It’s Yesterday Once More: Cocoa Marsh

Posted on May 21, 2015 by The Old Wolf

I first mentioned this product of the 60s as I was reminiscing about television.

First came Bosco, begun in 1928. Think Hershey’s Syrup, but nowhere near as nasty tasting. It made a lovely chocolate milk. And, interestingly enough, still available.

Of course that commercial, insidious as all the best commercials are, comes rushing back from the depths of my memory every time I hear a Bossa Nova beat:

But Bosco was soon aced out of our household by Cocoa Marsh, as I faithfully watched Claude Kirschner’s Three Ring Circus.

An older bottle of Cocoa Marsh.

A later bottle of Cocoa Marsh, the kind I was most familiar with.

cocoamarsh (Small) — Embossed on the bottom.

But what was cool about Cocoa Marsh (some have suggested that it contained marshmallow as a smoothing ingredient, hence the name, but I have not yet been able to verify this) was that you could get a pump. Dang, i gotta get me some of that, and as I recall, we did.

Notice above two images also carried the name of Yum-Berry, a berry-flavored variety of Cocoa Marsh, which I recall very fondly as well. It was short lived, and lasted only around a year if I remember correctly.

Cocoa Marsh marketed heavily through a variety of channels. The Soda Fountain below took the pump concept to the next level, and it looks familiar enough to me that I’d swear on a stack of Saturday Evening Posts that I owned one.

Marketing to older folks was not forgotten as well; here a Lionel O-gauge rail car with Cocoa Marsh vats.

Sadly, despite a massive advertising machine through children’s shows in New York, the product was unable to compete with Nestlé’s Quik™ and Ovaltine™ (which as a kid, I thought tasted like bat guano – sort of like comparing chocolate to carob, and just as disappointing.)

In passing, there were a couple of other products around at the time that popped up on my radar. One was Yoo-Hoo, an odd-tasting concoction that was pitched incessantly by Yogi Berra, and which is still available.

img-yoohoo-breakout-box-2-baseball_151929377098

It was very strange tasting indeed, but somehow one got used to it.

The other was Flav-R-Straws, which first showed up in 1956, and which I remember well. They were wildly popular, and I was thoroughly in favor of them.

If only I had a TARDIS.

Edit: As an afterthought, I’m hardly the only one who remembers these things. A line from Diana Rubino’s recent novel, The End of Camelot:

The entire day had her eating Sugar Pops out of the box, washed down with Cocoa Marsh or Yum Berry.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

Cultural appropriation and Native American wisdom.

Posted on May 19, 2015 by The Old Wolf

“The problem with quotes on the Internet is that their sources are extremely hard to verify.”
-Abraham Lincoln

And see, there are so many things out there like that where some bit of human wisdom or snippet of humor is attributed to somebody, or anybody, or George Carlin, or Mother Teresa, or Bill Cosby, or Rameumptom X. Analemma, or “Native American Philosophy.” Particularly in the latter case, it becomes more of an issue than a simple misattribution, because cultural appropriation can be more than insulting, it can actually be harmful to the original culture.

Disclaimer: I’m writing as a white man, a descendant of Italian and British immigrants. I claim no authority to speak for other cultures, but I’m sharing my own experiences and perceptions.

Here’s a good example:

While it’s not entirely outside the realm of possibility, I’d bet a steak dinner at Wolfgang Puck’s CUT in Beverly Hills that no “Old Indian” ever said this. But somehow, slapping a few pictures of Native Americans or Teepees or such things on a list of ideas lends a certain cachet of traditionality and wisdom to an otherwise bland list of platitudes. And I feel as though they must seem dismissive of the native heritage, much of which is sacred and not designed for sharing with outsiders – particularly those who stole the land, shoved the natives into reservations, and used the native culture for attention, advertising, and financial gain.

What prompted these thoughts were just such a list which I found, and which I liked. They are good ideas, and worthy of consideration by any culture.

1. Each morning upon rising, and each evening before sleeping, give thanks for the life within you and for all life, for the good things the Creator has given you and for the opportunity to grow a little more each day. Consider your thoughts and actions of the past day and seek for the courage and strength to be a better person. Seek for the things that will benefit others (everyone).

2. Respect. Respect means “To feel or show honor or esteem for someone or something; to consider the well being of, or to treat someone or somethin with deference or courtesy”. Showing respect is a basic law of life.

3. Treat every person from the tiniest child to the oldest elder with respect at all times.

4. Special respect should be given to Elders, Parents, Teachers, and Community Leaders.

5. No person should be made to feel “put down” by you; avoid hurting other hearts as you would avoid a deadly poison.

6. Touch nothing that belongs to someone else (especially Sacred Objects) without permission, or an understanding between you.

7. Respect the privacy of every person, never intrude on a person’s quiet moment or personal space.

8. Never walk between people that are conversing.

9. Never interrupt people who are conversing.

10. Speak in a soft voice, especially when you are in the presence of Elders, strangers or others to whom special respect is due.

11. Do not speak unless invited to do so at gatherings where Elders are present (except to ask what is expected of you, should you be in doubt).

12. Never speak about others in a negative way, whether they are present or not.

13. Treat the earth and all of her aspects as your mother. Show deep respect for the mineral world, the plant world, and the animal world. Do nothing to pollute our Mother, rise up with wisdom to defend her.

14. Show deep respect for the beliefs and religion of others.

15. Listen with courtesy to what others say, even if you feel that what they are saying is worthless. Listen with your heart.

16. Respect the wisdom of the people in council. Once you give an idea to a council meeting it no longer belongs to you. It belongs to the people. Respect demands that you listen intently to the ideas of others in council and that you do not insist that your idea prevail. Indeed you should freely support the ideas of others if they are true and good, even if those ideas ideas are quite different from the ones you have contributed. The clash of ideas brings forth the Spark of Truth.

17. Once a council has decided something in unity, respect demands that no one speak secretly against what has been decided. If the council has made an error, that error will become apparent to everyone in its own time.

18. Be truthful at all times, and under all conditions.

19. Always treat your guests with honor and consideration. Give of your best food, your best blankets, the best part of your house, and your best service to your guests.

20. The hurt of one is the hurt of all, the honor of one is the honor of all.

21. Receive strangers and outsiders with a loving heart and as members of the human family.

22. All the races and tribes in the world are like the different colored flowers of one meadow. All are beautiful. As children of the Creator they must all be respected.

23. To serve others, to be of some use to family, community, nation, and the world is one of the main purposes for which human beings have been created. Do not fill yourself with your own affairs and forget your most important talks. True happiness comes only to those who dedicate their lives to the service of others.

24. Observe moderation and balance in all things.

25. Know those things that lead to your well-being, and those things that lead to your destruction.

26. Listen to and follow the guidance given to your heart. Expect guidance to come in many forms; in prayer, in dreams, in times of quiet solitude, and in the words and deeds of wise Elders and friends.

Now, whenever I see such a compilation, I ask myself where they really came from – and as I mentioned above, it’s often difficult to trace things of this nature back to an original source. But in this case, it appears that the list above is based in fact, although it was embellished somewhat.

The list below, found at the website of Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools¹, was gathered at a conference held in Lethbridge, Alberta in December, 1982. Indian Elders, spiritual leaders, and professionals from across Canada offered these fundamental elements that they considered to be common among Canadian Indian philosophies. That seems to be about as authentic as one can get.

Wholeness. (Holistic thinking). All things are interrelated. Everything in the universe is part of a single whole. Everything is connected in some way to everything else. It is only possible to understand something if we understand how it is connected to everything else.
Change. Everything is in a state of constant change. One season falls upon the other. People are born, live, and die. All things change. There are two kinds of change: the coming together of things, and the coming apart of things. Both kinds of change are necessary and are always connected to each other.
Change occurs in cycles or patterns. They are not random or accidental. If we cannot see how a particular change is connected it usually means that our standpoint is affecting our perception.
The physical world is real. The spiritual world is real. They are two aspects of one reality. There are separate laws which govern each. Breaking of a spiritual principle will affect the physical world and vice versa. A balanced life is one that honors both.
People are physical and spiritual beings.
People can acquire new gifts, but they must struggle to do so. The process of developing new personal qualities may be called “true learning”. There are four dimensions of “true learning”.
A person learns in a whole and balanced manner when the mental, spiritual, physical and emotional dimensions are involved in the process.
The spiritual dimension of human development has four related capacities:
- the capacity to have and respond to dreams, visions, ideals, spiritual teaching, goals, and theories;
- the capacity to accept these as a reflection of our unknown or unrealized potential;
- the capacity to express these using symbols in speech, art, or mathematics;
- the capacity to use this symbolic expression towards action directed at making the possible a reality.
People must actively participate in the development of their own potential.
A person must decide to develop their own potential. The path will always be there for those who decide to travel it.
Any person who sets out on a journey of self-development will be aided. Guides, teachers, and protectors will assist the traveler. The only source of failure is a person’s own failure to follow the teachings.

Wisdom belongs to humanity, regardless of the source. If that wisdom is shared for the betterment of all, it seems entirely appropriate and legitimate. If it’s used for financial gain to the detriment of a minority culture, that’s when it becomes questionable.

The first list above may not be entirely authentic, but both consist of good thoughts which, if adopted by humanity as a whole, would lead to a much better world for everyone. Hence I feel comfortable sharing both of them.

The Old Wolf² has spoken.

¹ Lots of other good information at this link as well.

² It is not lost on me that the persona I have adopted for this blog and in other circles has a native/shamanistic aspect. No disrespect is intended to any culture; all I can say is that it resonates with me and encourages me to turn my efforts toward the betterment of humanity as a whole.

Rebuses

Posted on May 18, 2015 by The Old Wolf

These word plays have been around for a long time, but here is a cluster I found while cleaning and digitizing the things I have collected in file cabinets over the last four decades. (Answers at the end, don’t cheat!)

10)

11)

12)

13)

14)

15)

16)

17)

18)

19)

20)

21) Bonus: French Language rebus

Answers:

A backward glance
Getting up at the crack of dawn
Crossroads
I understand you undertake to undermine my undertaking
Tricycle
Touchdown
Split level
Six feet underground
Sandbox
Reading between the lines
Odd couple
Mind over matter
Man overboard
Lying down on the job
Long underwear
Life after death
Hijinks
Be above quarrels between man and woman, there are faults on both sides
Two eggs over easy
Three degrees below zero
Un grand abbé, plein d’appétit, à traversé Paris sans danger.

As a small item of interest, these were originally formatted on the Xerox 6085 Desktop Publishing System in around 1986.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

How to Fit-up Your Computer (aka Translation Troubles)

Posted on May 12, 2015 by The Old Wolf

Translation has always been more or less an afterthought for most companies, and overseas firms that manufacture goods for the USA often (obviously!) cut corners by saying things like “Oh, give it to Miss Chen, she speaks some English.”

The results were predictably bad. Nowadays things have improved a little, but it was not uncommon in the latter part of the 20th Century to see things like the following:

How To Fit-up Your Computer

Clear the area on which you are to put back together the divorced parts. Make sure the room is all there. Popping out of the boxes should be:

An attractive monitor giving enlivening displays.

An efficient keyboard for the tipping of. (A mouse can be put on the second hand if that’s your turn-on.)

A fortified central processing unit where all types of characters can be juggled with.

And last, strict instruction on hand in either floppy or hard appearance.

Look within now to see if you have any surprises. If you are unfortunate enough to have something missing, or there is an unexpected presence, your local dealer will be willing to examine.

IMPORTANT!! Before you can plug it, you must ensure that the virgin monitor is fitted with a proper adapter in order to cope with your man’s supply.

To start assembly, pray central processing unit is in room provided. Have compartment ready for stuffed batteries. Repeat once a year. Check monitor not being supplied, then carefully drip onto unit. Now marry the tarts by inserting dangling cables. Finally, ready position for coupling behind keyboard.

You should now be ready to switch on to many hours of trouble-free commuting.

Naturally, “Engrish” is still a thing. The translation industry worldwide has undergone a sea change as the internet has opened markets to people living in third-world countries who might never have had access; and agencies take advantage of CAT tools to pay translators fractions of a cent per word based on how many times words or phrases are repeated. This is a scandal and a crime, and the main reason I got out of the freelance translation business, but that’s a subject for another rant.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

Woo Water

Posted on May 11, 2015 by The Old Wolf

Visitng a LYS (Local Yarn Shop) in Logan, Utah, I had a glance at the April 2, 2015 edition of Time™ while my wife was finishing up her browsing.

And once again it was confirmed that there’s a sucker born every minute.

Producers try to replicate the success of coconut water

Coconut water, the trendy sports drink that’s exploded into a $400 million-a-year business in the U.S., has new competition. Bottled-water outfits are trying to sell consumers on H2O with vegetables, tree saps and other flavored ingredients. Startups and small companies especially are marketing a raft of new products spiked with a little extra…

Coconut water? I had never heard of such a thing. But have a look at all the wannabes who are jumping on the money train:

©Time Magazine

Claims, claims, claims! Improves digestion, soothes sore throats, revitalizes, liver detox, hangover relief, woo, woo, woo! In today’s atmosphere of anti-science and galloping gullibility, there is more opportunity to profit from the ignorance of the masses than ever. Plus ça change…

Edit: Props to Sharon Neeman for catching an error: Victoria’s Kitchen Almond water makes no claims at all, except that it’s delicious and refreshing, which I could certainly get behind if that sort of thing appealed to me.

Lucky Luke, “À l’ombre des derricks”

Snake oil salesmen and purveyors of medical quackery have been around since the dawn of time, but let marketing departments get a whiff of a trend, and the trickle becomes a deluge.

I have nothing against natural remedies per se, and have expanded on this topic in other articles. What I do object to is pure

which these products are, and I recommend that you save your money.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

DIY Part II – Things worked out better this time.

Posted on May 9, 2015 by The Old Wolf

So the CD player in my 2007 Prius went South; wouldn’t eject disks any longer. Time to get a new one.

Called up two dealerships requesting information.

Dealer 1: $365.00 for a re-manufactured unit plus about 2 hours of labor at $108.00 per hour.
Dealer 2: $1200.00 for a new unit plus similar installation charges. No mention of the possibility of gettting a refurbished unit. Holy hqiz.

Thinking I would have to do without a CD player, because those prices were definitely beyond my means at this moment.

Then I found this outfit that had refurbished units for $199.00, and the video below that details how to replace the part myself.

The guy who made the video missed a couple of screws and got one bit out of order (you have to remove the far-left vent cover before being able to access the second screw on the bottom panel), but it worked out; I was able to swap the unit out with very little difficulty, and I was astonished at how easily and with what precision everything fit together again when I was done.

My car did look pretty much like this by the time I was down to the stereo. It looked really scary, but now you can’t tell that anything had ever been done.

This little escapade saved me between $400 and $1000, depending on which dealership I might have gone with.

Takeaway: Always compare dealerships, don’t take any of them at their word, and if you can possibly find a way to do the work yourself, do it.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

Scam – RE: It’s OK…….Call (202) 241 6918

Posted on May 8, 2015 by The Old Wolf

An email that arrived yesterday from “Victor Brown.” The interesting thing is that I called this Washington, DC number and got a recording with a decidedly African accent. The message I left is not suitable for public consumption.

From: Victor Brown <victorbrown08@yahoo.com>

Subject: RE: It’s OK…….Call (202) 241 6918

To: ldncntr@mail.com

I have sent you some emails concerning your unclaimed compensation funds but have not gotten favorable reply from you. Why? If you are no longer interested in your unclaimed approved funds, let me know and it would be reassigned to the next batch of claimants or reverted to the coffers immediately for domestic appropriation.

What have I done to you that you have decided to destroy all the good work I have done for you to bring your funds release process to completion? I have done everything humanly possible to complete your funds release process but you are becoming unconcerned, unyielding and uncooperative lately. Why have you decided to ruin this transaction after I have virtually completed the entire release process?

Why haven’t you complied as I directed so that we can get this done within 6 hours and you get your approved funds without hindrance? Why are you delaying? I have expended resources to bring this transaction to this conclusive end but your silence is discouraging. 753 out of the 755 persons in our last 3 Batches Payment Schedule have received their entitlements but I have been waiting to hear from you for days as you promised by no word till now.
Are you ok? All is set to get this transaction completed for you get your funds as soon as I hear from you.
Please get back to me and comply so that the transaction can be completed as scheduled.

Yours Faithfully,
Victor Brown
NW Washington, D.C. 20008
Telephone: (202) 241 6918
Email: vicbrown@consultant.com

It goes without saying that this is a Nigerian 419 email. What I found interesting is that the USA has forwarding numbers similar to the famous UK redirect prefix “44 70”.

Please be careful out there, and make sure your loved ones are protected from this kind of criminal activity. There is no money waiting in Africa for anyone.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

A grandson I never knew I had…

Posted on May 8, 2015 by The Old Wolf

Cross-posted from Livejournal

In October of 2009, while feasting on clams at Cap’n Cat’s Clam Bar and Tavern in Westville, NJ, *Urp! Excuse me!*, I got my first phone call ever from my grandson. He was in trouble, oh so much trouble. Car accident. Thank Mogg, he wasn’t hurt badly. And I knew what was coming next: would I be able to wire him $3,000 via Western Union to help him with expenses?

Well, I shut this drone down in a hurry – although I was surprised that he called back right after I had told him to shove his scam where the sun don’t shine. He probably wanted to return the favor, but I didn’t bother to answer.

How this scam works is beyond me. They call elderly people, and open the call with “Hello, Grandpa”? (or Grandma). They never identify themselves by name. If the person responds, “Is this (Tommy)”? they immediately say yes, and they have a name to work with. They’re invariably in trouble. Sometimes overseas. Accident, arrested, what have you. Just need a loan to help them get fixed, bailed out, pay doctor bills, etc. Just wire the funds via Western Union.

This guy didn’t sound Nigerian. He was definitely North American. How he got my cell number is beyond me, because I’m not listed anywhere. And at the time I only had two grandchildren, both girls, aged 3 and 6, although now I do have a beautiful grandson, but he’s still under a year old.

To all within the sound of my voice: If anyone wants money via Western Union or bank transfer, hang up.

If you think a relative may truly be in trouble, verify who you’re talking to with some questions that only the relative in question could answer. Better yet, get a number where you can call them back and then verify the matter with another relative. If a kid’s in jail, a night in the pokey never hurt anyone… it will give you time to check the facts first.

Edit: Here’s a complete rundown of how the scam works, from the Michigan Attorney General.

The Old Wolf has spoken

Gasp! My $2,500,000 is gone!

Posted on May 6, 2015 by The Old Wolf

Subject: IF YOU FAIL TO SEND THE $40 THIS WEEK YOUR $2.500, 000.00 IS GONE

From: IMF OFFICIAL <imfpublicaffairs01@gmail.com>

To: undisclosed-recipients:;

INTERNATIONAL MONITORING FUND NATIONAL HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY COMPLEX
SENATE HOUSE – UPPER CHAMBERS WUSE DISTRICT, COTONOU/BENIN REPUBLIC
Our Ref: FGN /SNT/STB

IF YOU FAIL TO SEND THE $40 THIS WEEK YOUR $2.500, 000.00 IS GONE

I have to inform you again, that we are not playing over this, I know my reason for the continuous sending of this notification to you, the fact is that you can’t seem to trust any one again over this payment for what you have been in cantered in many months ago, but I want you to trust me, I cannot scam you for $40 it is for bank processing of your payment, the fees of $40 is clearly written to you before, I did not invent the bill to defraud you of $40 it is an official bank payment processing fee, and the good part of this, is that you will never, ever be disturbed again over any kind of payment, this is final, and the forms from there becomes effective once we submit your payment application processing fee and pay the form fee of $40 I don’t want you to loose this fund this time, because you may never get another such good opportunity, the federal government is keen and very determined to pay your overdue debts, this is not a fluke, I would not want you to loose this fund out of ignorance, I will send you all the documents as soon as bank payment processing fee is paid, you have to trust me, you will get your fund, find a way to get $40 you will not loose it,instead it will bring your financial breakthrough, find the money and send it to our bursary.

The reason why am sending you this IS because I want you to receive your USD2.5M immediately we are trying to round up for this payment program.The processing charges which was initially on the high price has been cut down by the payout bank considering the poor economic situations that make it difficult for the middle class citizens to meet up with the processing charges of their entitlement. Upon the confirmation of your processing charges you will get your $2.500, 000.00 into your account within 15hrs.

Here is the payment information through western union money transfer or money gram money transfer finally my advice to you is not to abandon this transaction because of the requirement of ($40) Account Officer Info:

Send the fee through Western Union or Money Gram only.

Receiver’s first Name: Joe Mba

City:::::::::::::: Cotonou
Country: ::::::::Benin Republic
Text Question: ::::::code
Answer::::::::code
Amount required: :::::::$40
Sender’s Name:::::
MTCN Number#:
Sender’s address:

As soon as the payment is received today, you will receive your $2.5M the same today without any delay.

Best Regards
Mrs. Waziri Lukman

Suffice it to say this is just another Benin scam; and as usual, the takeaway is that all such letters promising you money from Africa are criminal enterprises designed to get your money. It’s interesting that these boys are scratching for the tiniest sums, but of course anyone who pays them will be asked for more, and more, and more until their funds are gone or until they catch on.

NEVER SEND MONEY BY WESTERN UNION OR MONEY CARD OR ANY OTHER SUCH SERVICE TO SOMEONE YOU DO NOT KNOW. IF YOU DO, YOUR MONEY WILL BE GONE FOREVER.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

Nothing Equal about This

Posted on May 6, 2015 by The Old Wolf

“Separate but Equal” was the rallying cry of racism.

Original caption: Charlotte, NC: A crowd of youths taunts Dorothy Geraldine Counts, 15, as she walks to a previously all-white Harding High School to enroll. Leaving the school, she was pelted with trash, small sticks and pebbles. (Copyright Bettmann/Corbis / AP Images)

Anyone who dared go up against the idea that schools should be integrated found themselves the target of really classy behavior;

On the morning of September 4, 1957, fifteen-year-old Dorothy Counts set out on a harrowing path toward Harding High, where-as the first African American to attend the all-white school -she was greeted by a jeering swarm of boys who spat, threw trash, and yelled epithets at her as she entered the building.

Charlotte Observer photographer Don Sturkey captured the ugly incident on film, and in the days that followed, the searing image appeared not just in the local paper but in newspapers around the world.

A week later, the girl in the photograph was gone. Her parents -having been told by the school administrators and police officials that they could not guarantee her safety -sent her to live with a relative in suburban Philadelphia, where she could peacefully attend an integrated school.

The text above, from an article about Dorothy Counts today, recounts just one incident among countless – but sadly, the story doesn’t really have a happy ending.

Ms. Counts, who has long been active in the fight to attain racial tolerance and equality of education and other opportunity, sees things headed in the wrong way.

At West Charlotte High — a predominantly African American school her granddaughter recently graduated from — she says the lack of resources is disturbing.

“At the beginning of the school year, they would go for weeks without books, for weeks without enough chairs for everyone in the classroom,” she says. “When I heard about that I thought, Lord, this brings back memories.”

I wonder what kind of memories Ms. Counts could relate? Here’s a quote from Jonathan Kozol, in his troubling book, Death at an Early Age, which recounts his first year of teaching in the Boston schools in the 60s, Kozol recounted the attitude of racist teachers who infested the system:

“You children should thank God and feel blessed with good luck for all you’ve got. There are so many little children in the world who have been given so much less” [said teacher who didn’t care to address reality.] The books are junk, the paint peels, the cellar stinks, the teachers call you nigger, the windows fall in on your heads. “Thank God that, you don’t live in Russia or Africa! Thank God for all the blessings that you’ve got!”

And now we live in the 21st century, when such inequality, such oppression, such discrimination should be behind us. Yet in a December, 2014 essay, two prominent voices for equality (Grace Ji-Sun Kim and the Rev. Jesse Jackson) point out that what we are now seeing in Baltimore (which at the time of writing had not yet happened) is the result of a continuing pattern of inequality.

The dying words of Eric Garner symbolize our situation. “I can’t breathe” speaks from the grave and describes the circumstances faced by many who are being choked by a system that treats different races and classes of people unequally.

When the banks of black and brown homeowners drove them into foreclosure, we couldn’t breathe.

When inner-city hospital trauma units are closed to those without insurance and the poor are denied access to Medicaid, we can’t breathe.

When inner-city residents are denied access to public transportation to get to where the jobs are, we can’t breathe.

When inner-city schools have a lower tax base to support public education but students have to take the same exams as suburban kids with a stronger tax base, we can’t breathe.

When they changed the formula on PLUS loans loans, poor and black parents couldn’t breathe.

When student-loan debt is greater than credit-card debt, students can’t breathe.

When corporations we support will not advertise with black media, black-owned media can’t breathe.

When Silicon Valley locks us out of boards and corporate suites and locks us out of employment, contracts and entrepreneurial investments, even though we disproportionately use their products, we can’t breathe.

When banks cut off lending and investment to African Americans, they cut off our breath; but the government gave failing banks oxygen tanks with no obligation to help those who paid for the oxygen.

As inequality persists, many are left in the dark, desperate for life and breath.

And yet there are some who wonder why things like Watts and Baltimore happen. What I wonder is why it doesn’t happen more often.

Middle-class America is talking a lot these days about living as the 99%, and there’s merit in that conversation. But I hear more outrage from people who live better than most of the world’s population with regards to their own situation than I do about people in our own country who have virtually next to nothing, and who are being kept in that situation by societal pressures which persist in large part from the days of slavery.

I believe in Reverend King’s dream, but my own dreams go farther.

I have been accused of hoping for a utopia, a socialist paradise, but I believe that as a species, we as humans can do much better for one another than we have ever done. I believe in a world that works for 100% of humanity, where those who have give freely, and where those who have not can work for what they receive; where hate and envy do not trouble us; where divisions over race, religion, and gender are done away; where children are taught principles of humane living with just as much vigor as they are taught their three Rs.

To those who would dismiss these dreams as pie in the sky, I simply say that if we do nothing today, we will live tomorrow the same way we lived yesterday.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

Playing in the World Game

As One

Monthly Archives: May 2015

It’s Yesterday Once More: Cocoa Marsh

Cultural appropriation and Native American wisdom.

Rebuses

Answers:

How to Fit-up Your Computer (aka Translation Troubles)

DIY Part II – Things worked out better this time.

Scam – RE: It’s OK…….Call (202) 241 6918

A grandson I never knew I had…

Gasp! My $2,500,000 is gone!