Mourning For America

Nobody knows when an accident is going to change their life and as more Americans continue the slide into poverty you would think there would be more compassion for their fellow man. Unfortunately, you would be wrong.

I love how baggers and dittoheads babble on about how government workers are lazy, overpaid, couldn't get a real job if they had to and every one of them that becomes unemployed is better for the taxpayers, yet complain about how long it takes when they have to do anything at a government office.  Or that people are abusing food stamps and don't really need them.  Then within the last few days reports of rural suicides increasing amid Medicaid cuts and a story like this comes along and they still can't make the f****ing connection between penalizing people (An 18 page application? One would think Texas purposely makes it difficult for anyone to collect aid.) by reducing or eliminating services for those who don't have the political clout to defend themselves and the despair that causes people to kill themselves and their families.  These are not isolated incidents and there will be more of them as more people feel they have no way out.

The powers behind the throne have successfully conned gullible Americans into demanding that the poor, the disabled and the elderly should pay the price so the rich won't have to contribute while they rob this country blind.  All the while never realizing that the problems didn't exist until the powers that be needed a distraction as they turn America into a third world country.

Like a majority of the world's population my financial situation deteriorates every day.  If you receive SSI (as I am stuck doing until my appeal goes through) you are not allowed to have more than $674 a month under any circumstances.  Otherwise two months after you made the extra few dollars they reduce your benefits until the overpayment is taken care of.  Funnily enough it does not work the other way around. If they underpay you they are not obligated to make up the difference.

After I was declared disabled I continued collecting unemployment while I looked for work that wouldn't aggravate my disability.  Unemployment was deducted from the $674 to make sure I didn't get ahead.  In August I started suffering from trigeminal neuralgia in addition to my disability and stopped collecting unemployment as I was no longer able to look for work while electrical shocks were stabbing me in the face every few minutes.  Since SSI runs two months behind I didn't start collecting the full $674 from them until November.  This means I was underpaid by $157 in August, $236 in September and $312 in October.

My rent is $475.  Other bills include utilities, car insurance and the student loan that was turned over to a debt recovery company.  Those nice people added $50k in fees and interest for a grand total of $148k and continually want to know when and how much I will pay them each month.  Anyone with basic math skills can tell that my income is less than my outgo.  Fortunately for me my landlady is of the saint variety and deferred October's rent until after the first of the year when hopefully I can start making payments to bring me current.  She isn't even charging interest.

This arrangement was based on the assumption that SSI would be making up the difference as the months passed and they could tell that I had been making less than $674.  Well, you know what they say about assuming. I went to the Social Security office to find out when they would credit me the underpayments since they were so good at penalizing me for overpayments that occurred when the calendar month and unemployment weeks didn't match.  After half an hour of trying to explain that I hadn't made $674 for the last few months I finally realized they weren't going to fix the underpayments.  Panic started to set in, my voice started to rise and polite behavior proceeded to go the way of the Dodo bird.   I barely made it to my car before saying things that would get me arrested.

Obviously I don't have enough money for food so Nevada graciously gives me $188 in food stamps and I can eat relatively healthily given the limited variety of fresh vegetables in Reno and an ability to cook from scratch.  To help make ends meet we found a third roommate and got rid of cable and the internet.  Tabletop antennas pick up local channels and I discovered that I don't watch enough television to justify paying for cable or satellite ever again.   I was without the internet for a few months and going a little stir crazy until E took pity on me and installed the cheapest DSL for internet access.

With these changes I am almost able to meet my obligations and with "free play" from the casinos I occasionally have some money to put gas in the car and keep it just above the line that says E. I can walk to the store two miles away but I can't carry many groceries while using a cane and from bitter experience I know that the following two days I'm unable to do more than lurch around the house, oofing and woofing with every step.

If you've made it this far through my sad tale, there is a small spot of hope on the horizon.  I was talking to another vet at the VA and a social worker overheard my story.  It seems that since Social Security declared me disabled and I served more than 90 days during a time of war (government inefficiency at work, Congress was really slow to declare the end of the Vietnam debacle), I qualify for a non service connected disability pension.  $985 a month. I can't believe how excited I am about an extra $300 that still leaves me in the poverty zone.  The paperwork has been filed and the local AMVet office is trying to expedite it but it will probably take a year before that help arrives.  Meanwhile the social worker at the VA will get my doctor to sign the disability papers from the debt recovery company so they don't garnish my Social Security and I might be able to keep my head above water until the pension kicks in.  Yippee!

Not everyone is so lucky and it pains me to see that for a so called Christian nation people seem to have forgotten "there but for the grace of God go I".

BBB

The Stupid, It Burns

I don't tweet, I find it stupid and a waste of time.  There is nothing going on in my life, or quite a few other people's, that needs to be posted for the world to see every other minute.  And I certainly wouldn't want to post anything that harms another person or reveals thoughts that are better left unsaid.

At 2:29 p.m. ET, UT’s Lauren E. Pierce wrote: “Y’all as tempting as it may be, don’t shoot Obama. We need him to go down in history as the WORST president we’ve EVER had! #2012.”

Pierce, the president of the College Republicans at UT Austin, told ABC News the comment was a “joke” and that the “whole [shooting incident] was stupid.” Giggling, she said that an attempted assassination would “only make the situation worse.”

That an idiot from Texas would post something like this less than a week away from the 48th anniversary of a sitting President assassinated in Texas, boggles the mind.   I, along with most people alive at that time, know exactly where I was when I heard that President Kennedy had been shot and killed.  I may have been seven years old, but like most of the people in the United States at that time, I will never, ever, forget how traumatized we were as a nation.  

Ms. Pierce's behavior is wrong on so many levels that one wonders exactly what they are, or not, teaching at the University of Texas.  It makes me wonder if anyone from the state of Texas should be allowed to hold any office with the title of President.

Lost In Theory

Lost is coming to an end Sunday evening and people seem to be pretty worked up about it.  As much as I love science fiction and fantasy, I started missing episodes in the second season and haven't watched an episode since the beginning of the third season.  Unlike 24 I wasn't drawn back into the drama and basically read the spoilers if I have nothing else to do.

That being said, here is my favorite theory (from a mind other than my own) about the show.

It will turn out that they've been living one island over from Gilligan the whole time and all of this was just the Professor playing mind games using his coconut powered reality distorter.

May the force be with the fans and may they find the answers they are seeking.

BBB

Ihre Papiere, Bitte

It's fascinating how the Tea Partiers can carry signs of Obama with a Hitler mustache or can accuse him of being a socialist while totally ignoring the fact that every time they celebrate passing a bill that discriminates against a select group of people, that they are creating the very future they are accusing Obama of desiring.

The Arizona "Papers, Please" law is a prime example.  The more laws that are passed because of fear, ignorance or racism, the closer the United States comes to replicating whichever totalitarian regime the conservatives and their right wing militants are most afraid of. It's either Nazism or Fascism, depending on which group you are talking to and what day of the week it is.

Many years ago, back when I was married, I lived in the Catskills and worked at the Granit Hotel as a busgirl and server.  Most of the servers were Colombian and a few were probably in the states illegally.  Every once in a while INS would make a sweep of all the workers who looked like they might be illegal and would lock them up until they could prove citizenship. 

My ex was of Sicilian descent and one time he was rounded up and had to have his parents come down with his birth certificate.  He was telling me about it and said that it is much harder to prove you are an American than most people realize.  Carrying around a birth certificate or passport to prove your identity is an invitation to disaster, especially if you lose them.

Since I grew up with a steady diet of science fiction books, I believe that there are other forms of intelligent life not located on the planet Earth.  How do I know they are intelligent?  Because they haven't revealed themselves to us.  It only takes  a brief scan of the news for one to realize that humans are a pretty violent species and at the same time we are afraid of our own shadows.  On the other hand, the majority of us would probably make good slaves.

"If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn't turn out well for the Native Americans," he said.

Prof Hawking thinks that, rather than actively trying to communicate with extra-terrestrials, humans should do everything possible to avoid contact.

He explained: "We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn't want to meet."

Truer words were never spoken.

BBB

Can't They Find Anything Else To Obsess On?

Heaven forbid an American president should show some respect for other cultures and customs instead of arrogantly expecting the world to bow to him.  When in Rome and all that.  The almost never right wing are losing their lunch over Obama bowing to the emperor of Japan.  Interesting how they conveniently forget a former president puking on the Prime Minister during a state dinner. No bad judgment there.  But they'll keep worrying about the bowing, that way they won't have to contribute anything constructive to the conversation.

When most people have an upset tummy they have the sense not to go out in public and they certainly don't eat anything they can't see through.


BBB

Friday Quickie

All I know about empathy I learned from Star Trek TOS.  Speaking of which, some of the Republicans bagging on Sotomayor definitely remind me of the Vians.  Add a couple of consonants and they could be villains since they are definitely no gems and certainly are not gentlemen.  Thanks to these bozos and their spiteful comments about activist judges, being a judge has become a dangerous occupation.

Ever since we walked on the moon I've been asking myself "when is the future going to get here?"  I grew up reading science fiction and truly believed that we would be vacationing on the moon and traveling to Mars by the year 2000.  It's 2009 and we can't even get across the country reliably or quickly, even more so if it's snowing.

Out Of Their Minds

OMG! WTF?  First of all, he divorced her.  Second of all, and most importantly, when one is murdered one has not broken their lease and they certainly shouldn't be accused of giving "insufficient notice to vacate". 

My landlord is holding fast to evicting mom and me, will not budge on the issue.  Even though I have broken no rules, am current on the rent (I paid January's rent before Christmas) and literally have nowhere else to go, he wants us out.  Still no reason given.  And thanks to the Governator and the obstructionist Republicans who won't vote on the budget unless it includes all cuts and no tax hikes to get the state out of debt, I don't know if I will even receive a paycheck for taking care of mom.  I contacted Zoe Lofgren, my supposed Representative in Washington, and her staff blew me off with some phone numbers that just went to answering machines.  They can kiss my vote goodbye.  I haven't slept in two days and am in a permanent anxiety state.  I guess catching a break is not my thing.

A Black Manhattan recipe.  The King of Zembla (dude, it's time for a new post)  introduced me to Manhattans and the variation sounds interesting.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg has pancreatic cancer.  What a shame.  Somehow I doubt she will do as well as Patrick Swayze.  I tried to watch The Beast but it didn't interest me.

How can they be broke?  They charged me so much in fees last year that I know I paid someone's bonus.  They are just trying to avoid paying the Closson settlement over the ATM fees.  It was a stupid move to buy Countrywide.  Very stupid.  Buying Merrill Lynch wasn't very smart either.  Becoming a monopoly isn't as easy as it looks.

BBB

1055 Dead, The Majority Were Not Soldiers

I am not an anti-Semite.  Some of my best friends are Jewish, (I've always wanted to use some line just like that), but what I am is anti war.  I don't care  how you dress it up, when you invade another country and the kill rate is 40% women and children as collateral damage, that's not antisemitism and it certainly isn't pikuach nefesh, that's an attempt at genocide.  White phosphorus bombs?  After the napalm photo from Vietnam there is no excuse for using such weapons.  Against any one, including the UN.  But the part in the Bible about turning the other cheek must be in the New Testament and only apply to people who really believe in Jesus' teachings.  Wars don't demonstrate who's right or wrong, but who's left standing.  In other words, history is written by the winners.

Palestine had democratic elections as the world demanded and they mistakenly elected a party the powers that rule the world didn't approve of, therefore that party isn't legitimate and it's okay to indiscriminately kill people until they change their evil ways.  Too bad the world didn't use that same logic against, Bush, Mugabe or Chavez. Chavez at the moment is relatively insulated against being invaded by the US in its pursuit for oil so the rich don't have to change their lifestyle.  And to Elizabeth Wurtzel, all I have to say is waah, waah, waah.  You can't dress up killing civilians on a regular basis and not be compared to a regime that did the same.  Behave like an advanced human instead of an angry monkey and maybe "normal" people might think you have a valid point.

But to communicate with anyone I think of as right-minded (and left-leaning) in any other part of the world is to experience the purest antisemitism since the Nazi era. In fact, in Europe right now, it is de rigueur to liken the current regime in Israel with the Nazi party, and to view the experience of the Palestinians as a form of ethnic cleansing. Hamas and Hezbollah are thought by the French and British to be social welfare organizations, and Israel is viewed as a terrorist state. Here, we honor the linguistic discoveries of Noam Chomsky and otherwise experience him as a quaintly brilliant crank, but in the bookstores in London there are entire sections devoted to his political thought – and he is read as if the distinctions between Leninist and Trotskyite philosophy had genuine consequence in today's world.

And if you don't want to go to Europe because of the negative feelings towards Americans since the Iraq war, imagine how angry Europeans are right now with this even larger injustice building in their back yard.  Perhaps, just maybe, God should have chosen the Jewish homeland and not some politicians from Great Britain and the United States who didn't think about the results of displacing the Palestinians who had lived there for thousands of years since God kicked the Jewish people out the last time for disrespecting his rules. Or whatever reason God determined they should wander homeless.

Any way you look at it, killing children only breeds more generational hatred and hasn't there been enough of that in the world?  And please tell me that the goal was not to have Osama been Forgotten to declare a holy war over Gaza.  2012 will be here soon enough.

BBB

War, Witch, Stupidity And No Money

Bush is leaving office and just like every other company he left in tatters, America is no different. He's going on his merry way while the Middle East becomes a conflagration that could reach worldwide proportions. Honestly, did people really think that everyone in the Arab world would turn their back on the Palestinians in Gaza?

Israel is such a tiny country in a stupid location it was only a matter of time before other Arab states started lobbing missiles in either support of their brethren, just because they can or because the Israelis want to make it look like Hamas is everywhere that Israel wants to invade next..  If anybody besides Israel really did have "WMDs" their would be no more Israel.  To go along with the no more sympathy for any excuse the Israelis use for "protecting" themselves.  Genocide, you would think that Jewish people would think it was wrong and a crime against humanity.  But that was sixty years ago and it was happening to them, not them perpetrating it on others.

It would be my pleasure to punch her in the yap.  Or Adam's apple.  Free speech means for everyone, not just Man Coulter and the idiots who agree with her.  When is this witch going to be committed to a place where they can adjust her meds daily?

The Dear John Doe letters to the families of those who have died fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq shows in bitter detail how little the government cares about those they have caused to die for no other reason than to boost their own egos.  7000K letters.  So much for NCLB when the adults teaching can't even proofread and they supposedly went to school when reading was mandatory.  What's next, text messages where you have to guess what they mean?  Wer srry ur fmly mmbrs r ded? 

Almost as good is if your child plans on using the bathroom or reading books in class please send toilet paper and light bulbs for each of your children in the school because their budgets have been cut so much that they can't afford the basics.  I don't know about you but I find it hard to concentrate on school work when I have to go poop. Especially in a public bathroom.

Up, down, more, less.  It no longer matters because we don't make anything in this country anymore and until we do we will keep sliding down the rabbit hole.  Heck, we can't even sell things anymore.  That would require stores to be open for business.  Dire consequences, what an understatement.

Wannabe cops shoot an unarmed, restrained person in the back and you think there won't be riots?  And cops wonder why they don't get the respect they think they deserve.

No shit.  Wow, these economists are brilliant.

BBB

Thank You So Much

I finally figured out how to get the Paypal donate button on my blog.  Legal Aid is trying to help me and so far the owner has agreed to give me two more weeks but no explanation for evicting us. 

Legal Aid suggested that I get mom's doctor to write a letter explaining that moving mom at this time would be detrimental to her mental health and I will be contacting Fair Housing and HUD and filing a discrimination complaint.  On two fronts.  One for mom's disability and two, I'm the next to last black person in the park and I'm paid up on my rent whereas others aren't.  Other than that I'm at a loss as to how to keep mom in familiar surroundings.

For those of you who are willing to help, God bless you.  Prayers, as well as money, are greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Deb

It's Finally A Horse Race

Ever since I realized we were once again going to get stuck with choosing the lesser of two evils, I've been saying that if McCain picked a woman it would do serious damage to the Democratic platform.  Since everyone decided that McCain was too old and might not be able to serve his term completely if he picks who I think he might, the Democrats will have a much harder slog uphill.  With a lot of unhappy women leaving the party in droves.  Bet the powers that be wish they had listened a little harder to the discontent of Hillary's supporters.

McCain and his advisers were smart, they picked exactly who I thought they would.  Sarah Palin.

So much for the convention bump.  We're gonna have fun now.  Yup, the Demowienies have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

BBB

Et Tu, Brute?

The WaPo had so much going on this morning I barely knew where to start. Lil Scotty Mclelland's article had 812 975 comments when I looked at it and I'm willing to bet that lots of **##'s got removed. A quick impression of the article reminds me of the story of Aron Ralston, the climber who cut off his own arm with a pocketknife to survive. Somebody's figured out there were war crimes and is doing their best to avoid being charged with one while at the same time trying to provide imaginary cover for those left behind. And Katrina was a costly blunder. No kidding.

While still smiling at the image of Lil Scotty realizing he had been had and hoping that he has a loyal security detail, I moved on to the right whining about how MSNBC is too left leaning and how they don't like Lil John McCain as much as they like Lil Obama, knowing full well that they had to turn their attention somewhere as soon as they got rid of Lil Hillary. Now that was a hatchet job, with several people wielding the hatchets. Sort of like the stories on John Edwards haircut. Designed to do nothing to further policy or decent political discussions and quite a lot to do with making sure that the candidate they were in love with had no viable competition. After enduring all these years of Fox News I have little to no sympathy for people who whine about the press.

But the Meyerson article, oh Mr. Meyerson, you raised my blood pressure so high, the first thing that I did was reach for my Fosinopril. Let me state first that Hillary was neither my first or second choice in the California primary, but neither one of them were still running, but their names were still on the ballot by the time it was our turn to vote. So, as is usual out here in California, we had to pick the lesser of two evils and it wasn't Obama. Sigh, I'm really tired non-choices like that. Anyway, back to your article.

Hillary's campaign ruined democracy and feminism? Are you serious?Blow it out your ass. Oops, I see you already did. The Democratic Party (they're in the Constitution where?) had no right to exclude the votes of the people of Florida and Michigan, no matter what time frame they held their election in, because they are citizens of the United States and deserve to have their votes counted. Period. And if Obama had won those states he wouldn't want those delegates seated? Get real.

The hypocrisy of anyone talking about Indiana's photo ID requirement in order to vote and then disregarding the votes of thousands of people in two other states is mind boggling. Not quite as mind boggling as accusing women of ruining democracy while you briefly mention the rampant sexism in the united campaign against Hillary and then you attack her supporters for complaining about it, but it's darned close. From start to finish, this race hasn't been about policy issues, it's been about hair, clothes and makeup. Throw in a little bowling and a shot of whiskey (if I was her I would have been so grateful to have had an excuse for a drink since the press hounded her almost as much as they do Paris or Britney neither one of which are anywhere near the same intelligence or contributions to society) with the guys and you have a campaign.

I'm a feminist because I'm a woman. I consider myself the equal of any man under normal circumstances. And the abnormal ones would be so abnormal that whatever sex you are will be one of the last things on your mind. While I may not be able to heave boulders due to brute strength (is that needed anymore?), I am quite capable of using a lever and gravity to accomplish the same task. The odds are that a man invented the hammer, the javelin and the sword, but a woman invented the wheel, pulley, lever and pivot. You develop what you need to survive. Or conquer, as the case may be.

Now that we're supposedly in the 21st century, the skills needed to survive are quite different since we don't have anything left to conquer except each other. And what a shame that is. Nowadays this can be done way too efficiently and requires no brute strength (and judging by reduced requirements to join the military, a minimum of intelligence) at all. Just because one is tall, short, white, brown, black, blue eyed, brown eyed, male, female, rich, poor, right handed, left handed, religious or nonreligious, Catholic, Protestant, Buddhist, Hindi, Muslim, skinny, fat, young or old does not automatically infer competency, incompetency, superiority, stupidity or a tendency towards evil. To say that the women who support Clinton and want the delegates seated is to make a mockery of both democracy and feminism while showing a complete disregard for the people of the two states not being represented and a whopping display of misogyny because women are being so vocal about how their candidate got marginalized, all under the cloak of rules instead of common sense and compassion. But those are traits that come to people who think and who have spent more than enough time clinging to the bottom rung of the ladder to recognize when someone is stamping on their fingers and trying to make them fall off into nonexistence.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the only way we are ever going to have fair elections in this country is if we have a national primary, followed by the national elections thirty days later. Between television, radio and the internet people will have plenty of opportunity to explore their candidate and the press will have less of an opportunity to choose our candidates for us.

And that's what most of the press and Mr. Meyerson are really afraid of.

3Bs and IIRTZ

Sweetest Line Of The Morning

Not because of what he did but because now almost every news story can start in much the same way.

"Bush will lay the wreath at Arlington National Cemetary for the last time."

May there be more last times for Bush, he's caused enough of them for everybody else. 4082 families from the useless war in Iraq. So far. And how the heck can Americans remember their war dead if he keeps hiding them from public view? Bush only trots out the proper sentiment on holidays, the rest of the year he is too busy making sure that the survivors have no benefits when they get out, that they can't afford college or a home, and that they have no other choice but to stay in until they die.

Then while they are out doing their duty, Bush cuts food stamps for their families, closes hospitals near their homes, refuses to help with the foreclosures caused by severe decrease in income for the Reserves and the National Guard, and at the same time eviscerates the education system for young people in the hope that they will have no other choice but to be the next sacrificial victims veterans in the "war on terror".

Bush is a president that has ignored the will of the people; let a major U.S. city drown while he vacationed and that was after he let New York and Washington D.C., the supposed seat of our government, be attacked; regards the Constitution as "a piece of paper"; illegally spies on American citizens; flaunts his stupidity on a daily basis as he condones torture and asks people to go shopping instead of rebuilding our country's infrastructure and reclaiming our place in the world by fixing ourselves first before trying to remove a perceived splinter from countries who haven't asked for our "help". He's a colossal failure who continues to make things worse in an effort to leave behind a legacy without realizing he has already done so.

It's Memorial Day and the only person I want to be remembering is Osama bin Laden, swinging from a gallows pole.


He should have some company, like those who could be convicted of war crimes but will likely escape any earthly penance and continually wonder why history (if we have one) is so unkind to them.

So please, let's start as many stories about Bush as we can with for the last time.

BBB

Low Budget

Yes, I like The Kinks, the way they get along reminds me of my own family. But with talent. And who doesn't understand lyrics that says things like

I'm on a low budget
I'm not cheap, you understand
I'm just a cut price person in a low budget land
Excuse my shoes they don't quite fit
They're a special offer and they hurt me a bit
Even my trousers are giving me pain
They were reduced in a sale so I shouldn't complain
They squeeze me so tight so I can't take no more
They're size 28 but I take 34

snip

I'm shopping at Woolworth and low discount stores
I'm dropping my standards so that I can buy more
Quality costs, but quality wastes,
So I'm giving up all of my expensive tastes.
Caviar and champagne are definite nos,
I'm acquiring a taste for brown ale and cod roes

BBB

Five For Friday

Just when you think that our Justice (since when?) Department can't go any lower, they do. The D.C Madam trial is a joke and a cruel one at that. To release their names and force the women to testify and not the men, shows that sexism is rampant in this country. There have been many sex scandals in the last seven years and for some odd reason only these women are paying the price. Senators asking for sex in the bathroom from a man is okay. Representatives trolling young pages for sex is okay. A woman providing diaper service to a Senator is not. She, and all her compatriots, must be shamed and punished. And the men who require these deviant acts go scott free. Because it is only the men who deserve pleasure and women are supposed to provide it. At any price, then they must be publicly humiliated. Only in America.

Which is why it's so surprising that it wasn't an American who purchased the nude photos of France's latest First Lady.

I hate to fly. I did it a lot when I was younger but my last few plane flights (fifteen years ago) were scarier than any amusement ride. There is something about smelling the rubber and seeing the smoke from the brakes invade the cabin because the pilot missed part of the runway. Even the stewardess was terrified. How anyone would want to fly on planes that hadn't been inspected bewilders me. Exactly where were these cracks? In the skin? Isn't that what brought the Hawaiian flight down a few years ago? The fact that we haven't had any planes fall out of the sky is just luck and in the grand scheme of things wouldn't you rather have your flight canceled for inspection than crashed for lack of maintenance?

If the Army is reading my blog then they know how much I despise the way the troops are treated. A tour of duty should not be a death sentence due to the incompetence of the leaders and the injured shouldn't be hidden behind closed doors so they can be ignored. It's been a long time since one of the crew without a clue blithely quipped that you go to war with the army you have, even with no plan and equipment that was stolen from the National Guard.

Not content with polluting the earth, it seems we even litter in space.


BBB

The Inevitable Collapse Of The Dollar

We are not invincible and other countries are beginning to believe that. We use the world's resources and contribute nothing but trouble.



This is going to get nasty, not that you would see this on American television. Until it's way too late.

BBB

Hooterville, Chimpyville, What's The Difference?

80 years, YouTube and a United States press that can't be bothered to report the truth. It's so much easier to worry about whether or not Heather Mills got as much money as she deserved for being married to one of the Beatles. Or whether Brtiney should pay the lawyer fees for her ex-husband. Anything except how the realities of the sub-prime crisis are affecting those who've lost everything. People like you and me, not those "other" people. You know the ones the Republicans want you to think they are. The ones without education or are illegal aliens, welfare mommies or drug addicts. Nope, these people are melanin impaired, have all their teeth (at the moment) and used to have good paying jobs.



It will make O'Lielly feel so good to know that not one of these people admitted to being a veteran. As if that was important at this point. Ownership society, my ass.

3Bs

Attack Of The Stupids

Hazardous to their character, because being exposed to people with differing viewpoints or things known as facts might cause them to question your perception of reality? Ah yes, by all means let the stupid and uneducated homeschool their children. Please, let us continue to become more fractured and clueless as a society. One that practices even more intolerance and shortsighted thinking without an ounce of logic or the ability to recognize (a run on sentence) that with over six billion people on the planet maybe exposure to different cultures and thinking as opposed to bigotry might help us get ahead in the future. Instead of returning to our puritanical past, the one of scarlet letters and people were burned at the stake as witches.

"The parent-child relationship existed long before any government and makes it the responsibility of the parent to educate the child," he said. That responsibility includes protecting one's children from "things hazardous to the child, emotionally as well as physically," he said.

Long, 54, said he specifically objected to his children being taught in school about evolution and homosexuality.

"I want to keep and protect them until I feel they're mature enough to deal with these issues," he said. "I believe the creator wants us to protect our children from things we believe are hazardous to their character."

I believe that being exposed to stupidity on a daily basis is hazardous to their character and wonder what his opinion of incest is. A game the whole family can play? After a little research I found that the whole case started because one of eight of Mr. Long's homeschooled children complained that it was being mistreated and the juvenile court judge found that the children were poorly educated. What a surprise that isn't.

Yes, there have been children who have excelled by being homeschooled, but that was because they were too smart for a one size fits all education system and their parents had the ability to inspire their children to achieve, as opposed to being taught bigotry, racism and hatred of those who don't share your religious beliefs or just aren't like you.

Meanwhile, the Governator babbles on about every child deserves a quality education and then cuts funding through the bone to the marrow. In a few years not only will we have lost our status as major world economy, but we'll also have the distinction of having some of the world's most undereducated populace. It's absolutely fascinating how much like a third world country we are becoming. Now all we need are the floods, storms and being ignored by the federal government and we can be just like New Orleans or Tennessee.

Was the cost factored in to the economic stimulus plan? $42 million to let the taxpayers know their rebate is coming. Isn't that what the "news" used presidential speeches used to be for?

I didn't weigh in on the Charlotte Allen article since I was too stupid to understand what she was saying since I spent most of my life admiring Marie Curie and her Nobels chemistry and physics instead of reading romance novels that have no possibility of coming true (unlike science fiction, which has) or swooning over a candidate who doesn't have any concrete plans (at least not revealed to those of us little people) to go with his promise of "change". Why, even little Debbie didn't think it was funny and it's been a long time since I thought she was good at her job.

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the stupidest President of them all? That would be Mr. Waterboard himself. Don't we wish. Guy can't even swallow a pretzel correctly.

Finally, a good reason for homeschooling. Because we just haven't had enough school shootings, now some states are allowing hunting education classes. As if people actually depended on that skill for their daily meal.

BBB

Mission Unaccomplished

The global war on terror isn't nearly as successful as the war of terror. The war on terror kills innocent civilians and restricts the peoples rights in a futile effort to outsmart the desperate, meanwhile the war of terror claims important victims, one right after the other. I had a bad feeling about her return from the beginning. Now Benazir Bhutto is dead (they had an obituary ready for a 54 year old woman), at the hands of one of those suicide bombers that are so popular in the Middle East. What a freakin' shame. Hopefully the damage can be contained otherwise this could be one of those World War starter situations since fanatics always prefer the extreme solution.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch (Christmas at Camp David, New Years in Crawford. Tough life.), the usual confusion ensues. My Pet Goat all over again. Nobody could have foreseen, yada, yada, yada. Please don't tell me that the fall back plan isn't to leave the Middle East as a flaming ball of goo and hope it doesn't spread to our shores. But it probably is.

What exactly has the war on terror accomplished other than spending money we don't have? According to Ted Stevens, currently the Republican Senator from Alaska, the physical war is costing us 15 billion a month. Which is more than the Congressional Research Service (CRS, with obviously poor memories) estimates. You would think that our soldiers lives were as precious as those who perished on 9/11, but you would be wrong. Most of that money is being spent to buy or repair war toys because they don't think they are going to get as much money next year. I don't know why, they've gotten everything they've asked for so far.

3Bs

Humanity Is Lacking

I want my country back. If you are captured in the war on terror, then you should be considered a prisoner of war and entitled to all the legal protections thereof. Unless the country you happen to offend is America, in which case you can count on justice denied. Sort of like one of those third world countries we used to feel superior to.

A man tries to kill himself by slicing his throat open with a sharpened fingernail after being held at Gitmo for over six years where only 80 of the 305 prisoners are actually suspected of committing a crime and the Supreme Court has doubts about whether these guys should be receiving adequate representation and due process? They can't see or call witnesses that can help them, they don't know the evidence against them and they have been there for many years without a trial. Why is there even a debate? One might think that the United States thinks that God died and crowned us king and that everyone who isn't melanin impaired is just an animal deserving to be caged or put down. Except that we give our animals more respect.

Breathing while black definitely has disadvantages. Not only are you ten times more likely to spend time in prison, but over 52% of people polled believe that the death penalty is most appropriately used on black people. There is no polite way to say this, but the US is a fucked up country.

How did we fall so far, so fast? How did the "United States" turn into a squabbling, fearful of our own shadow, whiny, blubbering ball of cowardice? It isn't the fault of some long haired, bearded nutjob on the other side of the world, that would be what used to be the free press and our current form of government masquerading as compassionate conservatism. They've done a wonderful job of changing the land of the free into the home of the incarcerated.

Next thing you know they'll make it illegal to defend anyone of color.