2011

Let us count the Democrat ways:

Gone are Ghadaffi, bin Laden, Mubarak, Kim Dong Il, and several other despots.

We have seen our own government struggle, with Tea Party politics, GOP pretenders to the throne, and conservative morals that go bang in the night.

We have seen Democratic leaders pressured to give up their posts, with concervative vitriol at an alltime high. We have seen good people go down and not get up again. We have seen the growth of a new, progressive netowrk, railing against the evils of Republicans.

We have seen the birth of the "99%"--an effort to bring people together, to curtail the greed and power of the 1% richest people and corporations in the country. We have seen the movement grow, wane, and enter the public consciousness.

We have seen the fall of influence with some, like Rupert Murdoch, and the rise of others. We have brought the tradition of protest back to the fore, and public awareness has increased.

We have seen some of our own pass away: Warren Christopher, Geraldine Ferraro, Fred Shuttlesworth, William Donald Schaefer, Sargent Shriver, John Shalikashvili, Charles Manatt, Sidney Harman, Richard Holbrooke, and Dorothy Rodham, Hillary Clinton's mother.

Whatever we hope for in 2012, we will still see the deaths of many--far too many, for political reasons and power struggles.

But we can still hope, as we do every year, for less death, for more fulfilled promises, for a time of peace.

We can disagree with our political opposites, but finding a single, clear focus of a bi-partisan goal might still be possible, if we can clarify what almost all of us want in the end.

Goodbye to all that other stuff--let's take a go at a new year.

About Christmas. ...

I've lately been seeing some advertising, though I'm sure it's been around for awhile, that proclaims "Jesus is the reason for the season."

Okay, so here's where I am going to rant.

I don't agree--at all.

To begin with, historically, the holiday being celebrated at this time of year was NOT the birth of someone named Jesus, it was a mesh of druid/wiccan/pagan holidays for the Winter Solstice, Saturnalia, and who knows-what-else-was-thrown-in. Christians turned to those festivities to reel in the pagans and convert them.

There are a lot more non-Xtians in the country now that don't view Xmas as anything other than a celebratory time to get together with friends and family, and have a good time. And it is offensive to most of those people that Xtians try to make it into "their" holiday.

Children of people who follow no religion shouldn't have to be left out. AFAIC, Xmas stopped being about religion even before I was born, and we're talking over 50 years ago now.

The point is, Xmas is NOT just about the Xtian religious traditions. Hell, if they wanted to truly celebrate the exact day during the year that their savior was born, they would do the research and figure it out.

Let the REST of us have our own reasons to enjoy the last week in December, for whatever reason we decide to celebrate. And for those who would bitterly complain, too bad. It's not your "holy day," and in fact, never really has been.

We've all heard of racism

tourism, escapism, ageism and the like, but I have a new one: weightism.

I'm sick and tired of having doctors tell me that all my medical problems are connected to my weight. While I know some things are directly related, I also know that nothing is ever so clearly cut and dried.

There are thousands of people who are overweight that are in perfectly healthy condition, and there are thinner people who have horrible health.

I'm tired of going to doctors who like to point out my weight is the chief obstacle in front (and back) of me, and not consider any further discussion on the subject.

A long time ago, a thin friend and I had the same problem with our knees. We both ended up seeing a doctor for it.

I got an earful from an asshole who did nothing for me other than yelling at me for being overweight, and she got a knee brace, attention and a follow-up plan.

If that isn't "weightism," I don't know what it is.

Everybody Wants to Rule the World

So. Somehow or another, you've become ruler of the world. It's been pretty much bloodless, and you can do anything you want with these new found powers.

For myself, I would do away with certain people in some way or another--the main ones being Norquist, Cheney, and Rove in the political arena, with Dobson and Tony Perkins on the religious side. I wouldn't kill them, just completely make them irrelevant somehow.

I would also get rid of some people like the Koch brothers by putting them into epic bankruptcy, taking away their money and influence. I'd make them poor enough to even perhaps apply for welfare!!

I'd punish poachers by meting out to them the same fate that they plan for animals.

I'd reduce war to a point where there is one individual against another, in a boxing ring. Winner surrenders, no one killed.

I'd cut down the overpopulation of cats, dogs and other pets, eventually doing away with the euthanasia of animals for this and other reasons. Animals that are born will get loving and forever homes, and all lost pets would find homes with loving and responsible owners. For those poor animals that have no homes and no hope, I would make sure that they found homes or shelter and food. I'd also make sure that those who harmed animals deliberately would be given stiff sentences, to the point where torturing and killing an animal would result in punishment nearly comparable with the same sentence as for harming a human. No animals of any kind would be used in labs for any reason--new computer tools would be able to do even more for any kind of testing needed.

People in third world countries would be educated, and learn how to deal with such things with engineering, chemistry, physics, etc., so that they could help themselves. Outlaws and dictators would be defeated, and honest people would be elected to democratic governments.

Banks would be nationalized, and the financial institutions would be strictly regulated. No multi-million dollar bonuses for executives ever again. No tax breaks for anyone, especially those making over $250,000. They would pay a very strict 39%, with no loopholes at all. The same as everyone else. Anyone making under $25,000 would not pay taxes at all.

I get very upset with some things which some people might consider irrelevant, like those commercials on TV for reverse mortgages. These commercials never say during the commercials anything about your home being owned by the bank when you get the money. For this reason, I want ALL commercials to make sure the public knows EVERYTHING about the product, including revealing things which will ensure complete discovery of the fine print.

Corporations will lose their "person-hood" and will have some restrictions on them. If they are incorporated outside the US, they will be forced to pay a tariff tax equal to the amount (or more) they would be paying as a tax as if they were a US company. In addition, new laws will make it impossible to contribute more than $2500 to ANY candidate, and all PACs and lobbyists will have the same restrictions, making it nearly impossible for anyone to influence members of Congress with gifts or money.


I've been thinking about this stuff for a long time, notes for a potential novel down the line. But I'd love to hear what others have to add as well--it's always a great way to discuss points of view that way!

More on my megalomania ideas will come.

Karl Rove--asshole

This is in respoinse to a Huffpost article on Karl Rove. What a miserable bastard he is. As usual, he pretends to know the "mood" of the country better than most, when in fact, he is a nastys asshole who should be put in Gitmo, as an enemy of this country. What I wouldn't do to see that happen.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/29/karl-rove-barack-obama-2012-election_n_1118531.html


Karl Rove needs to get lost--perm­anently. He's a vicious provocateu­r who is willing to slander anyone who gets in his way--we've seen his repeated influence over and over again, and he needs to stop meddling in the politics of this country. What an ass.

Is he right? I don't know. What I DO know, is that it's plainly obvious that not one single candidate on the right is made of presidenti­al "stuff" and shows the complete lack of crednetial­s, trustwirth­iness and ability to run this country. This has been the case since the neginning of the millennia-­-if anyone wants to say GWB possessed the skills needed to run the United States, they need only look at the godawful mess this country was in before President Obama assumed office.Onl­y a deaf, dumb or blind man would think that this country has benefitted from a Repub president.

Karl needs to get the hell out of the kingmaking business--­he just doesn't belong there, and should reture to some island with no phones, no PDA, no computer and no political apparatus. He can have a pencil and paper so he can write up his political manifesto for the world to read--no sane person would ever give him the time of day anymore.

Go away, Karl Rove. You're a menace to society.

Class struggle: the 1%

I grew up poor. It was okay, as we got out of the house and went to parks (free), the beach (free), the country (my grandparents) and stores (window shopping). Things weren't perfect, of course, and sometimes things got scrappy, but it never stopped us from enjoying life. Nevertheless, we learned a code of ethics as we grew up, based mostly on common sense, decency and conscience. We learned to share. Even if we didn't want to, we had to. While there was always something we preferred to keep to ourselves, after awhile, we found we couldn't hoard something while someone else went without. Many rich kids don't understand that--what's theirs is theirs, and what's yours is also theirs. We learned to be kind. Too often, some other living being is in a worse off position than our own, and it doesn't hurt to offer them a hand, and be good to them. It helps your karmic destiny, and it helps a fellow being. Kindness is underrated for so many people above a certain station. They never really understand why they need to be kind to anyone. We learned to be polite. Good manners aside, it's always right to respect your elders, say "please" and "thank you" and "have a good day." Sometimes your politeness might be the only spirit of goodwill someone receives all day. Politeness to anyone under their class level is ludicrous. Why should they be polite to their servants and other workers? We learned to be hopeful. We knew that hard work and persistence could create a world we would be comfortable in--nothing fancy, but a home and a lack of worry about basics. We might not have a mansion and a fleet of Ferraris, but the world we knew held promise, and we wanted to get that promise. Comfort is something many rich people don't have. The comfort many of us look for is beyond their comprehension. They are never comfortable. They are always filled with dissatisfaction, wanting, more, more more. They fall in love with their things and the power they hold, and forget about the small things which make most of us happy. We learned to find happiness when and where we could. It meant that it wasn't the big things which kept us going, it was the small things. A hug. Stroking the fur on a pet. Watching a TV show that made us think, or laugh, or invigorated us. Smiles. Memories. A sea shell on the beach. A box of crayons. A Thanksgiving turkey. A Christmas present just for us. I guess after a while, happiness becomes irrelevant when you no longer know what makes you happy. Too much of a good thing, and all that. A person becomes quite jaded living in a world where you are lost, and don't know what you are looking for. There is a scene in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, near the end when Voldemort and Dumbledore are combating each other in the Ministry of Magic, and Voldemort is trying to get Harry to go over to the dark side. Harry, in the throes of being possessed, tells Voldemort that he feels sorry for Voldemort, because he will never know love, or friendship or any other "feel good" emotion. THIS is the 1%. They are frightened little children. They need power because they have nothing else at all. They will never learn what it's like to be excited over a day at the public beach, or putting a sea shell up to your ear and listen to the ocean. They will never know what it's like to get a bicycle only half put together on Christmas morning. They will never know what it feels like to excited about their first real paycheck. They will never understand all the joys of being be happy over the small things as much as the big things. They end up being aimless, only living to acquire more--more money, more power, more influence, more danger and anything else that can pierce the thick skin of their indifference. With privilege comes boredom. With privilege comes an inescapable apathy over the human condition. Sometimes, we have to feel sorry for them, but sometimes, we need to make them see whose red blood keeps this country--and all the others in the world--running, and who is really in charge. Perhaps we can teach them some humility along the way, and show that money isn't everything.

I've gotta tell you

I realize I haven't kept up with this as well as I should be, but real life intervenes, and I can't summon a whole lot of enthusiasm about writing sometimes. I think this is a good example of the writing I do online, and while I'm outspoken on the subject, some people might find it enjoyable. "A point for debating, I hope. If someone doesn't believe in evolution, how come they're eager enough to access all the benefits of it, like anti-biotics, fertility aids, DNA testing, general medicine, et al. All things being equal, I think there needs to be an argument that if you don't believe in the foundation, you shouldn't be entitled to those things created out of the science of evolution. I think there would be a lot less fundies around if something like this was enacted at some level." Original article here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=214x317134

My latest HuffPost comment

I have this problem with shallow people, the Kardashians, especially. I found this article amusing, and commented on it. Enjoy! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Mary_Hartery/michael-buble-calls-kim-kardashian-a-bitch-in-concert-_n_1092393_118351143.html

"Had Enough? Recall them ALL!"

"Had Enough? Recall them ALL!"

Enough of the do-nothings and spineless members of Congress. If they're whiny, helpless and inactive, perhaps we shouldn't rely on elections anymore--go straight for the jugular--

RECALL THEM.

Aren't we suppose to be the POWER behind our elected officials? I believe it is our Constitution which reads:

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

No more shit: WE are the People, and we need to make sure those assholes in Congress AND SCOTUS know that WE are their bosses, NOT vice-versa.

None of this crap we're going through right now. It's rather disingenuous of ALL of us to put up with what we've been putting up. We've got to do more than face Wall Street, stage protests, or even whining about our situations. It won't be until we do what they're been doing in Wisconsin and contemplating in other states. It's not going to be easy, but organizing well-greased recall machines will bring us better control of what our government does, help us have a more positive experience and manage our allegedly "populist" government much better.

A question

I don't "date" anyone, but I always have friends to go out with, when I do go out, but this puzzles me, and I hope someone will have some sort of an answer for it.

My sister is now 50. She has been married, raised three kids, the youngest of who is 19 now. She takes care of my mom and brother in California. She has been a drug addict, and is an alcoholic. She's had a multiple run of guys in her life, most of them not so nice.

So she said a few weeks ago that she now has a new boyfriend. She said that he looks out for her, and buys her everything. He takes her to bars and clubs, and buys her drinks everywhere they go.

All well and good, were she not an alcoholic. How can anyone actually think someone is "being good" to them, when they are exploiting an inherent weakness in her basic make-up? I don't really know how to look at this kind of situation, because 1) I don't have addictive tendencies, and 2) While I go out, I don't need to worry about drinking. (It's been years since I last had a drink.)

Is someone who is "looking out" for that person's welfare going to allow that person who they're supposed to care about do the very thing which is harming that person in the first place?

Again, I don't understand this kind of situation because I've never been through it, so if someone could clue me in, I would like to understand better. It just appears to me that your addictions are the things that are killing you, and denying that they are problems is just another way to make things worse for yourself in the end.

Just as an FYI-my sister's very best longtime friend died in March of 2010 from cirrhosis of the liver, at the age of 49.

Another reason I ask is because it was often the same kind of thing in the 60s for my biological mother, who I knew as my aunt. She, too, was an alcoholic (it runs in the family) whose boyfriend took her places, but always took her to bars and clubs. I know it's not an unusual phenomenon, but it seems to me that someone with a deadly addiction doesn't need any more reasons to keep doing something which is essentially killing them.

Do you feel lucky today?

There are many problems facing the world these days, but one of those problems is a silent one--one that few people actually probably don't think very much of, but hell, I have a lot of time on my hands, so I think of things like this.

There might be many shades of grey in this comment, but the fact is, some people are just plain lucky, and some who aren't as lucky.

For some reason, some of these "lucky" people think that they are, in some way, better than everyone else. So when these people get power, they tend to bend all the rules to their own liking, whether that's for the good, or not. When they do this, they make hell for the rest of us.

Like monarchs. In olden days, some monarchies believed that their blood was a different color. So when one of their "own" was a tad mentally challenged--and a lot of them were, considering how much inbreeding there was in some royal circles--it didn't matter--blue blood was blue blood. So if an imbecile ruled a tony country, it didn't matter if he/she drooled out of the corner of their mouth, the people were still obligated to clear the spittle away from his/slack jaw. Talk about luck!

In US history, we all think pretty highly of our Founding Fathers. They planned and launched a rebellion to extricate this budding nation from the steel grip of a monarch--one of those crazies mentioned above. But the truth is, we might have never heard of Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, John Adams or Thomas Paine. They weren't the only ones fighting for the colonies, but who remembers Adam Pierce, John Smith or even Michael Brown? Hardly anyone! And why? Because they were unlucky enough to die before the revolution actually begun! (Actually, the names are make-believe, so you don't need to go check them out at Wiki)

Nowadays, there are essentially, as always, two different kinds of rich people: those who made their money, working damned hard for it, and those who got their money from their families. We've seen people like GWB, as with many monarchs as imbecilic as they come, who not only lucked into being born in a well-to-do family, but lucky enough to be bailed out constantly by that rich family. We've seen some lucky people who are actually quite beneficent, and we've seen lucky people who are full-on vampires, who suck the life out of everyone around them, and who don't think that ordinary rules apply to them. (The Koch brothers, Karl Rove and Dick Cheney come to mind)

Now, good guys also have good luck as well, so it's not just the assholes who think this country owes them a living. Because good guys often share their good fortune with those around them, we can have an affinity for them and what they have brought to us. People like George Clooney, Keith Olbermann, Warren Buffett, Barack Obama, the Clintons, Jon Stewart.... In most of these cases, their good fortune benefited a lot of us.

The truth is, most of us don't really notice luck, except for not being the one to win the Superlotto, Mega Millions or some other high payout game of chance. Someone once said that luck is what you make it to be, but that really doesn't explain such things as who gets born into a rich family or a poor one, who ends up with brains and who doesn't, who ends up successful and who doesn't. Yes, there are other reasons to be pointed out in the case of some people, like drive, persistence, risk-takers, and others who work harder than most people they know. But if two equally matched people met on a corner, with the same chances at getting a particular job, one is going to have a smidge better luck than the other and thus get the job.

Some people call what eventually happens to them fate, destiny, karma, whatever. I'm betting on it being just born lucky. However, with my propensity for continuously losing at almost everything, I could be wrong. It won't be the first time.

Are we ready to fight yet?

There are people in this country who hate us.

People who hate gays.
People who hate married gays.
People who hate poor people.
People who hate women.
People who hate black people.
People who hate foreign nationals.
People who hate the religions and creeds of other people.
People who hate the homeless.
People who hate educated people.
People who hate tolerance.
People who hate letting slip even one person from the death penalty.
People who hate mixed marriages--of ANY kind.
People who hate science and evolution.
People who hate secularism.
People who hate everything about liberals and progressive.


They're all around us. We see them every day, often smile at them, even when they see us as being different--something ELSE they hate. They can even be longtime friends, or family members. They could be anyone.

They're not all rich, but some of them, hell, a LOT of them are filthy rich. A lot of them have no regard for the people they hire, and who treat them like shit. A lot of them commit crimes, pretending that the laws in this country were never designed for them. They claim whatever they do is right, and what everyone else says or does is wrong.

THAT'S IT.
They are the ones who need to find out first hand what law and crime really are like.

Anyone ever heard of the French Revolution, where all those born of nobility were beheaded without further ado? That's where WE come in.

No need to behead them--we're a lot less bloodthirsty than they are. What should we do? I suggest the following.

Laws about bribing law enforvement people should be actually enforced.
Laws about making sure that children are not being used as slaves in any household.
Laws about IRS taxes must be enforved, and a flat tax, with no extra tax exemptions should be enforced.
Laws about churches remaining uninvolved with politics should also be enforced--NO examptions. If even one example xan be shown of a church participating in anything even resembling government, their tax emempt status is revoked.
Laws about lobbyists and PACs--dissolution if it's found out that they bribed a congress person in any way.
Laws about congress people staying the hell away from all religious groups.
There are oh, so many more.

They might be richer, or they might be more driven, but we outnumber them all. We CANNOT allow them to blackmail this nation into continued servitude for hateful people such as these. We outnumber them--just remember that. And whether we ever fought for the freedom of everyone in the country or not on a battlefield, the biggest battlefield is right under our feet, in our heart, and in our mind.

It's a matter of survival. We need to take it to the streets, no matter where we are, and point out the truth to every household, every person who lives in this country. We need to make our wishes and thoughts known, and for those who don't know the truth, we need to explain it to them. We can't wait any longer. This country was fought for because some very brave people did what they had to do, even when they knew they could be hanged for their revolution, and whethers the Americans revolting against the British, or the French civilians fighting against the aristocracy, it's still a war, and it's one we have to wage--and win.

A Day to Mourn, But Also a Day to Rejoice

We all know of the tragedy of the date, September 11, 2001. We all know the horrors of that day. There is no doubt about those things, but there is something else--something worth rejoicing: it was a day when the majority of the people in this world helped us grieve, when they showed their concern and their love for all Americans.

To the north, the great country of Canada stood out. When international flights were grounded in their approach to US airports, a lot of people were stranded in airports in Canada. And for long periods of time, Canadians brought those passengers into their homes, and made them feel welcome.

In Europe, "Yanks" were seeing the same thing. People in European countries made Americans feel welcome, and were there to comfort them when it looked very dark indeed.


All around the world, leaders of most nations were sending their deepest condolences to those who were killed, and for the attacks themselves. (http://www.september11news.com/InternationalReaction.htm)

But while diplomats were making their own comments, it was the pouring out of emotion from the people of other nations that really hit home, and helped heal in some ways the grief that consumed the country.

But while we have often helped out other nations when tragedy has struck, it was a turning point that we found ourselves in the opposite position, and it was needed: Americans finally realized that no matter where people are raised, what language they speak, what god they believe in, or the color of their skin, we're all still human beings underneath it all.

So, here is a toast to the countries and the people there for helping out Americans on 9/11/01, and continuing to help after that day of tragedy. One thing which we should have learned that day was we shouldn't be continuing to just mourn the deaths of Americans on that day, but find comfort and brotherhood with people the world over, and thank them for being there when we needed them the most.

I raise my glass to all of you.

My sister-in-law finally passed away yesterday morning

I wrote about her in a post about 10 days ago. She died of cancer, peacefully in her sleep, free of pain and misery.

My brother and my nephew Ryan were with her at home. Chris had a few more calls to make, but I think he's at peace, too, because he said he's felt so useless that he couldn't do anything more for her. Now, at last he might be able to sleep, knowing she's not suffering any longer.

She hated talking with me about politics and religion! Now, I have very few people who I can argue with about these topics. I'll miss her.

I started putting a "care" package together a couple of years ago--filling it with little stuff like notepads, body wash, collectables. ...but it's never gotten mailed. She had one on her end, too, for me, but they're just a small box that you toss things into as a surprise you can have someone open and enjoy. But like some other things in my life, it still sits there.

I'm surprised I cried as much as I did when I heard. They're in Vegas, and I'm back in Mass., and I haven't seen her in 5 years. My brother and I have grown closer--perhaps that is a gift from this whole event.

RIP, Barbie. You can see your mother, brothers and sister, aunts and uncles and everyone else now.

Obama blinked

Giving in to Boehner's request was a direct slap in the face to those supporters who have had so many opportunties to apologize for Obama's leading to the center right.

If Obama really thought the pukes could make him a one-term president, you would think he would fight tooth and nail to make that one term a damned fine term! What happens if they DO have that kind of clout? How will Obama be remembered? Right now, he will go down as a floundering suck-up, who gave in at every turn to the House of Representatives and the pukes, who put the country into an even deeper recession, who let the corporations and the rich get even more powerful, and the weak and the poor more miserable, and who continued the policies of the worst president in history, kept us in war in countries where we shouldn't even be fighting in, and who promised big changes, only one big one which he kept--a health care plan that is still iffy in some states at best.

Has anything REALLY changed since Bush took office in 2001?

If Obama promised us a certain kind of leadership before the 2008 election and he hasn't kept his word to date, how the fuck can we trust him to be any more assertive and bold in a second term?

Motality: The Great Equalizer

I talked with my brother today about my SIL
Posted by hyphenate in The DU Lounge
Thu Aug 25th 2011, 01:14 AM
He said she's not going to be alive much longer. Back in late 2005, she found out she had rectal cancer. She was in Stage 4. They gutted her partially then, when they did a whole hysterectomy and she ended up with a colostomy, but it had gone into her lymph nodes in her groin, and she's been through three separate chemos, as well as radiation. A tumor grew into the artery in her groin, and then went into the bone. It became inoperable.

She found out only in the last 5 years, that her mother had died from colorectal cancer, too. When she was younger, they (her and her siblings) that her mom died from liver or stomach cancer. If she had been told the truth, she might have been able to get tests earlier, and possibly stop it all from happening sooner.

There were 9 kids, and they scattered to the four winds when their mom died. She only knows that she'll be likely the fourth one to die, with three dying in their 40s. She has no idea where the rest, except for her oldest sister, live, or even if they're still alive.

She and my brother were married in 1976, when they were 19. They've been married for 35 years, with two grown sons, and her first grandchild, born in the last year.

She and I are the same age. She was always the "healthy" one. She ate right, did daily exercise, and watched her weight. I'm not healthy by any means, but I have to wonder why she is dying first. No matter what we do with ourselves, our genes are far more influential than we would like to believe.

Hospice is helping out now. There is someone there all the time with her. She's got a pain killing pump, but my brother told me she sleeps a lot now. I still find it a bit tough to think of her as gone. We haven't been that close in the last decade, but we would talk more than we used to. Now, she doesn't remember to call back, or she loses her concentration.

They live in Las Vegas, so I'm not able to be near, but her sister will go. She has the ability to help out, which is good.

I feel so much for my brother. It's like people forget the ones who survive, who have sacrificed, who have only had the welfare of the dying on their minds for so long. Those who will be alone at the end of the night, wondering how they will sleep without that other person next to them. My brother is vibrant, alive, and filled with energy. He didn't have an auspicious start--he was a sickly child, who had his right lung removed when he was about 2 years old. But now, you would never know it. He works as an electrician in Vegas, with many of his days spent in 3-digit weather outside. He built a motorcycle in his garage.

I know we can't live forever. It might be nice for some people, I suppose, but we only have this one life, and we need to live for it as best we can. And sometimes, that can't happen because we're saddled with health issues or handicaps, but we just need to look forward, and not backward.

For me, this is wisdom I've learned, though I haven't always followed it myself. I think there are times when we forget we're only human. In my mind, I have traveled the universe and seen the depths of the oceans; I've enjoyed the friendships of both man and beast, and tried to sort out my own existence. There is a beginning and an end to everything. We become part of the history we have seen in our own worlds, whatever light we have given to the world is meaningful in one way or another.

My brother has been happy with my SIL for most of these years they were together, and he has all that to remember. He has seen her health deteriorating over the years of her illness, and that's always difficult.

I remember a long time ago, when I delineated death into two categories: a "good" death was fast and unexpected, but it left a toll on the family and friends; and a "bad" death, which was prolonged and painful, but was better on the family and friends because they had the chance to say goodbye, and used to the idea that the dying person would be gone. Death itself isn't a horrible thing in my mind. You just don't "exist" anymore. I've been around death all my life in one way or another, and in and of itself, it's nothing worth fearing. When the last call is made, you don't care because you aren't there anymore. Are we so afraid of something so natural that we can't accept it when it comes?

But yeah--it's those around you who fear death. Fear of losing you. Fear that they can no longer share their lives with you, creating new memories. Fear of what they will do, how they must learn to be alone.

I just thought I would share some of my thoughts. Barbie and I had our differences, but we also had some good times, too. She was Felix to my Oscar. We argued, and didn't speak for times on end. But this will leave a hole in my life, too. I'll miss having someone to argue with, who I loved as well.

So Much Evil in this World....

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/08/12/facing-medical-torture-chinese-bear-reportedly-kills-cub-then-self/
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I can't post any part of this story, because it breaks my heart. But it makes me so sick to see these kinds of articles. Some alleged "human beings" in this world are among the most depraved monsters I've ever become acquainted with in one way or another. There are days and longer periods of time when I realize a great many people in this world need to be dealt a justice as brutal as what they deal to other creature in this world, especially those who could--and would--never torture, maim, kill or otherwise harm another, except for food or other basic need.

When will we learn? Or maybe the question is, WILL we ever learn? If I had the power to pass judgement on others who do these horrific things, they would all be dead.

And before I get the argument about food, clothing, yada, yada, re-read that sentence: "never torture, maim, kill or otherwise harm another, except for food or other basic need." We are not supposed to be barbarians. We are not suppose to kill for pleasure. We do, yes. Need we? I don't think so. We might show some degree of artistic beauty over the centuries, but humans have also spent millenia inproving torture, ways of extermination, and more and more ways and reasons to justify the killing of both other humans, and all the animals in creation, including the rather paradoxial justification for religion.

My life has been spent, in one way or another, trying to understand the mores and rationale of humans in their domination of this planet. If I were an alien trying to decide whether to subjugate humanity or simply wipe us out, I would vote for eradication without a second thought. Those who have compassion, who have wisdom and an immense empathy for others can't, and will never be able to win over the likes of the cruel and evil ones. If it came to that, I'd say that it would be wiser to destroy the beauty in the world to keep the evil from inflitrating the rest of the universe.

It probably won't happen in my lifetime, but who knows? All I can say is that humans have no right to pat themselves on the back for anything. When even animals kill their own to escape from the horrors of the world of humans, we know we're not worth a second look.

The Wonders of Science, or the Wonder of God?

The fact is, the Christian god is a limited deity. By the reasoning of these worshippers, god is a very personal god, one who has no center of calm, who jumps down a person's throat with the swiftness of a major temper, who cannot tolerate any kind of independent thought, whose omnipotence and omniscience is stifled by his own petty jealousy and fear that his adherents will seek out "forbidden" knowledge against his will.

But it's not just the Christian god who holds such limited power--many, many other gods, of one culture or another, seem to have similar shortcomings.

If there were indeed some "deity" that existed, I would never put faith in anything less than the creator of our universe, and any others that might exist. Such a creator would not be confined to planet earth or its environs, but who would continue on its infinite journey, perhaps unaware of who or what it has created along the way.

But it doesn't matter. Whether we choose to believe in something beyond our own borders in the galaxy, the fact remains: science and the knowledge we acquire through it, beats any kind of conscious thought, even if its that of an alleged deity.

Look--there's a rainbow! Beautiful, isn't it? The visible spectrum, fresh and lovely, it shines only after the rain ends, and holds us in its grasp even if it's limited in how long it lasts. Do you feel more awe believing that a god created it, or if there is a scientific explanation for it? Isn't it more hypnotic knowing that it can be repeated, and isn't just a "miracle" that a god created on a whim?

The aurora borealis, a sunset, the green earth, flowers, Grand Canyon, or a tree--the science behind each of these things makes it not only repeatable, but also taken for granted at times. But science knows that all these things, from a rock to a living creature has an origin, and has an explanation for its presence.

There is no hand of god working magic, there is no simple beginning shrouded in mystery. The god is something that ancient cultures created because they could not relate to deeper and more complex origins. If there was a storm, the gods were angry. If someone got killed by lightning, they had been wicked. If someone had "displeased" god, they would end up dying relatively soon.

But there was no science to explain why a storm starts, why lightning strikes, and why someone could have a heart attack, suffer a stroke, die from cancer, or even be pummeled by a brain aneurysm. Medicine was, at that time, and for a long time afterwards, be limited to battlefield first aid, and little else.

I have heard people talking about "god's miracles" and felt uncomfortable thinking someone has more awe of what a gpd might create, than what science has helped to define.

A "fingerprint of god" fills me with less wonder than knowing that I can enjoy something over and over again because I understand how something occurs, and how often I can be assured that it won't be the last time I see that wonder.

Atheism vs. New Atheism

Until a couple of days ago, I had never known that term. But after I heard it, I had to research it. Appears the term relates to the more recent line-up of atheistic writers--Hitchens, Harris, Dawkins and Stenger--and their more aggressive, in-your-face style of trying to discount all religion, and pretty much trying to make those who believe in some element of faith in their lives, and with the intent to tell everyone to grow the fuck up, and get rid of religious practices altogether.

Okay, so I'm an atheist/agnostic. I've been one for years now, and that was something I talked about with few people until I joined FB. And while I despise the radical religious right, the luddites who want to believe that the earth was created 10,000 years ago, who choose to believe mega-church preachers will be welcomed with warmth through the pearly gates, my focus has never been to disarm people of their inherent right to believe in whatever they want to believe, as long as they don't try to make their beliefs the beliefs of a country, try to teach hare-brained ideas to children that cripple their fruitful brains, or harm anyone, I could give a rat's ass as to what someone believes.

I have many friends who worship quietly, without pushing anything on others. And I try to respect that aspect of our freedoms. I find the thought disquieting to be as extreme as the hard religious right, but on the opposite end of the spectrum. I think calling anyone who has religious beliefs to be "off their rocker" (except for those mentioned above) is going way beyond the rules of etiquette and decorum, and is, just incredibly nasty.

A friend of mine once told me that she believed that everyone is here for a reason--everyone's life--or death--is a calling to, as she said, a "higher power." I personally feel she might be right in some ways. For this friend, I know the last seven years of her life were spent with the fervent hope that her terminal illness resulting from sleep apnea could help someone else avoid the problems she had. She used her faith to advocate for an action on the people she met. With some people, they believe their lives are destined to move in one direction, and not another. She never preached her faith, but showed people that her beliefs lead to something good, something she could actually relay to people.

Religion isn't really about who your god is, how to pray to him or her, or even how to follow the faith. It's about interpretation, and how a person views the world as a result of whatever connection they have to others, to themselves, and to their lives. If you believe in a god, and were raised within a belief system, it's one of the ways you practice what you've been taught. Depending on what value system you have, you will learn how to respect others, acknowledge their ideas and ideology, and become a worthy person. But once you begin to believe that you're better than someone else because of your belief system, you end up hurting someone, and you become a person who can't see others for themselves.

New atheism is a crock--a vehicle--as bad as the values of the radical religious right, or as bad as any group that chooses to put themselves first, and others second, and last.

Petulant Pubs need to grow up

While it's been obvious for awhile now, Pugs are babies
I think we need to do a few things in the next month or so to make changes to their behavior.

Johnny B needs a new pacifier to make him stop his bawling all the time.
Little Eric needs to be given a "time out" in the corner to stop his aggression. I think his parents have to take his checkbook away from him so he's not trying to bid against his own country and get away with profiting from it.

Young Michelle B needs to be getting more homework if she can't read the material she is supposed to already know. Pop quizzes might help, but she might have to take summer school. And tell her that it's definitely bad manners when her husband talks out of school about things he hasn't even studied yet.

Miss Sarah P is bullying some of the other kids already. She's going to be in detention for quite some time if she doesn't get in line.

Mitchie M has been caught in a few whopping lies, and he's going to be sent to the principle's office for it. He could be suspended if the principal thinks the charges are grave enough.
Ricky P is another bully. I suggest someone give him a few raps on the knuckles for corporal punishment seeing how eager he is to allow capital punishment.

Little boys and girls like these are not mature enough to be allowed to speak for the country. If we don't punish them for their behavior, I have to wonder what kind of grown-ups they are going to be.

I don't know how these people can pose as adults, seriously. The only problem is how so many of our citizens are just as immature. They aren't falling for it so much as identifying with it.

I think most Americans are emotionally crippled, stuck in their whiny years for the rest of their lives. I think there has to be some punishment for these people, but I'm afraid we would end up with collateral damage on people who are acting like the real adults.

Comic book morals

Just the other day, I was reading an article on LA Times about a book recently published on the "superhero" philosophy and in particular, Green Lantern. Coincidentally, Green Lantern is opening next week as a highly anticipated summer film, and should, in true Variety fashion, do boffo business. http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2011/06/08/green-lantern-and-philosophy-heroic-talk-with-the-ring-of-truth/

I wrote a reply to that article, but got frustrated by the site's rejection of my post because it was too long--I figured out a long time ago that the Twitter mentality of using only a limited posting length was going to be the death of me, so I finally gave up on my attempt.

So here it is--my post to the above given LA Times link on heroism, comic books and all that stuff.

As Green Lantern was my favorite character growing up, I was always more drawn to his alter-ego than to what he (Hal Jordan) could do as a superhero. Between GL and Flash (my second favorite), their respective human identities were brilliantly flawed and yet filled with heroism even of the ordinary kind. Both gained their powers in the course of their civilian work identities, so they were both already working in some work which tested them, but were both deeply grounded in their beliefs. Becoming heroes was therefore not unknown to them, but finding out they could do a lot more with their powers was a bonus to them.

Heroism, in real life, is never so black and white. As the authors remind us, action will often compel the "good" man to do nothing if he/she sees it strictly in an either/or frame--moral ambiguity can force all of us to back down if we are put into such a position. Hal Jordan was chosen as a ring-bearer not because he was considered "a good man" but because he was "fearless." Goodness can really be a time waster--a person who is "good" might waver back and forth over options, while a person who knows any action is better than no action at all, is apt to get more things done.

In the early 70s, when GL teamed up with Green Arrow, it was then that there were more than black and white issues began to show up in the DC comic universe, unless the superhero had already crossed that road a lot earlier. Green Lantern hadn't been out in the "real" world much--he had never examined that life, busy with his career and superhero work.

I grew up with the 60s and 70s comics world, mainly that of DC. I always thought the morals of the characters as pretty much the ethics I followed. (I was a kid when I read them) I now feel, in today's world where I am now an atheist, that I didn't have the need for a "something in the sky" to make mostly correct choices and be an ethical person. Comics were always a good way to spell things out in a non-preaching manner, allowing us to be moral, but still allowing us to make our own choices.A

Violence needs to be curbed, not sex!

For fuck's sake, this is absolutely ridiculous. The US is more concerned about some Rep's sexual behavior than it is on the amount of violence in TV, movies and games.

They care more about a presidential candidate's mistress than they do about whether that man had any good ideas for government.

The idea of someone getting a blow job in the Oval Office is far, far more important than a president and his VP starting a war in another country by lying about how many weapons there were in that country.

This country is so fucking screwed up, I'm getting embarassed to live here.

Violence doesn't seem to matter to these fools. Only anything related to sex, which is supposed to be a natural thing, and is legal in all states.

I have always pondered this--why does the simple act of sex make all these fucking right-wingers so jumpy?

As far as Weiner and his weiner, his wife is the only one--repeat, ONLY ONE-- who should be included in any kind of discussion on this issue. Anyone who goes on and on about it, or any other person's ability and right to have sex, I call you out as far more conservative than you would like to admit.

Sex is not a crime. The only way it becomes an issue is if a minor is involved. Or if it's outside marriage and one of the parties opposes it. Beyond that, it aint' a crime.

Violence is far worst than sex. When we harm others, we are exerting our will over them, making them appear weaker than ourselves. Men like to beat women and children, especially when they drink or do drugs. They come from a long line of other offenders, other abusers. When children engage in a violent manner, they are simply continuing a long cycle of such actions. Children who have been beaten in turn beat animals, kill them and harm those who are smaller than they are. Children who have been abused will not fail to utilize fear and violence in their own world, and as they grow older, their techniques will get even better. Violence is, by far, far worse than any consensual sex of any kind.

People who have any kind of life--obviously leaving out the religious right--know this, even if they won't admit it. We, homo sapiens, came up from that kind of rabble--the strongest genes survived for thousands of years before we advanced another milestone in our development--but it doesn't mean we need to stop here. It seems to me that looking at the whole world, the mutant genes of compassion, appreciation of beauty and youth, the chromosomes of understanding higher science, mathematics and wisdom have managed to gain a foothold, but those who don't have an iota of them keep trying to destroy them, knowing that once those people who represent all of these great things have a greater presence than themselves, they will be lost to history.

They tend to beat up in numbers, just like regular bullies. Not one of them is strong enough to upset the cart individually, but in numbers they attack. They prey on the sensibilities of many--the fear of what might--or might not--come. They are evil, greedy, power-humgry and they want to keep the people enthralled, preferably as pliant as possible. And they make the people hate sex, love violence--the natural opposite of the way life should be lived.

Anthony Weiner is fighting for his political life right now, based on a sex related topic. There should have been no need for him to do so--in the correct version of the world, he should have been able to talk to his wife about the incident, then they should have been able to laugh it away, in the privacy of their homes. There should never have been an outcry about it, and there is no way in fucking hell it should have been smeared all around the world, making a moral judgement on him and his family.

Just as there shouldn't have been a moral outcry about Bill Clinton. Just as there shouldn't have been ono about Gary Hart. Just as there shouldn't have been about any other person.

And so why, some might ask, do we make such a big deal when Republicans do it? Because Republicans are hypocrites. We don't make a big deal about what sex games they choose to engage in--we only care when they tell the rest of us how to live, and can't live up to those goals themselves.

I say let's shut the hell up and not act like Republicans. We are supposed to be understanding, so let's act like we are. Sex is part of every single person's world, in one way or another, and it can't be wrong if people don't get harmed from it. If people get harmed, then it's wrong--like rape, pedophilia, or child porn. And among consensual adults, it's fun, healthy and filled with lots of good things.

Noone should try to dictate to any other adult what they should or shouldn't be able to do. And if someone does try to legislate sexual laws beyond those that hurt people, they should be taken out of the places of laws and put into the stocks where people can throw rotten vegetables at them and call them the fools that they really are.

Philosophy

Philosophy: We are all human, no one was created any better than any other. We all have a given amount of time here, and if you were born, you're going to eventually die. So whether you believe in a god or not, you get the same breaks, the same world as everyone else. Why sacrifice your one life on something as assinine as worship, when it's logical that you shouldn't be shooting for the hereafter, but for the here and now. Thousands of years now have seen the peasants still trying to get to heaven, while their masters and academics are finding pleasure in other....pursuits. Why waste time "believing," when there is no time to waste?

100 years ago, a petty man was born.

He had an enormous ego, though, and he had some general good looks, but there really wasn't a terribly large muscle in his head, so he learned to use his voice, a smattering of rhetorical skills, and some charisma to move himself up in the political branch of the world of entertainment, since he knew instinctively that he was not really good at acting, other than reading lines, sometimes so obviously that his producer bosses cringed.

Because his inherent skills taught him that looking someone in the eyes, pretending to give a shit, and honing dramatic cues for more than just reading those stupid lines made him a lot more powerful in the long run, he had no problem in learning to be a grifter--all politicians are grifters, some worse than others.

He found being a politician was actually something he felt good at. He had all the fame and adulation he wanted, so now he started to bank on his power, and see how far to the top he could go. And go to the top he did. And millions of Americans were brainwashed into believing that this actor, this travesty of a human being, this truly apathetic asshole had changed the landscape of the USA, and brought people like James Dobson, Karl Rove, and their ilk out of the woodwork, raping the country, and selling us all down the river for a long time to come.

Hoping you're not resting in peace, mofo.


(And this is the fucker they want to put on a dime?)


And this post follows the first, after someone said Reagan wasn't ALL bad:


People are always prone to take the easiest way out of any situation. They fail the test of humility, and become drawn to things which distance themselves from the general populace. They become greedy, apathetic, hard, cold. They no longer have the ability to empathize or care. They justify their new nature as a "sacrifice" of a sort. Money means more to them than people. They can't fail, because failure means going all the way back to the beginning, and the struggle and pain in their lives. They no longer have the choice to change their ways, because the person they are in the end is all that they know anymore. In faith-based vernacular, they have sold their soul to the devil. In reality, they have had the taste of power, and it is a heady feeling. They will do anything which keeps that sense of exhilaration, of commanding the actions of life or death.

In life, they have chosen the oldest path--that which requires the least amount of actual work. They are not unique at all--this path is one which most people do, but some are just able to grasp the brass rings they find along the way. Extraordinary people always follow the more difficult path, the road less traveled, as Robert Frost said. Most of us have found that path, tried it for a short while and diverted back to the path of least resistance. It's okay--we're not all capable of the hardness, the racing in the wind or swimming against the tide. Humans rarely are able to finish that path because it's more difficult to find all the conditions which favor it. It's against human nature in general to accept the inevitable losses which come with heroism and complete self-sacrifice. But in life, we can recognize some of those people as true leaders--Gandhi, Mandela, Anwar Sadat, Yitzhak Rabin, Jimmy Carter.

Human beings are not wired all the way to exercise the best of intentions all the time. Very few have the ability to ignore their own needs and put the needs of others ahead of them.

But Reagan was not a hero and never a man of the people. His own selfishness and desire for power were fueled by his ego and his overwhelming desire for power. The more power he had, the less of a human being he became.

Anyone who eulogizes Reagan needs to step back and look at the whole picture, of the horrible things he did while he was in office--things he did to satisfy his own ego, and for essentially "photo ops" for the history books.

Cold and miserable

If anyone is looking for me, I'm still here. Between last week and this week, though, I caught a real-life cold, with sore throat and everything, and so I've slept a lot since I got this "wonderful" gift, and I been been on my fat ass since I took Delenn to the vets last week. Steve has been kind enough to get me cat food and milk, the only two things I've needed. I can live out of boxes (macaroni and cheese, anyone?) until I'm feeling better, which should be as soon the Invisible Purple Unicorn gets back to our neck of the woods--er, space. Or at least until the spring, which ever comes first. I'm betting neither makes it here, and that the average cold runs from 5 days to 10 days, so talk to me after this weekend.