L. The Beginning of the End of the Beginning...

Oh, my. It's been months since I've posted anything here. I wish I had an excuse to sell myself--but alas, the best I can come up with is that I've simply lost interest. Or maybe I even forgot about it until now.

Just as well, I guess. Since I've returned to New York, the "Gotham in Exile" moniker no longer bears relevance. So this seems like a good point to actually begin phasing out this site. There may be a few more posts on this site, but probably nothing of much importance.

Instead, I'll spend my time planning and writing content for my new site (unnamed as of yet). Upcoming are mind-grabbing essays on race, religion, and being an American (I began writing the latter one years ago!) Anyone who might see this entry, feel free to remind me the next time I completely forget.

I'll also bring over from this one those posts that are, so to speak, the
cremè de la cremè. The 95% of the utter crap content here will deservedly fade into oblivion.

So, that's that. Into the underworld travels Gotham in Exile, and from its ashes like a phoenix shall the next chapter arise.

XLIX. Duke Nukem Never

An icon from my childhood has bitten the dust.

3D Realms Shuts Down

How sad.

(P.S. Actually, it seems that the rights to the infamous Duke Nukem Forever have been claimed, so there may be hope yet for a release!)

(P.P.S. Don't hold your breath.)

XLVIII. Scaling the Wall

Writer's block sucks.

Not in the little, nagging way you'd feel if, say, you realized you were suddenly out of a delicious snack you'd just been munching on. No--this is a despair much like the feeling one gets when he knows he has disappointed someone important. In this case, the important someone is indeed the writer himself.

You see, the act of writing serves as an outlet--transferring one's ideas to external media. The writer's pen is a spigot. When the ideas aren't flowing an unbearable pressure builds up, frustrating and tormenting him.

It seems the only way to get over this is to force oneself to get started. My own approach will be to regard any blank sheets of paper I see as a dire emergency--an imminent threat requiring my immediate attention to quash. Just fill 'em up, and let god sort 'em out.

I'll see how that goes.

XLVII. The New Caveman

Am I becoming a Luddite?

I don't own a Blackberry, I don't spill my every inane thought on Twitter, and I don't relish the idea of telling everybody on the planet know what I'm doing every five seconds.

Oh, well. I'm not jumping on the bandwagon. I'll stick with my e-mail and my halfhearted social networking and blogging.

(For now, anyway.)

XLVI. Duck and Cover!

If you get all your information from the mainstream American media, you are probably aware that we are now gripped by a pestilence not seen since the days of oh, say the dreaded bird flu.

Seriously, to anyone who might be thinking that this is the beginning of the Apocalypse, might I point you to the words of the late, great George Carlin
(check out the beginning of part 2 as well):


Just be sure to stay away from the Chinese chicken...

XLV. Confick-you! (Or not, if you're smart)

Well, the computing world's latest gift from losers with too much time on their hands is called Conficker, and it's scheduled to go off just minutes from now--threatening to wreak havoc on Windows boxes worldwide.

While this irritates me to no end, and it is my opinion that spreading computer bugs should be one of the very few offenses worthy of capital punishment (all right, a slight exaggeration--but the sentiment comes across) the best we can do at this point is keep our own asses covered.

Don't get f-ed over by Conficker

XLIV. Five Yards for Encroaching Censorship

I am growing increasingly disturbed by the encroachment of police power into our daily lives. With each passing day another liberty seems to disappear.

Take, for example, this plan by the UK government. Presumably aimed at banning certain "controversial" types of manga drawings, it would give the government incredible control over the ideas people are allowed to express.

Not to defend any given type of idea, mind you. But, theoretically, if a government presumes the sole authority to label ideas as "obscene" then there is nothing stopping it from attaching this tag to any idea it wishes, given situational efficacy.

The real danger in this type of reactionary thinking is that it feeds into the agendas of those who would like to gain control over others.

For instance, why are images of nudity or sex considered obscene, but images of wanton violence so commonplace?

Is it, perhaps, that some people would like to take from you control of your own body, while simultaneously desensitizing you to the suffering of others?
Sounds kind of like an efficient, obedient war-making machine, doesn't it?

XLIII. They Just Don't Get It...

Mr. Jindal's Neighborhood


To think, the clones are actually going crazy over this guy--he's probably already a frontrunner for 2012.

This illustrates perfectly how clueless the Republicans are. They throw a pile of poop in a brown bag and call it diversity.

XLII. Diverging Priorities

Isn't it curious that on a day that thousands of people are losing their jobs, the Dow Jones was actually up for a while?

What kind of message is that supposed to send about what's important in our economy?

XLI. Happy 2009!

Or should I say, "good riddance to 2008?"

For the most part this year could best be described as garbage.

As much as it did suck, there were some bright spots--I managed to complete my undergraduate degree, and a black man (as dubious as some of his moves may be) was elected President of the United States.

Perhaps we ended 2008 at rock bottom, and we have hit an uptick that will lead to better days shortly. I certainly hope so.

As always, enjoy the day.

XL. 'Tis the Season...

We have once again reached that wonderful season known as Christmastime. This is the time we push our cares to the side, and celebrate life, giving, and good company. Delightful food and music are standard fare. In honor of the season, I present a list of ten songs that brighten my spirits around this time of year.

X. Do You Hear What I Hear?
This Whitney Houston interpretation hits the spot.


IX. Christmas in Hollis
Holiday cheer (hip-hop style!) from Run-DMC.


VIII. Step into Christmas
Elton John.


VII. Santa Baby
The late, great Eartha Kitt.


VI. Do They Know It's Christmas?
I enjoy this song by the Band Aid charity project, although "thank God it's them, instead of you" is a rather curious attitude--especially given the season.


V. The Night Santa Went Crazy
Funny song by "Weird Al".


IV. This Christmas
Donny Hathaway.


III. O Holy Night
I really like this Mahalia Jackson version.


II. Thank God It's Christmas
The inimitable Queen.


I. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
This Darlene Love number is a Christmas legend.

XXXIX. Back for Good

For the past few weeks I've been back in NYC, readjusting to the pace of life here. It's a dramatic departure from the relative desolation of Buffalo, to be sure. But, it's home, and that knowledge is comforting.

I wonder what I'll call the site now that I'm technically no longer "in exile." Whatever developments happen in that area, though, won't take place for some time yet.

XXXVIII. Sanity on ICE

I was just watching a feature story on ABC World News about the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Flight Operations Unit, which is charged with the removal of illegal aliens to their countries of origin. According to the story, deportees are flown home aboard commercial-style jetliners, where they get complimentary food and are under the watchful eye of armed guards doubling as flight attendants. And this is done at a cost of approximately $680 each.

So, let me get this straight. The government is frittering away public money on jet flights--half of which are empty--carrying away people who will probably be back within the year? And, this is going on while this same government promotes conservation and wise spending?

XXXVII. A New Beginning

Tomorrow signifies the start of a new era in my life, as I will no longer be in exile.

Tomorrow, I return to my hometown--to all that has been familiar to me my whole life, and away from the place I've been temporarily anchored for the past three years.

Feelings of excitement--as well as uncertainty--ensconce me. But the most important feeling by far is the determination to create a better future.

And so, as one chapter closes, another begins.

See you soon--back from exile!

XXXVI. Just because I can...

In the interest of simply filling up some space before the month ends...
Here's one of the greatest disco songs ever, by George McCrae.

Rock Your Baby

XXXV. No Prob, Bob!

XXXIV. Oh, F___ Me!

Reflecting on my professional life, I realize that it thus far has been a complete disaster.

I have gone from working in a government office, to a library circulation department, to making sandwiches, to washing dishes, to applying for a job scrubbing toilets.

At this rate, in five years I'll be making my living scooping up dog crap.

As it stands right now, I have no job and can't pay my rent.

Earlier on in my life, I simply couldn't fathom what a person could have going on in their life that would drive them to take their own life.

With my increasing desperation, I fear I'm beginning to understand.

XXXIII. Thoughts on the American Election

Barring some spectacular last-minute calamity, Barack Obama will be elected the 44th President of the United States tonight. This event will be the capstone of the near two-year-long wave of excitement that has swept through much of the country.

But that is almost beside the point.

The simple fact is, in the United States of America, voting simply means going through the motions of expressing a personal or cultural preference. The voters aren't truly exercising a choice. The choice was made long before 4th November, 2008.

You see, the way the "democratic" process works in this country is as follows:

• major party organizations receive "requests" from powerful corporations and lobbying groups;
  
• the major party organizations then select the best-groomed conformist that it believes can stir up a strong reaction in the public, either through a "unity" image or by polarizing the public in its favor (note that major-party candidates that have actual grassroots support are always excluded -- see Paul, Ron or Kucinich, Dennis);
  
• they then unleash a torrent of propaganda, through the media outlets with which they share an unhealthily close relationship.
  Characteristic of such messages are the use of empty slogans and drawing distinctions that don't exist. Some examples are, "we will withdraw from Iraq eventually" versus "we need to stay in Iraq until the job is done," and "change we can believe in." The former examples is a logically identical statements, amounting to "we will be in Iraq indefinitely." The latter phrase is entirely meaningless -- what does it mean to believe in change?
  These messages are used to "manufacture" support -- it is quite unlike true popular support, which of course originates within the populace.
  
• The major parties then present the public with a ballot (featuring their candidates in the most visible spots). With the public fully in the throes of its "manufactured" enthusiasm, they can count on garnering 95 to one hundred percent of the vote between them.

Other candidates--the ones who object to this fixed system--have no recourse. Any complaints by these individuals to state election boards (controlled by the two major parties) are swiftly buried.
If the Democrats and Republicans were corporations their actions would violate anti-trust laws.

But anyway, back to Obama. The campaign that has been presented to us has had at its center the idea of "change." I am admittedly skeptical of this tactic--doesn't every politician claim to be different? How is Obama unique in a political sense?

In the early stages of the campaign, the focus was on Obama being a fresh, young face in the Senate; policy questions were largely avoided. Then, as the nomination process was winding down he was attacked for his association with a South Side, Chicago pastor known for preaching black liberaton theology. Without hesitation, he vehemently denounced black liberation theology, and ultimately abandoned the man whose church he had used for twenty years to build his own political organization. Nearly a month later--after the nomination was all but clinched--the first place he went was the yearly conference of AIPAC, a neoconservative lobbying group which favors attacking Iran. Speaking before the group, he all but grovelled before its agenda. Since being the presumptive nominee he has come out in favor of expanding capital punishment, threatened Pakistan, and voted to give immunity to the telecommunications corporations that violated the rights of Americans by cooperating with illegal wiretapping programs by the federal government.

We've learned, then, since the policy part of Obama's campaign was revealed, that "change" amounts to the demonization of progressive politics, a promise for the expansion of America's violent foreign agenda, reactionary lip service to the "tough-on-crime" movement, and deference to the interests of corporations over those of ordinary people, as well as a healthy dose of backstabbing.

And this is the change that Obama claims we need?
That seems like typical politician behavior to me. It certainly could be descriptive of every U.S. president since at least John F. Kennedy.
America moving further in the direction of dictatorial rule by the corporate-military-industrial complex is certainly nothing I need or want.

The other major party, the Republicans have feebly attempted to pipe their own propaganda through to the public. This year they have had little success generating the "manufactured" support they needed to push John McCain over the top. While their message differed in tone and temperament (not to mention Sarah Palin, but she will soon fade back into obscurity), it was selling the same thing--a corporatist who is beholden to neoliberal and neoconservative interests.

But only Barack Obama or John McCain will win enough votes in enough states to clinch the election.

They are, except in the most outwardly superficial respects, the same candidate.

So I will go to the polls yet again, knowing that I have no choice.

But I do have the ability to state my preference.

So this year, it's between Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney and independent Ralph Nader.

I like McKinney for the simple fact that she is unafraid to go up against tall odds, such as being among the early voices decrying election fraud and illegal disenfranchisement and demanding an impartial investigation into the 9/11 attacks.
Ralph Nader's pro-democracy, anti-corporate abuse principles are well-known and unswerving.

Both are a credit to the ideal of freedom that America should aspire to, unlike McCain and Obama--embarrassing statist hacks.

I knew that when the night is done neither one will be president-elect, but that doesn't mean anything to me.

I may not have a real choice, but I most certainly do have a voice.

XXXII. Don't Let It Get Away!

I found this video very disturbing, to say the least.



I'm not sure whether I'm more afraid of the cat, or everyone else in its past.

XXXI. Heya!

Before the month ends without a post, I think I ought to say a few words.

October and autumn are upon us, and the cold weather is not far behind. I suspect that I will be job-hunting very soon, as the window for biking weather closes and I will have to find employment that is more transit-friendly.

I've been slowly getting settled in my place, moving more items in from storage.

The grind of day-to-day living is beginning to get to me, though. I'm thinking about taking a weekend trip to New York City at the end of the month--I definitely need the break.

Don't want to get into the clusterfuck that is American politics right now. The people who will win can't help us, and the people who could help us can't win.