Thoughts

Today I got an email from a friend about a journal written about my work Com Etma Nabob which translates into the oxymoron A wealthy secular communist. This journal has the title being all about the author of this laughable ego saturated journal.

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Those who have viewed my work for many years on this site as well as other sites like Art Wanted and EyeFetch are familiar with the IPUP Sagas as well as the Fartherthantruth Alliance. The IPUP Saga first appeared in 2004 and the Fartherthantruth Alliance appeared the end of 2004 early 2005 as the antagonist to the IPUP. I would have much preferred to have called the IPUP the Foundation or the Federation but those concepts belong already to Isaac Asimov and Gene Roddenberry. Many who have enjoyed the ongoing story of these two societies know I enjoy creating names formed on obscure things or stringing disparate or nonsensical terms into a word or phrase. So most are not reading beyond the words for a deeper meaning or message they are just words to describe something about the image or descriptive storyline.


So how did Com Etma Nabob come into being?

Com is the abbreviation of communist (it is also abbreviation for commander or commodore)

ETMA is Education that is Multicultural and Achievement from the Maryland State Board of Education. A link at the bottom of this essay will guide you to a page which describes this concept in detail for any who wish to take a look.

Nabob for any who still remember the Agnew alliteration nattering nabobs of negativism they will understand where nabob came from for those who do not recall Agnew a nabob is a person of wealth or prominence.


Therefore, this person identifies themselves as a wealthy secular communist who is prone to being a felon. Com Etma Nabob is the capital city on a planet who is named for a family being prosecuted in Massachusetts for wire fraud and running a bank scam to the tune of $1 Billion.


From reading the journal it is amusing to see someone claiming to know my thought process better than myself.

“I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!
[a croupier hands Renault a pile of money]”

Captain Renault played by Claude Raines in the 1942 movie Casablanca

Like the character of Captain Renault in the famous movie Casablanca I was shocked to read a conservative bemoaning their freedom of speech will be repressed if a Liberal government is elected this November 4th. I was amused by their insistence conservatives are being repressed on an online art community by the liberal leaning powers of the art community in question.

What really got me to thinking is historically in America the conservative philosophy displays a marked decline in civil liberties as well as repression of the “free speech’ where it is predominant. This person was moaning they would be losing their right of free speech if a liberal government came into power. Since the 1860’s the United States has been ruled by the Demopublican Party the conservative wing has been the harbinger of corrupt practices i.e. the administrations of Presidents Grant, Harding, Nixon, and Bush to name just a few that had administrations racked with scandal as well as erosion of civil rights during their tenure. Separate but Equal is a conservative ideal, many conservatives in the South implemented that policy via rope, robe and hood for many decades. Other conservatives built corrupt political machines sapping the people of their inalienable rights the Daly machine of Chicago, the machine of Hudson County, NJ, the politics of Gov. Long of Louisiana, the current Bush administration and one of the most famous Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall are all examples of this type of corruption of the public’s trust.

The author even admitted their involvement in a concerted group effort to anger members of opposing viewpoints. The author acknowledged they did things to incite anger by their own words. This is not the first time this author partook in a concerted effort to silence or repress the freedom of speech of others on this art community. The author has vilified and attacked without any regard to substance which seems to be a trait of today’s conservatives. Long gone are the days of conservatives that think and debate upon the substance of issues. Very few conservatives have stepped into the vacuum left by the absence of Goldwater, Buckley and Holmes to mention just a few of the intellectual greats that epitomized conservative thought throughout the decades.

So yes I am shocked, shocked I tell you to read a conservative cry foul bemoaning the rights of all conservatives are going to be repressed. While admitting they take part in the repression and suppression of other people’s right to free speech through innuendo and subtle organized group efforts of harassment.

You may also wish to comment here if you would like.

“Couldnt have said this better myself I am so sick of people in this country that hide behind the phrase I love my country, and Im the only true patriot because I criticise my government, and create artwork that brings awareness to the people . In my view, they are the worst kind of so called patriot. They create images that villify this country, its service men and women and look to destroy anyone that gets in their way. I dont believe that its done with the intent of changing anything its done to attract attention to themselves, create drama, controversy, and sales! And the worst thing about it isall those so called patriotic images attract hateful, vile people, that hate this country and they use those images to garner attention themselves. I say, if you want to create real change, then run for congress, join the army, become and educator or just plain get a job. Sitting around all day creating patriotic images that are completely disrespectful of your country because you dont have anything better to do and because you play the victim role and think this country owes you something is quite offensive to me. Just know that whatever the real agenda behind the images are. I dont care. I will stand behind our government and support the men and women that fight for our freedom and I will not disrespect our country or the people that live here.”

D. Davenport

I found the above entry an interesting response to Peters essay (see the essay Remembering the SOL 56). She wrote passionately, expressing her point of view and defended every persons right to be passionate so long as it fits her criteria of acceptable activism. The view that activism is somehow discounted or not valid if it holds a differing point of view from the author has been going on throughout history.

Publish or create art that goes against the church and you will be tortured.
Speak up against the Nobles and youll be thrown in the dungeon.
Hold up the governments indiscretions in the old Soviet Russia, Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy or Spain, or pick any dictatorship that maintains passion for a cause that is not along the company line and you shall be punished or murdered.

The amazing thing is people still published and created even though they knew they were going to be tortured, jailed, or killed. Activism comes in all shapes and sizes, but the foundation of activism is the passion we have for our political, environmental, or social beliefs. Without the passion, there would never be that power that turns the engine of activism.

Without activism we still would believe the earth was the center of the universe, or that the earth is flat. We would believe certain birthrights were superior to other birthrights. If it wasnt for activism, America and about 75% of the world would still be part of the British colonial system. Tolerance of different religious beliefs would not be existent. Ethnic cleansing would be an acceptable practice of foreign policy. We would believe that we all evolved because of Intelligent Design rather than Darwinism. In addition, our life span would be a mere 25 years on average as opposed to the 70+ years we enjoy today.

Activism is as necessary to humanity as is breathing or eating. Artistic creation provides an outlet for our passions for our point of view to be shared with the public. Being anti-war or anti-government is not wrong if it can shed light that a government or a war is counter to our welfare. The founding fathers of the USA stated it was our god-given right to redress our government if it is not doing the best thing for the public good. Ronald Reagan (who in my opinion was the greatest social activist since FDR although I disagree with the core principles of Reaganomics) said, Are you better off today than you were 4 years ago? Most Americans today can answer that question with a resounding, NO! We have wandered away from the values that made America great: social justice, fair play, an honest and caring government, religious freedom, and a standard of morals so filled with passion and activism which attracted the worlds most economically and socially oppressed people to flock to the shores of America. One of the first things they saw when they came to our northeastern shores was the Libert Eclairant le Monde, or the Statue of Liberty as it is more commonly known.

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

Countless millions of people have come to our shores and embraced our passion for liberty and the American concept that you are free to express your opinions so long as you allow everyone else their opinions, even if they are directly opposed to your own. When the government begins to oppress and suppress those God-given rights you end up with the current sad state of affairs we Americans are living today.

This previous author expresses the party line that the government has been spewing for many years while she speaks of freedom. This is the same government that waterboards and tortures people in the name of protecting my freedoms. It taps into the private conversations of its citizens in the name of keeping me safe from my enemies. It knowingly lies to the citizens for our own good. Its current officials have been caught numerous times ignoring the Constitution of the United States because it does not fit fundamentalist Christian views. There was a reason why the Founding Fathers demanded separation between Church and State, but our current government has shown they are in total disagreement with the Founding Fathers. Thus, the current government could and should be considered enemies of my freedoms and my countrys long history of political, social, and religious freedoms that we as Americans have held so dear for the 225 years prior to the current administration.

Yes activism is alive and well in America even though the above author feels it is anti-American, anti-troops, and anti-whatever-she -believes to express these differing ideas. It is still our God-given right to exercise our activism even if it makes her feel angry and passionate in her resolve to belittle those of us who have a different point of view from hers. Activism is as American as Mom, Apple Pie and Chevrolet!

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If you would like to view the original thread from RedBubble with comments you can read it here in a pdf format. Original Mom Apple Pie and Chevrolet with comments

You can go back to Redbubble to make any comments if you wish or just get back to Redbubble to enjoy the community that is there. Back to the essaymore->

I read an essay by Pete Evans. What caught my eye was this section of his essay:
“I should add that I am NOT a rascist, a bigot, a Nazi, or anything similar that I may get called after I post this. In fact I don’t think I have hated anyone in my life and doubt whether I ever will, certainly not my country. I just vehmenently dislike terrorists and those who support them; in any way.

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In today’s world there are estimated 5,000 nuclear warheads in the United States arsenal alone. One out of three warheads is past their “expected” life expectancy and as time goes on pose extreme environmental issues as to where to put them as they are rotated out of the arsenal. Not to mention that the delivery systems may be brittle due to rusted decay, corrosion, and other maladies of age. There is even a plan to upgrade them so they may be kept in service. When they were first developed they were built under the adage that the other side would be MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) to get into a nuclear exchange. That was the “Cold War” mentality, in today’s world there are people that don’t care about MAD they will willing walk into a center of a major population center with a suitcase or a van or a truck depending on the reports of how compact nuclear material can be delivered and obliterate a city of millions as well as themselves.

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A barter exchange is any person or organization with members or clients that contract with each other (or with the barter exchange) to jointly trade or barter property or services. The term does not include arrangements that provide solely for the informal exchange of similar services on a noncommercial basis.” U.S. Internal Revenue Service

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Four Powerful Little Words:

Keep an eye out when you are involved with art sites and communities. Check their terms of service, acceptable usage policies, and any other documents to see if there are any gotcha phrases that will nullify your bundle of rights to your property. Though the site may say you retain your copyright many sites put in terms that will have the site share your rights as if they were their own without compensation or need to acknowledge your copyrights. Look for the most common gotcha clause on the Internet:

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