Brownman

Brownman around the edges of my earth

brownman around the edges of  the heart

every beat a fight to stay alive

brown earth nurtures the California Sunflower

why don't we let you rest so you can pulsate life 

Tribute to my friend Jim Moreno

A kind man
a poet with a purpose
he can't help but give like a dream 
his poems will not disappear
A humble indian singing in the clouds

The diminishing of authentic passion through corporate marketing

"Empowering People" were the words that flashed across the screen as I turned on my Acer Netbook.  If empowering people really was their priority, they wouldn't sell the computers at a price where only a small part of the world's population can afford them (mostly people who are already "empowered") and they wouldn't be a client of infamous sweatshop computer assembly factory Foxconn in the republic of China who is in the business of disempowering people.  I guess they wouldn't sell much if they told the truth in their marketing slogans, "Empowering Profit", "Disempowering the 99% in order to empower the 1%" or, even more accurate, "we don't care who we empower or exploit as long as we make a profit and the more the better".

Although I definitely feel passionate about how corporations have no consciencsous and are ruling the world and need to be stopped as well as how there needs to be a major shift in priorities of the world's political and economic system, my main point in this entry is to focus on one small evil (among the many) that corporations commmit by using these tag lines that don't reflect what they are really after.  When they claim that they are "empowering people" not because they are, but because they think that will sell more computers, it can eventually make that phrase cliche.  People see the phrase "empowering People" over and over again, don't see anyone empowered, and just keep using their computer. Meanwhile, there are efforts around the world where organizations and everyday people decide they want to empower others like this one appers to be or this one (whom I actually have experience with and can vouch for).  These orgs and efforts that honestly put people as a priority over profit, could just speak openly about what they do and maybe even use that phrase of "empowering people" and others would fall in love with their cause.  But the phrase has already been cheapened and people who would be impressed and even support their efforts are hesitant because "empowering people" is now associated with a company logo with a multi-million dollar annual advertising budget.

I used the phrase empowering people as an example.  I don't think it's reached the clicheness that other company logos have and I think there's still hope that it could actually be truly associated with people who are truly empowering people as opposed to backward priority corporations like Acer.  One thing Acer could do to earn the right to use that phrase would be to put people as a higher priority than profit.  They could give away free computers to people who need them, pay a living wage to the people who make them, provide safe and sustainable work places, not expect that any of their employees have a better life than any other, and make this phrase "empowering people" visible to all people as opposed to just the ones that might be able to buy more of their product.  I like to think I'm not affected by their fiendish almost subliminal attempt to make me think that I'm somehow contributing to a worthy cause, since I bought mine used.  I hope I'm right and I hope that this flash on the screen, doesn't subconsciencously satisfy that natural human desire in all of us to want to help others.

Bicycle Insecurity

The other day... I decided to have lunch on the way to work at a cafe downtown at the 12th and Imperial trolley station.  After squeezing out the trolley through the crowd, my bicycle on my shoulder, I set it down on the platform, hopped on and whizzed the 200 ft around the building to the cafe. I dropped my bike to lean against the cement hump next to the entrance and opened the big glass door almost all in one motion.
"I'll have the combo with the vegetarian delight and the fries.  Can you use this plate instead of the paper plate and this cup instead of the foam cup?"  I always carry those in my backpack, you know, reuse, reduce, recyle.  I went to sit down, my whole day was a scurry.  'Where am I going next, oh yeah, my class, what am I teaching today? Ok.  chill.  frist things first... I really need to return that email to the border coalition... oh, and I have to return that call to Fran, but I can do that after I finish preparing my class, but that call's really important, and what about that email I was supposed to send this morning... and... shit.. first things first?  everything's first!...'  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.  'I gotta go to the bathroom.' Out the glass doors, bike still there, through the next set of glass doors two feet away.  As I heard "please take out all your change, cell phone, and any metal in your pockets in the tray and lay it on the conveyer belt," I was thinking, 'my bike will be ok, it'll only be out of site for a couple minutes while I take a wiz.'   The next security guard lady watching the screen was laughing so hard at the security guard with the wand in case you beep's joke, which I didn't hear, that her eyes were closed and a small tear fell down her cheek.  She stopped breathing for a second and then handed me someone else's tray.  "Oh, I'm sorry that's his!" and she started laughing all over again.  "No problem" I said and laughed a little too.  As I peed I thought "...what are these security guards supposedly protecting here?  what is this building?"  A fleeting thought that reminded me of how border patrol falsely protects us.  That's often in the back of my head.  I came out of the bathroom and they had stopped laughing.  As I rounded out the door I again saw the cement hump...  "What the fuck!?  Oh shit!... "  I knew right away someone had taken it, that there was no other possible explanation.  I ran around the corner to the trolley stop frantically looking in all directions down all the possible roads.  There was no one on them riding my bicycle.  There was a security guard in the cafe sitting right next to where I parked my bicycle...he hadn't seen anything and really didn't know how to help.  I sat back down. ' I can't believe it.'  I tried to tell myself it wasn't a big deal.  Well, it wasn't that big of a deal, but quite a pain to get around without a bike at least til my next pay check. I don't have too many things in my budget I can sacrifice, but I'll have to find something.  Shit, I just bought this bicycle. I guess people are right, maybe I should lock it every where I go and not be so trusting... maybe 40's too old to be riding a bicycle everywhere... relax, you're not far from work you can walk it and ride public trans and get another bike in a week or so.  Yeah, I'll get a better one, this'll be a good thing... Someone else that needs a bike, has one now.'  This was probably all true, but I was still in the bummed out/borderline denial stage.  I really didn't want to loose that bicycle..  I went back out and asked the trolley cops if they'd seen anything.  They could only suggest that I ask the security officers at the gov't offices, where I went to the bathroom, since it's their pervue.
"I left my bicycle out here while I was in the bathroom and when I came out it was gone.  Did you guys see anything?"
"I'm just doing my job here looking at the screen.  I didn't see anything." said the giggle lady security guard  in an inappropriately defensive tone.  I looked at the other two security officers who just kind of shrugged.
By this time my lunch was ready so I went back to getting over loosing my bicylce while I enjoyed my sandwich.  About half way through and still bummed, I heard a knock on the glass wall that separated the cafe' and the gov't building.  It was the security officer with the magic wand that made the defensive lady giggle signaling me to meet him a few feet away outside the glass doors by the lonely cement hump.
"We've recoverd your bicylce.  When your finished eating, come on in and let me know and we'll get it for you."
"Wow! That's great!"  I quickly finished my sandwhich and almost followed him back in.  When I got there, he looked at me like he didn't know why I was there, "I'm here to get my bicylce back that you recovered."  Still excited that I didn't loose it.
He got on the walkie-talkie, "...aaah Frankie come over."  Then to me, "He's coming, he'll get it for you."  In the few seconds I was waiting, I started to wonder how it is that they recoverd my bicyle and how it is that they knew it was mine.  I never even described it to them.  "So how did you guys recover it?".. before the funny guy could answer, another security guard came in, Frankie I assume, dressed in a tie and jacket... the funny guy said to him, "He want's to know how you recovered his bicycle... how you got it from that guy that took it"
"Well, actually" I said "I mostly just want my bicylce back, but I AM kind of curious."
"I don't know if we have your bicylce, I'm not sure where it would be..." said fancy dressed Frankie, kind of flustered.  I just looked at him with a confused look in my eyes.
"I have a room full of bicyles, not sure if we'll find yours."
"Well, he said you recovered it." I said pointing to the funny guy holding the wand in vane.   I was really confused now.  The funny guy called Fancy Frankie dumb and Fancy Frankie turned around and left without saying anything.
"Just ignore him.  Some peopel are dense."
Just then an elderly gentlemen, tall and slender with grey hair walked up from somewhere behind the funny guy and said "come with me" and waived me out the door.  "Your bike's in here" as we arrived at the outdoor room that holds the trash bins.  He opened the metal door and my loan bike was leaned up against a blue bin.  "Why is it in here?"
"The thing is you can't park where you parked.  You need to park at the bicycle rack."
"So you guys took my bicyle and hid it to send a message about using the bike rack??"
"Yes" he said as he turned around and started walking back at a fast pace.  I was walking back too and knew the best thing to do would be to just go to work, but I was pissed and couldn't help saying something.  I peddled up beside the short-haired Gandolf,  "Is there a manager or someone I could talk to?"
"I'm a supervisor."
"That's pretty shitty what you guys did.  This is my only form of transportation."
"We'll look into it, you're welcome to use the bike rack any time."
I just took off on my bicylce.  As I peddled out the anger and breathed in the clear air, a thought occured to me, did I just discover an undercover bicycle theft ring?

The Alamo trees

The top of the trail on our curious hike through a trail at San Pedro Mártir revealed a forest of Alamos.  As we walked through them, Dillon mentioned that he learned that all the trees in an Alamo forest are part of one living organism because their roots are all intertwined.  When one "dies", it only contributes to the ecosytem's survival.

Cross platforming social networks - Can't we all just get along?

I think I like Google+'s format a little better than facebook, but does it really matter? It's the social networking concept that has become so popular, not a particular feature that one has and another doesn't. In other words, the biggest contributing factor to FB being the most popular is the fact that everyone's on it and it feeds on itself. What really needs to happen is that all the social networking sites be connected, cross platforming. It shouldn't matter which social network I use to communicate or publish something or which social networking site someone else is using if they want to communicate with me. It should work like email in the way that it doesn't matter if I have gmail and you have hotmail. This is already happening to a certain extent with cross posting of an article or a video but you have to have an account with all the sites you want to post on. That's a pain in the ass. It's too much work to have to update your profile and projects on several different social networks. The competitition to "take over" and try to get everyone to use just one site will never end and it's counterproductive to getting people to communicate. I know people who refuse to use FB because it's too commercial, it has an ugly interface, it's too addicting, etc. They should be able to choose a different social networking site and still be able to communicate with people on FB. This will ruin competition you might say? I don't think so because people will still have a choice as to which social networking site they want to use (again like hotmail versus gmail or yahoo mail) and the different companies would continue to try to make their site the most popular or try to find a niche market. Then the priority would be on features and functionality as opposed to feeling obligated because it's the one that has the most exposure or because "all my friends are on it."

Should borders exist?

The short answer is maybe. Political borders the way they are defined and insisted on between the US and Mexico and between Israel and Palestine are definitely causing more harm than good, generating violence through an insistence on separating people that are connected. I do believe that a type of border can exist and, in our current society, would be natural. I’ve observed, and enjoyed the fact that people, in certain areas, have a tendency to develop a certain way of life, a culture, and I see a natural demarcation forming around them. I think in parts of Latin America and in Africa this happens where people go from one area to another and there is a rough line that separates the two areas loosely defined by a way of life. A strong example of this are the indigenous communities in Southern Mexico where you can go from one town/area to the next and people speak a different variation of the language of the region, sometimes so different that it is incomprehensible between the people of the neighboring towns. In these areas, separations or borders aren’t as affected by nation states as cities around the world and small towns in rural America. They are kind of left alone by the dominant culture (except when it comes to plundering for their natural resources, but that’s another story). The areas are often separated by natural borders (mountains, rivers, or just open space). So I think borders are ok as a way of just letting people know, when they travel, that they are now passing from one area to the next without any restrictions.

I definitely don’t think the border walls being constructed between Mexico and the United States and between Israel and Palestine established through wars should exist and I definitely don’t believe there should be a “Border Patrol”. There’s no need to protect one area from the other. The notion seems ridiculous to me. I don’t mean, necessarily, that there shouldn’t be some type of representation for a certain area. To ‘border regions’, like any other region, there should be a clear path for police and ambulance to arrive in case of an emergency. And this would be a good reason to make a line between two regions in order to know which area’s police/ambulance to call on. The free movement of people, the choice to get to know each other and form a way of life in any area they choose should take priority with the lines being drawn by the very people that live these ways of life.

With the internet and commerce without borders, I do see the world becoming ever more connected and see a possible future that the natural tendency of people gathering in certain geographical areas and forming a way of life uninfluenced by other ways of life and only coinciding in the natural human functions, diminishing and maybe even disappearing all together. Then again, the natural tendency to form separate groups could be stronger than these connections and continue to exist in some form.

If we remove the insistence on one area being separated from another, borders, in the sense I’m talking about where there is a simple demaracation emphasized as much or less than the one between California and Oregon or Spain and Portugal, it seems as though, in our current society would form, and as technology develops, may continue to exist in some form in the future or may disappear completely leaving the world with everybody having, roughly, the same perspective on life. In other words, I don’t really know if they should exist because what’s being called borders today aren’t natural and it’s hard to say what would happen if they weren’t there, which they shouldn’t be. I believe that what would happen upon removing this insistence that they do exist, we would remove violence and develop more of an openness to natural human connection.