Monday, July 23, 2012

Evil So Perfectly Evil


2012-07-23 - Evil So Perfectly Evil

By now you’ve had a little time to process the emotions surrounding latest round of “senseless” shootings.  The Aurora Colorado scenario seems too like so many others in the news...  Only the names & places have changed.  But not the hurt – not the pain.  For the families left behind, there is nothing that can be said to console or compensate for this type of personal injury.  For them, numbness and disbelief must pass into rage and anger before acceptance and healing can begin.  And this will be a life long process.
I feel compelled to bring about a more peaceful and equitable world.  One light in the darkness lights up the whole place, so I take my music into those places too.  It’s my job.
RADIATE was written shortly after one highly publicized public shooting, nearly identical to Aurora. Makes me wonder: can this ever be stopped?  

What strikes me like a bullet to the brain is the paradoxical nature intrinsic to an incident like this: in an instant everything changes and yet everything remains the same.

Certainly everything changes for the survivors of this trauma – the moms & dads, sisters & brothers, girlfriends & boyfriends the friends & classmates - their lives will never ever be the same.  In many ways there lives are over.  Even us silent media voyeurs loose something in ourselves, just like they did.
But nothing also happens.  Dare I say – there won’t be any new-n-improved gun control laws.  The interests of manufactures, share holders & owners rights to bear such devices would scream a sick ironic bloody murder if “regulation” were to cut into their quarterly profits or gun touting freedom.  And all too often, the officials elected to protect and serve the public interest were not really elected for that purpose at all.  That is part of the myth of our “democracy”. Many officials are unofficially representing corporate brand names. After all, corporations are people too.

These are the “Bastards”, that writer Hunter S. Thompson tried to warn us about.  The “War Profiteers” will never decide to stop profiteering. 
I use the word war here because there is a war going on – right here in this country – in your town - in your living room – on your computer – smart phone and in your heart.  Call it good vs. evil if you want.

Believe me when I say, I have no sympathy or tolerance for the shooters.  For me, it is a little more than difficult to love an enemy like this…

War is waged on us using our own primal fear as the weapon of mass distraction.  Nearly every media moment is about killing, shooting, war, rape, fammon, drought, too cold, too much heat.  Freaking ice sheets twice the size of Manhattan breaking off Greenland…
I feel afraid – don’t you?
Makes any normal “sane” person reach for the emergency break – except - we all know deep down - there isn’t one.  We feel, the helplessness, the heart beat rises as the speed picks up – like an out of control roller coaster ride - knowing that the whole thing can de-rail any second.  We don’t even have any seatbelts on here!
Being completely overwhelmed and distracted in mass is what keeps the evil so perfectly evil.
Somehow, buy means of faith, spiritual practice, or out and out numbness, most of us deal and go on with life as it is.
Unfortunately the weaker minded among us are even more venerable and less able to cope than we are.  The results are clear.

One light in the darkness lights up the whole place….
But you can’t stop perfectly perfect wickedness with a splash of water from tainted plastic bottle with a fake picture of mountains on it.
Feeling the fear and letting it go.  This is the first step to re-claiming your power and over coming the fear.  Notice I didn’t say ignore the fear.  Feeling it is a moment by moment process – learning to be focused instead of being distracted.
RADIATE LOVE instead and change your world. The world as it could be.
Realize that you are powerful and your dollars are powerful.  Small spending choices will change the way companies & organizations behave.  
Your money does not care where you spend it, but you should. If a company or organization is lying to you, stop giving them your money.
Have a look at your investment portfolio sometime.  Are your mutual funds investing in war, processed food, chemicals, oil & gas?  The super evil banking industry? (I love my teller though)

If so, consider researching and changing your funds to companies that are “B” rated. (Corporations that have by charter promised to up hold their moral obligation to protect the planet, the workers and still make a profit for the shareholders).  What Kind of food do you buy? Check out natural organic food growers & distributors.  Look into companies that are building the sustainable future in solar, electric cars, LED lights etc.  And definitely eliminate the war & banking sectors.   We can take away the power of evil by how we spend and invest our money.
I’m asking you to help me with this project because it is making a difference and with your help will continue…
Above all – RADIATE Love.  It will change everything.
Project In Progress Listening Spot:
http://www.nimbitmusic.com/rickdenzien   Listen and I'm adding lyrics too...
http://www.rockethub.com/projects/8875-radiate-a-new-rick-denzien-cd
Rick Denzien

© MMXII todate Rick Denzien - Slot One Entertainment, Inc. - All Rights Reserved - Used By Permission

On one of the Europe Tours

2012-07-06

During one of my European tours, we rolled into town as usual,  and went directly to the venue – this time under a huge outdoor circus-looking tent.  There we found a crew busy at work tweaking the sound and light systems.  We were introduced to everyone on the crew and then, after coffee break, went on stage for a quick sound check.  The promoter in charge was a stocky, burly, fisherman-type looking man named Victor.

People in the last town had warned me about Victor. But, I thought to myself, how bad can this guy be?

It was nearly show time, sound checked OK, but I noticed, and made the mistake of, mentioning that the lights were all magenta on the right side.

Victor went off like a Forthof July rocket. "Typical prima-donna rock star American," he ranted loudly, as he flicked his hand-rolled cigarette to the ground and stomped out of the tent.   The lights did not get adjusted.

Later on, my sound man Joe & I sat down to a group meal - some sort of stew - cooked right there stage side.  Everyone got a plate and a spoon and dug in.  It was really good.  Victor came over to me and said, "Not good enough for you, uh, American?"  But I was already on my second helping.

I was scheduled to do 116 concerts on this tour, and we were at the halfway point.  The daily routine now actually seemed normal.

A typical day was:  Get up by 7AM - do the morning critique meeting regarding the show the night before, sing a little - hit the noon hour street concert location, usually at a crowed cafĂ© in the town center - set up the sound, sing for an hour and a half, pack up, grab lunch - go to the guest house to shower and have dinner (we were always a guest somewhere).  Then - head to the concert location spot for a full 2 set show - pack up and head to the next venue and do a club set – and then, back to the guest house to crash for the night. We were playing 3 to 4 gigs a day.  Sundays were easy, with only 2 or 3 church services to do.

But, while in Victor’s domain, I got the added joy of hearing him take pot shots at me at every opportunity, “Hey, American” this and that, "you Americans are so full of yourselves.”  He might have been right, but all I did to piss this guy off was observe that all the lights were magenta during sound check - I didn't really even care!

After a few days, he gave us an afternoon off.  He said we were going on a boat ride.   “Cool, maybe he is making-up,” I thought.  We got to the docks where it was a boater’s dream come true --  sweet rides, like jet skis, 40-foot speed boats, all the top “names” were well represented.

I'm thinking, “Wow, this is going to be great - do some water skiing, maybe some jetting...” as Victor walks past all these boats, all the way to the end of the dock, to a fleet of little blue, 8-foot dingy row boats. "Here we are," he said.

OK, then (WTF!!).  So crew, the other band members, well-wishers, fans, and Victor (about 40 of us, filling 8 boats) get in these small dingys, and “row, row, row your boat!”

For two hours, I’d hear Victor smear, "How do you like our boat ride, American? Is this too much work for you, American? How do you like the view American?”  All he wanted to do was race row boats!  Mind you, we were on a Dutch canal.  Narrow and straight and way below any land.  All you could see to the front and rear was an endless column of water, and to the sides, one meter (about 3 feet) of grass rising up.  It became clear to me in that moment that Victor was going to torture everyone because he hated me, hated me as an American, or maybe (I wondered) he just hated me because I was a tall American.  At 6’6”, I have a better view and hit my head more than most.  Victor might have been four foot eleven, and it was all MY fault.

It was hot; we were tired and thirsty, so to ease the insanity about 10 of us (2 boats) pulled our “racing” row boats to the “shore”.

We climbed out and up the grass to see what was on top there.  It was a grazing pasture with 50 sheep on it, surrounded by water canals that were interconnected with little wooden bridges and a windmill way off in the distance.

It was about the size of a football field, so we did the only thing we could do -- played a game of “chase and tackle” the sheep.

And the sheep won – OK, so you had to be there – but, turns out that sheep are hard to tackle.
 

We covered five miles, give or take, and came finally intersected with a huge river with lots of shipping traffic on it.  The other boats from our group were already on the other side, about a quarter mile away at some sort of dock.

So, out we rowed into the rough waters of the river channel.  I had not heard an insult from Victor for almost an hour, but as we tied-up to the dock, he looked down on me and yelled, "Hey American, this water is too dirty for you to swim."

That was it.  I'd had it with this pipsqueak Victor guy.  So, as soon as we got up on the dock, I did a one-and-a-half gainer (forward flip) into the water - about a 10 foot jump.  (I was a competitive swimmer in high school, so was in my element here!)

Victor cannon-balled in after me.  There we were, face to face, bobbing up and down on this river.  We both looked toward mid-channel, and about 200 yards out was a marker pylon.  We looked back at each other, and instantaneously, we both start racing towards the marker.  As I got closer, I could see this thing was really some sort of pipe, about 5-feet in diameter, painted alternate black and white rings every 3-feet.  It had rungs welded to the side, but, up too high to reach.  I waited for a ship wave to lift me up and caught the first rung.  Once up, I reached back to give Victor a hand and caught his arm and pulled him to the first rung.  After that it was a race climbing to the top of this tower.

On the climb up, I looked out over toward my group of rowing friends. They looked so small, waving at us – and they weren’t waving hello!  I guess they knew what I could not know in that moment - that we were about to do a dangerous trick – jumping 50 plus feet back down into that cold, dark water.   Victor and I locked glances, and without saying a word, jumped and smashed into the water.
 
We got back to the boats and no one could believe that we had done that jump.  “Man, you guys are crazy,” I kept hearing.  After that, Victor was my best friend for the rest of the tour.  No more insults, no more smears.  All he could do was bask and brag about how we jumped off that friggen tower thing - heard it over and over on the 5-mile row back.  That night at the gig - like magic - the magenta gels on the right side had been replaced and the lights were perfectly balanced.


Project In Progress Listening Spot:
http://www.nimbitmusic.com/rickdenzien Listen and I'm adding lyrics too...

 

Rick Denzien

© MMXII todate Rick Denzien - Slot One Entertainment, Inc. - All Rights Reserved - Used By Permission

 

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Why Be a Light?

Hey Just checking in. Actually the way the world is has nothing to do with how it can or will be in the future. In other words, just because the world was messed up in the past or present does not mean that this will continue in the future.
For example, the past two thousand years was marked by centuries of mass violence which lead to the deaths of millions / billions of people. Looking at this world from a human history point of view clearly is a horror.
Toward the end of the last century however, there were three non-violent revolutions. Gandhi’s India became free by means of a non violent movement. In the 60's Martian Luther King lead a non-violent movement to reach greater legal & human equality in the civil rights movement. And Nelson Mandela led a 20 year non-violent revolution which ended apatite in South Africa. Though these men were not perfect, and though there where those who attached the non-violent nature of their causes, never the less the overall effect was non-violent and lead to an evolution of the human race.
Phil Collins did make a difference in millions of fans lives, and to that extent he pushed the good forward. When enough people join together toward the same positive goals, reality as we know it changes. The great truth of quantum mechanics is that the future is ours to create. And though there are those who for their own greed and fear try to keep the rest of us down and oppressed, it is a fact that the good and higher best for all will win out.
Best,
Rick

Friday, October 29, 2010

Amazing

It always amazes me - to see you and me - us poor and middle class people - buying in to the great lie.

It is a lie that big business and free enterprise will solve all our problems if only they are left without any government regulation. The facts? Big business only cares about one thing: the $$ profit that can be made this quarter. Most big businesses do not care for the poor or the middle class, this is a fantasy. The rich & powerful love to twist the truth in their favor.

Nixon (R) opened the doors for free trade to China. The gold rush was switched on. At the time, there was the promise of new jobs here in America because geez – look at all those un-taped 6 billion Chinese ready to buy American products. Well no one thought for a moment to realize that most people in China were very poor peasants, living under a dominating murdering killing machine – namely the Chinese government. Look where that has gotten the USA. Our manufacturing base has moved to China, leaving the US with very few MFG jobs – jobs that used to be held by a proud and strong middle class – gone over seas to the Maoists. Not only are our workers un employed, but the Chinese workers labor in deplorable sweat shop conditions. Slavery is alive and well. Our balance of trade is way out of wack and our national debt continues to climb. China lies about how much fish it takes from our world’s dying oceans with impunity and is still the chief human rights oppressor in the world (Tibet). Yet we middle class send them all our money via China Mart stores - great idea. Is “Free Enterprise” really free?

In the name of "Free" enterprise and deregulation Regan (R) killed the unions. Collective bargaining for the good of the union members is the only reason for the creation of the American middle class in the first place. We still live rich off gains made by the unions, from the 1930’s through the 1970’s, the poor and middle class enjoy a very enhanced life style, though it has eroded badly since the 70’s. It is time the middle class woke up to the reality that large corporate interests such as, big oil, big MFG over seas, Big nsurance industry and big fast food are not going to give a fair shake to the little guy.

It is up to us, the people, to make our government watch out for "we the people" and not for the interests of the power hungry rich. Consumers have the right to safe products; workers have the right to produce products in a safe environment. We all have the right to live in a world that is in balance, non-polluted, with a green economy that is sustainable.

Leaving the power elate rich alone making super bucks will only send the poor and middle class to economic hell. This is not the better way. First let’s all get a clue. Next let’s not be tricked by the rich; of course they don't want any regulation.

They would rather see you get your hands chopped off because a safety feature on a machine or product would cost money which costs them profit.

Of course the insurance industry does not want universal health care, they would make a little less profit.

Of course the chemical industry promotes the “Human Element”, instead of the 50,000 people they killed via Union Carbide in Bhopal India. Pay for all that death? Why make it right. It is cheaper to make up some slick bull shit averts for TV, convince us that they are really good human folks like us.

Of course the fast food industry does not want you to know that you're eating rotten bacteria infested meat. So what if a few hundred children die from ecoli, the industry profits. Less government - fewer government meat inspectors makes it easy to avoid doing the right thing. Once again, big business gets its way at our expense.

Big business will never be able to solve our problems because Big Business creates more problems in the process of doing business than it solves.

That is not to say I’m against business. Only the kind that does not have balance, which as it happens, is most business. There are many excellent exceptions where the business enters into a partnership with the workers; the business prospers by not polluting, attempts sincerely and successfully to have a zero impact on the environment. Replaces what it takes. Balance, sustainability true profitability taking all costs into account.

Most of us believe in God; the forgiveness of sins etc. The Rabi Jesus taught "whatever you to the least of these my brothers, you do to me". The "Golden Rule" is a value that most of us believe in, yet when it comes to corporate responsibility, somehow we give them a big fat pass.

If you believe in God, and this is a value that you believe in, you must also get your head around these facts. Vote for democratic people who support us and you the person.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Chairman Mao

What the the ghost of Chairman Mao say to the billionaire Chinese Industrialist?
"I think these Americans are stupid, they want more jobs at home, but they continue to import and buy from China Store". - rick
www.YouTube.com/RckDenzien

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

10 THINGS EVERY AMERICAN SHOULD KNOW ABOUT HEALTH CARE REFORM



Category: Life
......10 THINGS EVERY AMERICAN SHOULD KNOW ABOUT HEALTH CARE REFORM

1. Once reform is fully implemented, over 95% of Americans will have
health insurance coverage, including 32 million who are currently
uninsured.2

2. Health insurance companies will no longer be allowed to deny people
coverage because of preexisting conditions--or to drop coverage when
people become sick.3

3. Just like members of Congress, individuals and small businesses who
can't afford to purchase insurance on their own will be able to pool
together and choose from a variety of competing plans with lower
premiums.4

4. Reform will cut the federal budget deficit by $138 billion over the
next five years, and a whopping $1.2 trillion in the following ten years.5

5. Health care will be more affordable for families and small businesses
thanks to new tax credits, subsidies, and other assistance--paid for
largely by taxing insurance companies, drug companies, and the very
wealthiest Americans.6

6. Seniors on Medicare will pay less for their prescription drugs because
the legislation closes the "donut hole" gap in existing coverage.7

7. By reducing health care costs for employers, reform will create or save
more than 2.5 million jobs over the next decade.8

8. Medicaid will be expanded to offer health insurance coverage to an
additional 16 million low-income people.9

9. Instead of losing coverage after they leave home or graduate from
college, young adults will be able to remain on their families' insurance
plans until age 26.10

10. Community health centers would receive an additional $11 billion,
doubling the number of patients who can be treated regardless of their
insurance or ability to pay.
Sources:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10. "Affordable Health Care for America: Summary," House Energy and Commerce Committee, March 18, 2010
http://wwwd.house.gov/akamaidocs/energycommerce/SUMMARY.pdf
3. "Insurance Companies Prosper, Families Suffer: Our Broken Health Insurance System," U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Accessed March 22, 2010
http://healthreform.gov/reports/insuranceprospers/index.html
4. "Affordable Health Care for America: Health Insurance Reform at a Glance: Revenue Provisions," House Energy and Commerce Committee, March 18, 2010
http://wwwd.house.gov/akamaidocs/energycommerce/REVENUE.pdf
5. "New Jobs Through Better Health Care," Center for American Progress, January 8, 2010
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/01/new_jobs_health.html
8, 9. "Proposed Changes in the Final Health Care Bill," The New York Times, March 22, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/03/19/us/politics/20100319-health-care-reconciliation.html
10. "Affordable Health Care for America: Health Insurance Reform at a Glance: Addressing Health and Health Care Disparities," House Energy and Commerce Committee, March 20, 2010
http://docs.house.gov/energycommerce/DISPARITIES.pdf