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.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
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.
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.
Monday, September 5, 2011
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.
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.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
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?
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?
Friday, August 26, 2011
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.
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.
Friday, August 12, 2011
So Much Evil in this World....
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/08/12/facing-medical-torture-chinese-bear-reportedly-kills-cub-then-self/
____________________________________________________________________
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.
____________________________________________________________________
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.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
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.
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.
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