WAR IS A CANCER

Witnessed a strange thing this week.

Our foolish president speaking out…for peace?! and against Russia’s misguided invasion of Georgia.

Bush is right of course in this case, but he’s also a hypocrite.

How can this country lecture Russia to pull back in their invasion of a sovereign country after what we did in Iraq?

Iraq was also a sovereign country when we sent our troops in. How is that any different?

Just shows how America has lost its moral authority around the world....with our bungled foriegn policy.

So now another dangerous war breaks out in different country….but it seems all the same to me….

It is familiar path that we as a civilization have traveled far too many times in our history….the same virulent strain of violence, rage, hatred, nationalism, ignorance…

When will we ever learn? as Pete Seeger sang so many years ago...

We are still waiting for that answer...as the body counts rise and the heartbreak continues...all over the world…

I wrote this poem about war that keeps comes back like cancer…slowly killing off our hopes and dreams…

Let's hope this latest war ends quickly and the cease fire holds...but unfortunately... I have my doubts...

GP

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WAR IS A CANCER

War is a cancer
eating away
at our humanity.

We try to deny it
We try to eradicate it
We try to cure it.
Just when we think war is in remission
it keeps coming back
more virulent and deadly than before
to kill
our hopes
our dreams
our hearts and souls.

War is a recurring disease
eating away
our so called veneer of civilization.

War is a spreading affliction
stripping away
our compassion
our justice
our kindness
leaving us
empty
devoid
of any lasting emotions
but greed, fear and hatred.

George Pappas
Copyright 2008

The Passing of a Soul Man -- Isaac Hayes

Another influential figure from my childhood -- songwriter and musician Isaac Hayes -- is gone. I especially loved his soundtrack for the movie Shaft in the early 1970s. My parents played the soundtrack on 8-track?! as we went on a family vacation driving from L.A. to Utah to San Francisco and Mt. Shasta. The funky guitar and bass, soulful horns and piano moved me more than I can write. It was really my first introduction to the power of soul music.

At the time, I had no idea who Isaac Hayes was. I just loved the music which just mesmerized me. I still can't believe my parents bought that soundtrack. They were hardly music enthusiasts. I can't remember much soul being played around my house growing up in Orange County, Calif. (Earth, Wind and Fire was the only other exception.)

Later I found out he co-wrote all those great hits with David Porter for Sam & Dave at Stax Records -- "Soul Man," "Hold On I'm Coming," "I Thank You," and "You Don't Know Like I Know" and many others.

His "Hot Buttered Soul" record in 1969 and Shaft soundtrack in 1972 changed soul music with its long experimental songs and Hayes' low voiced rapping style of singing.

In fact, a lot articles on his passing have stated that Hayes created the foundation for what later became disco and for the popularity of Barry White. I don't think is entirely true. Although he was an influence on White and the best of disco (Donna Summer, Bee Gees), Hayes' music had a funky, soulfulness that both truly lacked. His real influence was felt in the emergence of rap and hip hop. His influence is everywhere in rap from Ice Cube, Snoop Dog, Dr. Dre to Jay Z and Kanye West and too many others to mention.

Before his death, Hayes even joked about it. Hayes recalled telling a record executive who asked him what he had done lately to turn on the radio..and you'll hear his latest work....in a recent hip hop hit...

That will his latest legacy -- the influence he had on other musicians....and artists....

I will remember Isaac Hayes for his musical accomplishments not for his South Park character of Chef. Although I have to admit it was funny and clever.

RIP ... Isaac Hayes.

As he sang in the "Theme from Shaft", he was a "bad mother......" He will be missed.

GP

8-8-08 -- The Bonds of Superstition: It ain't the way

Now, like many who watched last night's opening Olympics ceremonies in China, I was impressed. It was a very beautiful and breathtaking display. It should be a great Olympics, but that doesn't encourage me to ignore the Chinese government's many human rights violations through the years or how it denies its people politcal and free speech freedoms many of us take for granted in this country.

Also I was puzzled by the people in China and around the world who believe that the date -- 8/8/08 -- would bring good fortune to the festivities. Some I heard even got married on the date for the same reason. Sounds like superstition to me.

More often than not I am baffled by the motivation of so called sane and rational
people. they even reduce marriage and love down to some superstitious game...Where's reason and rational thought?

last summer couples rushed to Vegas and other places to get married on 7/07/07 for luck..
seemed strange to me...so foolish that I had to write about it...

what were these people thinking? or were they? I also wonder how many of these couples are still together ...not too many I would guess...

it is like Stevie Wonder sang in his great song, "Superstition," "when you believe in things you don't understand/then you suffer/Supersition ain't the way...

I updated a poem I wrote then about 7/7/07 to fit the new date of superstitious nonsense.

GP

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8/8/08 -- The Bonds of Superstition

The lemmings.
The culturally controlled
rushed out to get married
on 8/8/08
convinced it would bring
them luck.

Luck?

It is never wise to be superstitious
about anything let alone
marriage.

All the luck in the world
can't save a bad marriage.

I wonder how many of these
people will still be together
by 8/8/09?

Only time will tell.
Luck has nothing to do with it.

George Pappas
Copyright 2008

John Edwards' Affair -- Monogamy Boredom Strikes Again?

What's worse?

That John Edwards had an affair? or that he lied about it throughout his presidential campaign?

He has effectively ended his political career regardless.

Still, let's face it. This is another example of how difficult monogamy is to deal with. Temptation is always there whether we want to admit it or not.

One of the reasons I am single is that I hate monogamy so much.

For me, monogamy is an outmoded ritual ... that chokes off the spontaneity and passion that is so important for a relationship to survive over the long run.

Rather be single than a liar.

My feelings about monogamy and its failings will be explored more in my second novel that will come out in the next year or two.

In the meantime ... here's a poem I wrote about my misgivings about monogamy.

GP

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MONOGAMY IS A NOOSE

Monogamy is a noose
choking off the joys of love
and the discovery of wild passion
and lust.

Monogamy
leaves us feeling so guilty for
wanting more

We are so tortured
for desiring another
when faced with
relationship ennui.

Anyone who suggests a
way out of this predicament –
staying single,
an open relationship
or more tolerance
is met with disdain
and even called a freak of nature.

But who is the real freak?

The one who ignores the limitations
of our dead rituals and lives in unhappiness
and dishonesty?

Or the one who tries to live honestly
and explores variety and life's
pleasures without lies
and with an open heart?

George Pappas
Copyright 2008

Real life imitates art -- the flimsy FBI Anthrax Case -- The close of the Parallax View?

Real life imitated art the past couple of days as I listened in amazement to the FBI paint the late Dr. Bruce Ivins as a lone crazy Anthrax killing scientist. Their proof seems pretty flimsy to me. All circumstantial. Seems that they are doing all they can to close this case as quickly as possible.

It all reminds me of the close of the great movie "The Parallax View" when an unnamed government commission announces that Warren Beatty's reporter character was the lone gunman in a political assassination although we -- the audience -- know he's a patsy -- like Dr. Ivins perhaps? or Lee Harvey Oswald? (that's a whole other story).

Just as with Alan Pakula's movie there is more than meets the eye here with this case as with so many others in the past (i.e. JFK, RFK, MLK...)

Don't buy the government's case. Ask questions. Remain skeptical. They count on our ignorant compliance every time.

GP

The Small White Crosses of Santa Barbara

"Why should we hear about body bags, and deaths...I mean, it's not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?" – Barbara Bush

As John Lennon so accurately wrote: "War Is Not the Answer."

If you ever find yourself in Santa Barbara on a Sunday, make your way over to the pier area. There you will see an impressive and moving display put on a group of veterans against war that is comprised of rows and row of white crosses. Each one represents a brave American serviceman or servicewoman that has died in Iraq.

As you look across that beautiful beach at those endless rows of crosses, you begin to realize what has truly been lost. So many souls that will never be able to enjoy a summer day or look at such a beautiful beach. I was so moved by this display four summers ago while visiting Santa Barbara, a poem just poured out of me. It was more like a torrent.

Back then the we had lost 912 soldiers in Iraq. As of today, we have lost 4,131 soldiers and no one really knows how many Iraqis have died. They stopped their crosses at 3,000 at Santa Barbara's Arlington West, but still display is more than powerful in conveying the ultimate loss.

I have posted a video at the end of this post and included photos I shot of the display. I also posted an interesting photo I created using one of the postcards from the veterans group that puts on the display and a picture of a smiling George W. Bush. Seems appropriate.

Here's also a poem I wrote about the white crosses of Santa Barbara. Please visit there soon and give the veterans alive and dead the support and respect they deserve. You can also check out the Veterans for Peace Santa Barbara Chapter Web site for more information:

http://www.vfpsb.org/cms

Peace is the answer....

GP

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THE SMALL WHITE CROSSES OF SANTA BARBARA

It's Sunday morning
of the rest of our lives.

Small white crosses
lined up in neat
rows in the sand.

More set up each week.

Each
representing more
than mere words can convey.

A soul extinguished.
So much lost.

Memories erected
now for spirits
struck down far too soon.

Dreams vanishing daily in the sands
another world away

Small white crosses
back home
on different sands.

Nearby volleyball players
and sunbathers
enjoy another warm Sunday
in the middle of the summer.

So many walk past
oblivious to
the small white crosses
and
the passing
of those who will never
strike a volleyball again
or enjoy the pleasures
of a summer day.

Feeling selfish.
Justifications fail me.

The sacrifice
seems more than
we can ask.

More than we can bear.

Looking across this beach
that used to bring me so much joy.
Tears well up in my eyes,
but they won’t come
only the rage
coming in waves
choking me.

A freedom
to breathe in this summer day
lost
to those of the small white crosses.

Their lives loom so much larger
than the markers.

They admonish us in the silence.

Their memories
reaching out to us
across this serene stretch of Santa Barbara beach.

The waves,
the sand
so deceptively calm.

Yet evoking
the sad lessons of war
all the same.

The small white crosses
represent
a sort of Sunday service.

Speaking to us
across the sands of time
reminding us of other losses
in other wars.

Leaving us lost in the silence
of our consciences.

Where are our tears
for the small white crosses?

912 and counting.

Each day,
each night,
each week,
the small white crosses
multiplying
in sorrow and pain.

When will it stop?
When will it ever stop?

Hollowed ground
in the sand
this Sunday
and all the Sundays to come.

The vigil will continue.
The prayers never cease.

This line of small white crosses
looms ever larger
in our imaginations.

Their voices speaking to us
in our nightmares
and our dreams.

Our anger and our sorrow doesn't seem large enough somehow.

The small white crosses
of Santa Barbara
haunt me daily
and in the wee hours of the morning
trouble me to my core.

Each one leading
to so many other
crosses
the families will bear forever.

This is my Vietnam
but what have I done to stop it?

What have I done?

Nothing at all
as the small white crosses
of Santa Barbara beach
multiply in number each Sabbath.

Ultimately,
somber reminders
of our broken
country,
our broken hearts,
our large and looming
mistakes.

Our hopes
are
buried in
the sand a world away
and here today.

No trace left
except for
the white markers
to reawaken our
heartaches for an eternity.

George Pappas
Copyright 2008

Contaminated Hearts and Poisoned Waves ...

Last weekend as I went to my favorite stretch of beach -- Horny Corner in Belmont Shore -- I was greeted with beach closure signs. The water was too contaminated to swim in. You can see a photo of one of the signs with this post. I also posted another photo of the high tides we’ve experienced at Horny Corner this week which makes the situation only worse.

I take great inspiration from the ocean and I visit the beach every weekend (really...almost every day) so this is deeply troubling. Used to love going into the water, but now that is even a chancy proposition. Frankly, the water is filthy and contaminated and hardly inviting to swim in, as it's full of garbage, human waste and viruses.

We are killing our oceans. Don't just listen to me. See for yourself the lasting damage we are doing to the ecosystems of the ocean with our dumping of chemicals and industrial waste. Once the ocean dies...life on this planet will ultimately follow.

The same fools that laugh at global warming ... support the idiots that pollute our oceans ....

A few years ago, while visiting Huntington Beach, the beach was shut down due to a high concentration of contamination and waste.

That was the impetus for this poem...

GP

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CONTAMINATED HEARTS AND POISONED WAVES

Contaminated water.
Contaminated hearts.

They polluted Surf City
and said the water was poison.

I believe it was more than a sewage spill.

It was the bile from
our contaminated hearts
and souls
which polluted the Pacific Ocean.

Poisoned waves crashing on a dirty beach.

We are the human virus
polluting the water,
polluting the beaches,
turning our oceans
into dirty cesspools
of contamination
like our cities,
our ghettos,
our suburbs,
our land,
our streets,
our sewers
our homes,
filled with waste
from our polluted bodies
flowing everywhere.

I am drowning in
polluted water
which has spilled over
from my contaminated heart.

We are the human virus
crashing on a polluted shore
contaminating all we touch.

Cowabunga, dude.
Surf is down in the sewer.

We can ride poison waves
to our dirty demise.

George Pappas
Copyright 2008