Out of Touch

By: Johnny Lion

A hundred years ago, 99% of babies in orphanages died before they were seven months old. Not through the result of malnutrition, inadequate living conditions, or the lack of modern medical care, but these infants died from a completely different kind of deprivation…the lack of touch. Unlike today in our nation’s hospitals where sick and premature infants, isolated in sterile environments, are made sure to have daily constant physical contact from massages to simply being held and rocked, this was not the case back then.

Once it was realized that physical care might just be linked to the epidemic of marasmus (energy deficiency) befalling all of the babies and they were removed from the large, clean, but impersonal institutions to environments where they received physical nurturing, the marasmus reversed.

How amazing is that? We need human touch; it’s actually essential to our development. This fact, I realize, comes off as painfully obvious since nobody would argue the inherent need to hold and care for a newborn. What may not be nearly as obvious is the fact that our bodies, after becoming fully developed and self-sufficient, never actually loose this inherent need. Yet throughout continuing years, whether it be our escalating fear of the true intentions of others, our conditioned mindset to keep to ourselves, or the increasing ease of long distance communication via texting, twitter, facebook, etc, …we’re quite literally, falling out of touch with each other.

It hit me earlier this month. Through a combination of working long hours in my office at a desk job, applying for grad school, and working on catching up with Lost in time for the season premier (damn that show), I went days without any sort of physical contact with anyone. Now this isn’t to say that I didn’t go anywhere or communicate with anyone. On the contrary, I conducted business, ran errands, spoke to friends and family, played the drums, went to the gym, ect. In fact, over those couple of days I remember being rather happy and pleased with myself having gotten a lot done and being praised for closing some sizable deals at work.

It breaks down like this. As we get older and the need for loving touch like we got from our parents when we were young diminishes, our minds develop tricks to create substitutes for this touch…like success. When we experience success, it pleases us, because our mind and body has linked this to touch, “social touch.” It’s like society is patting us on the head. We then feel the physical sensations of satisfaction. Unfortunately… it’s only a substitute.

I remember growing up and my idols where the parents of one of my closest friends whom we’ll call “Armenian Steve.” Armenian Steve’s parents were the coolest power couple imaginable, a high priced caterer and a business man (to this day I’m not entirely sure what kind, but business was a boomin what ever it was). They had impeccable style, a gaudy house, next years matching Beamers in the driveway, and were generally awesome people to be around. I didn’t find out till years later around the time of their divorce that Mr. and Mrs. Armenian Steve actually hated each other and barely even touched over the past decade. I now recall that whenever I happened to see either of them it was always in between appointments for the salon or the spa. I swear those people spent more time getting pampered than Sayid of Lost spends being ‘awesome.’ It makes sense to me now that they had sub-conscientiously peppered these activities into their lives to compensate for the level of familiar touch that was lacking in their ‘highly successful’ everyday lives. From mani/pedi’s to lap dances, all reprehensive of our need and enjoyment to be touched in a climate where we as a people don’t as often do so.

I believe the danger here lies in the reality that, the further detached we become from one another the less we’ll be able to truly empathize with anyone when it really counts.

During those few days I spent without physical touch, a massive quake touched Haiti. Having been directly affected by Hurricane Katrina and forced sit and watch as family members went missing and my childhood home was destroyed, nothing has actually made me feel more detached and powerless than the resulting aftermath of the recent events in Haiti.

I pledged money with the click of a button the same as everyone else, and then sat in my office on the days that followed and read updates every now and then on the people pulled out from beneath the rubble and the countless others that remained trapped.

Reaching out a helping hand never became so real a concept as the thought of looking into another person’s eyes and literally reaching out a hand to pull them out from under a collapsed roof they’ve been trapped under for days. Yet, it wasn’t till around the time the search for survivors was called off that I got it into my head that I needed more for this situation to be real for me…

In short…it’s important not to forget that we are all connected and that touch is part of being human. With every job promotion and Apple unveiling it gets harder to remain as connected as we should be. So hug your mother, give dabs to your boys, thumb wrestle when ever possible. Reach out and touch someone.

“90999”

By: Militant Jones

“Come on children, you’re acting like children. Every generation thinks it’s the end of the world.” – Jeff Tweedy

What is it your folks always say about the good old days?  “When I was young, we didn’t have (insert specimen of modern technology).” “We didn’t have cell phones or the Internet, and television had only five channels.” Kids these days.

My generation has been weaned on contemporary technological advancements from the womb.  It has been our savior, and yet millions of people love to lament that it is simultaneously our downfall. We cohabit a rapidly advancing planet, a vast network of buttons and answers at mere fingertips; ironically, the more the network expands, the smaller everything becomes. Conventional wisdom alleges that this postmodern dichotomy serves more harm than good, while evangelicals wax that technological excess is a Wi-fi connection directly linked to the apocalypse.

Not to be misleading: I myself have taken part in countless Orwellian elegies in my (still) early years.  I got my first cell phone when I was sixteen. I was appalled a few years later when my parents decided to get my twelve-year old sister her own cell. I argued that I needed mine because I had just received a driver’s license, as if the two were somehow inexorable.  Looking back, what I was probably doing is searching for logical means of convincing myself that my dependency on instant connection was warranted by nature, instead of, well, sheer dependency.  It wasn’t until recently that I fully realized the positive affects that big brother could have on the most critical (and oldest) of modern networks: humanity.

The tragedy in Haiti is so grand, on a scale so vast, it has the potential to devastate an entire country forever.  Not just years, but decades, perhaps centuries, and in truth they might never fully recover. This gloomy forecast is likely not to rain true, and for one simple reason: your cell phone. Over the past week, every news outlet, every television network, and every prominent website has shown us endlessly how easy it is to help rebuild a tattered nation. By simply texting “Haiti” to 90999, you donate $10 dollars to the Red Cross Haitian Relief Fund, and the money goes directly to your cell phone bill.

Read that again. Think about it. I helped Haiti from my bed, while watching a Laker game. It sounds trite, but think about the ease with which I donated to such a worthy cause. Now try to imagine that you don’t have a cell phone.  You don’t have cable, so you can’t watch the Lakers game and see the prompt at the bottom of the screen. You don’t have the internet, and you cant see photos of the catastrophe that has befallen an innocent people (yes, Pat Robertson, I said innocent.)  I’m obviously being hyperbolic for effect, but I’m sure you know what I mean.  But ask yourself if you and your friends would have gone out of the way to donate to the Red Cross were it not made so simple. Probably not. And this is okay; 99.9% of the world is fiscally fettered, and the intuitive reaction to a donation plea is typically along the lines of “whatever I can afford to give wont make a difference. But you do have 10 bucks.

Now, it has become fashionable as a society to publicly wish that you could shut off your email account, throw your cell phone in the trash, move to a deserted island in the Pacific and never be reached.  I really don’t want to live without my iPhone. Of course of become codependent on it – have you ever played with an iPhone? It’s fucking awesome. It is hands down the most useful thing I have ever owned. I was in the middle of nowhere outside LA a few weeks ago, and was on an empty tank of gas. Pulled out my phone, opened the app “Gas buddy”, found the nearest gas station, and within minutes I was back on my way to civilization, all while streaming the latest podcast of “This American Life” directly to my phone.  This is a prefect microcosm of what has become my predominant feeling towards technology. Part novelty, part necessity.

I used to share a disdain similar to that of my sister’s cell phone towards Twitter.  The sire struck me as vain, self-indulgent, and purposeless. And while I still agree that most people use Twitter this way, I became aware of its benefits.  To wit…

In 2009, Iranian incumbent dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad used his fleeting power over the country’s military outfits to steal Iran’s first ever democratic election from challenger and leader of the Green party, MirHossein Mousavi (for those unfamiliar with the situation, Mousavi is Iran’s version of Barack Obama: peace, hope, change, etc.). Ahmadinejad staged a military coup on his own government, which was hours away from fairly announcing Mousavi as the new President of Iran.  Mousavi, who had been utilizing Twitter during his campaign as a means to reach out to the young citizens of Iran’s mostly under-30 capital city Tehran, caught wind of Amedinejad’s impending forces. He immediately went to Twitter and tweeted the following: “#iranelection – In case of the arrest of any of the Green movement’s leaders, take to the streets in Tehran: Enghelab to Azadi. Tell everyone.”

“Enghelab to Azadi.” Translation: Death to the Dictator.  That night, the people of Tehran shouted from their rooftops until sunrise.  Now imagine the state of Iran without Twitter. It sounds utterly ridiculous, but its also incredibly profound. And this is the presiding fact about the state of modern technology that skeptics choose to ignore. For starters, most of said skeptics are terrified of technology simply because they don’t know how to use it, and that makes them uncomfortable.

Say what you want about Grandpa’s ‘good ol’ days’.  As I recall, those were the same good ol’ days when women weren’t allowed to work and blacks weren’t allowed to vote.  It’s the task of our generation and every generation that follows to use the advantages of our ever expanding, ever shrinking world to better the whole of humanity. You could start by texting “Haiti” to 90999… if you give a tweet.

P.S. if you have not already done so, please donate to the Red Cross. Times are tough everywhere, sure. But as someone who lived through the Los Angeles earthquake of ’94, I can tell you first hand that there is nothing more terrifying than wondering if your loved ones are alive or dead. Thanks.

Independent, Democrat, Republican American.

By: Independent Jack

In the wake of the election of Scott Brown as the Junior Senator from Massachusetts, everyone I know is up in arms about this “terrible happening”. Now granted I went to a liberal college and 90% percent of my friends are artists (waiters), myself included. They are all walking around as if it’s the end of the world. This baffles me.

Let me make one point straight, many times throughout this piece. I don’t care what “party” you affiliate with. This country is what it is because you are free to think what you want. You can be Uber Christain against abortions, immigration, universal healthcare and even black people, there is nothing I can do about that. This is America. You can be Super Jewish, for gay marriage, legal weed, handouts and nafta, there is nothing I can do about that.

Your politcal views are just that. Yours.

Here is what bothers me.

A majority, whatever that entails. This country was founded on the principle of letting the people speak and vote the way they felt. It was also founded on the principle of checks and balances, which allowed certain branches to enact law. All of the above require a majority, and here we are 234 years later and still standing.

What bothers me is the notion that something is wrong with this country if something doesn’t go your way. It actually infuriates me. I’ve seen people write the most disparaging things about my Senator, Senator Scott Brown, vile reprehensible things. Not much unlike the things written about my President, President Barack Obama. People chiming in and calling the President “an emperor with no clothes, a windbag full of empty rhetoric”, etc…

Now granted as mentioned above that is within your full right as American to spew ignorant soundbytes to your hearts content, but it’s also within mine to call you foolish and immature, regardless of your age or political affiliation.

I really don’t care what party you’re with, as long as you don’t forget you were part of the American Party first.

Both parties forget this, and it’s utterly fascinating to watch who can throw shit farther across the aisle.

Staunch Republicans, I say this to you. Barack Obama won the election, grow up. Gays can get hitched in MA and a few other states. Also you can kill a convict in 37 States, Hurrah! If you are really that pissed about it, either a. run for office, or b. search out a candidate you support and start campaigning for him now. Leave out the “empty rhetoric”, personal attacks and focus on the positives of the man in your corner, not the negatives of someone you don’t care for.

Staunch Democrats, I say this to you, Scott Brown won the election, deal with it. Gays can’t marry in CA and most states, and in 13 states taxpayers can pay for a convict to stay in a prison forever! Hurrah! Don’t like Scott Brown, well considering there are more independents in MA than GOP and Dems combined, maybe you should work on getting that overwhelming majority happy with a candidate from your party. In the meantime, he’s not the devil, just a dude in a suit who out hustled a chick in a suit. Call it sexists, or lazy on your part, but that’s just the same old shit. Elections are sooner than you think, get to work…that is if you really care, and aren’t just in it for the water-cooler talk.

Do you see where this is going? We are not a nation of lemmings, we are all so very different. The idea that we should be in accord on all subjects is ludicrous. You’re not going to win every fight, but you can try, and if you lose, feel free to try again, but attacking someone’s core principles is only going to make you look like a fool.

I don’t care what party you’re with, truly, it has no influence on me. I care what kind of wine you bring to dinner. Whether you love your family, The Pats, Sox and Celts. In a social circle it doesn’t matter, donkey or elephant…what matters is the red white and blue.

So get to work on improving it, in a positive manner. Spend that breath on making this world a better place.

Think about Haiti and how lucky we are to have the lives we have.

Once you get there, you can definitely come to my party. Until then, you are not invited.

AGENT ZERO AND OUR PRISON SYSTEM

By: Rev. Blue

If you’re a big sports fan, especially a hoops head like me, then you have heard all about Gilbert Arenas’ recent issues.  To boil it down: the dude got busted for not having a license for handguns he brought to an NBA facility.  He’s looking at anywhere between 6 months to 2 years of prison time.

This entire situation, with the analysts and columnists yammering on about it, has me thinking how broken and ineffective the prison system is at this point.  I am no expert in law, or anything really, so I know my logic may be flawed or even flat-out stupid.  It just got me thinking…

What is the purpose of prison?  Is it to rehabilitate, to punish, a combination of the two?

Let’s take Arenas.  The man called ‘Agent Zero’ in NBA circles signed a six-year contract worth $111 million dollars about eighteen months ago.  That’s 111 followed by six zeroes.  Six.  If sending him to prison is punishment, that means the taxpayer will be paying for his stay.  The man is worth MILLIONS.  If we’re looking at ‘punishing’ him… why not hit him where it would really hurt?  His wallet.  The argument is “oh great – rich people never have to go to jail because they’ll buy their way out”.  Good point, but I don’t mean some paltry fine he would get for criticizing refs.  I mean millions of dollars.  Imagine what that money could do for the taxpayers in the area?  The crime is the key decision: this guy brought in guns without a license.  Wrong?  Absolutely.  But if you posed this to the taxpayers and said “A man worth hundreds of millions carried an unloaded gun without a license.  Should his punishment be you paying for him to sit in a prison or would you like him to give us millions to have this park fixed up/these certain roads repaved/etc.?” I would think they’d pick the latter.  This man didn’t murder anyone.  He wasn’t smuggling girls into the sex trade.   This is where a JUDGE would make the decision.  If we’re electing them and having them, you know, judge… then why can’t they, with their judicial mind, decide a better punishment, if that’s the purpose, than putting a person in jail for taxpayers to cover?

This is like Plaxico Burress and Bernie Madoff.  Plaxico carried a gun, without a license, and shot HIMSELF in the leg.  I know, I know “it could have been SO much worse” but it wasn’t.  We can what-if anything.  Make this guy pay in cold hard cash and be done with it.  Bernie Madoff stole millions, perhaps billions (I don’t know all the facts) and yet he’s sitting in some posh federal prison.  Are we really punishing him?  Why not take all of him and his family’s possessions and THEN put the guy in jail?  If our prison system is supposed to punish people then let’s punish them.

On the other side, for those not so rich, punishment should be labor.  If someone committed a crime, how are we punishing them by sending them to prison to do nothing?  My father-in-law is a prison guard and has told me the flat screen TVs they have, their hours to hang out, the lack of work they have to do, etc.  If we want to punish them, why not create even larger types of ‘chain gangs’ to do labor?  By that I mean there HAS to be some jobs in the community that could ease the taxpayers’ burden, right?  Instead of them sitting in a prison and learning new techniques to commit crimes or get even more angered at ‘the man’ and ‘the sytem’… why don’t we work their tails off?  That seems like a fair punishment for the prisoner and benefit for society.

For people who have murdered, either they should just be taken out to a firing squad and killed or need to work every day.  I’m not supporting capital punishment or decrying it… but let’s quit dancing around the subject.  Either you pull the Samuel L and say “yes they deserve to die and I hope they burn in hell!” or you think they should live.  If they should live, how is life without parole punishing them?  How is the victim’s family feeling justice?  Why not have the person work and whatever money they would make go to the victim’s family?  I’m lost on how our current prison system actually punishes, and not just enables and perpetuates, our prisoners.

What about rehabilitating Arenas?  It doesn’t really make sense.  He just made an absolutely idiotic decision.  I’m not sure his crime, and his situation, is in need of rehabilitation but what about criminals that need rehabilitation?  Why aren’t they getting it?  That’s a far deeper issue than I have the knowledge for but I can tell you we, as a society, need to make sure we’re trying to rehab those that can use it.

We won’t get into the racism of prison sentencing.  Crack, a drug predominantly used by blacks, carries a five-year mandatory sentence if you have FIVE grams of it on you.  Powder cocaine, usually used by whites, carries the same sentence if you have FIVE HUNDRED grams of it on you.  Five to five hundred?!  But that’s another story for another day.

As you can tell from this writing, I am a huge proponent of smaller government, less taxes, etc.  I think our prison system just creates better, and more vicious, criminals.  And we pay for it.  I think it’s time for us to stop that and I have just the agent of change in mind.  Agent Zero.