Rico Thomas Rico

This is a tale of two kitties.  They are two wonderful, mellow lap cats who need good homes.  A young child has entered their current home and the cats’ sense of tranquility has diminished.  So I am working to find them new, good homes — either separately or together.  Please read their profiles below.

Sawyer

If you are interested in making either cat a member of your family, please contact me at ricothomasrico[at]gmail[dot]com.

Sawyer
Sawyer is an affectionate lap cat.  He is 5 years old and part Maine Coon. Sawyer gets along with other cats and dogs.  He’s healthy, up-to-date on shots, and is front declawed.  He could use an environment with adults or older children to give him love and attention.

Harriet
Harriet also an affectionate lap cat. She is 5 years old, healthy, up-to-date on shots, and front declawed. She will tolerate other animals. She could use an environment with adults or older children to give her love and attention.

Harriet

I would like to hear from you if you love cats and can give them a good home.

This grainy video was captured from my live stream of the best halftime show during the Big Game on Feb. 5, 2012, the annual 2nd Annual “Men Fold Laundry Day” created by Facebook Troublemaker Annie Brown. It is the Olympics of masculine multitasking: watching the Big Game, swigging some cold ones, critiquing both Madonna and the football game performances, AND folding laundry.

I gave direct competition to my Michiganian contemporary Madonna during halftime. Madonna danced while I folded. The risk of wardrobe malfunction was risky in both situations.

Special guest cameo appearances included cats, Sassy and Thumper. Also, please note how I correctly called the outcome of the game during the halftime commentary.

In downtown Lansing (MI), a 58-year-old woman walks into her office one morning to find a sheet of paper on her chair. It has no note or indication where it came from. The paperwork is a form for retirement.

If you haven’t noticed, the generational war is on in America. Some people who consider themselves “young” disdain older people, sometimes overtly in public, other times in the privacy of their homes, and still other times in whispers in the corners of their offices. Sometimes, in gutless fashion, they leave anonymous retirement papers on chairs.

It is clear, as more Baby Boomers retire, and greater fiscal pressures are put on the federal Social Security and Medicare system, these negative attitudes towards aging Americans will become more pronounced and obvious. In the worst case scenario, these ageist attitudes will have ugly and dangerous consequences for a vulnerable senior population that will be a very large target for people looking to place blame. Seniors will find America’s well-greased Roulette Wheel of Hate – having repeatedly rotated to women, gays, blacks, Latinos, Arabs, Muslims, blue-collar workers, and others – has spun in their direction. Many of them – after having their Social Security benefits cut and/or their pension funds stolen – will hardly have the money to buy a vowel when they realize they are scr*w*d.

An aging CEO steps to the podium and tells the gathered workforce before him that the older workers in the organization have dried-up, old ideas and that more young people need to be hired and relied on to move the organization forward. Some veteran employees – skilled, smart, and experienced – are disgusted and others wonder, “Isn’t that illegal?”

Ageism many times is cloaked in humor. The jokester makes fun of an older person and then when confronted takes umbrage while hiding behind the principles of plausible deniability. Some people, like the example above, aren’t joking. They really believe it, unabashedly say it, and trample legal prohibitions against age discrimination. Workers, fearful of their jobs, just have to take it or they too many not be able to afford to buy a vowel.

A guest commentator on a national public radio program starts his editorial: “The financial downturn has left all sorts of casualties in its wake: more unemployment, depressed wages, and greater economic uncertainty. But I’d like to direct my angst at a different target — the baby boomers. A hidden effect of this crisis is that, in the workplace, as in popular discourse, they simply refuse to get out of the way.”

The statement above was the opening salvo last year of guest commentator Daniel W. Drezner, age 41, professor of international politics at Tufts University. If you did not catch Drezner’s essay broadcast, I recommend that you listen to it here. Drezner’s evident self-centeredness – a trait he ascribes to the baby boomers – flows freely in his bigoted ranting on NPR. If there is a spokesperson for Ageist Americans in Radio Punditry (A.A.R.P.), this guy would be it.

Generational warfare is the central theme of the 1969 movie WILD IN THE STREETS, starring Donald Sutherland, Shelly Winters, Hal Holbrook, Richard Pryor and others. The movie illustrates a world in which the United States lowers the voting age to 15 and a youth movement takes over the county. In this fanciful tale, the youngsters establish the mandatory retirement age of 30 and mandatory detainment at age 35 (with administration of happy drugs). The movie ends – without providing a direct spoiler – with the main character experiencing the aging process himself and realizing that there is always someone younger looking over your shoulder.

That’s the poetic justice for the ageist bigots like Drezner and others. Ageism is one of a few prejudices that ultimately turns on its advocate. If the ageist lives long enough, he or she too will begin to be accused of sucking up the precious air and consuming the valuable resources that should be for the exclusive use of the more productive young’uns’. Obviously, no one told Drezner before publishing the radio commentary that he is no spring chicken any more. At the rate he is going, the knock at the door soon will be for him.

A son and his 80-year-old father stroll slowly through the shopping mall. Every so often the father stops to talk with other fragile old men, most in their sixties and seventies. The father explains to the son that the old men he talks to are former co-workers, some of whom had chided him many years earlier with the taunt, “Hey, old man, when are you going to retire and get the hell out of here?” How did you respond back then? the son asks. “I told them,” he explained, “’You’ll be lucky to make it to be an old man like me some day.”

– Rico Thomas Rico
[This was first published in March 2010.]

[Note:  This is the retold story of my first Festivus in 2007. - RTR]

I spoke with Joanie early yesterday and she graciously wished me and Ruth a happy winter solstice. Her kind sentiments were greatly appreciated and I sincerely wished her the same.  You see, Joanie is one of my friends who celebrates the winter solstice, while other friends spent their Decembers celebrating Christmas or Kwanzaa or Hanukkah.

Christmas is still at the forefront in our home.  In fact, I was scheduled to have a Christmas holiday dinner with Ruth, her sister, and my brother-in-law.  It was one of those once-a-year dinners with the in-laws at the Outback restaurant.  Also, the next day, December 23rd, we were scheduled for a family gathering with the Rico clan, including my siblings from out-of-state arriving for the Christmas holiday.  No matter how you slice it, these family holiday gatherings are always full of surprises.

Later in the day, in an odd turn of events, I learned from Ruth that this evening being December 22nd made it “Festivus Eve.”  She casually explained that “Festivus for the Rest of Us” was the newest, somewhat-backhanded holiday in direct opposition to the gross over-commercialization of Christmas by the dominant Christian society. (Which begs the question, What Would Jesus Buy?)

This was the first I ever heard of Festivus.

To my astonishment, Ruth told me of Festivus, a holiday in which the day – December 23rd – is celebrated by the “airing of grievances,” or sharing with your family and friends all the ways they have let you down or disappointed you during the year.  A bare, unadorned aluminum pole is the symbol of Festivus.  Ruth had me at “grievances.”  I was sold.  Sign me up for this Festivus holiday.

In a real kicker, Ruth explained Festivus was hatched during an episode of “Seinfeld” – season 9, Episode 10, to be exact.  The holiday was concocted and described as a joke thread throughout the episode. This, in my view, should solidify it as a December holiday.

Festivus Eve Dinner

By the time I learned about Festivus, it was too late to rent and watch the Seinfeld episode. Instead, we scrambled to get spiffed up and head to the Outback.

Even though I was barely into the Festivus spirit, dinner ended up being an airing of grievances. My brother-in-law was highly agitated by the fact that he could not watch MSU sports on TV because of the dispute between the Big Ten Channel and the cable TV companies. Damn it, he was no longer going to send MSU anymore donations as result. He fully blamed MSU for the “blackout” situation.

Now, I spend most of my waking hours during the year worrying about war, peace, a lying president, torture, secret prisons, destroyed CIA tapes, etc. Still, I’m like Marky Mark from Downtown, I have opinions on almost everything, especially sports issues. In this case, I was not backing the multi-billion dollar cable TV industry over the multi-million dollar college sports industry. I spoke up and absolved MSU of responsibility for the TV dispute. My brother-in-law flashed an angry Christmas temper with a rock-sold, “You’re full of shit!”

I explained my rationale further. He doubled his emphasis in the crowded restaurant, “YOUR’RE FULL OF SHIT!!” At that point, I reciprocated with my own Festivus greetings and barked back “You’re full of shit!” I looked at Ruth and she looked that me. A new holiday had been christened.

After the Festivus greetings were diffused by a quick change of subject, I did not say much else during the dinner. My brother-in-law is an 80-something WWII Navy vet, so I resisted telling him all about my work with the anti-war movement. It potentially could have turned into the Tiger Stadium centerfield bleachers all over again – one side yelling “Eat Shit!” and the other side yelling “Fuck You!” back-and-forth in a perverse version of the old Miller Lite commercial. Instead, I kept my mouth shut.

On the way home, Ruth and I ended up renting the Seinfeld Season 9, Episode 10. It was best $1 we spent all Christmas season.

My First Festivus Day

Before heading to Fowerville to meet the Rico clan the next day, I ran into Everybody Reads Bookstore to grab the Sunday NY Times. Deb behind the counter informed me there was no Sunday Times waiting for me; the distributor shorted me again.

Oh, well.  What could I do?

I wished her a Happy Festivus Day — and she cracked up! Deb and Chris had rented Seinfeld, Season 9, Episode 10, the night before. What a hoot!

Ruth and I arrived at my niece’s home in Fowlerville, only to discover a full power outage in the neighborhood. My niece had a house full of guests and the expectation of Christmas entertaining. In a stellar example improvisation, food was being cooked and warmed in the garage on the summer gas grill. We ended having a good chuckle about the year’s happenings, the food turned out great, and nobody told me I was “full of shit.” Still, I asked everyone at the table, “Did you know today is Festivus Day?” My nephew from Texas looked over and said, “Where’s your aluminum pole?”

I’m on to something here.

 

I attended the Pax Christi Michigan (PCM) annual state conference for the fourth year in a row yesterday in Brighton, Michigan.  I say it every year, and I repeat it here:  This is one of the best peace activist conferences held in Michigan each year.  You don’t have to be a member of PCM — or a Catholic — to appreciate the speakers and workshops that focus on current peace and justice issues.

Pax Christi MI 2011 State Conference

With the caliber of speakers and workshops offered, my recording equipment always comes in handy at this conference. However, there was one key difference this year: I missed the workshops because I was invited to conduct my own morning and afternoon sessions to discuss social media and Internet tools for activists. So I spent part of the day video recording the keynote speaker — this year it was internationally-recognized peacemaker Father Peter Dougherty of Lansing, Michigan — and the rest of the time surfing the net and talking tweets, Tumblr, and YouTube, among other Internet tools, with interested peace activists. I had a blast — and I got a sense that the workshop participants were engaged and motivated to learn new and different things to enhance their use of the Internet. People seemed less intimidated or shy about exploring the possibilities, even the folks who self-described themselves as “novices.”  The recent successes of Egyptian activists were mentioned more than once. Maybe our American Peace Revolution will start with the tap of keyboard or a posting from a cellphone. So let’s get busy! After all, what do we’ve got to lose except another failed U.S. military excursion?

My workshop discussion focused on Internet tools I highlighted on the Peace Education Center website here, topics that ranged from fundraising to streaming live on the Internet to spot news reporting.  The broad realization is the corporate media has consistently ignored the liberal, progressive movement in the United States, especially the peace movement, despite representing the majority viewpoint in most cases.  Activists in the past had to ask, “Does a peace rally exist if the corporate media doesn’t show up to provide news coverage?”

No more. We can create our own media now.   Got smartphone, will travel. Assuming, of course, you have the right data plan with your service provider. Regardless, media action is within reach of most people with a cell phone or Internet connection.  Most people can upload photos or short video to the Internet, thus providing spot news coverage of  the local protest or, if necessary, of the local protesters getting beat up by the police.

For those who get stuck using technology or equipment, my simplest advice for the novice — and there are many older peace activists in this category — “grab the nerdy-est person you know for help and advice.”  There’s one in every family or circle of friends, and they’re usually willing to answer questions or help you get started.  Or the activist can plug questions into an Internet search engine like Google seeking answers, or video instruction is available through the “search” function on YouTube.com.  These may sound like  real simple points to many people, but segments of the peace community are playing catch-up.  Sometimes I wonder what this world would be like today if the 60s peace activists had the technological tools we have today.  Can you say, “National Health Care”?

– Rico Thomas Rico

Author/activist Chris Hedges talked to Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! at the end of December 2010 about the dead and dying of the liberal class and the ascendancy of ”proto-fascism” in America.  In this video interview, Hedges gives it straight about the ultra conservative turn this country has taken and he addresses Barack Obama’s weak leadership and failure to effectively fight for progressive causes.  I highly recommend listening to Hedges’s analysis.  However, his words will be hard to swallow for Obama apologists and the take-what-you-can-get Democrats who are always willing to bargain away progressive policy positions.

Few musicians have ever gotten my immediate attention with the first song, chord, or verse. It happened once when Francesco Franco and I went to lunch. He insisted I listen to a new band and popped a CD into the car stereo. With the first song, it had my attention. After song two and three, the quality and entertainment did not let up.  Whoever was performing could write and perform great music, and back it up with some mean guitar. The band was The White Stripes. The singer/songwriter/guitarist was Jack White, a native of Detroit, Michigan.

Two years ago, another Detroit native did the same thing. Sista Otis and the Wholly Rollers played the 2008 Pride Fest in Lansing’s Adado Park.  From the first note on stage, she ignited an enthusiastic crowd with a high-energy show. It was a revelation. She was a powerful indie rock-folk-gospel-soul revival all rolled into one. I bought a couple of her CDs that day and have since gone into long stretches of listening to her music exclusively in the car, a stretch of which I am in again lately after seeing Sista Otis at this year’s 2010 Pride Festival.

The good news is Sista Otis has been touring a lot lately, including a number of locations in Michigan. She just released her new single “Charmed” in the national market. The “Charmed” video below was just released as well. It is quintessential Otis.  In a double extra bonus, Sista Otis is playing my hometown, Lansing, Michigan, this Friday evening (August 20, 2010) at The Chrome Cat in Old Town.

It’s not easy carrying the legacy of Detroit pop music scene, but Jack White has made us proud and now Sista Otis has come along to be a new generation’s Sista Soul.  If you’re in mid-Michigan this Friday, don’t miss the opportunity to see Sista Otis’s live performance. You’ll be charmed — I guarantee it.

– Rico Thomas Rico

So the boycott begins.