Originally posted April 8th, 2012
By Michael Konik
Sometimes our chaotic, unknowable, seemingly random Universe arranges itself with perfect symmetry. In these moments of bracing clarity, authored by a Creator (in whatever guise or nomenclature you prefer) whose sense of irony is matched only by her/his/its sense of wicked humor, our innate foolishness and learned stubbornness are robbed of their pretensions. We see what we have wrought – and then pretend we didn’t, because, despite our professed wish for “change you can believe in,” change is the process we’re most unwilling to endure.
Last week provided several of those The Way It Is moments, with several illuminating events happening almost simultaneously, twinned like opposite sides of a coin, as though the worm-hole theories of modern physicists were getting an earthbound demonstration. Our chief prophet of change you can believe in, President Obama, who seems intent on being as big of a disappointment to as many . . . → Read More: Perverse Priorities
Originally posted February 12th, 2012
By Michael Konik
Baltasar Garzon, the Spanish jurist renowned for attempting to bring the rich and powerful to justice, has been convicted of exceeding his authority. As part of a comprehensive corruption investigation of Spain’s conservative Popular Party, in 2009 he ordered wiretaps of jailhouse conversations between inmates and their lawyers. The Popular Party is now the Powerful Party; they currently rule Spain. Their country’s Supreme Court convicted Garzon and barred him from the bench past the mandatory retirement age. Though he might still work as an advisor to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, he’s finished in Spain.
And he might even face jail time. He faces two other charges, including one that seeks to punish him for violating a 1977 law that prohibits investigations of political crimes during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) and the decades of martial law that followed. Garzon had the nerve to investigate . . . → Read More: The Dictator Hunter
Originally posted January 29th, 2012
By Michael Konik
At the Super Bowl this Sunday, when most of America will gather to watch our national character accurately represented by a brutal, war-like game (football), controlled by a ruthless, cartel-like corporation (the NFL), selling us mostly disposable, harmful products (automobiles, alcohol, online gambling), you’re almost certain to see an expensive (and weirdly effective) propaganda campaign from the United States Military.
Watch when former American Idol Kelly Clarkson, singing our National Anthem, an ode to steadfastness in the face of bloody battles, belts out the alternate (but compulsory for pop singers) high notes on the word “free.” Although the skies over Indianapolis won’t be visible to the combatants and their audience in the stadium – it’s a roofless dome – some symbol of America’s military mightiness (a “stealth” bomber, a squadron of fighter jets in close formation, Taliban-killing drones) will fly over the site with an intimidating roar. . . . → Read More: Heroic Murderers
Originally posted January 15th, 2012
By Michael Konik
Aside from their protective utility, latex condoms aren’t anyone’s first choice for a sexual accoutrement. Claims to the efficacy of certain “ribbed for her pleasure” varieties notwithstanding, folks use them to prevent pregnancies and transmittable diseases, not because rubbers enhance sex.
Sure, the old putting-it-on-with-your-mouth trick, redolent of European brothels and Asian massage parlors, has its charms, and, yes, condoms come in all sorts of interesting colors (and flavors). Still, those in a relationship that doesn’t require protection (e.g., sterile married couples) would almost never choose to include condoms in their sex life. Compared to “bareback,” condoms are a drag.
The Los Angeles City Council, whose serial acts of legerdemain and thinly concealed larceny could fill many books, has recently given its approval and support to a local ordinance mandating that those who would make adult movies in our city – an impulse which requires a city . . . → Read More: Matters of Public Insertion
Originally posted June 18th, 2011
By Michael Konik
On June 17, 1971, President Nixon told Congress that “if we cannot destroy the drug menace in America, then it will surely destroy us.” And thus was the war on drugs commenced.
This week marks the 40th anniversary of another failed American war effort. The numbers, courtesy of the folks behind the next California “legalize it” Proposition, are staggering.
“We’ve spent more than $1 trillion on this war. And what do we have to show for it? Right now, 2.3 million Americans are sitting in prison, while over 7.2 million people are currently part of the criminal justice system as a result of being on probation or parole — a full 1 in every 32 adults. Because of the failed drug war, America now imprisons more people than any other nation on earth.”
Trying to arrest ourselves into submission hasn’t cut drug use. We’ve only created a . . . → Read More: A Lost War
Originally posted June 12th, 2011
By Michael Konik
Our failed War on Drugs has cost us vast treasure, ruined the lives of harmless citizens, and fueled a growing empire of violent crime. To continue with this national folly would be stupid at best and catastophic at worst. It’s time to legalize marijuana, treating it as we do tobacco, alcohol, caffiene, and other widely desired drugs. Doing so will also be good for our environment.
Because of prohibition — throughout a 5,000 year legacy of cannabis use among civilizations around the globe, the first century weed was made illegal was the 20th — what was once natural and open is now furtive and shrouded. Plants that belong outdoors, soaking up the sun and growing like, well, weeds, are now consigned to indoor “grow rooms,” where 1,000-watt lamps irradiate genetically stabilized clones rooted in nitrogen-rich fertilizer. The enromous quantity of energy consumed and waste prodcuts produced makes . . . → Read More: Our Environment: Another Drug War Casualty
Originally posted January 30th, 2011
By Michael Konik
Tea Party “originalists,” John Boehner, Sarah Palin, and a large percentage of Americans who want less government and more “freedom,” profess an undying fealty to the Constitution of the United States of America. From its 4,400 words (written and agreed upon by the richest elites of the new Republic) stems the philosophical underpinnings of their “movement’s” ethos.
“All men are created equal.” “Of the people, by the people, for the people.” “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Awfully nice sentiments, these. And if you can find them in the Constitution — early drafts included — you’ve got a Pulitzer in your future. None of these phrases appear in our Constitution.
Like the Bible, which often says something quite different than what its adherents believe, the U.S. Constitution is widely and greatly misunderstood. Unlike the Bible, it’s short. So reading it, as House Republicans did to open . . . → Read More: The U.S. Constitution Fetish
Originally posted January 8th, 2011
By Michael Konik
Having grown up in the Badger state, I feel well qualified to write sniggeringly about the place. I was there. I know what I’m talkin’ about, all right? It’s a great state beside a Great Lake, populated by generally nice folks.
It also has more taverns per square mile than just about anywhere, including Bavaria. Wisconsin is a state full of drinkers — who tend to be bullying and aggressive when they’re drunk. Which sort of explains (but doesn’t excuse) the behavior of a heretofore unamed Wisconsin employee of the TSA who, while protecting our collective security, detained and fined ($448) a passenger who was carrying a pipe that the overzealous TSA screener determined was “drug paraphenelia.”
The screener made this decision while sober (one presumes). But the bullying impulse was still there.
The screener was right about the pipe. It was for illegal drugs! The passenger . . . → Read More: On Wisconsin: On, Wisconsin!
Originally posted October 2nd, 2010
By Michael Konik
No one is surprised that among the groups opposing California’s Porposition 19, the Control, Regulate, and Tax Marijuana initiative on the November 2 ballot, are financially entrenched business organizations. The prison and law enforcement industry, which profits every time a marijuana user is branded a criminal; the beer industry, which worries that Californians will collectively discover that marijuana is far less harmful than alcoholic products; and, of course, major party politicians, who serve at the behest of their corporate benefactors — all of these factions are predictably allied against pot legalization.
How shocking — and how utterly demoralizing — to learn that some well-known (in the pot community, anyway) activists, people who helped bring medical marijuana to the state and seem to have dedicated their lives to educating the citizenry on the the benefits of kind green bud, are actively opposing Prop 19.
James Gray served as a Superior Court judge in Orange County for 25 years. He was on the front lines of California’s War on Drugs.
Here’s what he learned: California simply can’t afford to continue to waste hundreds of millions of dollars and countless hours of law enforcement time targeting non-violent cannabis consumers who have hurt no one.
That’s why he strongly supports the Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010.
It isn’t every day that conservative columnist George Will and liberal pundit Arianna Huffington agree on something. But they do agree that our war on cannabis has failed. That’s because no matter what political lens you look through, it’s clear that our current cannabis policies are wrong.
Our police waste countless hours targeting and arresting non-violent cannabis consumers. Those arrested are then sent to court, where judges waste countless hours hearing their cases and sentencing . . . → Read More: On Pot: A Superior Court Judge Speaks
We're really sorry about our most recent trading loss. People will say we require more oversight, and, in this case, maybe they're right. It shouldn't have happened, and we'll take steps to make sure it doesn't happen for a third time.
The $4,000 or so ($4,882) of your money that we failed to bring back from our annual company trip to Hollywood Park Racetrack and Casino will in... Read More-->
If you’re reading this essay on MichaelKonik.com, you know that this is a reliable place to find “me,” the me who shares his ideas with the world, whether or not any part of the world is interested. This is where I unilaterally invade my privacy, allowing strangers...
North Korea is launching rockets, Syria is slaughtering its citizens, and the Filipino community is organizing a massive get-out-the-vote campaign for a crucial election (not for something boring and unimportant like a public office but a cause that’s got folks passionately engaged: the American Idol finals). So...
Sometimes our chaotic, unknowable, seemingly random Universe arranges itself with perfect symmetry. In these moments of bracing clarity, authored by a Creator (in whatever guise or nomenclature you prefer) whose sense of irony is matched only by her/his/its sense of wicked humor, our innate foolishness and learned...
Poet Robert Pinsky. Pianist Laurence Hobgood. Text, music, and the moment -- what we hear on the new POEMJAZZ recording is two giant artists making something greater than the sum of its parts. While Pinsky recites his lovely words with his unlovely (but weirdly attractive) voice, Hobgood, the longtime arranger and accompanist [...]
Matters of Public Insertion
By Michael Konik
Aside from their protective utility, latex condoms aren’t anyone’s first choice for a sexual accoutrement. Claims to the efficacy of certain “ribbed for her pleasure” varieties notwithstanding, folks use them to prevent pregnancies and transmittable diseases, not because rubbers enhance sex.
Sure, the old putting-it-on-with-your-mouth trick, redolent of European brothels and Asian massage parlors, has its charms, and, yes, condoms come in all sorts of interesting colors (and flavors). Still, those in a relationship that doesn’t require protection (e.g., sterile married couples) would almost never choose to include condoms in their sex life. Compared to “bareback,” condoms are a drag.
The Los Angeles City Council, whose serial acts of legerdemain and thinly concealed larceny could fill many books, has recently given its approval and support to a local ordinance mandating that those who would make adult movies in our city – an impulse which requires a city . . . → Read More: Matters of Public Insertion