The Non-Adventurous Life

A Letter to a DICK and a RANT to the Citizenry

2009-03-15T11:33:00.000-07:00

Vice President Cheney, speaking on CNN's "State of the Union" articulated the harshest conservative case against the president's plans, accused the Obama administration of "using the current set of economic difficulties to try to justify a massive expansion of government, and much more authority for the government over the private sector." (Yahoon News / Politico / Mike Allen Mike Allen – Sat Mar 14, 7:41 pm ET)

Dear Former Vice President,

As a working-class citizen of The United States of America, I would welcome the expansion of MY government, particularly as it pertains to oversight of the private sector which continues to loot MY tax dollars with the misappropriation of T.A.R.P. funds and bloated no-bid military contracts, just to name two things which occurred with the blessing of your administration.

Though you don't think it is in your best interest, please allow the rest of us to re-build OUR country from the political, financial and constitutional devastation YOUR administration left behind.

Have you no shame, sir?

_________________________

Dear American Citizen,

Don't be fooled into fearing YOUR government which was designed by our forefathers to be of, by and FOR THE PEOPLE. True, it's been so long since that has happened, I can understand your suspicions, but it is possible.

But know that YOUR government, unlike private industry, has no profit motive for itself. For what can a well-regulated government do with a surplus but re-invest it in programs for you and your countrymen? And if those programs are wasteful or fruitless, have a free press (with well-protected sources) investigate those excesses and let the people know where the problems lie.

Some elements in the private sector, however, want to turn your tax dollars into their bottomless, no-risk profit-center. They claim endless tax cuts will lead to re-investment and profits that will "trickle down" to meet the needs of the masses. But the last 25 years have shown that it's just not true. Wages and benefits have stagnated for the many while profits have skyrocketed for the few. Jobs have been exported by the millions as private industry continues to seek ever-cheaper wage slaves.

Left to its own devices, some members of the private sector will do anything, legal and otherwise, regardless of who it hurts and regardless how much damage it does to OUR economy and OUR infrastructure, to achieve its profits. Like the small percentage of every population who succumb to drug addiction, some capitalists are powerless to help themselves, always reaching for a higher Profit Nirvana while everything around them collapses. This has been demonstrated time and time again over the last decade. It would behoove the American public to REMEMBER AND LEARN from its recent history and build long-term guards against such dangers.

When the private sector controls so much of the money that it HARMS THE GENERAL WELFARE of the citizens of the United States, it's the government's duty to strike a new balance in defense of its citizenry. The profit motive must be balanced with oversight so citizens aren't victimized by it in the form of predatory lending or shortcuts on food & drug safety or inefficient and expensive private contractors gaming the system or industry that pollutes our natural resources or simply by not providing enough money for the work performed (necessitating a minimum wage).

As recent evidence strongly suggests, unfettered capitalism can drain a treasury dry until it is stopped by some outside force or by bankruptcy. If YOUR government doesn't control the excesses of greed through legislation and proper enforcement, who will?

Will your desire as a consumer be enough to keep your credit card company or mortgage company or cell phone company from charging you more in interest or fees? Will your personal protestations stop your health insurance company from denying you a claim in a catastrophic health event? Who will defend you from injustice of private profiteers if not the laws or representatives of your very own government agencies? Don't fear your government because you have no better ally in defending you from opportunists and hucksters who only wish to feather their own nests at your expense.

It's clear that market forces alone are not sufficient to curb the insatiable appetite of today's "disaster capitalists". And public citizens shouldn't be forced to subsidize enormous private losses for fear of corporations who are "too big to fail".

Private capital's tendency to shirk risk and transfer accountability using unusual and creative accounting practices must be countered by stern government regulation and enforcement.

But GREED FEARS GOVERNANCE. And a vehement hatred and resentment is born from that fear. You can see the evidence of that hatred and resentment on every major media outlet in the country, but particularly on that bastion of right-wing ideology known as Fox News. Bill O'Reilly deliberately stokes that resentment night after night in an attempt to inspire a populist uprising against President Obama. You have to wonder, what would motivate such fear and resentment from a supposed journalist? Ratings seem too trivial a thing to inspire such face-twisting disgust. Perhaps a loss of profit for his underwriters? Only a thorough auditing of Oreilly's private wealth would tell us for sure if he was protecting some ill-gotten gains or merely suffering from some psychological pathology.

But we must ignore the right's attempts to spread the fear of governance and join OUR president in his plan to rebuild our country which once held such great promise. We don't have to live in fear of poverty from medical bankruptcies. We don't have to live in fear of unfair mortgages or foreclosures or homelessness. We dont have to live in fear of race or sex discrimination and we don't have to fear religious persecution by an intolerant majority. WE CAN BE SO MUCH BETTER than that and Barack Obama is our best chance of realizing it.

Thank you,

e

"Operation Filmmaker" Gets Under Your Skin

2009-01-05T03:42:00.000-08:00

So I wake up this morning thinking about the documentary I saw the night before on PBS' Independent Lens - always a good sign when you're exposed to art of any kind.
"Operation Filmmaker" is the troubling portrait of a young Iraqi film student, Muthana Mohmed, who is invited to participate on the production of a Hollywood movie, but quickly finds himself in over his head and at odds with his Western hosts who expect him to be grateful and humbled for the opportunity they've afforded him - working as a production assistant and serving crunchy snacks to over-pampered Hollywood film producers.
Instead, Mohmed grows increasingly resentful of the fruit that's been dangled in front of him but seemingly held just out of his reach - a fascinating parallel to the American / Iraqi - Israili / Palestinian relationship playing out on the world stage as I type.

Mohmed can't go back to Iraq because he'd most likely be killed for working with the Americans, and particularly for aspiring to work for an Israeli-owned film company. Desperate to extend his opportunity, he repeatedly asks his hosts for money - and even attempts to extory money from them, increasing their resentment. He eventually lands a year's tuition at The London Film Academy from The Rock who he meets working on the set of Doom.

My first thoughts this morning were, either that's the most brilliant piece of propaganda I've ever seen, or the most poorly conceived gesture of good will gone bad. In either case, it's a fascinating film, but one that leaves this viewer suspicious of everbody's motives.

Faux News Ministry Of Information Reliable Source Of Propaganda For Israeli Lobby

2008-12-31T07:02:00.000-08:00

So I'm laying there in bed (I'm on vacation), flipping through the channels when I land on ch 66, Fox News - or as I like to call it, The Faux News Ministry Of Information. Unfortunately, it's the only news network Comcast allows basic cable subscribers (mostly old people and poor people) to watch, seeing how they're so reliably susceptible to right-wing propaganda.

Anyway, it's a commercial break and there's some charity begging for dollars for Israel to build bomb shelters for the Israelis. No, seriously. You see, Hamas has been lobbing Katusha rockets over the border again and, this time, they actually managed to kill about four people in southern Israel which is not cool. The voiceover in the commercial begs, "Now is the time to stand beside Israel!" They're begging Americans to send money to Israel.

Are you fucking kidding me?

Not only does Israel receive BILLIONS of dollars (estimated at $108 Billion annually) from the U.S. in foreign aid, more than ANY OTHER country in the world (approximately 1/3 of our total foreign aid budget), but they also happen to be bombing the shit out of that hellhole known as the Gaza strip with OUR F16 fighter jets. Over the last week Israel has managed to kill 100 times as many Palestinians as Hamas has managed to kill Israelis. Doesn't sound like they need any more help from us. And yet, they still need our sympathy - for political reasons.

What's sad is probably half of the U.S. - the half that voted for Bush & McCain, I'd bet - probably believe that Israel needs U.S. money to build bomb shelters to protect them from Hamas. Yup, grandma's cutting the check right now for those poor, poor people who suffered so terribly at the hands of Hitler during the war.

Well, I'm here to tell ya grandma - over the last sixty years the oppressed have become the oppressors and they've got a marketing budget that would make Disney blush (anyone remember the tens of millions of dvds the Israeli lobby sent out through the mail just before the 2008 U.S. presidential election?). And as long as they have such a reliable vein into the heart of the American electorate (i.e. Fox News), you can bet they'll continue to inject it with propaganda.

So Israel, when you have all the power, all the money and all the weapons, with apparently no problem in using them (e.g. Lebanon last year), it's pretty hard to take you seriously as the victim. I think that politcal well has finally run dry.

Oh yeah, and they don't want anybody else helping the Palestinians either. Israeli patrol boats rammed a U.S. relief yacht full of medical supplies, a U.S. Senator & journalists from CNN and Al Jazeera. Typical Israeli belligerance.

Check out the video from CNN.

...and another about the conflict in general.

Campaign Fatigue & New Song "Liars & Cheats"

2008-12-30T09:51:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted anything in a while, mostly due to campaign fatigue from the 2008 election. Thankfully, Obama won. What that's going to mean remains to be seen, but as a friend of mine quipped, "At least he doesn't spell his name backwards with a broken crayon." I'm pretty sure that was a dig at GWB - who, I think, has done more damage to this country than I thought humanly possible - so much so, I can't even keep track of it all. The last eight years have left me drained, politically speaking. I have guarded optimism for the future.

I did write a new song during the campaign, called "Liars & Cheats" - my cynical take on electoral politics over the last forty years. I started it near the beginning of the campaign, because of all the nonsense spewed by the candidates to get one over on their opponents. Here are the lyrics.

Liars & Cheats by ejp ©2008

Verse 1
Get ready people, it's time for the race
the horses are all at their gates

The odds have been set, so please come place your bet
on the one you would trust with our fate

Bridge

but it don't really matter if you never choose
no matter the outcome, you're still bound to lose, because...

Chorus

Liars & Cheats & Harlots & Charletans
don't give a damn about what you might need
they're only concerned with their schemes and conspiracies
using your vote to serve their own greed

Verse 2

When the wolf starts to cry, the sheep start to lie
they both want you to live in fear
but they'll quiet down if we all stand our ground
it's the same nonsense every four years

Bridge

courage is shining a light on a lie
and having good reasons to fight or to die, but
(alt: courage is doing what you think is right, no matter how many sheep try picking a fight)

(repeat chorus, ending with "using your fear to serve their own greed")

Part B

Well, don't, don't, don't be fooled again.
No we won't, won't, won't be fooled again.
Well, maybe....

Verse 3

Don't hold your breath while you hope for the best
your face will just turn red to blue
and don't you complain while you wait for a change
because changes are waiting on you

Bridge

turn on your conscience from zero to one
drag them out from their rocks and into the sun, because

(repeat chorus, ending with, "using your hopes to serve their own greed")
(repeat part b and end with "well maybe we'll be fine")
(end)

The chords are as follows (I don't know how to format them correctly over the lyrics so you can experiment on your own if you want to record your own version - just give me credit, please).

Verses:
EAEAEB
EAEAEB

Bridge:
F#min, Bmaj, G#min, C#maj

Chorus:
A,E,A,E,B
A,E,A,E, F#, B, back to E

Part B:
F#min, G#min, Amaj, C#maj, B#maj (followed by descending bass line & repeat)

repeat of part b ends with Amaj, Abmin, C#maj, Bmaj, E

Notes:

So, the 1st verse was written first - an obvious "horse race" metaphor for political campaigns. The third verse was written next - the "red" and "blue" references regarding the bi-polar political mapping of America. The second verse was added later. I alwasy get hung up writing a third verse. It's a bit of a non-sequitor and I'm not entirely pleased with how it sits, but there it is. The "part b" (whatever you want to call that part of a song that isn't the verse, bridge or chorus), I'm pretty sure was added last - and is a quote from The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again".

So there it is. E-mail me with any thoughts or comment below.

McCotter Drinking The Company Kool-Aid™ Again

2008-07-29T15:03:00.000-07:00

My illustrious congressional representative Thaddeus McCotter (R - MI, 11th district) has sent out his quarterly e-mail, dutifully towing the Republicon line as predicted - in this case DRILL DRILL DRILL DRILL! Well, actually he said...

If the government would just get out of the way, remove its regulations, litigation, taxation, and other obstacles to the production of American energy by entrepreneurs and allow free markets to work,the supply of oil will increase...

Riiiight - because de-regulatioin has worked so well for us in the past, eh congressman? Remember Enron? How about the results we're now seeing from the deregulation of the mortgage business? I can't believe neocons can still make this argument with a straight face. Then again, their nominee is blaming Barack Obama for the price of gas. Good thing their party-faithful are hateful nincompoops.

Do you know what happens when you leave businesses to their own devices with no oversight? They steal everything they can from the consumer. I've seen it time after time after time after time in my own life. Business only does for the consumer and for the public what it's required to do by law - and only then when there are enough resources to enforce it. They loot the U.S.treasury, YOUR treasury, for everything they can get.

And do you know what happens when nobody's watching our so-called representatives? Ted Stevens happens, that's what. Ted Stevens....tee hee hee hee. I knew they'd catch you with your hand in the oil drum.

Oh, and by the way, Congressman McCotter, the next time you go bashing the government, remember - YOU ARE THE GOVERNMENT GENIUS!

You Can't Escape The Batman Boyo

2008-07-22T02:55:00.000-07:00

If I see, hear or read one more Batman "The Dark Knight" tie-in I'm gonna puke. NPR, The History Channel - all the f*cking major networks have deconstructed this stupid movie from every conceivable angle. You couldn't escape that marketing budget if you tried.

What does this level of attention given to something so ...... so......RETARDED....say about our North American culture?

That we're just as simple and shallow as the rest of the world believes.

Review of STP @ Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort

2008-07-20T05:07:00.000-07:00

We went to see Stone Temple Pilots at the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort in Mt. Pleasant, Mi on Friday night. I'd never been there before; I see most of my concerts in the Detroit area. But I didn't want to miss the opportunity to see STP on their way back around again; they'd already played The Fillmore (formerly The State Theatre on Woodward in Detroit) several months before. I chose not to go because I was a bit put off by their marketing practices. To join their fan club and view their blog it's $45 - that's on top of the $65 to $95 for tickets! A big WTF to STP! I passed. But I couldn't pass on the concert twice. Who knows when singer Scott Weiland might disappear again - or disappear permanently. He'd been busted twice for possession of heroin and cocaine in as many years and even did an eight-month stint for his bad behavior before the tour, at least according to what I've read online.

STP has been one of my favorites since the early nineties, back when Rolling Stone wrote them off as grunge-era copycats. But I knew there was more there than just hard-rock songs about rape, dead bodies and serial killers; there was a singer/lyricist who could empathize with those severely troubled souls - and do it convincingly. That takes a special personality, a troubled personality, or perhaps a very talented actor - but for some reason I don't think Weiland is acting.

The Venue

Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort is a sprawling complex whose driveway entrance is bedecked by two giant eagles with splayed wings and whose enormous, cedar portico covers eight lanes of valet parking. A dozen stories of hotel rooms are located in a seperate building to the right of the casino. Just inside the main automatic doors is the gambling pit. Slot machines and various games of chance chatter just below the pumped-in musical tones, creating a mesmerizing cacophony of sound designed to help part you from your cash. To get to the show, you have to walk past all the gambling action, naturally.

The Soaring Eagle show room is much like you'd imagine Las Vegas show rooms of the past; an enormous open room with maybe three or four levels, each level only elevated a couple of steps below the last, continuing like that toward the stage. But unlike the glamorous Vegas shows of the past which included linen-draped tables and over-stuffed chairs, this one is filled with hard, plastic, stackable chairs laid out in countless rows. Because of the low angle and the fact that there is no stadium seating, the stage is difficult to see from most points in the room when the audience is standing - which, in an American rock show, is almost always.

We were in section L3, seats 31 & 32 about mid-way back and all the way to the left of the stage. The pros were that it was easy and quick to get a beer or go to the bathroom (short, fast moving lines), but the cons were that we could barely see the stage and watched the video monitor through most of the concert. I probably wouldn't come to see a rock concert here again unless I had seating directly in front of the stage.

The Show

STP opened with "The Big Empty" and Weiland, much to the audience's delight, was wearing an Native American Fox Headdress! He tilted his head down while singing so it covered his face completely. It was kind of surreal - especially in an indian-owned casino. A stranger next to me smiled, hi-fived me and said, "Don't take it off! Don't take it off! That's Awwwwesome!" I had to agree. It was a great way to start the show.

Weiland's performance reminded of Jim Morrison's classic performance at The Hollywood Bowl I'd seen play on a loop at The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame just the week before. Morrison was INSIDE his performance - completely removed from his surroundings, a spectacle to behold. Weiland has that same unwieldy, unpredictable and INTENSE nature; it's a drag for his band mates and handlers, a delight for his audience, but probably not sustainable for the long-haul; at 41, Weiland's survived the pure rock & roll lifestyle much longer than he should have - by most accounts he should be a member of the "27 Club" with Janis, Jimmy, Brian & Kurt. According to some reports, his exit may not be too far away; a post at the STP forum claims that Scott has once again left the reservation. Here's an excerpt from the STP forum regarding show at The Chippewa Valley Music Festival the following night.

If you saw tonight's show...you know that Scott is in big trouble. The band was terrible... I don't say this lightly...I've seen STP before, and they were great...What I saw tonight was a dead man walking.

If this tour continues, Scott may not survive. If I don't read tomorrow that the tour is canceled, the rest of the band may have some serious moral issues to deall with very soon.

It's not worth the money. You're friend isn't going to make it. - posted by TheShorn

By the second or third song, Weiland pulled off the fox headdress to display a freshly-shaven dome, an unsettling haircut for what some already consider a drug-addled psychopath. But his performance was sharp and lively, dancin' the "shaky jake" while he blasted through his vocals. Never once during the show did he stand idle or disinterested. At points near the end of the show he waved Native American feathers while doing the traditional pow-wow dance (arms extended like wings, knees bent, flying in circles on the stage).

Between songs, however, he mumbled incoherently. Sometimes it was about existential matters relating to the songs, something about his mother and father, and once he even shared an explanation of his in-ear monitor which, presumably, some audience member close to the stage had asked him about.

"It's just like this," he said, landing a foot on a nearby floor monitor. "And this one, and this one, and this one," making his way to the floor monitors across the stage. "But I can hear myself and I don't have to shout. We can keep the stage volume low," he said. Adding quietly, "and I can speak like this."

I don't have the official set list so I'll just tell you which songs I think I remember. Let's see, in no particular order - "Sex Type Thing" "Coma" "Vaseline" "Plush" "Interstate Love Song" "Hollywood Bitch" "Sour Girl" "Meatplow" "Silvergun Superman" "Big Bang Baby" "Trippin' On A Hole In A Paper Heart" and "Lounge Fly" among others. "Dead & Bloated" was one of the encores. There were choice tunes from every record they released but they didn't play "Days of The Week" or "Pretty Penny" unfortunately. Overall, a very good mix of STP. Hmm, did they play "Unglued" too? Maybe.

Other Facets and conclusions...

The show started about an hour late (around 9:00 pm) and lasted a little over two hours. But it wasn't a long wait and gave us time to get settled in and get beered up.

Robert & Dean DeLeo & Eric Kretz performances were, as usual, energetic and on the mark, a necessarily steady base from which Weiland can jump. Bassist Rob DeLeo's slick-backed hair, tear-drop sun-glasses and satin shirt always cracks me up. It reminds me of my childhood in the late seventies.

The light show consisted of psychedelic overlays on the video feed, various vivid colors and patterns and aircraft lights on towers on either side of the stage that flashed when appropriate. The only props were Weiland's Indian Headdress and feathered handles. Oh, and I think he brought out that wide-brimmed black hat during the encore.

The sound was a little dead in the heavily carpeted and fabric-laden room, but was considerably better toward the rear of the hall by the bar & bathrooms.

The STP merchandise was, as usual, overpriced - about 25 percent above the prices at the online store. There was a really cool looking "Four" t-shirt with the big white star but it didn't come in 3x for big guys like me - so I didn't buy. $50 for a t-shirt is a bit much anyway.

All in all, a satisfying show, particularly for those who could actually see the stage. Let's just hope Weiland leaves plenty of room for recovery during this grueling tour. He's got this week off, so I hope he makes good use of his time. Some long bouts of sleep and some Pedialyte are probably in order.

Didn't mean to, but....

2008-07-19T08:59:00.001-07:00

...I spent my stimulus check on furniture and weekend get-aways. Meant to save it, but....shit.

Oh well, that check comes with a built-in rationale.

Hope the economy doesn't tank in the interim.

The continued looting of the U.S. treasury

2008-07-18T09:41:00.000-07:00

I've just got done learning about how this whole Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac crisis started and, again, it turns out to be little more than the looting of our treasury by another bunch of asshole bankers, lawyers and accountants. Bunch of greedy mother-fuckers who gamed the system so they'd come out ahead and fuck everybody else in the process. And now we're supposed to bail out these motherfuckers who put us in a horrible financial crisis - thanks to their greed and disregard for anybody else.

They spend much of their time, energy and money preaching the wisdom of the free market and demand the government stay OUT of their business, arguing that American business and the American people will flourish if left to their own devices. The Market, they preach, will self-correct.

Then when the shit hits the fan because of their own greedy practices (namely lending money to people who don't really understand the terms and who couldn't possibly afford the loans they were getting) the once market-wise bankers want to be bailed out by the American Tax Payer. That's right, you and I get to underwrite the failure of their predatory lending practices to the tune of TRILLIONS of dollars.

I heard it described today as "...the Capitalism of Profit and the Socialism of Debt." Use that line the next time some asshole right-winger wants to argue about the burdens of oversight and regulations.

Bush: The Disaster Capitalist's Best Friend

2008-07-15T09:11:00.000-07:00

You know, every time I hear George Bush speak publicly, I'm always reminded of his statement that he's "a uniter, not a divider". I'm reminded of it because I'm blown away by how many times he's publicly proven himself to be either delusional, or just a liar.

Todays' press conference (seen below), designed to calm the fears of Americans who might make a run on the bank due to the near collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac among the collapse of other financial giants (due in no small part to a complete lack of oversight and regulation of the mortgage industry - brought to you by the concerted efforts of high-priced finance industry lobbyists), showed again how willing the president is to hammer the Democrats in congress for not allowing the oil companies to exploit sensitive natural reserves like ANWAR - regardless of their failure to exploit the vast majority of government land leases they already hold or the failure to creatmore refining capacity in the last thirty years. Anything they gain at this point in the game is pure gravy.

But, as recent history has proven since September 11, 2001, every American disaster is an opportunity for George Bush Jr. to provide more opportunities for the industry closest to his heart - big oil. The fall of the twin towers allowed a frightened populace to be cow-towed into allowing the invasion of Iraq so energy companies could eventually divide the spoils amongst themselves - assuming we ever get the hornets back in the nest. But even now, as oil executives have recently admitted to congress, they're negotiating side-deals with the Iraqis just in case the U.S. bungles the job - which seems likely considering our current leadership.

So once again Presidnet Bush has missed the opportunity to, in essence, say "We're all in this together people, so let's pull together and fix this energy crisis", and instead accused the Democrats of impeding the progress of oil companies who would no doubt save us if they had the opportunity.

Right.

And President Bush made no call for Americans to conserve energy like President Carter did in the 1970's - well, at least not until a reporter brought it up. What a surprise.

And now.....on to IRAN

2008-07-11T03:04:00.000-07:00

Iran is testing medium and long-range missiles in response to recent threats from the U.S. & Israel - to prove they can DEFEND themselves from an attack. The U.S. and Israel vow to DEFEND themselves from IRAN's provocations - of course, nobody is taking responsibility for being on the OFFENSIVE or provoking a war. Just in time for the election, eh?

I think a quote from Hunter S. Thompson sums it up quite well....

"The towers are gone now, reduced to bloody rubble, along with all hopes for Peace in Our Time, in the United States or any other country. Make no mistake about it: We are At War now -- with somebody -- and we will stay At War with that mysterious Enemy for the rest of our lives."

Democracy Is Not Personal

2008-07-09T17:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I canceled my MySpace page. Then I cancelled my DetroitCity.com page. Then I canceled my PayPal account. All on a whim. No Regrets. There's an incredibly satisfying feeling I get from paring away the digital clutter in my life. I'll keep my blogger account because I think it's healthy to reflect - not in the meaningless mall-chat of MySpace - but really think out loud on the page. The internet's great and all, but it's not everything and it's sucking too much time out of my life.

Anyway, I've been reading the futurist Douglas Rushkoff for a good many years now and his latest point, which he makes in a speech @ The Personal Democracy Forum, I think, is a good one - that "Personal Democracy" is an oxymoron, a bill of goods sold to the masses to make them feel virtually empowered while keeping them actually separated and weakened as a political force in the real world.

Rushkoff says we should consider our democracy as an open source proposition that can be altered and changed by ACTIVE participation. I think it's a fancy way of saying, "Get off your $%^&* computer and get INVOLVED!" Your computer is only as good as it connects you to real people, real issues, real relationships. It's a tool, not a way of life. I need to remember that.

His A** Is Mine.... More Unsavory Christian Behavior

2008-07-04T05:25:00.000-07:00

Well, if I had any doubts about the sexual proclivities of my uptight Christian co-worker, Shitbrick, (as reported in the blog post Unsavory Christian History), those doubts have been laid to rest by another co-worker's (let's call him "Coach") most recent find.

While packing up our office for a move to another building, Coach came across a DVD hidden high on a shelf, well out of view from any passers-by. It was titled "His A** Is Mine" (I think you can fill in the blanks) with the title strategically placed over the hairy hind-quarters of some anonymous male. Ewwwwwwww!

Ok, so it's not my bag (and that was really the wrong word to use).

Anyway, I'm not one to shame the sexual peculiarities of anybody - God knows I have my own and I'm a liberal after all. Live and let live, I always say. It's just the hypocrisy of this particular Christian who spends a great deal of time and energy shaming others for their beliefs, their lack of morals and/or judgment and yes - their sexual preferences. Then it turns out, as it always seems to with this type, that he's projecting his own psychological baggage. ShitBrick has always been a rabid homophobe who even shared a story once of how he threw a hitch-hiking homosexual out of his car, abandoning him by the side of some rural road, and boy if he had his gun he wouldn't know what he might have done....yada, yada, yada.

To me, finding this DVD, and the computer history before it, was like a gift from God - no, seriously! It's like God saying, "Hey, it's ok. See? He's not all that. He's just another frightened, confused human just like you. But he's really trying to be my devotee in his way so be kind. I know you will." Presumptuous, right? Well that's what if feels like anyway.

Even though I've personally suffered from his Christian rigidness and righteousness, I sort of feel bad for him having to harbor such a big secret. The cognitive dissonance it's no doubt creating in his conscience must be hell. But we all have our demons and it's also kind of reassuring, and poetically justified, to know that he has his.

How Much Would It Cost To Kill Your Town?

2008-06-26T02:58:00.000-07:00

Question: How much would it cost a company to kill a town, destroy the livelihood of most its current inhabitants, and change the landscape forever?

Answer: $500,000,000 - or approximately $15,000 per resident after twenty years of waiting for a so-called "speedy trial".

Reason: It helps if this happens during the lawless reign of an oil-man and more than half of the highest court owe their lifelong cushy gig to like-minded individuals.
Details can be found here.

Moyers Takes On Media Reform

2008-06-08T09:49:00.000-07:00

If you believe the mainstream media has serious problems, in particular telling Americans of any particular political persuasion what they want to hear (e.g. CNN=tending toward Left of Center ideas/Fox News=tending toward Right of Center ideas) and not what they need to hear (i.e. facts, convenient or otherwise, and not advocacy), then you should probably watch this video of Bill Moyers addressing the National Conference for Media Reform '08. One quote I find particularly poignant:

'So it is that Democracy without honest information creates the illusion of popular consent while enhancing the powers of the state and the privileged interests protected by it...

In essence, the mainstream media have been the willing mouthpiece for those looting our treasury, the PUBLIC treasury, for very powerful private corporations - instead of being the watchdog who should bite their greedy little hands.

Hillary Supporters Chant "NoBama" and "McCain"

2008-06-01T07:17:00.000-07:00

I fear our country, my own party rather, the party of my father and his father, is still too racist to allow Barack Obama the presidency. According to a story in The New York Times (Democrats Approve Deal on Michigan and Florida), Hillary Clinton's supporters showed they would rather elect John McCain than allow Barack Obama the Democratic presidential nomination. My own father, I'm ashamed to report, feels the same way and has no problem admitting to his racism. When Hillary supporters didn't get their way with the rules committee yesterday, they chanted "McCain!McCain!McCain!". Makes me sad for my country - again.

Dear Working-Class America

2008-05-22T03:52:00.000-07:00

....please take a look at your future. That is, unless you're willing to take your rage out on those who are responsible for your slide into poverty.

What happenss when banks have too much money?

2008-05-06T03:21:00.001-07:00

In the last few years around where I live there has been a glut of new banks opening. Every available corner and shopping complex has one if not two banks located there - and most within five miles of their nearest branch. It's getting pretty ridiculous and every one I know has commented on their viral spread.

Then, as you may have heard, the mortgage crisis came. The real crisis was, from the perspective of those with truckloads of money to invest in real estate, was that there was more money available than there were loans to invest in. That's when the banks started underwriting some pretty sketchy loans to anyone fool enough to take one - and eventually the default of the same master plan.

You and I, as taxpayers, will bail them out undoubtedly.

Douglas Rushkoff, author and futurist, has written an interesting piece on his blog about this whole mess. Check out
WILLING DUPES: Douglas Rushkoff on the credit crisis at Arthur Magazine.

The American Prophet, Franklin D. Roosevelt

2008-04-26T05:19:00.000-07:00

I came across someone else who came across this FDR quote on wikipedia:

"The first truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power."

Word.

Unsavory Christian "History"

2008-04-16T03:13:00.000-07:00

So I get back to work on Tuesday after taking a vacation day for Monday and settle down at the work computer to check the weather, etc... When I say etc.. I mean checking my personal webpages for a few minutes - which is, of course, a no-no at work, right? Sure, but everybody does it and my supervisor, who uses the same computer to do his banking and correspondence with his church homies on a regular basis, is on a Christian retreat for the next three days. The big boss is gone for the week so I figure I'm in the clear. But just to be on the safe side, I clear my history on the browser. To rationalize my bad behaviour, I decide to get nosy and check the browser's history to see what kind of nonsense my supervisor has been looking at - since he hordes the computer to himself the whole day while we're all out working.

That's when my mind was blown.

But before I go any further, let me tell you a little bit about ShitBrick. He's a beast of a man who, in the past three or four years, has gotten very serious about his Christianity. And since his ego is as massive as his body, no one can escape his gravity (kinda like Jupiter). So he brings Bibles to work, listens to sermons and Christian books on the work computer and sniffs at anyone who isn't an evangelical Christian (he particularly dislikes Catholics and Muslims). He also spends a lot of time shaming the trappings of popular culture; secular movies, secular books, secular politicians, secular culture in general. And he's also probably the most homo-phobic dude I've ever come across. This guy REALLY detests "fags".

Which is why I found his tastes in websites particularly interesting.

Seems our Christian Soldier has developed a taste for transsexual escorts (I know!). And this was no minor dalliance. He was several pages into this website, all transsexuals, all looking for local action - which means he was looking for a date, or at least toying with the idea of hooking-up. And since our network connection at work is dial-up (snore), he was also extremely patient in his quest. I'm pretty sure nobody else had access to that computer on that day. I checked with my other co-worker (who, btw, gets shit every time he even uses his personal phone, not to mention the work computer).

Thank You Ted Haggard - Poster-boy for self-righteous Christian hypocrites everywhere who end up spending their evenings with crack-smoking homosexual prostitutes while spending their days projecting their fears and pathological baggage onto everybody else.

Truth is, I don't know why he was looking at transsexual escorts. For all I know, he and the Christian Taliban were planning on going downtown to partake in some hate crimes (I'll be watching the news). But I do know that this information could #1. Damage if not end his marriage. #2. Damage if not end his association with the church. #3. Damage if not end his career.

Of course, I would never tell anybody, save for you anonymous blog reader. I don't care what he does for entertainment, as long as he's not hurting anybody. That's the difference between liberals and those uptight, hypocritical, religious-right-wingers. We're not going to bust somebody's balls for how they get their kicks. We ALL have skeletons. We're ALL hypocrites to some degree.

American SICKO - A Bitter Citizen Vents

2008-04-14T05:52:00.000-07:00

The wife and I watched Michael Moore's SICKO last night. I already knew the arguments that he was going to use so I wasn't really that excited to watch it - but it blew me away anyway.

Sure, Sicko's all in support of Moore's persepective. Is it "balanced" journalism. No, but I don't give a shit. Is Fox News balanced journalism? Give me a fucking break - yappy little dogs and their Stepford Wives who do the shameless bidding of the right wing. If Michael Moore wants to pull a publicity stunt like driving sick 9/11 workers on boats down to Guantanamo Bay to make a point about the need for universal health care, more power to him.

Michael Moore features working-class problems in his films, shines a light on those problems and gets people talking about it - which is a public service as far as I'm concerned. He pisses off the establishment because he gets the working folk all riled up by telling them the pitiful truth about their so-called representatives and the corporate crooks who've bought and paid for them. Personally, I hope Moore gets fabulously wealthy from his films so he can buy a congressman of his own. Then, maybe, finally, the working stiff will have half a chance in this cuntry.

Moore illustrates the plight of the 911 emergency workers who can't get insurance or affordable treatment, people who had to quit their jobs because of chronic breathing problems or work at the convenience store until they die because they can't afford to retire. Sure, they were our heroes when it suited a moment of nationalistic pride or helped the administration's publicity campaign. But when they want payback for their broken bodies it's right back the the good 'ole American ethic of every man for himself. Fuck you, go back to work. Stop bitching and pull yourself up by the bootstraps. Pitiful and sick.

One of Moore's theme in Sicko is that, compared to the rest of the developed world who provide worry-FREE health care, our system and the way we treat our most vulnerable is completely FUCKED UP. In one scene we are shown a U.S. hospital worker dumping-off a sick and confused senior citizen because she can't afford her bill. I've heard of this happening in Detroit. Just dumped off on the curb near another facility. There, it's somebody else's problem now. That's how fucking sick we've become in this cuntry. Health care for profit is a fucked-up way to operate.

We should all be beating down the doors of Congress over this BULLSHIT while they waste our money on Wars nobody wanted and massive tax giveaways to the rich - and don't even fucking tell me that isn't happening. Every fucking time we turn our backs on these cocksuckers we're getting ripped off by some secret cabal of CEO's who used to be checked by regulation or, gasp, by congressional oversight - but now, under Bush and his ilk, they have carte blanche to loot the treasury until there's such massive damage done to our economy we have to bail them out with our taxes - AGAIN.

If you don't believe me I've got two words for you "Savings & Loan", or how about "Hedge Funds". Here's two more for you: "Mortgage Crisis". If you don't put a short leash on these fucking bankers and whip there asses now and then it just happens sooner rather than later. Enron - there's one word for you. And why does this shit happen? Because the foxes are in the hen house, writing all the fucking legislation while you're watching American Idol and farting in your chair. We should be dragging our so-called representatives out into the street for a righteous lashing, putting the fear of public humiliation back into their crumbling spines.

Okay, I'm done ranting - for a moment.

But Sicko made me realize how myopic and mentally ill we've become in the U.S., unable to believe that things could be different in this country. If only we had the will to act in our best interest. God knows we've still got the money laying around, but the power-players out there spend a lot of time and effort keeping us afraid, worried, anxious, unwilling to make trouble in fear of finding ourselves on the street without a job. Well, you know what friend? They've shipped all the good jobs out of the country anyway! Whatever labor jobs are left go to illegal immigrants - supposedly doing the jobs that nobody will do (well, I do them on a daily basis, so don't tell me that bullshit, George). THEY SOLD YOU OUT for cheap labor in other countries you silly, nostalgic American fool. Wave your red, white & blue and see if you get your standard of living back, Jack. Need to get re-educated for the new economy? Well, they've jacked the price of education through the roof too! Need to borrow money for that necessary re-education? Fine, but the bankers have seen to it that you'll be paying interest so high it'd make a fucking gangster blush with envy. Need to drive to that educational institution? Well, they've jacked up the price of gas so far you'd be better off stealing it. Sure, there's opportunity in the U.S. - but it comes at such a high price you'll never see the light of day in your pursuit of it. The only growth industry in this cuntry will be surveillance and security for the fat-cat mother fuckers who will need to keep you and me outside their gates.

Fucking Free Trade. That's what killed the working man in this cuntry. I can't tell you how many local companies I've seen move their manufacturing plants to Mexico since Clinton opened the floodgates. And every time Big Business promises free trade will benefit domestic manufacturers in the U.S. and create more jobs. You believe that and I've got a war to sell you. Now republicons want "free trade" with Columbia (Asia must be getting too expensive). But free for whom? They want you to believe it will be good for American manufacturers who will sell what to the Columbians? What the fuck are we going to sell the Columbians that they can afford to buy? How 'bout a Caterpillar tractor? Every Columbian peasant needs a Caterpillar earth-mover, right? So some fucking Agri-Giant like Monsanto or ADM can be free to bulldoze what's left of the rain forest to make room for more cheap beef or corn for ethanol - which will be grown by Columbian peasants who will work like slaves. Fuck Caterpillar. Let Caterpillar pay a huge tariff for that kind of shit. But I've got a better idea...

Let's put Caterpillar deep in the black by re-building the crumbling infrastructure in the U.S. How 'bout that? What's that? There's no money for that? Why not? Oh, right, the TRILLION dollar fucking war for......for......what the fuck do we want from Iraq again? And who's brilliant idea was this shit? Wolfowitz. Cheney. Rumsfeld. You fucks...

Okay, I'm getting too pissed off. Back to health care. By the way, Cheney and Rumsfeld both worked for Nixon, you remember, the crook who resigned the presidency rather than face the musc? - and Nixon is the fuck who gave the green-light for all this privatized, profit-based health care in the first place. So his buds could get rich. It's always the same. In Sicko they show Nixom admitting it, on tape, that the only way to profit from health care is to provide less care for more money. Nice plan. Thanks for watching our backs, you DICK!

Sicko also showed, by contrast, how life in America can be better, less anxious, more life-affirming, by showing us how Europeans live. We can't even imagine life here anymore without being strapped with worry for our health, for our safety, for our jobs - high anxiety everywhere. We're in a constant state of hyper-vigilance and FEAR thanks to the worthless lies of our so-called leaders and their lying, cheating, asshole friends. It's not like that in Europe. Not yet anyway. Why? Because they don't WANT to live like that. They REFUSE to live like that. They'd rather burn their cities to the fucking ground than live like that. And their politicians know it. They fear their population - which is as it should be and as our founders wanted it way back when. Face it, the emperor has no clothes - and he has a little dick too.

So I'm ranting again, but it pisses me off. The difference betwee the America I grew up in and America now is such a stark contrast it makes me sick to my stomach. And, regardless of my lack of credibility in the scheme of things, I mean, nobody listens to a working stiff, it's true: The health care providers and the pharmaceutical companies are ripping everybody off while they can - while Bush, or any other establishment shill, is still in office. Want proof? How about this article in today's New York times.

On a personal note, I've got a friend who hasn't had health care in years. His fucking teeth are rotting out of his head; he's missing two front teeth now. He got laid off from his government cable job a couple years ago and has been working at a fucking Wendy's to pay his bills. And Wendy's, a national chain, doesn't offer affordable health coverage. Hell, if it wasn't free he couldn't afford it anyway. He can barely pay his personal expenses, not to mention his mortgage which is being paid by his elderly father's savings. He only makes, like, $8.50 and hour. He'd be on the fucking street if it wasn't for his father saving his ass. But his father is in his eighties now. I keep asking my friend what he's going to do when his dad dies? He doesn't know, doesn't like to think about it, and it's all he can do to drag his ass down to Wendy's every fucking day to survive. He's got a broadcasting degree, but nobody's hiring someone with only government cable experience. He's fucked and he knows it.

The sad thing is, he, and most others in the same position, will probably take his economic-induced angst and depression out on himself instead of the fucks who sorely deserve it. He'll commit suicide, or freak out on some poor, unsuspecting schlubs who are just trying to survive this bullshit too - instead of organizing and directing the anger where it should go - to the greedy mother-fuckers who perpetuate this system of degradation. But more and more you're going to see mother-fuckers taking shit into their own hands and lashing out at the establishment - you can count on it. History is replete with examples of the people rising up to eat the rich when they've got nothing else to eat.

So sharpen your forks, Sickos. America is going to get ugly in the years ahead.

Shake That Piggy Bank, There's Something Rattling In There!

2008-03-23T06:41:00.000-07:00

What a cuntry.

Not only has the Bush administration emptied the U.S. taxpayer's treasury for the benefit of their war profiteers (even the big Dick hiding behind the little Bush made off with a cool 31 million in Halibucks, I'm told), but now it's evident that the mortgage bankers will make off with whatever is left.

The Federal Reserve not only has taken action unprecedented since the Great Depression — by lending money directly to major investment banks — but also has put taxpayers on the hook for billions of dollars in questionable trades these same bankers made when the good times were rolling.

....and Republicons and Wall Street bankers have the audacity to whine about proposals for new regulations to prevent another near-collapse.

But both President Bush and Mr. Paulson, a former chief executive of Goldman Sachs, remain philosophically opposed to restrictions and requirements that might hamper economic activity. NYT link

..."economic activity" no doubt defined as money flowing out of our treasury into private bank accounts. Personally, I'm "philosophically opposed" to illegal wars and getting ripped off by bankers and their predilection for fine print. Somebody needs to watch over the hen house because congress sure as hell isn't doing it.

Everything You Need To Know About The U.S. Government But Were Afraid To Believe

2007-10-17T04:01:00.000-07:00

More money for defense, particularly well-connected private defense contractors who regularly and predictably gouge the very government that feeds them.

More money for the rich, particularly in the form of esoteric tax cuts that get passed in the middle of the night before a holiday so they can write off their Hummers and the cost of heating their multiple McMansions.

Less money for everybody and everything else.

Fuck the little people who pay for it all with their income taxes.

Fuck their educational opportunities, fuck their general welfare and fuck their pursuit of happiness.

Fuck their jobs and fuck their misguided ideals about loyalty and country.

It's all for sale and nothing means nothing.

Taser Nation

2007-09-24T03:50:00.001-07:00

The recent spate of video showing cops tasering non-violent offenders just makes me fear the people who are supposed to protect me. But more than fear, I feel anger and a desire for revenge against jack-booted thugs who take a sadistic pleasure in doling-out pain to the powerless. This is where "cops" become "pigs" in my book. The only thing worse than pigs taking too much pleasure in their work is the people who laugh and cheer at this kind of shit.

Can you hear that?

2007-09-12T03:00:00.000-07:00

The other day CSPAN was asking its callers what would happen if the United States pulled out of Iraq. I never got a chance to call in but here is my answer.

If the U.S. pulled out of Iraq it would mean the end of that massive sucking sound created by 180,000 private contractors drawing hundreds of billions of dollars out of the void of our children's future (see this month's Rolling Stone article) - and it would begin a massive whining sound created by the well-connected Republicons who head those companies when they realize their government tit-sucking festival has finally come to an end.

Anybody with half a brain realizes that the war was an excuse to do what certain families have been trying to do since World War One and our so-called leaders are liars, cheats, harlots and charletans who've left us bitter and jaded. So...

Impeach The President.
Fne the congressmen for derilection of duty
Apologize to the Iraqis and wish them the best.
Take GOOD CARE of our troops health and retirement.
Rebuild New Orleans for the people who actually lived there.
Make sure our security services are playing nice with eachother.
Keep heavy pressure on Islamic assholes who want to hurt people - wherever they are.
Start a NASA-sized program to jump-start sustainable energy resources that won't send our food prices through the roof (e.g. Ethanol)
Find a reason to believe in America again.

God, we need something to believe in again.

-30-

An Open Letter To Chase Bank Visa

2007-09-07T04:34:00.000-07:00

Dear Chase Bank,

After twenty-three years as a Chase Visa credit-card holder in good standing, my wife's Chase Visa card was recently cancelled, your company falsely claiming she was 120 days overdue. Not only is this not true, as she did send you checks for hundreds of dollars in the past several months (we can prove this, of course), but I believe this "overdue amount" was a product of your own dubious business practices. On at least one occasion this year, Chase Visa failed to deliver a monthly bill to our home. This, of course, led to no check being delivered to you (or delivered to you late) and conveniently triggered a much higher interest rate and various late fees which I believe may have been agreed to somewhere deep in her original or modified-by-mail (innumerable times) credit contract (which, I'm convinced, nobody but your lawyers has ever read).

When my wife finally did receive a bill from Chase Visa, the minimum amount due was far more than she could afford to pay. You see, recently my wife lost her good paying job due to cut-backs in the ever-popular "global economy" - which was then replaced by a new American specialty known as the "McJob", a service industry gig which hardly pays subsistence wages and, of course, no benefits. In the past, making a double-payment on "the card" due to some oversight on your part, or her part, would not have been a problem. But making such a payment now, at $8 an hour, is, frankly, an impossibility.

No, I think that if you truly want to collect the nearly ten-thousand dollars you claim my wife now owes you (thanks to her not understanding the details of "compound interest" and the ever-deepening debt she will incur even while faithfully making her monthly minimum payment [a crime of "usery" itself, in my opinion] - oh, and by being too proud to come to me for help), you will have to waive this year's late fees and cut her interest rate by more than half. It's the least you could do for a faithful twenty-three year customer from whom you've collected tens of thousands of dollars in interest over the years (and may collect thousands of dollars more from if you treat her fairly) who has now fallen on harder times.

If not, and you insist on sending this collection to a bunch of lawyers whose dubious practices rival even you own, you will not enjoy anything but the satisfaction of marring her credit, which she can't really afford to use anyway.

Your call....

Signed: The angry husband of a very dissatisfied customer.

Dems Support National Passport Month?

2007-09-05T09:22:00.000-07:00

Dear Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland),

Thank you for wasting my tax dollars to promote National Passport Month on the floor of the House Of Representatives and for the benefit of the CSPAN cameras. I have to wonder, who asked you to promote more passport sales? Surely, It wasn't the majority of your constituents. Why is it you politicians never seem to get to the needs of the majority of your constituents?

I submit to you, representative, that the reason that only 25% of Americans hold a passport is that only 25% of Americans actually need a passport - most likely to perpetuate our addiction to cheap imports and exand the profit margins of people who used to employ Americans until y'all voted to ship them to foreign countries. Then there's the much smaller percentage of people who can actually afford to travel abroad - it ain't me, sister, unless your talking about the passport you now want me to use to drive to Canada - which is really just a tax increase to me.

Representative, you speak about the great benefits and opportunities that come with holding an passport, like getting to know other cultures and expanding our horizons. Of course, you conveniently omitted the fact that opinion of Americans around the world is now at an all-time low, thanks to the void of leadership left by our president, followed by the void of leadership that the Democratic Party is currently creating - both of which are reflected in your latest approval ratings.

So please Representative Lee, stop trying to sell the American people more crap they don't really need. Have some political courage, stick your neck way out and do the work we so desperately need you to do - create a health care system that works for ALL Americans, protect and create jobs that pay a living wage for those who still want to believe in the American Dream, prevent criminal usury by the banks, maintain our crumbling infrastructure and protect us from going broke over the ever-increasing natural disasters, and for the love of God, stop wasting hundreds of billions of our tax dollars on shady contractors who couldn't build a decent outhouse in Iraq let alone a functioning democracy.

Does anybody have the courage to speak the truth up there? So far the answer is obvious to everyone but y'all.

NBC ABC Wrangle Over Paris Hilton Interview

2007-06-23T08:48:00.000-07:00

The New York Times has reported that NBC and ABC had allegedly been in a bidding war with the Hilton parents (and I use that term loosely) to be the first to interview Paris Hilton when she gets out of jail.

If I were either network I'd be embarassed to be involved at all. And apparently, and appropriately, they are embarassed -having nixed the idea of pursuing the interview.

Give it to FOX NEWS where that sort of pap belongs.

Source: New York Times; June 23, 2007; "ABC and NBC End Race to Interview Paris Hilton"

The World is The Way It Is.....

2007-06-16T06:32:00.001-07:00

.....because of people like Norman Podhertz.

Corruption in China = Death

2007-05-30T02:33:00.000-07:00

Boy, those Chinese don't screw around. When they Chinese FDA commissioner Zheng Xiaoyu pleaded guilty to corruption and accepting bribes that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people around the world the gov. sentenced him to death. In the U.S. we'd pat him on the head, throw him in a private country club and set some ridiculous fine that would never get paid. Then CEOs around the country would figure out how he did it, perfect the technique, then try to get rich themselves.

Economic Chauvinism: Good 'ole Boys Woman-Haters Club

2007-05-29T02:06:00.000-07:00

So I'm talking to my well-to-do brother-in-law about the economic meltdown Michigan is currently experiencing due to the flight of manufacturing jobs, the shrinking domestic auto industy and a budget crisis created in part by the removal of almost two billion dollars in revenue from the single business tax. I was quite blown away by his response. He laid the economic blame squarely on the head of our FEMALE governor. He said we'd never be taken seiously in the business world as long as our leader was a woman.

Huh?

You're kidding me right?

He wasn't kidding.

My response: "My god, are we still that unsophisticated?"

By the time the words left my mouth I realized two things. One, the money men who run this state couldn't possible be that unsophisticated, but they realize the mass of us are and need convenient target for their money problems- and without a minority or foreigner to blame, a woman will suffice nicely. And two, patriarchal Christianity probably has a lot to do with my brother-in-law's attitude, that whole Promise Keepers, Man In The Mirror shit that places the man at the head of the pack, firmly behind the steering wheel, as the captain of the team and as the leaders of the free world - because God supposedly wants it that way regardless of the economic, social or ecological ruination he brings to the planet in the process.

The Internet Has....

2007-04-26T09:28:00.000-07:00

....turned us into pathological narcissists.

A Letter To News & Notes Re: Dr. Julianne Malveaux

2007-04-07T07:01:00.001-07:00

I was shocked by the careless words of columnist and author Dr. Julianne Malveaux, newly named president of Bennett College, regarding a preceding story on News and Notes about the Shaquanda Cotton criminal case (News & Notes, Roundtable: Black Colleges; Candidate's Lives, March 29, 2007). In reference to the comments of Gary Young, the district attorney who helped prosecute Ms. Cotton for shoving a teacher, Dr. Malveaux said...

"...that person, you could see the red on his neck - through the radio."

Later in that same story, Dr. Malveaux said in regards to Newt Gingrich's affair during the Bill Clinton scandal, that, 'when hypocrisy is involved, the public should know about it.' - which is why I'm writing this letter to News and Notes.

I think The United States has come to a point in its history where hypocrisy will no longer be tolerated - even by the victims of historical injustices. Two wrongs don't make a right and Dr. Malveaux's careless comment about "red necks" should no more be tolerated than the recent remarks by Don Imus' about "nappy heads" - maybe even less, because we expect more from a college president than a shock-jock who relies on controversy for ratings.

Chain, Chain, Chain....

2007-03-12T03:50:00.000-07:00

So, it's Sunday morning and I've got my cup of strong, hot coffee and the sun is shining in the kitchen window and I've done little more than complain about how full my stomach still is from the night before when the neighbors took the wife and me out to Famous Dave's for a feast that would choke an alligator. I sit down on my nice, padded kitchen chair, flip open the laptop, fire up my e-mail program and the first letter I open is a f@#$ing chain letter. But it's not just any chain letter. This one goes right for my guilty gut. Click "read more" below if you dare. . .

And the chain e-mail begins thusly.....

To whom much is given much is required ! Pray for our troops and our president !

I HOPE I DO NOT HEAR OF ANYONE BREAKING THIS ONE OR SEE DELETED

This is a ribbon for soldiers fighting in Iraq. Pass it on to everyone and pray.

Sleep Last Night?

Bed A Little Bumpy?

Toss and turn any...

Wish the heat was higher...

Maybe the a/c wasn't on...

Had to go to the john..

Need a drink of water...

Yes.. It is like that!

Count your blessings, pray for them,

Talk to your Creator
...and the next time when the other car cuts you off and you hit the brakes, or you have to park a little further from Walmart than you want to be, or you're served slightly warm food at the restaurant, or you're sitting and cursing the traffic in front of you, or the shower runs out of hot water...
Think of them...

Protecting your freedom!

DO NOT DELETE-PLS PASS ON-

Message from Iraq:

The proud warriors of Baker Company wanted to do something to pay tribute To our fallen comrades So since we are part of the only Marine Infantry Battalion left in Iraq the one way that we could think of doing that is By taking a picture of Baker Company saying the way we feel. It would be awesome if you could find a way to share this with our fellow countrymen. I was wondering if there was any way to get this into your papers to let the world know that "WE HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN" and are proud to serve our country." Semper Fi

1st Sgt Dave Jobe

The attached photo was forwarded from one of the last U.S. Marine companies in Iraq. They would like to have it passed to as many people as possible, to let the folks back home know that they remember why they're there and that they remember those who've been lost.

Send this to 13 people in the next 15 minutes. Go.

<---------end of chain letter--------->

So after reading all that, the guilt seeped in. I mean, that was the intent, right? Well, it worked, but probably not in the way it was meant to.

I don't feel guilty that I haven't draped the stars and stripes across everthing I own or sang patriotic songs at the local church or blindly followed the edicts of the people who started this war or those who continue to perpetuate it.

And, after all I've read on the subject, I certainly don't believe Iraq had anything to do with 9-11 - despite the repeated efforts, year after year, of those who insist on confusing the issue - even after the recent conviction of Lewis "scooter" Libby and the very public revelations regarding the dirty politics of this administration - who, in deliberately revealing the classified identity of a public servent, showed they couldn't give a shit about who they sacrifice to get what they want. But that's politics as usual and I digress.

I do feel guilty that, in the four years since the Iraq war began, I haven't personally sacrificed anything for the people who really put their ass on the line - despite our president's early insistence that I go shopping and carry on as usual and simply trust them to take care of all the war business. That didn't work out so well.

I feel guilty that our leaders goals don't seem worthy of our soldier's souls, and, by my apathy and inaction, I am complicit in their suffering and their deaths.

I feel guilty that I haven't used my freedom to protest on behalf of my beliefs for fear of confrontation with the vocal minority who would like to punish me for those beliefs.

I feel guilty that all I've done is send a few e-mails to my congressmen; blog about it and bitch about it to people who already agree with me. A bare-minimum effort. And I know quite a few people who haven't even done that.

I know many of you don't agree with my take on all this, and that's your right. I'll respect your beliefs if you'll respect mine. But I'm no longer willing to be silent when somebody insinuates that I'm unpatriotic - especially if it's because I didn't forward a f@#$%ing chain letter.

But I do want Baker Company and all the vets to know that I am thinking about them, and that I do appreciate their sacrifice. I'm going to try to do more to remember that they're still out there, some of them waiting for us to step up and use the freedoms we have to help make the world a better place. Letting the war in Iraq continue indefinitely in the name of "The War On Terror", I believe, doesn't serve that purpose.

This country, and all the high ideals it was supposed to stand for, like liberty, free speech, representative democracy, the rule of law, freedom of religion, freedom to peacably assemble, freedom to keep and bear arms, freedom from unreasonable searches, seizures and forfeitures, freedom to petition our government for a redress of grievances, does have its enemies to be sure.

But I'd argue that not all of those enemies are 'dirty brown people' who live in abject poverty and continually suffer our interference in their political and economic affairs. I'd argue that some of those enemies are currently controlling the multi-billion dollar defense and security contracts, both public and increasingly private, who have a vested interest in promoting fear and insecurity for reasons that, I think, are less than patriotic.

To some, war is a great business opportunity. Cynical, but just as true now as it was in World War I. In Michigan, where we continue to suffer the economically eroding effects of NAFTA, CAFTA, and all those other trade priveleges that send millions of jobs out of the country and put billions of more dollars in the pockets of a few already wealthy business interests, we should know that profit doesn't respect patriotism. Profit only respects more profit.

Our enemies, as a free and open society, are those who want to tell us which God to worship, which books to read and which to avoid, which churches to attend, who deserves to be loved, who gets health benefits, and what your children learn about the world in which they live. And when freedom of expression crosses the line of decency into gross exploitation, we should argue about the best way to remain a healthy society and find consensus on how we should move ahead.

I believe rigid fundamentalism, whatever its origin, whatever its intent, is the enemy of all free people and leads to fascism. Once a group of people are convinced of their rightness and superiority over another people, particularly in the name of religion or nationalism, human rights go out the window and nothing but bloodshed and human suffering follow. Recent history will back me up on that.

So god help us if there's another serious stike on U.S. soil before we act in good faith to give some balance to the current thrust of violence, intolerance and insanity, because the enemies to those values we hold so dear may finally get their own way and put a lock-down of all our rights and priveleges. And this time around there will be even less public will to fight their very organized and concerted plans for the future of this country and the world insofar as it concerns their very narrow interests.

Ok, enough of my preaching. Do what your conscience demands.

Scooter Gets Convicted

2007-03-08T04:02:00.001-08:00

tag: Scooter Libbey Conviction

So Scooter (I still can't over that nickname. I imagine a colorful beany with a propellor on his head) Libbey gets convicted on four counts of, basically, obstructing justice by lying about what he knew and when he knew it. One of the jurors said they felt bad about the conviction, but the prosecution's evidence was overwhelming.

The most interesting thing, of couse, is not that this little snake got caught being a little snake, it's that a presidential administration would engage in the deliberate outing an officer of the CIA to get some payback for getting caught in a lie. As far as I'm concerned, that's treason and somebody should hang, literally. But what do you expect from former Nixon administration officials? Dirty politics, of course.

No doubt, Scooter will get pardoned by Bush. He's got nothing to lose with a 29% approval rating. Sure, the Grand Old Party will be a little miffed, since it makes them look bad for the '08 presidential election, but if they do it now, nobody in America will remember by that time. We have VERY short attention spans.

Now, what was I talking about......????

The Birth of a New Word

2007-03-07T03:22:00.000-08:00

I just made up a word by accidentally misreading a passage in "American Fascists: The Christian Right And The War On America". Author Chris Hedges wrote about how American industrialists and intellectuals flirted with the idea of fascism in the 1930s. Benito Mussolini called what he was doing "corporatism", 'which created an unchecked industrial and business aristocracy.' Sounds familiar, eh?

Anyway, "corporatism" was hyphenated on the page and so was "aristocracy". I inadvertently skipped a line and thus....

CORPO-TACRACY or perhaps CORPOTACRACY

I know, I know. Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue and it's hardly original sounding, but it really was an accident.

Infosnacking Sojo

2007-03-04T10:34:00.000-08:00

Two great new internet terms I gleaned from Fronline's latest series on reporting and the media.

SoJo - Solo journalist, particularly an independent blogger.

InfoSnacking - the act of consuming small bits of news by following hyperlinks from a news story or news website.

Know Your Local God Squad

2007-02-28T03:00:00.000-08:00

Jupiter informed me that he's about to start an eight-week training course at the local police department with three of his fellow gun-toting god brothers from church, including the assistant pastor. For eight weeks they will be familiarized with local criminal activity and police procedures. This includes going on patrol with an officer, he says, trying hard not to gloat and failing miserably.

Suddenly, I have a vision of cross-encrusted jackboots wrestling a non-believers to the ground. Small, chromed fish symbols glittering in the night as a pack of Harleys leave the scene.

Jupiter already has an inflated sense of self-importance. I can't imagine how insufferable he'll be if endowed with an official certificate suitable for framing.

"So,how did this all come about?" I asked innocuously, so as not to arouse any suspicion of disapproval.

Turns out one of his god brothers is a police officer and he signed up their entire Big Boy club, sort of a Christian support group for manly men who meet for breakfast once a week and work out their issues.

"Man, I'll tell you what, it's good to know somebody on the inside, know what I mean?"

Weeks earlier, this same miracle-working godbrother turned a moving violation into a mere $100 ticket. Jupiter rear-ended some woman while momentarily distracted, pretty much destroying her car. His truck only sustained a pushed-in fender. Nobody was hurt, thank God, but for those out of the loop, this kind of accident could have cost hundreds of dollars in fines, several points on a license and mandatory driver safety school the violator would no doubt have to pay for.

"He swears he had nothing to do with it, but I know better," Jupiter says. "It's good to have someone on the inside..." His expression lingers until he's sure I've received the point.

His explanations always carry an air of exclusivity, a self-aggrandizing heap doled out on a daily basis; always right, always one better, never to be outdone, an Alpha Male In Good Standing With Jesus, Our Lord, Amen. If he were five, instead of forty-five, he'd be prancing around the school yard singing, "Nyah, nyah, nyah-nyah, nyah, nyah! I get to be the poleese-man and you-hoo-ooh do-on't!"

I admit to being a little jealous. Why does HE get be the policeman? And why are my tax dollars paying for it?

After a little digging, I got my answer. As part of our county's emergency preparedness program, citizen security forces are being trained in the event of some unsuspected cataclysm that, as history has proven, might overwhelm the funding, capacity and/or competency of our government agencies. Citizens will be 'better prepared to survive and recover from hazards including extreme weather, major power outages, fires, transportation or hazardous materials incidents, and weapons of mass destruction such as a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or explosive-incendiary incidents.' Or, say, the second-coming and the apocalypse.

In addition to preparing for emergencies, selected citizens will also be trained to help prevent a terrorist or criminal act by watching for suspicious activities and reporting them to authorities . Don't look now friend, but your assistant pastor has been drafted as an official snitch. Hope your tithings are in order Goody Proctor.

So, in the event of a cataclysmic emergency, Jupiter and his gun-toting godbrothers will be securing our homeland from terrorists and other godless non-believers. I think we've got the beginnings of a goon squad here.

It's not that I think they're not qualified to help the authorities protect their citizens in times of crisis, but I question their motivations and their commitment to secure the freedom of all Americans. Their loyalties lie with their community; their church according to their interpretation of the bible - and protecting them exclusively. They spend the majority of their week reading Christian books, listening to Christian Radio programs, Christina CD's, Christian DVDs and Christian brodcasts, not to mention encouraging "fellowship" among their followers. It's a closed loop of information without any outside input. When you're convinced you're right, you don't see the point of inviting outside opinions. When you add political and economic power to that you get fascism becauuse there are no dissenters around to say, "Hey, now, that's just f*in crazy." The members of the "in" club are worried about how they'll be perceived by "members" in this parallel world they've created and don't want to bring the weight of it down upon their heads so they remain silent, until it's too late.

So it worryies me that my local police are training these people up to protect me and mine. I understand the need to get community groups and churches involved in the procedures, because that's where people are and it makes them easier to reach. Fine. But I'm wary of involving organized religion in such sensitive security infrastructure as homeland security operations, and I kind of resent using tax dollars to train them to "save" me.

"I'm living for the hereafter," Jupiter told me the other day. "I'm not living for the here and now." Chilling words from a potential rescuer. Sounds like something an Iraqi martyr might say.

Christo-Fascism On The March

2007-02-24T06:22:00.000-08:00

I'm reading a book called "American Fascists; The Christian Right and The War On America." by Chris Hedges, a respected war correspondent. It's about the rise of the Christian Right in the U.S., their formidible political, financial and media power, and their attack on secularism and humanism in the United States - (all the while claiming they're the victims, of course. Remember 2005's "attack" on Christmas? Ugh.). Hedges draws parallels between fascist movements of the past and Christian "Dominionists" whose political and media power affect and challenge every aspect of contemporary American culture.

To some, the possiblity of Dominionism (i.e. Christo-Fascism) taking over in America, and then the world, seems like just another pop conspiracy theory designed to sell books. Even Hedges himself admits, "It was hard, at the time, to take such fantastic rhetoric seriously, especially given the buffoonish quality of those who expounded it." But 25 years after he was warned about the rise of Christian fundamentalists by a professor at Harvard Divinity School, he witnessed the prophetic warning continue to manifest itself and, apparently, took it seriously enough to write a book about it.

If you'd like to get a good idea of what Hedges is expounding, Read this article at TheocracyWatch.org.

Oh, and by the way, when I bought this book, which is brand new and currently on the media lecture circuit, I had to ask for help at Borders Books to find it. A single copy was buried deep in the back of the store with the other political science books - not up front with the other hard-cover, non-fiction, new releases. Hey, Christianity is very $$$popular$$$ right now.

When someone is convinced they're right, surround themselves with others who feel exactly the same way, quash any dissenting opinions and and use God to justify their behavior, watch out. Christo-fascists and Islamo-fascists have more in common with eachother than they do with the mass of humanity.

Riffing On The Times 2.20.07

2007-02-20T17:25:00.000-08:00

As always, the headlines are taken from The New York Times and the sub-heads are made-up.

Merger Would End Satellite Radio’s Rivalry - XM gets SIRIUS about forming monopoly

North Africa Feared as Staging Ground for Terror - Actual terror to take place elsewhere

Iraqi Militants Launch Attack on U.S. Outpost - Likewise, they are not welcomed as "liberators".

Anglicans Rebuke U.S. Branch on Same-Sex Unions - Insist both men and women should enjoy labor representation.

Old Foes Join in Anger as Train Bombing’s Toll Rises to 66 - Pakistan & India; terrorism makes strange bedfellows.

Mideast Talks Conclude With Little Result - What, this is news?

In New Orleans, Bands Struggle to Regain Footing - Katrina & Insurance fraud gives hope to homeless and hungry musicians.

Job Corps Plans Makeover for a Changed Economy - Poor find work as IED Inspectors and Community Relations Reps in Iraq

After a Rampage, Trying to Grasp What Led a Son to Kill - Mall maniac leaves....ok I can't think of anything to write here.

Delusional Hypocrisy

2007-02-15T03:57:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning I watched Representative John Boehner say, regarding Iraq, that, "We didn't start this war..."

Completely delusional. And I think he really believes it. He's still trying to confuse the War On Iraq with the "War On Terror." Still pretending that they're one and the same. As If saying it long enough, it will become true.

This reminds me of the claims by Christians that there's a perpetual attack on Christianity. Over and over again I hear, personally, that Christianity is being attacked by secular humanists and liberals. Give me a break. All we really hope to do is ignore you. By posing as a perpetual victim nobody will blame them when they "defend" themselves - even if that means throwing the first punch or worse. So much for turning the other cheek.

Re: Tim Hardaway's admitted homophobia. Don't condone violence against homosexuals, bu jeez, at least he's honest about his homophobia. Honesty is such a rare commodity these days.

Update

2007-02-13T03:32:00.000-08:00

It's been quite a whiile since I've updated this blog. I think I just got so depressed about the state of our so-called union that I just had nothing more to add. Sure, the U.S. Democratic party's win in 2006 gave me a glimmer of hope that the whole election system hasn't been totally comprimised, but I tend to believe that it's because one set of theives and liars were able to able to upset the plans of the other group of theives and liars. I'm not foolish enough to believe that anyone will be doing the will of the people anytime soon.

But for two more years, the current administration in power will continue to loot our treasury either by unfair tax cuts for the rich, no-bid contracts for their buddies, or outright theft - like the 12billion that's somehow gone missing in Iraq. Any gains 'we the people' make will be paid for by us, as evidenced from the presidents proposed health care plan (i.e. the middle class with so-called "gold-plated health care plans" (his words) will pay taxes on that coverage to pay for the lower working-class tax credits (Why isn't anyone on the right screaming about that proposed tax increase? Fucking hypocrites). But he's thinking like the ivy-league snot. The poor/uninsured don't need and won't use tax credits.

One thing's for sure about these guys, they're high-rollers, radical risk-takers with brass balls who are going to take this game as far as they can before it's all over. The final grab. I think they're itching to start a regional war in the middle east while they still have their finger on the trigger. That should be interesting. Can't wait to see how Russia and China react.

And so it goes.

Edward Lazear, the chairman of the President's Council on Economic Advisors is telling me on C-Span that the economy is strong, productivity is up, wages are up, everthing good is up, up, up. My feeling is their economic policy is about as accurate as their post-invasion plans for Iraq - completely fucking deluded. Michigan is fucked. Ask our governor.

In my world, several companies around have condensed their operatioins, shipped their factories overseas or closed completely. Napoleon K still doesn't have health care and he and my wife are earning barely above the poverty rate (which is a lie anyway) with no hope of earning substantiallly more. Welcome to the McJobs of the 21st century, controlled by the handful of companies who occupy every strip mall and big-box store in your town or city. A life of crime is looking more and more like a viable alternative to working hard and playing by the rules.

At least life in America isn't boring. And I would guess it's going to get a whole lot more exciting if things keep going the way they are. Can't wait.

Eat The Rich

Sudra's Incredible Shrinking World

2006-10-31T02:31:00.000-08:00

Speaking of my Non-Adventurous Life (title of this blog), it seems the older I get the more my world shrinks. I have no friends anymore; anybody I find even remotely interesting moves away or has no use for my presence in their lives. Even adding my two cents on this blog seems completely empty and meaningless. Nobody cares what I think and, conversely, I don't really care what anybody else thinks about the foibles of political charletains and the pop-curio of the week. If there's one thing I've learned, it's how to waste vast amounts of time.

The whole human experience just seems like a perpetual muddle to me anymore, so I think I'll turn my attention inward. There's really nothing for me out here anymore, but perhaps a reflection of my inner life, a digital mirror to turn to now and again for.......I don't know. Just for amusement, I guess.

If, when and until a shred of optimism shakes me out of this mood, adieu.

Foley Cites Alcoholism as Cause....kinda.

2006-10-03T04:06:00.000-07:00

According to the New York Times, disgraced congressional Republican, Mark Foley, checked himself into a rehab clinic to treat his “alcoholism and related behavioral problems.” Apparently the congressman's lawyer cites Foley's hidden alcoholism as a cause for his latest problems and the loss of his job. 'Mr. Foley’s lawyer, David Roth, said that Mr. Foley had sent the inappropriate e-mail messages while under the influence of alcohol and that he had kept his drinking problem secret.'

Personally, I don't think it's his taste for a drink that people have a problem with (that's still a socially acceptable failing for a congressman), it's his taste for teenage boys as chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children.

Ugh. The hypocrisy. Every speech he ever gave in that job is going to come back to haunt him.

Riffing On The Times 10.2.06

2006-10-02T03:56:00.000-07:00

As always, the headlines are taken right from NYT but the sub-heads are made-up.

TOP STORIES:

Roberts Court May Be Defined in Second Term - Liberals bend over while conservatives unzip.

Former Pages Describe Foley as Caring Ally - Convgressman offered back rubs, movie tickets, iPods and more to teenage boys "Just to break the ice".

Global Sludge Ends in Tragedy for Ivory Coast - Corporate Oil dumps toxic waste on "Mud People".

WORLD:

Fatal Clashes in Gaza Over Unpaid Salaries - U.S. and Israeli boycotts and forfetures have intended effect on struggling democracy.

Embattled Brazil Incumbent Fails to Win First-Round Ballot -Platform of social justice and clean government has proven to be a loser with Global Corporations and their hentchmen at Choice Point.

Serbia Asserts Its Sovereignty Over Kosovo in Legislation - Here we go again...

US:

A Farmer Fears His Way of Life Has Dwindled Down to a Final Generation - Global AgriCorps offer him and his spawn jobs as marketing props for their "Fresh Harvest" campaign.

Wait Ends for Father and Son Exiled by F.B.I. Terror Inquiry - U.S. allows their re-entry as second-class citizens.

Wal-Mart to Add More Part-Timers and Wage Caps - Rumors of employees with affordable health insurance and clean shelter snaps Board of Directors into action.

I'm a Uniter, Not a Divider, You F***ing Democrats!

2006-09-29T03:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, on the television, I heard my president use the phrase "Cut 'N Run Democrats" to describe Americans who have the audacity to want and end to a war on Iraq in the guise of pursuing a "war on terror" (before that it was to "spread Democracy", before that it was a need for "regime change", and before that an imminent threat of a "mushroom cloud" and "weapons of mass distruction" - pardon me if I don't believe your motives this time). What immediately came to mind is the speech in which our president says "I'm a uniter, not a divider."

Sigh. No, sir, you are a hypocrite and a liar and I've never been more ashamed of my country.

Shit-Slinging and Assymetric Warfare

2006-09-25T17:07:00.000-07:00

Two things seem pretty evident this week; neither the war on terror (which, I like to remind everybody, is a tactic - not an enemy) or the culture war between liberals and conservatives is getting any better. In both cases, things continue to get much worse.

The leaking of a six-month old National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) that concluded we're creating more terrorists than we're getting rid of, the mutiny of U.S. military Generals against Donald Rumsfeld, and current conditions (thousands of sectarian murders) on the ground are irrefutable evidence that, for whatever reason, Iraq is falling apart and we can't seem to make it work. We need a new plan - either win the hearts and minds of everyday Iraqis with overwhelming generosity and goodwill, block by block if need be, or blow those hearts and minds acrosss the desert in a full-on genocide. Anything less than those two extremes will result in a long, painful and expensive quagmire that will cost thousands of American lives, hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars and any credibility we ever had in the world. Most people seem to agree that our current "strategy" (whatever that is) is unrealistic and unsustainable. Anyway, enough of my blather, please read this fascinating articla about Assymetric Warfare on DKosopedia. Conservative or Liberal, I think you'll find it interesting.

And we're more hotly divided in this country than we ever have been in my memory. Its evident in the lack of courtesy and decorum on the the shit-slinging that takes place on so-called "talk" shows and website forums, both liberal and conservative. Nobody seems to be trying to understand the arguments on the other side, most seem content to call the other names. We belittle and dismiss one another reflexively. If there was anything good to come out of 9/11, its that those differences disappeared for a very short while and we all pulled together. Too bad it takes that kind of disaster to remind us we're all on the same team.

Half-Cocked And Ready To Fight

2006-09-14T03:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I left a nasty comment on the blog of a Harvard Economics Professor who was arguing against the federal minimmum wage laws and somewhat in favor of the Earned Income Tax Credit (but only as a last resort). A litany of supportive comments followed his article, most championing the conservative wisdom of a professor who resides within maybe one of the most powerful learning institutions in America.

His blog was actually in response to who he called "misguided students" who marched in support of a living wage for so-caleed "unskilled" staff on the Harvard campus. Because of Harvard's vast endowment, which would easily allow the school to afford such a move, the professor argued that it would be artificial and, overall, a bad message for business in American and bad move for our economy.

I went off on him.

Not because I'm qualified to argue with a Harvard economics professor, (I'm just a pseudo-intellectual, community-college drop-out) but because I'm a hothead and I'm tired of people so far removed from the struggle for working-class Americans making decisions that so profoundly affect them - especially when they're never experienced the day-to-day lives of the working poor. In other words, men in ivory towers shouldn't talk about how $10.51 an hour (in Boston no less - you try and survive on that, mother-fucker ) is too much money. Especially when the benefactors of current economic policies are enjoying such an overabundance of profit made with the blessing of George The Younger. It's extremely offensive to some of us.

Let's face it, the rich rely on the sweat of the working poor - always have, always will. Fine, theat's an economic hierarchy that will never change - at least not as long as humans control the resources. But don't think you can rationalize that injustice in public without risk of getting a virtual tomato smashed upside your insulated Harvard melon. There's a whole lot of us out here who are pissed-off about our fading prosperity while fat-cat Harvard-educated MBA's look for new and complicated ways to screw us out of the meager wages we get.

Anyway, I'm kind of afraid to even go back to that website. I'm sure I'm getting throttled on every side by conservatives who think I'm not qualified to argue the point, missed the point completely, don't understand the point, or otherwise am not worthy of being scraped off the bottom of their right wingtips. But, I must retrieve my comments for posterity...

Well, you’ve answered for me how our so-called “leaders” become so out of touch with their working-class constituents. You talk about the economics of the working poor as if their circumstance were merely the natural order of the universe, and that your access to an Ivy League education and a brilliant career were a birthright. Don't talk to me about what a unskilled labor is worth until you've at least "walked the walk" like Ehrenreich did. She's a liberal, and it sent her running for the sanctuary of her own priveleged life. What’s lacking from this conversation is a sense of humility and any attempt at finding humanity in economics - which works out so well for those at the top. I can't believe there's an argument about whether a working-class gig at Harvard is worth $10.00 bucks an hour? Who deciides? Unfortunately, you do. And you’ll spend years arguing why the very least among you don't deserve enough money for a clean place to live and insurance against a medical disaster. I never hear a serious discussion about the social cost of a company pulling a $100,000,000,000 out of an economy in a single year while their employees are eating Ramen noodles bought with food stamps and wonder if that pain they feel in their gut is from poor nutrition or stomach cancer. Their choice is to work for that company, or the other national behemoth down the street who offer the exact same lack of wages and benefits. If there is any justification for a minimum wage in America, then there must be justification for a maximum profit as well. If there isn’t, then I hope you’re all be prepared for the social cost that stress and status anxiety will bring to your doorstep. Will you chase those lowly souls back across the bridge by force or will you foolishly ask, “Why do they hate us so much?”

Always Impressed by Conservative Blame-Gamers

2006-09-09T09:23:00.001-07:00

It seems the conservatives have finally smartened up and realized that, "Hey, with all our money and political connections we should be the ones re-writing history for the hoi polloi. It's all Clinton's fault!"

I'm referring of course to the reported revisionist history of "The Path To 9/11" a docu-drama to be aired on ABC that reportedly will squarely place the blame for the attack on the Clinton administration (conservatives are still blaming Clinton even though they've controlled all three branches of government for six years - and just in time for the election!) Never mind that Bill Clinton actually ordered attacks on Bin Laden's terror camps and blew up an aspirin-factory in the Sudan in an attempt to hurt Al Queda. Never mind that President Bush and his cabal ignored a PDB entitled "Bin Laden Determined To Strike WIthin The U.S." Don't even get me started on how that cabal abused actual intelligence to sell the Iraq war to a gullible and vulnerable public. Bush wasn't worried about Bin Laden because he was too busy giving massive tax cuts to his already bloated billionaire friends - I'm sorry, I mean his base.

Check out the inside story about the solidly right-wing creators of "The Path To 9/11" at The Huffington Post"

Interested in the Clinton Conspiracy side instead? Check out The Greatest Jeneration.

The culture war is still raging on with the full support of a president who laughably declared he was a "uniter, not a divider".

Who knows, maybe we'll have a red state/blue state civil war of our own some day. We're on the verge of drawing eachother's blood in this country like the Sunnis and the Shia.

Five Years After 9/11

2006-09-08T16:52:00.000-07:00

Five years after we were attacked by Al Queda, Osama Bin Laden is still at large, the former World Trade Center is still a hole in the ground and we've pissed away almost half a trillion dollars in Iraq. Somebody is getting really, really rich from all this while continuous electricity and clean water are still a rarity in that country. Sad.

I said it then, and I'll say it now - I can't believe we invaded Iraq. I blame George Bush, Paul Wolfowitz, Dick Cheney, Don Runsfeld, Condo-Leaser Rice and Colin Powell - I blame Powell for not having the decency to resign before they made him lie to us. A good soldier till the very end. Perhaps it's time to retire that sidearm, sir.

Oh, and I blame CONGRESS -for ignoring your oversight DUTY to the AMERICAN PEOPLE. You're all fired.

I remember standing in my kitchen, my jaw on the floor, while the president announced his plans for "the war on terror". We have about as much a chance of winning the "war on terror" as we do "the war on drugs". Terrorism is an intelligence matter - always was, always will be. You can say you're fighting a "war" on terror - but it's a lie. Wars are for nation/states. You can take a military action against terrorists - but you can't fight a war on a tactic. It's all bullshit. Smedley Butler is turning in his grave.

But even five years after 9/11- 43% of Americans still believe the War On Iraq had something to do with 9/11. Sad. Now the Republicans are singing the same song in this electioin cycle. Are most people still that gullible? Probably.

Productivity Continues To Rise, Wages Continue To Fall

2006-08-28T18:25:00.000-07:00

The New York Times reported that wages have fallen to their lowest point relative to productivity since they began taking data in 1947. But P.Bush, always the delusional optimist (which is nicer than calling him an outright liar) stated recently that "Things are good for the American Worker." A NYTimes Editorial said that comment was "preposterous".

My job review's coming up soon. Somehow I bet my boss will try to sell me on the idea that, for the fifth year in a row, I don't need a raise that keeps pace with inflation. Instead I get a 5yr pin, a company party, and the assurance that I should be so lucky to have a job in this economy.. Think of all those poor auto workers. Meanwhile, a large deposit is made somewhere in the Cayman Islands.....

Toil and Toil Til You Burst a Bubble
in your stress-addled brain, that's what you'll get for your trouble.

Random Revolutionary Thoughts

2006-08-26T06:11:00.000-07:00

Business Entitlements Are Costing Michigan Too Much

My Republican-controlled state legislature (with the help of that old-school fat cat Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson) decided to do an end-run around our Democratic governor and repealed the state's Single Business Tax (SBT) last week. You see, the Governor vowed to veto the bill unless there was a viable plan to replace the $2,000,000,000 in state revenue it produced -especially at a time when our state's economy is suffering from corporate outsourcing and auto-related factory closures (there's no such thing as patriotism when it comes to your profit, eh boys?). It's common sense right? Just like a real person wouldn't quit their job unless they had another one lined up first, or at least was operating at a comfortable surplus. It's the RESPONSIBLE thing to do. But it's not the Repubican thing to do.

Our Fearless Leader (Blustering, Bumbling, Blundering Bush) has shown our state Republicans (by example) that just because you don't have a viable plan for the future doesn't mean you can't charge ahead and spend as much as you like - especially if YOU ALREADY GOT YOURS. It seems to be the Republicans job to dump as much of the tax burden on the working class as possible, then wait for a Democratic politician to come along and clean up the scattered debris of failed Republican economic policies - like the disaster left by another old-school fat cat, Governor John Engler. Businesses now feel ENTITLED to massive tax breaks to stay in or come to any particular state- regardless of how much or how many of that state's resources they use while pursuing a profit. They just pass the tax burden onto the little guy. Somehow, I doubt it will be any different this time.

Someday soon, without a living wage, without any health-care, without overtime, a pension, or a single pot to piss in - we'll be coming to your gated communities by the busload and knocking on your mahogany & leaded glass doors to collect our share of your tax-free windfalls. When we do, you'd better hope the local police department got their millage increase.

The Hunting Of The President

2006-08-10T19:04:00.000-07:00

I just got done watching The Hunting of The President on DVD. It's a documentary that tells the story of the six-year, $70,000,000 debacle that started as a alleged real estate malfeasance (for which the Clintons were completely exonerated) and ended in several friends being abused and/or jailed by the special prosecutor for what would ultimately prove to be a failed attempt to impeach President Clinton for lying about a extramarital affair - a subject for his religious or marriage counselor perhaps, but hardly worth the time, money and resources of the U.S. taxpayers - however salacious their appetites.

My quick review is that the movie serves as an fairly thorough account of the dirty tricks and the dirty players involved in the "vast right-wing conspiracy" (which proves to be pretty much just as the First Lady alleged). It focuses mostly on whitewater, the Arkansas connections and Susan McDougal - who chose two years in jail over lying for the so-called independent council. The producers would have done well, however, to avoid the menacing soundtrack that served as a backdrop throughout most of the film because it only cheapens the seriousness of the subject matter - the abuse of power by, not The President, but the right-wing politicos who used every dirty trick they could purchase with your hard-earned tax dollars to defame him.

But the real cream of this DVD is not so much the film itself (though it serves the story well) but the comments of President Bill Clinton himself in the special features, shot on stage at the film's debut. It made me realize what a truly brilliant man and gifted speaker Bill Clinton is, and by contrast what an empty vessel and dim-witted tool we have in the White House now.

In his thought provoking and historically contextualized comments, Clinton transcended even my unabashed cynicism and gave me hope for our country when I thought there could be none. He reminded me that, however badly I might want revenge for the bullshit the neo-cons and Federalist Society demons have put us through, that we're not them and it does nothing to serve the greater good of our country. Eventually, and despite them, we'll forge ahead and make progress. History demands it.

Clinton is way smarter than I ever gave him credit for while he was president - and boy do I miss him now. We should all miss him now. Despite his very banal and human failings, he's truly a fair and decent man and history will undoubtedly vindicate him. This film is a good start.

Think I'm Nuts? I'm In Good Company...

2006-08-05T11:54:00.000-07:00

Read The Constitution In Crisis; Final Investigative Report of the House Judiciary Committee Democratic Staff. Introduction by one of my congressional homeboys, a proud member of former President Nixon's enemies list. He calls it the "Minority Report" - how appropriate, culturally speaking.

Neo-Con Fasci-Nation

2006-08-05T07:53:00.000-07:00

I'm constantly amazed at how different our country is from the one I learned about in school. Everything I was raised to believe about the Good 'Ole USA has been turned on its head.

I was raised to believe that if you worked hard and obeyed the rules, you would never be homeless or hungry in America.
I was raised to believe that a "pension fund" was a binding contractual obligation created to help a dedicated and loyal employee retire after years of hard work.
I was raised to believe in "overtime" and the 40-hour work week- and remember the courageous working-class Americans who fought and sacrificed to secure those rights for us.
I was raised to believe that taxes were meant to "promote the general welfare" as well as provide for the uncommonly huge defense budget.
I was raised to believe you should pay your bills on time and avoid burying yourself in mountains of debt.
I was raised to believe that the U.S. was good and righteous and promoted equality and fair play both here and abroad.
I was raised to believe that the tyranny of the majority couldn't happen in America because the built-in checks and balances in our constitutional democracy wouldn't allow it.
I was raised to believe in the Bill Of Rights.
I was raised to believe that science was apolitical.
I was raised to believe there were good reasons our founders emphasized the seperation of church and state.
I was raised to believe a "free and unfettered press" was an integral part of keeping a constitutional democracy healthy.
I was raised to belive that our government was created "of the people, by the people and for the people".
I was raised to believe no American was above or beyond the law, not even The President of The United States.
I was raised to believe cheaters could never be winners.

Thanks to the shameless governance of extremist neo-cons who have been ruining the U.S. for the past six and a half years, I now realize my elementary and naive illusions about America were completely and utterly false.

I hold this truth to be self-evident: that it's every man, woman and child for himself in America - the rules be damned.

Riffing On The Times 7-21-06

2006-08-01T18:11:00.000-07:00

As always, the heads are taken directly from NYTimes Online while the sub-heads are entirely made-up.

From Carnage in Lebanon, a Concession - Israel Agrees to Lie to Secretary Of State Condo-lease-a Rice if she agrees get on a plane headed back to the U.S.

A Night of Death and Terror for Lebanese Villagers - Courtesy of Secretary of State Condo-lease-a Rice's Imaginary 48 Hour Cease Fire

U.S. Puts Onus on Employers of Immigrants - Govt. To Business: If you want cheap labor you can abuse with impunity, you'll have to go to the trailer parks and inner cities just like everybody else.

Israel Suspending Lebanon Air Raids After Dozens Die - Just kidding, they're going to keep bombing the shit out of women, children, old folks and those meddlesome UN peacekeepers in hopes of hitting a "terrorist".

A Small Charity Takes the Reins in Fighting a Neglected Disease - Discarded, unprofitable "cure" saved from pharmaceutical trash bin by humans who are actually concerned with the well being of other humans without requiring an obscene profit. Though increasingly rare, they do still exist.

Leftist Plans Sit-Ins to Challenge Mexico Vote - Mexicans show Americans how to behave when your election has been stolen by
right wing extremists with the help of an American company (i.e. ChoicePoint).

**** Learn More About ChoicePoint****

Passing Down the Legacy of Conservatism - Though beer bongs, ass-paddling and hate crimes are favored among young Republicans, mysoginism, racism and jingoism are preferred by elders. All, however, belive in their divine right to loot the U.S. treasury to fund their own private interests.

Cute, Stinky and Beached, Seals Cause a Squabble - Navy elite force looking for Lebanese "beachfront" found sweaty and confused on California shoreline. Leader overheard cursing "that Goddamn Rumsfeld has done it to us again!"

Good Times In Bizzarro World

2006-07-21T03:55:00.000-07:00

So let me get this straight: It's not okay to do research on discarded human embryos to find cures to diseases that afflict actual human beings the world over, but it's okay to let your good frat buddy (let's call him Lahaim) bomb the shit out of innocent men, woman and children in hopes that he might kill his sworn enemy in the process?

Hey, remember back in fascist school when Lahaim drove a bulldozer over that little white American girl who tried to show the Palestinians how to stage a peaceful protest in Gaza? Now what was her name? Rachel something, wasn't it? What a hoot. I bet she never expected that from a close ally of the United States! Didn't someone get pictures of the whole thing? Yeah, I think the Palestinians have pictures too. Boy, Lahaim showed her who's boss, eh?. We're going to put that one on the Republicans Party's Top Ten Ways To Dispose of A Liberal.

(excuse me while I vomit)

Learn More About Rachael Corrie's Murder by the IDF at www.rachelcorrie.org/news.htm

Living in early 21st Century America is like being trapped in Bizzarro World with your alcoholic father.

The Opressed Are Now The Opressors

2006-07-19T16:25:00.000-07:00

I think the Jews might have caught some kind of evil virus in Germany back in the 40's. I don't know anytthing else that might explain their capacity for killing.

And the stong shall continue to subjugate the weak.

Princess Behemoth Gets Tipsy

2006-07-18T19:40:00.000-07:00

Good GOD! I've never seen anything on the ocean as big as the Princess Cruise ship that tipped when its rudder malfunctioned. Are they sure it didn't tip because it's the size of an office building? Maybe it was due to all the fat-cats sitting pretty in the penthouse.

Sharpen Your Fork

2006-07-18T17:16:00.000-07:00

I just got done watching Democrats on CSPAN show me how for the past six years I've been financing tax cuts for people who make ten times what I make, and I still only owe a measly $28,000 to pay my share of the runaway national debt. Oh, and my wife owes $28,000 as well. And my kid too. Boy the Republicans can really stick it to the working class when they control all three branches of government, eh? So much for fiscal conservatism.

So while I continue to whine from my computer, the'yre looting my social security, energy and healthcare costs are skyrocketiing and our folly in the Middle East continues to add exponentially to our debt. With all that going on, I wonder how I'm going to survive America in my golden years.

I guess I'll just have to sharpen my fork and EAT THE RICH.

With Overwhelming Force, Israel Bombs Lebanon Into the Stone Age

2006-07-17T18:34:00.000-07:00

I'm having a bit of trouble believing that Israel's massive bombing of Lebanon has anything to do with two kidnapped soldiers. This seems very much like a pre-planned devastation of the entire country - as evidenced by Israel's bombing of a Lebanese army base and other actions taken far from Sothern Lebanon. It will take decades to re-build Lebanon. Maybe that's their plan - if the Lebanese are busy rebuilding, they'll be less likely to cause Israel trouble.

But Israel has gone much farther than anyone expected. Are they trying to elicit a response from Syria and Iran? Or are they just causing as much damage to their enemies as they can before the world speaks up.

What no one in the major media is asking is, how many times did the Israelis violate the so-called Blue Line in the past ten years? Why do the Israelis have so many Palestinians and Lebanese prisoners? And why was a prisoner swap ok in the recent past but now prompts the overwhelming devastation of civilian infrastructure in Lebanon?

I guess if I want to be a good American I'm not supposed to ask those questions, but there it is.

The "Shit" Heard 'Round The World

2006-07-17T17:03:00.000-07:00

CNN is treating the president's "shit" like it was made of gold. The expletive was caught when the president was having what he thought was a relatively private conversation with the British Prime Minister at a G8 luncheon (or was it dinner - who gives a "shit").

Now, I'm no friend of the president, but the last time I checked it was just plain rude to eavesdrop on someone's conversation - and then to publicize said conversation around the world and treat it like an exclusive is just plain juvenile.

SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT Syria needs to tell Hizbollah to knock that SHIT off!

Will that get me on CNN too? What if I said "fuck"?

Sometimes "the media" is just as stupid as "they" say it is.

CNN going to hell

2006-07-17T04:14:00.000-07:00

Glenn Beck is the worst thing to happen to CNN since.....since........Ok, he's the worst thing to ever happen to CNN. It's such a shameless grab for the FOX news market it makes me sad for journalism.

Then you have a top-ten list given by some chick I've never see before (Melissa Long is her name, I've since learned), interrupting Paula Zahn's show with more Celebrity Non News (like the "Friend's Reunion Show").

Yeah, I know. I swore-off CNN months ago - but I want to watch the world unravel in real time so I'll have to settle for the best of the worst.

God I wish PBS had more resources.

Sunnis Now Want Americans To Stay... For Coming War?

2006-07-17T03:42:00.000-07:00

The New York Times has reported that Iraqi Sunnis now want American troops to stay to protect them from militant Shiites who've been hunting them down in recent weeks. This is a major change in attitude by the Sunnis who up until recently called for the Americans to leave. Coupled with recent events in Lebanon and Gaza, and the intractable attitude of Iran and Syria when it comes to Israel and their unapologetic ally the U.S., we've got the beginnings of a regional war in the Middle East.

Nice going.

Americans Split on Graphic War Images

2006-07-15T06:59:00.000-07:00

The Pew Internet & American Life Project has released a study about how many Americans are seeking out graphic war images online and how some think it's wrong. Wha't surprising is that a majority of households earning over $50k approve of showing graphic images online while those with incomes less that $50K disapprove. It's probably because those earning less than $50k a year are probably twice as likely to have a child show up in one of those gruesome photographs.

Check out the Survey Here.

Personally, I think if you're not willing to show the results of your actions to the world, you probably shouldn't be engaged in that activity in the first place. Immorality is not limited to pornography and abortion. Don't agree? Check out these very graphic pictures from the war in Iraq (CAUTION: Not for the squeamish).

While you can choose to ignore the islamic propaganda on this website, the pictures don't lie. Let's not pretend we don't know what's really happening over there, ok? Yeah, I know, 9/11 - 3000 American lives destroyed by Islamic fundamentalists. Same, same, but where does it end? How many more people have to die violent deaths? How many more mothers, fathers, sons, daughters and children have to suffer unimaginable fates before we feel avenged? 100,000? 200,000? 1,000,000? Are you telling me there's no other way to win the hearts and minds of our enemies other than blasting those hearts and minds all over the walls of their cities? What a crude lack of imagination. It's cave-man consciousness.

As long as we keep thinking like we do, THIS SHIT WILL NEVER END. Let's put our best minds (not those in positions of power or prestige) toward changing this crude and stupid self-destructive behaviour.

Oh, The Yellow Times has been shut down over showing graphic war photos. I wonder if it violates my TOS. Showing the TRUTH OF WAR is worth the risk.

Humanity is Doomed

2006-07-15T06:25:00.000-07:00

It occurs to me that war isn't about different cultures, different philosophies, different politics, claims to land, resources or religious convictions. It's really just about man's inability to share what he has with others who need it. It's about brats waving their missles around to show everybody who's boss, king of the hill. Humanity is doomed

Want to impress the planet? Love your enemies so much that they'll do anything to avoid you. Embarass them with lavish, selfless gifts they couldn't possibly return. Create entire Holidays to praise their virtues. Love them and their people in such conspicuous ways they'll give their weapons to you for safe-keeping. There's so much more interesting things you could do with the trillions of dollars spent on machines designed to shred people and property into a disgusting blood-soaked confetti (which, of course, you'll never see on your government-sanitized television screens).

Israel, Hizbollah, U.S., Iran, Hamas, Al Queda - you should all be ashamed of yourselves. Go to your rooms and think about what you've done and don't come out until you can treat your fellow humans with respect.

Ken Lay Down For Good

2006-07-06T03:58:00.000-07:00

Though my condolences go out to Ken Lay's family and friends (with the exception of Emperor Bush) and those who actually found some goodness in this blood-thirsty vampire, it's too bad he died before he could be sentenced for his crimes at the helm of the pirate ship Enron. He should have had the time to recieve cards and letters from thousands of people whose lives he ruined. He should have had time to reflect on how he could go from fat cat corporate cheat to a low-life, rat-in-a-cage in such a short amount of time. But there's always Skilling, right? And Copper, and Fastow, and .....

I guess the only thing left to do with Ken Lay is let the prosecutor drive a stake through his heart and cut off his head - just to make sure this evil bastard doesn't haunt the living anymore.

Unfortunately, it seems his sudden death has complicated the process of making reparations to his victims. See the story in The New York Times.

Too Close To Call = Too Close For Comfort

2006-07-03T15:39:00.000-07:00

Seems a pattern is emerging in this hemisphere. Conservatives (i.e. Mexican conservatives) have reportedly won the presidential election by the narrowest of margins, according to a Story in LA times. Once I heard the race was "too close to call" yesterday, a familiar shiver ran down up my spine.

I've grown so cynical.

Funny, those close political races seem to quash dissent by their very appearence of authenticity. Man, it was soooo close, but we won in the end. It's a mandate from the people!

Which political leaning, left or right, do you think is more likely to steal? I'd like to see the results of that experiment.

Riffing On The Times 7-3-06

2006-07-03T08:25:00.000-07:00

As always, the headlines are taken directly from The New York Times, and the sub-heads are entirely made up.

Roberts Is at Court's Helm, but He Isn't Yet in Control - Chief Justice now wants to be referred to as "Chief Justice of The Supreme Executive" to more accurately reflect his position on the court.

Car Bomb Kills More Than 60 in Iraq Market : Tragedy clears way for new Baghdad Wal Mart which promises to supply U.S. soldiers and locals with much needed helmet-liners and body armor "at a globally competitive price".

Hiring Federal Lobbyists, Towns Learn Money Talks: Abramof scandal tips-off ambitious locals who lag behind Washington learning-curve.

Israeli Airstrike Over Gaza Hits Premier's Office: Jewish State denies Hamas' recent democratic victory has anything to do with "unfortunate accident that occurred in the course of Israeli soldier kidnapping investigation." Says missiles expedite the process of exposing potential hiding places.

Mexican Vote Hinges on Conflicted Middle Class: Class fears exporting of unskilled labor to United States will create dearth of underpaid servants in their own country.

Last Stop, Lhasa: Rail Link Ties Remote Tibet to China : Buddhist Monks respond "There goes the neighborhood."

French-Fried Fools

2006-07-01T11:50:00.000-07:00

The other day, my illustrious representative, Thaddeus G. McCotter, was asked on the air his opinion on soccer's ultimate competition, The World Cup. His response? He didn't much care for soccer, other than rooting for the United States and against the French. This coming from a member of the House Committee on International Relations. Ugh. No wonder everybody hates us.

No doubt, he's one of the congressional retards who thought renaming french fries to Freedom Fries was a right and just response to a serious foreign relations problem.

His latest official duty was to submit remarks criticizing H.R. 861 - a useless political resolution desgined by by his own party to circle the wagon and pressure members into declaring their commitment to staying the course in Iraq, regardless of the thousands of American lives it destroys and the hundreds of billions of tax payer's dollars it wastes - and if it embarasses Democrats in the process, all the better.

Unfortunately, McCotter's criticisms about the resolution were that it didn't go far enough in its language. He said that it lacked moral clarity, because it used the word "adversary" instead of "enemy" and so he would be voting "present" instead of voting in the affirmative.

Please tell me we can do better in the 11th district come November.

Curious about McCotter's voting record? Visit the website of McCotter's "enemy" in the coming election: Go to Tony Tripiano's Website

Ola

I'm going to slap the next motherfucker.....

2006-06-28T18:54:00.000-07:00

....who uses the phrase "activist judge" or "liberal media" or "cut-'n-run" any other viral catch-phrase or talking-point designed to whip the hoi polloi into a partisan frenzy. I swear. If you're even thinking it, consider my hot palm slamming across your cold cheek. A well-deserved assault.

Congressional Reformatory 2

2006-06-16T03:57:00.000-07:00

If republicans in congress want to force meaningless rhetorical votes on the War in Iraq just to make themselves look good, Dems should stop pissing around and hang 'em with every corruption that's oozed out of the storm drains in the last three years. If Democrats can't beat 'em by a vote, they'll just have to keep sending them to prison until they can. Shouldn't be a problem; there seems to be a scum-scraping scandal beneath every raised republican carpet. The real war is in the Capitol building.

Dark days for America. Dark days indeed.

The Iraq War: brought to you by the same retarded monkeys who brought you Nixon, Watergate, and the needless escalation of The Viet Nam War (i.e. Rumsfeld & Cheney - they were THERE). These are the fellas of THE INDUSTRIAL MILITARY COMPLEX that Dwight David Eisenhower tried to warn you about oh so many years ago. These are the same retarded monkeys who created the need for The (Colin) Powell Doctrine - the policy that says, never enter a battle unless you intend to win with overwhelming force. Of course, we know what happened to that 'ole boy, don't we? Rumsfeld sent his ass packing, immasculated by the lies they made him to tell. Poor, 'ole uncle Tom - we could have used a BRAVE soldier on the front lines of the culture war. Maybe that old dog's got some fight in him yet, before the whole country disintegrates into a Uncivil War. We can only hope he has it in him.

little poem

2006-06-13T03:53:00.000-07:00

Living two lives
Not committed to either one
In a third that I abandoned
was a God waiting for a son

-sudrakarma

Michigan Legislature Continue to Punish the Poor

2006-05-21T07:05:00.000-07:00

The Michigan Legislature has proven once again it can find new ways to punish it's residents with the least economic, political and social power by passing new restrictions on their access to resouce assistance ( Michigan House Bill 4309 ). While designed to punish the supposed bums and welfare queens who game the system, regardless of actual proof of their numbers or existence, the real victims will be the children and disabled adults who will now have to jump through higher hoops while smug state Republicans chide and jeer at them from their luxury suites and enjoy political points from reactionary constituents.

You want to save the state some money? Stop with the tax free giveaways to business. After all, who's using more of our states' limited resources, alleged welfare frauds or seemingly insatiable corporate capitalists?

Do the math.

A waking thought....

2006-04-24T02:50:00.002-07:00

Flags are meaningless to the few
who control the wealth and fate of nations

Power is the source of their global pride;
the blood, sweat and tears of the multitudes
just currency - a means to an end.

Will justice ever rise above iniquity
without a jackboot to their powdered necks?

without a pitchfork in their foyer door?

without a revolting demonstration of our dogged determination?

We'll bear our teeth for now,
and growl in the electronic fog
until one day we'll scare them back into their gilded caves
for fear of their very lives
and peace will
be ours
again

for another short little while.

Riffing On The Times 4-11-06

2006-04-11T14:49:00.000-07:00

As always, the Headlines are taken directly from NYT online, but the subheads are entirely made-up.

Top Stories:

Immigrants Rally In Scores of Cities for Legal Status

- Make real Americans look lazy and apathetic by comparison.

In France, an Economic Bullet Goes Unbitten

- French youth refuse to eat lead in lieu of cake.

In Attics and Rubble, More Bodies and Questions

- Like, "Who fled the city without cleaning up their mess first?"

World:

Chirac Will Rescind Labor Law That Caused Wide French Riots

- Said he was only kidding about joining the much ballyhooed "Global Economy".

Chinese Turn to Civic Power as a New Tool

- But Japanese sub-compact still no match for Red Army tanks.

Italian National Election Remains Too Close to Call

- Will Silvio Berlusconi win, or will he have to kill his rival?

U.S.:

Moussaoui Jury Hears From Grieving Families, and From Victims Themselves

- Judge rules expletives and death threats valid testimony.

Wrongful Conviction Prompts Detroit Police to Videotape Certain Interrogations

- Will air on "Punk'd" if they get it wrong. "Yo, yo, yo. Just kiddin' dog!"

In End Run Around Legal Challenge, California Gives Out Stem Cell Research Grants

- When you order the double-mocha latte' with a vanilla biscotti before 9 a.m.

Business

Skilling, on the Stand, Implies Fraud Was Unnecessary

- When good old fashioned theft worked out just dandy.

The Long-Distance Journey of a Fast-Food Order

- Happy Meal shot into space to rendezvous with shuttle.

Wal-Mart Promises to Limit Its Banking

- Will stuff billions of dollars into mattress - just in case things go sour in the American economy.

Decoding Dr. Robert's Edu-Speak

2006-04-01T12:31:00.000-08:00

In an attempt to understand a recent newsletter sent by my my superintendent of schools, Dr. Robert O'Brien, , I will attempt to deconstruct his Edu-Speak into plain old, cynical, working-class English. You see, when you start making $350,000 a year, you leave the language of the hoi-polloi behind and start speaking in tongues designed to seperate the rubes from their cash. This is especially important when all other jobs in your district are making wage and benefit concessions and you keep getting fat raises.

Dr. Robert's Plan To Attain Focus, Purpose & Direction in our public schools:

EDUSPEAK: Successfully complete the Superintendent transition plan. ENGLISH: Secure Golden Parachute with the help of the incoming superintendent. I'm outta here....
EDUSPEAK:Successfully integrate Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) in all buildings, including defining and clarifying PLC results for all stakeholders. ENGLISH: Get all the PLCs (also known as "schools") in our district to teach the same things at the same level and then test all students in a way administrators, teachers and students understand what it "means". For example, does Johnny's "A" mean he'll have access to a college education? Hell no! You still need cash and political connections for that. That's what an "A+" means.
EDUSPEAK: Fully implement the contractual student initiatives. ENGLISH: Even though contracts with minors violates state and Federal laws, lets pretend a signed "contract" for thier expected behavior is legal, appropriate, and above all, unquestionable. If they don't live up to our high expectations for a future workforce, punish the little bastards....er, rather, I mean fully implement the contract.
EDUSPEAK: Maintain our excellent financial rating, build a balanced budget for 2006-07 and limit the impact on teaching and learning. ENGLISH: Continue paying the bills on time while somehow managing not to piss off the teachers when you reduce their pay & benefits, try not to piss off the students when you eliminate programs they actually enjoy, and try not to piss off thhe parents when you charge them for things that, until now, were paid solely by their tax dollars. In the meantime, "recommend" to the board that The Superintendent get another fat raise. It's good to be the boss.
EDUSPEAK: Redefine and strengthen the "Challenge of Change" employee involvement program. ENGLISH: Employee pay and benefits are going to be reduced while employee roles and responsibilities are going to be expanded. If you complain, the new security guards will show you to your vehicle. In the meantime, "recommend" to the board that The Superintendent get another fat raise. I'd make twice this amount if I worked for Enron.
EDUSPEAK: Implement the student data system including developing a "dashboard" of options. ENGLISH: I just received a new top-of-the-line Mac with the Tiger operating system and I think it's really, really cool. Why can't our school system be as cool as my new expensive computer? Maybe it can. I could use the dashboard widgets to access student records whenever and wherever I want. (The preceding was a paid PRODUCT PLACEMENT from Apple Computers to Robert O'Brien, Superintendent of Schools - and will be appearing over urinals and in bathroom stalls district-wide.) You know, if I made $600,000 a year, I wouldn't have to be makind side-deals like this. Recommend to The Board I get a raise.
EDUSPEAK: Evaluate and improve our student intervention programs. ENGLISH: Are we doing enough to control the little bastards while they're in school? Give 'em detention if they act up. Failing that, call the cops and prosecute. I'm done screwing around.
EDUSPEAK: Clarify, improve and implement a stronger, more specific internal and external communication process. ENGLISH: Teachers: speak up at the staff meetings or shut the hell up in the teacher's lounge. Oh, and by the way, we have the right to record your conversations in any district building, no matter what your union says. Note to self: crush the union.
EDUSPEAK: Complete the implementation of the International Academy. ENGLISH: Exclude hoi polloi from the priveleged fast track to educastional success and lock the doors behind you. This is what our president calls "pleasing your base". Exclude, divide, discriminate. It's the American Way.
EDUSPEAK: Review our high school curriculum and program offferings. ENGLISH: Find ways to save money while increasing test scores. Recommend to the board The Superintendent get another raise.
EDUSPEAK: Complete district goals at highly successful levels. ENGLISH: Duh.

.; )

A LIE THAT JUST WON"T DIE: JOBS THAT AMERICANS WON'T DO

2006-03-30T03:51:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I heard THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES repeat a lie about illegal immigrants:"They'll do jobs that Americans just won't do."

THAT'S A LIE THAT KEEPS BEING REPEATED.

At the very least it's a lazy assumption that serves to keep an abundance of cheap labor around to tend rich white people's lawns, care for their children and clean their sheets.

Here's some verifiable proof that white anglo Americans WILL do the jobs that everybody ASSUMES they won't.

MY WHITE ANGLO SISTER, who has a Master's Degree in Fine Art cleans hotels rooms to keep her four children fed. Not too many jobs for fine art majors in Northern Lower Michigan. Now, if she had the educational and social support from her state to get a teaching degree, that would change dramatically. But alas, no extra funds. She'll be paying off her masters degree with "jobs that Americans just won't do" for a very long time, Mr. President.

MY WHITE ANGLO BROTHER picked strawberry's and cut sod in the summer as a teenager. Is there a shortage of American teenagers that we don't know about, Mr. President? Does an AMERICAN LAW have to be broken 12,000,000 times by AMERICAN BUSINESSMEN to get our food picked and our sod cut? I think not, sir.

As for myself, ANOTHER LAW-ABIDING WHITE ANGLO AMERICAN CITIZEN, I've been a ditch-digger, a landscaper, a lawn-sprinkler installer, part of a constructioin clean-up crew, and a general maintenance man. I've followed the rules and have broken no laws, Mr. President. And I've got very little to show for my hard-working fortitude, other than feeling like a sucker.

The Mexicans immigrants I see on a regular basis (assuming that SOME of them are here illegally, at least some of those who don't speak a lick of English) don't do jobs that Americans won't do, sir. They install carpeting, they work construction jobs and they do landscaping. ALL JOBS THAT AMERICANS WILL DO. I know, because I've done them.

Mr. President, stop lying to the American people and tell us why you and your friends really want illigal Mexican immigrants in this country: Because American Business Owners (from food-growers to Wal Mart) want cheap labor and they don't care if they have to break a few AMERICAN immigration laws to get it.

And THAT'S THE TRUTH, no matter what kind of political spin you want to put on it.

Riffing On The Times 3.28.06

2006-03-28T18:27:00.000-08:00

As always, the headlines are taken directly from the NYT but the rest is entirely made-up.
____________________

Bill to Broaden Immigration Law Gains in Senate - Bill to have his head pummeled by law-abiding, working-class Americans if he tries it.

French Youth at the Barricades, but a Revolution? It Can Wait - yeah, at least until someone fool tells them to eat cake.

Iraqi Documents Are Put on Web, and Search Is On - millions of bored amateurs attempt to confuse what experts on the ground have known for years.

Shiite Leaders Suspend Talks Over Government - to pursue suspending Sunnis by their testicles.

Afghan Convert to Christianity Is Released - Muslim clerics declare open season - again.

At Crossroads, Israeli Voters Seem to Wait for a Signal - ...but proceed to accelerate and run over family of Palestinians walking home from work.

Moussaoui Now Ties Himself to 9/11 Plot - and JFK assasination, and MLK assasination, and takes credit for the plan that led to the murder of John Lennon.

Seattle Police and Partygoers Still Puzzle Over Attack - senseless violence, ironically, shakes senseless world.

2 Dismissed From Jury Deciding Case of Politician - you can't buy justice, but injustice always has a price.

Hang it up, Dems.

2006-03-17T04:09:00.000-08:00

Dear Democrats,

Your complete and utter failure to support Russel Feingold and his motion to censure presidennt Bush proves you have no courage in your convictions. You're proven useless to working-class Americans and clueless, or worse, indifferent to our needs. If you're supposed to be public servants, you've failed miserably. Waiting for the Republicans to fail AGAIN is no strategy. My guess is they'll recover and you will have lost yet another election. You'd better have a card up your sleeve or this game is over for you - for good.

Signed,

A Lifelong Democrat turned Independent since 2000

Google, Yahoo......Bye, Bye

2006-02-16T03:30:00.000-08:00

I've reset my browser preferences and yanked Google and Yahoo from my tab bar. I understand their need and their desire to expand their business for their shareholders, but not at the expense of selling out human beings to oppressive governments. I also understand their argument for incrementalism, that eventually the internet will win out and everthing will be hunky-dory and the blood on their dividends will have faded away. But despite what most of us have been led to believe in this country, there are some things more sacred than cash. Liberty is one of them.

Web Firms Are Grilled on Dealings In China

From now on I'll use Momma.com until I find out something horrible about them too.

Four years later....

2006-02-11T06:00:00.000-08:00

One for the "Duh" category if you haven't really been paying close attention to the War In Iraq, what will all those DVD rentals to watch and your favorite t.v. shows and all. I mean, who has time for news?

I hold these truths to be self-evident this week:

2006-02-07T03:59:00.000-08:00

That there will be no limit to the looting of the U.S. treasury for the next three years. Evidence: more tax cuts for the wealthy, more money for the Defense Department (who've done such a *wonderful* job handling the war) and Homeland Security (who've done an equally good job watching our borders), less money for Medicaid and education, the creation of health savings accounts (i.e. "your on your own, pal. Sorry 'bout the cancer."), and skyrocketing deficits to be paid by our children's children's children. So much for fiscal responsibility.
The Emperor Wears No Clothes: just because he says spying on Americans without a warrant is legal, doesn't make it true. When he said, "I've earned some political capital and I intend to spend it" - he wasn't kidding. Executive hubris rules the day! To Congress and the Judiciary: You needn't show up for work anymore; the Executive and The Private Sector have got it all under control, thank you very much.
Muslims have absolutely no sense of humor: and if any of you do, you forfeit it by the actions of the multitudes in the streets who are burning down buildings and threatening the lives of innocents over a god-damned cartoon. Nobody disputes your right to be offended, just your overrreaction to being offended. While we Americans may be the bully in the global school yard, you're like the spastic kid who eats paste and and smears excrement on the walls. Nobody understands you.

Once again, the little guy loses to the HMO

2006-01-26T04:09:00.000-08:00

Backroom Republicans Rape Medicare Windfall

Warrantless Spying OK'd By Gonzales

2006-01-25T04:19:00.000-08:00

Having Alberto Gonzales investigate President Bush is like having Jeff Skilling investigate Kenneth Lay.

In the immortal words of Benjamin Franklin, "Those who would trade liberty for security deserve neither."

Here come the goon squads. Just like old times, eh Mao?

2006-01-19T03:52:00.000-08:00

I heard a report on NPR this morning that a Republican group operating at UCLA is offering to pay college students $100 to spy on their Liberal professors (known as the "dirty thirty") for 10 weeks and report so-called abuses of their position. It's the groups contention that some professors are either dismissing conservative arguments in class or "brainwashing" their students in order to create like-minded teachers of the future.

The reported spying has had a chlling effect on some professors, who are already censoring themselves in order to avoid drawing fire from the Republican group. Others are defiant. It's unclear what, if any, effect the Republican group's complaints might have on the college's employment practices, but some young professors who haven't yet achieved tenure aren't taking any chances.

It's obvious to me that the intent here is to intimidate left-leaning political speech at Universities. It reminds me of Nixon's enemies list and the CoIntelPro days when Republicans were spying on left-leaning groups and individuals, including fellow politicians, newspaper and magazine staff and, yes, college professors.

Red China's poster-boy, Chairman Mao, was also known to give political rewards to comrades who turned over dirt on their enemies. But over there they could throw liberals in prison or even make them disappear. Republicans can only wish.

Right wing fascism rears its ugly head again in America. The Nazi Youth are alive and well at UCLA.

Congressional Reformatory

2006-01-18T14:25:00.000-08:00

In the midst of the latest congressional payola scandal in Washington, California congressman David Dreier claimed today that The Republican Party is "the pary of reform".

Tee hee.

Ha ha.

GuFFFFFFFFFFAAAAAAAAWWWW!

You're kidding us, right?

More like the party most likely to end up in a reformatory.

He also said that his party is in the business of closing loopholes, not opening new ones (How does this guy keep a straight face?).

So I'm supposed to believe that all those CEO's and CFO's who practiced creative accounting with working people's pensions over at Enron and Tyco and WoldCom and a dozen other executive schemers are Democrats, right? Martha Stewart, she must be a Democrat too, eh?

Seriously, Mr. Drier - give us a break. The only thing your party is going to reform is the process you use to cheat.

Every day the Republicans and the Democrats make me glad that I voted for the 1% solution. You're all a bunch of lying crooks.

Ashamed of OUR government

2006-01-11T18:20:00.000-08:00

There's so much corruption and political two-stepping going on in the Bush administration and the Republican led congress these days my head is spinning. I can't even keep up with all the sordiid tales, and I'm a politcal junkie. I really never thought I'd see the day our government would sink to such a level. Scary times. It's pretty clear these guys are going to continue to loot the U.S. treasury until there's nothing left, abuse executive power until the constitution bursts into flames, defecate on civil rights and piss on campaign finance laws while simuiltaneously stuffing their pockets with lobby cash and giving the American people the middle finger. I'm ashamed that we haven't marched on Washington yet.

Our government is a disgrace and it's OUR fault.

The Book Of Daniel According To Shitbrick

2006-01-09T13:59:00.000-08:00

Apparently, "The Book Of Daniel" has already been targeted as the latest "attack on Christianity" in my small corner of the world. Shitbrick, my hardcore born-again Baptist beast of a co-worker, and I got into a heated argument about this new TV series just before leaving work. That's when we usually do our part to perpetuate the culture wars.

I should mention that neither of us have actually seen a single episode of "The Book of Daniel", but that didn''t stop us from regurgitating the positions we've absorbed from our respective radio stations; his, Bob Dutko (pronounced Doo-Ko) on the Christian controlled WMUZ "The Light", and mine, a daily dose of secular reasoning on NPR.

Shitbrick contends that "The Book of Daniel" is basically blasphemy (my word not his, but you get the idea) and shouldn't be allowed on the air. He's particularly offended by the reported depiction of Jesus Christ who talks casually with Daniel, a troubled episcopal priest. In fact, Shitbrick actually used the phrase "hippie-dippy" to describe how Jesus is being portrayed. He argued that this fictional depiction of Jesus will confuse viewers of lesser intellect and that if "they" (NBC I presume) want to depict Jesus Christ then they should only do so as he is described in the bible.

I argued that, in this tv show, Jesus is basically portrayed as Daniel's religious conscience and represents his "personal relationship with God", probably much in the same way members of his congregation have personal dialogues with Jesus every day. It's Jesus as Daniel relates to him, not Jesus in a historical context.

But he wasn't having any of it. Jesus should only be portrayed as he is by "the word", and not as Aidan Quinn's personal hippie, confusing the masses about who Jesus really was.

That's when I kinda lost it. I told him I didn't think NBC were the only ones confused about who Jesus really was. In particular, I told him that I had a real problem with hunters who profess be devoted to Christ and his teachings. WWJD indeed. I can't imagine the son of God, sometimes referred to as "the lamb", cutting the throat of same said animal for any purpose, let alone for the sport of it. I also have a problem with pro-war Christians who seem offended by people who want to stop all this senseless killing. Is that how "The Prince of Peace" would act? Would Jesus have a blood-lust for killing Muslims, even if they aren't the same ones who attacked us? Would The Messiah who taught us to "turn the other cheek" start a pre-emptive war and argue that it's a defensive position? Those hypocritical arguments only seem to makes sense to Christians extremists who repeatedly profess to being attacked by the secular world, when it's they who are always on the offensive. "The Book of Daniel" debacle is only the latest example of this bizarre phenomena.

Getting back to the subject of the tv show, I argued that Christians can't and don't control the context in which Jesus is discussed, especially when it comes to an artistic depiction or a dramatic portrayal in a free society with a first amendment.

"That isn't art, " Shitbrick said with disdain. "And yes, this is a free democracy, and in this free democracy Christians are the majority. And majority rules."

"And in this so-called free society we're supposed to have built-in protections from the tyranny of the majority, " I retorted. " And this art is protected free speech no matter how loud the Christians complain!" I demanded.

"But it isn't art!" he boomed louder, as if volume wins arguments. His voice reverberated off the block walls and glass panes in the warehouse, lending sonic weight to his bluster. "Art is the photos I see in National Geographic or the beautiful paintings of scenery I see at a museum," he said with a flowing gesticulation of his hand, as if stroking the beauty of some imaginary country setting. "Art's not a television show that promotes filth at family hour."

I swear I could see smoke trail from his nostrils at this point. But I refused to back down. I've listened to enough of this self-righteous drivel without speaking up.

"This isn't filth," I protested. "It's a fictional drama of a priest who's struggling with his faith! It's about his personal jihad against his own faults!" I piqued him. "How could that offend you?"

"Yeah, a priest who pops pills, who's daughter is selling drugs, whose wife is having an affair, and with gays and everything else disgusting in it!"

"Look at what happened to the Catholic Church. Are you trying to tell me there are no episcopal priests who struggle with their faith and argue with Jesus. It's realistic," I argued. "Hell, you tell me stories about your fellow parishoners that are worse than that!"

One of them, he told me not long ago, had gotten high and fallen asleep on top of her newborn baby, accidentally suffocating the child. After something like that, there's only two options; suicide or salvation. She chose salvation. The pews were filled with these kind of personal tragedies.

"Do you why I know that The Book of Daniel is art?" I paused just long enough for his face to turn a darker shade of red . "I know it's art because we're arguing about it right now - and that's what good art does; it makes you think about the world you live in and question your own conclusions about it."

Unbelievably, Shitbrick argued that art wasn't meant to provoke thought. Not a surprising argument from a hardcore, born-again Christian. After all, these are the same puritans who repeatedly burned books and other works of art over the centuries, and who I'm sure wouldn't have any problem burning DVDs - or the people who produce them.

So as far as Shitbrick is concerned, only Christians should be allowed to tell stories involving Jesus - an only then strictly following "the word". He also argued that if the same type of "artistic portrayal" of Mohammed or The Koran were done in prime time, there would be hell to pay from the muslims, you can bet on it. So Christians have every right to complain about portrayals of Jesus Christ and you can bet they will.

I reminded him that some Muslims tried to abolish a work of art by threatening the life of it's author. A fatwa was issued against Salmon Rushdie back in the eighties when he wrote "The Satanic Verses". They wanted to control the argument too, even if that meant killing the author.

"Well, I guess he shouldn't have been writing about Islam then, should he?" Shitbrick said, satisfied with himself. "Besides, Christians aren't threatening to kill anybody over The Book of Daniel."

"Not yet," I said.

Riffing On The Times: January 6, 2006

2006-01-06T16:39:00.000-08:00

Haven't done one of these in a while, but if you're not hip, the following headlines are taken directly from The New York Times online edition, but the subheads are entirely made up. Just for a bit of fun.

TOP STORIES

Iraq Facing Hurdles, U.S. General Warns

- New low-cost war tactic puts Iraqis on path of obstruction.

U.S. Is Hoping Israelis Keep Sharon's Plan a Top Priority

- U.S. recommends "more breathing and less bleeding".

Lobbyist's Downfall Leads to Charities' Windfall

- Several congressmen offer definitive proof their corruption is good for the poor.

INTERNATIONAL

Sharon in Coma; New Party Faces a Crucial Test

Party goers wonder now who's driving past the fence to get more beer?

Afghan Suicide Bomber Strikes in Town During U.S. Envoy's Visit

Nobody thought tall, hairy dog was a real threat.

Iran's Nuclear Team Fails to Keep a Date With the U.N.

Secretary General threatens to date Nortth Koreans instead.

NATIONAL

Coal Miners' Notes of Goodbye, and Questions on a Blast's Cause

Despite miner's last requests and record profits last quarter, Energy companies say miner-family discounts just not doable.

Corruption Scandal Loosening Mayor Daley's Grip on Chicago

Dirty money makes city slicker.

My Heating Bill Doubles, Rich People Get Tax Cut

2006-01-06T14:17:00.000-08:00

I live in a single-wide trailer (some people feel better calling it Manufactured Home - whatever). It's not a home really, not in that American Dream sort of way. No, a trailer is more like a container for keeping the working-class fresh, just in case anybody needs some dirty work done. But it's a roof and shit could be worse I always tell myself. What else could I tell myself?

My heating bill for January 06 DOUBLED from that of December '05. FUCK! Time to cancel cable - bunch of useless bullshit on TV anyway - except for CSPAN. I dig CSPAN. (shhhh - if they find out the working class are actually being informed by their tv's congress will let their lobbyists write laws against that too. ) Yeah, I know they warned me about the hike in energy prices - doesn't make it any better though. And gasoline just went up again too. Why do energy prices keep going up? Because they can, that's why (probably part of the secret energy deal pre-Iraq war). The energy companies are enjoying record profits, jobs are flying out of the country and my pay raises haven't kept pace with inflation for the last four years. But I'm still working. 500 engineers from GM can't say that as of yesterday.

I read the day before yesterday that the Bush administration gave 47 Billion dollars in tax cuts to people earning over $200,000 a year and it just took effect in January 06. That's after they cut medicaid, medicare, college tuition assistance and even the budget of the National Institute of Health (first time since 1970) when everyone's terrified of a possible coming flu pandemic. Un-Fucking-Believable.

It's pretty clear these motherfuckers in Washington don't have our back. Hope they're not counting on us having theirs.

Oh, and the next time I see a fucking BMW parked on the sidewalk at Wal*Mart I'm going to spit on it. And I'm just getting over a cold.

Metaphorical Airplane Back To Sanity

2006-01-02T06:38:00.000-08:00

I woke up with this metaphor in my head. I think it's about the reasons I ddn't call my "best friend" at all during the holidays. Not Thanksgiving. Not Christmas. Not New Years Eve. It's quite possible I may never call him again.

So you're on a passenger plane with about twenty other people. Destination: The Rest Of Your Life.

Your "best friend" is the pilot and somewhere along your trip you notice the plane has gone slightly off-course. Nobody else seems to notice so you keep it to yourself, figuring once he realizes his mistake he'll make the needed correction and the trip will go pretty much as planned. But after a while, he still hasn't fixed the mistake and the plane continues to travel further from its presumed destination.

So you walk up to the cockpit and casually mention to the pilot that his plane has been going slightly off-course for a while now and that if he plans to get his passengers even close to their intended destination he'd better make a correction soon. But instead of taking your concern seriously, he takes offense and tells you he knows how to fly a plane, thank you very much.

You're tempted to bring up his previous "accidents" (ones that only you know about), but before you can, he tells you that his course change was intentional. He says the "straight and narrow" flight plan is boring and predictable and he's just taking the scenic route. He says not to worry and that you should relax and just enjoy the ride. Since he's your "best friend" and you're supposed to be his, you decide to trust him and go sit down.

But as the scenery below changes radically, the other passengers on the plane begin to protest. This isn't the trip they were expecting - not even close. You try to reassure them by saying you've spoken to the pilot personally and he assured you he knows his destination and is merely taking the scenic route. But the other passengers aren't convinced, and either are you as you notice the plane is flying dangerously close to a mountain.

You decide to go back to the cockpit and tell your "best friend" that, despite his explanation, the other passengers are becoming frightened. Again, he insists he knows what he's doing and can handle his aircraft.

Suddenly, you hear a gut-wrenching thud and realize the plane has clipped a mountain goat, damaging one of the rear stabilizers. The aircraft is pitching up and down rapidly, as if it's jumping a series of small waves. You can hear the passengers back in the cabin screaming for their lives.

Incredibly, the pilot has let go of the stick and screams, "Woo Hoo! Can you feel that? It's like surfing the clouds. What a r-r-r-r-rush!"

You plead with him to take control of his aircraft, and since he's your "best friend" and you look genuinely frightened, he finally does. He apologizes and does his best to control the plane's pitch until all you can feel is an unsettling vibration. It's not smooth, but it doesn't feel life-threatening anymore. He guides the plane to a safe altitude and heads back towards home.

At some point during the flight back, the other passengers begin to talk amongst themselves. They realize, after comparing notes, that this isn't the first time this pilot has had trouble flying. And as soon as the plane reaches familiar territory, you're quite surprised to see them risk parachuting to the ground before they reach their final destination. "Well, that's going a bit far," you say to an empty cabin.

You go back to the cockpit and tell your "best friend" that the other passengers have jumped ship.

"Good riddance!" he says. "Now we can have some real fun."

"That doesn't bother you?" you ask.

"Nah, they probably found out about the landing gear," he says casually.

"What do you mean? What about the landing gear?"

"It hasn't been working right," he mentions.

"Why didn't you tell me that before we took off?" you ask incredulously.

"I didn't think you'd come along," he says. "Stop worrying so much. Besides, who wants be well-grounded when you can fly free? It's so much more liberating."

You remind him that, eventually, he's going to run out of fuel and have to land his plane no matter what - and that he could end up so far from home he'll never make it back.

"Yeah, yeah, we'll get there," he says dismissively, just before he yanks on the stick and turns the plane back towards the treacherous mountain range.

You know you should jump out, just like the other passengers, but being his "best friend" you also know that you're supposed to be there when everybody else has abandoned him. You steel yourself for a bumpy ride and an even bumpier landing.

Somewhere high among the jagged mountains you hear one of the engines sputter. When you ask about it, your "best friend" mentions that it's been acting up for a couple of weeks. You don't even ask why he didn't tell you until now. You just shake your head and look at the floor.

For the first time you clutch your parachute. But your "best friend" is calm and even appears happy, despite the fact that his plane is vibrating badly from a damaged stabilizer, the landing gear is questionable, and one of his engines is sputtering.

Then it happens again - just like you knew it would. Another gut-wrenching thud, but this time it's much worse than before. One of the jagged mountain peaks has torn off half the right wing and the plane has gone into a fatal spiral.

You quickly put on your parachute and prepare to jump out of the doomed airplane. When you look for your "best friend", expecting him to be right behind you, you're floored by what you see. He's not putting on his parachute at all, but carefully pouring himself a drink as the plane spirals out of control. When you scream at him to put on his parachute and jump, he just looks at you dumbly, as if you're speaking another language.

Finally, you jump off his plane and land in a place you wouldn't even visit, but you're relatively safe. Your "best friend" is still spiraling perilously overhead, and for a brief moment, you fantasize about catching him, plane and all, to save him from his fate. But instead you return to sanity, say a prayer, and step out of the way.

January 1, 2006

Roger Toussaint: Working Class Hero

2005-12-23T03:42:00.000-08:00

I don't care what the politically connected Billionaires and Millionaires have say about him (after they've voted themselves another big, fat fucking raise), New York Transit Union leader Roger Toussaint is a working-class hero. He took a stand against big money's incremental assualt on all working people - what has happened to the pension programs in this country is CRIMINAL.

Keep kicking that dog, hoss. Sooner or later you're going to lose a leg.

You Know This Country's In Trouble When....

2005-12-20T03:48:00.000-08:00

...citizens refuse to march for an end to outsourcing, refuse to march for better health care, refuse to march for an end to the super-secret ways and means of the current administration or the war it created out of whole cloth....

but have no problem traveling across state lines to protest the failure of an NFL coach.

We're doomed.

Organized Crime: Creditors Offer Break-Leg Rates to The Newly Bankrupt

2005-12-11T06:24:00.000-08:00

Who needs a mafia when powerful credit card companies can offer break-leg credit rates to the newly bankrupt and do it all legally? Hell, these companies have their hands so far up your representatives ass they can make his/her lips move - and even make 'em sign legislation they didn't write and their constituents didn't ask for.

Just Say No to unfair credit rates.

The Crushing Weight of Capitalism

2005-12-10T21:38:00.000-08:00

If you ever wondered what capitalism looks like unbound by such pesky details as a Bill Of Rights or constitutional amendments, check out the latest goings on in China. You'll get a good idea of what Eminent Domain really means. The government doesn't just bash the heads of those pesky protesters, it shoots them like Koi in a barrel.

Right wingers drool over that kind of POWER. Don't think it can't happen here.

X-Mas is killing Christ all over again

2005-12-06T17:22:00.000-08:00

Shitbrick is convinced the secular world is deliberately trying to kill Christmas. I hear it every year about this time, but he's developing quite the persecution complex - which is quite silly for a white, Christian, Republican in the United States in 2005. He rages against the secular holiday cards he recieves in the mail.

"I HATE that saying!" he boomed.

"What?"

"Season's Greetings", he sneered. "When I get a card like that, I just throw it away," he added proudly.

He's fully prepared to boycott the Target department store this year because of their apparent cowardice in being sensitive to ALL of their patrons during the "holiday season" - not just the Christian ones.

"It's Merry Christmas" he demanded. "NOT Season's Greetings! or Happy Holidays!"

Now the local religious radio station has got him all excited about some people in some neighborhood in some city he'll never visit allegedly banning nativity scenes from the front lawns in their subdivisioin (if ever there were a planted story... Here's one so-called Christian reaction to such stories). Armed with that misinformation he planned on posting a six-foot PVC crucifix wrapped in Christmas lights on his front lawn to see if anybody dared to object. I doubt they would - at least not if they knew him. He's a large, extremely vociferous and well-armed Christian warrior on the front lines of the culture war. And I mean that literally; he and the menfolk from his church make regular visits to the firing range. Personally, I have a hard time imagining Christ armed with a Kimber, but the contradiction doesn't seem to be a problem for them.

Gun-toting Christians aren't the only hypocrites though. I think it's hypocritical of me, and most Americans, to celebrate a holiday that represents a religion we don't practice. I've celebrated a secular Christmas every year of my life, but I'm all for opting-out and leaving the whole thing to the real practitioners from now on. Let's face it, this is HAPPY HAPPY SHOPPING SEASON in America more than anything else - so let's call it that, or something else - because mall-hopping has nothing to do with the birth of Jesus Christ. Christmas, like everything else in America, has been bastardized by capitalism.

In my opinion, Christmas should involve the act of being Christ-like: serving the poor, the destitute, the hopeless, the marginalized, the ostracized, and anybody else having a hard go of it in this world - which includes prostitutes, and economic slaves, and gays, and lesbians and trannys and lepers and prisoners and even politicians. I'd be more attracted to Christianity if it's most visible practitioners showed a little more humility and were less apt to pick a fight with anybody who puts an X in the place of the word "Christ". There's a fine line between being a loud-mouthed, gun-toting Christian from the NRA who's ready to launch a boycott over the marketing practices of a department store, and those other religious extremists out there who are ready to make the department store and it's patrons disappear altogether.

Shitbrick often witnesses to me at work, during the quiet moments, like just when the day begins, or at the lunch while he clutches his bible in one hand and his fork in the other, and again just before we leave for the day. Good thing I'm not one of those irritable ACLU demons who might object to this kind of unsolicited indoctrination at his place of work. I don't really mind - or at least I don't openly object. The discussions are stimulating, but I think it drives him crazy that I'm not a Christian and that I won't join his church. To him, I think, it's like I don't recognize his RIGHTNESS. I recognize Jesus and his teachings, but I haven't accepted him as my personal savior. When I watch or read the world news lately I'm beginning to think humanity is unsalvageable.

But there's always hope. Shitbrick nixed the idea for a confrontational PVC cross in his lawn becuse he figured a crucifix was appropriate for easter (Jesus' death), but not for Christmas (Jesus' birth). Instead, he's working on a sign that says "Jesus Is The Reason". It's true. And It's always good idea to be reminded to put things in their proper context.

Confirmed again, no flu vaccine

2005-12-06T17:03:00.000-08:00

My elderly father concurs with my findings. He was also unable to get a flue shot from his doctors over a week ago. He's 77 - if anyone is high risk it's him. SO WHAT GIVES MEDIA? Why are you telling everyone there is no shortage? Is this a national security issue? Don't want to create a panic?????

No Flu Vaccine Shortage???

2005-11-30T15:17:00.000-08:00

The local news and NPR keep going on about how I can still get a flu shot and there's no shortage. I called the Oakland Country Health Dept. on Monday to make sure my daughter and I could still get a flu shot but was informed that they don't have any more vaccine for adults and children over 8. "Sorry, we're done for the year."

Nice.

So we went to The Wixom Health Care Clinic where my Primary Care Physician is located and I was informed by the woman at the counter that they didn't buy ANY.

Thanks for preparing for my family's health-care needs. By the way, you're all FIRED!!!!

The other gas gouge

2005-11-30T14:24:00.000-08:00

It was just announced on the local news that the Michigan legislature has approved a 47 percent hike in Consumer's Energy natural gas prices for the winter. Remember that a 53 percent hike was granted to Michcon back in October. The energy industry says Hurricane Katrina is to blame. They'd better be ready to back that up or there's going to be some house cleaning in Lansing.

These are astronomical increases in energy prices. I've never seen anything like it, ever. I'd better not hear any more shit about record profits in the energy industy while poor people are freezing to death in Detroit in January and February.