What does revolution look like? It looks like Cheryl Holt, a New York Times best selling novelist and Burbank resident who got angry enough at the current banking establishment that, all by herself, she formed Occupy Burbank. Tired of being “screwed by the banks” Ms. Holt got angry today, wrote up four signs and started protesting. This is what revolution looks like:
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The fact that the US government was willing to grant the right of free speech to a soulless entity is more proof to me that the US electoral system and that Congress itself are for sale.
I understand that the right to free speech is sacrosanct. I understand that this is a constitutional issue and that there are complexities and nuances here that will affect law for generations. Still if corporations have the right to free speech, what other rights and responsibilities should they have?
If corporations can have free speech, what is keeping them from voting? From having their own electoral district? And why aren’t corporations required to register for the draft? Why don’t they all have to carry ID of some sort? Why doesn’t General Motors have the right to bear arms? If Mastercard does something illegal in California can I have it extradited from Delaware? If Dairy Queen takes a flight to Pittsburgh then how come it doesn’t get the TSA pat down? McDonald’s is over 40 and was “born” in the USA so why can’t it be President?
Allowing corporations a voice in politics is obviously absurd. There are no “corporate citizens”. The fact is that it is in the vested interests of politicians, Republican and Democrat, Tea Party and Liberal Caucus to suck at the corporate teat. And, since the late Robert A. Heinlein described an honest politician as one that stays bought, and since most citizens cannot afford to do any buying, it becomes patently obvious that the USA has become Land of the Big Mac, Home of the Whopper.
Look, I’m not saying that there are simple answers out there. I’m not suggesting that voting for a Pizza Parlor owner is better than voting for a constitutional scholar or vice versa or that a Law degree from Oral Roberts University isn’t worthwhile even as toilet paper (Michele). What I am saying is that the real problem is that corporations have too much power and that congress and that both parties have a vested interest in keeping the status quo. And so do the pundits.
I love Rachel Maddow. She makes me wish I was a vagina. I despise Bill O’Reilly. I love Jon Stewart. I despise Ann Coulter. And all four of these people have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. Keith Olberman is part of the problem and so is Sean Hannity. These people are invested in the problem at hand because they are all employed or have ownership in corporations. And no corporation has any interest in America or Americans.
What needs to be done? I honestly don’t know. I don’t have solutions but I do know this: The US government is no longer committed to Americans as all parties have become far more interested in what they can get than what they can give. I know that the USA, once a world leader, has followed a path that makes it pitied and despised world wide. I know that the one dollar bill should have a picture of Washington wearing Disney ears, the five dollar bill should have a picture of Lincoln wearing a Led Zeppelin T Shirt and the ten dollar bill should have Jefferson eating a Big Mac. And, I know that despite my fear for the USA that she will survive, somehow.
Selah.
Joel West
twitter:IAmJoelWest
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I am a Jew.
When I say the word “Jew” these days, I find I need to clarify often unasked question “What kind of Jew?” This is still better than when I was living in rural Texas. In Texas the only times I heard the word Jew it was used as a verb. Either that or it was always prefaced by a swear word. One night in Texas I said that I was a Jew on stage and a local person told me I ought to be nicer to myself, that we Jews were almost as good as white people. But I digress.
Notwithstanding the above am I a bearded, tzitzit wearing, payos dangling Orthodox Jew; a bacon eating synagogue attending hypocritical Jew; a middle class businessman Jew with a wife, kids and a gentile mistress; a granola eating, lactose intolerant, gluten free, radical feminist Jew; a reconstructionist showbiz Jew, a completely secularized, bagel eating gustatorial Jew; a humanistic vegan Jew?
Michele Bachman and Rick Perry call themselves Jews.
No. Just No.
As the High Holy days arise upon us I often reflect on what kind of Jew I am. I was raised observant and on Rosh Hashanah I often muse on the prayer which declares that God will judge the world on Rosh Hashanah and seal His judgment on Yom Kippur. These days I get more comfort from Leonard Cohen’s “Who By Fire”.
I am an Atheist and Jew. I am not a self hating Jew making Jewish jokes and then begging you to love me. I am not a self hating Atheist who hides behind his beliefs. I am a Jewish Atheist and I often muse how the two beliefs can coexist peacefully. How can I be both Jewish and an Atheist?
To my understanding these two beliefs can coexist and here is how: Judaism to my understanding is not a religion in the conventional sense. One does not become a Jew via belief system. One becomes a Jew by birth or by action. A Jew is someone born of a Jewish mother or someone who has taken on the day to day habits of a Jew to the point that a rabbinical court recognizes the fact that this person is indistinguishable from a conventional Jew. That is to say, a person is a Jew by practice, not belief. In fact, no belief is needed.
Atheism, on the other hand, is a belief. For me, Atheism is the belief that there is no God. Not that I do not believe in God, but there is no God. I am not saying that God is there but I don’t believe. I am saying there is nothing there at all.
Are these two beliefs compatible? Is it possible to be an Atheist Jew? Yes it is. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov said that “the entire world is a narrow bridge and the point is to not fall.” And while we don’t fall together I wish all of you, friends, acquaintances, strangers a happy healthy and prosperous new year.
Shanah Tovah
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This is my first Los Angeles blog post. This is a weird place. LA essentials for daily life seem to include Burgers, Psychics, Massages and Plastic surgery. Traffic here is 24 hours a day non stop with never a hint of stopping. When people say yes to your face it can mean “No” or “Yes” or “I already own a rubber penguin”.
I’m starting to get aclimated and by aclimated I mean “starting feel a sense of unjustified entitlement.”
We’ll see how it goes.
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Joel West
joel@joelwest.com
http://www.joelwest.com
Twitter: IAmJoelWest
+15142424940
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7-23-11.mp3 Listen on Posterous 
Live interview with David Nankoff on VIP Internet Radio.
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One thing you need to know about me is that I’m lazy. I like good food and I like losing weight but at night, during the summer, there are so many better things worth doing. I made the blueberry/strawberry salsa (see below and add blueberries) during the weekend. I cubed 3 large deboned and deskinned chicken breasts and dredged them in chili powder, then sauteed them in extra virgin olive oil. When they were done, I removed them from the skillet and threw in sliced mushrooms and 2 tablespoons of chopped garlic and sauteed that for 2 minutes.
Greens are from a bag of salad. Total time 25 mins. Joel West
http://www.joelwest.com
Twitter: @IAmJoelWest
