love song to my mongrel selves

I still seek a partner
for my role-playing games:
Cinderella,
Beauty and the Beast,
Taming of the Shrew.
Costumes welcome
but not necessary.

I know--I know --I know.
that these romantic fictions
don’t deliver long-term
opiate intoxication anymore
only a pain in my chest,
probably indigestion,
and not the ache of
inassuageable desire.

I know--I know --I know.
After all these years,
I still sing love songs
written by a rueful, wounded men
(Leonard Cohen, Paolo Conte, Me)
semi-softly to my mongrel selves
hoping SHE might overhear

I know--I know --I know!

love song to my mongrel selves copyright May 26 2009 by Jamie Jacks

The Fighting Cholitas

I just saw a great short documentary on the Independent Film Channel. (I know what you're thinking. Think it. I don't care. I watch IFC and the Sundance Channel too. okay.)

I digress. The film is called "The Fighting Cholitas". Cholitas are female wrestlers from Bolivia. They dress up in traditional Bolivian costumes, get into the ring with other Cholas and wrestle. The women are mothers and housewives who work as weavers and shop owners. But on Saturday night, they put on their traditional Bolivian outfits, go to the arena and wrestle. The picture above is from a BBC article Women wrestling sweeps Bolivia.

The women wrestlers or luchadoras are serious, disciplined athletes, train rigorously, and wrestle because they love it. To them being a luchadora is a vocation, they can not not do it. As one of the women said,"it's 80% real and 20% fake." The film showed a match between two Cholitas and there was nothing fake about that contest. Another contestant said something to the effect that since the women can't beat up their husbands, they go to the arena and beat up another Cholita. After hearing that, I decided that I didn't need to search for a life partner amongst the luchadoras of Bolivia.

I am fascinated with women's wrestling for nearly 20 years. In the 1930s Kansas City's own Mildred Burke became America's first professional "lady wrestler." In the late 1930s she would tour the country and have matches with other lady wrestlers including Gladys 'Killem' Gillem. Mildred and Gladys came to Bakersfield several times and wrestled in Strelich Stadium.

I enjoyed the film and hope everyone gets a chance to see it. The Fighting Cholitas is being shown on IFC. The film has a myspace page with a trailer and also times when it is showing on IFC.

Capitano Tedeschi

30

Why separation of Church and State is important

Surfing the internet, I found a story that gave me pause because it dealt with the problems that come from having your government allied with your most powerful religious institution. This time it's in Ireland. And it is shocking to read tthat yet another child abuse scandal is rocking the Roman Catholic Church. According to the BBC:

Victims of child abuse at Catholic institutions in the Irish Republic have expressed anger that a damning report will not bring about prosecutions. The report, nine years in the making and covering a period of six decades, found thousands of boys and girls were terrorised by priests and nuns. Government inspectors failed to stop beatings, rapes and humiliation...The five-volume study concluded that church officials encouraged ritual beatings and consistently shielded their orders' paedophiles from arrest amid a "culture of self-serving secrecy". The commission found that sexual abuse was "endemic" in boys' institutions, and church leaders knew what was going on. ...It also found physical and emotional abuse and neglect were rife in some institutions... Schools were run "in a severe, regimented manner that imposed unreasonable and oppressive discipline on children and even on staff". It found the Department of Education had generally dismissed or ignored complaints of child sexual abuse and dealt inadequately with them.

Summary of findings from the Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse (105Kb)

Something like that couldn't happen here you say. Well may be not but the words below were taken from the web page of the Republican National Committee.

We affirm every citizen’s right to apply religious values to public policy and the right of faith-based organizations to participate fully in public programs without renouncing their beliefs, removing religious objects or symbols, or becoming subject to government-imposed hiring practices. Forcing religious groups to abandon their beliefs as applied to their hiring practices is religious discrimination.

This is from the web page of my City Council Woman, Jackie Sullivan.

In 2002, the Bakersfield City Council voted in favor of proudly and prominently displaying the national motto of the United States of America, "In God We Trust", in the City Council Chambers. Jacquie Sullivan was the lead councilmember in this effort, and she considers it to be her most important accomplishment since she has been in elected office.

In 2004, Councilmember Sullivan organized "In God We Trust - America", a non-profit organization. The goal is to encourage other cities across America to follow Bakersfield's lead..

In a way, it does not seem fair to take an incident in Ireland and then use it as an argument about important domestic issues such as Americans using their religious beliefs to shape public policy and the separation between church and state.

Perhaps it is fair to make such comparisons after all. Tonight I was watching the re-run of last night's The Colbert Report. Colbert leads off with a spoof the GQ story about the incompetence of Donald Rumsfeld. The sexy stuff is a series of intelligence briefing powerpoints which Rumsfield sent to the president. Each of the covers had a picture of the troops and were emblazoned with biblical quotes. According to GQ the one for n March 31, "a U.S. tank roared through the desert beneath a quote from Ephesians: “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”

So you boss, the president feels he's on a mission from God to get Saddam Hussein, the man who tried to kill his father. What better way to curry favor than to give him presentations with biblical quotes that flatter him into thinking he's a 21st Century version of Richard the Lionheart. Maybe bible quotes on intelligence briefings are not that important. Perhaps I'm being petty about Republican Party's belief that government shouldn't interfere with the hiring practices of faith-based organizations or Jackie Sullivan's attempts to get "In God We Trust." prominently displayed at Bakersfield City Council meetings. Then you read how the Irish Department of Education allowed child abuse in in Catholic Charities it was supposed to supervise.

I do not advocate removal of religious belief from the American public life. I know that my faith guides many of my political beliefs and actions. But I am aware that I should careful when mixing my faith with my politics. Good and bad things can come from such actions. I think the founders of the republic were wise to be wary about cosy relationships between Church and the state. If you read the summary of the Commision of to Inquire into to Child Abuse you can understand why I think that caution in this matter is both necessary and wise.

Capitano Tedeschi

30

E Pluribus Unum

I was able to watch part of President Obama's ASU commencement speech last night. It was a splendid speech, full of truth, beauty, humor and power. He is a virtuoso performer and a master politician.

But as I was attending to my knitting this morning, these words came out

King of the Damned

Oh King of the Damned
What are you any way?
One of Shakespeare’s
tragic fools?

You think you’re different?
The archaeological record
is full of examples
of dead heroes
behavioral fossils
ones who little heeded
and were horribly punished

foolish wretch
power after all
is weakness and death
this is a tough neighborhood
wise up.

But that's not what I wanted to say at all and so I turned it the other way and found a better truth.

E Pluribus Unum

Foolish wretches!!!
Why do we act this way?
We think we’re so clever
Why did we make this man
King of the Damned?

I know he volunteered
But no one volunteers to be
one of Shakespeare’s
tragic fools

The archaeological record
is full of examples
of dead heroes
behavioral fossils
ones who little heeded the fact
that wielding power
can lead to humiliation and death
Who deserves to be so horribly punished?

power after all
comes from us
E Pluribus Unum
Out of many one
united we can sew the sutures
That will bind and heal
Our self-inflicted wounds

Will we sit in our easy chairs
Watching the 24/7 news
While THE BIGOT BRIGADE
Like some demented Greek Chorus
Eggs us on to the cliff-edge
And then over

Or, and this a BIG OR,
we finally realize
We are all in this together
together,WE make great change

Democracy is NOT a spectator sport
We all have a duty to our fellows
this is a tough neighborhood
wise up.

Capitano Tedeschi

30

King of the damned, E Pluribus Unum copyright May 14, 2009 by Jamie Jacks

A yoga class at last

Attending a yoga "class"

About three years ago, I stopped attending you classes at Bakersfield's Inner Body Works yoga studio. I can't figure out the exact reason, in the throes of writing my thesis, dealing with health problems and other issues. I can remember no single cause.

After I stopped going, I wanted to go back, but refused because I was maintaining a regular practice at my home. My practice has been sporadic and not very rigorous. So for a year and half I have wanted to return to classes but have been procrastinating.

Well that changed, this month because the new student recreation center SRC opened up at the Knowldedge Factory. It is an excellent facility, comparable to a high end sports club like the 24-hour Fitness Club I went to when I was visiting Austin, Texas in Dec. of 2008. The student recreation center offers a variety of classes including ballroom dancing, spin cycling, and yoga. I have a limited membership since I was once a fee paying student.

I thought taking in a yoga class at the SRC, might be a neat way to deepen my yoga practice. So I went to my first yoga class. I didn't know what to expect, I was hoping for an hour of gentle yoga. Unfortunately it was a "gym yoga class," which means it was more like an hour of stretching that sort resembles yoga. It was also held on a concrete floor, which was disappointing because there was very nice studio with wood floors that was not being used at the time. The teacher was pleasant, but not a well-trained and perhas not a long time practitioner. She led us through a variety of forms, with no balance or rhythm. It tried to do enjoy the class, but wound up leaving after a half an hour. So I have put a toe back in the water so to speak and hope that I will find yoga classes.

Applying for a new job.

In June of 2007, I graduated from the Knowledge Factory with a Masters Degree in Public Administration. For the last two years, people would ask me what I was going to do with my degree. I'd swallow and say that it had been my hope that I would be able to apply for a job on "another part of the knowledge factor floor," but the economy or personal issues did not justify changing jobs. Still I had been praying for an opportunity to come along. Last week, my prayer was answered. A job announcement was posted and I have many of the requisite qualifications. Tonight, after my hasty departure from the SRC, I worked on my resume and cover letter. They both look good. So on Friday, I turn in my application, take my suit to the cleaners and hope I get called in for an interview.

I am happy to finally apply for a position that matches my skills. Whatever the outcome, at least when I'm asked the question "What are you going to do with your Masters degree?" I can say, "Hey, I've been applying for jobs." You can not imagine how relieved I am that I will no longer be embarassed by that very reasonable and practical question.

Capitano Tedeschi

30

Interesting day worthy of some comment.

Letter from the MOTHER!@@#%#$# at my Credit Card company

Went to my mailbox today and discovered a letter from one of my creditcard companies telling me that they were lowering my credit limit from $9,000 to $300. This was due to inactivity. Which company you ask? Well, I ain't namin' no names, but they have commercials with a little red piggy bank getting fat on nickels, dimes and quarters. It also appears that their credit card division likes to get fat charging consumers outrageous interest and fees. I am disgusted by their swinish behavior. I guess they were upset that they couldn't nickel dime me for outrageous interest and fees.

It appears that I am not the only one. I did a Google search on credit limit decrease turned up 323,000 hits on the subject. The news is full of stories of people who have been stiffed by their credit card company. I was fortunate. I had recently charged $22 on that card so I was not ripped off because I was over the $300 limit. It appears that it is legal and while I may complain to various legislators and governmental agencies it will have little difference. I think I am going to write to local officials about this. The litte piggy bank company needs a "clipping."

Credit card companies have decided that one way to reduce risk, is to punish people who use their credit wisely. This is, in my opinion, self-defeating in the long-run. I spent three days in Sacramento this month and charged on a low-interest credit card from my local credit union. There is money to be made by providing people with this service. Not tremendous amounts of money, but a steady reliable source of income. Unfortunately the greedy pigs at my other credit card company have not realized this fact.

Bakersfield Drunk Driver Sentenced to 18 to Life in prison

Jose Hernandez, 39, was convicted of "The 39-year-old defendant was convicted of second-degree murder and vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence while driving drunk," according to the Bakersfield Californian. On October 14, 2007, Hernandez, who had been drinking all day was street racing on Stockdale Highway when he ran a red light at 81 mph and hit a Mercedes driven by John and Barbara Blair. Mrs. Blair, 61, was killed, John Blair was seriously injured. Hernandez' daughter 2-year-old daughter Ciara was also injured in crash. Ryan Weissrock, 22, was also involved in the accident and "has pleaded not guilty to charges of vehicular manslaughter, speed contest and hit-and-run causing injury," according to the Bakersfield Californian. His trail is scheduled for June 1, 2009.

I was driving to have coffee with a friend about 6:30 p.m. on the night of the accident. The police blocked-off nearly two blocks of Stockdale Hwy that night. I often think about that crash, and Jose Hernandez. When I ride my bike, I usually ride up into The Park at River Walk, where Hernandez drank the last two of 16 beers and watched people playing in the water. Before he got into his Chevy Tahoe to head home a friend tried to stop him from driving. Hernandez refused to surrender his car keys. It is not comforting to be riding one's bike on Bakersfields 55 mph streets, realizing that a certain percentage of drivers on the road on a Saturday or Sunday even are driving under the influence of alcohol.

As I read the article in The Californian, I was saddened for all involved. It has taken over a year and a half to resolve this case. The state has rightfully decided that Hernandez will spend the rest of his life in prison. His alcoholism will no longer be the cause of future suffering of innocent people. He will not get to see his daugher Ciara grow up. She will only get to see her father on visiting days. Ryan Weissrock, will also probably spend a considerable amount of his adult life in prison. The Barbara Blair's husband and family will spend their lives without her love and kindness.

Capitano Tedeschi

30

Mister ruin-caught-in-motion

Female sexuality is a major stumbling
block to queenly meditation

Unseen, unanticipated,
That is how he arrives
Mister ruin-caught-in-motion enters
If he should but whisper in your ear

Five vexations arise
Madness
The problem with self-touching
Loss of connection to past gender realities
Deposits of fatty acids from strange human skin
Historic ground failures in northern California

Free of such vexations
lab animals last longer
scientists are probing
whether humans can benefit from this austerity
or whether some invasive removal method
of that which is
bred and began in the heart
is necessary

In the event of an encounter
some programmatic pointers:
don't do the FTA (face-threatening act)
do not shatter his crystalline ego
remain silent
pray to the God of small things
to remove this Chimeric interloper
so you can return to
no sensation and no thought,
the serenity of reflection

Capitano Tedeschi

30

Mister ruin-caught-in-motion Copyright May 11, 2009 by Jamie Jacks

Way to go Donna or Donna’s way to go

I'd forgotten how relaxing it is
to fall asleep on a cool night,
Donna said
listening to the Cicadas
Awaking to the kisses of my dog

The rememberance of it
grieved me terribly
I thought nothing so simple could get under
my thick skin
hard as the surface of a
coffee-colored jewel

She smiled, shook her head and said,
Me with my childish dreams of becoming
a traveller; an itinerant fortuneteller
reading palms to make a living
palms foretell the future don’t you know

It is so easy to be trapped
By conformity and rectitude
My belly ached as if my soul was
pent up in some vessel of my body
The world was a frantic vacuum
I made money by exploiting others’
myopic preoccupation with the short term

In that world
life is occupied not lived
the attributes of money and summer
the same and gone just as quickly

Once I realized that other people
could not restrain me
from following my heart
my metamorphosis was certain and ugly.
Just like when a cartoon character
stops being a cartoon
It talks a while for black line and ink
to become flesh and blood

After my escape from
the world of two dimensions
I started to read others’ palms
People called me a fantasizer
as if that
was a bad thing

Capitano Tedeschi

Way to go Donna copyright May 8, 2009 by Jamie Jacks

Joe the Plumber Quits the Republican Party

Joe the Plumber Quits the Republican Party

Surrealism shows us that
The ability to create humor is related to
The psychic power of stupidity
That vital driver of free-market ideology.
After the traumatic brain injury
of the November 2008 election
the mages’ voices from
your bizarre inner world
whispered a heresy
that the mantra
of HAND GUNS & TAX CUTS!
Could not dispel

The commie/facist liberals who were
a danger to American purity
more horrible than dancing
or two Alaskan teenagers having hot sex
In a rec room in Wasilla
The Great Satan, the "Democrat" Party
Were running the government of Washington
And doing a pretty good job

Horror, sex and violence!
It was then you realized that your
new-found meal ticket
the former party of Lincoln
was pushing the wrong rhetorical buttons:
and had become as relevant
as the study of Medieval Byzantine coins
Conservative hyperbole had less value
than Byzantine Hyperpyron

Racked by fevers caused by perspirable humours
Inside the hothouse of conservative celebrity
You with your childish pronouncements
about American government
that Ronald Reagan
would not have used as a sound bite
had your Gethsemane, your run from
Rush Limbaugh moment

As you sat in a room
In that Outside the Washington Beltway motel
You realized that the Gravy Train
of Conservative hate
was running out of fetid air.
Now was time the for you to skip
before it ran off the rails or
you got that letter from the hated IRS
saying you owed more back taxes

Fear not, like you
Vladimir Lenin conceded that he had
contentious spirit,
and found comfort, as we find comfort,
in the Cossack-led massacre
That ancient Aztec kings performed a sort of divination
by means of laughter
before drinking the heart juice of their jestors

And you the uncrowned clown prince
the farcical face of Reagan conservatism
like a comedian in a John McCain skit
On Saturday Night Live
Could do nothing but make another
childish gesture and bite
That hand that gave you
Fame, $100K book deal, and
a chance to admire Sarah Palin’s "assets"
Say good bye to the Big Time Joe.

Capitano Tedeschi

30

Joe the Plumber Quits the Republican Party copyright May 7, 2009 by Jamie Jacks

old as Eve and funnier than sin

Given what I know about human nature,
this is old as Eve and funnier than sin

I saw you at the party,
sorta of by the sink,
you looked
like someone who wanted to take the plunge
into ice cold water on a hot 106 degree
Bakersfield summer day.

So you hovered there by the sink
and I was wondering were you an Aires
or some other type of hard-assed sign?
because after seeing you in that gray
turtle neck and blue jeans
I was searching my schizophrenic brain
for a logical come-on line

Something that would move you
beyond the edge
because my old enemy,
disturbing testosterone
organizing testosterone
was wanting you for some
tongue thrust therapy
and a demonstration of mastery
that would gain a man
distinction even in Nebraska

So I swam toward you
like a leviathan in a sea full
of plankton and conversational trivia
bent on honoring you with
the psychopathy of my attentions
while trying to convince you that I was
beneficial and as safe as
a natural herbal compound

I did get lucky sorta,
I did not have to show you
a graphical representation
like a discreet wavelet our eyes met
and made an interocular transfer
what can I say, when I smile
my facial expressions are contagious

You and I we are as different
as Vikings and Native Americans
I think of you
by imagining my obsolescence
as a solitary number in
a world of binary pairings
I hope to woo you by
impressing you with thoughts and deeds
that change extrinsic factors
and move you from your position
of magna mater with the power of
female prepondurance

I left that party with your smile
and your phone number
and soon will we engage
in the construction of a reality
harsher than loneliness
and other
things I wish I still didn't remember
Given what I know about human nature

Capitano Tedeschi

30

old as Eve and funnier than sin May 5, 2009, copyright Jamie Jacks

Democracy ain't pretty

Lobby Day Participants 2009

Fellow prisoners,

Was gone for the first three days of this week. Went to Sacramento, the state capitol, to participate in Lobby Day. I was one of approximately 60 California State University Employee's Union (CSUEU) members who spent Tuesday, April 28 lobbying the state legislature.



The reason why we were there was to meet with our local legislators and urge them not to cut the budget of the California State University system (CSU). CSUEU staff members had scheduled appointments with each of our local legislators. I was teamed with Kathryn Plunkett our chapter's vice president and chief steward. We had appointment with an assistant from Sen. Roy Ashburn's office and appointment with Assemblywoman Jean Fuller, R-Bakersfield. We also made drop in calls to the offices of Rep. Danny Gilmore, R-Hanford, Juan Arambula, D-Fresno, and Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter.



We had our the same talking points that we used last year, the cutting the CSU is bad for California, the University educations the majority of the state's, teachers, nurses, public safety officials and public administrators; every dollar the state invests in the CSU returns $4.41 to the economy and that the CSU generated $3.1 billion in revenue for the state in 2003. As we made our pitch to the one of the representative's staffer, they would nod their heads, patiently. It was obvious that they had heard all this before. My take on the pitch was two fold, our talking points made a convince case, and when negotiations and the ensuing horse-trading started, that compare our case with competing arguments when putting together the budget. The other point I tried to make was that the United States still has the reputation of having one of the finest university systems in the world. Students from around the world come to America and Cal State Bakersfield for an American university education. Thus higher education is still something we can sell to rest of the world, especially when the world has no interest in buying our cars or collateralized debt obligations.

Everyone we talked to assured us that they would do their best for the CSU and that the representative, while unable to meet with us, considered quality education to be vital to the state's economy. They also said that there was nothing that could be done until propositions 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E and 1F, were passed by the voters.

Which was interesting because the propositions were a hot topic during our stay in Sacramento. It's not easy for any politician to advocate raising taxes these days, which is why they punted and put it into the hands of the voters. The best our elected representatives could do was to shirk their fiscal responsibilities and make the voters do their job for them. The general of consensus of union leaders was that Prop 1A was bad news and union members should work hard to defeat it.

When I returned from Sacramento thinking that as a citizen who cares about sound government finances, I should vote for Proposition 1A, 1C, 1D and 1E. Then I read an editorial panel discussion in the Los Angeles Times where opponents of the propositions met with the editors of The Times. According to Janis R. Hirohama, League of Women Voters

I have trouble with the concept that because this is all that's on the table and that they didn't do any better, that the Big Five and the Legislature could not come up with anything better than this, that this is what they're offering us and it's either take it or walk away. And I think that going for a bad budget deal that, as Jean pointed out, is actually going to make things probably worse for us down the road, is not an answer. And the fact that they said, "Well, this is all we could do. It was a miracle that we could get three Republicans even to vote for this, and we had no choice, and if you care about California you would support this." Actually, I have friends and relatives who are telling me that.

I hate to say it, but I think I'm going to wind up not voting for any of the propositions. Perhaps by saying no, the governor and the leaders of the legislature will have to summon the political courage to raise taxes and also cut spending and give the citizens a balanced budget that reflects the people's vision and desire for state government.

When I say that I may vote against all the propositions, I am only stating my position. I would urge everyone to take sometime to read the ballot measures, decide on how they are going to vote and then vote in the upcoming election. As any public administation student will tell you, the budget is a reflection of how we a citizens see the Golden State. What can of state do you want California to be?

Capitano Tedeschi

30