You're Just Another Brick in the Wall

PINK FLOYD

Album:  THE WALL 1979

Another Brick in the Wall

Lyrics
We don't need no education
We don't need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey, teachers, leave them kids alone
All in all it's just another brick in the wall
All in all you're just another brick in the wall

We don't need no education
We don't need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom

Teachers leave those kids alone
Hey teachers, leave those kids alone
All in all you're just another brick in the wall
All in all you're just another brick in the wall

"Wrong, do it again! Wrong, do it again!"
"If you don't eat yer meat, you can't have any pudding
How can you have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat?"
"You, yes, you behind the bike sheds, stand still, laddy"

PR for the group claims the meaning of the song is as follows:

The wall refers to the emotional barrier Waters built around himself because he wasn't in touch with reality. The bricks in the all were the events in his life which propelled him to build this proverbial wall around him, and his school teacher was another brick in the wall.  

However...  I believe that is bullshit and put together by the group's PR team to promote their non traditional personalities.  FOR ME, the general public in any country are so meaningless to their respective societies that each citizen represent another meaningless brick in the wall of life.  We are bricks in a wall that is built by power and control and wealth...  This song has an existential approach to life and no matter how hard we try to prevent what is going to happen to us, we all eventually become just another brick in the wall.

Police Reform

I AM ALL IN FAVOR OF POLICE REFORM...

The police have gotten TOO POWERFUL as they attempt to STOP:

• Urban and Residential Crime
• The selling of illegal drugs in our cities
• Organized Crime and Racketeering
• Extortion and Bribery
• Gang violence and murders
• Rape and Sexual Assault

There was a time in the USA where CRIMINALS had better and more powerful weapons than the police...  and, as the police BITCHED AND COMPLAINED, city councils and States allocated monies for them to acquire sophisticated weaponry and SWAT teams.

I live in the Valley of East TN...   not in a city...  and, certainly not in a BIG CITY...  and, most days when I am out and about, I very seldom see any police at all.  And, when I do, they are not seen intimidating blacks in any way shape or form.

However, I cannot say the same is true for:  Knoxville, Nashville, Memphis, or Chattanooga because I have never lived in those areas for any length of time...  primarily just visiting if I went there at all.

PERSONALLY, I have no desire to live in a CITY large or small.

I also know that the State of TN has one of the lowest Highway Patrol Forces of any State...  and, taking that into consideration, it is highly UNLIKELY that one will get caught for SPEEDING on the interstates in TN unless you are near an urban area...

Nowadays, Highway Patrols here have enlisted the help of Sheriff Departments and local police to stop violators of the posted speed limits.  Still, their numbers are still small and since there are so many people exceeding the speed limits on a regular basis, they only stop those that they are relatively confident will not get overturned in a court of law if the ticket were to be challenge...  OR, the violator has an OUT OF STATE plate.

HERE"S THE POINT:  Law Enforcement NUMBERS help deter crime..  the more police the less crime...

During BIKE WEEK at Myrtle Beach last year...  my wife and I were there because we overlooked those dates...  always avoiding that week...  but, last year we were there...   and, saw first hand that the city of Myrtle Beach had a HUGE POLICE PRESENCE drawing on nearby police departments to provide additional manpower.

On the main beach road, there was only ONE LANE OF TRAFFIC and there was a group of several police every other block and a few police every other block...  the flow of traffic was stop and go and remained that way for the 4 hours we moved down that road.

All of the police wore protective vests and were heavily armed...

There was no trouble provided by the BIKERS even when most of them got drunk and began walking around the town...

I CANNOT IMAGINE WHAT IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN LIKE IF THE POLICE PRESENCE WOULD HAVE BEEN CUT IN HALF...  OR, IF MYRTLE BEACH HAD BEEN FORCED TO RELY ON ITS OWN DEPARTMENT NUMBERS...

PUFF the Magic Dragon 1965 released...

LIVE in 1986

Twenty One years later...

The lyrics of this song can be easily found on the Internet and if you were to do that like I just did and read them thoroughly and digest their meaning as you do, it will be obvious to you that the song is about SMOKING WEED...  and, as one gets older one no longer needs to SMOKE WEED...  one out grows youthful thoughts as one GETS OLDER...

Of course, I still know people who in their 70's and 80's are still SMOKING WEED because of the relaxing feeling it gives them...

BUT, the fact remains that a majority of people AGE OUT of younger thoughts, feelings, attitudes, and actions as they grow old...  sometimes, this transition is difficult and sometimes it is relatively easy...  but, the transition happens nonetheless.

GROWING OLD IS SAD...

LAW ENFORCEMENT is NOT THE PROBLEM

Law Enforcement, like mother-in-laws,  is a necessary evil...  All of my experience with law enforcement has been on the Interstate Highways as a result of being stopped for exceeding the posted speed limit and the irony about me being stopped is that I was the last car in a pack of cars all of which were exceeding the speed limit but I was the easiest one to catch since I was at the end...  needless to say that PISSED ME OFF and I have had little respect for law enforcement ever since.

• I have never driven recklessly
• I have never moved in and out of lanes to get around slow cars in 4 lane roads
• I stopped driving under the influence in 1990
• I stopped driving all night without sleeping
• I stopped driving when I was sleepy
  
• I never exceed the speed limit when children are in the car
• I never exceed the speed limit when someone else is in the car
• I never drive fast in residential communities
• I never drive fast because I am late for work - I always make sure I leave early
• I never drive fast when it is raining hard
• I never drive fast when ice is on the roads
• I never drive fast in the fall after leaves have falling and it is raining
• I never tail gate the car in front of me
• I assume everyone else on the road does not know how to drive

1987 - turned 40 years old

You must also bear in mind that I:

Quit smoking at age 40

Quit drinking at age 40

Started eating healthy at age 40

Started driving carefully at age 40

Decided I wanted to live to at least 95

Once I set my mind to something, I generally do EXACTLY WHAT I HAD IN MIND...

BUT,

this is about LAW ENFORCEMENT and how they abuse their power and what I have come to realize after living 72 years, there are many people IN POWER who ABUSE THEIR POWER...  it just seems to be the nature of the game in the USA...

• My parents abused their power
• My teachers in high school abused their power
• My college professors abused their power
• My military leaders abused their power
• My employers abused their power
• My ministers have abused their power
• My friends have abused their power

SO, 

it comes as no surprise to me that LAW ENFORCEMENT would abuse their power, especially when it is convenient for them and often when they perceive their lives are at risk.

• Protesting is going to do no good
• Killing police personnel is going to do no good
• Additional training is going to do no good
• De-funding police departments is going to do no good
• Eliminating police departments is going to do no good
• Restructuring police departments is going to do no good
• Creating equality is going to do no good

WHAT IS GOING TO WORK THEN?

Obviously, no one can answer that question because if they had, it would have already been done...  and that is the really SAD PART HERE...  This same shit was around in the 1960's when I was growing up and NOTHING HAS CHANGED...

AGAIN, if all of our leaders really wanted this type of crap to change, they would have done something long ago to STOP IT or TO CHANGE IT...   but, it continues...   but, it persists...   but, it is always there...   but, the general public continues to complain...

SINCE THE 1960's WE HAVE BEEN UNABLE (OR DID NOT WANT TO) STOP:

1. Racism
2. Gender Inequality
3. Racial Inequality
4. Financial Inequality
5. Corporate GREED
6. Illegal Immigration
7. Illegal Drugs (being used or coming into this country)
8. Our failing educational systems (K-12)
9. Congressional Leaders that LIE
   
10. Crooked Politicians
11. Gun Violence
12. CIA BLACK OPS
13. Mismanaged FBI (J Edgar Hoover for example)
14. A manipulated MEDIA

In 1966, I had just graduated from high school in Cairo, Egypt and my father worked for the American Embassy and the entire family had DIPLOMATIC PASSPORTS...  conversations at our dinner table were about sensitive data that were not always share with the American Public but which was shared with Foreign Diplomats overseas...  MY FATHER should not have talked about it but he did...  OUR GOVERNMENT...  many times...  tried to OVERTHROW foreign governments with the intentions of replacing the current leader with a new leader that was more favorable to the USA....

In this regard, most of our actions were HIDDEN...

If this was going on outside the USA can you imagine what MIGHT HAVE BEEN COOKING inside the USA?

AM I RACIST???

I have never thought of myself as being racist especially since I went to high school in Cairo, Egypt and there were 18 different nationalities in our graduating class in 1966 but that was 54 years ago and a person's personality can change as well as their likes and dislikes and I suppose prejudices as well.

What I do know is this:

• I don't enunciate words like blacks do
• I don't dress like blacks do
• I don't like rap or hip hop music
• I would not date a black woman
• I would not go on vacation with a black couple
• I would not attend a black church
• I would not wear my hair like some blacks do
• I would not eat some of the food that blacks eat
• I would not share a motel with a black male
• I would not want my daughter/son to marriage a black person

However,

• I don't mind sitting next to a black person in a restaurant
• I don't mind sitting next to a black person in an airplane or train
• I don't mind standing in line with a black person
• I don't mind sitting next to a black person at Myrtle Beach
• I don't mind sitting next to a black person at a movie or concert
• I don't mind sitting next to a black person on the deck of a cruise ship
• I don't mind being served by a black waiter or bartender
• I don't mind being taught by a black professor
• I don't mind being given a speeding ticket by a black highway patrol person

NO MATTER WHAT THE GOVERNMENT DOES OR DOES NOT DO WHEN IT COMES TO RACIAL INEQUALITY...  THESE THOUGHTS WILL MORE THAN LIKELY NEVER CHANGE...

Odds and Ends

Do Away With Law Enforcement

I heard on FOX NEWS this morning that there are certain cities/areas in the country that want to abolish or do away with the local police and law enforcement because of the death of George Floyd.  In my humble opinion, NOTHING COULD BE MORE FRIGGING STUPID...  and, all of these suggestions are...   hold your breath...  wait for it...  coming from DEMOCRATS.

NOW TO BE FAIR, these Democrats want to replace the OLD LAW ENFORCEMENT DEPARTMENT with a NEW LAW ENFORCEMENT DEPARTMENT that is more sensitive to community needs which will be more sympathetic to our BLACK COMMUNITIES...  but, unless they have a police force that is totally comprised of BLACK POLICE OFFICERS any white police officers will INSTANTLY make the BLACK COMMUNITY remember SLAVERY...  which seems to be their main problem...  

WHITES WILL ALWAYS REMIND BLACKS OF SLAVERY NO MATTER HOW NICE OR SYMPATHETIC THEY ARE...

Personally, I think that is a bunch of BULLSHIT...  It is completely wrong for WHITE Police Officers to RACIALLY PROFILE BLACKS but if we have an ALL BLACK police department, my guess is that after 2-3 years these BLACK POLICE OFFICERS will start RACIALLY PROFILING BLACK people too...  especially in the larger cities because they are the CORE of inner city crime.

That is not to say that WHITE PEOPLE do not commit crime because they do...  but, very few whites live in the inner cities of large metropolitan areas...  and, until that changes black will be committing most of the crime...

Book of the Month

America Is Changing

The Covid-19 Pandemic has changed America, perhaps forever, and even after we find a vaccine because of regulations that will remain into effect after the first wave of the Pandemic has passed.  For example, we will continue to leave seats vacant in doctor's offices and restaurants and even though face masks will not be worn, many of us will continue to social distance.  We will wash our hands more frequently, and public places will be cleaning more highly touched areas more often than they have in the past.

Public Transportation will forever change as well which includes buses, airplanes, subways,  and railroads where the distance between passengers will be maintained...  and, cleaning more frequently will be done there as well.

PUBLIC HEALTH WILL BE OF PRIMARY CONCERN...  will be our first change...

The second change will come in INCREASED PRICES...  because it will be the general public and the consumer that will be charged higher prices to pay for these increased services....  businesses and store owners WILL NOT EAT these increased costs.

There will be a HUGE INCREASE of people in these public places like BEACHES because people have been quarantined and NEED TO GET OUT...  but, eventually when the novelty wears off, people will come to their latent senses and stay away from public places in fear of contracting the virus or some variation of the virus that could possibly develop...

The THIRD CHANGE will be law enforcement...  because of GEORGE FLOYD'S DEATH....  our BLACK community will not let this incident die out without receiving some dramatic changes...  and, that seems incredibly obvious, at least to me, because of the NATIONWIDE support that has been reported on  the NEWS...

POLICE DEPARTMENTS have traditionally abused their power in order to enforce the laws across the board simply because there are more people than there are police.

HOW ELSE WILL THE MANY BE CONTROLLED BY THE FEW...

Obviously, the general public does not want to have law enforcement around but since they WILL NOT police themselves and equally as obvious law enforcement will be around to protect public property and enforce the laws.

Some cities plan to REMAKE law enforcement and while that is a noble endeavor, it is hardly practical or ethically possible due to the nature of people.

SO YES...  law enforcement will CHANGE as well but after a few years the police will CHANGE BACK when local governments realize that they have been completely ineffective.

These next TEN YEARS will be years of transition and with that transition will come a little pain as well learn to live with our new VIRTUAL MENTAL IMPLANTS...

M I L F S

What To Do At Home

Timeless