Wednesday, April 29, 2009

An old post about witnessing glory and feeling emotional exhilaration. . .

Because I do not EVER want to forget!

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2008

Welcome to the New World
Really? I'm not going to wake up to the same old shit? Holy shit!

So I went and voted at about noon on Tue (the lines were incredible. . . I was the only one there. I had to go get the poll ladies out of the church kitchen to come and do whatever it is they do) and I'm trying to decide. . . do I want to drive all the way to Cincy or do I just want to sit back at home alone and watch what might be a very disappointing night? Well, my wife is already there and has been there for the past three days doing poll work for the Obama campaign and my son has been on the ground in Ohio criss crossing the state for months working for one of the largest unions in the country. . . ok, I'll go. They're expecting me. Off I go to Cincinnati, Ohio.

I hit Cincinnati a little before 6PM. With the help of a really cool guy who was originally from Sri Lanka and whose name I forget on the other end of my Demure One's phone for what seemed like an hour or so, I snaked my way through Cincinnati's twisted maze of streets and arrived at the polling place where my Demure One was working as a polling place observer for the O campaign. She then introduced me to the democratic precinct "judge," who was very familiar with bloggers in our liberal community and actually knew the Sagacious Hillbilly by way of Field Negro. Yea, he'd come here from Field Negro's blog.

Hey GW, it was good meeting you and thanks for entertaining the Demure One all day!

After the polls closed, we ran back to the hotel, cleaned up and headed out to the bar where the Union was having their after glow party. . . while at the hotel and on the way there I kept listening to the news and was getting a bit anxious as it looked like it was getting WAY too close even though few results were in yet.

By the time we got to the bar, things were looking better and WOW! they called PA for Obama! "It's happening." I thought it and I said it. People were going crazy cheering and hugging. A number of states turned, but all were expected. I kept looking at Ohio results and kept telling SonnyBoy that it was looking very good. . . he's a cynical little shit and kept pooh-poohing me. Then it happened. . . Ohio fell to Obama. The place exploded. This was just about the most diverse crowd I've ever seen? It was probably half or more black, some Latinos, Asians and other minority folks and the rest whites, but really, there were only people in that room and spilling out onto the sidewalk and into the street. These people have been busting their asses with all their heart and soul for months trying to turn Ohio blue. I mean they had invested their hearts, minds and bodies into the fight to deliver Ohio to Obama and there, in that one instant they saw a perfectly successful conclusion to their incredible hard work. . . and yes, everyone knew that at that point, with Ohio in the bag, probably nothing could stop Obama. These people were going absolutely nuts. Everyone was hugging, kissing and back slapping. People began chanting "O-hio, O-bama. O-hio, O-bama."

We watched and watched as the electoral count froze at 200. I kept thinking. . . CA, OR, WA and the election is won. At 1 minute and 45 seconds till 11PM I told my Demure One "in a minute 45 seconds, the polls will close in CA and they will call the election for Obama. . . BAM! It happened.
I have never seen such a gigantic burst of energy explode from a group of people. People were crying laughing, screaming, dancing, hugging, kissing." My son and I were locked in each other's arms sobbing when the Demur One found us and joined in the fun.
Amid the screaming and joyous revelry every now and then someone would stop, look at the TV screen and just stare with a dumbfounded look and tears running down their face. . . I did it a number of times. Out in the streets, everyone was freaking out. I watched one guy I'll never forget dance around and proclaim that there was "going to be soul food in the White House. . . fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, greens," and then he did a long animated routine about tucking in his napkin and having soul food with President Barack Obama. Groups of people were moving around in the neighborhood we were in and they were all coming up and joining the celebration. People were proclaimingthings like "We're gonna all be together at last!" PEople who didn't know each other were hugging and just smiling into each other's faces. . . yes, we were looking each other in the eye and experiencing each other's exhilaration. Never have I experienced such glory.
After a while a group of us decided to move up the street a few blocks to where the official Obama Campaign party was happening. We partied all the way there meeting other groups of people and greeting everyone with chants of "O-BA-MA!" and "PRESIDENT OBAMA!" Same thing was going on at the campaign party but we did add a little life to the party. We watched President Obama's speech while there and once again cried like babies.
Another cool thing was that twice I called my daughter and let her listen to the celebration, especially when her brother was leading a very loud cheer out in the street. Too bad she had to work today and couldn't be there, but somebody has to keep the wheels of gov't turning.
My words simply don't do justice to what we experienced.
I have seriously watched politics for 40 years in my 55 years and been very aware of politics since I can remember. I have truly waited my lifetime for this moment. . . for a candidate that I could really support and believe in. Thank you Barack Obama for being that candidate. . . now get busy. And thank you all you incredible people in Ohio who did something truly amazing. All of you who ignored everything else and dedicated all of yourself for a bit of time to a truly noble cause.
And to my son, who has worked tirelessly and fought his whole adult life so that others could live a better life. He loves the rank and file members of his union and our society. He believes that making life better for them will make life better for everyone and make the entire Earth a better place. He has been my hero for a long time and never lets me down.

Other notes:
As predicted, WV went large for McCain. Man am I glad I went to Ohio rather than hang around in this backwater.

I listened to some right wing talk radio on the way home today. It was sad. They sounded like raving maniacs. I hope the American people totally reject their sick hate based politics.
They have become irrelevant.

MoronMonkeyBoy Bush the Chimp; Shut the fuck up, sit down, do nothing and stay out of the way for the next 75 days. You are a sorry piece of shit who should die a miserable death rotting away in a cold dark dank prison cell.

I'm going to Washington, D.C. to watch President Obama be sworn in.

I'm not going to blog anymore about right wing morons.

I'm going to wear my two Obama tee shirt more often now. We have to support our new president as much as possible and be cheerleaders for his administration.

The media is going to go nuts over the Obama family. Wow, America hasn't had a royal family since the Kennedys. We've never had one as pretty as the Obamas.
Let's face it, America's presidential families haven't exactly been a good looking bunch.

The next year will be a very interesting time in American history. Enjoy the ride and don't take it all too serious.


Two tanks of gas . . . $64.00
Cheap hotel in a midwestern city. . . $50.00
Round of drinks for young cool union workers. . . $38.00
Partying with Ohio Union campaign workers
while watching Barack Obama win in Ohio and the nation. . . ABSOLUTELY PRICELESS

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Chicken Little and the American proles

This lifted directly from the Center for Disease Control website:

The number of influenza-associated (i.e., flu-related) deaths varies from year to year because flu seasons often fluctuate in length and severity. CDC estimated that about 36,000 people died of flu-related causes each year, on average, during the 1990s in the United States. This figure includes people dying from complications of flu. This estimate came from a 2003 study published in the Journal of the American Medication Association (JAMA), which looked at the 1990-91 through the 1998-99 flu seasons [10]. Statistical modeling was used to estimate how many flu-related deaths occurred among people whose underlying cause of death on their death certificate was listed as a respiratory or circulatory disease. During these years, the number of estimated deaths ranged from 17,000 to 52,000.

Yes folks, a lot of people die from influenza (the flu) every year. So many in fact that pneumonia and influenza (both are grouped together in this case since pneumonia is often brought on by the weakening of the immune system and damage to the respiratory tissue by the flu) are the sixth leading cause of death in the USA.
Old people die from the flu. Sick and infirmed people die from the flu. Usually, healthy people are not at risk of dying from the flu. Sometimes it feels like you're dying, but stay hydrated, keep the fever under control and you're probably going to pull through just fine.

So why all the ruckus over nothing more than the potential (there really haven't been that many reported cases in either Mexico or the USA) to have a banner year of influenza related illness and death? Damned if I know, but I can speculate.
Ya see, the powers in charge like to keep the proles scared. They like you commoners to stay on edge. . . be in fear and then rely on the federal gov't to keep you safe from those fears. The war on terrorism, the CDC fighting this viral plague, all those brown people invading from the south. . . it's all designed to keep you a little on edge and dependent on the feds for your safety and well being. Whenever an event or condition can be exploited in this way, it'll be done.

So go ahead, fall for these manipulations. Shutter yourselves inside your homes and wait for the federal gov't to free you from the bondage of your fears. Remember, if the swine flu doesn't get you, West Nile Virus or Avian influenza will. Be afraid, be very afraid.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Perspective on American white supremists

Ex-Klan chief freed after arrest in Prague

PRAGUE (AFP) – A former US Ku Klux Klan chief arrested here on a speaking tour was freed during the night but will be forced to leave the country later Saturday, Czech police said.
David Duke, the former Grand Wizard of the Louisiana-founded Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, arrived in Prague on Friday at the invitation of a local far-right group, Narodni Odpor (National Resistance).
The 59-year-old US citizen had been due to give three lectures in Prague and Brno in the east of the country and present the Czech translation of his 1998 book "My Awakening."
He was arrested Friday afternoon in the Black Eagle restaurant in Prague's old town and questioned for several hours on suspicion of promoting movements seeking the suppression of human rights, police said.
His book contains passages denying the Holocaust, a crime punishable by up to three years in prison in the Czech republic, police spokesman Jan Mikulovsky said.


BWAAAAAAHAHAHAHA!!!!

I'm sorry. . . I know, I know. I should not laugh. These people are not funny. These are low life fucks with horrible agendas, but ya know, finally, after a struggle that has lasted centuries, one that has seen heroic acts of people giving up their lives for the goal of freedom, one that has seen generation after generation of a people marginalized and oppressed, a struggle where we have seen the worse of mankind and the absolute best of mankind, finally, these low life pricks have been relegated to the outer most fringe of not just the United States of America, but the whole World. This dumb piece of shit has to go speak in front of a bunch of Aryan white supremists in the Czech Republic to get an audience. Again, I'm sorry, but I have to laugh with joy at that. David Duke getting arrested in Prague is like a death wimper of these extremist lunatics. They are about as relevant as flat Earthers. Their political influence rivals groups such as the North American Man-Boy Love Association.
To put is another way; You lost motherfuckers! The president of the United States is a black man! This black president is quickly becoming a hero for all Americans from all walks of life. He is undoing the horrors of the past eight years and taking great steps to set right our economy that has been raped and pillaged by corporate greed. He is approaching other countries with a level of respect and humility that we have never seen in my lifetime. Yes, you stupid, ignorant, red neck cracker assed racist pricks lost the battle and the war. You're marginalized and unwanted by even the 25% of the citizenry who will never accept a democrat as president and certainly prefers the president to be a patriarchal white man.
It's over David Duke. You can't even get by with your shit in Czech Republic. You're through.
BWAAAAAHAHAHAHA. Laughing is good for the heart and I just can't think of anyone better to laugh at than these moronic buffoons.

Yea, I know, we've all still got a long way to go. The struggle aint totally over yet. But ya know, we can stop and take a breath. We can reflect on where we've been and where we're at and smile, laugh and even shed a few tears for those who didn't make it to see today.
I remember that night a just a few short months ago when so many of us were crying with overwhelming joy in the streets when CNN put a check mark next to Barrack Obama's name and we knew he was going to be the next president of the United States. I felt the love. I felt the relief. I felt the incredible energy and joy that flowed through everyone that night.

The David Dukes of the world are now nothing but footnotes in the long struggle that got us here.

What a great 100 days it has been in so many ways.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Tolerance, tolerate, code talking and getting real

I hate those words. When I was a little kid, my mother used them correctly. She would say "I'm not going to tolerate that behavior" or "I'm going to tolerate that from you today." What she meant was that she was going to put up with something she didn't like. She was going to allow my bad behavior to exist or not exist at that moment. When you speak of something positive and good, you don't say "I'm going to tolerate that." You don't say "We have to show tolerance toward that wonderful thing." Hell no, tolereance implies a negative situation that one is going to accept despite the uncomfortability or negativity surrounding that thing. We knew what tolerate meant then and we know what it means now. It's being used as code for dealing with someone you think is in some way negative, inferior or less than.
If your wife comes in and says "honey, I'm going to give you a blow job" she doesn't ask if you'd be tolerant of that unless she's being extremely sarcastic. You don't "tolerate" a blow job or a great fuck from a beautiful person. You relish it, you wallow in the glory of it, you take great joy in the ecstasy. If somebody gives you $10,000 you don't tolerate it, you thank them profusely and enjoy it.
You tolerate pain. You have tolerance toward the screaming kid at the grocery store who's mother is just trying to buy diapers, a gallon of milk and get the hell out of there. You don't tolerate good things.

Back when I was a corporate dick wad making money off the backs of third world workers and the Earth's environment, I was herded into a room with a mess of co-workers and given a lecture on "tolerance." That was sometime in the late 80s or real early 90s and I'd already decided I didn't like that word in reference to people in the workplace so I asked the moron giving the lecture, and who had probably never heard the terms post-colonial or post-modern, "do you want me to tolerate my friend Gerald here or would you rather I fully accept him into the workplace and make him a comfortable and equal member of the work team?"
The silence in the room was hilarious. . . for me. The moron, who was also one of my high level bosses stood there and finally said, "we'll talk later." "Later" never came, but my next higher boss later informed me that making statements that were not agreeable to the big boss during a lecture like that was not beneficial toward my career. . . like I gave a shit. I tried to explain the reality of their farce using terms I had learned in my recent graduate courses in Cultural Studies, but they were once again met with blank stares. That was just one more time when I realized that I had made a big mistake somewhere along the line in my career choices.

But back to the point. . . tolerate, tolerance and tolerant are not terms we should use when talking about people who are somehow different from the majority in the work place be it people of color, gays or physically challenged. When we have people who are somehow different from the majority working beside us, if you are one of the majority, you shouldn't be "tolerating" an uncomfortable situation. You should be totally accepting of them just like you would anyone else. It's not about "putting up with" or "allowing" anything. It's about total acceptance. It's about treating that person the same way you'd treat any other human being, not tolerating someone less than or inferior.

So let's get past these misnomers and words with negative implications. Let's talk about acceptance. Let's talk about the reality of it and that is NOT being prejudiced. Let's talk about racism, sexism and homophobia. Let's talk about WHY people are different and what makes them different. Let's talk about why growing up in a white suburban neighborhood makes me certain ways and why growing up in a black urban environment makes someone else the way they are and why some cracker from out on a ridge or down on a creek is the way they are. Let's put it all out there.
Talking in code and tip toeing around these issues is just going to perpetuate the bullshit.

LET'S GET REAL!!

Take it to the streets. Ask your friend who is different from you how they feel being the way they are. Explain to them how you feel in your skin. Communicate with others. Show an interest in other people. Let them know you want to understand them and you'd like them to understand you. That is the only way we're going to end this stupidity we're all engaged in.

LET'S GET REAL!!

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Playing nice with our closest neighbors

What a strange concept: getting along and cooperating with our closest neighbors. . .

At summit, Obama gets friendly with Chavez

By MARK S. SMITH, Associated Press Writer
PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad – President Barack Obama extended a hand of friendship to America's hemispheric neighbors on Saturday at a summit where he offered a new beginning for U.S.-Cuba relations and accepted a book about the exploitation of Latin America from Venezuela's fiery, anti-American leader.
At the Summit of the Americas, Obama signaled he was ready to accept Cuban President Raul Castro's proposal of talks on issues once off-limits for Cuba, including the scores of political prisoners held by the communist government. Some countries at the summit pushed the United States to go further and lift the 47-year-old U.S. trade embargo against the communist nation, which has complicated U.S. relations throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.
To Latin American nations reeling from a sudden plunge in exports, Obama promised a new hemispheric growth fund, an initiative to increase Caribbean security and a new regional partnership to develop alternative energy sources and fight global warming.


For someone who has watched his whole life as we acted like arrogant bullies toward our southern neighbors and whose parents, grandparents, g'grandparents, etc. watched the same, this is like sunshine on my soul.

"I have a lot to learn and I very much look forward to listening and figuring out how we can work together more effectively," Obama said.

WTF?! Humility on the part of an American president? What WILL the world think? How will be continue to be perceived as a bully and arrogant bunch of fucks with the president talking like that? Look out, the right wing lunatics will be talking treason.

As the first full day of meetings began on the two-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago, Obama exchanged handshakes and pats on the back with Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, who once likened President George W. Bush to the devil. In front of photographers, Chavez gave Obama a copy of "The Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent," a book by Eduardo Galeano, which chronicles U.S. and European economic and political interference in the region. . . .

Their exchange on the first full day of meetings at the summit followed a brief grip and grin for cameras that the two leaders had on Friday night when Obama greeted him in Spanish.

"I think it was a good moment," Chavez said about their initial encounter. "I think President Obama is an intelligent man, compared to the previous U.S. president."


I think I agree with you totally on that Mr. Chavez.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Fanatical Extremist Amurkkkin whack jobs

Tens of thousands rally at tax day 'tea parties'

By SHANNON MCCAFFREY, Associated Press Writer – 18 mins ago
ATLANTA – Whipped up by conservative commentators and bloggers, tens of thousands of protesters staged "tea parties" around the country Wednesday to tap into the collective angst stirred up by a bad economy, government spending and bailouts.


Lessee, "tens of thousands. . . the number of voters in the USA is. . . divided by. . . 30% of Amurkkkins blindly support the radical right no matter what. . . so basically, those "tens of thousands" are a tiny fraction of a the 30% that will follow the right wing extremists to the gates of hell and beyond. These are the fraction that will walk a mile on their knees just to take a big one in the face from their favorite whack job right wing radio head.

some dressed in Revolutionary garb and carrying signs that said "Barney Frank, Bernie Madoff: And the Difference Is?" and "D.C.: District of Communism."

Do ya see the mentality of these buffoons? Barney Frank vs. Bernie Madoff? Are ya jokin? Sadly, they're not.
And the imbecilic references to "communism. . . " it really looks like we're having a resurgence of McCarthy era fanaticism in this country. Yea, these people are over the top and off the edge.

Don't believe it? Try this:

Texas Gov. Rick Perry fired up a tea party at Austin City Hall with his stance against the federal government, as some in his U.S. flag-waving audience shouted, "Secede!"

If you're looking for some credibility out of this crowd, keep looking. You'll be hard pressed to find any with a cast of characters like this:

In Atlanta,. . . where Fox News Channel conservative pundit Sean Hannity broadcast his show Wednesday night. . . One of his guests was Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher. . .

Some set of spokeswpeople; Sean Hannidy and "Joe the Plumber." Imagine being a celebrity of the fanatical right and nobody know you by anything but "Joe the Plumber." Sad.

Julie Reeves, of Covington, brought her Chihuahua, Arnie, who wore a tiny anti-IRS T-shirt.

Way to protest Julie! What a statement!

So these ignorant little dip shit "tea baggers" as they call themselves (no, really, they do), find deficit spending disagreeable huh? Well I'm really curious as to where they were back in '04 or 07 when the right wing traitors were giving away the national treasury to their corpo-fascist friends? Where were they when the right took the federal budget from a balanced book to record shattering deficits? WTF? Are you people really serious. Of course you're not. You're only following the marching orders of your right wing patriarchal spokesmonkeys. Rush and Sean told you to do it so you are.

NEVER has the United States of America faced an economic melt down where massive federal spending did not cure the problem and get the economy back on it's feet. If you dumb fuck morons knew the first thing about economic history or would even open up your dumbo ears, you'd know that the only cure for our economy is federal bailout. It has been the only thing that has worked in the past and will work now.

Don't get me wrong. I cringe when I think of this spending. It irritates the fuck outta me and makes me want to scream. It's the antithesis of how I think things ought to be, but on the other hand, I know it's gotta be done. I don't totally agree with how it's being done or who is getting the money, but it's probably being done a whole lot better than I could do it and I'm sure, it's being done a whole lot better than MoronMonkeyBoy Bush the Chimp or Puffy McBush would have done it. And speaking of McBush, if he'd been elected do you dumb fucks think he'd have NOT gone into massive bailout mode? Hell, he'd have been pouring money into the oil companies.

So seriously folks, these people out there doing their tea bagging thing are nothing. They're like a really small pimple on the political butt. A pimple that will never fester and pop, just sorta sit there turning a little bit red, swelling slightly and then going away. The radical right has rendered themselves irrelevant. What possible credibility do they have, especially after this fiasco?

OK, let's have a little more entertainment. . . .

Jim Adams of Selma carried a sign that showed the president with Hitler-style hair and mustache and said, "Sieg Heil Herr Obama."

And what was the rising star of the fanatical right doing?

Louisiana Gov. Bobby JingleBells, sent an e-mail to his supporters, letting them know about tea parties throughout the state.

Sometimes ya just gotta step back and enjoy the entertainment value the world provides.

And now treason by an American governor?!

Democrats: Texas gov should disavow secession talk

AP – Texas Gov. Rick Perry responds to a question during a press availability after he signed the first bill …
By KELLEY SHANNON, Associated Press Writer
AUSTIN, Texas – In a state that once was its own nation, a Republican governor who talked about secession without completely dismissing the idea has Democratic lawmakers in an uproar.
Gov. Rick Perry, in comments following an anti-tax "tea party" Wednesday, never did advocate Texas breaking away from the United States but suggested that Texans might at some point get so fed up they would want to leave the union. That was enough to feed opinions for and against secession on Web sites, cable TV and talk radio across the nation.
At the Texas Capitol on Thursday, Rep. Jim Dunnam of Waco, joined by several fellow Texas House Democrats, said some people associate talk of secession with racial division and the Civil War and that Perry should disavow any notion of seceding.
"Talk of secession is an attack on our country. It can be nothing else. It is the ultimate anti-American statement," Dunnam said at a news conference.


"disavow?" How about he be removed from office? This is reckless and irresponsible for even the most lowly government official. For a US governor to talk such talk is nothing short of treason.
Wow, the republicans are in total self destruct mode.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Save money, energy and pollute less. . . welcome to the New World

Reposting some oldies. . . .


Welcome to the New World. I've been saying that a lot lately. Since the election of O-Man, I feel like we really are living in a New World. Imagine what it would be like right now if we'd been relegated to the hell of looking forward to a McCain-Palin administration? What would be different except there would be so many more of us who felt desperate and hopeless. So yes, we really have entered into a New World, but that new world has broader ramifications than just having a liberal, intellectual, person of color in the White House. The two biggest things I see in our future, on a personal basis, is that each and every one of us is going to have to learn to behave in two new and different ways.

1. We've got to start working in a personal way to protect our environment. Each of us can do things in our daily life to make a difference. We can cut nack on the amount of electricity we use. We can cut back on our gas consumption. We can cut back on the amount of trash we send to landfills. We can eat more wisely which will benefit the Earth and our bodies. There are so many things we can do and if everyone does, it will change the world. Welcome to the New World.

2. We've got to quit spending money like mad idiots and riding the merry-go-round of consumerism. Yea, it will fuck up the economy for a while. A lot of rich people will lose their asses and a lot of not so rich people will lose even more than their asses, but we've got to stop this insanity. We don't need all the bullshit we're buying.
We also don't need our government to fund all the bullshit they're funding. These motherfuckers are spending 100s of billions of dollars like my granddaddy used to spend nickles on his grandkids.

Here are some of the things I'm doing:
I'm driving less. I'm consolidating trips. I'm just not making a lot of trips I used to. It's difficult to do when you live 2 miles off the hard road and over ten miles from the nearest convenience store and 20 miles from the nearest town, but then again, if I can cut out one or two trips a week, it really mkes a difference.
i've got a light fixture in my dining room and another in my bedroom that have six bulbs in each of them. When I'm home just doing regular stuff, I don't need six, sixty watt bulbs burning over my ass, so I've unscrewed all but one of them in each fixture and replaced that one with one of those newfangled flourescent screw in bulbs. So instead of burning six sixty watt bulbs, I'm burning one 40 watt flourescent. When folks come over for dinner I screw them all in. . . the lightbulbs. I've done the same thing with the light over my bathroom vanity. I don't need all six of them burning so I've unscrewed four of them. That will not only use a lot less electricity, it will cost me a lot less on my electric bill. See, all this works both ways.

The less bullshit I buy, the less industrial pollution is occurring. The less electricity I pay for, the less pollution occurs.

There are lots of things I really need to do. I need to quit using so many plastic bag and use more of those cheap reusable plastic containers. I need to put some more insulation around my front door. I need to change the air filter in my truck. I need to quit buying gallon jugs of drinking water and start using reusable containers (my well sucks).

Other things I've done. . . turned down the temperature of my hot water heater. Nobody needs scalding hot water coming out of their faucet. Close off rooms that aren't in use. I've got two rooms that don't need to be heated since nobody uses them regularly and no water lines run through or under them. Turn down the heat at night.

Bottom line: There are lots of things we can all do to save energy, cut pollution and spend less money.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Witness the Republican Eve of Destruction

Republicans have a less than 30% approval rating. That's about the same 30% who stood by MoronMonkeyBoy Bush the Chimp until the bitter end no matter how absurd and ridiculous things got. Right to lifers, twisted radical militarists, greedy prick corporate royalists, slack jawed religious fundamentalists and a small assortment of other stupid fucks are the small constituency that they still hang onto. No matter how fucked up and stupid the republicans get, they will probably always hang onto the 30%. It's their bottom and indicative of exactly what percentage of Amurkkkans are complete idiots and total wasters of valuable oxygen and precious food.
But as if the republican dip shits didn't have it bad enough with their hypocritical attacks on the Obama budget, they've got a senator from Alabama pulling out the ghost of Joe Mccarthy and claiming to know of "17 socialists in congress." Oooooooo. "socialists." Maybe they'll have senate hearing and let you be the chairman of a committee made up of nothing but your fellow republicans. Wouldn't that be great.
The real feather in the republican cap these days however is KKKarl Rove. Check out his latest exploits:

Rove: Biden a 'blowhard' and 'liar'

AP –Carol E. Lee –
Karl Rove called Joe Biden a “blowhard” and a “liar” in response to some of the vice president’s comments about the Bush administration.
"He’s a serial exaggerator. If I was being unkind I would say he’s a liar, but it’s a habit he ought to drop,” Rove said on FOX News. "You should not exaggerate and lie like this when you are the vice president of the United States.”


I wonder how long Rove and his dick wad buddies will be around?

This from indictbushnow.org:

Breaking news: Indictment of Bush Officials May Come in Days

* The imminent indictment in Spanish courts of former officials of the Bush Administration is being applauded by civil and human rights organizations and legal scholars. The popular wave of support for indictment of Bush officials will inevitably lead to Bush himself.

* Newsweek Magazine blew open more shocking news about Bush' system of kidnapping, secret prisons and torture. A secret Red Cross report indicates that many kidnapped and tortured people were turned into "disappeared persons" by the CIA under instructions from Bush and Cheney. A former Bush administration official told Newsweek's Michael Isikoff that the information had been hidden from the Red Cross. "The majority of the people in the CIA program are unaccounted for. We don't know what happened to them," a human rights investigator told Isikoff.

* Like Bush, former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, thought his power would shield him from criminal prosecution when his regime kidnapped and tortured and assassinated individuals who became known as the "disappeared." It was when Spanish courts brought indictments against Pinochet that everything changed. As Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights said, "the importance of this investigation [in Spain] can not be understated. Contrary to statements by some, the Spanish investigations are not 'symbolic.' Just ask Augusto Pinochet, who was stranded under house arrest in England and who ultimately faced criminal charges in Chile because of the pressure of the Spanish courts. If and when arrest warrants are issued, 24 countries in Europe are obligated to enforce them. The world is getting smaller for the torture conspirators.”

Ramsey Clark, former U.S. Attorney General has called for the prosecution of Bush and other high officials in the United States, stating, "The greatest danger arising from impunity for President Bush and his cohorts would be that all subsequent officials will feel secure in committing the same crimes and the people, having failed to compel impeachment for such open, notorious and egregious crimes, will feel even more helpless to prevent them. Ultimately the power and the responsibility to prevent criminal acts by government is with the people."

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

What has made you?

Think about it. . . most of the people who read my blog (I know you're out there) and the blogs I read are somewhat educated folks with a curiosity about life. Many of us have developed our humanity and and our ability to be empathetic as we've grown. We got that way because certain events occured and certain people influenced our thinking. For me, there were "ah ha!" moments and influences that persuaded me over time.
I'm going to tell you some of the influences that made me who I am. . . maybe I'll even throw in some of the evil influences.

I grew up in a low brow working class uneducated family. Life was serious and life was fucking us over. That was the general mood. . . except for Uncle Eddie! Uncle Eddie was always happy and always coming up with ways to have fun. When us kids got into a fight or disagreement Uncle Eddie solved the matter and didn't just beat all our asses. Uncle Eddie taught me to have fun, get past the bullshit and laugh. He was also my god father. I still visit him whenever I'm in Florida and he and Aunt Eddie are still a fun loving happy people. I'm really lucky to have had them in my life.

About the time I got into Jr Hi, a HS French teacher named Joe McMurphy moved in next door to us. Joe kinda took me under his arm, or maybe I put myself under his arm, but strategy aside, he taught me a lot. Joe was a well rounded guy who had a lot of life experience. He took me to the big city to hear symphony orchestras. He told me stories of what is was like being a foot soldier in WWII and Korea. He took me to the horse races. We'd spend hours listening to classical music at his place where he'd describe the nuances of the musical piece and the way the individual conductors presented it. Whenever I had a problem and told Joe about it he'd purse his lips, rub his chin and in an empathetic manner apply the hard clear logic of an Army officer and very wise man to the situation. Joe taught me to clear away the haze and the clouds and take positive action.

Bill Nutley and Tim Meadows were professors I had in college. After being taught be them for a couple years I had an "ah ha" moment. I'm not sure when it occurred, but it was sudden. It was the moment that I profoundly realized and had the capability of taking it all apart and discussing it, that every living thing in the world was connected in some manner. They taught me enough good natural biology to realize this fact. Had others taught me that information, perhaps they wouldn't have done it with the love and passion they had for the subjects. Maybe I wouldn't have had that moment and only had cold information and data as a result of my studies in biology. If I'd been taught by others could I have put it all together and come up with that point in time when the biosphere really became the biosphere for me? Don't know, don't care. Those guys taught me what I went to college to learn.

After having a decade or so to contemplate all this, I had a yearning to understand where and if humanity had any positive role to play on this Earth so I went about pursuing graduate studies in humanities. I had two professors there who taught me a couple things that made me realize some fairly profound ideas and put me on a track to further explore those topics. One gentleman, who taught a world religions class, despite my aversion to religious dogma, taught me about the spiritual interconnectedness of all living things. Call it spirit, call it energy or collective conscious, through his ability to ask me questions and demand answers, I was able to grasp this concept that has been most useful in my life. Another professor, despite the fact that she thought she was teaching me English literature, taught me about the possible genius and beauty of the human mind outside the realms of science. These two concepts propelled me into much deeper studies and were the foundation of my scholarship and general hopes for mankind.

Now, how about an evil experience. For 27 years I worked for a corporation that was truly evil. They killed people, they polluted the Earth and the people who worked there were a bunch of pricks for the most part. I made excuses, I tried to change people, I tried to influence things, but mostly, I made excuses for the pay check. Now that's some fucked up shit and it's true. Are there positive aspects of that experience? Oh, I can come up with a few. . . nothing the corporation did, but experiences I took from my tenure at the corporation. Overall it was bad work done around people who had bad ways of acting and I tolerated it for 27 years. How evil is that?

Those are a few of my influential experiences. I'd like to hear other people's experiences in growing.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Congratulations Vermont - A 21st Century American State!

Vermont legalizes gay marriage with veto override

By DAVE GRAM, Associated Press Writer
MONTPELIER, Vt. – Vermont, the state that invented civil unions, on Tuesday became a pioneer once again as the first state to legalize gay marriage through a legislature's vote. The House barely achieved the votes necessary to override Gov. Jim Douglas' veto of a bill that will allow gays and lesbians to marry beginning September 1. Four states now have same-sex marriage laws and other states soon could follow suit.


Ya know, all you slack jawed religious fundies and ignorant moralists can kick and scream as we travel deeper into the 21st Century, but it's not going to change anything. We are a progressive nation. The overall trend in the USA is for more freedom, civil rights and liberties to be granted to more and more people. Oh yea, some dirty little pieces of shit like MoronMonkeyBoy Bush the Chimp, Ronald Raygun and others have tried to take away people's liberties, but those were simply momentary steps backward in an ongoing march toward freedom and justice for all.

So to all you folks who tremble in fear for whatever reason at the thought that your neighbor might someday be a gay couple doing a better job than you of raising their kids, think about it. Perhaps if you spent more time tending to your own business and focusing on what makes you happy you'd spend less time worrying about what other people might be doing when they close the door and turn out the lights.
And to you scumbag power mongers who exploit the fears and shortcomings of a group of ignorant proles. . . good luck. The tide's changing. You will no longer be able to do so with impunity in this country.

This piece of legislation by the legislature of the State of Vermont makes America a stronger nation and makes all of us a freer people.
Thank you Vermont.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Economic fallout

Gun man in NC kills 13 in a nursing home
Gun man in NY State kills 13
Man kills self and 5 children in Washington State
4 cops ambushed and shot and killed in Oakland, CA last week and 3 cops shot and killed in Pittsburgh yesterday


That's just some of the casualties of the past couple weeks. It's getting ugly out there. People are getting to the point where they feel hopeless. I believe that it's not people who have felt hopeless for a long time who do these things, but people who have recently found themselves that way, are totally perplexed by their situation and see no other way out. They take all their anger and rage out on society the only way they can figure out how. Imagine someone cruising through life with a decent job, getting by ok and making ends meet. They have amassed small amounts of material goods, maybe a house, some responsibility toward their family but basically still living from paycheck to paycheck like millions of Americans and then WHAM! It's all pulled out from under them. Nothing left in a few short weeks.

Now, granted, it takes a fucking sociopathic moron to drop down to such horrid levels of behavior, but how many people with sociopathic minds are out there?

They say that sociopathic minds go in two direction. . . a very tiny fraction of a percent of them become serial killers, serial rapists and like minded violent felons. The rest get into professions where a total insensitivity to human emotion and compassion are a positive attribute. According to a report I recently saw on the human brain, high level business executives are very often sociopathic people. Sales people such as those in vehicle sales who will sell a car to anyone at any cost are often sociopathic. My point being, it's not just the confirmed violent offenders who are sociopathic and capable of gross heartless misconduct. Afterall, how many times have we read or heard the neighbors say "he seemed like a quiet fellow who would never do such a thing." How many times will we be hearing those words again as our markets continue to shrink and the human toll mounts?

Saturday, April 4, 2009

West Virginia Pride - Part 2

Awww geez. . .

House GOP chief seeking gay-marriage amendment
By Alison Knezevich
Staff writer
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- For the second time in a week, House of Delegates Minority Leader Tim Armstead on Friday called for a marriage amendment to the West Virginia Constitution, saying it is even more critical now that the Iowa Supreme Court has struck down that state's gay marriage ban.

On Friday morning, Iowa's court issued a unanimous opinion saying a law there banning same-sex marriage violates the Iowa Constitution. The decision opens the door to making Iowa the third state to legalize gay marriage.

"I think that is precisely the fear we have here in West Virginia - that we are just one court decision away" from the recognition of gay marriage, Armstead, R-Kanawha, told his colleagues in a brief floor speech.

Since 2000, West Virginia has had a Defense of Marriage Act, which bars the state from recognizing same-sex marriages.

Armstead and others who want a constitutional amendment say that law could be challenged in court, as Iowa's law was.


Guns n god republicans, and in this case a backwater slack jawed religious moralist moron.
Welcome to West "by god" Virginia.
What next?

I wonder what these ignorant rubes are afraid of? Perhaps it's the same old WV inferiority complex in that they have no confidence in their ability to raise their children, keep their marriage stable, have a prosperous ethical community, etc., so they have to go on the attack against anything they might perceive as complicating their already overwhelmingly complicated lives of moral balance. What is it about THEIR marriages that makes them think that gays marrying would be a threat to their marriage? Are they afraid their partner will dump them for a gay person? Are they afraid they won't be able to resist that which they've fought their whole life and will dump their partner for another gay person?
Is it simply profound ignorance? I mean, do they really think in this day and age that homosexuality is something that people have a choice about? Perhaps they really are simply profoundly ignorant. Afterall, many of these are the same buffoons who would have you to believe that a sky pixie plunked his magic twanger 6000 yrs ago and brought the Earth and all it's inhabitants into existence.
What do you think?

Monkey brained republicans. . .

. . . not that democrats are anything much better, but. . .


Republicans want a more restrained budget approach

By WILL LESTER, Associated Press Writer – Sat Apr 4, 6:28 am ET
WASHINGTON – American families are having to sacrifice, and Republicans say the federal government should follow their example.
Budget plans offered by Republicans hold down deficits while addressing the struggling economy, health care and retirement security, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin said Saturday in the Republican radio and Internet address.


WTF?! How is it that these little monkey dicks have the nerve to even open their mouths on such topics. It was the republicans who bent over, spread em wide and let the corporate royalty have their way with them for 12 years. They are the ones who got us into this gigantic mess of historic proportions while on their knees with corporate royalist dick in their mouth dragging them along and royalist dick up their ass pushing them along. Their massive plan to spend like their is no tomorrow with all that spending going to the top .01% and to let the military industrial complex (haven''t heard that term in a while have ya?) plunder the national treasury while contributing nothing is how we ended up here in depressed America.
They are the ones who sold their souls to the big money (really fucking big money, not just a bunch of petty millionaires) so that they could be elected to office and seated in pseudo positions of power.
Now they have the balls to sit there in all their fake finery and pretend to lecture the democrats and especially President Obama on what needs to be done and how it needs to be done? Spending isn't the answer? I'm sure they believe that reigning in Wall Street and putting an end to corporations raiding the national treasury isn't the answer either.
Rep. Paul Ryan and you other little midget dicked dancing monkeys of the corporate royalist: Shut the fuck up. Clear enough?
You constituency comprises that 20 something percent of slacked jawed moron yokels (many of whom live in WV and other midwest and southern states) who will vote "guns n god" no matter how horribly wrong you fucked up agenda goes. Well, there's also the .01% who will support you and vote for you in the hopes of squeezing one last nickel out of Amercian tax payer's pockets.
Hit the road mother fuckers. Aint nobody, with the sense of a marginally mentally handicapped person who has any regard whatsoever for their country and our people listening to you anymore. You'll find that out next Nov. when the rest of you are purged from positions of influence and the new guard takes over completely.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Getting Liberal in Iowa

Iowa court says gay marriage ban unconstitutional

AP –
By AMY LORENTZEN, Associated Press Writer
DES MOINES, Iowa – Iowa's Supreme Court unanimously struck down the state's gay marriage ban on Friday, making Iowa the third state where same-sex couples can tie the knot.
In its decision, the court upheld a 2007 district court judge's ruling that the law violates the state constitution. It strikes the language from Iowa code limiting marriage to only between a man a woman.
"The court reaffirmed that a statute inconsistent with the Iowa constitution must be declared void even though it may be supported by strong and deep-seated traditional beliefs and popular opinion," said a summary of the ruling issued by the court.


Iowa. . . isn't that the state that gave Obama the nod in its caucuses and pretty much set him up on the road to the White House?
There seems to be a streak of sanity and good sense in those people from the heartland. Yea, I know it's a republican state that generally votes "guns n god," but ya gotta give credit where credit is due. They're the third state in the union to OK gay marriage and the first state to give Obama a primary victory. Wassup out there in Iowa besides corn and hogs? Makes me wanna head west and have a tenderloin sandwich or a maid rite. I'll bet none of you hill folks know what a maid rite is.

But speaking of hill folk, what do we have to indicate any sort of progressive bend here in WV? Well, we don't have a death sentence and I don't hear a lot of rumblings to get one. . . if you can think of anything else, please let me know.