The Real Memphis Mike (don't settle for imitations)

Опитвал съм се да обясня това на моите български приятели и преди - но езиковите ми умения са недостатъчни. Написах това на родния си език, след което се опитах да го преведа, доколкото мога. Надявам се, че това обяснява неизречената разлика между американците и повечето други. - ММ Чудно ли е, че ти и аз сме различни? Ти наследяваш митове, издълбани дълбоко в камъка, предавани от ръка на ръка, от поколение на поколение. Аз наследявам реклами, излъчвани един сезон, забравени в следващия. Ти носиш легенди в кръвта си, шепнени нощем от баби, които познават тежестта на вековете. Аз нося лозунги, цвърчащи от пластмасови талисмани, изпяти от актьори, които не са могли да си намерят работа никъде другаде. Ти проследяваш родословието си като река, чийто извор се губи в планините, течаща все напред. Аз проследявам моя като дъжд по напукан асфалт - кратък, без посока, скоро погълнат от улука. Ти стоиш пред крепости и храмове, паметници, които отказват да се поддадат на времето. А аз стоя пред р...

 I could’ve sworn I wrote about this before, but maybe not — so here goes. Back in the early ’90s, a friend and I used to celebrate our birthdays together. We were bandmates, our big days were only four days apart, and odds were good we already had a gig that night. So, we just tacked on the party. One year the show was in Pittsburgh’s Southside — Anthony’s or Fat City, most likely. Parking on Carson Street is legendarily bad, so I’d long since learned to get there early. I usually grabbed dinner at the City Grill, where a couple of friends worked. Their grilled chicken sandwich was the stuff of legend. That night, waiting for my food, I spotted a familiar face at a nearby table. Not just familiar — legendary. Fred Rogers, out to dinner with his wife. If you grew up in America anytime in the last 60 years, you know who Mr. Rogers was. For anyone who doesn’t: he hosted Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood , a children’s show on public television that became a cultural touchstone. Say, “It’s ...

The time has come. We the people have our greatest decision to make. Is our country and its Constitution worth fighting for? Our military is being sent to our cities. Why isn't the question. Too many fall for the lies and distractions. Our military is being made to take aim at and, at the very least, intimidate the people it exists to defend. The use of the U.S. military on U.S. soil is legal only under specific and limited circumstances, as it is heavily restricted by the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878. The current administration is trying to defy this. The comedians and their brands of social commentary are being silenced. Were it only a matter of employer vs. employee - matters of consequence of action in a business setting - it would be little more than a blip in the entertainment news. But this is not the case. The federal government made good on its threats to silence them. This in unconstitutional. Some will say the cause has more to do with impending mergers and business de...

 Never forget. 9/11 was a horrible day. Worst part about it was the lies, the spin. In our lifetimes, most of us will never know the truth about those. The number of lives lost kept going up, until it started going down. That one was easy. The US couldn't telegraph just how bad the damage was. Rather than report the facts, it became about spin.  Never forget. We hear that every year. Never forget. Anyone who lived through that day is not going to forget. We don't need a reminder. So why the constant, annual nudge? To make sure everyone remembers the spin, the lies. We're supposed to remember the official story. I remember the truth like it happened yesterday. I don't need a reminder. Social media is despicable regarding 9/11. This year (24 years later) I started seeing posts suggesting we Americans remember 9/11 AND to be the people we were on 9/12 . Really? That's fucked up. The people of 9/12 were terrified. No one went to work (except for a handful of us). Sure, ...

 Charlie Kirk is dead. Shot, we can presume, for his radical, divisive, yet FREE, speech. A man, a husband, is dead. Children will spend their first night without a father. I will agree with many who have said "violence is never the answer"...except, this is America. Violence has a long history of being the answer here. If you truly believe that violence is never the answer, why do you tolerate it? You tolerate it every day. We allow the media to glorify it. Take a look at what you post online, in your social media; your memes and such. A lot of violence there in many forms. Violence isn't merely physical. It's often verbal, written, implied. Our so-called POTUS glorifies violence until he deems certain singular events as not worthy of violence. (he's trying to play to the room, it's that simple) When my wife told me Kirk had been shot, I recognized the name - but couldn't put a face to him. I Googled him and recognized him immediately. Just another mouthy...