December 19, 2009 at 6:25 P.M. Several essays were vandalized, "errors" have been inserted and corrected.
November 10, 2009 at 3:34 P.M. "Errors" inserted and corrected. "Lesbian love-fest," Anne? ("Trenton's Nasty Lesbian Love Fest!" and "Jennifer Velez is a 'Dyke Magnet!'")
August 15, 2009 at 11:10 A.M. The usual harassment and cyberwarfare this week. This essay is controversial with the Femi-Nazi thought police. This is sufficient reason to post it again. Censorship from the Left or Right is equally offensive to me. Not only will publishing opportunities be denied to me -- and people like me -- but an effort will be made to suppress and censor my "controversial" writings. For my defense of feminist views, see "David Stove and the Intellectual Capacity of Women." For a sample of my experiences, see "What is it like to be plagiarized?" ("Barack Obama and 'The New Yorker.'")
June 4, 2008 at 12:29 P.M. I experienced interference with my cable signal as I tried to post this essay. My security system is under attack and cannot be updated. New "errors" inserted, presumably by Femi-Nazis, on November 1, 2008 at 12:16 P.M. ("What is it like to be tortured?")
Hackers have inserted new "errors" in this essay. July 27, 2007 at 9:44 A.M. I am blocking:
http://ad.N2434.doubleclick.net/ad/N2434.msn/B2 (NJ)
http://view.atdmt.com/von/iview/msnnkvos01200 (NJ)
How serious are we about our commitment to the First Amendment and freedom of speech? How much of our professed defense of free expression is a lie? "Doubleclick?"
More censorship and "errors" previously corrected, reinserted in the text. I think this is about exhausting me. I do not believe that it will be effective and it does give me the opportunity to reemphasize my arguments. I think my questions concerning the Constitution have now been answered.
November 22, 2008 at 10:59 A.M. More "errors" inserted and corrected.
January 11, 2009 at 3:51 P.M. Same old, same old. This revised essay was first posted in November, 2008.
I.
One of the strangest aspects of contemporary American politics is the intensity of the divisions in society. I believe that these divisions are primarily cultural and not political. They express themselves in political and legal warfare, as always, in America. The tone of political discussions and intellectual content has declined steadily over the past two decades. The nation is still about evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats.
We are witnessing one of the meanest eras in the politics of personal destruction -- which began with the Clinton impeachment effort and is approaching dangerous levels again -- at the dawn of a new presidential election season. I applaud Senator (now President) Obama's efforts to distance himself from the political attack machines used by both parties. ("President Obama and 'The New Yorker.'")
We feel powerless about the raging controversies and experiences of unfairness as well as oppression in some extreme cases within the American political and legal system. The analogy to rape is useful. The individual often experiences him- or herself as powerless against sinister forces in American society concerned to distract and cover-up the reality of power wielded against people, power used to exploit and abuse them, to steal from them, even to destroy them in pointless military struggles. "Them" means "us." ("Invicta Watch Company" and "The Invicta Watch Compnay Caper.")
We know we are being screwed. We know that it is illegal, unconstitutional, evil that so much of our tax money is stolen before our eyes. However, there is not very much that we can do about it -- our politicians are often sold out, coopted, complicit in the horror. We return to the Constitution for inspiration and struggle. We fight. We persevere. We must never give up. Sadly, it is the weakest of us who are made into instruments of oppression, utilized to provide ass cover for politicians. ("Terry Tuchin, Diana Lisa Riccioli, and New Jersey's Agency of Torture" and "What is it like to be censored in America?")
I read in The New York Times an account of a political speech focusing on Senator Clinton's "cleavage." Earlier I read an account of Mrs. Thompson's "cleavage." I think those descriptions are inappropriate and offensive. They are one indication of what I have been dealing with -- anything you read in these blogs is mild compared to what has been said about me and others that I care about -- from the sort of people found at the bottom of America's political barrel which is New Jersey.
Constitutional and copyright protection means nothing to some N.J. legal officials. I'd like to provide such persons with a little taste of their own medicine.
When politics plunges to such levels, there is a danger that democratic processes will be contaminated permanently. Alternatively, there are some persons who cannot understand the language of civilized discourse even as they expect to be addressed in polite terms by others. When courts and political institutions fail to enforce order and law, there will be a messy struggle in the public square. It is time for authority to exert itself, ensuring the enforcement of Constitutional and human rights, even in the Garden State.
I still cannot run a necessary security scan of my computer. My computer was eventually destroyed by hackers. ("How censorship works in America.")
President George W. Bush is a polarizing figure, mysteriously, even more than Reagan and Clinton were in their day. People HATE -- even loathe and despise -- good old, mild-mannered George W. Bush, much to his chagrin. And those on the Right -- including many who are less than crazy about G.W. because he is not conservative enough -- abominate the sort of people who attack G.W., even more than they dislike him.
I think each faction has a point. Regrettably, many innocent victims are caught in the crossfire. Among those victims is the U.S. Constitution. Collateral damage? ("Manifesto For the Unfinished American Constitution.")
Allow me to make it very clear to anyone who does not understand this: I do not care what you think of me. I probably think less of you and with good reason for my hatred and disgust after daily harassments and plagiarisms of my writings. (Again: "Terry Tuchin, Diana Lisa Riccioli, and New Jersey's Agency of Torture.")
I wish to examine these hostile feelings in U.S. politics (and they are mostly feelings, over and above carefully thought out positions on issues), very briefly, suggesting where common ground may and should be found. What G.W.'s enemies have yet to figure out is that the best thing that President Bush has going for him is his opposition. The same is true for Christopher Christie in New Jersey. ("Censorship and Cruelty in New Jersey.")
Why do I say that? Well, for one thing the source of those comments concerning "cleavage" is not, in my opinion, Republicans, but an extreme sector of the liberal wing of the Democratic party. The condescension and insulting patronizing to which minority intellectuals -- male or female -- are subjected in this society is beyond description. Such treatment must be experienced to be fully understood.
We are often silenced and marginalized. The same may be said for "disconnection" from reality on the part of people hurting you, denying you basic rights, while asking for your understanding and cooperation with their so-called "improvement" efforts. To commit crimes against me is to abandon any right to judge my ethics. Ethics? ("What is it like to be tortured?" then "New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System" and "The Office of Attorney Ethics in New Jersey" as well as "New Jersey is the Home of the Living Dead.")
Low-life scum buckets in New Jersey are hardly in a position to judge anybody's ethics. OAE? ("Have you no shame, Mr. Rabner?" and "Law and Ethics in the Soprano State.")
I live in Manhattan. I am a democratic socialist, agnostic, graduate degree, Latino -- and just about everything else that a Democrat is usually thought to be. However, the organized crime group governing New Jersey, ruthlessly and with unbelievable greed as well as stupidity -- while calling themselves Democrats -- together with the skinny-dressed-in-black, "we-know-better-than-you" fashionista-kiwi-munchers (of all ethnicities and sexual persuasions) have made the word "Democrat" affect me the way garlic affects Dracula. Many America feels the same way.
The trouble with stereotypes and cartoon-like reductions of others to sleazy jokes is that the tactic may be turned against its proponents. ("What a man's gotta do.")
I have been insulted and dismissed, denied opportunities to make use of free speech rights and to publish my work by liberal morons. I experience daily cyberviolations of my rights intended to produce violence through frustrations and continuing psychological harm. ("More Censorship and Cybercrime" and, again, "Censorship and Cruelty in New Jersey" then "How censorship works in America.")
People diagnosing the disease at the heart of Senator Clinton's 2008 campaign -- a campaign which I favored in many ways, as I also eventually supported Mr. Obama's efforts -- should look at this issue with care. It will not go away. For instance, New Jersey's caudillo controls judges and law enforcement. Hence, crimes may be committed against people opposed to the regime and their family members (including children and old people) with impunity.
Meanwhile, theft of public funds is a daily reality in the Garden State, all of which is covered up and regarded as "business as usual." Some crimes committed by "our" people in Trenton are O.K. The crimes of inner city kids -- especially African-Americans, Latinos, or working class whites -- are not O.K. ("New Jersey's Feces-Covered Supreme Court" and "Abuse and Exploitation of Women in New Jersey" and "So Black and So Blue in Prison.")
Let us hope that Mr. Christie will improve things. Thus far, little has changed in New Jersey. "Insensitivity to women's issues" seems more troublesome to Anne Milgram than Democrats stealing under her nose in Trenton. ("Anne Milgram Does it Again!")
The reason why many Democrats secretly supported Mr. Obama during the primaries, while claiming to support Ms. Clinton, is that the much-hated liberal attack machine (which is probably responsible for the smears aimed at Senator Harry Reid, who is not any kind of racist and who deserves a lot of credit for the health care bill despite his fondness for Bob Menendez) is, rightly or wrongly, associated with the Clintons.
Whether this attack machine was developed after the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal when the Republican storm troopers went after the Clintons -- developed for defensive reasons, that is -- does not obviate the reality of shared blame for this viciousness in contemporary politics.
Incidentally, I generally support the Clintons and have voted for Hillary. A plague on both your houses, Democrats and Republicans.
What more do you need to know before you take some action, Anne Milgram, Esq.? Mr. Chiesa? Ever heard of cybercrime, Anne? Conspiracies to violate civil rights? Attorney General? Why not comply with the Constitution, Anne Milgram? Do the right thing for once. You'll feel better about your karma, Anne. Therapy? Ms. Letitia James? (Again: "New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System.")
I recall sitting in a New Jersey Superior Court criminal session and noticing that every defendant was an African-American or Latino male. I also remember thinking that several lawyers and judges were much worse criminals than any of those defendants. ("Neil M. Cohen, Esq. and Conduct Unbecoming to the Legislature in New Jersey" and "Is Paul Bergrin, Esq. an Ethical New Jersey Lawyer?" then "Have you no shame, Mr. Rabner?")
It is not simply that many New Jersey Democrats are corrupt and arrogant, ignorant and pompous, but that they presume to "instruct" the rest of us concerning the state of a "real world" that they do not understand at all. How could they? They do not live in the real world. Judges? These are the same people who, much too often, are in control of media and publishing.
Which distinguished New Jersey official or judge is having a difficult time accepting the loss of an argument with me? Stuart? Sybil? Time to "adjust and move on." Philosophically, you didn't know what you were talking about, Anne. If it is any consolation, Anne, Senator Menendez knows even less than you do about ethics or politics, to say nothing of philosophy. "Jennifer Shuessler"? "Michiko Kakutani"? Jim Holt? Manohla Dargis? Who comes up with these names? ("John Finnis and Ethical Cognitivism" and "Why I am not an ethical relativist.")
Yes, America, there is a liberal death-grip on media! New York media reads like the newsletter of a country club where everyone graduated from Yale and supports "progressive causes." Everybody has read the same six or seven books, holds pretty much the same opinions, and shares the same house in Long Island during the summers.
Did you like The Da Vinci Code? There is something about "Bee Keeping" and "Kite Flying" that is very popular with well-dressed imbeciles on the Upper East side who are each issued something called a "yoga mat." Whatever. ("Incoherence in 'The New York Times'" and "Incoherence in 'The New Yorker.'")
One's politics will always be less important than genuflecting to so-called "media elites" which I refuse to do. I debated people concerning philosophical issues and discovered shocking levels of ignorance among graduates of "elite" American universities and members of "learned professions" who see themselves as my intellectual and moral "superiors."
The realization that I was -- I still am -- more intelligent and better educated than most of these alleged assholes, even as an average guy, was grounds for my personal destruction by these politically-connected drinkers of designer water. Perrier? I am sure that these people also approve of America's drone weapons and starvation tactics as "soft power." I refuse to purchase (or wear) "biodegradable underwear." This is not a sign of "insensitivity to women's issues." Must we endure an hour-long program by Rachel Maddow? Melissa Harris-Perry? ("Genius and Lust.")
Care for some "organic" grapes? At Whole Foods in Manhattan a section of the store is reserved for fruits that are especially grown to be eaten exclusively by gay persons. Many of these fruits are said to be of the Buddhist persuasion. Try some Papaya, Anne? ("Oh, to be in India!")
There comes a point in one's life when insults and threats become intolerable, especially coming from people who are hardly in a position to feel "superior" on the basis of their own learning or scholarship, much less on the basis of their self-admired "ethics" -- like Jaynee LaVecchia or Stuart Rabner. ("Jaynee LaVecchia and Conduct Unbecoming to the Judiciary in New Jersey. "Stuart Rabner and Conduct Unbecoming to the Judiciary in New Jersey.")
One day you wake up and know that you won't take the bullshit anymore. ("Sybil R. Moses and Conduct Unbecoming to the Judiciary in New Jersey" and "Jay Romano and Conduct Unbecoming to the Judiciary in New Jersey.")
Jay writes for The New York Times, ostensibly in the English language, while acting as a Municipal Court Judge in North Bergen, New Jersey. I have no idea what Jay Romano or Kelly Anne Michaels may be up to these days. ("What is it like to be plagiarized?" and "'Brideshead Revisited': A Movie Review.")
What really pisses off some people about G.W. (or John McCain and, possibly, Mr. Romney) is that he is not into the trendy P.C. nonsense. Neither am I. Lots of intelligent Americans have just about had it with the cultural language police and bien pensant battalions who have appointed themselves as the guardians of our political virtue. These are the people who have made themselves the guardians of our intellectual lives: If you speak of God, then you are a Christian fundamentalist barbarian; if you compliment a woman on her appearance, then you are a sexist pig. Actually pigs have now organized and insist on being referred to as "swine beings." (Yes, "referred" can be written with one or two "r's," especially "down da shore" in New Jersey.)
Worse, if you dare to speak of right and wrong, good and evil, then you are a primitive, "unscientific" and uneducated person because there is no such thing as right and wrong, since everything is totally relative -- except for this one transcendent truth and all the P.C. stuff, which is objectively correct, and don't you forget it.
Philosophical ignorance of these concepts is an epidemic among the so-called educated "class" in America. The response when one points out the logical incoherence of such views is disdain, condescension, and censorship. ("Nihilists in Disneyworld" and "Whatever!")
This would be a good time for more inserted "errors," Ms. Milgram. More Jersey "Chics?" ("Diana's Friend Goes to Prison!" and "Wedding Bells Ring For Menendez!")
A recent article in the Times concerning the Heidegger controversy is an embarrassing example of philosophical illiteracy which should be unacceptable in America's premier newspaper. Was it written by Anne Milgram? "Patricia Cohen," Anne? Mary Anne Kriko? Has Ms. Kriko, finally, been disbarred? Gilberto Garcia? Nydia Hernandez? Lillian Munoz? Estela De La Cruz? (See my forthcoming essay, "The Heidegger Controversy.")
You will not make yourself more clever -- or obscure your areas of unforgivable ignorance -- by deleting a word from my essay, Anne Milgram. Cybercrime should not be a feature of any New Jersey Attorney General's standard operating procedure. Does the Cubanaza work in your office, Anne? Is it Nydia Hernandez? Estela? Do you find it difficult to get rid of this person because she has a "hook" in Senator Bob? Vice versa, as it were? Manohla? ("Manohla Dargis Strikes Again!")
Manohla (Nydia?), who is often "in the thick of things," is aptly called: "Manhola Dargis." How many people use that name at the Times? Who do these "journalists" belong to, Mr. Menendez? Iliana Ros-Leghtinen? Lizette Alvarez? Lourdes Santiago?
II.
Let me be clear about this: I am sure that there are good and evil, right and wrong. I want a political candidate who can tell the difference between these options and who is concerned to "do the right thing." I am not tempted to vote for a nihilist for high political office. I am sure that most Americans feel the same way. The only way that either Clinton or Obama will be elected to the presidency is by not being identified with the liberal wing of the Democratic party. Ask yourself why that is true. All of this hostility from the far Left makes John Edwards (or John McCain) look better every day. Rand Paul? ("Nihilism Against Memory" and "Nihilists in Disneyworld.")
Pictured above is the controversial cover of the New Yorker magazine featuring a drawing of Senator Obama, which may be blocked by N.J. hackers at any time. My access to my own blogs or MSN account may be obstructed or blocked dozens of times per day for harassment purposes or in order to maximize harmful frustrations. The number of intrusions, illegal spyware, hacks and blocking of images on my computer is a matter for daily speculation. My multiple scans reveal dozens of viruses attacking my system every day. Much of this cyberwarfare is only made possible by government technology and is part of much worse that has been done against me by New Jersey's corrupt politicians.
You are witnessing content-based, governmental censorship and violations of civil rights in America that are taking place PUBLICLY. ("Does Senator Menendez Have Mafia Friends?" and "Another Mafia Sweep in New Jersey and Anne Milgram is Clueless" and "Have you no shame, Mr. Rabner?")
I am "for" full equality. I never offend against political correctness unless I know that it will bother one of my self-styled social "superiors" for me to do so. Payback. (Diana Lisa Riccioli, this bud's for you.)
America wants the chi-chi political fashionistas to know: "We will make up our own minds about the issues and candidates, what we wear or eat, cultural options and loving relations as well as Doctor Phil-like 'relationship-issues,' including -- for those born with this bizarre sexual-orientation -- heterosexual relationships and their discontents."
Don't tell us with whom we can have sex or what persons we may love. Mind your own business if you are a politician or judge.
Who wrote the political advertisement for Senator Clinton that said: "We are America's women"? What gives you the right to speak for ALL of America's women, excluding supporters of other candidates who happen to be females as "lesser" or non-women? Is part of the definition of a woman in America a person who is a "liberal and pro-choice" and supports Ms. Clinton's political ambitions? Must a woman stare at MSNBC all day? I ask this question as a pro-choice Leftist, also as a pluralist and democrat (with a small "d"), not as someone who presumes to speak for women.
I happen to have voted for Ms. Clinton in several elections. I will probably do so again, someday, I hope, assuming that, outside of New York, men and non-lesbians are permitted to support Ms. Clinton. ("A Commencement Address by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.")
The problem is your arrogance and presumption, "female persons" (Ms. Wolf? Ms. Faludi? Ms. Klein?), in speaking for so-called "lesser" others, or presuming to govern the lives of others who are not interested in what you have to say, much less in being told by someone who attended Yale University and now has earned a driver's license, what we are permitted to think or say as male individuals of a certain age.
Is Christina Hoff-Sommers still a woman even if she rejects some items on the so-called "feminist agenda" and supports John McCain? I think so. I understand that women's political views may differ. I cannot understand a woman who facilitates rape, abuse, and theft of other women's dignity. Ms. Riccioli, are you sensitive to women's issues? ("Terry Tuchin, Diana Lisa Riccioli, and New Jersey's Agency of Torture" and "Neil M. Cohen, Esq. and Conduct Unbecoming to the Legislature in New Jersey" as well as "We don't know from nothing!" and "Diana's Friend Goes to Prison!")
How can you be an apologist for the state of New Jersey's notorious criminality that victimizes so many women, children, and others and call yourself any kind of feminist? ("New Jersey Superior Court Judge is a Child Molester" and "Judges Protect Child Molesters in Bayonne, New Jersey.")
I can't imagine how anyone can take a good look at New Jersey and avoid puking. "Ethics?" You are judging my ethics? 1988-today? You will first need to get some ethics yourselves in New Jersey before you will be in a position to comment on my character or morals. Maybe you should borrow some ethics from New York, or other states. ("New Jersey's Judges Disgrace America" and "New Jersey's Failed Judiciary.")
This would probably be a good time to delete a letter from one of my words. Thank God, they finally replaced Codey and Roberts in their positions, not to mention Corzine. Americans need Christopher Christie to be sworn-in soon as governor of the Garden State in order to rescue the endangered Constitution. Let's hope the good stuff is happening, finally, in Trenton. Lock 'em up, Mr. Christie -- after your stomach surgery, that is. Assuming that Christie manages to avoid prison himself the alternatives to his administration in New Jersey may be even worse than Mr. Christie. ("Christie Attacks New Jersey's Corrupt Judges!")
On the other side of this cultural divide are those good folks residing somewhere near the buckle of the Bible belt, who insist that New York is home only to homosexuals and sexual perverts, women of easy virtue and atheism. These were certainly the things that I was looking for when I moved here. To these good folks ("rock-solid-God-fearing-tax-paying" Americans), these sinful qualities of Manhattanites explain many of our troubles with terrorism and disease.
God is displeased with our sinfulness. We must repent before it is too late!
I would be happy to cooperate, after I have met some of those women of easy virtue. Sadly, there are none in my building. I am only interested in women my age, incidentally. I have only been involved with women exactly my age during my entire lifetime and very few of those, unfortunately -- or maybe fortunately.
The "Femi-Nazi" insistence on forcing everyone into stereotypical categories, whether they -- or we -- fit into those categories is irrelevant and offensive. ("Is he joking?")
This sort of "fire and brimstone" reasoning has an ancient pedigree, as Gore Vidal points out. For example, under the Code of Justinian, homosexuality was outlawed throughout the empire since it was generally recognized that gay sex causes earthquakes. Apparently, in the ancient world when people spoke of the earth moving, they weren't kidding. My guess is that when told this, our gay or straight friends today may respond that good sex still causes earthquakes, if you're very lucky. This is especially true in parts of Long Island, I am told.
These two sides of America are not going to "come together" (no pun intended!) any time soon. Most people are in the middle, as it were, since dad is a "gun-toting" Republican, and his much-loved daughter, Katherine -- who goes to Barnard and reads Sylvia Plath ("who is, like, the greatest writer ever!") -- is a liberal. Katherine and her friends insist on a spiritual politics without violence, except against Republicans like her dad, of course.
Again: I am a socialist and an independent. As a friend in Union City used to say, "I don't owe nobody nothing."
There is simply not enough room for compromise between such polarized positions. All of this makes for fun weekend get-togethers with the family, except that the United States can now count on the hatred of much of the rest of the world -- thanks to our adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan -- but, equally, because of such things as American cultural "hegemony" (we make movies that everybody wants to see) and our economic imperialism (everybody likes our fast food, music and fashions, it's our cars they can live without).
We are "greedy and insensitive" according to nations hoping to be even greedier and more insensitive than we are in the twenty-first century. We are "evil" say the millions who hope to get a visa so they can visit New York or L.A., several hundred thousand of whom have written a script that they hope someone in Hollywood will read. ("It is perfect for Sylvester Stalone ...")
A woman approached me one night when I was lucky enough to be smoking a good cigar, aiming a piercing glance in my direction and noticing that my attention was drawn to the posterior of a young woman walking directly ahead of me, she said: "Don't look at that woman's ass!"
I ask you -- the civilized reader of these words -- whether one may reasonably be expected not to look at an attractive (adult!) woman's ass?
I suggest that whether I look at and/or admire, aesthetically, any woman's ass is my business.
The cleavage issue is not a suitable or relevant matter in political debates. However, I guarantee you that men will notice cleavage "issues" and "asses." (Notice the quotation marks.)
Women know this about men, making fashion choices that are deliberately based on this forbidden knowledge. No one will live P.C. bullshit in their daily lives beyond the necessity to be polite for expedient reasons. Yes, you are welcome to call me an "ass" for pointing out the obvious. ("On Bullshit.")
In a free society, we should not censor or seek to alter the conduct of others by force. We argue and try to persuade one another concerning these matters. P.C. rules produce not a "kinder and gentler" society only a more hypocritical one. I urge you to read Philip Roth's The Human Stain.
Meanwhile, there really are evil people out there who wish to kill you and those you love merely because of your nationality or because you are wealthier than they are. There are people who wish to obstruct the progress of science in curing diseases and feeding billions because a "holy book" says we must not trust in anything but prayer.
We must find a way to oppose real terrorism without becoming terrorists or living in dictatorship.
Paradoxically, there are also some in the most affluent societies who believe, with equal irrationality, that because science yields accurate knowledge of the workings of empirical reality, it can somehow resolve moral or political controversies, or "explain" such cultural mysteries as romantic love in evolutionary terms (it can't); or tell us what is the meaning of life, or even define the role of science in society (it can't).
These questions of meaning and values must be decided dialogically, not through some experiment or imposed solution. You certainly will not condition me into accepting slavery.
Values questions are not scientifically resolvable or they would not remain "open" questions. We will not find our moral meanings "out there," in nature, existing independently of us in the empirical world; values will not be seen under a microscope; rather, moral truth and beauty may be achieved only by us, through reasoning and dialectics, neither of which are ever entirely dispassionate. (Kant, Hegel, Blanshard. )
This does not make such things unreal or unobjective, much less pointless or untrue. By the same token, no matter how much we learn about the brain, we will not discover the mind "in" the brain, even after we figure out how it is that consciousness arises from cerebral processes, if we ever do.
Vandalism and censorship do not help you to prevail in an argument nor can such tactics prove that you are right about something. When you resort to such tactics, you are admitting defeat on a substantive issue, then seeking to compensate for this inability to respond, effectively, to an adversary by silencing or hurting him. This was traditionally the reaction to WOMEN'S creative and intellectual efforts -- suppression, censorship, trivializing. I will continue to write, focusing on more New Jersey judges and municipalities, seeking the truth in my life. ("New Jersey's Feces-Covered Supreme Court" and "New Jersey's Political and Supreme Court Whores.")
An "error" was inserted by New Jersey's hackers in this essay to start the new year. I will focus on former Chief Justice Poritz's "allegedly" corrupt lesbian relationship. Was Ms. Poritz given sexual introductions to young women by Diana Lisa Riccioli in exchange for "favors"? What contacts (if any) did Ms. Poritz have with Marilyn Straus when Diana Lisa Riccioli was simultaneously involved with Ms. Straus and/or "other women, including Ms. Poritz? ("Deborah T. Poritz and Conduct Unbecoming to the Judiciary in New Jersey.")
This is my response to New Jersey's continuing defacements of this essay as well as on-going efforts to censor and suppress my work. Struggle. I am not the sort of person who is easily intimidated.
I wonder why the number of visitors to my blogs has not changed despite thousands of "hits" that have come to my attention? Coincidence? "Approximate?" The number of hits at this blog are not counted in increments of one hundred. Mysteriously, the number listed at my profile has suddenly changed in weird ways. How curious? I wonder whether MSN groups is still "closed" and why my book is suppressed? ("How censorship works in America.")
The mind is an abstract concept, whereas the brain is an organ in the physical body of an individual. You need a brain to develop a mind. However, a brain will not be sufficient without language and social setting. Mental development will be warped or stunted and deformed in any person growing up alone in a deserted island.
We are social animals, whose mental health -- even flourishing "minds" -- depend on the presence of others, especially others who are loved by us and who love us in return. Hence, the irreversible injury that is done to a victim whose closest relationships and professional identity are shattered, together with damage to self-esteem, as part of an involuntary "program of testing, secretly, our latest psychological warfare techniques." ("An Open Letter to My Torturers in New Jersey, Terry Tuchin and Diana Lisa Riccioli.")
The very sight of persons cooperating with such efforts directed against a "targeted" professional makes me physically sick. When those who cooperate claim to be friends or relatives, the disgust and anger I feel is much greater. If there is anyone more loathsome than the individual willing to spy upon and inform against family members for a small fee, I cannot imagine who it might be. Ridgewood, New Jersey? Do you really believe that forced association will be helpful, Terry? Think again. ("Jennifer Velez is a Dyke Magnet!")
We live as subjects, also in objective categories that are only meaningful socially -- like the categories of "male, American, father, middle-aged," etc. I need other people. So do you. This is not some shameful weakness. Despite the truly moronic opinions of Dr. Phil, Barbara Streisand had it right: "People who need people are the luckiest people in the world." No wonder Barbara's picture is found in many bodegas in Manhattan. Poisoning or destroying those needed relationships is evil. ("God is Texting Me!")
We are in this situation together folks, as Americans or just as human beings. We need one another. If we are at one another's throats then none of us will make it. The United States, with all of its faults, is a great and good nation -- with the exception of the corrupt power-structure in New Jersey -- and it occasionally needs to be defended from the enemies of freedom in the world. This is not to deny our right to criticize any U.S. government for its policy failures or crimes. ("NSA Spying is Illegal.")
Iraq is a colossal catastrophe for America, not just one party. No one should be thrilled about a catastrophe afflicting all of us in America, for decades, even if it gets your guys and gals elected to office. The nightmare has spread to Afghanistan and Pakistan, India may go up in flames. Syria? Some Americans believe that a confrontation with China, Korea, or Cuba would add spice to our lives. I am "for" peace and an end to these costly and increasingly pointless military adventures that are destroying America's economy.
"Victory is within reach" will always be said by politicians, even as helicopters remove the last Americans from a burning city and enemy troops swarm the airport. You already know this about freedom in the U.S. You prove it by protesting against the government that guarantees your right to do just that. Yes, there are terrorists in the world. The very people who would instantly wipe out all of those who are "different" -- gays and racial minorities, religious and cultural eccentrics. Those who are different and who do not fare well in lots of other places in the world seem to like it here just fine.
Mr. Obama, sending more troops to Afghanistan and Iraq may be likened to jumping into quicksand to join a drowing person. Why not extend a tree branch and "pull out" the victim? I am old enough to remember daily assurances that more troops would bring victory in Vietnam. 50,000 American deaths later, there was no victory in Vietnam. How many deaths will convince us in Afghanistan? Iraq? Pakistan? America's "secret war" in Pakistan is no secret. Anybody remember Cambodia? Yemen? Syria?
Part of what is at the core of the United States is tolerance of diversity, a desire to make the world safe for "weirdos" (like me, you say!), that is, for persons who wish to think differently, originally and creatively ... or just to think at all. Censorship, destruction of written work, secret proceedings, experimenting on people and then lying or stone-walling about it are all criminal actions, so is stealing a good watch -- even when New Jersey Democrats do it. Terry? Diana? Debbie Poritz? When do I get those reports, Anne? ("No More Cover-Ups and Lies, Chief Justice Rabner!" then "Mafia Influence in New Jersey Courts and Politics.")
The deepest truth at the heart of the American experiment is a confidence in human goodness and in the hope for a better world. The American Constitution was a fragile paper boat cast adrift on the stormy seas of history -- a paper boat which is still sailing along very nicely even as the great steel battleships of Fascism and Communist totalitarianism (Stalin) have (deservedly!) sunk to the bottom of the sea.
Do not underestimate this fragile hope for humanity or the power of love. ("Manifesto For the Unfinished American Constitution.")
We have to learn to live between subjective and objective, particular and universal -- because we are both -- which is another way of saying that we live in languages, not only verbal languages. Maybe a way for me to explain what it "feels" like to be reduced to a category of vilification, again, is to give others a taste of the experience. It seems to be working.
See the essays in the General section at my MSN group, Critique -- if it still exists -- and my forthcoming essay concerning Judge Tolentino (possibly the most stupid person I ever encountered in the legal profession) that will serve as my response to these continuing censorship efforts. Many N.J. lawyers shared this view concerning Judge Tolentino. I will be delighted to name them, publicly. Did you join the "lesbian love-fest," Luisa? Is it "Luisa Gutierrez, Esq."? Why were you, Luisa, involved in trying to harm me behind my back? Gilberto Garcia? Mary Anne Kriko? Do you enjoy being called a "skinny-person-dressed-in-black-kiwi-munching-fashionista," Ms. De La Cruz? I know that I would. (What exactly did you say about me behind my back, Estela? And what name did you give to Marilyn Straus when you raped her, Estela de La Cruz?)
Do not suppress or destroy speech by anyone, especially not the expressions of persons who are compelled to speak out, to write and publish their ideas. Don't destroy people's creative work appearing on the Internet. Feel free to respond to it -- if you don't agree or dislike it -- be open to their responses. There is much that we should agree on, as Americans, like our right to disagree. Let us build on that foundational agreement and cooperate. We need each other, as I say, now more than ever. The problems that we face are very great.
Being subjected to behind-the-back slanders for years has caused me to seek public confrontations with my enemies and discussion of their insults as well as being very explicit in my responses in kind.
Do not oppose everything that a U.S. president proposes merely because the idea comes from the White House. Examine suggestions and proposals on the merits. Think of ways in which someone different from you is like you. That person is your fellow citizen, brother or sister, and he or she will share many of your flaws and experiences in life, including the ultimate and unavoidable ones: love and death. Think of how that person sees you. I will do my best to make it clear to New Jersey officials how I see them. ("New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System.")
Any more inserted "errors" today? "Ladies"? No.
What would you wish to explain to those who have never spoken to you, but who have made up their minds about you on the basis of your nationality, ethnicity, religion, economic category or music and fashion choices, based on what they're told by others, especially when you're not around to respond?
I was told, I believe, by a New Jersey lawyer and official: "Latinos are not smart enough to be philosophers."
I have enjoyed a twenty-nine year version of this experience of insults and denigration. Take another look at the photos accompanying this essay -- that is, if any have not been been blocked! -- then ask yourself whether being reduced to a stereotype will help a person understand how I feel, every day.
