My Dog

As 1 of 7 billion voices, I write about what is obvious to me. Most of what I think about stems from my frustration with humans. The words that spill onto my laptop come from my gut feeling that more needs to be said about the human condition. My 10 out of 70 billion fingers fly across the keyboard as my dog relaxes close by without a care in the world; half asleep, dreaming about his next meal, the next time I throw him a ball or hand him another chewy bone.

I will never come to grips with the truth that most people either don't care about the world or don't think for themselves. There are many reasons that humans don't notice, explore, or research the expanding issues on Earth. Humans as a whole are submerged in crisis, but individually their emotions, short-sightedness, and brainwashing leave them small minded and self absorbed, with a remarkable lack of personal accountability. If I give more credit than is deserved, and say that 7% of humans are open minded, interested, and involved, that leaves a very scary number of 6.5 billion people who have limited education, limited experiences, hardly read, never travel, and numbly go through life as if their tiny life is all that matters.

The world has changed in huge ways since I was born in 1951 and I set out this week to compile a top ten list of the things that have impacted us since I was born in 1951. As I began this exercise, I was thinking that this list would be about things that have positively changed the human experience, expanded opportunities, and stretched the horizons of possibilities. Unfortunately, as I brainstormed with myself and three friends, compiled, reviewed, and shaped my lists, I began to realize 2 things.

A. Almost all of what has drastically changed since 1951 is related to technology.
B. What on the surface seems like remarkable advances, have actually contributed to the truth that humans are less connected and more brain dead (it is not a coincidence that there is an ever-increasing fascination with zombies) .

(I want take a moment here to interject that their are people very close to me who say I am too negative, that I choose to see things in darkness, and that I should just ignore these aspects of reality and look at life as a gift and keep my rose colored glasses on all the time. Sorry, I will NOT.)

While putting together this list, I realized that more than half of the things that are having a huge impact on humans are not new since 1951. I also realized I could not get the total under 11. So I split my top 11 list into two lists. For example, the explosion in communication has a significant impact on humans, but is not a new phenomenon. Cell phones and computers have changed the ease, speed, and portability of communication, but the truth is there have been equally significant leaps in communication; the telegraph, radio, and telephones come to mind (and a shout out to smoke signals and paper cups attached by long pieces of string).

Another example is climate change. It may be on the rise since 1951, and it is possible humans are impacting the planet and its atmosphere more than ever, but the fact is Ice Ages have come and gone for millions of years and natural events like tornadoes and floods have killed hundreds of thousands of humans for tens of thousands of years.

So communication and climate change head list #2, but clearly they are impacting us as much as everything on List #1. (Note: History repeats itself and humans go around in circles; but that is a topic for another article.) As you look through the two lists, consider how these things have impacted you, your family, your finances, your health, your outlook, your plans, your happiness, etc.

At the bottom of the page, you will see a quote I saw on a bumper sticker last week that got me going down this road in the first place. Let me know if you think of significant things I have missed. Just "Post a Comment" below and I will respond.

#1 - The top 5 new things that have affected humans since 1951:

Credit Cards
Obesity/fast food
Computers/smart phones
Chemicals/genetic engineering/drugs
Oil prices

#2 - The top 6 old things still impacting humans

Communication explosion
Climate change
Religious fervor
Fraud/dishonesty/corruption/politics
Hollywood/Sports/Music
War

OK, now I have to tie this all together in a neat package with a bow on top, because my
9th grade English teacher might still be alive and reading this.

In spite of escalating advances in technology, humans attentions spans are shorter, education is weaker, pollution is rampant, crime has increased, social skills have diminished, health is declining, dependency on drugs has exploded, mindless/pointless stimulation appears on screens in every home and every theater. Consumption and debt have created personal and global economic crisis, the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, the zealots are influencing billions of people, there is an epidemic of Autism, more incidents of cancer, there is more hate, more class struggle, more weapons, more murder, and more war. 100's of millions of humans waste their time on Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook exchanging ridiculous, unimportant information like "I am at Starbucks drinking coffee," "I am buying jeans at Kohls", "I just broke up with that cheating bastard" and watch streaming porn, videos of cats, and endless loops of tragedies around the globe." Yikes!

"The more people I meet, the more I like my dog."


Footnote: Before you get crazy about the obvious things that are impacting us, in a huge way, but did make my top 11, here are a few of the things that did not make the cut:

Bigotry, Education, Cheap labor/outsourcing, Anxiety/Fear, Immigration, Transportation/Travel, Food sources, Clean Water, Clean Air, Haves/Have-Nots, Space Exploration

This is supposed to make you think and hopefully you'll make your own top 10 list and share it with us.

Current TV

An open letter to the Programming Department of Al Gore's network - Current TV (check your local listings)

Hi,


So glad Keith Olbermann is back on the air; your Documentary programming is always top notch and it appears you will be expanding and may be interested in an original idea.

Let's build a weekly program on the foundation of 1960-70's concert footage, video of studio recording sessions, and excerpts from music videos to emphasize the lyrics that defined the times. The poets of my generation, their protests, their anger, their prose, their metaphors, and their warnings are very relevant today.

We would also use movie clips that are chosen for the power of messages in specific scenes; with famous and poignant quotes. The meaning of these words will be woven into the conversations on the Show. 

The Show would be hosted by two famous "senior" actors and/or reporters and have elements of "Tuesdays with Morey", "My Dinner with Andre", and "Inside the Actors Studio." Weekly topics will be chosen for current relevance and woven into a fabric of conversation, music, metaphors, and images.

The impact of the words rattling around in my head, remind me of the never ending circle of history. As an observer of the human condition, lyrics and movie quotes highlight the messages and lessons of my life and my generation. There is so much to be remembered and wisdom to be recalled that can help us out of the current maze of the politics, economics, and social issues of today.

Yes, I think you'll like this idea. 
Yes, I would like to participate as a writer on this show. 
Yes, I know 3 other people who could be contributors on a writing team.
Yes, I have suggestions for the commentators.

But you'll have to get back in touch to hear who they are.

Thanks for considering my proposal,


Robby Hoffman


 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Second open letter to the Programming Dep't of Current TV


Good Morning,


CBS highlighted the Boomer generation this morning, as the oldest of us is turning 65 this year. We still have expectations, but now its about making our later years better.

With 3.4 trillion dollars in buying power, I'm sure you want us to watch your network. The more it feels like you understand us, particularly the liberal, open minded, educated percent of us, the more of us will land on your doorstep, and the advertisers will come flocking.

The idea I shared with you earlier is all about the images, ideas, thoughts, music, and scenes of our life. And by bringing on board the likes of Susan Sarandon, Annette Benning, Dick Cavett, and/or Morley Safer to discuss our concerns, our anger, and our suggestions to navigate the maze, we will relate to the events, news, and politics of today. We want to be reminded how passionate, concerned, and motivated we were yesterday.

Our idea team includes a former radio and TV personality, a former production assistant on independent films from 60's and 70's, and a "mom and pop" entrepreneur from the early days of alternate fuels and soy burgers. We were involved, then raised our kids, and while we watch our grandkids go off to school, we wonder how they will navigate the future and who will be their captains.

We sit around and talk about what went wrong.

We know so many seniors can't believe what is happening and we want a network that invites us to the conversation.

Robby Hoffman

Telling it Like it Is

The following was passed forward to me by a good friend. It absolutely reflects the opinion of this writer. This says it all, no matter your politics.

"In August 2010, Alan Simpson, Senator from Wyoming , Co-Chair of Obama's deficit commission, calls senior citizens the Greediest Generation as he compared "Social Security" to a milk cow with 310 million teats. 

Here's a response in a letter from a unknown farmer in Montana. I think he is a little ticked off.

"Hey Alan, let's get a few things straight..

1. As a career politician, you have been on the public teat for FIFTY YEARS.

2. I have been paying Social Security taxes for 48 YEARS (since I was 15 years old. I am now 63).

3. My Social Security payments, and those of millions of other Americans, were safely tucked away in an interest bearing account for decades until you political pukes decided to raid the account and give OUR money to a bunch of zero ambition losers in return for votes, thus bankrupting the system and turning Social Security into a Ponzi scheme that would have made Bernie Madoff proud.

4. Recently, just like Lucy & Charlie Brown, you and your ilk pulled the proverbial football away from millions of American seniors nearing retirement and moved the goalposts for full retirement from age 65 to age 67. NOW, you and your shill commission are proposing to move the goalposts YET AGAIN.

5. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying into Medicare from Day One, and now you morons propose to change the rules of the game. Why? Because you idiots mismanaged other parts of the economy to such an extent that you need to steal money from Medicare to pay the bills.

6. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying income taxes our entire lives, and now you propose to increase our taxes yet again. Why? Because you incompetent bastards spent our money so profligately that you just kept on spending even after you ran out of money. Now, you come to the American taxpayers and say you need more to pay off YOUR debt.

To add insult to injury, you label us "greedy" for calling "bullshit" on your incompetence. Well, Captain Bullshit, I have a few questions for YOU.

1. How much money have you earned from the American taxpayers during your pathetic 50-year political career?

2. At what age did you retire from your pathetic political career, and how much are you receiving in annual retirement benefits from the American taxpayers?

3. How much do you pay for YOUR government provided health insurance?

4. What cuts in YOUR retirement and healthcare benefits are you proposing in your disgusting deficit reduction proposal, or, as usual, have you exempted yourself and your political cronies?

It is you, Captain Bullshit, and your political co-conspirators called Congress who are the "greedy" ones. It is you and your fellow nutcases who have bankrupted America and stolen the American dream from millions of loyal, patriotic taxpayers. And for what? Votes. That's right, sir. You and yours have bankrupted America for the sole purpose of advancing your pathetic political careers. You know it, we know it, and you know that we know it.

And you can take that to the bank, you miserable ASS."

If you agree with what your fellow citizen says in this letter, PASS IT FORWARD.

Everyday People

Change takes courage and self-respect. In the midst of a bloody uprising, Syrians soldiers are defecting. They refuse to follow orders to mow down their neighbors. Add these heroes to the 2011 Annual recording humans across the map of change, determined to be heard and to overthrow their government. History is recording thousands of "everyday people"* taking up rocks, rifles, chants, and Facebook in an attempt to end decades of tyranny. In this latest twist, a truly bold decision is being made by men in Syria, getting paid by their government to enforce the rule of a Dictator. They simply will not shoot innocent women and children, and at the cost of defecting and having to flee across the border, these men have made a huge statement and must now pray that real change will occur or they won't be going home.


In America, there is a complicated dynamic brewing that is, at it's core, a desire and need for change. Major overhauls of systems and programs that have become ingrained since the recovery from the 1929 Depression are required. Revolt and rebellion in the US is currently constructed of finger pointing and loud arguing, occasional noisy protests, and political reprimanding. It is highly charged, often rude, sometimes contradictory, occasionally hate driven, but mostly altercations are limited. But if there are more shocking, violent outbursts, similar to the Arizona killing and maiming of citizens and politicians, including Gabrielle Giffords, things will turn uglier.


In a country that often chimes "different strokes for different folks,"* there is an obvious current of distrust. With the loss of millions of jobs, and devalued real estate, a serious crisis exists for an ever larger segment of the population. Millions more Americans are finding that their dreams and hopes, including retirement, have been replaced with a new reality. It boils down to money, how it is earned, taxed, and spent, and the "haves" and "have-nots" are now farther apart then anytime since the Great Depression.


But everyday people in America are better off, and clearly different, than people in the Arab nations. In a "cushier" society, even with the complicated dynamics of diversity in religion, education, income levels, and opportunities, life is easier. There is so much more entertainment and distraction, including the huge increase in obsessions, filled with peeping, gawking, exhibitionism, and self aggrandizing. As the incredible spirit of humans in far away lands is broadcast on flat screens, most of the attention goes to  Casey Anthony, Anthony Wiener, and LeBron James.


Yes, many Americans are struggling to get through hard times, whether it was created by economic collapse, natural disasters, aging, or serious health issues, but many have family somewhere who chip in. There are non-profit programs providing food, medical care, and emotional support. Other peoples are not so fortunate. How are the surviving? So many thousands of people are seen on the streets day after day. Before they took to the streets, they had so very little. How are they eating? Who is paying the electric and water bill in the dwelling now left to their women and children? Where is the money coming from to pay for bullets, bombs, bandages and medicine for their wounds?

Here is where America's truth and other peoples needs collide. Foreign aid is a big chunk of the deficit, but without it they have even less. Borrowing against America's future to pay for military intervention, nation building, and billions of dollars in unchecked hand-outs spins out of control. While the US stumbles through the maze of change, fumbling down blind alleys, filled with shadows, obstacles, and false hopes, it is complicated by the realities built into the foundation of a nation engaged all over the globe.


Add that to the spirit of a people who spread the welcome mat inscribed with the call, "bring me your tired your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free," who now have almost bankrupt social programs that were created to provide the safety net to stand behind this 1886 inscription on the Statue of Liberty. To maintain this philosophy, the USA has to overcome the truth of mismanagement in public education, medicare, welfare, social security, the military, etc. In Washington and state capitals, the argument is about more taxes or less, and the blame game points at small targets like teacher's unions, fire protection, police, and transportation. The only winners are career politicians and lobbyists from the biggest corporations, financial institutions, drug companies, and the oil producers, who team up to churn out billions of dollars in profits, while controlling the minds and the message. This dims the lights inside the maze to make it even more difficult to navigate a course into the future of change.


While billions of humans struggle, scratch, and help each other, they begin to realize more and more, one decade at a time, that they must be courageous and hold accountable the wealthy and powerful who determine their future. Unfortunately, these rulers, whether elected, anointed, or self-appointed, spend their time figuring out how to add to their personal treasure and just pass forward the big questions and potential solutions. Rebellion and revolt have been the only means for populations throughout history to effect real change. It is a brutal and barbaric way to solve problems, so someone needs to find a new path out of the maze in a hurry.


Its no wonder that at a time of lost hope, so many folks get distracted by staring at the possibility that it will take a supposedly "prophesized" nuclear explosion, earthquake, tornado, tsunami, volcano, comet, and/or solar flare to blow up the maze and take out billions of people with it. I am inspired this week to deliver a different direction: "Stand, you've been sitting much too long, there's a permanent crease in your right and wrong. Stand, there's a midget standing tall, and a giant beside him about to fall."*

*Sly and the Family Stone: "Everyday People"and "Stand!"

Midnight in Paris*

An open letter to the writer/director

Woody,

I just returned from seeing your movie Midnight in Paris and I want to tell you I was captivated, intrigued, and thoroughly entertained. The casting, the script, the concept, the rhythm, the visuals, the music ...... it was all there. I was drawn in wishing it was me, wanting to have that experience; jealous, dreaming, desiring. I was sad, in a good way, when it ended and I want to go back.

I have seen most of your films and since I was raised as a Jewish boy from Long Island, with most of my family living in Manhattan, I often relate to your messages, neurosis, dialogue, expression, art, and view. As an observer of the human condition, I envy your ability to be so open and raw, and I applaud your success. It has given you the ability to tell many stories to so many people. Your fantasies, your truths, your experiences, still jump off the screen.

Using ever more famous, popular, and recognizable actors as we’ve gotten older, it seems to me that your message, style, tone, words, and vision have attracted this generation of the “Hollywood” community. I have no idea if you ever set out to be more mainstream or less, and I don’t know if your last 5 movies are more commercially successful than the first 5 that went into mass distribution, it is just interesting to see the faces I have seen in other movies appear in your work.

There seems to be a trend for successful actors to appear in “indy” films, and although yours are not necessarily in that category because of your fame, distribution network, volume of work and notoriety, but the feel, texture, and sophisticated simplicity of your scenes always make them feel “artsy” and I am sure have influenced many independent film makers and attracted actors who want to be relevant and taken seriously for their craft. For them I am guessing it is like being on Broadway.

A puzzling, mystifying, and fascinating aspect of your long term presence in the movie business is that the cultural humor, the depth of your angst, and the slant of your commentary is, like the Seinfeld TV series, very urban and Jewish. (If this comparison to Jerry’s world offends you in any way, I apologize immediately.) How does middle America, gentile America, understand much of what you are saying? Do they laugh and keep coming back because they get it or because they want to get it or that everyone else seems to get it so they want to be part of the in-crowd? Or is it a mirror reflection of the opposite attraction Jewish men have with the blond forbidden fruit?

I think about and recently have actively tried to find/build a group of stimulating people in north San Diego County. It is not easy, particularly in this cultural vacuum. Since I was an uninterested student as a kid and never liked school, even faking my way through an Ivy League University, I only have a superficial knowledge of the writers and painters in Midnight in Paris. But growing up in a well-to-do Jewish family, I was exposed to culture, books, art, and music, from the volumes of classic leather bound books in our home library, to the complete vinyl LP collection of jazz and big band vocalists on the shelves above our high fidelity stereo in our Den. We took the compulsory school trips to museums in NYC and were forced to go with Grandma’s on her mandatory yearly Hanukah visit to Radio City Musical Hall’s “The Nutcracker.” 

So out of the blue, your film has me remembering flashes of my English teachers lectures about these authors, the tidbits I picked up in the synopses I read in my complete Cliff Notes collection, the music I heard in the background through 25 years of life in NY, Berkeley, and Seattle, and the paintings hanging in the museums of NYC and the museums I have visited in Paris and Italy. It would be grand to be transported permanently to the world you created; the evenings of merriment during those late night soirees. 

Thanks for your movie and thanks for being so honest all these years.

* "Midnight in Paris" a film by Woody Allen

Wiener, Paul Revere, and Solar Flares

There used to be a fun David Frost show on TV in the 60's called "That Was the Week That Was" TW3 This week in particular feels like a TW3 episode as my mind takes in sound bites, chews on them, and I now I get to spit them out. Incoming! The late night talk shows do it daily, and SNL does it weekly, but I can't stay up 'til 11:30 pm anymore without 2 cups of coffee which of course makes sleeping impossible and then I am recovering for a week from missing my regular senior rest.


The Congressman's privates, the former Alaska Governor's ignorance (Sarah's vacation from history) and the intensity of solar flares strongly influence our space. They produce streams of highly energetic particles in the "coronal mass ejection". These particles impact the Earth's atmosphere and present radiation hazards to anyone caught space-walking.


That last paragraph makes me laugh; and pisses me off at the same time. The fallout from the ridiculously comical acts of elected officials, counter posed to the real dangers presented by natural forces, is the stuff of our times. What is really important, and should ultimately worry us, is not the passing shock bites of the histrionics of a never ending stream of egotistical politicians, but the colossal strength of the Sun, the tidal influences of the moon, the ever shifting plates under our feet, rogue comets, and ginormous weather lows and highs crashing into each other all over the globe.

If you've heard about the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP), you know there are some incredible conspiracy theories flying around the internets about its power. How about chem trails? With no intention of spreading rumors, or in any way supporting the accuracy of these radical possibilities ……. the relevance here is that this is part of the debate that exists in the world of 2011 where much of what we can find in cyber-space leaves more questions than answers.

Speaking of questions and answers, is anybody else wondering who will be the new leadership in Egypt and Yemen? What are the behind-the-scenes reasons for America's military involvement in the overthrow of Dictators we originally supported and have financed to the tune of billions of dollars for 30 - 40 years? Why is America pouring billions more of our tax dollars into Afghanistan and Pakistan?

Is their a master plan? Is there an end game that truly forges a path to more freedom and opportunities for the suppressed people in the countries we are "helping"?  Or are we repeating history by forcing out a Dictator, a fanatical, wealthy, gruel old man, to be eventually replaced by someone who agrees at first to trade our support for his power hungry cooperation?  In this "Arab Spring" we a certainly helping to create leadership vacuums that any reasonable observer notes might ultimately be an opportunity for organized terrorist groups to fill.

What the hell is going on? Who the hell is in charge? Sometimes I get into the conversation with friends about the thousand year old theory that there is a secret society of families that have been acting as puppeteers behind the scenes for their own amusement and financial gain. The far-fetched possibility that for centuries a small group of very wealthy, smart, disciplined, segment of humans has "allowed" this course of history to unfold with a ultimate plan to create enough chaos that billions would spread across the globe in a dysfunctional assembly of nations and religions to ultimately perish in some cataclysmic event?

I read no history and have seen nothing in my lifetime that rationally tells me that this is possible. What I see and conclude is the very scary and disheartening reality that since humans have been in control of the animal kingdom, throughout the generations a certain percentage of people are con artists, liars, and ego-maniacal folks who openly manipulate, contradict, and shamefully take advantage of the masses for the own gain and power hungry pleasure.

P.S. All the links embedded are for amusement purposes only and do not reflect the opinion of XOQ.

Dr. Jack

This post is dedicated to my sister Lauren. Much of what I have learned, wrestle with daily, and ultimately has me pushing optimism to the front of my consciousness is rooted in her struggle with dis-ease, her desire for normalcy, and her eventual death at 29. 


Lauren's passing inspired me to give back. I could not let her struggle with MS end without being changed. Her life taught me so much about death, people, and living. The realization after her passing that I had an experience and gained knowledge that was a gift from Lauren, ultimately lead me to co-founding Hospice of Central Arizona in 1981. Hospice was not very well known in America at that time. Now Hospice care is one of the medical care choices for families struggling with a diagnosis of "no hope of survival".

Another choice that has yet to be added to the list of options for patience and families is planning the end of life. Dr. Jack Kevorkian died recently and his passing should remind us all that dying with dignity, dying when a person chooses to die rather than spending the last days, weeks, months in pain, with no hope for survival, should be added to the list of options.

If you have not lost someone who died in a coma, or died in so much pain that they were heavily medicated and out of it, or died after loosing all bodily functions, or the worst kind of death, died paralyzed, unable to speak or move but able to hear and think and realize what was happening, then you probably don't want to believe that Dr. Jack's decision to provide medically assisted death was the work of a good Doctor who had added a tool of compassion to his medical practice.

I have used the quote "They shoot horses don't they" in response to questions about the decision to end life by choice. While trying to make a point to people who think it unethical, un-religious, immoral, or whatever their fear has them deciding makes it a horrible thing, I was never talking about assisted suicide driven by depression, as was Robert who shoots Gloria in the novel and movie by the same name. When the character Robert is asked about the shooting, his simple response is, "They shoot horses don't they."

Humans go to the Vet to put their beloved dog, cat or horse out of its misery for many things, some less painful and awful that what humans allow their loved ones to go through before death. The reason for this is actually quite simple. Humans put the lives of humans above the value of the life of all the other animals on the planet. This is arrogance of the most elevated kind. Humans have decided that larger brain capacity, walking on two legs, and the use of the thumb somehow means a human life cannot be terminated as an act of mercy.

Think about it.

Goodbye Dr. Jack. Thanks for answering the call when people asked for your help. Thanks for taking up a cause you believed in and were willing to go to jail for. I wish I had met you in 1979 when it was clear to me that Lauren was suffering and I wished I could help her pass on.

Every time you see a butterfly, think about the innocence and release of the people you knew who are gone in body, but not in spirit.

Robby Hoffman