Deaths, dollars, destruction & disillusion

I have a thousand words to say, but, undoubtedly, will not get to all of them. In the photograph are a few Kennedy half-dollars, symbolic of some of the words in this post. These are not actual silver halves, but, never-the-less, even copper-nickel clad coins are not among those one will find in circulation these days. All Kennedy halves are hoarded. As for the music, the first song is Bon Jovi singing a piece composed by Dion DiMucci reflecting the death by murder of John Kennedy and a few others. Again, this is related to some of the words in the post. The second piece is an entire 1974 performance in California by Deep Purple. If you never have heard music like this live, I feel sorry for you. The last ten or twelve minutes, while Ritchie Blackmore destroys two or three guitars and wreaks havoc on the stage, are the best of it, I think -- in a way. Have you ever noticed the best of many things comes at the end .... hmmm ....

Just one more thing I forgot

A few weeks ago, I wrote these words in a post:

"This probably is the first year since I began my blog in which I did not mention the Marine Corps birthday (November 10) or Veterans Day (November 11). It is not because they were not on my mind; it was because my mind was not on them."

All month long, I have been feeling like there was something other than those two dates which had special meaning for me during the month of November, but I could not recall what it might be. Then, abruptly, it dawned on me. John Fitzgerald Kennedy was murdered on November 22, 1963.

Apparently, I was not the only one to forget the date of this event this year. Did you hear a single word about it on a radio or a television station, or read a single word about it in a newspaper or a magazine or on an internet website? I absolutely did not.

I feel like expressing myself in the language of a once-upon-a-time Marine, but instead I will say it in a polite manner: I absolutely cannot believe this anniversary was forgotten, ignored and abandoned by both public and private America.

Sure, the anniversary date of the murder was the same day as Thanksgiving this year, but to use that as an excuse for neglecting JFK is, in fact, inexcusable.

I watch and read a fair amount of news daily. All week, there was propaganda for and against the arrogant, narcissistic, socialistic president of the U.S. and his lying, corrupt administration. There has been news about the events in Israel and Gaza. There has been political back and forth about the destruction and deaths at the U.S. consulate at Benghazi in Libya. There has been all manner of chatter about the impending "fiscal cliff." And, ever-present was the inane, childish fascination with Black Friday, which has now spilled over onto Thanksgiving Day itself. News, news, news -- but, not a word about the life and times and death of JFK.

Well, I am not a conspiracy buff regarding the assassination of JFK, but I do think there is more to it than the public knows today or, probably, will know tomorrow or even ever. Those words aside, I do not believe -- for a variety of reasons -- that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone shooter, although he might have been among them.

My own thoughts revolve around personal knowledge of people who were alive and present during that era: People who knew Oswald, people who were among the Cuban exiles betrayed by the Kennedy Administration at the Bay of Pigs, people such as an ex-Marine named Gerry Patrick Hemming (AKA Jerry Patrick) and his InterPen group (Intercontinental Penetration Force) and the later Alpha 66 organization.

In any event, I am just a bit ashamed and embarrassed that I literally forget the anniversary of JFK's death this year. It is no consolation to know that apparently most of the rest of the world forgot it, too. I will not forget again.

But, I sometimes do wonder why we remember anyone or anything beyond those we personally hold dear  ....  why?

Do you see what I see? I doubt it

Do you see what I see?

I was looking at three photographs yesterday of the same woman taken within a few minutes of each other, and it was difficult to be certain the photos were of the same woman. Her eyes, her mouth, her expression; there were three different people there.

I happen to know the woman reasonably well. She is more than one person in terms of her personality. Perhaps, that explains the three varied (I will not say three different) faces.

I recall a book and a film entitled, "The Three Faces of Eve." Since that time, individuals with more than one personality -- more than one subconscious individuality -- have been accepted as medical and legal realities. In a personal sense, I do not think I have multiple personalities, but I believe -- as portrayed in the theater masks of the Old Greeks -- that I have two distinct sides to my single personality which dominate my behavior at times: A left side and a right side, a yin and a yang, a Jekyll and a Hyde.

There is nothing new about this -- about what I am writing, I mean -- as there actually is nothing new under the sun, as Solomon or his son or his grandson or whoever wrote Ecclesiastes knew and whoever studies history realizes. But, it is a reminder, a demonstration, that there are more interesting aspects to life than Black Friday and Digital Monday or Cyber Monday or Whatever Monday. Pardon me, while I conjure up a futile wish that humanity will someday reach adulthood.