Tannishblog

October ninth has been a secret holiday for me. During my preteens and on to high school I was a huge Beatles fan. After the fact, though, as they had disbanded by then. Nonetheless, afterschool hours would find myself and best-friend Paul memorizing every lyric and musical phrase, practicing laughable Liverpudlian accents and pretending to live an a world that few would ever know; inside the lives of two of the most famous people in the world. Yes, my buddy Paul was Paul McCartney, by virtue of name and an uncanny ability to mimic his voice, and I was John Lennon (by default, because, who else could I be in this boyhood fantasy?)

We learned a great deal about the Beatles during our escapist episodes. We both started playing guitars to round out the shared illusion. I still play. Although our lives separated soon after, I’m sure the Paul I knew still does as well.

So John Lennon’s birthday is today, and it’s my secret holiday. A sentimental, nostalgic day.

So sing you favorite John song. I know you have one. And celebrate the stunted love of a confused and brilliant man. John saw firsthand the absurdity of celebrity, the insanity of our world. He tried his best to point that out to us. After that, all he could do was to distance himself and Watch the Wheels go Round and Round.

"Illegal is only getting caught." That’s what my brother always said. But I "Scooter" Libby got caught. Yet because he’s pals with Karl "Puppetmaster" Rove and Dick "Shotgun" Cheney, George "Warmonger" Bush commutes Scooter’s prison time, like the puppet he is. A shag-carpeted prison is too onerous for a millionaire White House hack convicted of perjury. Thirty months is too harsh a punishment for aiding and abetting the uncovering of a covert agent - an act that would’ve been treasonous at any other point in American history.

Above the law doesn’t cut it: Transcending the law is more accurate. Illegal wars, patronage, incompetence, violations of Geneva Conventions, suspension of Habeas Corpus, illegal surveillance of citizens, illegal purges of US Attorneys, Using US troops for corporate advantage - all in a days work. Don’t look, don’t tell. Ask me no questions, I’ll tell you no lies. The laws are for everyone else, not me.

If you’re as sick of all this as I am, try this: the Honk To Impeach campaign is starting tomorrow, July 4th. Make a big signs that reads: "Honk to Impeach Bush" and "TEXT "IMPEACH" to 30644," bring a camera, and hang out at a busy intersection and have fun! Don’t forget to post your location on the events board.

Obviously our Democratic congress is not going to make the right move unless a huge noise is being made in the streets. Let’s make that noise! Demand action, take back our country from the multinational corporations who buy our candidates. Help reinstate Democracy! Do this because the laws are for everyone.

In honor of Mother’s day. I post a link to last year’s ponderings: “Arise… Women of This Day” Indeed, on this day women are raising voices to the real spirit of the day: Peace.

Every day should be a celebration of peace. This one more than most. Let the sanity begin.

Happy Easter!

For those of you contemplating a huge meal in honor of the gruesome death of a Jewish rabble-rouser and his subsequent mysterious disappearance, please remember, as the saying goes, "He Died For Your Sins."

This simple yet unsubstantiated claim is ambiguous: Did he die to absolve us of past sins, thereby cleansing humanity of its depravity, or did he die to pave the way to a continuation of sins, compounded by a deific belief in this peaceful man as a reason for violence and by technological advances in warfare? Much ill has been perpetrated in the name of Jesus. Much good has been done, as well, but the ill lasts longer.

 Jesus Christ, by all accounts, was a peaceful, tolerant man. More of a political advocate that a religious figure, he bucked the trend of his time and caused the Roman government some consternation. For this, he died a gruesome death, a public spectacle for political gain. What humanity has done to him since is even more frightening. Whole nations have been destroyed because they didn’t see the need to convert to Christianity. Just ask any of the vestiges of the great Sioux nation, for one example. The list is too long to enumerate here.

 Our president believes in Jesus. He leapt to the forefront of the world stage propelled by his stated religiosity: "I listen to a higher father," he said. I wonder whom he meant? Not long after he stole the presidency through illegal vote-purging in Florida, he was presented with a world-class disaster from which to make a name for himself and to show the world what he’s made of. He did all of that.

Our born-again Christian president twisted truth in order to go to war on a nation unconnected to the aforementioned tragedy, causing repercussions not limited to bankrupting the richest nation on earth, killing tens-of-thousands of innocent people, destroying a nation and killing or damaging thousands of young Americans, their families, and ensuring a continued drain on the national economy in the form of providing for the maimed soldiers and their families. The full effect of this disaster will be felt for at least a generation. So much for believing in the Prince of Peace.

Is this what it means to "listen to a higher father"? Is this what it means when people say Christ dies for our sins? I didn’t work; we continue to sin, but now we can do it in Jesus’ name. Any true follower of Jesus would put a stop to war. Any true follower of Jesus would hold accountable the people responsible for destroying so much for lies. :Thou Shall Not Kill", yet this man does. "Thou Shall Not Steal", yet this man and his allies are stealing the sovereignty of a proud people only to steal its oil. That covers covetousness as well. "Thou Shall Not Lie", yet that’s all we hear from our administration.

Are these actions of a Christian nature? Did Jesus die for this? Or perhaps the ill-fated Jew died so you can eat Ham at Passover? Bon Appetite.

"The new year is a blank slate upon which to write," or some such… That is the gist of a nice email greeting from Dailyzen.com. I awake this late morning to a slate written upon with a sloppy hand. Things like "I could get used to Jamison’s Irish Whiskey," and "Two in the morning? Most days I get up at four," vying with the perennial "Work tomorrow, playtime’s over." If it wasn’t for the familiarity of the blocky "N’s" and the rounded "E’s," I might wonder who was so callous.

Last night’s annual movie fest, a Tim Burton/ Johnny Depp affair, worked for the ladies - Daughter, Wife and a girlfriend of hers - but this lone dude kept gravitating around his PC games. The magic hour came and all three shouted the incantation "Happy New Year" and returned to the final feature, "Willy Wonka." I stood with empty shot glass in hand thinking the usual Tannish drivel.

New Years is an arbitrary demarcation. Nothing is new at all, we’ve been here before. Finally, Zen thoughts emerge from the bog: Beginnings are meaningless as all things arise and fall continually. In a world where there are no beginnings, there are no ends. Each moment gives rise to the next in an endless cycle of causation and karma. Life rides a river of time marked only by continuing changes, whether looking at a microcosm of individual existence or a macrocosm of galactic movements, no real beginnings can be found.

Thus there really was no good reason to get sauced last night.

Looking forward to the new year? A fresh start, a new congress, and hopeful vibes from the press. Maybe you’ve made a mental list of resolutions. While we reminisce about a tumultuous year, there’s always a smidgen of hope for better horizons. Isn’t that what New Years Day is about?

In the immortal words of Rocky J. Squirrel, "But that trick never works." Every year, the same thoughts, every year the same old crap. Congress will not magically heal. Health care will not suddenly become affordable. Wages will not become fair, nor businesses equitable. Wars will not stop. Greed and selfishness, thinly disguised by Power Politics, Capitalism and Free Markets (an oxymoron) will continue to rule our planet.

We have learned nothing, Perhaps we will never learn.

Until each individual acknowledges his or her contribution to the mayhem that is humanity, nothing can change for the better. I challenge you to look into your heart this New Years Eve, to try to view in an objective way your actions, motivations, responses and rationalizations. Look at your life as only you can. Be honest with yourself as you ask if during the past year you advanced humanity, expressed empathy, fostered understanding of others, promoted tolerance. If you can say this without lying to yourself, I commend you.

If you say no, then you have only yourself to blame for our world. Humanity is an aggregate of individuals, any reflection of the whole must also reflect upon each of us separately. In order to change our world for the better - and by this I mean a world of peace, health, prosperity for all people - we must each live our lives toward this goal as if we alone can achieve it. Only through a critical mass of people living out the changes they wish to see in the world will humanity ever progress. It takes all of us to stop war, for example, by stopping aggression in ourselves. If you and I resist the conditioned responses we’ve accumulated and forge new ones, we can make a difference.

In some ways we are so advanced. The sum of collected knowledge is astounding. What we have accomplished with this is sometimes wonderful, but all-too-often horrible. Despite this we have much growing to do. Spiritually and socially we’re in our infancy even as we show off our technological sophistication. As a species we’ve grown in only a few ways possible, not all the ways possible. We’re lopsided. If we embrace this truth, keep it close to our hearts, and - most importantly - do something about it, then we can grow in the areas we need. Unless each of us take action, we can expect more of the same out of the new year and every year thereafter.

Resisting the temptation to write another anti-Christmas diatribe, I find an article in the Washington Post on the holiday by Sankar Vedantan. One would think he comes at it from the outside, but in our nation one never knows.

The growth of Santa as the predominant icon of Christmas in much of the world grew out of the efforts of retail wizards such as John Wanamaker and Rowland Hussey Macy, founders of the modern department store. Much like the early church fathers, Wanamaker and Macy systematically laid claim to a Christmas of their own making in the 19th century

[…]

Business magnates who had once protested that holidays such as Christmas were a drain on the economy spotted the business potential of Christmas and encouraged the idea of gift-giving among family. Where Christmas gifts had once been primarily about charity, advertisers and marketers encouraged the notion that Christmas was primarily a family celebration and stressed the importance of reciprocal gift exchanges for friends and relatives. By the 20th century, American marketing geniuses led by Coca-Cola had seized on the advertising potential of Santa Claus. Although Santa’s ancestors in Europe and Asia had various religious connotations, the modern Santa is an American invention, with growing appeal in Europe and around the world.

"Coca-Cola to some extent owns Christmas," said Belk. In the 1930s, he added, "they had a painter commissioned to do one painting of Santa Claus every year . . . it seems likely that the red color of Santa’s outfits came from Coca-Cola’s paintings."

Children in non-Christian and non-religious homes in the United States now expect gifts at Christmas — and the practice is increasingly popular around the world as well. Santa is huge in Japan, for example, where Christians make up only a tiny slice of the population. In the United States, Christmas celebrations have also exerted a gravitational force on non-Christian festivals: Hanukkah and Kwanzaa share the modern Christmas notion of giving and receiving gifts.

Ah, yes. Merry (ching, ching) Christmas!

Then came the whim of Googling a common phrase. The second link sounds interesting…

Taking an evergreen tree, putting it in your house, decorating it with lights, sitting in the dark, and adoring it to Christmas carols is spiritual adultery. You profess to love Jesus, but you do so with the mementos and techniques of other lovers – the world and pagan religion. You are not content with Christ’s pure gospel – for it has no Mass of Christ. You have added the world’s seductions to keep you happy in your marriage to Christ. He is highly offended at your whorish ways.

Whoa! Even I wouldn’t write that. Fire and Brimstone all the way, but that’s just a warm-up. In an odd way, these two articles compliment each other. For a less rabid religious perspective, the meaning of Christmas is entwined in its history:

The traditions surrounding the celebration of this season are almost as numerous as the people who celebrate it. Through the years, the holiday has been adapted to local customs, culture, and history and so has produced an amazing variety of Christmas traditions around the world. Some, such as the giving of gifts or the use of a star, arose directly or indirectly out of the biblical nativity stories. Some, such as the legends of Saint Nicholas, have their origin in church history, historical fact that became legendary as it was embellished in story. Others, such as the use of evergreens and the yule log, have pagan origins but were transformed into distinctively Christian traditions. Others, such as the use of a crèche or caroling, arose first as local traditions in certain countries or regions that became widely adopted. And still others, such as, reindeer, elves, the North Pole, etc., have largely secular origins and are only loosely associated with the holiday in popular imagination or marketing techniques.

In the same space, a gentle jab at the brimstone gang:

The abbreviation of "Xmas" for Christmas, long reviled by many conservative and Low Church Christians, is not nearly as blasphemous as many contend. Rather than a sacrilegious removal of "Christ" from Christmas and replacing him with an unknown, as some claim, the "Xmas" abbreviation has a long history in the church. In Greek, the language in which the New Testament was first written, "chi" (c or chi), which is almost identical to the Roman alphabet "X," is the first letter of the word "Christ" (christoV, or as it would be written in older manuscripts, CRISTOS). In fact, the symbol of the fish in the early church came from using the first letter of several titles used for Jesus (Jesus Christ Son of God Savior) that when combined spelled the Greek word for fish (icquV, ichthus).

In the early days of printing when typesetting was done by hand and was very tedious and expensive, abbreviations were common. The church began to use the abbreviation "X" for the word "Christ" in religious publications. From there, the abbreviation moved into general use in newspapers and other publications, and "Xmas" became an accepted way of printing "Christmas."

The blog, Rationally Speaking pipes in by noting a recent "virgin birth" involving a Komodo Dragon at a zoo in England this past month (parthenogenisis), and finishes by explaining a major detail:

The obvious question, given the season, is: could Jesus (assumed he was a real historical figure) be the result of human parthenogenesis? Well, the process is unknown in humans so far, but then again it was unknown in Komodo dragons until this week too (though parthenogenesis had been described before in reptiles, but not in primates). Of course, given the peculiarities of human genetics, this would make Jesus a woman. Take that, Dan Brown!

Much more likely, however, Mary wasn’t a virgin at all, but simply a young woman. As is well known, the oldest Greek version of the Septuagint did use the word “virgin” referring to the prophecy of Isaiah, allegedly predicting the birth of Jesus: “ Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a Virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14) Besides the apparently neglected little detail that Jesus was named Jesus, not Immanuel, the original Hebrew word was “ha-almah,” which means young woman, not virgin. To think that scores have been killed throughout history for not believing in a translation error. Ironically, ha-almah was translated into Greek as “parthenos,” the root word for parthenogenesis. Beautiful, ain’t it?

Ditto that. If wars aren’t about stealing resources from one another, they’re about religious ideological clashes. But I digress.

I guess the real meaning of Christmas is what you want it to be. Put ten people in a room and they’ll have a dozen interpretations. To quote a favorite contemporary children’s story, "A point in every direction is the same as no point at all." Do all these "meanings" hold true, or to they negate each other? Is there still meaning in this hackneyed tradition or, as I suspect, does it have no point at all?

Whatever. Be merry if that’s your thing.

Another week and another missed Friday Night Zen. But I was working on it, honestly, by trying to maintain an observer’s outlook during the evening.

Last night we gathered at my in-law’s house for the last day of Hanukah. What ensued looked a great deal like my family’s past Christmas celebrations. Besides the missing tree not crowding the parlor, similar details were present; too much food, occasional crabbiness, the whine of the caged dog and the shouts and perpetual motion of the children sometimes reaching unhealthy decibel levels. Even the piles of gifts in bright paper were there. All the sleepless nights and extra errands of the past few weeks lay on the floor in shiny bundles that were shredded with abandon in minutes. We soon packed up out new treasures and left: all done! (Today, I look at the stuff, just as I always do afterward, and wonder why.) The emotional texture was the same as ever, whatever we call our celebration.

I’m reminded of a moment a year ago when, near the end of a long drive with a coworker, we passed a highway-side business decorated with the glowing words: "Peace To All Faiths."

"How nice," I said, indicating the inclusive message.

My passenger, perhaps showing his fatigue from the long day, grumbled, "What’s wrong with ‘Merry Christmas?’ " Showing his bible college credentials, he was genuinely offended by what he saw as a "generic" quality of the greeting. His upbringing taught his to see such things as attacks upon Christianity. I see them as an attempt at dissolving exclusionary tendencies in the Christmas tradition in America. Perhaps we’re both right.

Every culture has developed some celebration of the onset of winter. Religioustolerance.org has kindly aggregated them for us. Even Buddhism has a winter holiday, although it’s incidental. The need for cultures to honor the turning of the seasons is not just a religious phenomenon. By perusing the list of solstice celebrations, I get a sense of it being more about humanity than about anyone’s religion.

I admit to a personal grudge against the exclusionary tendencies of Christians. My extended family was not too thrilled when I married a Jew, and years later were prone to giving our daughter gifts of Christian theme whenever we tried to be part of the family. Even today, my sister tries to bully her daughter in-law - a professed iccan -into hosting Christmas. The tendency is to believe that Christmas is their holiday, not part of a tradition that spans cultures, that is older than Jesus, or that has been largely co-opted by Christians for reasons of assimilating the masses.

Why does is surprise that in our Great Melting Pot of a nation, people of different extracts wish to be recognized? Why must we only acknowledge one set of rules in this one instance within a plural society? How do educated people justify their aversion to practicing brotherhood on what is to them the holiest day of the year? Christmas is not about Jesus, it’s about being productive members of humanity. To these people, I shout: "It’s not your holiday alone!"

To all my friends and neighbors still anticipating their big day: Live Peace. Join with your loved ones and expand your love to strangers. Give not only to your group, but to others as well. Share time, the most precious commodity; share humanity, the common denominator; Produce Joy and Enact Peace. Above all, recall our shared human heritage. These are the things Jesus would expect of us.

Friday Night Zen is on holiday tonight. I’m meditating on latkes. OM, (belch!)

Happy Hannukah. (Is that how its spelled?)

Make sure you rest up today and eat plenty of protein tonight. Come midnight Black Friday begins. No, the stock market won’t crash. This year at midnight several shopping center management companies plan to beat Wal-Mart to the punch by opening malls at midnight.

It was inevitable that corporate greed succumb to such madness. Likewise some less introspective Americans will validate the move by shopping all night after stuffing themselves past the point of sleeping. Wal-Mart, being the epitome of American values, is fast becoming the first retail monopoly ever, and the hundreds of companies affected by the behemoth are going to spend a long sleepless month watching the numbers.

What is at stake here is not just lining of company bank vaults. In my eyes, after working for two decades in retail, I see Wal-Mart as a beast that will - if unchallenged - ultimately destroy the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Americans in the retail and manufacturing industries. The irony is many of these people are shopping at Wal-Mart, unable to see what’s coming. Being relatively low income workers themselves, they focus on the one thing that works for the company: under-cutting competitors pricing. Needing to save money, they help to ensure a cataclysmic implosion of retailing nation wide. No. I’m not exaggerating.

Wal-Mart is a predator. That’s how it does business. Sam Walton was very shrewd to envision a business model that, to date, hasn’t been beat. Like many businessmen, his concern was not to better the lives of Americans by offering them less expensive goods, but to make money. In that, he excelled. But is money the end-all of business? Do the means justify the ends? What will happen if all those displaced retail employees find themselves forced by the job market to apply and work for Wal-Mart? Everyone knows that the company pays little and workers enjoy almost no benefits, while being forced to work schedules that may conflict with their ability to raise families.

Business, as all human ventures, is about people. Money should be viewed as a perk, a reward for servicing people. But that Victorian concept has no place in our economics-is-everything philosophy of markets. Wal-Mart is not alone in this type of thinking, but it is the best at it, the most ruthless in it’s pursuit of money over humanity. That type of thinking may help our economy (which, even while ignored by our current political focus on warfare, running idle, still grows somewhat), but it does nothing for the people. Please keep this in mind as you partake in the Annual Retail Feeding Frenzy.