Oh come on! This is like a bad dream. . . or a bad plot to a Hollywood movie.
You'd have to be crazy to feed your family Chinese food products!
People should be protesting in the streets that the gov't hasn't shut off the flow of Chinese food products into the country.
Lipton-brand milk tea powder recalled in Asia
By DIKKY SINN
Associated Press Writer
HONG KONG (AP) -- Anglo-Dutch food giant Unilever is recalling its Lipton-brand milk tea powder in Hong Kong and Macau after they were found to contain traces of a banned industrial chemical, the company said Tuesday.
The recall of four batches of Lipton's 3-in-1 milk tea powder came after the company's internal quality check found melamine, used to make plastics and fertilizers, in the products, Unilever Hong Kong Ltd. said in a statement.
The contaminated products used Chinese-made milk powder as raw material, said marketing director Sharon Hwang for Unilever Hong Kong. She declined to reveal which brand the company had used.
Dozens of Chinese-made food products have been found to contain melamine, killing four babies and sickening more than 50,000 in mainland China. According to the state-run China News Service, 27 people have been arrested so far in connection with the scandal.
The chemical was first detected in infant formula but has now been detected in dairy and other food products.
Chinese suppliers trying to boost output are believed to have diluted their milk, adding melamine because its nitrogen content can fool tests aimed at verifying protein content.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Politics, bamboo shoots and a sorta connection. . .
Last night's debate reveal a number of things.
1. John MCCain is a snide sarcastic and angry old man.
2. Barack Obama workls wqell under pressure, sounds statesman like and has a very good grasp of the facts when it comes to economics and foreign policy.
This was supposed to be MCCain's debate since he is supposed to have 25 yrs experience in foreign affairs, etc. It wasn't.
Because of that, no matter how equal the spin meisters want to paint it, if they were equal or there was no clewar cut winner, then Obama took it.
Product recalls: sliced bamboo shoots
By The Associated Press Fri Sep 26, 2:45 PM ET
The following recall has been announced:
• Lion Pavilion Ltd. is recalling Yulanpian Brand Dried Slices of Tender Bamboo Shoots because the product contains undeclared sulfites, which could cause a severe or life-threatening reaction in people who have sulfite allergies. No illnesses or allergic reactions have been reported, according to the New York company. The product, distributed nationwide and produced in China, was sold in 230-gram clear plastic packages with the code 2008.1.3. For more information, consumers can call 718-384-6951.
Ok, first it was lead in our children's toys, they contaminated dog food, contaminated baby formula, contaminated milk, and now even our bamboo shoots aren't safe.
So why hasn't the Chinese influx of market items been squeezed off until we can take a close look at the situation and make an educated decision on what products we want to continue importing and what products we need to quit importing.
Well, the reason is that all the money that the corpo-fascist republicans are spending like manic shoppers the day after Thanksgiving is being fronted to the US gov't in the form of loans from the Chinese gov't. Yes, the biggest holder of American debt is the Chinese gov't. So get used to tainted products and such.
I'm surprised the Chinese aren't going into space using American technology and equipment instead of Russian technology and equipment. Aw hell, why don't we just give them a Space Shuttle and a piece of the Cape and lettem be space heros. We aint gonna be using them much longer anyway after we revert back to 1960s technology.
ed.
If you buy Chinese products, especially food products, you're fucking crazy. Check the labels on your canned goods and frozen items. . . shrimp, fish, veggies, you name it, it's coming from China these days. Let your retailers know that you don't want Chinese products at this point in time.
Wal-Mart makes it's gazillions by selling such cheap, not-for-shit items.
1. John MCCain is a snide sarcastic and angry old man.
2. Barack Obama workls wqell under pressure, sounds statesman like and has a very good grasp of the facts when it comes to economics and foreign policy.
This was supposed to be MCCain's debate since he is supposed to have 25 yrs experience in foreign affairs, etc. It wasn't.
Because of that, no matter how equal the spin meisters want to paint it, if they were equal or there was no clewar cut winner, then Obama took it.
Product recalls: sliced bamboo shoots
By The Associated Press Fri Sep 26, 2:45 PM ET
The following recall has been announced:
• Lion Pavilion Ltd. is recalling Yulanpian Brand Dried Slices of Tender Bamboo Shoots because the product contains undeclared sulfites, which could cause a severe or life-threatening reaction in people who have sulfite allergies. No illnesses or allergic reactions have been reported, according to the New York company. The product, distributed nationwide and produced in China, was sold in 230-gram clear plastic packages with the code 2008.1.3. For more information, consumers can call 718-384-6951.
Ok, first it was lead in our children's toys, they contaminated dog food, contaminated baby formula, contaminated milk, and now even our bamboo shoots aren't safe.
So why hasn't the Chinese influx of market items been squeezed off until we can take a close look at the situation and make an educated decision on what products we want to continue importing and what products we need to quit importing.
Well, the reason is that all the money that the corpo-fascist republicans are spending like manic shoppers the day after Thanksgiving is being fronted to the US gov't in the form of loans from the Chinese gov't. Yes, the biggest holder of American debt is the Chinese gov't. So get used to tainted products and such.
I'm surprised the Chinese aren't going into space using American technology and equipment instead of Russian technology and equipment. Aw hell, why don't we just give them a Space Shuttle and a piece of the Cape and lettem be space heros. We aint gonna be using them much longer anyway after we revert back to 1960s technology.
ed.
If you buy Chinese products, especially food products, you're fucking crazy. Check the labels on your canned goods and frozen items. . . shrimp, fish, veggies, you name it, it's coming from China these days. Let your retailers know that you don't want Chinese products at this point in time.
Wal-Mart makes it's gazillions by selling such cheap, not-for-shit items.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Notes
Obama looks better.
security and solvency. . . where do you stand on econ. recovery?
O: addresses concern of common man . . oversight or bailout. . . getting money back, help home owners.
problem by Bush supported by McCain. measure economy by middle class.
M: senator Kennedy is OUT of the hospital not still in Puffy. Oh, he doesn't feel "great" about economy.
I, I, I.
Are you in favor of the plan? Obama already answered that. McCain didn't. Leher makes it sound as if. . . oh fuck it.
O: regulatory framework.
M: I also warned about this stuff. . . bullshit, you been a "deregulator!"
NOT the start of WWII! The start of D-day you fool! WTF is he talking about? Accountability? Bushie said that shit too.
O: What's good for wallstreet isnt necessarily good for main street.
Accontability "day in day out" for EVERYONE! BRAVO!
M: Against what he was saying two weeks ago, McCain is agreeing with O man's statements.
Are there differences betwen you and Obama's economic approach.
M: "outta control spending and corruption" Uh, how much did puffy vote for the past 30 yrs. I'm going to veto EVERY spending bill. . . oh, there's a good fucking idea. . . and bullshit.
O: McCain wants 300 bill. tax cuts for wealthy while saying he;ll veto 18bill in "ear marks" Nice. Cut taxes for 95% of working families. Tax the upper 5% more heavily. fuckin eh!
M: talking about corruption of er mark spending. wasn't he one of the "Keating Five?!" 'O wants to raise taxes'
O. . . whoa whoa whoa, tells M he's full of shit! YEA! Call him on his lies. Use the word "Lie" O man!
M: Keeps pointing out Obama's ideas as flawed. WTF? Ireland's tax rates? What's this bozo talking about?
O: Callin em on his BS!
M: Say's he is the man for saving the av. American! This guys makin shit up. "energy bill" Huh? M says O wants to tax 4people making $42K.
O: Calls him on his lies again "That's just not true."
Waht priorities will you give up with this recue plan?
O: hard ot antcipate. won't be able to do everything.
have to have energy independence, healthcare, education, infrastructure, broadband, electricity grid. Efficient programs.
M: Cut spending. eliminate ethanol subsidies, bad military contract overruns,
O: $15 bil subsidies to private medicare providers. I'm not wildly liberal, just oppose wild Bush policies.
M Spending freeze on everything but defense.
O: Can't use hatchet where you need a scalpel. $10bil a month in Iraq. . . close that war.
M: Foreign aid is ending up in terrorist hands!!! OMG! BE AFRAID!
O: tough decisions. . . can't give tax cuts to rich people. gotta give people health care.
M: I have fought to cut spending. Gotta take care of our vets. (for the third time)
Come on O Man, point out that M voted against veteran aide bills!
O: Your preseident who you supprted 90% of the time . . . orogy of spending, now you want to be a leader in cutting spending?!
M: But I'm a maverick! blah, blah, blah.
Lessons of Iraq.
M: The surge worked and I supported it!
O: I opposed this war from the start. $1 trill spent, 4000 dead, 30k wounded, Al Quida is now strong in Iraq.
Have to use military wisely.
M: Patriotic bullshit that doesn't have anything to do with anything! Amurkkkins will eat that shit up. . . 600 brave Amurkins! telling him "let us win." "great general." Obama cut funds for troops.
O: difference on timetables not funding.
Afghanistan
O: We need to focus on Afghanistan.
M: Yea, me too.
I've supported everything good and didn't support everything that has gone wrong.
Great John.
folksy story about some woman's dead son and what she said to him a year ago. This is enogh to make me puke. Anecdotal BULLSHIT!!
O: I've got a bracelet too! Good for you. Now what are you going to do?
OK, the question is "are we making good judgements?" We took oiur eye off Afghanistan and the people who did 9/11. M has not been consistently concerned with Afghanistan.
M: O didn't go to Afghanistan, I've been there. good for you John. You know what color the dirt is there.
Threat from Iran
M: nuclear weapons! Threat to Isreal. "Second holocaust." politics of fear Puffy?
"League of democracy" Impose sanctions. . . lousy gov't lousy economy. We can affect IRanian behavior. "nuclear weapons." IEDs in IRaq." "Trained in Iran." "Republic guard in Iran." "nuclear weapons."
O: The war in Iraq has trenghthened Iran. We removed Iran's mortal energy.
Toughr sanctions, but we can't do it without Russia and China. tough direct diplomacy. Not talking to people doesn't punish and doesn't work.
M: Is villianizing and bullshit.
Russia. . . blah, blah, blah.
Puffy McCain is a deeply snide sarcastic little bitch.
M: "I've been to Russia. . . blah blah blah"
Likelihood of another 9/11 attack
M: I've worked across the aile. We are safer. I, I ,I. blah, blah, blah. Generic bullshit. . .borders. . .
O: long way to go. harden chemical sites, transit
biggest threat. suitcase nuke.
billions on missle defense. need to focus on nuclear proliferation
have to focus on AlQuida in Afghan and Paki
The way e are perceived in the world matters.
Restore our respect in the world.
M: Gen Petreus said, Iraq, blah, blah.
O: Sen McCain has been solely focused on Iraq. Bin Laden still outthere, Alquida still alive and well, we're borrowing hugely from China anll becaus of Iraq.
Spending 10 bill a month on Iraq so we can't provide health care, technology.
We can't maintain military security as economy declines.
Have to have broader strategic decision
M: I've been involved in everything the past 25 yrs.. Obama hasnt. He doesn't have knowledge or experience. Veterans, I love them. I have the ability and background.
O: Send message to the world, we're going to invest in education and ordinary people.
M: When I came home from prison. . . puke time. I know how to heal, deal, blah, blah.
security and solvency. . . where do you stand on econ. recovery?
O: addresses concern of common man . . oversight or bailout. . . getting money back, help home owners.
problem by Bush supported by McCain. measure economy by middle class.
M: senator Kennedy is OUT of the hospital not still in Puffy. Oh, he doesn't feel "great" about economy.
I, I, I.
Are you in favor of the plan? Obama already answered that. McCain didn't. Leher makes it sound as if. . . oh fuck it.
O: regulatory framework.
M: I also warned about this stuff. . . bullshit, you been a "deregulator!"
NOT the start of WWII! The start of D-day you fool! WTF is he talking about? Accountability? Bushie said that shit too.
O: What's good for wallstreet isnt necessarily good for main street.
Accontability "day in day out" for EVERYONE! BRAVO!
M: Against what he was saying two weeks ago, McCain is agreeing with O man's statements.
Are there differences betwen you and Obama's economic approach.
M: "outta control spending and corruption" Uh, how much did puffy vote for the past 30 yrs. I'm going to veto EVERY spending bill. . . oh, there's a good fucking idea. . . and bullshit.
O: McCain wants 300 bill. tax cuts for wealthy while saying he;ll veto 18bill in "ear marks" Nice. Cut taxes for 95% of working families. Tax the upper 5% more heavily. fuckin eh!
M: talking about corruption of er mark spending. wasn't he one of the "Keating Five?!" 'O wants to raise taxes'
O. . . whoa whoa whoa, tells M he's full of shit! YEA! Call him on his lies. Use the word "Lie" O man!
M: Keeps pointing out Obama's ideas as flawed. WTF? Ireland's tax rates? What's this bozo talking about?
O: Callin em on his BS!
M: Say's he is the man for saving the av. American! This guys makin shit up. "energy bill" Huh? M says O wants to tax 4people making $42K.
O: Calls him on his lies again "That's just not true."
Waht priorities will you give up with this recue plan?
O: hard ot antcipate. won't be able to do everything.
have to have energy independence, healthcare, education, infrastructure, broadband, electricity grid. Efficient programs.
M: Cut spending. eliminate ethanol subsidies, bad military contract overruns,
O: $15 bil subsidies to private medicare providers. I'm not wildly liberal, just oppose wild Bush policies.
M Spending freeze on everything but defense.
O: Can't use hatchet where you need a scalpel. $10bil a month in Iraq. . . close that war.
M: Foreign aid is ending up in terrorist hands!!! OMG! BE AFRAID!
O: tough decisions. . . can't give tax cuts to rich people. gotta give people health care.
M: I have fought to cut spending. Gotta take care of our vets. (for the third time)
Come on O Man, point out that M voted against veteran aide bills!
O: Your preseident who you supprted 90% of the time . . . orogy of spending, now you want to be a leader in cutting spending?!
M: But I'm a maverick! blah, blah, blah.
Lessons of Iraq.
M: The surge worked and I supported it!
O: I opposed this war from the start. $1 trill spent, 4000 dead, 30k wounded, Al Quida is now strong in Iraq.
Have to use military wisely.
M: Patriotic bullshit that doesn't have anything to do with anything! Amurkkkins will eat that shit up. . . 600 brave Amurkins! telling him "let us win." "great general." Obama cut funds for troops.
O: difference on timetables not funding.
Afghanistan
O: We need to focus on Afghanistan.
M: Yea, me too.
I've supported everything good and didn't support everything that has gone wrong.
Great John.
folksy story about some woman's dead son and what she said to him a year ago. This is enogh to make me puke. Anecdotal BULLSHIT!!
O: I've got a bracelet too! Good for you. Now what are you going to do?
OK, the question is "are we making good judgements?" We took oiur eye off Afghanistan and the people who did 9/11. M has not been consistently concerned with Afghanistan.
M: O didn't go to Afghanistan, I've been there. good for you John. You know what color the dirt is there.
Threat from Iran
M: nuclear weapons! Threat to Isreal. "Second holocaust." politics of fear Puffy?
"League of democracy" Impose sanctions. . . lousy gov't lousy economy. We can affect IRanian behavior. "nuclear weapons." IEDs in IRaq." "Trained in Iran." "Republic guard in Iran." "nuclear weapons."
O: The war in Iraq has trenghthened Iran. We removed Iran's mortal energy.
Toughr sanctions, but we can't do it without Russia and China. tough direct diplomacy. Not talking to people doesn't punish and doesn't work.
M: Is villianizing and bullshit.
Russia. . . blah, blah, blah.
Puffy McCain is a deeply snide sarcastic little bitch.
M: "I've been to Russia. . . blah blah blah"
Likelihood of another 9/11 attack
M: I've worked across the aile. We are safer. I, I ,I. blah, blah, blah. Generic bullshit. . .borders. . .
O: long way to go. harden chemical sites, transit
biggest threat. suitcase nuke.
billions on missle defense. need to focus on nuclear proliferation
have to focus on AlQuida in Afghan and Paki
The way e are perceived in the world matters.
Restore our respect in the world.
M: Gen Petreus said, Iraq, blah, blah.
O: Sen McCain has been solely focused on Iraq. Bin Laden still outthere, Alquida still alive and well, we're borrowing hugely from China anll becaus of Iraq.
Spending 10 bill a month on Iraq so we can't provide health care, technology.
We can't maintain military security as economy declines.
Have to have broader strategic decision
M: I've been involved in everything the past 25 yrs.. Obama hasnt. He doesn't have knowledge or experience. Veterans, I love them. I have the ability and background.
O: Send message to the world, we're going to invest in education and ordinary people.
M: When I came home from prison. . . puke time. I know how to heal, deal, blah, blah.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Thinking locally. . .
Broadcasters debate excludes Mountain Party
By Phil Kabler
Staff writer
Denied an invitation to the Oct. 13 West Virginia Broadcasters Association debate, one gubernatorial candidate said he hopes to use the courts - or the court of public opinion - to crash the party.
"Not being represented in what is supposed to be a fair and unbiased debate, that's just a travesty of justice," Mountain Party candidate Jesse Johnson said Wednesday of the snub.
Nice; once again the corporate lackeys join forces in WV to defeat the voice of dissent.
Please e-mail the following and let them know that their actions are noted and YOU will be giving even less attention to WV broadcasting media than you have in the past if they don't include Mr. Johnson.
Michele Crist
Executive Director - WVBA
mcrist@wvba.com
wvba@wvba.com
By Phil Kabler
Staff writer
Denied an invitation to the Oct. 13 West Virginia Broadcasters Association debate, one gubernatorial candidate said he hopes to use the courts - or the court of public opinion - to crash the party.
"Not being represented in what is supposed to be a fair and unbiased debate, that's just a travesty of justice," Mountain Party candidate Jesse Johnson said Wednesday of the snub.
Nice; once again the corporate lackeys join forces in WV to defeat the voice of dissent.
Please e-mail the following and let them know that their actions are noted and YOU will be giving even less attention to WV broadcasting media than you have in the past if they don't include Mr. Johnson.
Michele Crist
Executive Director - WVBA
mcrist@wvba.com
wvba@wvba.com
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Will somebody shout this from the roof tops!
Obama rejects McCain's call to delay debate
By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK - Republican John McCain said Wednesday that he wants to postpone Friday's debate to deal with the nation's financial problems, but Democrat Barack Obama said "it's more important than ever" that the country hear from its next president.
Hey Puffy! FUCK YOU!!! You little mother fucking corporate lackey bastard! You did nothing while the Bushies were giving away the country to the corporate royalists and deregulating so that we ended up in the mess we're in. In fact, you voted with the Bush agenda 90% of the time. Even you have declared yourself to be a "deregulator."
Now you say you want to suspend the campaign "to deal with the nation's financial problems?!?!" SHUT THE FUCK UP you little old puffed up sick looking prick. We've had enough of you, Bush, the corpo-fascism of the past twelve years and all the wretched shit that put us where we are today.
YOU are the fucking problem, now you want to tell us that you need to take a break to deal with the problems?
Rot in hell you traitorous SOB. . . you and the rest of your corpo-fascist cronies who step and fetch for the corporate royalists pulling your strings.
By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK - Republican John McCain said Wednesday that he wants to postpone Friday's debate to deal with the nation's financial problems, but Democrat Barack Obama said "it's more important than ever" that the country hear from its next president.
Hey Puffy! FUCK YOU!!! You little mother fucking corporate lackey bastard! You did nothing while the Bushies were giving away the country to the corporate royalists and deregulating so that we ended up in the mess we're in. In fact, you voted with the Bush agenda 90% of the time. Even you have declared yourself to be a "deregulator."
Now you say you want to suspend the campaign "to deal with the nation's financial problems?!?!" SHUT THE FUCK UP you little old puffed up sick looking prick. We've had enough of you, Bush, the corpo-fascism of the past twelve years and all the wretched shit that put us where we are today.
YOU are the fucking problem, now you want to tell us that you need to take a break to deal with the problems?
Rot in hell you traitorous SOB. . . you and the rest of your corpo-fascist cronies who step and fetch for the corporate royalists pulling your strings.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Oh look, Puffy McBush has decided to play along
Well hey there Puffy! Welcome to the real world. Who loaded that into your mouth? You sure as hell didn't come up with it yourself while sitting in the back of your wife's LearJet.
McCain says economy in crisis
WASHINGTON - Republican presidential nominee John McCain, who only a week ago said the economy was fundamentally sound, now says the U.S. financial system is facing a major crisis.
Speaking Monday on NBC's "Today" show McCain said, "We are in the most serious crisis since World War II."
Are you dumb fuck proles paying attention to this shit? Are you still going to vote for the moronic white guy just because the guy who has a real plan and has been talking about this economic crisis long before it really happened happens to be 1/2 black?
McCain says economy in crisis
WASHINGTON - Republican presidential nominee John McCain, who only a week ago said the economy was fundamentally sound, now says the U.S. financial system is facing a major crisis.
Speaking Monday on NBC's "Today" show McCain said, "We are in the most serious crisis since World War II."
Are you dumb fuck proles paying attention to this shit? Are you still going to vote for the moronic white guy just because the guy who has a real plan and has been talking about this economic crisis long before it really happened happens to be 1/2 black?
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Our sources say so much about us. . .
Westbrook Pegler was an early to mid 20th Century journalist and writer. He is remarkable only for the fact that while being a once highly regarded journalist, in the last half of his life he emerged as a hideous bigot. In '63 during the height of the civil rights movement he proclaimed that it was the duty of every intelligent American to be a bigot against the black race. In '68 during the presidential primaries he wrote that he hoped that in some southern town RFK would have his "spoonful of brains" blown out. He called Jews "geese" because "they hiss when they talk, gulp down everything before them, and foul everything in their wake." He also was a regular contributor to the John Birch society magazine in the 60s but apparently he was too radical and anti-semetic for them so they gave him the boot. Yea, too nasty for the John Birchers who always tried to maintain some aire of mainstreamism.
So who the fuck cares about some old racist prick 20th Century writer that the world has little noted nor long remembered? Well, apparently Sarah Palin. You see, when the lunatic housewife from Alaska had her 15 minutes of celebrity at the RNC she said in her speech: "We grow good people in our small towns, with honesty and sincerity and dignity." Well, that's a direct quote from a Westbrook Pegler article.
Nice, huh? Ms. It-Took-Me-Six-Years-And-Four-Colleges-To-Get-My-Degree has quite an interesting set of sources. I wonder who else she likes to quote.
So who the fuck cares about some old racist prick 20th Century writer that the world has little noted nor long remembered? Well, apparently Sarah Palin. You see, when the lunatic housewife from Alaska had her 15 minutes of celebrity at the RNC she said in her speech: "We grow good people in our small towns, with honesty and sincerity and dignity." Well, that's a direct quote from a Westbrook Pegler article.
Nice, huh? Ms. It-Took-Me-Six-Years-And-Four-Colleges-To-Get-My-Degree has quite an interesting set of sources. I wonder who else she likes to quote.
White Privilege and presidential politics
Perhaps you've seen this. . . it's been posted all over the place on liberal blogs, but I think it is worth a repost here if just one person sees it and gets a few talking points they otherwise might have missed.
Hell, if you've seen it already, read it again. It's full of sad information that is worthy of a second look and recollating in your mind..
THIS IS YOUR NATION ON WHITE PRIVILEGE
September 13, 2008, 2:01 pm
By Tim Wise
For those who still can’t grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help.
White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because “every family has challenges,” even as black and Latino families with similar “challenges” are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.
White privilege is when you can call yourself a “fuckin’ redneck,” like Bristol Palin’s boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll “kick their fuckin' ass,” and talk about how you like to “shoot shit” for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.
White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in six years like Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a community college), and no one questions your intelligence or commitment to achievement, whereas a person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college, and probably someone who only got in in the first place because of affirmative action.
White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don’t all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you’re “untested.”
White privilege is being able to say that you support the words “under God” in the pledge of allegiance because “if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it’s good enough for me,” and not be immediately disqualified from holding office--since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the “under God” part wasn’t added until the 1950s--while believing that reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because, ya know, the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school requires it), is a dangerous and silly idea only supported by mushy liberals.
White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of you.
White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of an extremist political party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose motto was “Alaska first,” and no one questions your patriotism or that of your family, while if you're black and your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with her kids on the first day of school, people immediately think she’s being disrespectful.
White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work they do--like, among other things, fight for the right of women to vote, or for civil rights, or the 8-hour workday, or an end to child labor--and people think you’re being pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a small town mayor and 18-month governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in college--you’re somehow being mean, or even sexist.
White privilege is being able to convince white women who don’t even agree with you on any substantive issue to vote for you and your running mate anyway, because all of a sudden your presence on the ticket has inspired confidence in these same white women, and made them give your party a “second look.”
White privilege is being able to fire people who didn’t support your political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being a typical politician who engages in favoritism, while being black and merely knowing some folks from the old-line political machines in Chicago means you must be corrupt.
White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the U.S. is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God’s punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you’re just a good church-going Christian, but if you’re black and friends with a black pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you’re an extremist who probably hates America.
White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter for asking you such a “trick question,” while being black and merely refusing to give one-word answers to the queries of Bill O’Reilly means you’re dodging the question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced.
White privilege is being able to claim your experience as a POW has anything at all to do with your fitness for president, while being black and experiencing racism is, as Sarah Palin has referred to it a “light” burden.
And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone to become president when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising, and the U.S. is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because white voters aren’t sure about that whole “change” thing. Ya know, it’s just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same, which is very concrete and certain…
White privilege is, in short, the problem.
Hell, if you've seen it already, read it again. It's full of sad information that is worthy of a second look and recollating in your mind..
THIS IS YOUR NATION ON WHITE PRIVILEGE
September 13, 2008, 2:01 pm
By Tim Wise
For those who still can’t grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help.
White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because “every family has challenges,” even as black and Latino families with similar “challenges” are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.
White privilege is when you can call yourself a “fuckin’ redneck,” like Bristol Palin’s boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll “kick their fuckin' ass,” and talk about how you like to “shoot shit” for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.
White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in six years like Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a community college), and no one questions your intelligence or commitment to achievement, whereas a person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college, and probably someone who only got in in the first place because of affirmative action.
White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don’t all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you’re “untested.”
White privilege is being able to say that you support the words “under God” in the pledge of allegiance because “if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it’s good enough for me,” and not be immediately disqualified from holding office--since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the “under God” part wasn’t added until the 1950s--while believing that reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because, ya know, the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school requires it), is a dangerous and silly idea only supported by mushy liberals.
White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of you.
White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of an extremist political party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose motto was “Alaska first,” and no one questions your patriotism or that of your family, while if you're black and your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with her kids on the first day of school, people immediately think she’s being disrespectful.
White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work they do--like, among other things, fight for the right of women to vote, or for civil rights, or the 8-hour workday, or an end to child labor--and people think you’re being pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a small town mayor and 18-month governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in college--you’re somehow being mean, or even sexist.
White privilege is being able to convince white women who don’t even agree with you on any substantive issue to vote for you and your running mate anyway, because all of a sudden your presence on the ticket has inspired confidence in these same white women, and made them give your party a “second look.”
White privilege is being able to fire people who didn’t support your political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being a typical politician who engages in favoritism, while being black and merely knowing some folks from the old-line political machines in Chicago means you must be corrupt.
White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the U.S. is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God’s punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you’re just a good church-going Christian, but if you’re black and friends with a black pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you’re an extremist who probably hates America.
White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter for asking you such a “trick question,” while being black and merely refusing to give one-word answers to the queries of Bill O’Reilly means you’re dodging the question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced.
White privilege is being able to claim your experience as a POW has anything at all to do with your fitness for president, while being black and experiencing racism is, as Sarah Palin has referred to it a “light” burden.
And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone to become president when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising, and the U.S. is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because white voters aren’t sure about that whole “change” thing. Ya know, it’s just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same, which is very concrete and certain…
White privilege is, in short, the problem.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Summarily; by the always charming and usually spot on AngryBlackLady
The Angry Black Lady over at angryblackbitch.blogspot.com has a way of putting things clearly and speaking direct. . . here she is talking to the ignorant proles of category "2" below. . . well, maybe she's talking to the "1s" also.
While the GOP, with the help of minions like you, was busy funding man-on-woman marriage marketing initiatives that fail to preserve man-on-woman marriages, attacking a woman’s right to get a prescription filled/make a decision/choose a damn thing, removing science and facts from our public schools and textbooks, denying the existence of global warming, blocking research into alternative fuel sources, freaking out about what people do in our bedrooms, alienating the rest of the world, destroying the economy, securing tax cuts for rich people, slashing funding for social programs that benefit seniors/the disabled/the poor/the hungry/the mentally ill and making war not peace.
Cough.
…yeah, while all y’all were busy doing that shit the economy has tanked, the environment is telling us to go fuck ourselves, one in four teen girls has an sti, HIV/AIDS numbers are increasing, our roads and bridges are fucked, we’ve alienated the world, our youth can no longer compete academically and the nation is now in dire need of those social programs that are no longer funded worth a shit.>/b>
Thanks BlackLady. . . wish I'd said that.
While the GOP, with the help of minions like you, was busy funding man-on-woman marriage marketing initiatives that fail to preserve man-on-woman marriages, attacking a woman’s right to get a prescription filled/make a decision/choose a damn thing, removing science and facts from our public schools and textbooks, denying the existence of global warming, blocking research into alternative fuel sources, freaking out about what people do in our bedrooms, alienating the rest of the world, destroying the economy, securing tax cuts for rich people, slashing funding for social programs that benefit seniors/the disabled/the poor/the hungry/the mentally ill and making war not peace.
Cough.
…yeah, while all y’all were busy doing that shit the economy has tanked, the environment is telling us to go fuck ourselves, one in four teen girls has an sti, HIV/AIDS numbers are increasing, our roads and bridges are fucked, we’ve alienated the world, our youth can no longer compete academically and the nation is now in dire need of those social programs that are no longer funded worth a shit.>/b>
Thanks BlackLady. . . wish I'd said that.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Two types of republican voters
There are two kinds of voters who will vote for Puffy McBush in Nov.
1. The rich who will vote their pocketbook. At least these folks are honest. They know they are going to keep making money and even if they don't, they'll have plenty and they want to keep it all. If they vote McBush, they'll get to keep their current tax breaks and probably get more.
2. The ignorant proles. These are the real dumb fucks. They will vote for Puffy out of fear and ignorance. They will believe the outright lies and propaganda.
They will fall for the ridiculous cries of "country first." They will buy into the absurd idea that PuffyMcBush and his house wife running mate are more qualified to handle national security and that there are bogey men behind every door waiting to jump out and compromise our national security. These are the voters who will listen to 15 second sound bites and sensational news organizations without really understanding the issues or how the candidates really feel about policy issues. These are the really low information voters. They only vote without considering the responsiblity they have when they vote.
These are the voters who are killing our country.
1. The rich who will vote their pocketbook. At least these folks are honest. They know they are going to keep making money and even if they don't, they'll have plenty and they want to keep it all. If they vote McBush, they'll get to keep their current tax breaks and probably get more.
2. The ignorant proles. These are the real dumb fucks. They will vote for Puffy out of fear and ignorance. They will believe the outright lies and propaganda.
They will fall for the ridiculous cries of "country first." They will buy into the absurd idea that PuffyMcBush and his house wife running mate are more qualified to handle national security and that there are bogey men behind every door waiting to jump out and compromise our national security. These are the voters who will listen to 15 second sound bites and sensational news organizations without really understanding the issues or how the candidates really feel about policy issues. These are the really low information voters. They only vote without considering the responsiblity they have when they vote.
These are the voters who are killing our country.
Gagging on more of the same putrid politics
Can ya smell the stink of it?
If ya don't believe that PuffyMcBush will give us more of the same we've been getting the last eight years, does this convince ya?
Does the odor tell ya what there is to know?
McCain campaign clamps down on questions in Alaska
By ANNE SUTTON, Associated Press Writer Wed Sep 17, 3:11 AM ET
JUNEAU, Alaska - GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is effectively turning over questions about her record as Alaska's governor to John McCain's political campaign, part of an ambitious Republican strategy to limit any embarrassing disclosures and carefully shape her image for voters in the rest of the country.
ADVERTISEMENT
Republican efforts include dispatching a former top U.S. terrorism prosecutor from New York, Ed O'Callaghan, to assist Palin's personal lawyer working to derail or delay a pending ethics investigation in Alaska. The probe, known as "Troopergate," is examining whether the governor abused her power by trying to remove her former brother-in-law as a state trooper.
If ya don't believe that PuffyMcBush will give us more of the same we've been getting the last eight years, does this convince ya?
Does the odor tell ya what there is to know?
McCain campaign clamps down on questions in Alaska
By ANNE SUTTON, Associated Press Writer Wed Sep 17, 3:11 AM ET
JUNEAU, Alaska - GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is effectively turning over questions about her record as Alaska's governor to John McCain's political campaign, part of an ambitious Republican strategy to limit any embarrassing disclosures and carefully shape her image for voters in the rest of the country.
ADVERTISEMENT
Republican efforts include dispatching a former top U.S. terrorism prosecutor from New York, Ed O'Callaghan, to assist Palin's personal lawyer working to derail or delay a pending ethics investigation in Alaska. The probe, known as "Troopergate," is examining whether the governor abused her power by trying to remove her former brother-in-law as a state trooper.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Eight years of corporate fascism. . .
. . .and Amurkkkins will vote based on the color of a man's skin. Fuck this country.
Stocks tumble amid new Wall Street landscape
By TIM PARADIS, AP Business
NEW YORK - A stunning makeover of the Wall Street landscape sent stocks falling precipitously Monday, with the Dow Jones industrials losing 500 points in their worst slide since the September 2001 terrorist attacks. Investors recoiled after a shakeup of the financial industry that took out two storied names: Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co.
AIG workers on edge as once-safe company in turmoil
By Bob Margolis Mon Sep 15, 5:39 PM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Disbelief and anxiety were written on the faces of staff at American International Group Inc as they grappled with the idea that their company, which was once the largest insurer in the world and one of the safest places to work, was struggling for its survival.
HP to cut 24,600 jobs as part of EDS integration
By JORDAN ROBERTSON, AP Technology
SAN FRANCISCO - Hewlett-Packard Co. said Monday it plans to slash 24,600 jobs over the next three years, nearly 8 percent of its work force, as it combines operations with Electronic Data Systems Corp., the technology-services company it recently acquired.
Stocks tumble amid new Wall Street landscape
By TIM PARADIS, AP Business
NEW YORK - A stunning makeover of the Wall Street landscape sent stocks falling precipitously Monday, with the Dow Jones industrials losing 500 points in their worst slide since the September 2001 terrorist attacks. Investors recoiled after a shakeup of the financial industry that took out two storied names: Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co.
AIG workers on edge as once-safe company in turmoil
By Bob Margolis Mon Sep 15, 5:39 PM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Disbelief and anxiety were written on the faces of staff at American International Group Inc as they grappled with the idea that their company, which was once the largest insurer in the world and one of the safest places to work, was struggling for its survival.
HP to cut 24,600 jobs as part of EDS integration
By JORDAN ROBERTSON, AP Technology
SAN FRANCISCO - Hewlett-Packard Co. said Monday it plans to slash 24,600 jobs over the next three years, nearly 8 percent of its work force, as it combines operations with Electronic Data Systems Corp., the technology-services company it recently acquired.
Ignorant proles
Sometimes I hate the Amurkkkin proletariat. Yea, I really fucking hate them. And "hate" is a word I almost NEVER use.
Race, economy lead Mich. voters to waver on Obama
By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN, Associated Press Writer Mon Sep 15, 3:22 AM ET
MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. - Michigan's history of racial tensions is tugging against its Democratic tendencies, giving Barack Obama fits in a state where almost everything else — a soaring unemployment rate, a shrinking auto industry and a depressed housing market — potentially benefits Democrats.
The first minority candidate with a serious shot at the presidency is not running as well as his Democratic predecessors among working-class whites in this pivotal Midwestern swing state, partly because of the color of his skin.
"I've got a lot of friends ... (who) are like, 'Oh, no'" when it comes to voting for a black presidential candidate, said John Martin, a 42-year-old Democrat from Macomb County's Harrison Township who backs Obama. "They're all working people, all in unions, plumbers and stuff like that. ... A few of them have said they're not even going to vote."
That attitude could cost Obama in a state that has voted Democratic since 1988, but in ever-narrower percentages. Democrat Al Gore defeated George W. Bush by 5 percentage points in 2000, but Democrat John Kerry won against Bush by just 3 percentage points in 2004.
Race, economy lead Mich. voters to waver on Obama
By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN, Associated Press Writer Mon Sep 15, 3:22 AM ET
MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. - Michigan's history of racial tensions is tugging against its Democratic tendencies, giving Barack Obama fits in a state where almost everything else — a soaring unemployment rate, a shrinking auto industry and a depressed housing market — potentially benefits Democrats.
The first minority candidate with a serious shot at the presidency is not running as well as his Democratic predecessors among working-class whites in this pivotal Midwestern swing state, partly because of the color of his skin.
"I've got a lot of friends ... (who) are like, 'Oh, no'" when it comes to voting for a black presidential candidate, said John Martin, a 42-year-old Democrat from Macomb County's Harrison Township who backs Obama. "They're all working people, all in unions, plumbers and stuff like that. ... A few of them have said they're not even going to vote."
That attitude could cost Obama in a state that has voted Democratic since 1988, but in ever-narrower percentages. Democrat Al Gore defeated George W. Bush by 5 percentage points in 2000, but Democrat John Kerry won against Bush by just 3 percentage points in 2004.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Community service and organization
I've been avoiding this post. I don't want my emotions to lead me into posting something totally outrageous ("But Sagacious One," you might say, "you're never outrageous").
I am totally outraged by the remarks that have been made by the McBush campaign that disparage "community organizers" and generally show a gross lack of respect for in-the-trenches public service. I guess it's easy for the husband of an heiress to buy himself a congressional seat and then claim to be some sort of public service super hero. I guess when you've been mayor of a town of 5000 that employed a city manager and governor of a state with less than 700k inhabitants for a year, during which time you made no important decisions and with no community service other than that, you can claim to be some sort of super star. Wow, the bullshit that the proles will swallow. . .
But my outrage goes beyond the shear audacity of the remarks by themselves in consideration of who made them. My outrage is personal. The source of my outrage strikes at the very core of who I am.
Both of my children went to college and got great degrees. They both did extremely well in their chosen field of study. Nothing made me proud than seeing them accept their college degrees.
Both my children could be making two, three maybe four times what they are currently making monetarily, but instead they have chosen to work in jobs where they can be of benefit to their fellow human beings.
My son is 26 yrs old. He graduated a major university sommathinga cum laude and phi beta kappa. He's one of those guys who can do whatever he decides he wants to do. Academics have never in any way been a road black for him. When he graduated college, I figured MS, PhD in short order, but he had other plans. He dedicated his life to community service and organizing on the most basic level. I look at him today and the experience he has as a community organizer and political operative and I can't imagine where he'll be in 20 years. Will he be qualified to be president of the United States. Oh yea, if he wants to be. His heartfelt dedication to community service gives him qualifications that some fundamentalist right wing mythology believing housewife from some small Alaskan outback could never begin to understand.
My daughter graduated with a degree in performing arts. Her talents are broad and well honed in many areas. Instead of selfishly pursuing a career in just about anything, she decided to go to work in the area of human services for the state and federal gov't. At 30 yrs old, she is making about the same (maybe less) amount of money that I was making over 25 years ago when I was 30 yrs old. Why? Because she believes in community service. She believes that she will be a better person if she does what she is doing and she believes that by doing her work, the people she is serving will be better off. . . yes, I said "the people she is serving." That is the attitude that both of my children have toward those they help. They don't look down upon anyone in their efforts to assist them in lifting up their lives. They serve with kindness, humility and a great deal of talent.
So Ms. Palin, I could really get ugly here and lash out creatively against your pompous right wing bullshit. I could lay it out and call you for what you are in terms that would cause my mother to gasp and disown me. But I won't, because what you really are is insignificant. You are simply a talking parrot that sounds good and can deliver an ugly brutal message that appeals to the most primal and unsophisticated minds in Amurkkka. You are no more enlightened than the desperate proles you try to convinced with your Rovian hatred and mean verbiage. So I'll cut you some slack, wish you the best and hope that in Nov. you get to retreat quietly back to your little backwoods religious fundamentalist existence happy in the fact that you were able to grab your 15 minutes of fame and run with it for a couple months. . . propelled of course by a giant machine filling your mouth with the most vile of rhetorical spew and contempt for real Americans doing real service for their country.
I am totally outraged by the remarks that have been made by the McBush campaign that disparage "community organizers" and generally show a gross lack of respect for in-the-trenches public service. I guess it's easy for the husband of an heiress to buy himself a congressional seat and then claim to be some sort of public service super hero. I guess when you've been mayor of a town of 5000 that employed a city manager and governor of a state with less than 700k inhabitants for a year, during which time you made no important decisions and with no community service other than that, you can claim to be some sort of super star. Wow, the bullshit that the proles will swallow. . .
But my outrage goes beyond the shear audacity of the remarks by themselves in consideration of who made them. My outrage is personal. The source of my outrage strikes at the very core of who I am.
Both of my children went to college and got great degrees. They both did extremely well in their chosen field of study. Nothing made me proud than seeing them accept their college degrees.
Both my children could be making two, three maybe four times what they are currently making monetarily, but instead they have chosen to work in jobs where they can be of benefit to their fellow human beings.
My son is 26 yrs old. He graduated a major university sommathinga cum laude and phi beta kappa. He's one of those guys who can do whatever he decides he wants to do. Academics have never in any way been a road black for him. When he graduated college, I figured MS, PhD in short order, but he had other plans. He dedicated his life to community service and organizing on the most basic level. I look at him today and the experience he has as a community organizer and political operative and I can't imagine where he'll be in 20 years. Will he be qualified to be president of the United States. Oh yea, if he wants to be. His heartfelt dedication to community service gives him qualifications that some fundamentalist right wing mythology believing housewife from some small Alaskan outback could never begin to understand.
My daughter graduated with a degree in performing arts. Her talents are broad and well honed in many areas. Instead of selfishly pursuing a career in just about anything, she decided to go to work in the area of human services for the state and federal gov't. At 30 yrs old, she is making about the same (maybe less) amount of money that I was making over 25 years ago when I was 30 yrs old. Why? Because she believes in community service. She believes that she will be a better person if she does what she is doing and she believes that by doing her work, the people she is serving will be better off. . . yes, I said "the people she is serving." That is the attitude that both of my children have toward those they help. They don't look down upon anyone in their efforts to assist them in lifting up their lives. They serve with kindness, humility and a great deal of talent.
So Ms. Palin, I could really get ugly here and lash out creatively against your pompous right wing bullshit. I could lay it out and call you for what you are in terms that would cause my mother to gasp and disown me. But I won't, because what you really are is insignificant. You are simply a talking parrot that sounds good and can deliver an ugly brutal message that appeals to the most primal and unsophisticated minds in Amurkkka. You are no more enlightened than the desperate proles you try to convinced with your Rovian hatred and mean verbiage. So I'll cut you some slack, wish you the best and hope that in Nov. you get to retreat quietly back to your little backwoods religious fundamentalist existence happy in the fact that you were able to grab your 15 minutes of fame and run with it for a couple months. . . propelled of course by a giant machine filling your mouth with the most vile of rhetorical spew and contempt for real Americans doing real service for their country.
Justifiable outrage
MacDaddy over at daddybstrong.blogspot.com took me to school. He talked about how we should be very angry and very serious about what is being done to our country. This is no laughing matter. He's right. People are losing their homes while jobs are being shipped wholesale. . . hell, below cost to foreign countries. I'm all for globalization, but not in the context where it destroys our country. Yea, I have seen it. I've experienced it first hand. A little up close and personal here folks. . .
In 1974 I went to work for a giant multinational corporation whose backbone and entire mode of operation was technology based. It was a company that had, from the beginning of the 20th Century, been built on research and development. I, a young innoncent biology major from a local college was plopped down right in the middle of their technology center which was the biggest in the world at the time. Here I was, a marginally educated kid with a degree in science but not in the field of focus of this company among the greatest scientific minds in the field. I did what I was told, was compensated well for my efforts and felt like a sell-out my entire career, but I digress.
The facility or campus where I worked was responsible for some of the most useful products of the 20th Century. We were the center of the universe for many specific areas of study and made breakthroughs all the time in products and manufacturing. During the 70s and 80s it was an exciting place to be. The company itself employed over 10,000 workers in our small state and over 5,000 at our technical center. It really was a gem in an otherwise depressed area. You can imagine how many jobs outside it's payroll that were supported with so much infrastructure and service requirements.
To make a long story short, and it is a very long story, today the place is all but abandoned. Thousands of good paying jobs have left the state and thousands more have simply evaporated. Oh, the PhDs from MIT and U of Chicago, etc have moved on to probably better gigs, but so many middle aged folks who had really good jobs lost their asses. Sometimes I see them working at local big box retailers and other places. Most are just trying to hold on. Others, went to pasture prematurely but were able to do so with some level of comfort. The real losers are those who would have come after us. Think about that. . .
The thing that really gets to me besides the human toll is the shift in technology. Many of the areas that required lots of brain power and cutting edge technology have been moved overseas. I was talking to a guy who worked in one of those areas recently and he told me he had trained his replacement who was an Indian national and the entire operation was being moved to India. Another large part of the operation was moving to a new tech center in China. WTF?
Yea, we should be angry. We should be protesting and screaming. Why is it that the policies of the past 8 years (and before) have encouraged this type of thing. The company I work for gets millions in tax breaks. . . probably billions while I have to pay every fucking penny and dime the federal gov't says I owe on my meager income.
Incredibly, a large majority of the displaced workers will fall victim to the politics of fear and their own racist bullshit and vote for Puffy McBush/Ms. Plain come Nov. They will vote against their own best interests and FOR the greed of American corporations. Baffling. Stupid proles who let a bunch of slick lying elitists hoodwink them into voting against the interests of themselves, their families, their community and their own country.
All ya gotta do to fool the Amurkkkin proletariat is bring out the flag, talk a pile of rhetorical patriotic nonsense, keep screaming "country first (as if anyone in this race thinks otherwise except for them)" and go on. The irony is, those who scream country first are the ones who believe "corporate America first" and don't really give a damn about the country.
Fuck you sleeping proles who are too intoxicated with fear and your own prejudices to see the truth.
Go ahead, vote in another four years of corporate royalty. The house might just come down in more ways than one.
In 1974 I went to work for a giant multinational corporation whose backbone and entire mode of operation was technology based. It was a company that had, from the beginning of the 20th Century, been built on research and development. I, a young innoncent biology major from a local college was plopped down right in the middle of their technology center which was the biggest in the world at the time. Here I was, a marginally educated kid with a degree in science but not in the field of focus of this company among the greatest scientific minds in the field. I did what I was told, was compensated well for my efforts and felt like a sell-out my entire career, but I digress.
The facility or campus where I worked was responsible for some of the most useful products of the 20th Century. We were the center of the universe for many specific areas of study and made breakthroughs all the time in products and manufacturing. During the 70s and 80s it was an exciting place to be. The company itself employed over 10,000 workers in our small state and over 5,000 at our technical center. It really was a gem in an otherwise depressed area. You can imagine how many jobs outside it's payroll that were supported with so much infrastructure and service requirements.
To make a long story short, and it is a very long story, today the place is all but abandoned. Thousands of good paying jobs have left the state and thousands more have simply evaporated. Oh, the PhDs from MIT and U of Chicago, etc have moved on to probably better gigs, but so many middle aged folks who had really good jobs lost their asses. Sometimes I see them working at local big box retailers and other places. Most are just trying to hold on. Others, went to pasture prematurely but were able to do so with some level of comfort. The real losers are those who would have come after us. Think about that. . .
The thing that really gets to me besides the human toll is the shift in technology. Many of the areas that required lots of brain power and cutting edge technology have been moved overseas. I was talking to a guy who worked in one of those areas recently and he told me he had trained his replacement who was an Indian national and the entire operation was being moved to India. Another large part of the operation was moving to a new tech center in China. WTF?
Yea, we should be angry. We should be protesting and screaming. Why is it that the policies of the past 8 years (and before) have encouraged this type of thing. The company I work for gets millions in tax breaks. . . probably billions while I have to pay every fucking penny and dime the federal gov't says I owe on my meager income.
Incredibly, a large majority of the displaced workers will fall victim to the politics of fear and their own racist bullshit and vote for Puffy McBush/Ms. Plain come Nov. They will vote against their own best interests and FOR the greed of American corporations. Baffling. Stupid proles who let a bunch of slick lying elitists hoodwink them into voting against the interests of themselves, their families, their community and their own country.
All ya gotta do to fool the Amurkkkin proletariat is bring out the flag, talk a pile of rhetorical patriotic nonsense, keep screaming "country first (as if anyone in this race thinks otherwise except for them)" and go on. The irony is, those who scream country first are the ones who believe "corporate America first" and don't really give a damn about the country.
Fuck you sleeping proles who are too intoxicated with fear and your own prejudices to see the truth.
Go ahead, vote in another four years of corporate royalty. The house might just come down in more ways than one.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
A Texass sized Hurricane
This one's gonna be a motherfucker!
Back in the day (almost 30 yrs ago) I used to get off the plane in Houston, jump in a car, fire up a big one and head down the coast to Port Lavaca area. About half way there I'd stop and grab a couple hotdogs and a six pack of Lone Star long necks and continue on my way. I always kinda liked that two hour ride. The trip was notable for one reason and one reason only. . . there was nothing to note. It was pretty much nothing but tiny town, grain elevators and rice fields from Dickinson to Port Lavaca.
Sorry Ike, butr unless things have changed a lot along the Texass coast, you aint gonna hit much unless you take a turn north or south. Of course I always said there was nothing wrong with Texass that a really big enema couldn't cure. . . maybe this is the one.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
The subtlety of language. . .
Obama tries to steal Nebraska electoral vote from McCain
That's the headline on Yahoo to an AP story. I don't know if Yahoo or AP makes up the headlines, but I have one burning question. . .
How the fuck is it that campaigning in a state and trying to win some votes suddenly becomes 'stealing?!' I have never seen that kind of a reference. Is that something new now that we have a black man running for president? Now, if he loses the popular vote, but wins the electoral vote by perpetrating a premature Supreme Court decision over a contested vote count in a swing state, then I'll agree he is stealing, but over vying for a few votes in Sept.? Bullshit.
That's the headline on Yahoo to an AP story. I don't know if Yahoo or AP makes up the headlines, but I have one burning question. . .
How the fuck is it that campaigning in a state and trying to win some votes suddenly becomes 'stealing?!' I have never seen that kind of a reference. Is that something new now that we have a black man running for president? Now, if he loses the popular vote, but wins the electoral vote by perpetrating a premature Supreme Court decision over a contested vote count in a swing state, then I'll agree he is stealing, but over vying for a few votes in Sept.? Bullshit.
Help me understand folks. . .
It's all just too incredible. The true ignorance of the Amurkkkin voter is astounding.
How can it be that the presidential race is, according to all polls, in a dead heat. We've just endured eight years of the most horrific and recreant presidential administration in the past 100 years, . . at least. We have sat back and watched as our economy went from great to terrible. We've gone from a country at peace to a country fighting multiple wars that we have no business being in and the majority of Amurkkkins disapprove. It has been one big cluster fuck after another the past eight years. But the Amurkkkin people have simply not had enough. 1/2 of the likely Amurkkkin voters believe that another administration just like the last administration is what we need in Washington for the next 4-8 years. WTF is the matter with you stupid proles?
One would expect that the candidate on the other side must be some sort of monstrous political train wreck to not have a large lead in such circumstances. But no, he is a well mannered and highly inspirational leader who is well equipped to lead this country. His running mate is extremely well equipped to be president. On the other side we have a sickly old creep who mirrors the present administration (which has a 28% approval rating) and has a running mate who is completely unqualified and totally unprepared to be president. WTF?
So what's the problem? Is Amurkkka simply divided down the middle philosophically? Is there really a 50/50 split between right wing advocates for corpo-fascism and left wing advocates of progressive politics? Or is it something uglier? Could it be something more subtle and not so clearly apparent to observing eyes? Could it be that because Barack Obama is a black man the majority of Amurkkkin voters will vote against him? Is that really possible after all we've been through the last eight years and after all we've seen of Barack Obama over the past 12 months? Could it be that Amurkkka's racism is going to triumph over logic and reason? Or is it that Amurkkkins have been divided polarized and conquered with fear based propaganda?
Help me understand, because it's got me really down right now.
How can it be that the presidential race is, according to all polls, in a dead heat. We've just endured eight years of the most horrific and recreant presidential administration in the past 100 years, . . at least. We have sat back and watched as our economy went from great to terrible. We've gone from a country at peace to a country fighting multiple wars that we have no business being in and the majority of Amurkkkins disapprove. It has been one big cluster fuck after another the past eight years. But the Amurkkkin people have simply not had enough. 1/2 of the likely Amurkkkin voters believe that another administration just like the last administration is what we need in Washington for the next 4-8 years. WTF is the matter with you stupid proles?
One would expect that the candidate on the other side must be some sort of monstrous political train wreck to not have a large lead in such circumstances. But no, he is a well mannered and highly inspirational leader who is well equipped to lead this country. His running mate is extremely well equipped to be president. On the other side we have a sickly old creep who mirrors the present administration (which has a 28% approval rating) and has a running mate who is completely unqualified and totally unprepared to be president. WTF?
So what's the problem? Is Amurkkka simply divided down the middle philosophically? Is there really a 50/50 split between right wing advocates for corpo-fascism and left wing advocates of progressive politics? Or is it something uglier? Could it be something more subtle and not so clearly apparent to observing eyes? Could it be that because Barack Obama is a black man the majority of Amurkkkin voters will vote against him? Is that really possible after all we've been through the last eight years and after all we've seen of Barack Obama over the past 12 months? Could it be that Amurkkka's racism is going to triumph over logic and reason? Or is it that Amurkkkins have been divided polarized and conquered with fear based propaganda?
Help me understand, because it's got me really down right now.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
More of the same. . .
According to a number of sources. . . who get their info from the same source, no doubt, the Governor of Alaska, VP candidate and once small town mayor made the comment "so Sambo beat the Bitch" when Obama finally out delegated Clinton in the primary.
Surprising? Hell no. This is an uber-conservative extreme religious fundamentalist who who has always lived an isolated white life. WTF else would you expect?
Fuck yes I believe it just like I believe something just aint right with the childbirth story. . . have you read the events of the day that led to her giving birth? At best, very weird.
"...According to Lucille, the waitress serving her table at the time and who asked that her last name not be used, Gov. Palin was eating lunch with five or six people when the subject of the Democrat’s primary battle came up. The governor, seemingly not caring that people at nearby tables would likely hear her, uttered the slur and then laughed loudly as her meal mates joined in appreciatively..."
Surprising? Hell no. This is an uber-conservative extreme religious fundamentalist who who has always lived an isolated white life. WTF else would you expect?
Fuck yes I believe it just like I believe something just aint right with the childbirth story. . . have you read the events of the day that led to her giving birth? At best, very weird.
"...According to Lucille, the waitress serving her table at the time and who asked that her last name not be used, Gov. Palin was eating lunch with five or six people when the subject of the Democrat’s primary battle came up. The governor, seemingly not caring that people at nearby tables would likely hear her, uttered the slur and then laughed loudly as her meal mates joined in appreciatively..."
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Let's take another look at the questionaire the candidates for governor of Alaska were asked to fill out.
Here is question #12 and Sarah Palin's answers
12. In relationship to families, what are your top three priorities if elected governor?
1. Creating an atmosphere where parents feel welcome to choose the venues of education for their children.
2. Preserving the definition of “marriage” as defined in our constitution.
3. Cracking down on the things that harm family life: gangs, drug use, and infringement of our liberties including attacks on our 2nd Amendment rights.
Now, here's my sagacious commentary. . .
1. WTF? I mean, like WTF does any of that mean. As a fundie religious extremist I can only guess that she is suggesting that public school funding be provided to parents who home school and send their children to Christian indoctrination academies.
I say let parents send their kids to whatever kind of schooling they want them to be sent to . . . PROVIDED, that the schools or programs are accredited and approved by the state board of education or whatever gov't institution controls and monitors education in the state. Oh, and as for public funding? Sorry Sarah, but public funds should only be used for public education. That's what "Public" means. We don't use "public" funds to subsidize private corporations. . . oh, never mind, bad example since the republicans have taken over. . . but seriously, no public funding of private schools. That's just dumb.
What other private institutions will you be willing to spend public tax dollars to support? Private colleges that are sponsored by religious extremists? Afterall, we have publicly supported colleges? Where is your line Sarah?
2. Marriage is defined in the constitution? What constitution? This woman has never read the Constitution of the United States. It's obvious.
Sarah, do YOU believe that someone who could easily become the president of the United States should be intimately familiar with the Constitution of the United States? Define "intimately familiar."
3. So the one of the big priorities in saving the American family for you is 2nd Ammendment rights? Guns will save our families eh? How about 1st Ammendment rights?
How about 1st Ammendment rights or 4th Ammendment rights? Do you think they might have a pretty big bearing on the values and preservation of the American family?
Come on Sarah, I hunt myself. I've trained all my kids to hunt. We kill large game every year in our own backyard. Ya know, in all my years, not once has any legislation been enacted that has in any way curtailed or restricted my access or use of firearms. Since back when my father was holding up the gun for me to shoot till this day, no once!
I can't say that for my other freedoms. The past republican administrations have slowly chipped away at privacy, speech and press freedoms for years now. Aren't those a little more important to the family than whether or not I can keep an automatic rifle in the closet?
Look folks, this woman might be charming, but she sure aint too bright.
The only mention I've seen from her of education is this coded bullshit about funding for private schools and more specifically Christian fundamentalist schools.
Education is the key to all our social problems today, be they family related or not.
The republicans don't seem interested in education. . . maybe we should "VET" these folks from the standpoint of educational experience. . . we won't find much.
Here is question #12 and Sarah Palin's answers
12. In relationship to families, what are your top three priorities if elected governor?
1. Creating an atmosphere where parents feel welcome to choose the venues of education for their children.
2. Preserving the definition of “marriage” as defined in our constitution.
3. Cracking down on the things that harm family life: gangs, drug use, and infringement of our liberties including attacks on our 2nd Amendment rights.
Now, here's my sagacious commentary. . .
1. WTF? I mean, like WTF does any of that mean. As a fundie religious extremist I can only guess that she is suggesting that public school funding be provided to parents who home school and send their children to Christian indoctrination academies.
I say let parents send their kids to whatever kind of schooling they want them to be sent to . . . PROVIDED, that the schools or programs are accredited and approved by the state board of education or whatever gov't institution controls and monitors education in the state. Oh, and as for public funding? Sorry Sarah, but public funds should only be used for public education. That's what "Public" means. We don't use "public" funds to subsidize private corporations. . . oh, never mind, bad example since the republicans have taken over. . . but seriously, no public funding of private schools. That's just dumb.
What other private institutions will you be willing to spend public tax dollars to support? Private colleges that are sponsored by religious extremists? Afterall, we have publicly supported colleges? Where is your line Sarah?
2. Marriage is defined in the constitution? What constitution? This woman has never read the Constitution of the United States. It's obvious.
Sarah, do YOU believe that someone who could easily become the president of the United States should be intimately familiar with the Constitution of the United States? Define "intimately familiar."
3. So the one of the big priorities in saving the American family for you is 2nd Ammendment rights? Guns will save our families eh? How about 1st Ammendment rights?
How about 1st Ammendment rights or 4th Ammendment rights? Do you think they might have a pretty big bearing on the values and preservation of the American family?
Come on Sarah, I hunt myself. I've trained all my kids to hunt. We kill large game every year in our own backyard. Ya know, in all my years, not once has any legislation been enacted that has in any way curtailed or restricted my access or use of firearms. Since back when my father was holding up the gun for me to shoot till this day, no once!
I can't say that for my other freedoms. The past republican administrations have slowly chipped away at privacy, speech and press freedoms for years now. Aren't those a little more important to the family than whether or not I can keep an automatic rifle in the closet?
Look folks, this woman might be charming, but she sure aint too bright.
The only mention I've seen from her of education is this coded bullshit about funding for private schools and more specifically Christian fundamentalist schools.
Education is the key to all our social problems today, be they family related or not.
The republicans don't seem interested in education. . . maybe we should "VET" these folks from the standpoint of educational experience. . . we won't find much.
Literary freedom and Americanism
In the face of a VP candidate, who while mayor of her very small hometown fired, then rehired (under immense political pressure of a threatened recall vote) the town's librarian for refusing to remove books that said VP candidate and small town mayor found offensive to her extremist religious fundamentalism, I urge everyone to go to this site:
http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bannedbooksweek.cfm
How essential is the freedom to read what you want to read to your sense of American freedom?
If one would advocate the censorship of a library, what about the censorship of books sold in stores? What about the censorship of views expressed in literature by the citizens of America? Exactly where would said VP candidate and small town mayor draw the line and how would said VP candidate and small town mayor secure that line so that other couldn't move it backward even farther to the right?
I think we deserve an answer to that question, don't you?
http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bannedbooksweek.cfm
How essential is the freedom to read what you want to read to your sense of American freedom?
If one would advocate the censorship of a library, what about the censorship of books sold in stores? What about the censorship of views expressed in literature by the citizens of America? Exactly where would said VP candidate and small town mayor draw the line and how would said VP candidate and small town mayor secure that line so that other couldn't move it backward even farther to the right?
I think we deserve an answer to that question, don't you?
Friday, September 5, 2008
The verdict is in. . .
The Amurkkkin electorate is a bunch of ignorant proles. Oh wait, I've already said that, but let me nail it for you:
This from the latest Rasmussen poll:
Palin is viewed favorably by 58% of American voters.
The new data also shows significant increases in the number who say McCain made the right choice and the number who say Palin is ready to be President. Generally, John McCain's choice of Palin earns slightly better reviews than Barack Obama's choice of Joe Biden.
Biden is viewed favorably by 48%.
She earns positive reviews from 65% of men and 52% of women.
Fifty-one percent (51%) of all voters now believe that McCain made the right choice when he picked Palin. . .on the night after Biden gave his acceptance speech, 47% said that Obama made the right choice.
voters are fairly evenly divided as to whether Palin or Obama has the better experience to be President.
Sometimes I wonder why I give a fuck who these stupid dumb shit voters pick to be president. If I were younger I'd move north or south of the border where the presidential race doesn't mean that the person who wins get to have their finger on the button of global destruction or commands the most powerful armed forces on Earth.
Come on people! THINK!! This aint high school student government.
This from the latest Rasmussen poll:
Palin is viewed favorably by 58% of American voters.
The new data also shows significant increases in the number who say McCain made the right choice and the number who say Palin is ready to be President. Generally, John McCain's choice of Palin earns slightly better reviews than Barack Obama's choice of Joe Biden.
Biden is viewed favorably by 48%.
She earns positive reviews from 65% of men and 52% of women.
Fifty-one percent (51%) of all voters now believe that McCain made the right choice when he picked Palin. . .on the night after Biden gave his acceptance speech, 47% said that Obama made the right choice.
voters are fairly evenly divided as to whether Palin or Obama has the better experience to be President.
Sometimes I wonder why I give a fuck who these stupid dumb shit voters pick to be president. If I were younger I'd move north or south of the border where the presidential race doesn't mean that the person who wins get to have their finger on the button of global destruction or commands the most powerful armed forces on Earth.
Come on people! THINK!! This aint high school student government.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Are you, experienced?
Ahem. . . can we get real for a minute. . . just for a quick minute. . . for the sake of sanity and all that is logical and rational?
The latest rhetoric from the right is to compare Mrs. Palin's qualifications to those of Barack Obama. They claim that being mayor a tiny Alaskan town that employs a professional administrator and being governor of a state with a population of under 700,000 for little more than a year makes her more qualified than Barack Obama.
Let's put this thing into a clear form that even the most ADD of us can understand.
Education:
Barack Obama - Columbia University BA, political science/international relations. Harvard Law School
Sarah Palin - North Idaho Community College BS, communications. My question is: how can you get a BS from a community college and how can you get a BS in communications? Wouldn't that be a BA?
Work Experience:
Barack - From 1983 -1988 Mr. Obama works as a low paid community organizer in New York City and Chicago. After law school he was on the faculty of University of Chicago Law School for 12 years teaching Constitutional Law. While there he also worked as a COMMUNITY ORGANIZER. The list of positions he held within various community organization and board of director positions on various national foundations is too large to include here. Let's just say he's been a busy man doing all sorts of things to selflessly serve his fellow human beings. If you look into his background you can not disagree with that assessment.
97-04 served as a state legislator. His list of accomplishments and legislation authored and passed is WAY to big for this post. From 04-present he is a United States Senator. His short senate career is punctuated by numerous legislative victories.
Sarah - After community college she worked as a sportscaster for an Ankorage TV station. Then she began popping out babies. This of course is a VERY noble occupation, but in no way prepares you for the presidency of the United States. Let's see. . . she helped her hubby on his fishing boat.
Between 1992 and 2002 she served on the city council of her small town and as mayor of the same small town. Noble endeavors, but not a training ground for the presidency of the United States.
In 06 she was elected to be governor of Alaska. Again, a noble endeavor, but having done it for a year, not exactly the kind of experience required to lead the free world.
International Travel. . . or otherwise.
Barack - As an adult he spent weeks traveling through Europe and over a month in Kenya exploring his roots. As a senator he's made numerous trips abroad including Russia and Eastern Europe. As a child he lived in Indonesia where his mother worked and he grew up in Hawaii . . oh, wait, that's not a foreign country.
Sarah - She went to college in Idaho.
But all kidding aside, doesn't this illustrate the absurdity of challenging Barack Obama's experience and rediness to be President of the United States by trying to claim that Sarah Palin is somehow more experienced and better qualified?
We're talking about a woman who, when asked whether "under god" should be removed from the Pledge of Alliegence declared that 'if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it's good enough for me.' The PoA was written in the late 1800s and not widely used until the 1950s.
This is a woman who wants creationism taught in science classrooms.
Do we really need another administration marked by a distinct lack of human curiosity? For me, the hallmark of intellect is an instinct to learn. . . an instinct to explore and an instinct to be curious about the world. Palin's resume reveals something much less than that.
Come on people, let's get real. Let's just call this what it is.
This woman is not too bright and is horribly lacking in the experience required to be president.
Will the right compare MoronMonkeyBoy Bush the Chimp's experience to hers and say "see, she has as much as he had going in?"
I hope they do. I really, really hope they do.
The latest rhetoric from the right is to compare Mrs. Palin's qualifications to those of Barack Obama. They claim that being mayor a tiny Alaskan town that employs a professional administrator and being governor of a state with a population of under 700,000 for little more than a year makes her more qualified than Barack Obama.
Let's put this thing into a clear form that even the most ADD of us can understand.
Education:
Barack Obama - Columbia University BA, political science/international relations. Harvard Law School
Sarah Palin - North Idaho Community College BS, communications. My question is: how can you get a BS from a community college and how can you get a BS in communications? Wouldn't that be a BA?
Work Experience:
Barack - From 1983 -1988 Mr. Obama works as a low paid community organizer in New York City and Chicago. After law school he was on the faculty of University of Chicago Law School for 12 years teaching Constitutional Law. While there he also worked as a COMMUNITY ORGANIZER. The list of positions he held within various community organization and board of director positions on various national foundations is too large to include here. Let's just say he's been a busy man doing all sorts of things to selflessly serve his fellow human beings. If you look into his background you can not disagree with that assessment.
97-04 served as a state legislator. His list of accomplishments and legislation authored and passed is WAY to big for this post. From 04-present he is a United States Senator. His short senate career is punctuated by numerous legislative victories.
Sarah - After community college she worked as a sportscaster for an Ankorage TV station. Then she began popping out babies. This of course is a VERY noble occupation, but in no way prepares you for the presidency of the United States. Let's see. . . she helped her hubby on his fishing boat.
Between 1992 and 2002 she served on the city council of her small town and as mayor of the same small town. Noble endeavors, but not a training ground for the presidency of the United States.
In 06 she was elected to be governor of Alaska. Again, a noble endeavor, but having done it for a year, not exactly the kind of experience required to lead the free world.
International Travel. . . or otherwise.
Barack - As an adult he spent weeks traveling through Europe and over a month in Kenya exploring his roots. As a senator he's made numerous trips abroad including Russia and Eastern Europe. As a child he lived in Indonesia where his mother worked and he grew up in Hawaii . . oh, wait, that's not a foreign country.
Sarah - She went to college in Idaho.
But all kidding aside, doesn't this illustrate the absurdity of challenging Barack Obama's experience and rediness to be President of the United States by trying to claim that Sarah Palin is somehow more experienced and better qualified?
We're talking about a woman who, when asked whether "under god" should be removed from the Pledge of Alliegence declared that 'if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it's good enough for me.' The PoA was written in the late 1800s and not widely used until the 1950s.
This is a woman who wants creationism taught in science classrooms.
Do we really need another administration marked by a distinct lack of human curiosity? For me, the hallmark of intellect is an instinct to learn. . . an instinct to explore and an instinct to be curious about the world. Palin's resume reveals something much less than that.
Come on people, let's get real. Let's just call this what it is.
This woman is not too bright and is horribly lacking in the experience required to be president.
Will the right compare MoronMonkeyBoy Bush the Chimp's experience to hers and say "see, she has as much as he had going in?"
I hope they do. I really, really hope they do.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Community Organizer. . .
When did that become a bad thing to be?
Can one political party really demonize another for being a "community organizer?"
I wonder how all the urban activists and rural outreach workers feel about the republicans belittling those who are "community organizers?"
I guess when your party is driven by corporate royalists, looking down on "community organizers" is OK.
Seriously, consider the nasty hateful tone of the republican convention compared to the upbeat, patriotic tone of the democrat convention last week. The republicans have yet to discuss any issues. . . none whatsoever. It's been one attack after another.
Welcome to AmurKKKa.
Can one political party really demonize another for being a "community organizer?"
I wonder how all the urban activists and rural outreach workers feel about the republicans belittling those who are "community organizers?"
I guess when your party is driven by corporate royalists, looking down on "community organizers" is OK.
Seriously, consider the nasty hateful tone of the republican convention compared to the upbeat, patriotic tone of the democrat convention last week. The republicans have yet to discuss any issues. . . none whatsoever. It's been one attack after another.
Welcome to AmurKKKa.
Education! EDUCATION!
Anyone who has read my blog knows that my #1 priority for solving our problems in this country is education. Want to get people off welfare? Educate them. Want to put people into office who are willing and capable to make a change and lead us into the 21st Century? Educate the voters. Want to solve the problems of crime and violence? Educate the populous.
So clearly, we need to make education our top priority.
Where does the republican vice presidential candidate fit into all this.
Well, for background, she has some sort of "communications degree." Not very impressive, but at least she went ot college. How about her husband? He has no college degree and is on record as saying Alaskans who can't afford college should work in the oil fields. Damn, I'm glad no one convinced me to do that back when I was a youngun. How bout that future son-in-law. . . high school drop out. Little miss sweet 17 and pregnant daughter? Hasn't been to school in five months. 19 year old son? He's a foot soldier deploying to Iraq. I guess he decided not to go to college.
Hmmm, seems like education might not be a big priority in the world of Sarah Palin.
But we don't need formal education to be educated. Maybe Mrs. Palin is more intellectual than her background indicates. . . she believes that creationism should be taught in science classrooms. To me, that's about a fucking stupid as it gets. Let's teach mythology in place of scientific fact. How fucking dumb does a person have to be to believe that religious mythology should be part of any science program in any school? That is just plain ignorant.
We certainly don't need an openly ignorant person one 72 year old breath away from the presidency of the United States. We've had stupid fucks running this country long enough. Let's just say "ENOUGH" and return to a country with leaders who think.
So clearly, we need to make education our top priority.
Where does the republican vice presidential candidate fit into all this.
Well, for background, she has some sort of "communications degree." Not very impressive, but at least she went ot college. How about her husband? He has no college degree and is on record as saying Alaskans who can't afford college should work in the oil fields. Damn, I'm glad no one convinced me to do that back when I was a youngun. How bout that future son-in-law. . . high school drop out. Little miss sweet 17 and pregnant daughter? Hasn't been to school in five months. 19 year old son? He's a foot soldier deploying to Iraq. I guess he decided not to go to college.
Hmmm, seems like education might not be a big priority in the world of Sarah Palin.
But we don't need formal education to be educated. Maybe Mrs. Palin is more intellectual than her background indicates. . . she believes that creationism should be taught in science classrooms. To me, that's about a fucking stupid as it gets. Let's teach mythology in place of scientific fact. How fucking dumb does a person have to be to believe that religious mythology should be part of any science program in any school? That is just plain ignorant.
We certainly don't need an openly ignorant person one 72 year old breath away from the presidency of the United States. We've had stupid fucks running this country long enough. Let's just say "ENOUGH" and return to a country with leaders who think.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
A sad state of affairs
Some random thoughts. . .
In 2006, then gubernatorial candidate Sarah Palin answered a question on a questionaire sent to all Alaskan gubernatorial candidates with: "The explicit sex-ed programs will not find my support."
Hmmmm. . . today the question begs: "Why not?"
Do you not want your children to see "explicit" materials? What exactly does "explicit" mean? What harm will "explicit sex-ed programs" do to your children.
If someone told you that an "explicit sex-ed program" would have prevented your 17 yr old daughter from getting knocked-up last spring, would you support them now? Now that you know your daughter has had "explicit" relations with someone, would you rather she'd have been exposed to "explicit sex-up programs" instead?
Let's talk Mrs. Palin. . . I'm a very liberal American. If it's liberal, I probably support it. I'm one of those godless types you right wingers love to put down and act superior to. I have raised four children myself, ages 16 through 30. There have been no teenage pregnancies in our family. None of our children have been arrested. I've always known pretty much exactly where my children were at night until they left for college. All, except the 16 yr old have completed or are well on their way to completing college educations (honors, phi beta kappa, cum laude, etc, all). My 19 yr old son is in pre-med at a very well known and highly rated NE university.
My 16 yr old daughter, who is a beautiful, intelligent and very well liked and connected blond goddess has never even kissed a boy, never tasted an alcoholic drink or taken an illegal drug. She comes to us with all her problems and talks openly about everything. All our children have led similar lives.
I could go into detail about how we've accomplished this, but rest assured, it was not through a program of keeping them sheltered from the world in any way. It was not by shoving god and religious dogma down their throats. It was not be keeping the intimate details of sexual function hidden from them. It was not by restricting their free access to information in ANY way.
So tell us Mrs. Palin, what techniques did you use to raise your children with a good understanding of human sexuality and other human adult conditions? I'd really like to know.
In 2006, then gubernatorial candidate Sarah Palin answered a question on a questionaire sent to all Alaskan gubernatorial candidates with: "The explicit sex-ed programs will not find my support."
Hmmmm. . . today the question begs: "Why not?"
Do you not want your children to see "explicit" materials? What exactly does "explicit" mean? What harm will "explicit sex-ed programs" do to your children.
If someone told you that an "explicit sex-ed program" would have prevented your 17 yr old daughter from getting knocked-up last spring, would you support them now? Now that you know your daughter has had "explicit" relations with someone, would you rather she'd have been exposed to "explicit sex-up programs" instead?
Let's talk Mrs. Palin. . . I'm a very liberal American. If it's liberal, I probably support it. I'm one of those godless types you right wingers love to put down and act superior to. I have raised four children myself, ages 16 through 30. There have been no teenage pregnancies in our family. None of our children have been arrested. I've always known pretty much exactly where my children were at night until they left for college. All, except the 16 yr old have completed or are well on their way to completing college educations (honors, phi beta kappa, cum laude, etc, all). My 19 yr old son is in pre-med at a very well known and highly rated NE university.
My 16 yr old daughter, who is a beautiful, intelligent and very well liked and connected blond goddess has never even kissed a boy, never tasted an alcoholic drink or taken an illegal drug. She comes to us with all her problems and talks openly about everything. All our children have led similar lives.
I could go into detail about how we've accomplished this, but rest assured, it was not through a program of keeping them sheltered from the world in any way. It was not by shoving god and religious dogma down their throats. It was not be keeping the intimate details of sexual function hidden from them. It was not by restricting their free access to information in ANY way.
So tell us Mrs. Palin, what techniques did you use to raise your children with a good understanding of human sexuality and other human adult conditions? I'd really like to know.
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