Workshop

So, for the past 3 months or so I've been on this thing called Workshop, in case you haven't heard. As I haven't posted since I left for the program, let me start with some technical info. For starters, if you want to know what I've been doing outside of the program your best bet is to check out my facebook photo albums - many things both outside and inside the program are at least referenced there.

As far as the program goes, my schedule looks roughly like this:

Sunday - Morning Ivrit, afternoon Seminar, evening Ha'ashara.
Monday - Morning Hadracha, afternoon and evening Yom Kvutza.
Tuesday - Morning and half of afternoon Seminar, other half Chavura planning time, evening Chavura.
Wednesday - Morning Avoda, afternoon Ivrit.
Thursday - Morning and early afternoon Siyur, rest of afternoon Educational Processing.

Ok then, now for a short description of them all:
Ivrit - Hebrew class, taught by a Hanoar Haovednik (Shmulik) who was also one of the gun-toting Israelis from my MBI (if that last sentence made no sense, don't worry about it.)
Seminar - Classes on Jewish History, taught by members of the Tnuat Bogrim.
Hadracha - leadership training class, part practical psychology/group dynamics, part talking about dugma (setting an example) and the impact a leader can have and how he should act because of this. Probably my favorite thing about the program.
Yom Kvutza - Time for our Madrichim to run activities for us based on what they see us needing.
Avoda - Work. Either on the kibbutz where we live (Netiv Halamed Hei) or with Shulchan le Shulchan (Table to Table). Shulchan le Shulchan is an organization which harvests fruits and vegetables that farmers either don't want because they are blemished or in some other way perfectly good to eat but unsellable, or because they don't have the manpower to harvest it.
Chavura - educational activities we plan and run for ourselves about various topics from Jewish History.
Siyur - trips to different places around Israel.
Processing - weekly sikkum (summing up)

More on Workshop... soon hopefully. Not now though. But soon.

I leave in 4 hours...

And it's driving me nuts. I've been so sick with anticipation that I can't even contemplate putting the final touches on my packing job. I think I'm gonna have the time of my life but I can't really be sure, and I don't have the best history with this group of people no matter how much I'd like to convince myself otherwise. Hell, I don't have the best history with integrating into groups of kids at all. I like to think I've gotten better at that and that people have grown and matured since I last knew them, in fact I'm almost sure of it. I just hope that they are willing to take another look at me and that I don't let myself be shaped by what they expect me to be.

Wish me luck folks. Call me to say goodbye before I leave tonight, I hope to have my phone with me and on until about midnight but you shouldn't count on me having it after 9 PM or so. Also I'd appreciate it if, just for my own personal curiosity, you would e-mail me if you read this blog and tell me so. Just curious to see how much of an audience I really have.

Have a good year folks, hopefully I'll keep updating here every week or two at least.

Much love,
Josh

Hey again folks...

So I haven't posted in quite a while - got out of the mood for it I guess. Anyway I guess it's time to update you all on what's happening in my life.

Most important thing - I just got back from Na'aleh, and it was AWESOME. Small camps are most definitely better. I would write more, but I really don't feel the need to right now, maybe later.

Aside from that, I leave for workshop on the 29th - and I'm scared shitless over it. Excited too, but scared. Really scared. More on this later almost for sure - I need to talk it out when I have more time.

Ye gods, how time flies. Already time to grab some final hangout time with friends, do a last few dances, gather my stuff, and head off to Israel. Scary. Very very scary. If you wanna hang out before I leave, talk to me - you know my contact info, just use Facebook if nothing else. Hopefully I'll see all you who read this soon, before I leave.

Recent events in Israel

Well, seems like Habonim has made me look foolish again. Here we gave them a state, let them elect their own government, and what do we get? Yet another little noisy, antisemitic neighbor. The ironic thing is that the anti-Israel party (Hamas, for all of you living in caves) wasn't put in by the recent coup, it was elected - it used the coup to take control because the West was trying to put Fatah in power because Fatah was corrupt and easy to manipulate. I don't know how I'm going to face Josh Krisch, because he loves to tease me endlessly about belonging to an organization that is willing to give the Arabs so many second chances, even though I've stopped agreeing with Habonim on many different issues.

Enough on that. If you're interested in learning more about the coup Robert Fisk, who is the middle east adviser for The Independent newspaper, wrote an (as usual) excellent editorial about the situation, which can be found here.

Oh and I know I haven't posted in forever - soon I'll probably make a big one about some stuff that's happened recently. Thanks for your patience, you few who care.

Marantz out.

Wikipedia, gone bad

So I subscribe to a lot of news rss feeds (for those of you who don't know what those are, think of them as custom made newspapers). One of the newspapers that I've found to give an interesting and refreshing perspective on Israel is the UK's Independent. The writings of one of their middle east columnists, Robert Fisk, have grabbed my interest particularly - from what I've been able to say hes got his head screwed on the right way, one smart cookie.

Recently I read one of his articles that was not actually about Israel, but was still intensely interesting and bothersome to me. In this article Fisk tells the story of one Professor Taner Akçam, a Turkish historian known for being the first to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide - "the deliberate mass murder of up to a million and a half Armenians by the Ottoman Turkish authorities in 1915" (cited from the above mentioned article). He is also the author of a book which proves the existence of the genocide using Turkish documents and archives. This has (not surprisingly) earned him a great deal of persecution, both from Turkish authorities and from Turkish American groups. He fled Turkey to escape this and was granted asylum in Germany, and in 1976 he was adopted as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.

Why did Fisk choose to write about this seemingly dated piece of news? Well recently this case has taken a twisted turn for the worse. On February 16th, 2007 Akçam was detained by Canadian immigration while flying into Montreal for a lecture. The reason? A vandalized Wikipedia biography of him, labeling him as a terrorist. This occurrence was repeated on his attempt to return home, only there it was U.S. Homeland Security officers who detained him.

Putting aside how ridiculous the idea that the way our country gathers intelligence on potential terrorists is from Wikipedia. Putting aside even how insane it is that Homeland Security recommended that Akçam hire lawyers to get this information removed from his files in Washington, or that he was detained twice to what amounts to an unsubstantiated rumor.

Does it scare anybody else that Wikipedia is being used by oppressive governments to punish those who criticize them?

I have no more to say on this, other than I will never again cite Wikipedia in any meaningful context. Anyone who wishes to know more about these things should check out the following linked articles:

Robert Fisk's article from the Independent, where I first learned of these happenings
An article by Akçam himself, where he tells of the incident from his point of view. This article has been published in many different sources, and I'm not sure which is the original or if Mr. Akçam submitted the article to several different sources.

Happenings of late

Nothing so amazingly momentous to report, just wanted to assure you all I'm not dead. So school is basically over (20 days left!!!), and guess what? It's taken them 4 years but they've FINALLY fixed the leaks on the girls' floor! It's crazy, I expected it to be all mildewed and stuff but it was bone dry. Even the chem lab had no puddles. Things are really changing now that we're leaving.

Along the same lines as that, some shocking (and reliable) gossip floated down to Mayhs today - apparently Mr. Bauer isn't coming back next year. I have some fond (and not so fond - freshman year was bad) memories of freshman bio with him - while not the best teacher IMO, he was always there for whomever needs it. It won't be the same place without him.

Other random news - driving in lots of water isn't fun. And... Englishtown Latte and Learning is amazing, they get sooooo many kids there, it's crazy! And seeing Jonah standing on a chair preaching to the masses with his sefirah beard was highly... inspirational. We love you Jonah Learner, oh giver of caffeine and wisdom.

Well, that's all for now folks. I'll update later, either after the lock-in this Saturday night or after the Mayhs Senior trip next week.

Israel revisited

One of the most exciting things to me about the first Seder this year was when we said "בשנה הבא בירושלים" - the thought that I actually will be in Jerusalem next year, albeit probably not a rebuilt one, filled me with an excitement that I could barely express. At the same time however, I felt a slight dread that had been growing in me for some time now get just that much larger. For as I sat at the table with my uncle and aunt, my frum cousin and his wife and kids, and my own family, I foresaw that next year the Seder I attended would be very different from the one I was at then. I thought then about how recently I've begun looking more into Judaism, and liking what I'd found. Workshop, the program I was planning on going to Israel with next year, is not very religious to tell the truth - in fact Habonim Dror is for the most part a spiritual wasteland as far as I'm concerned. I began wondering then whether I had made the right decision when I told my Rebbe that Yeshiva was not for me.

Workshop is something that I've looked forward to since last summer. Although I have always been more religious than the majority of the people in Machaneh, I didn't really think that it would be a problem on Workshop. Now I'm no longer so sure - I'm beginning to think that I want to explore myself in a different direction than Workshop and Habonim can take me. Hopefully I will be talking to Rebbe tonight after Yom Tov is over, and hopefully I'll arrange to meet with him on Friday before Shabbat starts. We'll see then what happens - if I decide to go to Yeshiva my life will almost certainly be getting interesting pretty soon. Between finding a place that's both good for me and willing to take me despite the late date, and convincing my parents to let me go, I think I can safely say that I will be far from bored over the next few weeks.

I'll keep you posted. All 5 or so of you that read this, anyway ;-)

Dancing

I go dancing pretty much every Monday and Thursday night, meaning that it has had a fairly large affect on my life. It's more than just an activity that i do though - it has taught me coordination, something which I've always had trouble with, and it's even beginning to teach me something of grace.

More than the physical benefits of dancing, it has had a major psychological effect on me as well. At some of my times of deepest depression, dancing has get me out of it. It's certainly helped my self confidence, learning to be good at something aside from math. And this past Thursday I actually felt that I knew or was able to follow most of the couples dances, which has been my most recent challenge - I can handle my own body well enough, but learning to lead a partner as well as dance around them has been difficult. I feel really good about myself because of it.

One thing's for sure - if I decide to become frum, giving up dancing is gonna be a BITCH.

NCSY

So NCSY has recently started to have a much more active role in my life. The past two weekends I've been at shabbatons in Englishtown and Twin Rivers, and both times I had more fun and made more new friends than I had at any of the Habonim Dror peulot I've been to. Both of them were also very interesting in that I was completely shomer shabbat on both of them - a very nice experience. I think I'll start going to more events like Latte and Learning and such and see what happens. Also I feel much more strongly that I can't depend on Habonim to help me "explore my connection to Judaism," as they say, while I'm in Israel. I'll need to make sure to go out and do it on my own. More on this later perhaps.

Most intense day EVER

Just got home from the most exhaustingly insane day of my life. It was also probably the most fun I've had in a month, and the first day I've spent just randomly chilling with my friends in years. As background, today was the day that the Mayhs senior boys decided to all cut school together. And boy was it worth it. Lemme give you an itinerary:

6:45-7:30 - Wake up, get dressed, and drive my sister to school and my dad to the bus stop for work. Meaning that I had the car for the day. Woohoo!!!

7:30-11:00 - Chill at home, daven, Facebook, IM people and solidify the details of what's happening for the day. Which shall be revealed forthwith.

11:00-1:30 - Head over to Shua's house in Highland Park, go out to Jerusalem Pizza for lunch with same, then chill at Shua's again till we pick up Chana L at which point we head over to AMF bowling alley on RT 18.

1:30-4:30 - We get lost on the way there, surprise surprise, but somehow end up making our way through South River to Old Bridge Turnpike and from there to the bowling alley. Bowling, air hockey, and Starbucks coffee = awesomeness. Much joking, much chilling at the Starbucks gazing at the beautiful scenery of RT 18. It was amazingly cool, and the weather was PERFECT. Oh, and we called Mr. Berkowitz to say hi.

4:30-5:30 - We begin trying to get back to Highland Park, and I take the first exit instead of the second. We end up taking a 40 minute side trip to Woodbridge before turning around and going the RIGHT way on Woodbridge Avenue and making it back in time to drop off Shua and Chana by their respective houses, in the process meating Shua's mom.

That's basically it - I then went home, picked up my dad, and then had a normal Tuesday night.
All in all quite a nice day, the first one that I've just randomly spent with friends instead of moping around at home. And boy am I happy that Shua pushed me into doing it - it was aweome!

What is a psychological disorder?

As someone who has been diagnosed with both depression and ADD, I have had both time and reason to think about the nature of mental illness. What constitutes a psychological disorder or disease, rather than a simple personality trait? Does everybody who can't concentrate have ADD, or are some people just "spacey"? Asperger Syndrome, and Autism to a lesser degree, are other examples of this same thing. The key characteristics of someone with AS, according to Wikipedia, are:

1. Narrow interests or preoccupation with a subject to the exclusion of other activities
2. Repetitive behaviors or rituals
3. Peculiarities in speech and language
4. Extensive logical/technical patterns of thought
5. Socially and emotionally inappropriate behavior and interpersonal interaction
6. Problems with nonverbal communication
7. Clumsy and uncoordinated motor movements

Now of these 7 characteristics at least 5 (1, 3, 4, 5, and 7) seem like they could be simple character traits, and indeed are regarded as such if seen on their own. Additionally people with AS often have higher-than-average I.Q.'s, and are better at their chosen interest than most "normal" people are. There are even some who speculate that many famous people like Albert Einstein and Sir Issac Newton might have had AS - indeed Einstein certainly has at least 4 of the signs listed above.

Things like this are what make me wonder what the definition of "crazy" is and what it should be. Why are people like this considered damaged? "Extensive logical/technical patterns of thought" sure doesn't sound like the average person nowadays, it doesn't sound inferior. Just different. And it'd be pretty easy to show how life would be better if more people thought logically.

How much are we allowed to differ from the norm before we stop being considered human?

Josh Marantz

שירת הסטיקר (Sticker Song) by הדג נחש

A full generation demands peace, let the IDF win, a strong nation makes peace, let the army mow them down, no peace with the Arabs, don't give them guns, combat's where it's at, bro draft for all, exemption for all there's no despair in the world judea and samaria is here na nach Nachman from Uman no fear, the messiah's in town no arabs, no bombs the supreme court endangers jews the nation with the Golan the nation with the the transfer test in Yirka my friend, you are missed the holy one, blessed be he we vote for you a direct vote is bad the holy one, blessed be he we are jealous to you may the jalous die. how much evil can be swallow? father have mercy, father have mercy my name is Nachman and I stam-stammer how much evil can be swallow? father have mercy, father have mercy blessed be He, that I breathe... a state of religion - the state is gone whoever's born benefits long live the king messiah i'm secure in Sharon's peace Hebron always was and will be whoever was not born missed out Hebor of the forefathers hello to transfer Kahane was right CNN lies a strong leader's needed nice going on the peace thanks for the security we have no children left for futher wars the left helps the Arabs Bibi's good to the Jews Sentence the Oslo criminals us here, them there we don't desert brothers uprooting settlements splits the nation death to the traitors let the animals live death to values! how much evil can be swallow...(x3) To liquidate, to kill, to banish, to deport to sanitise, to lock up, death sentence, no fear, to wipe out, to annihilate, to cut off, to burn. all for you, my friend.

דור שלם דורש שלום תנו לצה"ל לנצח עם חזק עושה שלום תנו לצה"ל לכסח אין שלום עם ערבים אל תתנו להם רובים קרבי זה הכי אחי גיוס לכולם, פטור לכולם אין שום ייאוש בעולם יש"ע זה כאן נ נח נחמן מאומן No Fear, משיח בעיר אין ערבים אין פיגועים בג"ץ מסכן יהודים העם עם הגולן העם עם הטרנספר טסט בירכא חבר, אתה חסר הקדוש ברוך הוא אנחנו בוחרים בך בחירה ישירה זה רע הקדוש ברוך הוא אנחנו קנאים לך ימותו הקנאים. כמה רוע אפשר לבלוע אבא תרחם, אבא תרחם קוראים לי נחמן ואני מגמגם כמה רוע אפשר לבלוע אבא תרחם, אבא תרחם ברוך השם אני נושם. מדינת הלכה - הלכה המדינה מי שנולד הרוויח יחי המלך המשיח יש לי בטחון בשלום של שרון חברון מאז ולתמיד ומי שלא נולד הפסיד חברון עיר האבות שלום טרנספר כהנא צדק CNN משקר צריך מנהיג חזק סחתין על השלום, תודה על הבטחון אין לנו ילדים למלחמות מיותרות השמאל עוזר לערבים ביבי טוב ליהודים פושעי אוסלו לדין אנחנו כאן הם שם אחים לא מפקירים עקירת ישובים מפלגת את העם מוות לבוגדים תנו לחיות לחיות מוות לערכים כמה רוע אפשר... לחסל, להרוג, לגרש, להטעות להדביר, להסגיר, עונש מוות, NO FEAR להשמיד, להכחיד, למגר, לבער הכל בגללך, חבר

(lyrics from shiron.net, translation from hebrewsongs.com, edited for grammer/spelling by me)
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Hadag Nachash has for several years held the honorable position as the only hip hop/rap group that I'll listen to. Their stuff has the unique poetic rhythm of rap, but still sounds like music. Oh, and also they don't talk like morons. The Sticker Song is probably my favorite, as well as being one of their most popular songs. It is made up entirely (besides the last verse, I believe) of popular bumper stickers from the rear ends of cars all over Israel, and shows very nicely the intensely varied political makeup is Israel. I would strongly recommend adding this song to your collection.

Josh Marantz

Other funny words I use

So I realize I use alot of funny words, especially when talking about politics. Here are the definitions of those that, unlike socialism, I don't feel deserve their own note.

Libertarian
Wikipedia's Definition:
"A political philosophy maintaining that every person is the absolute owner of their own life and should be free to do whatever they wish with their person or property, as long as they allow others the same liberty."

Basically, I do what I want, and as long as it doesn't affect you you should have no power to do anything about it. This has implications RE laws like gay marriage (what do i care if two guys wanna screw each other? There are no laws of marriage that talk about sex, only business and inheritance etc.) and other things having to do with personal liberties.

Rational Anarchist
This concept comes mostly from Robert Heinlein's book "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" (Heinlein is a genius, and this book is awesome. You should all read it). In it, Heinlein defines Rational Anarchism like this:
"A rational anarchist believes that concepts such as 'state' and 'society' and 'government' have no existence save as physically exemplified in the acts of self-responsible individuals. He believes that it is impossible to shift blame, share blame, distribute blame. . . as blame, guilt, responsibility are matters taking place inside human beings singly and nowhere else. But being rational, he knows that not all individuals hold his evaluations, so he tries to live perfectly in an imperfect world. . . aware that his effort will be less than perfect yet undismayed by self-knowledge of self-failure."

Basically it means that "America" or "Israel" can never do anything wrong, since they do not exist - there are only people who call themselves "Americans" and "Israelis", some of whom do things, others of whom support that first group, and others still who disagree with the first and second groups. It means that following orders is no excuse. It means many things - think it through for yourself.

For those interested in either of these things, read the book I mentioned in the second definition or look up Heinlein by the Wikipedia articles I linked to. They're worth your time.

Why Socialism?

I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals.
-Albert Einstein



Everybody (especially you, Avi) is always asking me "What is Socialism, Marantz?" and "Aren't Socialism and Communism the same thing, Marantz?" Since I can never remember the good arguments off the top of my head, I often end up giving a bad explanation of what it is or arguing with people about simple things that I should be able to answer easily. So I decided to write a note explaining what Socialism is, and why I (and many others, some of which would surprise you) believe that Socialism is an ideal worth working towards. This will start with a simple definition and get progressively more complex as I go along.

Part One - What is Socialism?

So you want to know what Socialism is, eh? Well to start with, Wikipedia defines Socialism as:

"A broad array of doctrines or political movements that envisage a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to social control."

Great eh? Now I bet that helped alot.

To translate, the first thing the definition states is that Socialism can be used to many different doctrines - i.e. the definition is rather slippery. It does have certain basic characteristics which I'll try to pin down here.

The next thing that Wikipedia tells us is that Socialism refers to a socio-economic system, NOT a political one. This provides the simple answer to the "Aren't Socialism and Communism the same thing?" question I mentioned earlier, that answer being "No, Socialism is a socio-economic system and Communism is a political system." Another way of putting this is that Socialism has no beef with the Democracy we have in America - it's arguments are restricted solely to Capitalism.

The last part of the definition, that in Socialism "Property and the distribution of wealth are subject to social control", is also the most informative part. See, under Capitalism everybody controls their own wealth and possessions. In a Socialist society, on the other hand, control is placed in the hands of the community - so even though you wouldn't be able to stop that kid who sits next to you from using your iPod whenever he wants, or even taking it home with him, as soon as you came of age (whatever that age happens to be in that society) you'd be able to borrow your neighbor's Mercedes whenever you wanted, provided noone else was using it at the time.

Part Two - What is so great about Socialism?

That's Socialism in a nutshell, I guess. Now to go into what I like so much about the idea.

The first thing is simply that I believe that, in a society with a properly motivated and educated populace, Socialism functions better than Capitalism does.

The definition of Capitalism that I'll be using here, incidentally, is a system where objects and other property are largely placed under the control of individuals, and that these properties can then be traded for other properties or services that are evaluated to be worth approximately the same amount of capital (aka money). So basically, what we have in most of the modern world.

The first thing I'd like to point out about Capitalism is that it inherently encourages corruption of those who have the power to effect the entire society (big businessmen and politicians). Because every service and property can be valued in terms of money, why (from the perspective of the individual politician or businessman) should any service that he can perform using the power granted him by his office be different? Or if you prefer, why shouldn't he accept bribes? If the potential gain outweighs the risk, why should a politician not sell his vote on some critical issue?

If you prefer, think of it in terms of the way modern medicine works. When does a doctor get paid? Either when the patient comes in for a regular checkup, or when the patient is sick. On the surface it seems like the doctor should simply try to make his patients sick... ah, but if the patient catches on, the doctor risks making the patient move to another practice, or even getting sued for malpractice! The advantage now clearly goes to doctors who manage to keep their patients sick only slightly longer than usual so as to escape notice.

"But Marantz," you ask, "is there any other model used to pay for medical care?" Well yes there is, now that you mention it. In some Eastern countries instead of paying a doctor to make you well when you're sick, you pay a doctor to keep you from getting sick when you're well! In this model, if you get sick you STOP paying your doctor until he gets you well again! Although this is bad for naturally healthy people, it makes alot of sense since it encourages the doctor to keep you as healthy as possible for as long as possible.

Socialism opparates on similar principles. In a Socialist-Democratic society, the heads of state are encouraged to pass laws that stabilize the society and lead to general economic prosperity instead of laws that are good for them and their friends, simply because they can't help themselves without helping others - since they have no personal property, the only way they can get richer is by making the community richer. IMO this would solve many of the problems in today's society.

Well I'm tired, so although I'll probably add more later I figure this is enough for now. I do suggest, however, that anybody seriously read this articlem entitled Why Socialism?, by Albert Einstein which explains better than I ever could why Socialism is a good idea. Lemme know if this helps or not, or if you're actually interested in hearing more.

Do not go gentle into that good night, by Dylan Thomas

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

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A beautiful poem. I know next to nothing about Dylan Thomas, but if this poem is any example of his work he's awesome. The message that I read from it is simple - don't EVER go down without a fight.

Josh Marantz

The Universal Soldier by Buffy Sainte Marie

He's five feet two and he's six feet four
He fights with missiles and with spears
He's all of 31 and he's only 17
He's been a soldier for a thousand years

He's a Catholic, a Hindu, an atheist, a Jain,
a Buddhist and a Baptist and a Jew
and he knows he shouldn't kill
and he knows he always will
kill you for me my friend and me for you

And he's fighting for Canada,
he's fighting for France,
he's fighting for the USA,
and he's fighting for the Russians
and he's fighting for Japan,
and he thinks we'll put an end to war this way

And he's fighting for Democracy
and fighting for the Reds
He says it's for the peace of all
He's the one who must decide
who's to live and who's to die
and he never sees the writing on the walls

But without him how would Hitler have
condemned him at Dachau
Without him Caesar would have stood alone
He's the one who gives his body
as a weapon to a war
and without him all this killing can't go on

He's the universal soldier and he
really is to blame
His orders come from far away no more
They come from him, and you, and me
and brothers can't you see
this is not the way we put an end to war.

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This song was popularized by Donovan, although it's renown has (of course) faded with time. The writer, Buffy Sainte Marie, is a Native American activist whose career was greatly hindered by the government which did it's best to suppress her music, which they saw as seditious, including spiriting off several shipments of her music. The Universal Soldier helped me realize that no matter what I think or thought about the Iraq war I am just as responsible as every other American is for what we've done over there - that we are all personally responsible for the wars our country engages in. Very good stuff.

Josh Marantz

Colours by Donovan Lynch

Yellow is the colour of my true loves hair
in the morning when we rise
in the morning when we rise
That's the time thats the time I love the best

Green's the colour of the sprklin' corn
in the morning when we rise
in the morning when we rise
That's the time thats the time I love the best

Blue's the colour of the sky
in the morning when we rise
in the morning when we rise
That's the time thats the time I love the best

Mellow is the feelin' that I get
when I see her Mm hmm
when I see her uh - huh
That's the time thats the time I love the best

Freedom is a word I rarely use
Without thinkin' mm - hmm
without thinkin' mm -hmm
of the time of the time when I've been loved

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Donovan is very like Dylan in time period and music, but he is in my opinion better at both writing and composing. Colours is just a simple little song, but I hear a purity in it that is missing from many/most modern songs.

Josh Marantz

The Hurricane by Bob Dylan and Jacques Levy

Pistol shots ring out in the barroom night
Enter Patty Valentine from the upper hall.
She sees the bartender in a pool of blood,
Cries out, "My God, they killed them all!"
Here comes the story of the Hurricane,
The man the authorities came to blame
For somethin' that he never done.
Put in a prison cell, but one time he could-a been
The champion of the world.

Three bodies lyin' there does Patty see
And another man named Bello, movin' around mysteriously.
"I didn't do it," he says, and he throws up his hands
"I was only robbin' the register, I hope you understand.
I saw them leavin'," he says, and he stops
"One of us had better call up the cops."
And so Patty calls the cops
And they arrive on the scene with their red lights flashin'
In the hot New Jersey night.

Meanwhile, far away in another part of town
Rubin Carter and a couple of friends are drivin' around.
Number one contender for the middleweight crown
Had no idea what kinda shit was about to go down
When a cop pulled him over to the side of the road
Just like the time before and the time before that.
In Paterson that's just the way things go.
If you're black you might as well not show up on the street
'Less you wanna draw the heat.

Alfred Bello had a partner and he had a rap for the cops.
Him and Arthur Dexter Bradley were just out prowlin' around
He said, "I saw two men runnin' out, they looked like middleweights
They jumped into a white car with out-of-state plates."
And Miss Patty Valentine just nodded her head.
Cop said, "Wait a minute, boys, this one's not dead"
So they took him to the infirmary
And though this man could hardly see
They told him that he could identify the guilty men.

Four in the mornin' and they haul Rubin in,
Take him to the hospital and they bring him upstairs.
The wounded man looks up through his one dyin' eye
Says, "Wha'd you bring him in here for? He ain't the guy!"
Yes, here's the story of the Hurricane,
The man the authorities came to blame
For somethin' that he never done.
Put in a prison cell, but one time he could-a been
The champion of the world.

Four months later, the ghettos are in flame,
Rubin's in South America, fightin' for his name
While Arthur Dexter Bradley's still in the robbery game
And the cops are puttin' the screws to him, lookin' for somebody to blame.
"Remember that murder that happened in a bar?"
"Remember you said you saw the getaway car?"
"You think you'd like to play ball with the law?"
"Think it might-a been that fighter that you saw runnin' that night?"
"Don't forget that you are white."

Arthur Dexter Bradley said, "I'm really not sure."
Cops said, "A poor boy like you could use a break
We got you for the motel job and we're talkin' to your friend Bello
Now you don't wanta have to go back to jail, be a nice fellow.
You'll be doin' society a favor.
That sonofabitch is brave and gettin' braver.
We want to put his ass in stir
We want to pin this triple murder on him
He ain't no Gentleman Jim."

Rubin could take a man out with just one punch
But he never did like to talk about it all that much.
It's my work, he'd say, and I do it for pay
And when it's over I'd just as soon go on my way
Up to some paradise
Where the trout streams flow and the air is nice
And ride a horse along a trail.
But then they took him to the jailhouse
Where they try to turn a man into a mouse.

All of Rubin's cards were marked in advance
The trial was a pig-circus, he never had a chance.
The judge made Rubin's witnesses drunkards from the slums
To the white folks who watched he was a revolutionary bum
And to the black folks he was just a crazy nigger.
No one doubted that he pulled the trigger.
And though they could not produce the gun,
The D.A. said he was the one who did the deed
And the all-white jury agreed.

Rubin Carter was falsely tried.
The crime was murder "one," guess who testified?
Bello and Bradley and they both baldly lied
And the newspapers, they all went along for the ride.
How can the life of such a man
Be in the palm of some fool's hand?
To see him obviously framed
Couldn't help but make me feel ashamed to live in a land
Where justice is a game.

Now all the criminals in their coats and their ties
Are free to drink martinis and watch the sun rise
While Rubin sits like Buddha in a ten-foot cell
An innocent man in a living hell.
That's the story of the Hurricane,
But it won't be over till they clear his name
And give him back the time he's done.
Put in a prison cell, but one time he could-a been
The champion of the world.

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Yes, I know. Marantz and Bob Dylan, how typical. Still, this is an amazing song, one that tells a horrible story. "The Hurricane" was Rubin Carter, a black middleweight boxer who looked to be up for a chance to win the middleweight boxing crown. He was framed for a triple murder so he would be unable to compete - years later he was cleared, but he had lost his chance to be "the champion of the world" forever. Listen to the song, it's better than the lyrics (if you find a version without violin somehow, throw it out and get the original). Rubin's story should never be forgotten - to do so is to disrespect the memory of a man greater than any of those reading this (or writing this) will likely ever be.

Josh Marantz

The Christians and the Pagans by Dar Williams

Amber called her uncle, said "We're up here for the holiday
Jane and I were having Solstice, now we need a place to stay"
And her Christ-loving uncle watched his wife hang Mary on a tree
He watched his son hang candy canes all made with red dye number three
He told his niece, "It's Christmas eve, I know our life is not your style"
She said, "Christmas is like Solstice, and we miss you and it's been awhile"

So the Christians and the Pagans sat together at the table
Finding faith and common ground the best that they were able
And just before the meal was served, hands were held and prayers were said
Sending hope for peace on earth to all their gods and goddesses

The food was great, the tree plugged in, the meal had gone without a hitch
Till Timmy turned to Amber and said, "Is it true that you're a witch?"
His mom jumped up and said, "The pies are burning," and she hit the kitchen
And it was Jane who spoke, she said, "It's true, your cousin's not a Christian"
"But we love trees, we love the snow, the friends we have, the world we share
And you find magic from your God, and we find magic everywhere"

So the Christians and the Pagans sat together at the table
Finding faith and common ground the best that they were able
And where does magic come from, I think magic's in the learning
Cause now when Christians sit with Pagans only pumpkin pies are burning

When Amber tried to do the dishes, her aunt said, "Really, no, don't bother"
Amber's uncle saw how Amber looked like Tim and like her father
He thought about his brother, how they hadn't spoken in a year
He thought he'd call him up and say, "It's Christmas and your daughter's here"
He thought of fathers, sons and brothers, saw his own son tug his sleeve saying
"Can I be a Pagan?" Dad said, "We'll discuss it when they leave"

So the Christians and the Pagans sat together at the table
Finding faith and common ground the best that they were able
Lighting trees in darkness, learning new ways from the old, and
Making sense of history and drawing warmth out of the cold

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Dar Williams is a great modern folk artist. This is (IMO) one of her best songs, as well as one of the best examples of modern folk music I've ever heard. If people behaved more like this, and less like Islamic terrorists (note I use this to express an extreme - I have many friends, including jews religious and secular both, who act more like the latter than the former) I believe that the world would be a much better and more peaceful place.

Josh Marantz

Greetings all

Hello to whomever is reading this, and welcome to my blog. I know there are plenty of blogs out there, and I can even recommend a few good ones to anyone interested in knowing. This blog is mostly for my own amusement, and for any friends of mine that might wanna know what's on my mind. The posts here will be mostly divided into three sections; poems/songs that I listen to and that have an impact on me, with a short blurb as to why I like it; political writings by yours truly, or comments on someone else's; and random personal statements. Hope you enjoy this!

Josh Marantz