller run that modernized Daredevil, then wrote the title when it finally came to my convenience store. Denny O’Neil also, while working for Marvel, named Optimus Prime during the development of the Transformers. He wrote two great ASM Annuals, #14 and 15 with Frank Miller on art. Return to Dr. Strange, and the Punisher.
But his personal struggle with alcoholism inspired Tony Stark's long crash and journey back to the light in the underrated 1980s Black Iron Man stories I collected when I was thirteen. The idea of someone Black under the helmet really caught my attention! Years later, I would understand better the grim slide into poverty and self-affliction that makes his take on the genius inventor the most haunting and relatable to date. Mr. O'Neil's take on The Question, with artist Denys Cowan (a co-founder of Milestone Comics, a line featuring black superheroes and creators), was a gritty, suspenseful, insightful one on modern day big city corruption. He inspired my abiding interest in Zen. He even wrote two of my first Amazing Spider-Man comics, when I was seven, much beloved. Peter clearing his name and Blues for Lonesome Pinky are not typical ASM but remain memorable.
How can I relate to this character, he would ask. How do I pretend to be these characters, so I can write their stories? How can we, the reader, be something like the heroes (and villains), ourselves? O’Neil later taught at the School of Visual Arts, influencing even more generations of comic creators. He served on the board of the Hero Initiative, a charity dedicated to taking care of comic creators in need. And in late 2018, he was honored by the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library as the keynote speaker at their “Comic Books and Social Justice” event. – Den of Geek Much respect to this great shaper of my young mind. R.I.P. Denny O'Neil, age 81. I tried my neighborhood Thai restaurant before I got the sad news. He loved Asian cuisine so, synchronicity! If only I had made it vegetarian too! Included in the podcast- when I have space to re-upload it- are anecdotes culled from interviews and letters by Neal Adams, as well. For example: • Green Lantern/ Green Arrow # 87 (1972) John Stewart • Arguing for diversity, Neal Adams pushed for the creation of a new Green Lantern. Julie Schwartz, the comics editor, realized Neal wanted a Black man. Neal underscored how he wanted an educated Black man- so he became an architect. They gave him pride, and fortunately, lost Julie’s idea to call him Lincoln Washington and Neal picked a new name out of the air: John Stewart. John talked directly in the language of his times, as a college-educated young professional, how he feels about inequalities. He makes no secret of his dislike for wearing a mask, and disposes of it immediately. “I’m not afraid for people to know who I am,” he says to Hal Jordan. Stewart made no bones about his dislike of the Presidential candidate he must protect from assassination. But the ring did not pick him out as the next of the bravest men on Earth it could find, in error. He and Hal uncover a plot, in an excellent first adventure. It’s our loss that the comic as canceled two issues later, before we could see the co-creators bring John to life again. But he became the Green Lantern to a whole generation of Justice League fans in our present century.
So, the introduction to the spotlight podcast:
Herein is the exploration of Denny's themes, the influence and content of his stories, the origins of the first Black Green Lantern, and the shaping of Batman into the hero we know today- whose shadow stretches across two-fisted fiction in the years since. The first comics author to take an ongoing angle of 'social relevance,' O'Neil was a very well-read man with a background in both the military and martial arts, as well as an abiding interest in Zen, while continuing to be a practicing Catholic and writer of social conscience.
Over on integr8dfix.blogspot.com, I 've added a few other specific points about Batman in particular: short stories, no Bat-equipment, no angst, and the intellectual use of violence. I should delve into those when I am ready to pick up and talk about the Question. https://integr8dfix.blogspot.com/2020/07/no-bat-belts-and-bat-boats-and-fighting.html

Thoughts about the Shining City On The Hill

As another Independence Day rolls around, I pause to reflect on how this blog has so often depicted the existential struggle and ways to appreciate our lives and realize epiphanies, enlightenment. It was once true that, however down I felt, within a few sentences of writing, I would find myself championing reasons to feel better, and gain control over my sense of ennui ("ehhh...") or anxiety.

There were also a lot of short stories in the California years.
photo courtesy Ed Sanders, Florida.

There's some re-evaluation of our founders and ancestors in general underway. There's a great deal of resistance to the status quo many know, being challenged. And, of course, there's a public health crisis that has gotten subsumed in identity politics, to the point where the clear choice seen by most- whether to err on the side of caution, or no- is met with considerable discomfort. There are many psychological factors at work there: the unimaginable magnitude of numbers, revulsion at the thought of ourselves as carriers- many ways this situation plays cruel games with our minds.

I cannot quantify which is worse: the uneasiness we presently feel in gathering (save for online), or the selfishness we see in careless others. For some, the lack of concern for personal liberty- and the freedom to congregate- is most troubling, while for a growing number, it is the destructiveness of said resistance- to the economic recovery, and most personally, to the safety of others, in grasping the nature of an invisible predator. The principles on which we build our safety, the respect and honor we accord those who see to it- these often evoke the origins of our country, even among those proportionately more hazy on the intent, actions, or even the chronological years of those days. But it's nationally-common knowledge we celebrate the birth of this nation on July 4th, 1776. So, another year of the United States of America is now joined.

On the issue of race relations, I am not so sure that, despite more outspoken racism, maybe we aren't getting in a better place, gradually, by having the discussion about where the American notions of comfort and safety actually reside, and upon whose convenience and inconvenience they rest.

Well, tonight I am responding, at least, in part, to this article: https://news.yahoo.com/yahoo-news-you-gov-july-4th-poll-62-percent-of-americans-no-longer-see-america-as-shining-city-on-a-hill-202931706.html

At least, somewhere, and maybe increasingly, around here, the majority see this pandemic is going to be with us at least all year.

I think it's possible more news about the underbelly of America's existence - from its treatment of the Natives and the existence of slavery, onward- is reaching more people than before. The truth requires a great deal of reconciliation. The sense of social mobility- one of our more defining and unique aspects- has been on a long decline.

The cold feelings about our leadership- especially nationally- might be separated somewhat from how we feel about individuals we know. Increasingly, we are finding out the myriad of ways we disagree. Interestingly, people who feel positively about the President also feel pretty negatively about the country as a whole, cultually.

Oh! And finally, so very many of these respondents were more innocent overall when Reagan gave that speech. They felt much safer and more trusting than now.

Now, what would be interesting is, if we can forge the strength of will to assess the actual damage, and then address how we might improve the quality of life here in America. I can confidently remind you, we may've felt it was meant to be better than this. But so many people would rather risk ending up in a pen for weeks or even months- risk being separated from their precious families- than remain in their homes in Central and South America. Many of the reasons for optimism, for ourselves, have not borne out. But this is still nowhere nearly the most dangerous society on the planet. The crime rate's been on a long decline- don't let a few videos of looters, or even rampaging officers, change your mind on that. Right now, the saddest thing about America is the way our environmental protections have been dismantled, our wealth has drifted to the 'top' of fewer and few people, and we're increasingly, in most states, a hotbed for viral contagion.

And college tuition, to our fine universities, has sky-rocketed, and our loans have been sold off. Yes, that's more than one sad thing.
Speaking so generally about it, it's hard to absorb how depressing the individual results are.

And I can't say for sure we'll collectively see through the b.s. and demand an accounting of those using the law and business practices in a successfully parasitic fashion, or to what degree. But if more people realize the hand is on the stove, they'll stop burning themselves.

I would actually love to compile a long list of items that make the case for what is wonderful here in America. Individual stories and sacrifices, tremendous natural resources, opportunities that have indeed been opened to us- and the right to pursue your own happiness- can be refreshing, and are a necessary part of the picture. The attainment of much more personal goals typically absorbs the individual's efforts and appeitites. Yet, I can see, from a small every day level between neighbors and even strangers- to extensive organized efforts to deal with large societal ills like addiction and homelessness- there are many qualities that may not be exceptional to America only, but are fine qualities in humanity, nonetheless.

What I find interesting, too, is how individual intentions, however personally positive, are not always universally agreeable. My effort to recycle- presently paused during the pandemic- might be a joke to someone else (who is wrong, by the way). A heartfelt desire to lead people to Christ- to save them, not just with money and favors, but really foster a life-changing path to coincide with eternal salvation- might be seen as unwanted cultural engineering by a proponent of humanistic secular rights. So, it's intriguingly, if exhaustingly, problematic for those who are attempting to live 'outside the cave' from Plato's allegory- there's no one agreeable picture about what we'll find, if we are not just sitting in the dark. The solutions that resonate with people, attempting to be conscientious, may be in conflict with the principles, or existence, of another.

Nor are my efforts to pass along uplifting thoughts and examples intended as a naive bandage skimpily stretched over the serious wounds. We may individually be having some of the best of times. Depending on the length and arc of your life, you might well believe these are the worst.

The knowledge of these complexities, in my case, leads me to meditate on what measures practically benefit humanity and the health of the planet as a whole. People more educated and rigorously knowledgeable than I, have been emotionally flattened by depression, at both the magnitude and the lack of focused public will on the collective efforts necessary to resolve, say, the issue of what to do with all our trash, or what jobs should people have to support their lives versus the negative or positive impact of that job on both the environment and humanity (think: magazine sales subscriptions- which are surely more rare than in the days of more widespread landlines).

So, two things.

Dr. Dyer- who taught me to occasionally, if lost, look on the world through the intentions of Creativity, Kindness, Love, Beauty, Expansion, Abundance, and Receptivity- also suggested we think of ourselves as 'not special.' I think this drfits back to someting I saw referenced today, the pride of making an effort verus the aggressive pride of narcissism. It's great to hear positive things about ourselves, and Ronald Reagan was famous for communicating messages with words symbolizing lasting abstract values. At least, I remember him as such. But how much actuality- what basis was there- for feeling America was exceptional? Was it pride in achievements- progressive rights for women, social mobility, scientific innovation, and the freedom, if you could afford the gasoline, to hop in your car and take your life anywhere across the continental U.S. to try your life? Was it a haughty assumption that, because we had stood for democracy and human rights and freedom of religion, we were the sacrosanct arbiters of how other nations should live?

People struggle enough to be happy without having to examine the underpinnings of our way of life for how it exploits, damages, and depletes lives and reserves of other countries, as well as our own. But is the struggle for that happiness disrupted, if unwittingly, unconsciously, by the truth that underlies it- that those who benefit are divorced from the reality of the high price paid by those exploited?

Gratitude- especially for what is demonstrably true- does increase the value of one's life. Gratitude has been expressed many times over, even by those who humorously have declared they came to this country with seven dollars or so and scraped their way to a better life. A smug sense of unearned self-congratulation is also served by the same idea. When one would speak with multitudes, the words carry many facets to the prism into which the masses look. If even I am often self-aware that a given phrase I leave will be shaped by the context brought to it by a variety of individuals, then surely that speech, and the Christian-toned phrase "Shining City on A Hill" (as in holidng one's candle aloft rather than hiding it, so it may provide light), was written with the variety of the masses in mind. It is a phrase meant to capture the collective sense of pride that brings together a nation, despite its internal disagreements, for that shared sense 'we're in this together' encourages the emotions necessary for our finest efforts of self-sacrifice and generosity, as well as serving cynically as pablum proffered by those who want their accumulation of riches to continue without surcease.

But what if we can see areas in which other nations have taken up the torch- for postive freedom, freedom to act upon one's will, as well as negative freedom, the liberation from tyranny celebrated and marked by Independence Day? What if we can see, not naivety in our ancestors' love of this country, but a continuous and sane, if occasionally supra-rational, emotional response to the principles we value? How can we build this country into a genuine Shining City, in fulfillment of the promises envisioned in generations past? We seem less passionate than decades ago about the ideal that everyone is free to pursue their own happiness. What forces stand in threat to the most broad pursuit of happiness, then? It is an issue requiring the change born in the actions of the individual level, but also, some sensible collective gathering of will, which is quite another challenge altogether, as we crtique the system in which any chosen delegates on a local, state or national level, operate. When will we return to an agreement on many concerns of demonstrable value to the collective, and individual, good? If we- one of the nations now excluded from travel to the EU, for example- are not resonate within our populace as The Shining City On The Hill- which measures can, at least, save the United States of America from being the object of pity and derision?

I do not know if you would say the problem is that the light has dimmed or blown out, or if the hill has given way to soil creep- or if you might be among those who insist we remain The Shining City On the Hill. I assure you, the perspective from which you see this country- in a nation more, or less fortunate, as a person seen as this ethnicity or that color-bears weight in your feelings about that.


But the point- if it deserved to be made- was one of encouraging aspirations. If I take it like this, rather than a self-congratulatory and delusional pat on the back, I do believe we can make the entire country one more friendly to aspiration. To fostering American Dreams that need not destroy so much. To more American Dreams achieved by more Americans. Less centralized wealth and business opportunity, less prejudiced career opportunities, and always, more honesty, more concern about honesty- which is so often subsumed by one's emotional standpoint. I realize the truths to which every individual subscries will not all be born out in evidence of equal weight. But Hope makes such a remarkable difference in halting the slide towards mediocrity, danger, and waning respect for one's self and others. Every hill is made of nigh-countless little bits of dirt. Every light is darkness to the blind.

Raise Beauty. Uplift Hope. Move in the direction that makes you anxious and do not shy away from your fears. Make your silences a temple of Peace rather than a pit of spears. Every change you see, for good or ill, is the result of organization, too. But the shining city on the hill- like the mental construct of a nation, or the perception of a world-is a place inside you, friend. We're not bound to agree on every aspect. But we do each our part in averting disaster, tyranny and ignornance. Do not discount the city you have built within.

Lift up its light.