Esc

Today, I witnessed an escape so terrifying that the spirit of my great grandfather rose within me! It was creepy to feel that I was, in fact, being ruled by a sort of reality that he confronted three generations ago. I'm a big fan of The Great Houdini, who spent his boyhood in Appleton, Wisconsin. It makes it even more delicious to have battled the spirit of Great-grandfather Saladino back to his grave, right there in Appleton, because Harry loved to debunk psychics and mediums. Magicians are familiar with far more forms of trickery than they practice and he used his skills in an attempt to prove that what is dead is dead and no spirits would, or could walk the Earth, or communicate from beyond the veil.In the world of the internet, we know that people can now live forever, or at least their words may. The way I was gripped by Great-grandpa's spirit was as real as it gets, in some ways, more real than these words on the screen. I felt that I had not evolved one iota from his day, when the moving picture shows were brand new. Great-grandpa was older then, but what he saw up on the screen seemed completely real to him, and what I saw that sparked this was both awe inspiring and terrible at once, but in my case 100% real!

There is a family story about how his contemporaries had to stop taking him to see early silent films, because inevitably there would be a villain and Leonardo would jump up and shout, "Watch out! Behind the Door!" or whatever pitfall awaited, as if he were trying to get the person on screen to save themselves, rather than fall into the clutches of the evil character.

To help put the whole event into perspective, I saw a young woman duct taped to a chair. Half a dozen wraps of the stuff at each wrist and ankle. Half a dozen around her chest. This seemed to take several minutes during which time she was completely calm and relaxed. This was near the end of a four part magic act, and so, seemed completely normal. But what happened next was totally unexpected. A plastic bag was placed over her head and duct taped around her neck. Leonardo's spirit rose in me, gripped me. My heart raced, my blood pressure rose, I got a gripping sensation in my chest and throat. It seemed like the walls and the air in the entire room had rushed out, not only of her, but of me! The last thing I expected to happen, I wanted to run up and save her, or scream "Don't do it!", just like Great-grandpa would have done.

So here I was, rendered motionless by the intense, gripping fear and frustration at not being able to help. I could not move from where I sat. simultaneously, I was trying to have a conversation with the spirit of a long-dead relative about why it would be inappropriate to run to her aid! Great-grandfather would hear nothing of it! I don't know how long it was between the time that the tape went around Jordan's neck and when she finally broke free, but the entire time, in my head, a storm raged between Great-grandpa and I. Me, trying to rationalize why I needed to remain aloof, my need to remain "just" a spectator, trying to remember that this was a show, not "real". Eventually, I felt compelled to grapple with Great Grandpa in his realm, the spirit world, overpowering him, much like when you have to run in a dream but are aware enough of the fact that you are sleeping as to be paralyzed. However the sensations were reversed. I was fully awake, not dreaming and still, completely inert. I was almost convinced that my blood had curdled, or been chilled by contact with spirit. At the moment that I abandoned my hold on objective reality, and gave in to the call of the spirit realm, Great-grandfather loosened his grip on my consciousness and I was free.

I could move and as fast as I rushed to help, I felt I was flying away. It was as if all my neurons had fired at once and although I could have moved if I wanted to, no coordinated motion could be initiated.

Incidentally, that coincided with Jordan breaking free from her bonds, yet not before she was wracked with spasm and her powerful writhing knocked her chair completely over! Later, discussing the event with another actor, he half grinned and said, that was completely real, Jordan is just that powerful. She exhibited the power to escape and impressed thousands with the feat! I only impressed myself at my hyper-active inertia.

Negotiating the "Fiscal Cliff"

We have come to the end of a long-standing stalemate. Problems that have haunted us for many years have been put on the back burner of United States politics for years. In a massive concession to the ultra wealthy, we have put off changes in the tax code that could have raised hundreds of billions, if not trillions of dollars. i have used the analogy before, but it is so appropriate in helping to understand our current "crisis", that it bears repeating. Like the child who has won all the marbles, the uber-rich just want to go home, taking with them the ability of the rest of us to ever play again. The right wing political leaders in our country are standing shoulder to shoulder with the ruffians who would sacrifice the majority for the sake of their own wealth, power and prestige.

In spite of the fact that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the non-partisan office that determines the consequences of policies and legislation that congress impose on the American public, has calculated an inevitable risk of another slight recession, or a slower recovery than there would be if the "fiscal cliff" could be avoided, the longer term prospects are better if we do go over the "cliff" than if we do not. Virtually nothing has been said about this in the mainstream media. Instead, the gloom and doom stories that do make it onto our airwaves are designed to instill fear and undermine confidence in not only our elected officials, but the economy and the very fabric of our culture. The wealthiest classes, who stand to lose a tiny bit of their wealth if their taxes were to go up are screaming bloody murder about the danger that the cliff poses to our way of life. (their way of living)

There is a cost to living in a free society. The last time we pulled ourselves out of depression, tax rates were up around 90% for the most wealthy individuals. Somehow, they still found ways to ride around in chauffeur driven limousines, live high on the hog and wield their immense power in the halls of government. Currently, many of the most wealthy don't even work for their money, instead they invest in the companies of others and only take a portion of the profits through interest and dividends. these forms if income are treated completely differently than pay for work. Whereas I pay about thirty percent of my earnings in tax, the beneficiaries of this non-work related income only have to pay fifteen percent. This is even more heinous because of two compounding factors. corporate welfare that flows to corporations who then pass on increased profitability to their investors and the ability of the ultra-wealthy to spend top dollar on tax attorneys who can make sure that every loophole is exploited. Add to this the fact that  there are many tax havens for investment income, including states with no income taxes and offshore accounts that are completely invisible to the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) and you can see the perfect storm that has been brewing for decades.

Those who refuse to pay any share at all into the system that they exploit for amassing their unimaginable wealth are both traitors and thieves who pick the pockets of those least able to defend themselves. They simultaneously have their minions sweep up any scraps left after their feasting on the steaks and caviar, sucking at the marrow bones of our society and fleecing the markets for the lion's share of the wealth that our country has to offer.

If we had the power to determine the terms of the discussion, a completely different story would emerge. Instead of living under the threat of "going off the fiscal cliff", we would be able to see an end to the unfair treatment of the wealthiest classes. Those who peddle fear, hate and anger for their personal enrichment would be called our as the lazy cheats that they are, and the "benevolent" philanthropists could be seen as the exploiters that they really are. The point has been made very well by others, paying far greater attention than I, that the true philanthropists are the wait staff, the maids, nannies, the line cooks, chefs, the dry cleaners and the lowly service sector workers, the migrant workers, etc. who give their entire lives so that the wealthy can live their lives of ease.

Allowing the continued exploitation of the lowest classes for the enrichment of the wealthy must not continue. We are standing up, but the revolution is not being televised. People around the world are not willing to continue taking the shitty end of the stick. The time has come to wrest power form those who would keep us down, stop negotiating with those who make all the decisions and to force them to pay their fair share of the costs of our civil society. There are hand holds all the way down and if we are careful, attentive and thoughtful about where we want to end up, the climb down from where we find ourselves will present a welcome challenge that will serve to make us a better country. The only reason that we find ourselves in trouble today is because we have allowed the ship of state to be overtaken by pirates.