Highbrow Magazine - Keith Richards https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/keith-richards en On Ageism: ‘Old Age Did Not Make Me Shoplift the Vaseline’ https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/23273-ageism-old-age-did-not-make-me-shoplift-vaseline <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Thu, 02/02/2023 - 16:23</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1oldpeople.jpg?itok=-kSJqjHd"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1oldpeople.jpg?itok=-kSJqjHd" width="480" height="320" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Opinion:</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Serving as a prelude before discussing the serious larger issue of ageism further below, this true story began when the itchiness on my senior-citizen body made it almost impossible to sleep that night. My wife advised buying Vaseline petroleum jelly at the supermarket, which she maintained would solve the problem.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The brand of Vaseline I needed was sold out. But the store attendant found by the toothpaste section a midget-sized jar of the stuff that would fit in a small medicine travel bag.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">It was probably 10 seconds later when I realized I had already lost the jar. I searched up and down the aisles, thinking it had fallen through the shopping cart onto the floor. No dice. Where did it go?</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2oldpeople.jpg" style="height:652px; width:435px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">It wasn’t until I got home that I discovered the jar in the right-hand pocket of my jeans. Unintentionally, I had shoplifted it. Would the authorities check their surveillance cameras and have a swat team, with their patrol car sirens blaring, bang down the door to my apartment, shackle my feet and arms, and throw me in the paddywagon?</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">I consider myself an honest person, almost to a fault. So the next morning, I went back to the store to pay for the jar, where I summoned the young associate manning customer service to explain what happened, probably ad nauseam, as his expression turned to bewilderment or stupefaction when I related how it was all a purely innocent mistake that I wanted to rectify. His face went blank when I asked if I could have the senior discount on the price, $3.80, especially since I thought it shouldn’t cost more than 50 cents. He muttered something unintelligible and I said never mind about that.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">I know what this young associate must have groaned to himself: Here we go again having to deal with another difficult old-space cadet. Given how all this went down, I can say jokingly that I’m lucky the associate didn’t have me arrested for being a troublemaker.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">But there are even crazier things that can happen, such as the day I thought I had lost my cellphone before realizing I was holding it while making a call.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/3oldpeople.jpg" style="height:435px; width:652px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Some might contend aging is the reason for all this hoopla, but I believe the real culprit for why I accidentally shoplifted the petroleum jelly was because I had too many crosscurrent things on my mind; I was dealing with too much stress; and being exhausted from no sleep can make anybody act foolish. In other words, don’t blame old age for what happened.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">These events are a reminder of that funny, but all too common negative portrayal of seniors on TV, such as “Seinfeld,” when the elderly cantankerous Uncle Leo is caught shoplifting books. As the authorities arrest him for petty larceny, Uncle Leo squawks that he’s old, confused, that he too deserves a senior citizen discount on the book.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The truth is, Uncle Leo was just using old age as an illegitimate excuse for his trying to steal the books, rather than he was just cheap, or a kleptomaniac.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Movies are no better in depicting seniors negatively, such as the 1979 flick “Going in Style,” where three old bored guys living on the dole rob a bank to make their lives more exciting. A remake of the film was released in 2017. The films stereotype old people as either pitiful or loathsome, due to loneliness or having evil intent.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/4oldpeople.jpg" style="height:435px; width:652px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">One important facet on stereotyping elders is how older women are portrayed. A <a href="https://womensmediacenter.com/fbomb/older-women-are-finally-being-represented-in-hollywood" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">January 2022 article</a> by Sophie Hayssen for the Women’s Media Center said the entertainment industry “has neglected older women and fixated on female youth from the early days of classic Hollywood through to the 21<sup>st</sup> century.” Studies have shown, she wrote, that women entertainers’ careers peak at 30, while men’s peak over 15 years later.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">An opinion piece in <em><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/21/older-women-media-message-age-fail" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">The Guardian</a></em> pleaded with marketing and media industries “to give older women a break. Stop basing everything you do on the assumption that we're all embittered old hags, spending every waking moment yearning for lost youth….please stop treating the entirely natural process of aging as though it is a crime, a personal failing or a disease with a cure--it isn't.” </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The <a href="https://www.who.int/news/item/22-09-2022-launch-of-the-healthy-ageing-collaborative" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">World Health Organization</a> says ageism--prejudice or discrimination against the elderly--costs society billions of dollars in productivity. In announcing the launch of its Health Aging Collaborative in September 2022, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that “to realize the promise of the United Nations Decade of Healthy Aging, governments, non-government organizations, business associations, philanthropic foundations and universities must work together…to add years to life, and life to years.”  </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/5oldpeople.jpg" style="height:385px; width:657px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Meanwhile, AARP, working in partnership with Getty Images, enlisted photographers to shoot older Americans in a more accurate view of aging, collecting more than a thousand <a href="https://press.aarp.org/2019-9-23-AARP-and-Getty-Images-Announce-Collaboration-to-Change-the-Look-of-Aging#:~:text=I" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">photographs</a> of older adults in active lifestyles.  </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">On that vein, at 74, I’m still regularly swimming, and playing golf with my friends: Mort, 83, and Bill, 76, while on the celebrity beat, my favorite ex-Beatle, Paul McCartney, who is 80, continues to give concerts and practices yoga to keep fit in mind and body. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, 79, haven’t stopped rockin’, and on the political front, Joe Biden, 80, is of course, president of the United States.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Which makes me believe that it’s past time we retire aging as a negative concept. It used to be that people at age 40 were considered old and a burden on society, but now calling 40 over the hill sounds ridiculous -- when instead it's celebrated as when life truly begins. To quote from one of the Rolling Stones’ most famous songs, ending the negative stereotyping of older people and giving them their proper due would be, personally speaking, a great source of “Satisfaction.”</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Author Bio:</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><em>Eric Green, a </em>Highbrow Magazine<em> contributor, is a former newspaper reporter, U.S. congressional press aide, English-as-a-second-language teacher, and now a freelance writer in the Washington D.C. area. His articles have appeared in various newspapers and websites, including the </em>Washington Post<em> and </em>Baltimore Sun.</strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Image Sources: </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--Kampus Production (<a href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/an-elderly-man-looking-at-a-box-8422694/" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Pexels</a>, Creative Commons)</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--Jonathan Bayer (<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jlbnyc/8277167854" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Flickr</a>, Creative Commons)</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--Dick Thomas Johnson (<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/31029865@N06/32801846044" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Flickr</a>, Creative Commons)</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--Cottonbro Studio (<a href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/elderly-couple-dancing-on-snow-covered-ground-7243365/" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Pexels</a>, Creative Commons)</em></span></span></p> <p> </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/old-age" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">old age</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/ageism" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">ageism</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/growing-old" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">growing old</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/elderly" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">the elderly</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/mick-jagger" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">mick jagger</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/keith-richards" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Keith Richards</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/hollywood-and-aging" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">hollywood and aging</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/old-movie-stars" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">old movie stars</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/old-guys" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">old guys</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/old-couples" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">old couples</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/age" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">age</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/youth" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">youth</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/aarp" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">aarp</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Eric Green</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">In Slider</div></div></div> Thu, 02 Feb 2023 21:23:07 +0000 tara 11640 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/23273-ageism-old-age-did-not-make-me-shoplift-vaseline#comments Jesse Ventura on Politics, Keith Richards, and Why He’s an Atheist https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/1254-jesse-ventura-politics-keith-richards-and-why-hes-atheist <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Thu, 06/21/2012 - 22:02</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumjesseventura.jpg?itok=CRLQVX4-"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumjesseventura.jpg?itok=CRLQVX4-" width="480" height="263" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>  </p> <p> When you read any of Jesse Ventura’s half-dozen books, it’s helpful to hear his voice --  the same assertive, direct, soberly outraged, and somewhat sinister voice he uses during the opening narration for his TV show, truTV’s <em>Conspiracy Theory</em> <em>with Jesse Ventura.</em> His polished Minnesota dialect compliments these vocal qualities, grounding his observations in a way that makes him sound intelligent and determined.</p> <p>  </p> <p> In his  new <em>book, DemoCRIPS and ReBLOODlicans</em>: <em>No More Gangs in Government</em>, Ventura argues that both parties are street gangs warring with each other for power over the country and the American people.</p> <p>  </p> <p>  “Dues are paid by members of the gang; all decisions are made within the gang; there’s hierarchy within the gang,” Ventura writes. “And why do we allow them to use a fun word like party? When you say party, you think of a joyous occasion.” He believes all political parties should be abolished. Candidates should run on their names only. And the only way a third party can survive is if it becomes as corrupt as the two main gangs.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Ventura’s no fool when it comes to performance. He’s more than a TV personality. Before he was elected the governor of Minnesota in 1999, he was a professional wrestler, and before that, a Navy SEAL-turned-member of an outlaw motorcycle club in San Diego.</p> <p>  </p> <p> He’s appeared in a number of movies and TV shows, and has lectured at Harvard University. When I mention to Ventura that he taught one of the most popular courses at Harvard, he quickly cuts in to correct me: “It was <em>the</em> most popular. My class was the biggest class in Harvard history.” What was the subject? “Third-party politics. John F. Kennedy School of Government. Who else can talk third-party politics? You can’t get a Democrip or a Rebloodlican to do it.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> I spoke to Ventura on the phone for about an hour one afternoon in June. When I told him I  am a writer at <em>Highbrow Magazine</em>, he asked if it was a publication that he could buy on the newsstand. When I explained that it is an online magazine, he apologized for his ignorance and confessed that he doesn’t much care for computers, at which point we began talking about frustrations with technology.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>You spend a lot of time off the grid in Mexico. Do you carry a cell phone?</strong></p> <p> I’ve never owned a cell phone and now it’s my life’s mission not to have one. I wanna be able to put it on my grave: He Never Owned a Cell Phone.</p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>You said it would  be nice if the presidential candidates wore NASCAR suits so you know you owns them, which is a brilliant idea. If this were put into action, what logos would Obama and Romney be wearing? </strong></p> <p> Goldman Sachs. That would be as prominent as Goodyear is on Jimmy Johnson.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Both of them?</strong></p> <p> They’d all have the same patches, really. Because if you go to both conventions, you’ll see the same lobbyists paying them off, so they win either way. It’s like a stacked deck of cards. They’ve already paid off both sides, so it doesn’t matter to them who wins because they own whoever it is, be it Barack Obama or Mitt Romney.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/jesseventurabook.jpg" style="width: 372px; height: 600px; " /></p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>You endorse Ron Paul for president in your book.</strong></p> <p> Yeah, but the problem is Ron apparently is gonna go to the convention and that’s gonna be the end of him. I mean, his son just endorsed Mitt Romney. How outrageous is that? I  tell you, if my son did that to me, I’d put him over my knee and give him a spanking. But I don’t have to worry about that because my son would endorse me, so it’s really irrelevant.</p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Getting back to Mitt Romney, one of the main things he talked about early on was that he knew how to create jobs, but now that everyone is showing interest in how he made his fortune with Bain Capital, he says he doesn’t want to talk about that. </strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> Oh yeah. Because their job was to take over companies and fire people. Bain Capital did the exact opposite [of creating jobs]: They got rid of workers and put them in the unemployment line. He’s just like George W. Bush. [He] became a born-again Christian at age 40, so we weren’t allowed to talk about anything that he did before age 40. Same thing. I think if I ran for office, I would do the same: I would become a born-again Christian right before I ran, and then I could tell everyone, “Well, you can’t talk about anything I did before I became born-again.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>It’s surprising that Romney’s relationship with the Mormon Church hasn’t been given more attention. </strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> The worst one is the magic underwear. I mean, that should disqualify him from the presidency alone. If he believes you have to wear blessed, magic underwear to have sex with your wife, that alone should disqualify him. You want a president that believes bulls**t like that?</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>When you were governor, you refused to  declare a National Prayer Day. I bet the right-wing fundamentalists were furious. </strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> Absolutely. The Minnesota media just grilled me. They went, “How come every other governor is declaring National Prayer Day and not you?” And that’s when I said, “What do you need me to tell you to pray for?” I’ve come out of the closet now: I’m an atheist. And I’m proud to say it. I’m a follower of George Carlin.</p> <p>  </p> <p> We lost a great voice when we lost George, but here’s what George believed in: George worshipped the sun. And I do too. Because the sun, and I’m paraphrasing George, gives me heat, the sun gives me food, the sun makes me warm, the sun does everything I want. It’s a wonderful thing, and most of all, every morning I can get up and see it come up, which gives it great credibility — knowing the sun exists.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Don’t get me wrong: Other people are free to believe in God; they’re free to practice their religion; I don’t begrudge them that. That’s the one thing I give kudos to President Obama for. When he took office and he did his state address, he listed Christians, Muslims, Jewish [believers] — he went down the line, and the last thing he said was “and non-believers.” I jumped out of my chair, I said, “My God, we’re legal now.” The president has finally acknowledged that there are people who don’t believe in a supreme being.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>It was Mark Twain who said if Jesus were alive today, the one thing he wouldn’t be was Christian...</strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> Exactly, and not only that, do you think Jesus would support these wars?</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>It’s unlikely. </strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> And yet, our Christians do. Not only that, they seem to be wanting to drive us to Armageddon, too.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/2mediumJesseTVshow.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 419px; " /></p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>compare the fundamentalist Christians to fundamentalist Muslims, who also seem to want to bring about the end times. </strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> And that’s dangerous for all the rest of us. To me, when you look through the annals of history, who causes all the wars and what are they caused over? Religion.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Many wars have been caused by religion, but you know …</strong></p> <p> Name me one that hasn’t been.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Well, mostly I think of the wars of the 20th century. You could argue there’s an overall religiosity behind wars of the twentieth century but…</strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> Even Vietnam, I learned, was caused by religion. Every war is pretty much based on religion.</p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>And it’s ironic because the common thread that runs through every major religion in the world is the Golden Rule. Do unto others.</strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> Yeah, treat others as you would want to be treated. But nobody follows that rule. And let me state clearly: An atheist has just as much value of life — and probably more — because we don’t believe there’s a hereafter. Why would we want to make things horrible if we think we only get this one go-around?</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>I’m interested in conversion stories. Was there a defining moment when you became an atheist, or was it a gradual progression toward that perspective?</strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> It was a gradual progression, but the defining moment was when I saw Christopher Hitchens on Bill Maher’s [show], and he was wearing a funny T-shirt that said “I’M AFRICAN-AMERICAN.” Because if you go back, and if you believe in evolution, the first known man came out of Africa. And if you trace us back that far, aren’t we all African-Americans? He had that T-shirt on and Christopher said, “It’s time for us atheists to come out of the closet.” It is time for us to stand up and proudly say that we are atheists. So I said, you know what? He’s right.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>But let’s get back to this idea about religion being the source of all wars. Do you think that’s the case with Iraq?</strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> You know the scariest thing that I heard come out of George W. Bush’s [mouth]? He was in front of the press, getting ready to take us to war [with] Iraq, and one of the reporters said, “Did you consult your father?” (meaning the previous president, George H. W.).  And Bush turned to the reporter and said, “No, I consulted a higher father.” You mean this guy wants us to believe God is telling him to go to war in Iraq? I got angry over that. How arrogant.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>It’s theocracy.</strong></p> <p> Well, I can tell you this: I’ve been on the planet 60 years...and God ain’t never said one word to me. In 60 years.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Did you ever talk to him?</strong></p> <p> What good would it do?</p> <p>  </p> <p> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/mediumbillofrights.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 430px; " /></p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>So no.</strong></p> <p> No! I mean, I was baptized Lutheran. I used to pray. Never got an answer.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Nothing at all?</strong></p> <p> In 60 years. And I’m not worried about it because if he does exist, I think he’ll accept that I’m a free thinker. I believe God would be very much like the George Burns’ character in “Oh, God!”  He’s given us everything we need ,but we’re on our own. He’s also given us brains to think with. And I shouldn’t say “he.” Who says he’s a he?</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Fair enough. Let’s talk about DemoCRIPS and ReBLOODlicans. What’s the main thing you want people to take away from your book?</strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> That the wealthiest people increased their wealth five times during the last recession. How much money do these people need?</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Some of the figures in this book are staggering...</strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> How about the insider trading of the Democrats and Republicans in Congress? Their average rate of return is 12 percent. That’s better than Warren Buffett gets.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>You quote Newt Gingrich’s sugar daddy, Sheldon Adelson, the eighth-richest person in America, as saying “I’m against very wealthy people attempting to or influencing elections. But as long as it’s doable, I’m going to do it.” When I read that quote I was really struck by it. And then, on his show last week, Bill Maher said the exact same thing when he spoke of his million-dollar contribution to Obama’s campaign. It’s this sort of an attitude of “Well, if it helps my team win and the ref can’t legally call foul, then I’m gonna do it”?</strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> And let’s call it what it is: it’s a bribe. If we do it in the private sector, then we go to jail. The only way you can go over the Supreme Court is to amend the Constitution, and there’s a movement out there right now to add an amendment to the Constitution stating clearly corporations do not have the same rights as people, and that money is not free speech.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/mediumkeithrichards.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 512px; " /></p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Are we living in a police state right now? </strong></p> <p> Yes. I foresee martial law in the future.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Do you think part of that is the result of the National Defense Authorization Act being signed into law?</strong></p> <p> Absolutely. They’ve now turned the military loose inside our country. They can arrest you and they can hold you without a trial or a lawyer indefinitely.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>If they determine you have ties to terrorists.</strong></p> <p> And who makes that determination? They do. Not a judge, not a lawyer, not a jury — they do.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>The military.</strong></p> <p> Yes.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>You say in your book that the military is “the muscle arm of the corporations.” Would you encourage someone to enlist and serve? </strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> I enjoyed my time in the United States Navy. It’s what made me who I am today. [But] that’s something each individual has to decide on their own, but I will tell you this: being a former Navy Seal and [considering] the knowledge I’ve acquired [over the past] 60 years, today I would be a conscientious objector.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>To any kind of service?</strong></p> <p> Any kind of war. My country’s been at war for over half my life, and nobody wins. People simply die. The only people that win are the corporations and the people that profit from them. But again, I wouldn’t encourage or discourage anyone from their choice.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>I wanted to talk about your TV show <em>Conspiracy Theory.</em> What are you investigating next season?</strong></p> <p> [Laughs] We’ve already completed the whole season, it was done in November and normally they go on in January and amazingly, they haven’t gone on.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Why?</strong></p> <p> You tell me.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Did something in this season scare them?</strong></p> <p> Yeah. This season’s the most controversial we [have ever done]. I’ll tell you what happened on one. We were covering a particular subject and one of the interns called a former colonel in Georgia and his quote back was “Young lady, don’t you realize that people that look into this end up dead?” That’s a direct threat.</p> <p>  </p> <p> The girl quit my show. I don’t blame her; she was getting married in a couple months. Well, we went on with the show. I brought in a whistleblower named Dr. Fred Bell. When I was done interviewing Dr. Bell, he looked at me and he said, off the air, ”You know that I have a CIA handler, don’t you?” And I said, “That doesn’t surprise me.” And here was his quote to me, he said, “Well he’s gonna go ballistic when he finds out I talked to you.” Well, guess what? Two days later he was dead in his hotel. And that’s true. And that’s what’s in the show.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>So they’re not going to air it? </strong></p> <p> I don’t know. They haven’t yet.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Can you tell me more about the subject of that episode?</strong></p> <p> Oh, I’d rather not.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>What did you do when you found out Dr. Bell was dead?</strong></p> <p> I reported that to the Minneapolis Police Chief, the whole background, everything that happened — never heard back from him. All we heard was “natural causes.”</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>I noticed you dedicated your book to Hunter S. Thompson, who you say is “a real journalist and a man who warned us.” What did he warn us about?</strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> If you read Hunter’s work way back in the ‘70s when he followed Nixon on the campaign trail, many of the things Hunter wrote about back then came true. You’ve gotta read his stuff.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Are there any journalists working today that you’d put in the same league with him?</strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> The closest would be Matt Taibbi, the guy  who exposed Wall Street for <em>Rolling Stone</em>. But of course, Matt isn’t quite as colorful as Hunter.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>You have a lot to say about the Bill of Rights and the Constitution....</strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> Did you know that the Bill of Rights, and the Constitution, and Betsy Ross’s  flag are all made out of marijuana?</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>I didn’t, but now I’m glad that I do. </strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> We eradicate marijuana and we eradicate the Bill of Rights and the Constitution at the same time.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>What was the last movie you saw that really sucked you in?</strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> The last one was Johnny Depp in <em>Pirates of the Caribbean: [Dead Man’s Chest]</em> when he had Keith Richards, who stole the film. Keith Richards in that scene where Johnny looks up and says “How’s Mom?” and he holds up the shrunken head? Oh my God, I was on the floor of the theatre, laughing. Keith stole the film. He has two or three lines, and he steals the film. As you can tell, I’m a huge Keith Richards fan.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>You were Keith’s bodyguard for a while. </strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> I actually bodyguarded all the rock bands that came to St. Paul in ’78 and ’81. I was recovering from minor knee surgery and it was a fun thing to do. Foreigner, Springsteen, Grateful Dead, Bob Segar, the Stones twice.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <em>This interview is edited and excerpted from a longer taped transcript.</em></p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Author Bio:</strong></p> <p> <em>Christopher Karr is a contributing writer at </em>Highbrow Magazine.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <em><strong>Photos: truTV; CreativeCommons.org.</strong></em></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/jesse-ventura" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Jesse Ventura</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/minnesota-governor" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Minnesota governor</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/conspiracy-theory-jesse-ventura" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Conspiracy Theory With Jesse Ventura</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/democrips-and-rebloodlicans-no-more-gangs-government" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">DemoCRIPS and ReBLOODlicans: No More Gangs in Government</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/trutv" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">TruTV</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/keith-richards" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Keith Richards</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/republicans" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Republicans</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/democrats" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Democrats</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/ron-paul" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Ron Paul</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/president-obama" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">President Obama</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/religion-atheist" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">religion atheist</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/iraq-war" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Iraq war</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/mitt-romney" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Mitt Romney</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/fundamentalists" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">fundamentalists</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/christians" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Christians</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/george-w-bush" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">George W. Bush</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/bill-maher" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Bill Maher</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/marijuana" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">marijuana</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Christopher Karr</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">truTV</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Fri, 22 Jun 2012 02:02:20 +0000 tara 1177 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/1254-jesse-ventura-politics-keith-richards-and-why-hes-atheist#comments