[Sourcecode]

You shouldn't eat red meat either.

[Basil II]

After 44 years locked up it's safe to say he's been through all the stages of grief and mourning for his lost youth in the outside world. Otis Johnson appears to be truly at peace with where he's at and what life threw at him, perhaps making peace with the fact that he was too weak at the time to handle it and had to be locked up. I respect that.

Despite his years of isolation I'm guessing his game is stronger then a good lot of the zombies shown in that vid.

[GlobalMan]

Can someone explain more about the back story?

I see people using words like beautiful, moving, inspiring etc and praising him for not thinking society owes him anything. It made me think he was wrongly convicted or something, but from the little I just read he said he did commit the crime.

Why would society owe him anything, and why is he worthy of such praise?

Don't get me wrong, he served his time, should be treated as any of us are treated by society. He's adjusted well and has a great mindset. I just don't quite get the outpouring of praise.

[joost]

I call it BS. There's TV in prison. Many inside the cell. Another viral clickbait. Hope he's receiving some ad money for using his time inside for profit.

[Gmac]

(11-27-2015 05:17 PM)joost Wrote:  

I call it BS. There's TV in prison. Many inside the cell. Another viral clickbait. Hope he's receiving some ad money for using his time inside for profit.

Not all prisons are equal.

[The Lizard of Oz]

GlobalMan, the back story is just as you say. He committed the crime, was sentenced, and did his time, which was a very long time (44 years). He says that society does not owe him anything, and he is completely correct; it doesn't.

Nevertheless, when a man who is in prison for more than four decades -- a man who entered it as a young man in in his twenties, and comes out of it an old man on the verge of 70 -- can finally step out into the world, it is a profound and moving moment. He is a living human being, and he wants to walk free, to take the air, to taste life -- just like the rest of us. That, in itself, is moving and beautiful enough.

What makes this video particularly remarkable is the man's childlike wonder at, and openness to, the world around him. He is not preoccupied with the past and its grievances; he is curious about what he sees around him, about the new and fantastic reality of the phones, the electronic signs in the windows, the new products, the pink and blue Gatorades in the food mart. And this allows him -- within the limits of his perception -- to see the world as it really is, something that far more intelligent men are often unable to do because they are blinded by varieties of either ideology, or self-absorption, or both.

These things make it a beautiful and moving story. There is no morality tale here, but a story does not need to be a morality tale to be humanly moving, beautiful, and worth attending to.

[DaveR]

(11-25-2015 08:34 PM)Cattle Rustler Wrote:  

At 69 he dresses pretty fly

Dressing that way was the norm until the late '60s. He's a living reminder that we've had 45 years of degeneracy in that area...

[Veloce]

A friends dad went to prison for several years and we picked him up from the train station when he got out.

Reminds me of Otis here. Quiet, soft-spoken, spending most of his time just taking it all in.

All the hydrogenated oil, zombied out iphone addicts, obesity...basically all the things we consider social ills must still look like a glimpse into paradise for a man that's been imprisoned for 44 years.

It was very soothing to listen to him talk. He speaks as a man completely at peace.

[GlobalMan]

(11-27-2015 05:40 PM)The Lizard of Oz Wrote:  

GlobalMan, the back story is just as you say. He committed the crime, was sentenced, and did his time, which was a very long time (44 years). He says that society does not owe him anything, and he is completely correct; it doesn't.

Nevertheless, when a man who is in prison for more than four decades -- a man who entered it as a young man in in his twenties, and comes out of it an old man on the verge of 70 -- can finally step out into the world, it is a profound and moving moment. He is a living human being, and he wants to walk free, to take the air, to taste life -- just like the rest of us. That, in itself, is moving and beautiful enough.

What makes this video particularly remarkable is the man's childlike wonder at, and openness to, the world around him. He is not preoccupied with the past and its grievances; he is curious about what he sees around him, about the new and fantastic reality of the phones, the electronic signs in the windows, the new products, the pink and blue Gatorades in the food mart. And this allows him -- within the limits of his perception -- to see the world as it really is, something that far more intelligent men are often unable to do because they are blinded by varieties of either ideology, or self-absorption, or both.

These things make it a beautiful and moving story. There is no morality tale here, but a story does not need to be a morality tale to be humanly moving, beautiful, and worth attending to.

That makes sense, and sums it up well.

[polar]

(11-27-2015 12:27 AM)Sourcecode Wrote:  

You shouldn't eat red meat either.

Would you rather eat filet mignon or frankenmeat bologna? Brisket or Spam?

There is healthy peanut butter (examples of which were posted above, and which is made of just crushed peanuts and salt) and there is peanut butter where the oil was extracted, sold off, and replaced with cheap substitutes.

If peanut butter has other oils added to it in the ingredients, avoid it if your budget allows. The real thing doesn't cost that much more at Trader Joe's.

[CynicalContrarian]

(11-27-2015 05:09 PM)GlobalMan Wrote:  

Can someone explain more about the back story?...

I wouldn't be surprised if he was affiliated with the Black Panthers or some other radical group.
Being 1960's New York & all.

Regardless, his current mindset as portrayed, is inspiring just in & of itself.

Although, if he eats too much of that plastic American junk.
He'll probably wind up with (Tracy Morgan) 'the Sugar'.

[tynamite]

For those wondering how he feeds himself, a charity gives him money to live off.