What is a Bold Challenge?

Harry Sinclair Lewis died in 1951; he would be 131 years old today, had he avoided death. Like the swan song that marks the extinction of a sound frequency: never to be heard again, our auditory system erases a frequency from its database. When a genuine journalist dies she is not simply replaced.

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Before the 17 candidates became the one I could not identify the sound of DJT’s voice from the sound of any other. It’s like a reverse swan song: from never heard to ever heard. I have yet to watch a single episode of “The Apprentice” and don’t plan to mar my record.

Sinclair Lewis explicated the incredible, the darkest shadows of homo sapiens. He dubbed the vile industry of meat manufacture a jungle. Where is the heart of that darkness today? Gone? No. The Jungle, published in 1906, has morphed into a spectacle that only grows larger — gross consumption. The rhythm of Trump’s speech slithers into my ear like a Dune-sized ear worm.

Bread and circuses and reality (TV)

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What is a bold challenge? It’s marketing jargon for carefully controlled and crafted lying. It’s a way to make a living — if you can live with yourself.

But is there a downside?

I’m thinking of submitting product names to a local Cincinnati cleaning products company. I have two so far: “Pontius Pilate Hand Sanitizer” and “Lady Macbeth Soap.”

Ad copy suggestions:

“Naturally it’s flavored”

“Naturally it’s colored”

When shopping for the slouchiest in decadent snacks, discerning and discriminating hosts choose palm oil, the chemical that clings to ingested molecules for a longer acting crave experience that does not rely on saturated fats.

Thanks for reading.

 

 

Palestine Children’s Relief Fund: Cincinnati 2016

Yesterday I met a young mother and her infant child at the annual PCRF picnic 2016.
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I gazed into the eyes of that beautiful woman and her precious child. Let me just inform you that they are in Cincinnati because those who can help transcended borders and the powers that be, to bring them to Ohio. Helping the helpless. Something that defines Menschheit (the word for “humanity” in German and Yiddish). Mother and child are here because white phosphorous burns to the bone. And, yes, it happened in Gaza.
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Yesterday brought souls together to share inextinguishable joy in the very spite of every attempt to extinguish the spirit of a proud people, century-long family traditions in culture, history and charm.
Yes, they melted my heart, moistened my eyes.
The occupiers who uproot ancient olive trees wishes that these people would plant their ancient roots anywhere but along the paradise of a Mediterranean shore that has nourished Philistines (Filistina) for so long.
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The occupiers boast of residing in a land celebrated as mere desert waiting for miracle workers to bring seed to fruit. The evicted and exiled Philistine people have every right listed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including a refugee’s right to return. The United States signed this document in 1948, the year of Nakba.
Yesterday I attended the PCRF picnic and enjoyed splendid company, warm smiles and genuine enthusiasm. Most importantly it was an opportunity to meet people who better our world by healing wounds, providing support for families and restoring hope that the youngest and most innocent among us may flourish.
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Such a delight and a privilege to speak personally with people who work miracles in the course of their daily lives. Cynicism and disillusionment are not support systems within PCRF: joy derived from mending deep wounds humbles the ego and makes room for love.