Extreme Partisans and the End of Democracy

Those who stick to their party's platform, regardless of whether individual components in said platform benefit their personal needs or seek to strip them of their rights, will be the death of this Republic. Both the Democratic and Republican parties are bottom-dwelling scum suckers. But what's worse than the politicians, are the people who follow blindly.

Two examples from both sides of the aisle

The Left Wing
Gun control. It doesn't work. The media perpetuates lies and misinformation. Chicago and DC have such strict gun control that it was determined to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, and yet they also have terribly high rates of gun homicides. Why? Well, when you disarm the law-abiding citizens, the criminals and psychos still get guns because they don't care about laws, and they run around unopposed terrorizing a disarmed populace in their homes and on the streets.

They say we should look to other countries, such as European ones, for how we should do things here. Germany has had multiple school shootings, despite their strict gun control. Norway had one of the worst mass shootings in history, and they have strict gun control as well. These countries are also not democracies. In Germany you can go to prison for displaying Nazi iconography or even speaking about it. That's not freedom of expression. That's freedom of expression within the confines of what the government deems acceptable. And this is what they want here for us.

Some common lies perpetuated by the media is that no one needs a semi-automatic gun and that they are not used for hunting. The people who say that typically don't even know what a semi-automatic is. First of all, they are used for hog hunting, feral hogs being extremely dangerous, one does not want to be fiddling with a bolt while being charged by a boar. Secondly, the Second Amendment gave the people the right to resist tyranny, foreign or domestic. If you think that defending our homes and lives with guns is a lost cause, then how in the hell did some illiterate farmers defeat the most powerful empire on earth. Extreme left wing liberals trust their government and police more than they trust their fellow citizens. I think that's sad. I'm all for training of people who wants to keep and carry guns (in fact, I think every law-abiding American of sound-mind should be trained in the safety and use of guns). If I'm able to vote as a citizen, I have the right to own any damned gun I want.

The press also perpetuates the myth that sane, law-abiding citizens might "snap" suddenly, and if they have a gun then they'll go shoot up a place. First of all, sane people rarely snap. Sure it does happen that some might, but most people who "snap" were already unstable to begin with. And if they don't have a gun, and want to kill a bunch of people, then they'll find some other way to do it, and chances are, it will be way more deadly than if they had an AR-15. Timothy McVeigh killed 168 people with a Uhaul, some fertilizer and common household chemicals. Are we going to outlaw rental trucks because we are afraid someone else might do that? Of course not, that's absurd. So is outlawing guns.

Another lie perpetuated is that if a gunman walks into a classroom and the teachers are armed, that it will be a bloodbath. Hello?! There's a gunman, and a bunch of unarmed people. What do you think that is already? Do you think the gunman is there to play ring-around-the-rosie with the kiddos? If a gunman walks into a classroom and the teacher is armed, your child has a better chance of walking out of there, rather than the alternative.

The Right Wing
Minimum wage: The Republicans will have you believe that we don't need a minimum wage. There are Republican party members that barely make wages above the poverty line that will fight tooth and nail to ensure that rich Corporations don't pay any taxes, despite the fact that they have no health care and their paycheck doesn't make ends meet. Why is this? Well, for one thing, they're afraid that the Democrats want a nanny state and are going to take away their Second Amendment rights. So they have to make a choice, and they choose to sacrifice what might be in their economic best interest for something that is more important to them.

The lesser of two evils, is still evil and right now, the only viable parties for election are both evil.

Disagree with any of these hard-core left or right wing people, and you will get yelled at, called names, and if you're on facebook probably unfriended. They don't want to hear that they are wrong, that there might be better alternatives to what they are proposing. That they have bought into lies. You can present evidence to the contrary, and they re-iterate what you've just proven is false. They think you are mad at them because you disagree with them, because they certainly are mad at you. What happened to rational discourse? What happened to not surrounding ourselves with people who think 100% in lock-step with us and ditching anyone who dares step out of the box of our belief system?

If we breed ideas based on the people with whom we associate, then associating only with people we already agree with will lead to ideas that are born of incest. Nature has proven that that leads to no good end.

You have the right to your own opinion, but you do not have the right to make up your own facts. I blame the mainstream media and the politicians for this one. They do that all the time, and so it has rubbed off on everyone who has weak critical thinking skills. They think that because they agree with something, or if it sounds like it might be good or plausible, then it must be valid. Lies and mis-truths are never valid.

I suggest that everyone reassess why they believe what they do on a daily basis. Get to know your neighbors, you're more likely to have interaction with them than some jackal that gets sent to DC to represent you. If you can't trust your fellow citizens, because you have this idea in your head, perpetuated by the twenty-four hour news cycle that everyone else is stupid/crazy/incompetent, then I ask you to tell me exactly what is democracy? Democracy is rule by the People. But the media and the politicians have turned the People into an entity that can't be trusted to make their own decisions, or to keep themselves safe by using common sense. Look at your appliances! You can't even open your top loading washing machine when it's on now, because you might hurt yourself. So much for dying anything! That's just one instance of this usurpation of our rights in the name of "safety" and most people have unthinkingly gone along with it.

Well, I have news for you. One day soon, you're going to wake up and realize that you live in a tyrannical police state. You're not going to know exactly when it started, because rights are never taken all at once. They are eroded away on a slow scale, so slow that most people don't even notice. And quite a few won't even notice when they are completely gone, because they are content to live with a jackboot on their neck in exchange for an illusion of safety.

"As nightfall does not come all at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilight that we all must be most aware of change in the air – however slight – lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness." --Associate Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas

The War on Contraception and the Rise of Serfdom in America

Since Rick Santorum, or as they call him Mr. Frothy in much of the left-leaning blogosphere, was quoted as saying that the states should have the right to outlaw contraception (a clever way of saying that it ought to be outlawed without coming out and saying it directly), I've been thinking a lot about the general state of affairs in these United States. It's the 21st century to be sure, but the neoCons seem intent on taking us back to the dark ages, not only by outlawing contraception, and ostensibly abortion, but by having a population of serfs utterly dependent upon the Corporatocracy for every little morsel of their genetically engineered food.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that poverty and children are intertwined on the same thread. In fact, as we speak more children are slipping into poverty because our economy is in the toilet.

Who is hardest hit by this poverty? Minorities of course.

"Minorities were hit hardest. Blacks experienced the highest poverty rate, at 27 percent, up from 25 percent in 2009, and Hispanics rose to 26 percent from 25 percent. For whites, 9.9 percent lived in poverty, up from 9.4 percent in 2009."

So what does the religious right do to try to alleviate this poverty? Do they push family planning and the use of contraception to prevent unwanted pregnancy and therefore abortion? No, they plan to protest abortion at the Democratic National Convention in Charolotte. They insist that abortion is causing a "black genocide".

I read that and thought, 'What a bunch of bullshit.' Isn't that just what the poor need? More mouths to feed? In fact, the African American population in this country has grown over the last ten years and is projected to grow further over the next forty years according to the US census bureau. I know, I know, since when do I expect religious fundamentalists with an agenda to actually tell the truth. Genocide is a loaded word. It's very definition means the utter destruction of a population based on a trait. Well, as you can see from the census data, that ain't happening.

In fact, this sort of thing pisses me off, a lot. It implies that black women aren't fit to make their own decisions regarding their own bodies and their own lives. They need someone to tell them what to do, in this case religious conservatives and a (Caucasian and male dominated) big brother government. Because minorities, especially female minorities, can't be trusted to make decisions.

Black anti-abortion activists depict this phenomenon in dire terms — “genocide” and “holocaust,” for example. But often the women getting the abortions say they act in the interests of children they already have.

“It wasn’t a hard decision for me to make, because I knew where I wanted to go in my life — I’ve never regretted it,” said Kimberly Mathias, 28, an African-American single mother from Missouri.
She had an abortion at 19, when she already raising a 2-year-old son.

“It wasn’t hard to realize I didn’t want another child at that time,” Mathias said. “I was trying to take care of the one I had, and going to college and working at the same time.”

She was able to graduate, now has an insurance job, and — still a single mother — has a 3-year-old son as well as her first-born, now 11.

Women who have abortions for non-medical reasons do so for one of three reasons. Either (1) they already have too many children to care for and can't afford another one, or (2) they aren't ready to have a child because they are still in school but would like children later, or (3) they don't ever want children. Why do these religious fascists think they have a right to tell women that they must carry a pregnancy to term no matter their current state of affairs, no matter if they just simply don't want children? Where do they get off? Let's turn this back on them. I don't ever want children and I don't think anyone should have children either so therefore I'm going to legislate no more children ever! Ridiculous right? Yeah, about as ridiculous as their reasoning, or rather lack thereof.

The argument against abortion breaks down into two camps. The religious wingnuts who think that if they allow others (not themselves mind you because these laws don't apply to them) to have abortions then some imaginary sky god will be angry at them. And the other camp? The Corporatocracy of course. I imagine it hasn't escaped their notice that outlawing abortion, and especially contraception, would increase poverty in this country. And an increase in poverty is good for the rich and good for big business. Outlawing contraception and abortion would essentially assure that most women, and by extension their children, would live in poverty and never be able to get themselves out of it. If you think this is bullshit, read this study. I for one didn't need to read that study. I've seen the vicious cycle of poverty with my own eyes.

What better way for the Corporatocracy to have a steady stream of poor workers than to outlaw contraception? Workers who would be willing to work for minimum wage, if the minimum wage even lasts that long. Poverty is a trap, and one incredibly difficult to get out of. We speak of choices. Those born into poverty had no choice in the matter and the Corporate-christo-fascists don't want them to have one either, as it serves the Corporate jackals to have a serf class at their beck and call.

Herman Cain: Don't blame the Corporatocracy, Blame yourself

Herman Cain is an (un)American idiot. If you recall back in July he was clamoring for religious tests before people can serve in government here. Any sixth grader who's taken government studies could tell you that that is unconstitutional, a violation of Article Six of our Constitution. Now he tells ordinary, average Americans that it's all their fault.

"Don't blame Wall Street, don't blame the big banks," he continued. "If you don't have a job and you are not rich, blame yourself!

Really? I wonder when Herman Cain last visited a ghetto. Maybe he should take a stroll through public housing. While he's there he'd do well to look at all the children living there. Children brought into this world, born into poverty, through NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN, who do not stand a chance with people like Herman Cain running things.

"While Cain dismissed the protests, he stressed in his interview with the Wall Street Journal that he's more in touch with the middle class than the GOP frontrunner, Mitt Romney."

O rly? Well, I suppose this could be factually accurate since there's not much of a middle class left here in the United States and what is left is on it's way out. I guess it's easy to be more in touch than your opponent with something that doesn't exist.

"And while Cain has been successful in business, he told the Wall Street Journal's Alan Murray, "Don't spread this perception I'm a kajillionaire.""

This is of course a lie. Only the rich can run for office in this country. I suppose an exception might be made if someone of lesser means sold out and was funded by a Corporate backer *cough* tea party candidates *cough*

Actually, Herman Cain's net worth is reported to be $18,000,000. How many years would you have to work to earn that much money? If I went by my last full-time job, which happened to pay ABOVE the median wage for an individual in the United States, I would have to work over four hundred years to earn what Herman Cain is worth. At the rate I'm going now, since I'm underemployed, it would probably take me closer to a few thousand years to earn that much. There's something wrong with that. But then again, Herman Cain is in the top 1% of people in this country. Besides the non-existant middle class, I'm sure he's in touch with his profit margin.

Judging from his self-serving demeanor, I dare say that Herman Cain would not want to raise taxes on the rich, unlike Obama, since Herman Cain acts like an entitlement whore, in that he's entitled and the rest of us are just SOL.* Herman Cain doesn't care about this country. He doesn't care about our Constitution either, and he doesn't care about you. Unless 'you' happen to be Herman Cain that is, or one of his cronies. And if Herman Cain reads this, since he claims to be Christian, maybe he ought to ponder the second half of the nineteenth chapter of the book of Matthew.

"You know, where it ends, usually depends on where you start." --Everlast, What it's Like

*Hint:Obama is rich too, but still raised taxes on himself.

An open letter to the people of North Carolina, district 5

Dear people of North Carolina,

This week Virginia Foxx sponsored an amendment to de-fund medical schools that teach abortion. Now, regardless of what your stance is on abortion, sometimes it is medically necessary and not a choice at all. In cases of ectopic pregnancy, severely deformed fetus or in the case the mother would definitely die if allowed to attempt to carry the pregnancy to term. Whatever you may think about god and life, pregnancy is not perfect. Shit happens. Sometimes very bad shit. Doctors need to know how to perform abortions. This isn't the dark ages. Please do not let people like Virginia Foxx drag us back into one.

I was born in North Carolina, and I would thoroughly appreciate it if you would vote this crazy bitch out of office. It makes all of us look bad. I know quite well that most of the people of North Carolina are indeed sane and rational people, whatever their political persuasions. Unlike Virginia Foxx, who is to put it mildly, quite mad.

Sincerely yours,
–Quite Mad (but not crazy like a Foxx)

Tea Party Schizophrenia: A true mental disease

In a recent poll, it was found that supporters of the Tea Party movement were likely to support the Christian Conservative agenda.

"While the loosely organized Tea Party movement has focused largely on shrinking the size of government and other fiscal issues, its backers are more likely to support government restrictions on gay marriage and other social issues, the Public Religion Research Institute found in its American Values Survey."

This is, in a nutshell, just more proof of how bat-shit crazy these people are. It's not that they want less government, it's not that they want their concept of "moral values" forced upon the citizens of these United States, it's that they want both. They want to have their proverbial cake and eat it too. Except, the cake is a lie. It's always a lie.

They want less government interference in regulating things that keep us safe. They want more government meddling into the private lives of homosexuals, wanting the government to pass laws to keep them from being able to marry or share their partner's insurance benefits, some going so far as to say that laws should be passed making homosexual acts/partnerships illegal. They want less government funding of education (wanting to dismantle the Department of Education and quit funding college loans and grants, because ask any slave master from the 19th century about the best way to keep people as chattel). They want more government interference with the bodies of women, to tell them that they must have children, whether they want them or not, whether they are mentally and emotionally fit to have them or not, whether they've been raped and abused or not.

It's really a complete schizophrenia, to sit there and say that the government should have no influence in the corporate lives of businesses but at the same time that same government should be in our bedrooms telling us what to do, who to be with and forcing women to carry a pregnancy they don't want, or is dangerous to their health, to term. I'll call it for what it is. It's goddamned fascism, pure and bleeding simple. It's so Orwellian, it's almost un-fucking-believable, for these ass-hats to sit there and scream that they are the denizens of freedom and democracy, and at the same time wanting to put their jackboots at the throats of their fellow Americans to make them follow their own twisted version of "morality".

One Nation Under [Her] God

"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." --Sinclair Lewis

Reagan bankrupt this country and yet he's still their darling. I curse his memory by the way. Then G.Dubya took his ideology to the extreme and it has plummeted us into another Great Depression. And the fact that she blames the Department of Education for No Child Left Behind crap is moronic at best. It was a bill introduced in congress and signed by their beloved G.Dubya. That's fucking rich that is. Let's just lie, lie, lie, and pretty soon no one will even know the truth. Our education system here sucks, and you know why? Because it's funded by property taxes. The rich get a great education and the poor, as usual, get fucked over. And NCLB has nothing to do with it.

That she would cite Bachmann, means she's crazier than batshit. I guess it takes one to know one.

Americans For Prosperity? One might mistake that they're for the prosperity of Americans, but that would be a mistake. They're for Americans supporting the Corporatocracy. Yes, let's cut taxes for the rich and fuck the People over by refusing to extend the unemployment insurance and by shipping jobs overseas so that CEOs can make more profits. Why don't they just dispense with the pretense and just call it what it is. Americans for the Fascist Corporatocracy. Or maybe The Fascist Corporatocracy for the Support of American Serfs.

I often wonder why politicians who want to be in control of government, pander to the "small government" group, and then when they get in there, they do the same damned thing every other politician has ever done, LIE LIE LIE and back corporate interests in spite of the people they're supposed to be representing. They don't do anything to make the government smaller. They do everything they can to put more and more of our government into the pockets of private business interests.

Border patrol is the job of Immigration and Customs. By advocating that the States should have the right to practice border patrol, means that they are advocating succeeding from the Union, de facto, because that means next they'll be saying they ought then have the ability to issue visas and passports so they can control who comes into their state. Maybe Nevada ought to succeed, and we can ship all the nutty neo-Cons there and they can live in a great utopia of oppression of the lower classes. I suppose the gambling capital of the country will have to go somewhere else (or we'll have to be really rich and go to Monaco to gamble) and I also suppose that we'll have to grant refugee status to anyone from Nevada with a brain and half a thought in their head.

"What caused the problems [with the economy] in the first place"?!?!?!? I can answer that for you Mme. Angle. YOUR PARTY is the cause of the economy collapsing! That's what happens when you deregulate every fucking thing. MORONS. All of them.

*sorry if I've rambled tonight, I blame the beer, it makes my thoughts meander =P

**edit**

SeeingEyeChick pointed out that she looks a lot like "The Chicken Lady" (Sue Lowden, left) who I must have missed (terrible I know)... why does the party of red wear blue, the color of the opposition?

May God Have Mercy On Your Souls

I've got news for my Republican friends. Every single person who is going to recieve unemployment insurance under this bill is unemployed. Every single one of them doesn't have a job, and that's why they need this money. Now I know what the Republicans are thinking, they're thinking, why don't they just sell some stock? If they're in really dire straights maybe they could take some of their art collection and send it off to the auctioneer. And if they're in deep, deep trouble, maybe the unemployed can sell one of their yachts. That's what the Republicans are thinking right now. But that's not the life of ordinary people. The 99% of America who actually have to work for a living, that doesn't just clip coupons and live off of interest and dividends like my Republican friends do. That's why we need this bill to pass, because of the 99% of America that deals with reality every day. The people who will lose their homes if this bill doesn't pass. The people who will be living in their cars if this doesn't pass. That's why we need this to pass. And I will say this to Republicans who have blocked this bill now for months and kept food out of the mouths of children, I will say to them now, may God have mercy on your souls.

And here is the root of the problem. These rich bastards that run everything haven't got a clue what it's like to wonder where your next meal is coming from, or whether you might get laid off when you live paycheck to paycheck. They haven't got one iota of an idea of what it's like for the rest of us.

What's a Matter with US?

"It's like a French Revolution in reverse in which the workers come pouring down the street screaming more power to the aristocracy." --Thomas Frank

I read this article over at the BBC, and I have to tell you, they hit on something there. No one cares about facts. They only care about how things make them "feel." It's why people elect idiots to office, who serve not the people who elected them, but Corporate masters. It's why they blame Obama for the mess we're in, and why they blame him for not waving a magic wand to get us out of it. I suppose that Obama should have studied a bit harder at Hogwarts, because he just isn't all that good at magically cleaning up two decades of Republican mismanagement in a year.

Last time I checked, large, complex civilizations don't just turn on a dime. You can think of our civilization as a really big aircraft carrier. You don't just whip it right around like it's a Lamborghini or something. It's not possible.

People are stupid. They don't care about facts, or logic, or what is real, or what it actually takes to accomplish something. All they care about is listening to pundits and talking heads shriek about things that make them "feel" like they have some kind of power over the situation and that validate any emotions they might have about it. Because, when it comes to humanity, facts are never important and neither is the truth.

"Rudy and the Big Lie"

Sounds like it could be the title of a blockbuster movie huh?

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

*Sigh* It really makes Goebbels look like an amateur.

Oh, and Rudy here is a frickin' mathematician, 6 days is less than 10. Really? I would have never known that.





Just keep saying it.* The chattel will love you for it.

*"it" being 9/11

The Double Standard

I'm sure that by now you all have heard about the shooting at Fort Hood here in Texas. It's a tragic thing, so many people killed for no good reason. It's really sad. What's also sad is some of the comments left on various news articles. Instead of offering the families of those who were slain their condolences, the racists are out in force and the anti-Muslim sentiment is oozing forth. The shooter is apparently of Jordanian descent and his name is of Arabic origin.

Whether or not he did what he did because of his religious beliefs (which I do doubt at this moment), why does everyone blame Islam? What truly would be irony is if he turns out to be a fundamentalist Christian evangelist, but I do digress. You see, crazy doesn't discriminate. He didn't open fire on those people because of religion, even if he claims that is the reason. Rather he did it because he's crazy. Period. Crazy. Nothing else.

But you say, the Koran is full of violence. Then I dare you to read the Bible. The Bible too has commandments to kill non-believers, witches, idolaters, homosexuals, etc. But when some crazy Christian kills someone, even when they claim their religion made them do it, we don't see people condemning Christianity.

Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. Ex 22:18

And the man that committeth adultery with [another] man's wife, [even he] that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. Lev 20:10 (Man, all the cheating Republicans better watch out!)

If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood [shall be] upon them. Lev 20:13

A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood [shall be] upon them. Lev 20:27

That is of course not counting all the smiting that "god" does, or ordering the killing of a man for gathering sticks on the sabbath (Num 15:32-35) or the ordering of the ancient Israelites to keep all the virgins for themselves after slaughtering an entire town (Num 31:17). However, "god" appears to change his mind by Deu 5:17 by saying "Thou shalt not kill" but forgets all about it by Deu 13:6,

If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which [is] as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; [Namely], of the gods of the people which [are] round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the [one] end of the earth even unto the [other] end of the earth; Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him: But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. Deu 13:6-10

The Bible is full of genocide, of "god" ordering the ancient Israelites to kill their neighbors and take their land. Of ordering them to kill unbelievers. During the Medieval period, western Europeans took all of this to heart, and murdered millions because of it, and that's not counting the crusades in the Middle East.

On that note, do you want to know why the Middle East is in the state it's in today? Because Medieval Christians invaded one of the most enlightened civilizations on earth and reduced it to ashes, and the British came along and finished it off in the 19th and early 20th century. Of course, they fucked up Africa too, so go figure.

The Arabs gave us the number zero, algebra, optics, and a myriad of other things prior to the invasion by a bunch of barbaric western Europeans. If you were a female in the Middle Ages, it would have been best for you to have been born in the Muslim world. During the Medieval period, women in the Middle East had rights that the women in western Europe did not have. Such as the right to testify in court, hold property and initiate divorce. And this history is buried here in the west, glossed over by people who would rather forget that our ancestors were a bunch of asshats.

Recommended reading: The Crusades through Arab Eyes

US Government Sponsored Human Trafficking

As if allowing your employees to gang-rape women isn't enough, how about abducting people from their homes by promising them jobs in the United States, only to take them and force them to work for little pay in Iraq?

Buddhi Gurung, who calls himself a poor Nepali man, described how he was unable to get a job to support his wife and two sons during fighting by Maoist rebels and the army in 2004. When an agent promised him a job in America for $500 a month, he said he borrowed about $2,800 to pay him — but instead of going to the United States, he was taken to Jordan via New Delhi.

After a month in Jordan, he said he was put in a van with 11 others and driven to Baghdad. Twelve Nepali friends in the van that left just before his were abducted, paraded on television and eventually beheaded. Gurung said he wound up at the U.S. Al Asad Air Base where he was forced to work and paid less than the promised $500 a month.

"We would hear bomb blasts nearby and we knew our life was at risk," Gurung said. "I always wanted to go back to Nepal but neither my passport was with me, nor did I have any money or knew any other way to go back. ... Finally, after 15 months, I was permitted to go back to Nepal. ... This is how my life was saved."

Gurung and the families of the 12 Nepali men have filed a U.S. federal lawsuit accusing Houston-based defense contractor KBR Inc. and a Jordanian subcontractor, Daoud & Partners, of human trafficking.

When I was reading this, I was like, how in the hell did he wind up being forced to work in Iraq? I know that there are criminal organizations that abduct people, but surely once he was found by our people, he would have been sent home. And then I read that KBR was responsible, and it suddenly made sense. Why recruit Americans, who you'll have to pay really well, and pay hazard pay for going some place so dangerous, when you can just abduct people from third world countries and force them to work? This shit just keeps getting deeper. And our congressmen are tangentially responsible for everything that these contractors have done, by failing to have oversight of the situation.

I did a search but, there doesn't seem to be much about this case in the news. Surprise, surprise.

Beck: Freedom is not *really* Freedom

From Crooks and Liars:



Watching Glenn Beck is like watching a real life version of Orwell's 1984 in action.

War is peace.
Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength.
Corporations are your friend.

Hey Beck! The 13th century called, they want you back. Because that's what this boils down to. They don't want the plebes to have information, just like the medieval Church didn't want the peasants to be literate, because then they might get ideas in their head. And when they say they want broadband access for everyone, that doesn't necessarily mean in their homes. It means that you can go to a library or some other publicly funded place and access the internet. I think that's an important thing.

The only thing that disturbs me is that people believe everything Beck says. As much as he mentions him, I wonder if Beck has ever read anything by Karl Marx. I wonder if he can define "socialism" or "fascism" or "Marxism" beyond just saying that the Obama administration is "all of those things."

“You have a freedom of speech or the government. You can’t really have both,” said Beck.

Really? I could have sworn that the piece of paper that G. Dubya Bush wiped his ass with, also known as our Constitution said that *we the People* are the government. And herein lies the danger. The right-wing wackos scream about how terrible the government is, but we're all supposed to be the government. We're supposed to decide what happens, by electing officials who carry out our wishes. The Constitution, that piece of paper that so many religious fundies want to throw out and replace with the Bible, is supposed to protect our rights. And yet we have Conservatives screaming we need a revolution, we need to overthrow a duly elected government, yadda yadda yadda. There is nothing wrong with our Constitution. It has served this country well (for the most part) for over two hundred years. I do believe that there is a word for that. It's called treachery. And, as Jack Sparrow said in Pirates of the Caribbean, "The deepest circle of Hell is reserved for betrayers and mutineers." But on a more serious note, these people have apparently never read the Declaration of Independence (or anything else of value for that matter):

"Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed."

Maybe what it boils down to is that Beck is so paranoid, he's afraid of himself.

Think Progress has more.

Republican Gomorrah

This is an amazing talk, it's a little long, an hour and ten minutes, but well worth watching the whole thing. I think I gotta read this book. It's about more than just the closet cases of the Republican Party.




There are parts that are hysterically funny, and other parts that are absolutely appalling. The right-wing neo-cons want nothing more or less than the utter destruction of our democracy. They want a theocracy, do not doubt this for a moment.

"As nightfall does not come all at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilight that we all must be most aware of change in the air — however slight — lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness. " --Justice William O. Douglas

The Party of "Waaaaah!"

The Republicans lately seem to act like a bunch of two year olds who missed nap time and can't shut-up long enough to let the adults have a conversation. They can't control themselves and they have no tact. And it isn't just your average un-educated American any more. No sirree, it's our elected officials who have no decorum. Joe Wilson, if Benjamin Franklin were alive, he'd probably smack you across the face with a white lace glove.

But I digress. What happened to statesmanship? To debate, not arguing and screaming? Oh, I know. A black man got elected, and all the good ol' boys nearly died of shock. The shock must have been so great, that it gave them Turrets, because they can't seem to control what they say any more.

We have some serious problems here, including poverty, a lack of health insurance for our poor, a lack of education (especially access to higher education), unemployment, etc. etc. etc., and all the Republican talking heads can do is scream about fantasy things like death panels and illegals getting health insurance. *rolls eyes* If they want to act like two year olds, and not let the adults have the important conversations over where we're going, then they need to be treated like two year olds. Put them in time-out, ignore them, and let them rave about their fantasy-land there and let the rest of us get on with the real work of reforming this inadequate system.

McCain *has* Publicly Funded Health Care

The fucking hypocrites. I can't stand them. They make my blood boil with their hypocrisy. It really pisses me off. This article here, is just another example of the depth of deceitfulness that the average politician will go to, to fuck YOU over. That's right. Most of them don't give a damn about the American people, and if you think they do, you should really reassess why it is that you think so.

Most politicians are money-grubbing, they're after lobbying dollars and like to misuse our tax money, so they can do things like fly to Argentina to see their mistress, and of course live a lavish lifestyle, many times that rivals the stars out in Hollywood. And you know what is even stupider, WE elect the idiots.

So what has me so pissed off this morning? McCain has the fucking COJONES to sit there and tell us that while he gets publicly funded health care, you know, the health care funded by OUR tax dollars, that the average citizen doesn't deserve that. FUCK HIM.

And if you think that the Insurance Companies are our friends and we don't need a public option, then FUCK YOU TOO.

Arguing with a Dining Room Table: An Analogy for having a Conversation with Conservatives

This is total LULZ. Rep. Barney Frank (D. - Ma) totally gave some of his idiot constituents a what-for.

Rep. Barney Frank lashed out at protester who held a poster depicting President Barack Obama with a Hitler-style mustache during a heated town hall meeting on federal health care reform.

"On what planet do you spend most of your time?" Frank asked the woman, who had stepped up to the podium at a southeastern Massachusetts senior center to ask why Frank supports what she called a Nazi policy.

"Ma'am, trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining room table. I have no interest in doing it," Frank replied.

These people, who come to these event to disrupt them, are like two year olds who won't let mommy and daddy have a conversation because they're busy banging pots and pans together on the kitchen floor because someone took their toy away. This is a start, but I really think they ought to start treating them like the two year olds that they're acting like. Perhaps some parenting experts can help in this regard.

Just Say No to... Trolls and your Own Interests while you're at it

Two things today. The first is, no more anonymous posting. I originally (and probably naively so) didn't have a problem with people posting anonymously, until I realized that it's usually only trolls that have nothing to add to the conversation, and that I can't tell who I'm talking to. They're all anonymous. So from now on, you have to be registered. Sorry, but some pricks always have to go and ruin a good thing for everyone else.

The second thing is, I was checking out France24, a news agency in France. I like to watch them, they tend to give a different perspective on things, since they have less of a vested interest in our politics, especially so when compared to local news networks. And I have to say, I love the comments regarding our health care. I'm sure the French, who have that *evil* "socialist" medical system are laughing their asses off at us. Well, at least laughing themselves silly over the idiots in this country. And we wonder why there is a prevalent attitude that Americans are stupid. We re-elected GDubya, so that's a case in point. We have people running around screaming against their own interests in favor of the interests of the Insurance Industry. How dumb can you get? Some comments from France24... translation is mine, and I'm not a native speaker, so I might miss some of the subtelty, but you'll get the gist of it anyway

"When Bush was in power, the Senate didn't hesitate to vote in favor of more funds to support an increase in cost of opearations for the soldiers in Iraq, that money was wasted and lost, but now they hesistate to vote in favor of a project that benefits all Americans, especially the poor."

"I do not understand why certain people (USA) are so hostile to this project? It's simple enough to be empathetic and understand the best interest of the project..."

"Good luck to this President, for this initiative for health."

Yeah, he's going to need all the luck he can get. And yes, it should be simple to understand that we think health care is a right, and that all people regardless of income should have access to it. But that requires critical thinking skills, and those are unfortunately sorely lacking in this country.

When I was in France, I came across a French family vacationing in the Pyrenees. We had a conversation about our vacations and what we were up to. The husband told me he thought it was insane that we didn't get more vacation time here in the States, followed by a little laugh, as if he knew he had the better end of the deal and was thanking his lucky stars he wasn't American. The French get an average of 39 days of vacation a year. In my white collar job, I get 10 a year. Yeah. They understand there, that there is more to life than money. Something that I think we've forgotten in this country. Sure money is important for living, I come from poverty and understand that really well, however it is not the be-all and end-all of life. What happened to enjoying life? Or are we too busy killing ourselves chasing after material shit that the talking heads on the TV tell us we have to have?

If you want to see an prime example of this, watch HGTV sometime. Watch how prospective home buyers and home owners either talk about or rip out entire kitchens and bathrooms because they're "dated". They complain about the color of the appliances because they're not "in". Talk about environmentally unfriendly! How many resources are wasted to build a new appliance, how many appliances are dumped in landfills because they're the "wrong" color? And these same people talk about going "green" while being the most wasteful fucks on the planet.

Everyone has to have the latest of everything, the latest phone, the latest custom cabinetry, the latest computer (okay well, maybe if you want to play the latest games you'll need that LOL), a brand new car, a brand new this and a brand new that. What happened to using things until they don't work?

Le sigh.

Your Quote of the Day on Health Care, or how you're a fucking idiot if you think private corporations are the answer

"...leaving private insurance companies the job of controlling the costs of health care is like making a pyromaniac the fire chief." --Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y.

You know after much thought, I've decided that if people are so stupid that they don't want universal and public health care like Canada and the UK and much of the rest of Europe have, that they don't deserve it. God forbid that they lie sick in the hospital with cancer, and are having to argue with their creditors because they're losing their house and everything they have because their insurance company dropped them when they got sick. Think it can't happen to you? It can, and it will. If you get sick with an expensive disease, your insurance company WILL drop you. End of fucking story.

Against universal health care? How does it feel to be a pawn of the insurance lobby? If you haven't enough sense in your head to see that the problem is the corporations, the insurance companies, etc., then you deserve exactly what you get. Hope you eat it up. Enjoy! Let me know how that works out for you, k?

I'm sick of the stupidity in this country.

"Man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of the time he will pick himself up and continue on." --Winston Churchill

Your Anger *will* Consume You

"There is more anger in America today than at any time I can remember." --Arlen Specter

Never thought I'd quote old Specter, but that quote caught my attention. There's a whole lot of anger all right, and a whole lot of ignorance to go along with it. The talking radio heads are pandering to the ignorant masses, feeding them lies and sending them off to disrupt democratic town hall meetings. They're like a two year old throwing a temper tantrum and making it impossible for the grown ups to talk.

They're spray painting swastikas outside of US Representative's offices. They're threatening a revolution. Yes, a revolution because they can't stand the fact that a black man is President. THAT is what this all boils down to. And if you don't believe it, you've not been paying attention. It's bad enough for these people that a democrat is in office, and our civil rights are semi-protected for the time being, but that there's a black democrat in office. That's just the straw that broke the camel's back for them. It has nothing to do with Socialism, they don't even understand the definition of that, as they're using it right now (Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance, etc.). That we might have healthcare like the UK, Canada or Sweden, is a good thing, but they believe the lies because they can't think for themselves. For them, money is prime, yet they don't have much of it. They are content to be the pawns of the Republican party, the lobbyists, the Corporations, like the Pharmaceutical and Insurance companies. Oh yes, they're told to be angry and go crash these meetings on behalf of these entities that have no business being in our politics in the first place. And these people are too stupid to realize it. They're rebels without a clue, to quote Tom Petty LOL

Lincoln was right. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. If we let these neo-Nazi wanna-bes crash democratically run town hall meetings, if we let them threaten and intimidate politicians by spray painting racist crap outside their offices, they may eventually get the upper hand, and we all know where that road leads. It isn't a pretty drive. They need to arrest these people and charge them with criminal trespass and disturbing the peace. If they can't come to a discussion and have just that, a discussion, and instead scream and throw their tantrums, they need to be removed from the event and punished, like a two year old, put them in time-out at the local jail.

Republicans are Racist Bastards (but we knew that)

Of course the Republicans are kicking and screaming over Sotomayor. It's not enough that she's a woman, but she's a Hispanic woman! The Republican reaction?

Republicans: Oh noes!!11!!1! The colored people are wanting equality again and are gaining important positions, even the Presidency! :'( Drat! Our evil scheme is coming undone...

So now they're saying that she's associated with an "extremist" group. Apparently if you're associated with a right-wing extremist group though it's not a problem, and how dare you say anything bad about them, especially if they're infiltrating our military. {/sarcasm}

At any rate, I hardly call the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund an extremist group. They're like the NAACP... but I suppose the Republicans don't have the cojones to call the NAACP an extremist group because they'd have Jesse Jackson protesting outside their offices. I guess the Hispanics are just a little too mellow for that.

Hispanic Rights Group at Center of Sotomayor Fight

Conservatives have called the group's stances on capital punishment and abortion rights, as well as its advocacy of affirmative action in worker discrimination cases, "extreme" and "shocking."...

Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, used the word "extreme" to describe the PRLDEF's views on capital punishment and race...

So, what it boils down to is that this group supports rights for minorities and women, the enemies of the rich, white guys in the Republican party. Since the Republicans have no leg to stand on and nothing of substance to run on (and no brains I dare say either) they have to paint their enemies with the "terrorist brush." They basically have equated PRLDEF with extremists and terrorists in their opposition to Sotomayor. They did the same thing with Obama, so I suppose it should come no surprise to anyone that they should go as far as to paint Sotomayor with that same brush as well.