Walking Meditation

March 22, 2015April 2, 2015 / Benn Bell / 4 Comments

Taking a walk on a cool spring morning. I loaf and I invite my soul to loaf contemplating a spear of summer grass. This may seem like a contradiction. I contradict myself? Very well I contradict myself. I am large and I contain multitudes.

I like to get off the beaten track when I’m walking. I like to walk in solitude. I don’t like to run into people. Walking in the city is different. In a big city like New York or Philadelphia your solitude is protected in a cloak of anonymity.

The sound of the dragon fly singing in the withered tree comes to my ear.

Life is like a drop of dew on a blade of grass.

I stop beside the still waters to restore my soul.

I lie down in the green pasture to pass the time.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil.

My rod and my staff they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me…

My cup runs over…

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me the rest of my days.

Scientific Method

February 27, 2015March 2, 2015 / Benn Bell / 2 Comments

Walker Percy in “Diagnosing the Modern Malaise, in Signposts in a Strange Land” wrote: “the consciousness of Western man, the layman in particular, has been transformed by a curious misapprehension of the scientific method”. Unfortunately it seems to me to be rather the reverse is true. We, here in America, suffer from an abhorrence of the scientific method. What with climate deniers, evolution doubting creationists, and a singular lack of understanding female anatomy, it is enough to make one hold one’s head in shame. As far as justice goes, what justice? Justice is an illusion. The world is run by the power elite who get overthrown from time to time by the very peasantry they overrule and submit to structural violence. As Bob Dylan said in his song about Hurricane Carter, “…one cannot help but be ashamed to live in a land where justice is a game.”

Chapel Hill Murders

February 15, 2015 / Benn Bell / 2 Comments

Trying to parse whether the senseless killing of three young Muslims at an apartment complex in Chapel in Chapel Hill, NC was a hate crime or a dispute over parking is an exercise in futility and a distinction without a difference. These three young people are dead in either case. Only a person full of hate could perpetrate such a heinous and outrageous crime against humanity. This chinless monster known as Craig Stephen Hicks is an abysmal human being living a life of quiet desperation collecting guns and burning a slow hate filled fuse. He was a ticking time bomb waiting to go off and the parking dispute was the detonator that set him off. What can we learn from this hideous crime? One, tolerance of intolerance is evil. We should always condemn bigotry in all its forms, be it racial, gender or religious. Two, this man should never have been allowed to carry a firearm, much less amass a cache of guns and ammunition. He was simply too irresponsible and incompetent to do so. Besides, who nee to have so many weapons? We need to have a serious conversation about the proliferation of guns in this country. Enough is enough already! How many more senseless killings will it take? How many roads must a man walk down? How many times must a weapon discharge? How many times must we turn our heads and pretend not to see?

Fox News: Ministry of Information

January 26, 2015January 27, 2015 / Benn Bell / 6 Comments

There are two ways of infringing liberty: by police power or economic power. The latter can be exercised either directly or indirectly, by orienting the way people think, by addling their brains, by using the press (media, a la Fox News) to bias them in favor of special interests (think Koch Brothers and Citizens United).

Citizens United left this country open to the power of money. We now know the extent to which moneyed interests use the press to further their interests.

American Sniper

January 21, 2015January 21, 2015 / Benn Bell / Leave a comment

I have seen the film and I think it is quite good, but my reaction is complicated by the fact that I have a visceral dislike for the whole concept of sniper fire. Shooting people from a distance who never knew what hit them seems a little unseemly to me. I don’t like it. Put that together with the fact that the real life Chris Kyle was a racist and a bigot and would basically shoot any Iraqi, man, woman, or child, gives me even more pause. I am reminded of Wounded Knee and the slaughter of innocents who were also referred to as savages. Kyle is also a proven liar. Jessie Ventura has just won a lawsuit against his estate for a story about him in his book that was completely fabricated. You have to wonder what else is Kyle lying about. Not to mention the fact that we should not have been in Iraq in the first place. It was not a just nor a good war. But this story transcends the life of the real Chris Kyle and brings to our attention the plight of the American soldier returning from multiple deployments and the psychological trauma inflicted upon these tortured souls. Attention must be paid!

Golden Globes 2015

January 12, 2015February 15, 2015 / Benn Bell / Leave a comment

There was no one hotter than J-LO at the 2015 Golden Globes Awards with the possible exception of Heidi Klum. Viola Davis is looking mighty fine these days. Bill Murray gets special mention for “Most Disheveled” and Helen Mirren is sexy as ever.

Unbroken

January 6, 2015January 8, 2015 / Benn Bell / 2 Comments

The movie Unbroken, directed by Angelina Jolie, proves that Miss Jolie is not only a movie star of the first magnitude, but a first rate director as well. There have been a lot of snarky comments about Angelina lately in the press, but I don’t know why there should be so much hate out there for the beautiful and talented Miss Jolie. Jealousy is the only thing I can see. I think credit is due for this masterful piece of work.
The film was beautifully photographed by Roger Deakins, also known for his work on The Shawshank Redemption, No Country for Old Men and, Skyfall. Writing credits go to Joel and Ethan Coen. The film was based on the best-selling book of the same name written by Laura Hillenbrand.
I was somewhat taken aback by some of the critics who called the movie boring and the hero unheroic. Nothing could be further from the truth. I was mesmerized for the entire running time of 2 hours and 17 minutes. This film was about the triumph of the human spirit. It was not about super human deeds on the battlefield.
The movie was a faithful rendition of the book on which it was based. It told in a straight forward way with flashbacks throughout to flesh out the back story and give the audience understanding of what gave Louie Zamperini the strength of character to remain unbroken throughout the many ordeals he faced during WWII. He first survived a plane crash in the ocean, then survived 45 days at sea on a rubber raft with very little food and water. When he was picked up by the Japanese he was incarcerated in a prison camp and braved harsh conditions, mistreatment, and torture at the hands of a sadistic camp commander known as, “The Bird.”
In my view this is an inspirational film of epic proportion that shows us that the human spirit can triumph over evil. We need more films like this one. I see Oscar buzz and a possible nomination for best picture. It has my vote. Bravo Angelina Jolie!

December 26, 1944

December 27, 2014December 27, 2014 / Benn Bell / 2 Comments

The Pope has just delivered a message in which he openly states his support for democracy…We have been waiting many years for the leading spiritual authority of the day to condemn dictatorship in no uncertain terms. We have been waiting all this time for someone to speak out and clearly identify the sources of evil as the Pope has now done. We wished for this to be said when evil reigned triumphant and the forces of good remained muzzled.

We would have liked to see the Pope disavow Franco in 1936. We would have liked the Pope to have taken a stand at the height of that shameful period and denounce what needed to be denounced. It as wrenching to think the Church left that obligation to others.

At least we have this message. Our world does not need tepid souls. It needs burning hearts. The Christians of the first century were not moderates.

-Albert Camus writing in Combat in 1944.

A City Upon a Hill

December 23, 2014December 23, 2014 / Benn Bell / 2 Comments

It seems the phrase, “a city upon a hill” has been misappropriated all over the place. It was most recently ascribed to Ronald Reagan who used it to describe America. He probably got it from his speech writer Peggy Noonan who has lifted other memorable quotes from the pages of history. She likely got it from John F. Kennedy who also used it to describe America. It was first used in America in 1630 by a former Governor of Massachusetts, John Winthrop, in a speech wherein he describes American exceptionalism based on the concept of manifest destiny.

The actual origin of the phrase is biblical, Mathew 5:14: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” I believe the origin to be even earlier found in Plato’s Republic. Plato describes the City-State as the perfect form of government and a philosopher-king as the perfect ruler. Plato uses Athens as an example describing it as “city set upon a hill.”

So you see, there is really nothing new under the sun. Everyone steals from everyone else.

Fields of Blood

December 21, 2014 / Benn Bell / 3 Comments

I am reading this new book by Karen Armstrong called, Fields of Blood: Religion and the History of Violence. It is really putting a lot of things into perspective for me. Turns out, until recently, religion and statehood were completely intertwined. State violence has been the order of the day since the beginning of civilization. Nationalism and religion went hand in hand and violence was completely justified as a way of survival by the ruling elite who quite often were the priests and the prelates.

Here is a quote from the book which I quite like.

We are flawed creatures with violent hearts that long for peace.

Ghost Dog

Notes From the Underground