Girl, Interrupted

[H2O Man]

https://abcnews.go.com/US/sixth-grade-girl-opens-fire-middle-school-idaho/story?id=77543562

Just my opinion, but the "answer" to this would not have been to have all sixth-graders armed with guns. But that's just me. Before anyone here savagely attacks me with the 'ole "a good armed sixth-grader is the best answer to a bad sixth-grader with a gun in the classroom, let me explain.

Years ago, a local historical society requested that I apply for recognition on the state and federal historic registration for a church in a hamlet with a population of less than thirty people. Having grown up in the suburbs of an even smaller hamlet some four miles away, and having numerour resources to document local history, I was happy to lend a hand.

The first church here doubled as the school, as was common in this area in the early post-Revolutionary War era. One spring day, the people inside the building were having a discussion about if there was a need for a new roof. About a third of the community said yes, a third no, and a third were willing to go along with what others decided.

As they debated and argued inside, a severe storm entered the sky from the northwest. (This, of course, was like an almost exact storm arose in one of Mohawk Leader Joseph Brant's meetings with General Herkimer during the Revolutionary War, some eight miles away.) The force of the storm collapsed half of the church's roof, ending the debate.

A teenager who used oxen to bring large rocks to build a new church's foundation -- and who worked at a "cloth & carding factory" at the falls near my house -- would become an attorney, a state official, and a US Senator and then federal Attorney. He married the daughter of a doctor who lived in my house, famously locally for his blue pills and anti-slavery pamphlets. (I tend the doctor's grave, across the street from the church, in a cemetery we also got on the state and national historic registers.)

Daniel Dickinson, before his political career, also was the moving force for the building of a new school, also across the road from the church. Then, one of the first "colleges" next to the school, though it had a short existence. More, Dickinson became an early advocate for government support for public schools.

To get permission to submit the application for recognition on the state and federal registers, I had to speak to the church membership. Not surprisingly, about a third supported the idea, a third opposed it, and a third were willing to go along with whatever the others decided. So I told the story of the first church-school and the storm. We discussed people's concerns. They approved by a vote of two-to-one.

Now, I've said all of that, to say this: in my younger years, I had a lot of experience working on foundations. That included re-building and improving an entire wall of the stone basement of my first house. I prefer stone to brick, but have familiarity with both. And I know if a structure has a weak foundation, its roof will leak in short order.

Having a sixth grade girl bring a gun to school, and shoot people, is very clear evidence of the storm coming with a force that could destroy our society's roof. We need to be focused on this. Yet we must, at the same time, recognize this is due to the weakening of the foundations of our society.

There is no time to wait. Time is neutral, as Dr. King told us. And the forces of a storm of decay has gathered, and continues to gain strength. Stay active in social-political efforts. We can all make contributions. Anyone who has convinced you that your contribution isn't of value or needed has lied to you. It really is up to us.

Peace,
H2O Man

[femmedem]

1. Bravo again, H2O Man. K&R.

You're speaking an urgent truth--and your use of metaphor makes it so much more powerful than if you'd just recited the facts.

[H2O Man]

3. Thank you!

I appreciate your kind words. (Very much, in fact!)

[femmedem]

9. I've been both an amateur playwright

and a professional preservationist so this one in particular resonated with me.

[H2O Man]

12. Interesting.

Maybe a decade ago, I ran into the head of a regional theater group. I mentioned that Dickinson's story might be of interest on the local stages. She ask who would write it? I said I'd be glad to either work with others, or even write it myself. She promised to get back to me, but never did. I liked the idea not only preserving historic places, while teaching the public why it is an important place. Glad to see that you share this passion.

[msfiddlestix]

39. I think this story has significant value to the nation at large. I hope you do write a screen play,

this would be an outstanding contribution to the arts, to history, and our current socio-political culture.

I wish I could write, I'd do it myself and credit you for the idea.

[Hekate]

2. Kickin' this

[H2O Man]

4. Thanks, Hekate!

[Wounded Bear]

5. K&R...nt

[H2O Man]

6. Thank you, Wounded Bear!

[NBachers]

7. My hometown church in Spencerport, Western New York, made with glacial fieldstones brought into

town on farmers' horse-drawn carts. It's had plenty of work done since it was built in 1912, but the foundation is strong. Picture taken on a typical Great Lakes Grey day.

There were three big churches planned in the town square; you can see all three steeples rising in the village. However you feel about organized religion, these churches have provided a unifying foundation for our village throughout its history.

[H2O Man]

13. Very well said!

Thank you for this. That connecting purpose of the church was, in a non-religious sense, a glue that made for community, as Emile Durkheim noted. Without such connections, society becomes that fragment whirl of disorganized dust Durkheim spoke of.

We have some amazing stone houses along the route of the old Chenango Canal, that the Irish immigrants built in the "off-season." Some remain well kept, while others are in disrepair. Old stone buildings have always fascinated me.

[niyad]

8. KNR. Thank you for your wise observations.

[H2O Man]

14. Thanks, niyad!

Much appreciated!

[BobTheSubgenius]

10. I was wondering how you were going to circle back to your opening.

Slightly surprised, but very pleased with the way you got back to the original theme. Noice! What a horrific story, though. I had a very instant leap to Brenda Spencer, who didn't like Mondays. I remember how shocked we all were, but this is starting to feel like Business As Usual. The world needs a lot of help.

On a side note...you have had an interesting life. Maybe it's a function of living through times of incredible change, and then for a long time after. And maybe mostl of us that are contemporaries have had interesting lives, as well.

[H2O Man]

15. A few years ago,

one of the largest corporate farms in the state bought what had been a family farm for many generations. I was friends with the farm family, and had walked one of their corn fields for decades, collecting flint artifacts. The farmer told me that he would tell the new owner that I liked that field, and was to be trusted.

I like to be sure to ask every land owner for permission to walk in their fields. But not everyone does, and some thoughtless people do damage. I heard that a couple friends asked the top guy for permission, and that he was hostile in saying no. So I wasn't surprised by his initial response to me -- no!. But I knew he was Irish. Luckily, I have less than zero social skills, and an inability to even recognize boundaries, so with a big grin I asked, "Now, why would a Silk Curtain Irishman prevent a Shanty Irish relative that he can't remove stones from a field before planting? Can you explain that in a manner I can understand? Because I'm not asking for any pay, such as you pay your hired hands to remove stones from that very field?"

It worked, and the top guy turns out to be a casual friend. I've worked to prevent "fracking" on their property, but we remain on good terms. He especially likes my son that boxes. So I think that my utter lack in proper socialing is what has made my life interesting. I take quite an interest in the more gracefully structured lives of my family and friends of a similar age. And I am convinced that it is essential that our generation pass our experiences to the younger ones.

If the future allows, I'd like to get back to talking to classes/groups at schools and colleges. But I know quite a few people under 50 years old, and enjoy coordinating with them.

[BobTheSubgenius]

20. There you go again!

Interesting.

[H2O Man]

24. I couldn't help myself!

And I was laughing as I wrote this. The dog was looking at me, wondering what the heck was going on.

[malaise]

11. Profound my brother - the foundation is being shaken to its core

Having a sixth grade girl bring a gun to school, and shoot people, is very clear evidence of the storm coming with a force that could destroy our society's roof. We need to be focused on this. Yet we must, at the same time, recognize this is due to the weakening of the foundations of our society.

[H2O Man]

16. Thank you!

We all have different talents and abilities. I've worked on many foundations, but only a few roofs. The same, in various ways, holds for each and every one of us.

Our opposition wants to convince us it is too late, the storm is on, and there is nothing that we as a group or as individuals can do to stop it. That's what they were attempting to communicate on January 5. They continue to say it, and to destroy those foundations. It is, in reality, the twin of the "big lie" they tell about the election being stolen.

But it was millions and millions of ordinary people getting out to campaign, and to vote, that stopped them. As you and I agree, thus far the foundation has held. And if we all continue to work on it, our society will hold and push the hateful back under the their rock. Some fights are longer, and it can tire good people. Some begin to hope for a final victory. But democracy, like justice, is a process we must engage in while recognizing there isn't a finish line. There is only direction.

[malaise]

17. Last summer showed me that the younger generation is willing and able

to continue the struggle. November and then Jan 6 were further proof that we are not ready to lie down and die.
The struggle continues! but the perpetrators of these undemocratic acts must face the consequences

[H2O Man]

23. Absolutely!

Young people are generally treated like other marginalized groups when it comes to politics. Like poor people, for example, most political campaigns in the US consider it a waste of resources to attempt to appeal to them, and get them out to vote. That is perhaps the most difficult part of the attempt to build an attractive structure above the ground. But I have a friend, said to be a carpenter by trade, who pointed out that by using the stone other builders reject, one can build a rock-solid corner stone for the foundation. And that, as you knew, my Wonderful Sister, is the reason that I focus my efforts on those marginalized groups.

[malaise]

25. I have noticed locally that the lyrics of the music are changing

Materialism is being replaced by issues related to human struggles again.

This is also a moment where the economic model of greed at all costs is being severely challenged so we'd better be vigilant as the greedy use divisive cultural issues to remain on top.

------------
Kudos for your great reference to Bob's classic - here's a version I love

Tangentially I will be watching Don Lemon's What's Gong On tonight/

[H2O Man]

28. And that is so important!

Music can and should be playing an important role in the movement. It is nearly impossible for a person to not be moved by the prophet Bob Marley's powerful music. For the last ten weeks, my younger son has blasted Marley while training for his next fight. So when he stops here once a day to train, everything else goes off. Bob's music is empowering, and helps me to "train" for the battle we are currently engaged in.

(I have a high opinion of Don Lemon. I'll be watching, too.)

[malaise]

31. Love your youngest's inspirational music

We really should use the music in our struggles

[H2O Man]

37. I've no doubt told you

the story of when my older daughter was young, around ten years old, and found my guitar. Now, in my youth, I had everything required for a career in music -- except anything that could be mistaken for talent. ( My friends from college do remember I could do a heck of a Jim Morrison in Miami on stage, and experts will have to decide if Robin Trower's "Too Rolling Stoned" was a tribute.)

Anyhow, I said sure thing. Now, she had never touched a guitar before, but within an hour, was proud to play Bob's powerful "Redemption Song" for me. Then she thanked me for allowing her to play my guitar -- which I then told her had become her guitar.

[malaise]

38. You have me laughing at your talent

I do love your daughter's Redemption Song moment - says a lot about her parents

[H2O Man]

29. And that is so important!

Music can and should be playing an important role in the movement. It is nearly impossible for a person to not be moved by the prophet Bob Marley's powerful music. For the last ten weeks, my younger son has blasted Marley while training for his next fight. So when he stops here once a day to train, everything else goes off. Bob's music is empowering, and helps me to "train" for the battle we are currently engaged in.

(I have a high opinion of Don Lemon. I'll be watching, too.)

[Martin Eden]

18. Foundations of Stone, Foundations of Brick

Foundations of misinformation
That make people sick
In their heart, in their mind
No longer a thinking human being
Considerate or kind

How do we rebuild
Our societal foundation
What elements belong in the mix
For a sustainable nation
How do we implement the fix?

Willing hands
Must rise to the occasion
Committed and strong
Or this great experiment in democracy
Will perish, before long.

[H2O Man]

19. Thank you!

Very good!

As I was writing the section about stone and brick, it reminded me of my conversations with Rubin Carter, about the ancient allegory of the Tower of Babel. On the surface, that story is commonly viewed as a theory on why people speak different languages, yet it has a much more important meaning at a higher level. It speaks of societies that seek to exhalt themselves to the highest level, to take credit for everything, to be on the same level as "God."

The wording relies upon the symbolism of specific words and phrases, such as "moving from the east," as the east symbolizes the universal energy/life force/God. They travel to the Plain of Shinar -- a lower level of being that the Mountan of Humanity (That King reached the top of, to see the Promised Land). "Stone" represents God's Truth, which they replaced with man-made brick.

Of course, throughout human history, there are numerous example of empires attempting to build a tower that rises to God's level. Rubin said that this was the future of the United States, unless its citizens would reach an internal higher level of being. That the inability to understand one another would not be based on what language people spoke, but rather something akin to what we find today, when trying to talk to members of the Trump cult. Indeed, have they not replaced the truth with Trump-made lies?

[malaise]

21. Check this out

[H2O Man]

22. Very good!

My new "favorite song"!!!

[Martin Eden]

26. Towers that rise to God's level

How many of those were truly reverent monuments to God, as opposed to monuments to the ego and greed of men who wield vast wealth and power?

Edifices like the great cathedrals of Europe and the Taj Mahal are awesome human achievements, renowned for their beauty and craft. Perhaps our civilization would be poorer without these priceless monuments, but were they not built on the backs of the poor in societies even more unequal than today?

Now we have a different kind of edifice built on lies, hate, and worship of a man whose image was fashioned into a modern day Golden Calf -- a false idol if ever there was. Should human civilization survive and evolve, history will look less kindly on this than the monuments of Pope and Sultan.

Human beings working together can build wondrous things but we still fail at crafting the best possible monument to God, if such a deity exists. The truest expression of Love and Devotion is to build a Foundation and a Legacy of Truth and Justice for our children and future generations, growing our human potential for Life on the beautiful planet we inhabit.

[H2O Man]

34. Very well said!

Thank you!

I study local history. A relatively short distance from me is the community that is our "county seat." It is still listed as a "city," though these days it is at best a medium-sized town. It started to grow during New York's canal era, including a number of Irish immigrant workers. The Irish Catholics built a church on the edge of the town, up on a hill.

The railroad era brought in more Irish immigrants, plus a new wave of Italian immigrants to do the labor. The Italian immigrants were also Catholic. Noting the potential "problems" if the Irish and Italians joined together, the powers-that-be did everything possible to create tensions and divisions between the two groups. And it worked -- not only were there a number of vicious fights between groups of the immigrants (especially nights where massive quantities of alcohol were consumed), but the Italians build their own Catholic church, very close to the center of town.

I have quite a few old newspaper articles dating back to that era, including several reporting that the Irish church was heade by a rebel priest who hid a large collection of guns in the church's basement. Among other responses to this "threat," one of the non-Catholic churches, located on the main street, built a new steeple on their church, so that it would reach higher into the sky that that of the up-hill Irish Catholic church.

Even up until the 1960s, the "city" had group divisions. Its streets are off-set in most of the middle of the community, a reminder of the period where the Irish didn't enter the Italian neighborhoods, the Italians didn't venture into Irish neighborhoods, and neither set foot in the Protestant neighborhoods. Some individuals, like my father, had solid friendships with the "others," and my children are friends with the grandchildren of Italian-Americans that used to sit at our table, drinking Utica Club with my father.

The study of churches/cathedrals is an important part of sociology.

[Kid Berwyn]

27. NRA

Neoconfederacy’s Russian Allies.

FEC Republicans block efforts to investigate NRA’s financial ties to Russia

https://archive.thinkprogress.org/fec-republicans-block-efforts-to-investigate-nras-financial-ties-to-russia-a916adcc7015/

Thanks, Putin.

Most importantly: Thank you, H2O Man, for another outstanding essay. I will not forget the story and its moral.

[H2O Man]

30. Thanks, Kid Berwyn!

The NRA "leadership" has long been corrupt, and was thus a ripe "cut-out" for Putin's forces to funnel money to radical right-wing politicians. Add a pretty young lady, and the right-wing became erect, "because ...happiness, is a warm gun," as John sang.

[Kid Berwyn]

33. Guess who NRA-GOP honey Maria Butina visited in jail?

US-convicted Russian operative Maria Butina visits Navalny in jail

BY LEXI LONAS
The Hill, 04/01/21

Maria Butina, who was convicted of being an unregistered Russian agent in the U.S., reportedly visited Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in jail on Thursday.

Butina visited the jail with Kremlin-funded RT television network to report on the condition of Navalny and the prison after Navalny said he was being sleep deprived and denied medical attention, Navalny’s team said in a post on his Twitter account.

Navalny’s account called Butina a “wretched propagandist” and said she “screamed” about how good the prison was during the visit. The opposition leader's team claimed she also only interviewed “activists” who preached “how good everything is” in the prison, according to Navalny’s Twitter.

Navalny's team said he lectured Butina when she visited the prison for her work at the Kremlin-funded outlet.

Continues...

https://thehill.com/policy/international/546070-us-convicted-russian-operative-maria-butina-visits-navalny-in-jail

Bang bang. Shoot shoot.

Like opposition.

[H2O Man]

35. They will not stop

out of any sense of common decency. For they lack even a spark of Goodness within them at any level -- conscious, subconscious, or unconscious. None. Yet, as Chief Waterman taught, even then, they are human beings, with the potential to become fully human.

[malaise]

32. The FEC is failing big time

All our institutions need to be strengthened

[H2O Man]

36. Truth.

Each and every one of them.

[Kid Berwyn]

40. AG Garland is putting together a case to wipe out the Big Liars.

Rudy Giuliani May soon make Semion Mogilevich into a household name. From Slate, a 2018 podcast to show what Bill Barr kept Mueller from investigating:

Virginia Heffernan talks to Craig Unger, author of House of Trump, House of Putin, about Semion Mogilevich, the financial genius behind the Russian mafia, and his connections to Trump Tower. They also discuss money laundering, Felix Sater, the odd connection with Chabad, double agents, and the role of Rudy Giuliani.

Source: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/12/trump-towers-ties-to-the-russian-mafia.html

It won’t be a show trial. AG gonna wipe a lot of big smirks off some very ugly faces, including Mr. Big.

[malaise]

41. I can't wait

They have to be stopped