Morality Night Football?

  
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I’m watching the first Monday Night Football game of the season. Eagles versus Redskins. An easy pick for me. Philadelphia is my favorite NFC team and Washington has the single most racist name in professional sports. Then Vick takes the field and I inevitably recall his history too. Damn, can I not just enjoy football without my restless brain distracting me? Does a persons private life effect the way fans feel about or support that person? Hello, Michael Jackson fans? Anyway, just when I get focused I hear Ray Lewis doing commentary. Cmon! Later Kurt Warner would re-cap the game and it was just too much.

Maybe my point is we should use morality, a least a little more, in our choices. We sure do have power as consumers. For instance I’ve found myself eating healthier. Not so much for my health but because I have a real attitude about paying for bad “food like” substances. But I digress.

The facts about the players, on and off the field, that Monday Night.

“Redskins” - Is simply a racist term, period. Unlike other team names that honor First Nation Peoples. I wish their fans would realize they can still love the team and even their history without that name. Not all our history is good or worth repeating. It’s history. I am far from being “politically correct”. In this case I am just… correct. I suggest changing the name to the “Washington Warriors”. It would not only be respectful but it’s a damn cool name. Is it not?

Quarterback Michael Vick - In July 2007 Vick was indicted by a federal grand jury charges of sponsoring a dogfighting operation so grisly that the losers either died in the pit or sometimes were electrocuted, drowned, hanged or shot.

What struck me about the incident at the time was during his next game, just hours after the story broke, some “fans” were holding up signs of forgiveness and support. The expression “Too Soon” came to mind. And I started to wonder about my fellow human beings. Is there no crime so heinous that these people would take a whole 24 hours before being so forgiving? Hello, Penn State fans?

At least he paid for his crimes and as awful as they were we should probably give him the benefit of the doubt that he is repentant and a better person. Still one has to wonder what makes up a person capable of torturing dogs in the first place? And on the subject of “paying for ones crimes” that brings me to something worse.

The unpaid crimes of Ray Lewis. - On the evening of Jan. 30, 2000, Ray Lewis was looking to party. He had flown to Atlanta to watch Super Bowl XXXIV. A fight broke out. Two people were murdered. Did Lewis kill either of them or just hide the murder weapon and destroy his bloody clothes? We may never know.

Cops would never find the clothes Lewis wore that night, not even the mink. Nor would they find the photo taken of Lewis’ entourage that night. Lewis pleaded guilty in relation to the case: for obstruction of justice, a misdemeanor. He originally was charged with two counts of murder but struck a deal with prosecutors in exchange for his testimony against two of his companions.

Meanwhile, those two young men died in street: Richard Lollar, 24, and Jacinth Baker, 21.

And all these years later, Ray Lewis holds no regrets about what happened that night in Atlanta. “If I had to go through all of that over again . . . I wouldn’t change a thing,” he said recently. “Couldn’t. The end result is who I am now.” As if that statement was not outrageous enough he continues to speak way too much about God, and God’s will. As if it was “God’s will” for him to get away with that crime. Nauseating!

Pete Rose is banned from the Baseball Hall of Fame for Gambling. Lewis should never get into the Football Hall of Fame. Even if we are a little loose with “morality” we are talking about murder here!

Next came the recap by “Scab” Kurt Warner – He and Terrell Davis crossed a SAG Strike to do a Campbell’s Chunky Soup commercial in June 2000. If you think they should have respected the strike because they too were in a union, it’s worse than even that. They are also in SAG the Actors Union that was on strike.

Tiger Woods and Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra refused to cross the lines but not Warner. “We’ve gone from ‘Umm, Umm soup’ to ‘Umm, Umm scab,’  blasted SAG strike committee chairman Todd Amorde. And SAG flew a banner by plane over the coliseum with that new slogan. I think most would be forgiving if he did it to feed his family. But a millionaire betraying two unions… for soup? Disgraceful.

Still not convinced? Well, Al Pacino agrees with me. I’m not big at name dropping but… Al Pacino!  I love that guy. I had the pleasure of watching Super Bowl XXXIV with him. Titans versus Rams. This was months before Warner became a Scab and I was in the rare mindset of not knowing whom to root for. I liked the Rams as a kid, but they bailed on L.A. The Titans were new and underdogs so that was appealing. Al pointed out the actions of Ram team owner Georgia Frontiere and convinced me that the Titans were the “Good Guys”. With a choice like that, it’s easy. We should root for the good guys!

Back to MNF. Philadelphia Eagles defeated Washington Redskins  33-27 and Congress would go on to overshadow most other immoralities in entertainment or elsewhere. But that’s why we need good forms of escapism. A new team name, a different announcer would add to the experience. My Browns giving me the blues and my Raiders refusing to move back to L.A. (or to the Super Bowl) should be the only sort of things on my mind when watching my favorite sport. That and maybe “Where’s the Pizza?” Hello?

HEAVY METAL ~ Deconstructed

  
Metal Heads: my people, my music, my tribe ~

Curious about Heavy Metal Music? Think "Head Banging" is a literal description or that Metal Heads are a beastly violent cabal of drunken malcontents? Well, we are not. We are, among other things, the type of people who may use “cabal” in a sentence. But Malcontents? That we are for sure. As that is Rock and Roll. And as Rock is the Blues electrified, Metal is Rock sped up. Beautiful in it’s simplicity.

I think I took for granted that, like it or not, people at least knew what Metal was. I guess that is a symptom of a lot of what is wrong with this country? Shortcomings like Confirmation Bias and just assuming that others think and know what we do. “Cant we all just get along?” No, not if we can't even empathize and communicate. So those were my thoughts when I was asked “Why do you think Metallica is the greatest Metal band ever?” Was this a stupid question? Well, since it was coming from an eight year old, I resisted just saying “Because they are.” and I went on to actually explain. 

(speaking rapidly for effect) I said, “Because they energized the music scene - They introduced a generation to obscure British Metal bands – They play fast – They play hard – They use quiet moments as brilliantly as the loud moments – The lyrics are powerful and intelligible – They are good musicians who relate to the fans because they too are fans -They have been consistently great for a quarter of a century!” Yes, that is the exact way I put it, to an eight year old. I am a believer in not “dumbing it down”. Rock, Rap and Hip Hop all have their share of “simple” songs. And that is fine but another thing that attracts me to Metal is the complexity and depth. Even lyrics as seemingly simple as “I was born for dying” “Afraid to shoot strangers” and “Peace sells but who’s buying” are weightier than maybe first thought. Especially when closer attention reveals their ant-war themes.

So, read on, as I expose the oft-misunderstood art form and lifestyle that is Heavy Metal!

Arguably the most inclusive of musical genres. Save a few narrow-minded fringe fans passionate about their sub genre. Unpretentious and fun loving. We tend to only rage against "Posers" and Authority in general. And likely would not have a problem with Authority if it was not so blatantly hypocritical, self serving and, well,... joyless. To Metal Heads it's all about the music. Race doesn't matter, religion doesn't mater, gender doesn't matter (but we prefer girls, just sayin')

So welcome to Metal. Regardless of what band exposed you to this great art form you can spend a lifetime looking back to the roots. Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Led Zeppelin or all the way back to the Delta Blues. With as thunderously diverse influences as Hendrix, Van Halen, Wagner and Beethoven. And you may enjoy the early days of British Metal, through the heyday of the 1980's to the present and future of the many Metal offsprings.

It's a rare and fortuitous time for Metal today. The greatest bands are still touring. Metallica, Anthrax, Megadeth, and Iron Maiden still tear it up and new bands are shredding on. See them live while you can. We recently lost Dio and this may well be the last tour for Black Sabbath. Catch a show, commune with family, get in the Pit and Show some Love. - As UFO once sung "Lots of people do it and we wont leave you out."

THE GODFATHERS ~ Black Sabbath

-->Lead Guitarist Tony Iommi got the tip of his finger cut off just as the band was getting some traction. He melted plastic bottle caps to use as a finger tip and as necessity being “the mother of invention” he loosened up his guitar strings. This gave Sabbath their unique ominous sound. They noticed the popularity of Horror Films showing across the street from where they rehearsed and decided to experiment with similarly dark themes in their music. And a new genre was born!

THE WARDROBE ~ Judas Priest (from gay British leather fetish shops) How’s THAT for inclusive?

THE GANG SIGN ~ \m/ The Metal Horns \m/  (The malocchio) popularized by Ronnie James Dio

THE MASCOT ~ Eddie! (Iron Maiden)

THE DANCE ~ Moshing 

-->  (evolving from the pogoing, jumping up and down, of Punk/New Wave Music fans, expanding to include contact. Usually moving in a circle where fans can enter and leave at will, and at their own risk. Always physical but only rarely do a few drunken idiots, throw an elbow and try to purposefully hurt others. We have an “Instant Karma” way of dealing with those types)

THE AMBASSADORS ~ Metallica

THE ACTIVIST ~ Megadeth

THE TRANSPORTATION ~ Crowd Surfing

THE BEAT ~ John “Bonzo” Bonham

THE GAME-CHANGERS ~ Led Zeppelin  

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(Touring, merchandizing, creative control… it was all revolutionized by these Rock Gods. Will the world still be talking about your favorite band in 100 years? They will if that band is Led Zeppelin!)

THE FIRST RECORD TO HIT #1 ~ “Metal Health” by Quiet Riot - March 11, 1983

THE PHILOSOPHY ~ “But that’s the way I like it baby, I don’t wanna live forever!” 
Lemmy / Motorhead

THE 3 CHORDS ~ AC/DC

THE UNITERS ~ Anthrax

THE THEATER ~ Kiss (with a BIG mandatory SHOUT OUT to Alice Cooper)

THE DRINK OF CHOICE ~ Jack Daniels

THE SCORNED ~ Posers

THE REASON WE GOT POLITICAL (AND COULD NEVER VOTE FOR GORE) ~ The McCarthyism of his wife Tipper and her equally hated group The PMRC (Parents Music Resource Center) and their attack on the First Amendment and Rock n’ Roll – But they did give us the now iconic black and white “Parental Advisory -  Explicit Content” sticker label, that was required to put on album covers… thereby GUARANTEEING more sales. They knew as little about American’s tendencies to want the forbidden, as they did about the U.S. Constitution. AND although we love aggressive music, as a whole, we are not fans of endless WARS and the Corruption that enables them. So we Fight The Power!

BEST QUOTE ~ By Bart Simpson 
“Everybody knows all the best bands are affiliated with Satan.” - If you take this literally, you’re still not getting it. If you get the humor, then you get Metal… and The Simpsons.

THE CABLE SERIES ~ “That Metal Show” on VH1

THE MINISERIES ~ Metal Evolution by Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen

THE MOVIE ~ “Metal Heads” by Tony Stengel / Soxon Productions

THE EVIDENCE OF GOOD PARENTING ~ 80’s Metal on your kid’s iPod

So maybe this list will inspire you to look, and listen, deeper? Wow, to be hearing “Ride the Lightning” for the first time. The numerous covers of “War Pigs”, classic Metal, new Metal and a dozen sub genres. Could be life changing. Or just Loud and Fun. ~ Enjoy the Journey & Welcome to the Tribe!

THE GODFATHERS ~ Black Sabbath

THE GANG SIGN ~ The Metal Horns (The malocchio) popularized by Ronnie James Dio

THE CHURCH

THE WARDROBE ~ Judas Priest (from gay British leather fetish shops) How’s THAT for inclusive?

THE THEATER ~ Kiss (w/BIG mandatory SHOUT OUT to Alice Cooper)

THE AMBASSADORS ~ Metallica

THE GAME-CHANGERS ~ Led Zeppelin

THE DANCE ~ Moshing

THE SCORNED

THE CARTOON

THE DISINGENUOUS BITCH

THE DRINK OF CHOICE

THE 3 CHORDS ~ AC/DC

THE BEAT ~ John “Bonzo” Bonham

THE MASCOT ~ Eddie! (Iron Maiden)

THE TRANSPORTATION ~ Crowd Surfing

THE ACTIVIST ~ Megadeth

THE UNITERS ~ Anthrax

THE FIRST RECORD TO HIT #1 ~ “Metal Health”   by     Quiet Riot - March 11, 1983

THE MINI SERIES

THE CABLE SHOW

THE GUARANTEE TO SELL MORE RECORDS

THE PROPHET

TicketMaster must be stopped!

 
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TicketMaster aka "TicketBastard", aka “TicketMonopoly” aka “The Evil TicketMaster” is not really evil. At least not like in the way Monsanto wants to forever alter the worlds seed supply while pumping the planet with the ever stronger poisons required, that they just also happen to sell. Or evil like the way Skynet built the “Terminator”. But most mind-boggling is the fact that, according to the U.S. Justice Department, they are also not a monopoly?!

They only gobbled up “ReserveAmerica”, “Ticketron” and other smaller independent sellers and recently merged with “Live Nation” who owns or runs 135 major concert venues around the world, including most of the outdoor amphitheaters in the U.S., plus London's Wembley Arena, the House of Blues nightclub chain, and the Fillmore Theaters in San Francisco and New York. In the 1990s its corporate predecessors bought up many of the biggest regional concert promoters around the country, including San Francisco's Bill Graham Presents and Philadelphia's Electric Factory.

Ticketmaster started in 1976, which sold its first tickets the following year for an event at the University of New Mexico. In 1981, the company opened its first overseas operations and in 1982. And has had a few high profile dissenters, like Pearl Jam’s failed attempt to protect their fans from this beast. 

Anyone can just complain and may feel cheated, but let’s get some legal background out of the way -

Definition of 'Racketeering:

“Racketeering refers to criminal activity that is performed to benefit an organization such as a crime syndicate. Examples of racketeering activity include extortion, money laundering, loan sharking, obstruction of justice and bribery. - The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act became U.S. law in 1970, permitting law enforcement to charge individuals or groups with racketeering”.

West's Encyclopedia of American Law defines ANTITRUST LAW:

As “Legislation enacted by the federal and various state governments to regulate trade and commerce by preventing unlawful restraints, price-fixing, and monopolies, to promote competition, and to encourage the production of quality goods and services at the lowest prices, with the primary goal of safeguarding public welfare by ensuring that consumer demands will be met by the manufacture and sale of goods at reasonable prices”. 

Antitrust law seeks to make businesses compete fairly. It has had a serious effect on business practices and the organization of U.S. industry. Premised on the belief that free trade benefits the economy, businesses, and consumers alike, the law forbids several types of restraint of trade and monopolization. These fall into four main areas: agreements between competitors, contractual arrangements between sellers and buyers, the pursuit or maintenance of monopoly power, and mergers”.

 

Enforcement of antitrust law depends largely on two agencies, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which may issue cease and desist orders to violators, and the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division. And they have plenty of precedents. - The Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890, the Federal Trade Commission Act, the Celler-Kefauver Antimerger Act, the Robinson-Patman Act and many more.

Antitrust laws "were enacted for the `protection of competition, not competitors.' " The irony was addressed to private antitrust litigants. If they wanted to sue, the Court said, they would have to prove "antitrust injury."

U.S. government in the 1940s blocked Paramount Pictures from owning movie theaters. In the 1970s the government ruled that MCA Inc. could not own both record label and a talent agency that represented recording artists.

In 1992 Supreme Court case Eastman Kodak Co. v. Image Technical Services. The early 1980s saw the dramatic conclusion of a historic monopoly case against the telephone giant American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) (United States v. American Telephone & Telegraph Co)

Throughout the 1980s, political conservatism in federal enforcement complemented the Supreme Court's doctrine of nonintervention. The administration of President Ronald Reagan reduced the budgets of the FTC and the Department of Justice, leaving them with limited resources for enforcement. Mergers of companies into conglomerates, on the other hand, were looked on favorably, and the years 1984 and 1985 produced the greatest increase in corporate acquisitions in the nation's history.

1980s and early 1990s brought more changes in enforcement, economic analysis, and court doctrine. At the state level in the late 1980s, governments attacked mergers. The Supreme Court gave these efforts support in California v. American Stores Co., (1990), upholding the ability of state governments to break up illegal mergers. The Antitrust Division filed thirty-three civil suits in 1994, roughly three times the annual number brought under Reagan and Bush Sr. In mid-1994, under threat of a federal lawsuit, Microsoft entered a consent decree designed to increase competitors' access to the market. But in early 1995, a federal judge rejected the agreement, citing evidence of other monopolistic practices by Microsoft.

All that boring legal history simply illustrates that we do have a mechanisms in place to protect consumers from TicketMaster.

But TicketMaster got a pass. Due in part to their felonious argument that the public still had other options. I can only assume the squares in the Justice Department never go to a Concert or Sporting event unless a Lobbyist, or the like, pays for and arranges it? They certainly did not go to the Robert Plant concert last month at the Shrine Auditorium. The Shrine’s box office is only open on days of the show. Long after the entire venue, or at least, any good seats are sold out. So we get hit with a $25 fee PER Ticket! And there were more fees/service charges on top of that! The Lawn Section for Irion Maiden had fees over 65% of the ticket price. We also got to pay a fee to print our own tickets for a NHL game. 

I thought they hit bottom when they tried to sell me a concert shirt… over the phone! Really? $30 bucks for a shirt I can’t see? From a company I already know wants to rip me off? Well now they are also Scalpers! Through their site “TicketsNow” they have somehow "legalized ticket scalping"? Their quote:  “...our clients will be able to retain economic value that is normally siphoned off by the secondary market, and to sell more of their tickets that go unsold today.” Blah, blah, blah. It’s all simple and transparent greed. A direct result of what happens when a company is left to “self regulate” and has been allowed remain a monopoly.  I guess that’s true Capitalism? Profit is God and we are just the Heathens. So if they rape and slaughter us (our bank accounts), it’s all good. It’s the oldest excuse for dishonorable “conquest” in history.

But that is not all. Not even close. They are now threatening to completely eliminate ownership of the tickets we buy. By issuing “restrictive paperless tickets” that are non-transferable, and can only be used by the original ticket purchaser, similar to an airline ticket. What if you get sick or end up having a conflict for a concert or game? Too bad, you would lose the ticket under Ticketmaster’s new policy for some events.

Scalping, charging you to use your own printer and limiting your ability to give away your own tickets is still not the bottom. Like an oil company finding new ways to dig deeper and dirtier, they are still reaching new lows. Now they have teamed up with aging rockers who seem now more interested in cash than sexual favors in exchange for a backstage experience. For $600 - $1000 per person; the average fans need not apply.

“The Global Warming Tour featuring Aerosmith and Cheap Trick: VIP Packages Now Available -WHEELS UP PACKAGE: STEVEN TYLER/JOE PERRY MEET & GREET

- Ticket in first 10 rows - Meet & Greet photo op with Steven Tyler and Joe Perry - Limited Edition Lithograph - The Amazing Joey Kramer Experience: revealing Q&A, up close & personal with JK on the drums just for you! - Brad Whitford Q&A: playing and sharing intimate details of what makes the music happen - Pre-Show Experience with Tom Hamilton like never before - Special collectible Limited Edition merchandise item - Limited Edition Laminate and Lanyard - Early Entry and Early Crowd Free Access to Merchandise Booth”

While I did not participate in any paid “Back Stage Experiences” I did pay hundreds of dollars in fees to TicketMaster this summer. So that landed me on the “Bizrate” mailing list where I was asked my opinion. So they got it – 

“I remain amazed at how you get away with being a Monopoly?! The fees are outrageous and the consumer has NO alternatives. TM has even jumped into SCALPING! As your site refers buyers to a scalping site where prices are so far above any legal "face value" ($650 + FEES for a single seat!) and TM gets a cut, of course. Now TM and Live Nation even make consumers type in a COMMERCIAL "Captcha" online before getting to the real "Captcha" - Your continued rape of the consumer at every turn hurts the concert/sport going experience and disfranchises a generation of Americans who cant afford your insane fees. It will be a Joyful day in America when TicketMaster gets what it deserves and is dismantled as is required by law of Any MONOPOLY! When it comes to GREEDY Scum Bags, TM is at the top of the list!”

I suspected my venting frustrations would fall on deaf ears even though I have never met a single person who is happy with, or ambivalent about, TicketMaster. I guess that’s an example of “anecdotal evidence” if Bizrate’s truly shocking stats are to be believed. Directly from my survey page, their site reads:

“Ticketmaster is the world's leading ticketing service; selling 83 million tickets to thousands of live events each year for everything from concerts to sporting events to family and arts shows. Ticketmaster operates worldwide in countries such as the United States, England, Mexico, Ireland, Canada and Australia”.

Ticketmaster Store Ratings are for the past 90 days only.

Overall Satisfaction:

8.4 out of 10

Would Shop Here Again:

8.5 out of 10

Likelihood to Recommend:

8.3 out of 10

Customer Support:

8.1 out of 10

On Time Delivery:

9.1 out of 10

Order Tracking:

8.9 out of 10

Product Met Expectations:

8.9 out of 10

Overall Satisfaction	Past 3 Months	Past Month
Positive	85%	83%
Neutral	6%	6%
Negative	9%	11%

I’m most curious about the 85% of people who say they are "satisfied". Really? Satisfied to have additional fees disclosed at the last step of checking out? Satisfied to be charged a fee to print your own tickets… from your own printer? Maybe it’s like the 10 % of people who say they think Congress is “Doing a good job” or maybe it’s more like the 90% of people who say they hate Congress and then continue to vote the same people back year after year? Maybe people who know they were burned wont take the time to respond to Bizrate. And prefer to leave that bad experience behind. Until the next time they are left with no alternative but to purchase from this monopoly? “8.4 out of 10 would shop there again” is the only part that makes sense, as there is often no alternative. I guess the other 1.6 will just stay home?

Google reveals 712,000 results for “TicketMaster” but 898,000 results for “Evil Ticketmaster” 

Politicians are always looking for ways to appear as if they are looking out for the common guy by doing little things as they screw us (and the Planet) with the big things. So reigning in TicketMaster just seems like one of those easy fixes that they would want to do. Or maybe they are getting bribed with those “Backstage Experiences” exclusive box sections and floorside seats? All cash no sex. Especially not for us concert and sport fans. We get screwed, our savings get blown, TicketMaster gets the orgasms. 

An American in Tahrir Square

 
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 I recently returned from a month long adventure in Egypt and Turkey.

My fascination with Egypt began early in life. I considered my interest in Egypt completely unremarkable. Ask anyone with an interest in history or travel and surely Egypt is at the top of his or her list. I first booked my trip to Egypt 5 days before the Sept. 11^th World Trade Attacks. This resulted in the first ever intervention by my family, urging me to not go. They knew about my many adventures. How I was stranded in Ecuador during the border war with Peru. My encounters with criminal gangs in South Africa. Surviving a hurricane in the Yucatan. Photographing Juarez during the height of the Murdered and Missing story. Dodgy police and criminal encounters in Mozambique, Mexico City and well… all over the world. 

I was surprised that my family was at all concerned. After all, I am a self-defense expert, living a charmed life who always came home safe, if not on schedule. Reluctantly I agreed to go to Vietnam instead. The country had just recently opened up to tourism and that interested me. I was overwhelmed by the many offerings of condolences for the lives lost on 9-11. You see, this was just days after the attack and G.W. had yet to squander all the goodwill that most of the world felt towards America. While Vietnam was a great experience, I continuously regretted not going to Egypt, until I finally went.

In Cairo I had the same mindset I always have; to keep my opinions of Geopolitics to myself regardless of how informed, thought out or good intentioned I believed they were. But Egypt was enjoying the fruits of the recent revolution and apparently they like Barack Obama and talking about politics is something they were anxious to do.  My first hours there four people asked me if I was “happy that Obama was reelected?” My response of “I didn’t vote for him consistently elicited silence. Except for the one person who incredulously asked me “You voted for the other guy?” When I replied, “No, I voted for a third party candidate.” I was again met with silence but this time with a very confused look as well. When Nuri introduced me to her husband as “My new American friend Tony. He voted for a third party candidate”. I started to realize it was okay to satiate my curiosity about Egyptian politics.

Nuri was wearing a cross prompting me to ask if she was a Christian and what that was like in Egypt? She shared that she was a Christian and has never experienced a problem. “Christians and Muslims get along just fine here” she added. She went on to share that “the only real problems came from the Orthodox Muslims. Identifiable by beards and cold glances”.

Going to the epicenter of the revolution, Tahrir Square, was always on my, otherwise flexible, itinerary. My new acquaintances and strangers alike attempted to discourage me from going out of concern for my safety. But I was not concerned at all. I’d done my homework and was curious. Human nature in general, and being an American in particular, means being told not to do something often has the opposite effect. To reassure my new friends I just said I was going to the Egyptian Museum, that just happens to be in walking distance of Tahrir Square. And I did go to the museum and found it emblematic of Egypt’s woes. One of, if not the, greatest museum on the planet and it was in a miserable state. I could not help but wonder how a country so dependent on tourism could let this slide? Or how so many individuals, organizations and my favorite TV channels could be involved with Egypt’s antiquities and yet no money made its way to helping this magnificent place meet its potential. 

The protest were smaller than at the height of the revolution but they were very much happening. Yet another conflict between Israel and Gaza had just re-erupted after a two-day cease-fire, the very same day that Morisi had just made yet more repressive decrees. Giving himself unprecedented, sweeping powers that further infringed on freedoms. Which caused more resignations and protest. “He has appointed himself as Pharaoh” was the word on the street and in the media. I was encouraged to see an Egyptian journalist, Amed Fathi, speaking freely and being televised stating “In a country where more than 45% of the population is illiterate, it is easy to control them with religion”. Religion is used, of course, to control literate countries too and power grabs mixed with religion only makes “Arab Spring” struggles even more complicated.

As I passed a group of tourist I saw a kid point to a Mosque and overheard him ask, “What are those control tower thingies called?” He was correctly told they are “Minarets and used to call the faithful to prayer.” I loved the kid’s first impression. I’m sure he meant “control tower” like he knew from airports but I related it more to the journalist’s quote of controlling people through religion.  I’ll never view that piece of Islamic architecture again without remembering that phrase, “Control Tower Thingy”.

The Protest Art on the neighborhood walls was very telling and included slogans in English and depictions of patriots killed in the uprising. But there was not a shortage of real people willing to share their stories too. Stories of how corruption had created massive new apartment settlements that were never authorized and were devastating the local environment. Of how Mubarak, through his brother, would approach successful businessmen and make them an offer they couldn’t refuse. The “offer” was, make them a partner or else. The “or else” was, be murdered. They twisted up some joints of cannabis mixed with tobacco and were happily passing them around, saying “Before the revolution we could not so openly smoke”. The phrase “Before the revolution” was one I heard a lot of sentences start with. I asked what became of the police? I was informed that it was well known which cops were bad and which ones were not. “We got rid of the bad police and kept the rest” was the reply. I spent the day hanging out, meeting people and taking obscure pictures. I never experienced a moment of danger or confrontation.

The locals lived up to their reputation as a warm and peaceful people. They simply want Social Justice and all the other things that most people want. From Cairo to Luxor to the Red Sea area, I found the people friendly, patient and all equally eager to discus “The Revolution”. And President Morsi surely had it coming.  Even the name “Muslim Brotherhood” leaves out women and non-Muslims. He manipulated the political process. He packed the body that developed the constitution with ideologues with no place or voice for the liberal Muslims, the minority Christians and the modernists.

President Obama called it a “transition” not a coup. If it’s a “coup” we can’t continue to support the Egyptian military. It’s important to understand that the military plays a unique role in Egypt. They are involved production and industry that are private in other countries and would support a real democratic government, as long as they keep their power and position. And their leaders, unlike many under their command, were trained in the West and remain more secular. I find myself, uncharacteristically, in favor of continuing our financial relationship with Egypt’s military. I don’t feel the same about most other subsides, foreign or domestic. For example, I would end corporate welfare, stop junkfood subsidies and dramatically cut our bloated Defense Budget. I know that their military buys American weapons with much of the money we give them. Actually the money, 1.6 Billion, never leaves America. What if that money had been going to humanitarian efforts all these years? Things may be very different by now. And our contribution is dwarfed by the 12 Billion pledged by Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E and Kuwait. They even said they would cover an addition 1.6 Billion if we opted out. So that money is a lot less influential than most people think. Supporting Americas Industrial War Complex turns my stomach but that is money better spent than by invasion. Or whatever it is we are contemplating in Syria.

Syria was anther conflict that was with me on this adventure. I went directly to Istanbul from Cairo as Syrian bombs were landing over the boarder in Turkey. Turkish officials remain the biggest losers from the ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood regime. The Egyptian foreign ministry summoned the Turkish ambassador in Cairo, to protest what it called blatant Turkish intervention in Egypt’s internal affairs. Ironically, the Egyptians seem to have heeded P.M. Erdogan’s advice to adhere to secularism, which he gave them during his much-hyped visit to Cairo last while I was there. The majority of the Egyptian people are convinced that the Brotherhood model in Turkey is a threat to them, especially after the brutal crackdowns in Taksim Square. The fundamental differences between the two countries is Mursi, apparently wanted to fully implement AKP’s model in just one year, and forgot that Erdogan’s victories against the army and his secular opponents took 10 years and absolute US support to accomplish.

Egyptians have come to believe that Mursi was copying Erdogan’s model without regard to the fundamental differences between the two countries and their peoples. Mursi, apparently wanted to fully implement the AKP’s model in just one year, and forgot in his haste that Erdogan’s victories against the army and his secular opponents took 10 years and absolute US support to accomplish.

Maybe Egypt is a lesson for what SHOULD happen when a Democratically elected leader lies to get elected and then fails to govern as promised? Lamentably, America seems closer to becoming a Plutocracy, than a country that would overthrow a constitutionally bankrupt leader.  We wont even do that using the ballot box. Evidenced by the disgraceful 57% voter turn out in 2012. In America only five corporations control 90% of the media so don’t be surprised if you don’t hear about real discontent in the U.S.A., other than manufactured, regurgitated talking points from Corporate special interest groups.  Maybe that’s why what happened in Egypt is being called “The feel good coup of the year”? Because it sure would “feel good” to have some Representative Democracy here at home.