BOBKAT'S 4TH OF JULY CELEBRE - HISTORY 1776

Yes I celebrate the 4th of July... I also know somethings about the history, the founding of our Country...

There were 13 colonies in America in 1776... of the 13, 12 voted with the Declaration of Independence. It was a radical, and defiant document... against the King of England who oversaw all of colonial America. It was a document that was signed by our founders, like John Hancock, whose signature was "most flamboyant", and Ben Franklin, who by then was age 70: it was Franklin who famously said: “We must all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”  It is that document, this defiance as American's that we celebrate.

This document also most clearly establishes the intentions and concerns that led to who we are  as Americans today, and our "fathers" original goal. Principal among them is this irrefutable truth:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."


When we talk about what is right or wrong, when we bicker among ourselves, point fingers at those who don't "think or act" like we do, we need to celebrate the fact that there are differences among us, as was the original belief among our forefathers, that led to the goal of this country, and learn to be tolerant of our differences, to work together.

From the following link, you can see Abraham Lincoln also believed, the key to understanding the US Constitution lay in using the Declaration of Independence as the source for interpretation  and understanding of the US Constitution.

Recent Supreme Court matters have often raised the question of how bound justices are to absolute "judgement of law based on law, and many senators believe justices to be mear instruments to make judgments. I strongly disagree. Supreme Court Judges, as all judges, must consider in both concretely and objectively, the truth. To do this based upon the key - our Declaration... the reason we are Americans today..

WIKIPEDIA LINK:
 "The passage: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident...' has often been used to promote the rights of marginalized groups, and (has) came to represent for many people a moral standard for which the United States should strive. This view was greatly influenced by Abraham Lincoln, who considered the Declaration to be the foundation of his political philosophy, and promoted the idea that the Declaration is a statement of principles through which the United States Constitution should be interpreted."

What have we accomplished in "Pursuit of Happiness"? Do we care about others as we do ourselves? Have we "voted" in a way that acknowledges the rights of others, though their pursuits are sound, though maybe not what we pursue.

Enabling an individual, which includes yourself, to be able to be happy, is a challenge when considering how strongly we feel about our own principles. How willing are we to accept those different from ourselves? The problem with the "civil rights " movement was it established laws and regulations, it failed to provide basic human rights... to make clear, there is no such thing as racism... it failed to emphasize that point.

Benjamin Franklin wasn't kidding about being strung up and hung! They were taking a very real risk! You didn't defy the King of England back then, and not hang by a rope until dead.

The American Revolution succeeded... not that everyone was in favor of it. Of course not. And that continues until today... it's what makes our country unique. Our ability to compromise, reason, accept, listen to, understand, and forgive... and become advocates and activists. It is the American Way.

What makes you happy?


HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!

Source:SD.GOV

INTERMISSION and GEORGE the Cat...

I'm going to post a short Intermission...

After "Getting Stoned on Sarah Silverman", I have to admit to having had a rebirth experience. I felt myself in my 20's again, but I know I'm not that. The experience nonetheless was rewarding. Imagine - a world of politicians, and no Sarah Silverman's... or Mary Janes... yeah... tough world... but Sarah is here... and Single... ahhh - to dream is to hope.

Expect more humor and satire in my next posts.... I've been thinking...

In the meantime... until then...

Here's a picture of George (yes, I called him Twearth previously, and he's not named after G. Bush, Jr.; he's named after George Harrison, the Beatle).

George is now around 7 yo, loves the outdoors, and is the perfect home and barn-yard cat...  he oversees two - three dozen free-range chickens... keeping the farm rodent free. He's received several medals (treats) already, and one big scare... one where I thought he was a goner.

But we found him, as dusk crept down in a pouring, cold rain... after an hour or more of searching in the nearby woods, with what seemed like a faint "meow" coming from what seemed, another dimension...  I narrowed him down to a certain area; my house-mate was searching elsewhere nearby.

It was really hard to look up... but I forced myself, trying to look up into hundreds of branches. The rain blurred my vision, my eye-glasses useless. But I saw him... So small up there on a branch... a15 pound cat, looking like a 5 pound drenched cat. He was perched at least 15 - 20 feet up tree, too scared to move.

We had to go to the barn, get a ladder and stretch up to reach him, and avoid getting ripped to shreds - he was scared. We figure a local predator like a bobcat, coyote, or fox scared him up the tree. The good news - much nature-smarter now... a very good cat.

George; 7 yo; 18lb; Adopted from the SPCA 2008

Paid to sleep on the job... when not protecting our property from rodents.

George is doing a Good Job!


My kind of work...

ICE 9.1 - STONED ON KURT VONNEGUT, JR., and HERMANN HESSE

My apology to Mr. Vonnegut... Kurt Vonnegut, the writer... for getting to him so late. I'm just getting around to acknowledge him, and the profound influence his novels had on me during my 20's, the 1970's... Hesse too.

I remember "Ice Nine" in particular, A story within the novel, "Cat's Cradle". The whole world turns to ice, due to a "stable polymorph" introduced into water. Everything dies... within hours, or minutes. And it happens, in Cat's Cradle. Can't help but compare it to the tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico - the "BP Spill".


Not exactly something to feel good about - stoned or not. In ICE NINE the world freezes completely. In the Gulf, everything turns to oil.

WIKIPEDIA LINK:
"Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (pronounced /ˈvɒnɨɡət/; November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American novelist who wrote works blending satire, black comedy, and science fiction, such as Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), Cat's Cradle (1963), and Breakfast of Champions (1973). He was known for his humanist beliefs as well as being honorary president of theAmerican Humanist Association. He is widely considered one of the most influential American writers of the 20th century."

Vonnegut speaking in 2004

One of the effects of Vonnegut's books are how they blend together.. I've read and reread his novels, "Slaughterhouse five", for example, a novel with a very personal view of WWII. What gets me stoned is not because I have a rush reading Vonnegut, but rather... a connection - a high from connecting and living the stories. Like an out of body experience.

My mentor during the 1970's, Professor DS,  suggested that not only should I reserve some books for when I'm older -like over 50... but reread the ones that touched you when you were younger., back then in my 20's.


I can think of one novel in particular that I saved - by Hermann Hesse' , "The Glass bead Game"... I remember only that unlike his other novels, of which I read them all, "The Glass bead game" was mathematically challenging. I wasn't able to climb that peak, back then. But, soon... I will.


Authors like Vonnegut, Hesse, can heighten awareness, influence thoughts, change behavior. It's just like getting stoned on "marijuana". The only difference is that cannabis often provides a temporary, nitrous oxide effect (laughing gas), a rush of sorts... but then these novels do much the same... providing a high, and euphoria, as well as esoteric experiences.


WIKIPEDIA LINK: 

Hermann Hesse... maybe not what you picture for a spiritual guide... but similar to Vonegut, they're masters.

Hermann Hesse in 1927

"Hermann Hesse (July 2, 1877 – August 9, 1962)...  was aGerman-born, Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. In 1946, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature. His best-known works include 'Steppenwolf', 'Siddhartha', 'Narcissus and Goldmund', and 'The Glass Bead Game(also known as Magister Ludi)'. Each explores an individual's search for authenticity, self-knowledge and spirituality."


My own epiphany:

"What's that that makes us who we are? So elusive as to pay it no mind... you can ignore it, or embrace it. If you "embrace it", "IT has a right to BE too! You are not a god. You do not own it. If you ignore it, you ignore yourself, which in effect is taking your life for granted."

MARIJUANA OBSESSION - Autobiographical Critique

Face it old man - "you're obsessed with marijuana".

So I face it...

I look in a mirror; what do I see?

What I see is why I don't look into a mirror.

No, not anything bad, I'm really a good guy, I know that. Being obsessed with marijuana isn't what i see looking in a mirror... what I see is the challenge life has been and how fortunate I've been to have had the very unique experiences I have had, and to be able to look back on them.

But not in a mirror...

In a mirror I see a person alienated from his family, and society... for really asinine reasons. My choice at age 21, for example, to get a job as a custodian at a community college. It was my dream... but there was the disgrace it caused to my mother... and then there was sex, OMG, sex! Not a place we can go just yet... but let's consider an obsession towards knowledge, being human, fitting in, and finally, my interest in cannabis, which happened quite unexpectedly (and covered under earlier posts) actually.

My family mocked me as a "career student", since once I started using cannabis, I suddenly loved learning... and my job provided free tuition, so I could take any subjects I wanted... and I did, but alas, "the family rulebook", like the Supreme Court might rule, found that "career student" was an unacceptable use of my life.

Like Sarah Silverman, I just wouldn't "grow-up"!

I am, therefore, pretty much in self-exile from my family... in the 1970's we were expected to go to college, get a good paying job, get married, buy a house, have children, and grand-children, and die. College was but a stepping stone - one not designed or established so one would really learn, but an extension of high school, where you furthered your "prescribed" implant of information to go to the next square.

I blame a book my Aunt Helen gave me, Christmas, when I was 8yo, by Ray Bradbury - "R Is For Rocket", for making me different. Not cannabis or marijuana as many like to call it. Cannabis simply opened my eyes to the obvious... or what should have been obvious in my opinion... that education was and could be much more than the next square.

Having uncovered that secret however made me an outcast - yeah maybe in my own mind, but think about it - how many persons really look at college as a place of enlightenment, a place to learn, a place to become all you can? A place to research your most intimate interest, a place to socialize and find you're not so bad after-all...

If, like Sarah Silverman was able to do in her 2010 autobiography, I was able to do in my blog... I would not only feel very happy, but I'll bet, I could knock your socks off! The title of the book is "A View From Behind the Mop", and I've been working on it for almost 35 years... it's a story that happened by accident, when I chose the "road less traveled". What's ironic is that I didn't search for this road, it found me. As it should.

I had decisions to make for the first time in my life... and I embraced them, rather scared at first, but I did. But then, that "family rulebook" and almost daily calls from my mother, all starting out innocuous, but all leading to that rulebook, and to continued "parenting", which not only really annoyed me, but by age 21 that's an infringement.

Marijuana, happens to be a topic I've extensively researched since the 1970's... and had ample opportunity to experience first-hand. And to be quite honest, since I turned 50, like clockwork it seemed,  I haven't used cannabis very often since then, because pot is for young people. At least that's how the laws affect it's use, in my opinion. Instead, now I reflect on my life... smoke a lot of cigarettes and consume a lot of beer. Yes, and I do work 40 hours a week and commute an additional 17hours during the week. The irony - I've been told it's healthier drinking and smoking butts - Why? Marijuana is illegal, that's why.

Marijuana Prohibition is simply plain wrong. That's why i write about it... that and because my First Amendment rights permit me to. I'm also bothered by how cannabis, which was accepted in this country until 1937, suddenly became "the demon weed". If you've read my history of marijuana you'd see the term "marijuana" is directed towards Mexicans to begin with, and a prejudice... we called it ganjah, not marijuana. It became the target of immigration reform back in the 1930's... which then led to Reefer madness and the problems we have today, sorting truth from fiction.

Considering what's going on in our world, it's ironic that I find myself writing a blog that's considered "at the fringe", as I try and separate fact from lies. That the likes of people like Charles Manson and Joran van der Sloot are celebrities, getting numerous marriage proposals, and attention; that Wall Street needed us tax-payers to bail them out... hey, I could use a "bail-out" too!!!.

Marijuana is not the problem... Reefer madness is - the concept, the idea. It a comedy of tragedies... one that grows more elaborate and ludicrous every day. I need not remind my readers that on Change.org for 2010,  "legalization of marijuana" was voted the number 1 issue for reform in America.

I'm hardly alone... it turns out. Though I feel like I am.