The Place of Hippies
And Counter-Cultures
in the American Society

Our government is for the people and by the people. And we are the people that keep guard that the government doesn't get derailed by financial interests and lobbyists. And when it does then we the people have to step in and try to get it back on track again. That is the place of hippies and many other members of counter-cultures in our society. That is also how we show our patriotism for free, not asking for anything in return other then peace and compassion. But in return many of us have been thought of being anti-American, have gotten little recognition from those that think of themselves to be patriotic Americans. In spite of all that, we continue to carry that burden, that cross and that dreams of a better world. So, we continue serving that American dream of liberty, peace and the pursuit of happiness to all who may have forgotten the fundamental ideas that this nation was created for.

The 21.12.2012 Prophecy

We just survived the Armageddon of the year 2000 (or 2001) and now there's 2012 coming around the bend. Can't say that there's little going on these days. We're certainly living in interesting times. I wonder if anyone has taken on the subject of explaining how the Hindu or Vedic calendar is also in agreement with all of those 2012 prophecies and if this is the commence of the Kali Yuga? I see another subject related to 2012 that someone should make a documentary on. It's how the Mayans managed to foresee the Christian calendar and align theirs with it, or perhaps was it the other way around? In any case, my advice is to avoid groups that promise to save people or to take them to a better dimension through altering their life span or thinning out their wallets.

Perhaps all of that is just the working of the human imagination aligned to some rarely recurring celestial events. Whatever it may be, perhaps I should stay in the geographical location on the globe that I'm in because it seems to be a kind of safe haven in the event of a global climate change or catastrophe. 2012 will certainly be the year of the UEFA European Soccer Championships in Poland, that the country is preparing for today. It will also be the year when it will be switching from Zloty (Guldens or Goldens in Eng.) to the Euro. There will also be a Presidential election in the States, which will be of some historical significance. And lets not forget the Rainbow gathering that I would love to attend if I wasn't broke and planning on watching it all on TV, just like the rest of the ignorant mortals. I just wonder why the UN and governments of the world that are supported by the taxpayers are not doing anything to prepare us for the disaster of 2012. I certainly will get ready and do my shopping early and perhaps sign up for cable TV so I could watch it all on CNN with a bear and a joint in my hand if CNN will still be around 'cause Edger Casey mentioned Atlanta and NY going underwater and the Great Lakes flooding everything down the Mississippi. (Wow, I wonder if that long sentence wouldn't make the World Book of Records?) That would also mean that there should be a plunge of real estate prices in the effected areas and perhaps a chance for some to get a piece of Manhattan property in the Trump Towers for just pennies. But the Japanese will get the real stick up their ass and plunge into some really deep waters and end all washed up on their Manhattan real estate investments. I can't believe how calm they are about all of that. Shouldn't someone warn them? Wow, that's a lot to ponder over a large pizza and some bear with friends. Isn't it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Utpcth_0tc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaXI9wS0W60
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CjHum3mfgs

Being a Nondoer

Outside the Web, I am a nondoer. When one is not very active one doesn't emit much energy, through which people notice other people. An income is also a form of energy that people get from doing things that bring them an income. But how could one who doesn't do much make on income on not doing much? That is what I'm interested in learning about. The things I like doing nobody is willing to pay me for. And the things I've tried to sell just don't sell. But I'm happy to give away the things I've created. However, the landlord and the people at the grocery store don't share my worldviews and lifestyle. So it is a problem for me. I've experienced people walking into me in public places because I was "invisible" to them. Being introverted has always been a problem. But the Web has changed that. On the Web I've become an exhibitionist (LOL). Whaaat a change. So I can do a lot with websites, HTML, DNS, DP and do all my own graphics too, but I don't have a diploma or a Certificate to prove that. So I don't make a living in the IT field. The problem with the world is that one has to make a living doing something or other, which very often is not what we are really interested in doing.

BTW, I'm happy to announce that I've just finished a Teaching Business English course at a London college and hope that it will help me land a part-time teaching job. It was an easy course because I've been teaching Business English but didn't have the right credentials, and employers want Diplomas and Certificates when looking for a job. So, now I've got one. But honestly, can you imagine me, a guy in late 50s with earrings in both ears that never wears a suit and with sneakers on his feet teaching Business English to some square white-ass Polish business people? Somehow I could imagine myself doing just that. But I wonder how many employers will share that vision with me? Time will tell...

Hippies

I often tend to be very negative about hippies in Poland mainly because of my nickname from the 1960s "The Polish Hippy" and because it is often wrongly associated with hippies in Poland. But there are other reasons for that too. I was at an event in Warsaw's Old Town in Poland a couple days ago where some people that call themselves hippies published a book about the hippie movement in Poland. But what hippie movement was there in Poland in the 1960s? I was there for a visit in 1969 when I was draft dodging from Uncle Sam. The fact is that the closest thing to a hippie movement there was the Solidarity movement in the 1980s. Other then that, there were some young Poles in the 1970s pretending to be hippies but they never held any protests or got into sexual liberation, or any other kind of liberation. It was just a fashion to dress like hippies and to get stoned on alcohol and hard drugs, mostly opium products. I've even seen many there when I visited the country on another trip laying around the city streets, and with needles still stuck in the veins. It was a kind of fashion I think because many of them were from good homes. That is not what hippies were about. I think they got that all wrong. To be honest, I don't know what they were about and don't want to know. But it does irritate me when I hear about hippies in Poland. I should also mention that the ones I've spoken to are extreme right nationalists in spite of the long hair and all the things we take as symbols of liberal minded folks. One thing I know for sure is that the only thing they brought about in their country were the many drug rehab centers and a very negative opinion about us, which I have to deal with all the time. Sometimes I wonder if it wasn't some kind of KGB operation in the days of communism to discredit us. The last thing they wanted was probably the spread of our movement on their territory.

Here's a definition of "Hippie" from Wikipedia and you won't find much mention of the Vietnam War or the Peace Movement in it. It seems that everyone forgot what the hippies were all about, and that's the problem. As I remember, hippies were about being in opposition to the War and many other things that were wrong in the world. Long hair, drugs and music were just parts of the lifestyle. Protests were not held everyday but we had an everyday life to lead. And all that people seem to remember today about hippies is just the lifestyle. The movement started because of the Vietnam War and it ended with the end of the Vietnam War. How can anyone forget that? But the lifestyle and the ideas continued... Today, almost every peace march or anti-war protest accross the world uses the same peace signs or anti-war slogans that were used for the first time by hippies in the 1960s Peace Movement. And hippies were the chief participants and organizers of that movement.

Today's Historic Inauguration of Obama

Illinois gave us Abraham Lincoln and Chicago has tried to live up to his image. It has had the first woman Mayer, a black Mayer but I'm not sure if he was the first in the country, and now the first black President. The black Mayer of Chicago was considered to have been one of the worst the city has had. Illinois is also probably the first State to have a large scale corruption scandal in it's Capital, Springfield, Illinois over the vacant Senatorial seat that was left vacant by Obama. It seems that the Governor tried to 'auction' off Obama's seat to Jesse Jackson Jr. But one advantage that I think Obama has over other black leaders is that he has traveled a lot more outside of the country. And that has probably given him the broader view of the world and it's complexities. So, what can we expect from his term in the President's office? I think we should prepare ourselves for almost anything, because anything's possible. And I hope that it will turn out to be anything that's 'good'. But one thing is clear to me. I live abroad. And looking from the outside in, the country's image has already improved by 100%. The election of Obama, who is from a minority religion, which has gotten lots of negative press in the world today and from a black race was such a shock to the rest of the world that many still can't get over it. It was a shock because it turned out that America is capable of dealing with ill leaders and evil man that took control of the country. Yes, it was a good shock that has already done a lot of good to our image. It has also made me proud again of being an American. Let's hope Obama doesn't do anything very wrong, that the press and the republicans don't start their conniving again and that nothing wrong at all happens to him. The country is walking on a very thin line and anything that would happen to him will be happening to us all in the world's eyes. He is our bright light in the darkness, that torch of freedom that we should try to help carry through without stumbling. It is extremely difficult to repair a broken image just as it is difficult to repair a broken mirror. And this is an exceptional chance that has been given to us to do just that. So I hope we won't spoil it.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28139155

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/12/16/blagojevich

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2008/12/10/report-jesse-jackson-jr-allegedly-named-blagojevich-willing-pay-senate-seat

The Power of the Press

The media is the fourth power, and the one that is not fully controlled by anyone. It cannot be discredited through the media because they are the media. So they don't go around discrediting themselves. Something to remember. They are the ones that create THAT, which we take as reality. They make people and they break them. And they'll do anything it takes to sell their product. That's the power of the press.

The Battle Between Backwardness and Progress

Freedom and Progress are what make up the American image. Both of those always seem to go hand in hand. There can be little progress without freedom and the will to make a change. I believe that the reign of the Bush regime was a contradiction of that. We have some new examples of progress in America today such as the election of Obama or the introduction of No Pants Days in New York - a freedom oriented and liberating custom that won't cost the taxpayers a lot of money. I believe it will spread across the globe to other metropolitan areas of the world just as many others have in the past. There will always be those that will see something wrong in such new things because not everyone in the world is the same.

Not everyone likes progress or wants to be liberated from old traditions and worldviews. And those that don't are often the same people that would like to limit freedom. Thus the battle between backwardness (ignorance) and progress (wisdom) goes on since unrecorded times, and it will probably continue until the dawn of time. So, lets take the chance we have been given to open up more. And at the same time, lets keep an eye on those that would like to take away or limit our God-given freedoms.