Today is the day, they say That you worried about yesterday, they say I say, Yesterday would have been Better without all that fretting That worry that counted for nothing But clouding the state of your mind From the happiness and joy You could’ve created Instead of the stress All the angst and the pain
Live in the now, they say Nothing’s for sure, they say Except that the future and past are the same They’re both in your head Illusions not real Because nothing is real But the feelings you feel That can only be felt By you. Right now.
peace & joy y’all. ~jg
Jamie Gray is a musician, writer, and native New Yorker
It’s a circus. A dog and pony show, of lies, half truths, and propaganda, moderated mostly by the honor system, as actual journalism has devolved into a mass-media marketing scheme. Competing corporate overlords selling the particular brand of fear they think you’re most likely to buy. When in truth, they should be afraid of YOU.
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Here’s the thing about modern American politics: They want us to argue, to the point of complete distraction if at all possible, about big picture shit that is really hard to change. Both parties want the same thing. They want us at each other’s throats over masks and vaccines, instead of just wearing them. They chide us on, to defend or attack the right to be an idiot vs. social responsibility and acting in the common good. Respecting the rights of all the other idiots. But what they DON’T want us to do is to learn to communicate with each other.
Uncle Sam is a Corporate Tool.
They ply us with contradictory information. Some of it’s true, but they make it all seem true. That way when we discuss it, nobody can easily agree on the facts. Close scrutiny will reveal the truth eventually, but who has time for that? By the time the truth comes out, the ‘facts’ don’t even matter, thanks to the hype.
It’s a circus. A dog and pony show, of lies, half truths, and propaganda, moderated mostly by the honor system, as actual journalism has devolved into a mass-media marketing scheme. Competing corporate overlords selling the particular brand of fear they think you’re most likely to buy. When in truth, they should be afraid of YOU.
Corporate News is Not Journalism. Take the time to find The Truth.
Someday, I hope Americans will wake up and realize they deserve better than lip service. We deserve great things.
‘We live in the greatest country in the world’. That’s what they say. I beg to differ.
The greatest country in the world would be at the top of every list. Education. Happiness. Poverty. Healthcare. Crime. Violence. Civil rights. Wellness. Climate change. Sustainability. Incarceration. Mental health. Innovation. Productivity. Renewable energy. Manufacturing. We don’t lead the world in ANY of these important issues.
Poverty in America rivals many ‘third world’ nations. Education sucks. Don’t get me started about healthcare. It’s fine if you can afford it.
The United States of America: It’s fine if you can afford it.
We may have the most powerful military in the world, but even that’s not going to last long. We’re diving deeper and deeper into a national debt we can never repay, to fund wars on terrorism, which are really just thinly veiled political power plays, economic plunder at the expense of the indigenous people who really just want to be left alone to live their lives.
If every American could just go to the doctor without worrying about money, that would be great. If every kid had the opportunity for a GREAT education, and no one had to worry about being homeless in their old age, people would say THAT is great. If we sent food to the hungry, instead of missiles and tanks to their government: greatness.
People in many countries live a better life than we do, here in the States. Free healthcare. A social security system that works. Clean power fueling sustainable industries. Great free education for all. We have plenty of opportunities to become a great country. Truthfully, we’ve been a greater country before. The MAGA folks are at least partly right. We were far from perfect, but we used to lead the world in something other than greed and exploitation, before we lost our way.
We’ve given the keys to our future to a few powerful people, people who control corporations, which control our government. Corporations are very good at doing one thing: maximizing profits. THAT’S how they’ve managed to get people to work sixty hours a week and STILL not earn a living wage. Life isn’t better than it was fifty years ago for most Americans. Even most rich people don’t feel like things are better. Many wealthy people are preoccupied with losing everything, all the time.
Protecting rich people is so much more important than protecting poor people.
Why? Because, the rich are better than everyone else, of course. Wealthy people are simply more entitled to human rights than other people, simply because they have money, and…they’re just fucking entitled. That’s just ‘how it is’.
We let this happen. We allow a system to exist that causes this to be true, despite our ability to make demands enforced by democratic action (OUR VOTES). The system doesn’t have to be like this. It doesn’t have to be like it used to be, in order to magically get better. Think about that. It just makes no fucking sense.
Vote. It counts. Otherwise the minority, GOP assholes wouldn’t keep trying to suppress it.
The system has to get BETTER to get better. Better for EVERYONE, not just the elite. Not just for some people. Better in the things that matter. Change must benefit the majority to have a positive effect. Better.
I say, how about we try making things ‘better’ first and THEN maybe we can talk about ‘great’.
Greatness isn’t just a claim you make to impress people over cocktails. Greatness is easily recognizable. Greatness lasts. Truly great things stand the test of time. Some even improve with age. ~jg
Jamie Gray – Musician & Writer
Authors Note: All opinions expressed here are just that: opinions. If you don’t like mine, I probably won’t like yours either. Let’s just nod, and walk away. Maybe come back with solutions instead of opinions. Because of the two, only solutions actually matter.
Common sense is a paradox. Having common sense is not common at all. What seems common sense to you, may not be obvious to other people, and many people just don’t have any common sense at all. Some people just act irrationally. Even if they claim it’s by design, that doesn’t make it sensible.
So much about life today is paradox. Almost no one is who they seem, as much as who they want you to see them as. Even our leaders have abandoned Truth and Logic for lies and deceptions.
I’ve always thought that most people ‘get it’. I figured, a small minority may be clueless, while most people understand things. More or less. That’s what I thought. Used to think.
…our Leaders have abandoned Truth and Logic…
It’s easy enough to look back and ask if what you did made sense, but it’s also hard to look at our mistakes objectively. It’s much easier to ACT as if we’re smart and just ignore our own ignorance.
Lately, it’s become clear that those of us who truly think about what we’re doing, and whether it makes sense, we are a drastic minority.
Talk about a paradox. ~jg
Jamie Gray – Musician, Writer, Thinker
Authors Note: All opinions expressed here are just that: opinions. If you don’t like mine, I probably won’t like yours either. Let’s just nod, and walk away. Maybe come back with solutions instead of opinions. Because of the two, only solutions actually matter.
Rationality. If you look at American politics right now, you don’t see much of it. No, you mostly see two heavily armed camps, ready to flirt with disaster, risking all of our futures to achieve some set of higher principles that, if left to the other party, mean nothing short of destruction of everything we hold dear.
If you lean left, you’re being told that the evil Republicans are trying to stop the valiant Democrats from purging corporate control of our government and giving money, and the country, back to the people.
US Capitol – Washington DC
If you lean right, you’re worried the stupid Dems will spend us into doom, while taxing the rich until they can’t afford their summer homes and ski retreats.
If you’re on the far right, they’re trying to convince you that Socialism is the root of all evil, and that Satanic forces are killing babies in the womb, as they hand our God fearing Nation over to Hillary and Obama’s army of godless heathen Democrat pedophile pizza-politicians.
Now, I’m not saying I believe politicians from either party (especially the MAGA Republicans). Politicians are liars. It’s what they do. But some things they say make a grain of sense on their own, while others require a leap of faith to believe. I’m too old for leaps of faith. Especially when they require lapses of logic.
None of the MAGA Republicans claims hold up to rational thought. They are based in conspiracy theories, rumors, and full-on mistruths, lacking in facts or proof of any kind. There simply isn’t much in the way of a rational argument. For anything.
Share your fire. Feed the blaze. #happiness #N0H8
When it’s all said and done, proof is best measured in actions and results. Rich people always do well. They do better when Republicans are in power. Since the 80s they’ve claimed the wealth will “trickle down”, while it gushed up to the millionaires…who became billionaires as millions died in the Pandemic. Meanwhile, America is deep in debt, and sitting on the edge of climate disaster and insurrection. Suffice to say, the trickle they’ve been promising for 40 years ain’t enough.
Poor people rarely win in America. Their voices, while numerous, are routinely ignored and rejected by all in power. At least when Democrats act, the average goes up. Poor gets less poor. Inequity decreases. Usually not by much, of course.
Jan 6 Insurrection| Capitol police defend The Capitol from Trump supporters in Washington DC – Jan 6 2021
We’re reaching a tipping point where debt threatens to collapse our economy as injustice and inequity are rising to unsustainable levels. The seeds of revolution are deeply sown, and change WILL come, one way or another.
Our choice is to usher it in gracefully, or let it take us by force, and at great cost. If the way we’ve handled climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic so far are any indication, we are in for a REALLY hard ride, folks. ~jg
Musician and Writer, Jamie Gray
Authors Note: All opinions expressed here are just that: opinions. If you don’t like mine, I probably won’t like yours either. Let’s just nod, and walk away. Maybe come back with solutions instead of opinions. Because of the two, only solutions actually matter.
I’d like to say I know who I am. I’m pretty sure I’m still finding out. I’d like to say I know how things really are…that I know a lot about lots of important stuff. Maybe I used to. The truth is, these days I feel like I know a lot of useless stuff that I’m absolutely sure will someday be important to someone, someplace.
Fall leaves in the yard | Original Photo by Jamie Gray
But, I do know a lot of things that could be much better, but for some ‘important’ people who are unwilling to change and uninterested in doing anything for anyone but themselves. I also know that we all can make a difference if we decide not to be indifferent. I try to do my part. The sun rises and sets, and all that I know seems everyday madness. But it’s bigger than me. It’s bigger than us. Another day in the gilded age of Internet and impressions.
Every age of glory fades away or goes down in flames. And…It’s just…well, everything about America right now looks a lot like Autumn kindling. ~jg
Authors Note: All opinions expressed here are just that: opinions. If you don’t like mine, I probably won’t like yours either. Let’s just nod, and walk away. Maybe come back with solutions instead of opinions. Because of the two, only solutions actually matter.
Jamie Gray – Upstate NY Musician, Writer, and Photographer
To all my so-called Christian friends who voted for Trump: The rise of Evangelical sheisters and the Trump presidency were both predicted by Jesus in Matthew 24:23-25
What would Jesus do?
23 At that time if anyone says to you, `Look, here is the Christ!’ or, `There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect–if that were possible. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time.
True Christians act like Christ. Name ONE thing Trump and his team did that was Christ-like. Can’t name one? Because Trump did the OPPOSITE of what Christ would do.
Open your eyes. Don’t be deceived. ~jg
Authors Note: All opinions expressed here are just that: opinions. If you don’t like mine, I probably won’t like yours either. Let’s just nod, and walk away. Maybe come back with solutions instead of opinions. Because of the two, only solutions actually matter.
If I drive down your street at 70mph, the residential street your kids play on, you’d probably be in favor of the State forcing me to slow down, wouldn’t you? For your kids safety? Because the Government has the right, and DUTY to protect the people. From reckless speeders and other dangerous people, such as anti-mask propagandists like you.
I don’t have the right to drive without regard for others safety. Likewise, I have the duty to protect others around me, including my children and yours. I listen to the science that says, driving slowly in densely populated areas with children playing is safer than speeding.
But you don’t listen to science. You disregard safety precautions that nearly all medical professionals agree are important, and claim the right to do so is ‘freedom’. Most horrifically, you’re willing to risk your children’s lives to prove your point, one that science says you’re completely wrong about.
If you think your children have the right to attend school without vaccine or mask during a global pandemic, you’re dead wrong. Children shouldn’t have to pay the ultimate price for your stupidity and your partisan, QAnon, MAGA, political propaganda. America’s children certainly don’t deserve to become victims of this deadly disease, because of the lies you promote and defend. Their Deaths Are Your fault. On your head. 99.9% Preventable.
Please Drink (and Drive) Responsibly
You may as well drink a fifth of vodka and drive 100mph through a school zone at 3:05pm, because that’s probably LESS dangerous than preventing schools from masking up during this pandemic. The Delta Variant is NOT your mama’s COVID…it’s much, MUCH worse. ~jg
The Shark – Jamie’s 2010 Challenger
Authors Note: All opinions expressed here are just that: opinions. If you don’t like mine, I probably won’t like yours either. Let’s just nod, and walk away. Maybe come back with solutions instead of opinions. Because of the two, only solutions actually matter.
