tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020960402708303830.post1663229395875984621..comments2024-03-28T14:53:38.827-04:00Comments on BLCKDGRD: hertz from hertz until there was just airUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020960402708303830.post-42966644280187053092019-05-07T09:40:32.830-04:002019-05-07T09:40:32.830-04:001)speaking of jackets, and taking a garment off of...1)speaking of jackets, and taking a garment off of one's back, as goldbarth's poem does, reminds me of something that happened in the closest costco this past sunday<br /><br />while spouse and self were waiting in the checkout line a non-english speaking older woman and a somewhat younger bilingual woman - her daughter? - both of east asian appearance - were behind us<br /><br />the older woman admired missus charley's jacket and had the younger woman ask where she had gotten it - missus charley kindly took the jacket off her back so that the younger woman - using her smartphone - could take a picture of the label (it was NOT from l.l. bean, but i forget which competitor it was) to enable them to find the model or one similar<br /><br />i swear or affirm that this event happened exactly as stated<br /><br />to be frank, many, probably most, of the customers at this particular costco are not gringos - even in the mistah charley-missus charley duo, only 50% of us are - and don't get me started on the staff<br /><br />who knows if it's good or bad?<br /><br />2)and speaking about things that might be good or bad (under what circumstances? compared to what?) - <b>hate</b><br /><br />in my role as self-appointed role as spokesmodel for the better angels of our nature, i wish to point out that<br /><br /><i>anger - natural, even laudable, as an emotional response</i><br />is to be distinguished from <br /><i>petrified malice, which is what hate is</i><br /><br />in the format of the miller analogies test <br /><br /><b>anger:state::hatred:trait</b><br /><br />rather than a quote from some buddhist guy pointing out how hatred distorts one's perceptual field, here's something from one of my favorite theologians - kurt vonnegut<br /><br /><b> Everybody asks during and after our wars, and the continuing terrorist attacks all over the globe, “What’s gone wrong?”<br /><br /> What has gone wrong is that too many people, including high school kids and heads of state, are obeying the Code of Hammurabi, a King of Babylonia who lived nearly four thousand years ago. And you can find his code echoed in the Old Testament, too. Are you ready for this?<br /><br /> “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.”<br /><br /> A categorical imperative for all who live in obedience to the Code of Hammurabi, which includes heroes of every cowboy show or gangster show you ever saw is this: every injury, real or imagined, shall be avenged. Somebody’s going to be really sorry.<br /><br /> When Jesus Christ was nailed to a cross, he said, “Forgive them, Father, they don't know what they do.” Any real man, obeying the Code of Hammurabi, would have said, “Kill them, Dad, and all of their friends and relatives, and make their deaths slow and painful.”<br /><br /> His greatest legacy to us, in my humble opinion, consists of only twelve words. They are the antidote to the Code of Hammurabi.<br /><br /> <i> “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”</i> </b><br /><br />from a commencement speech at agnes scott college, decatur, georgia, may 5, 1999<br /><br />source of this text (with a crucial omitted word re-inserted in my quotation from it): <br /><br />https://www.skmurphy.com/blog/2014/07/13/kurt-vonnegut-replace-the-code-of-hammurabi-with-the-sermon-on-the-mount/<br /><br />3)re sociopathic overlords and their shortsightedness re environmental conditions - <br /><br />on some level, same as it ever was<br />on another level, humans got too soon schmart, too late wise<br /><br />stuff will happen, people will deal with it<br /><br />you never know when something surprising might happen<br /><br />enjoy yourself, it's later than you think<br /><br />it's a big universe, there are a lot of start-ups, a few will succeed - if ours doesn't then that's the way it goes<br /><br />life goes on within you and without you<br /><br />mistah charley, ph.d.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06303695341246058680noreply@blogger.com