The End Of Democracy?

Yes, if our Congress can't cooperate---and I blame the GOP most of all for their obstructionist tactics---we will see the end of democracy in the United States. Nixon perhaps unwittingly brought in all the worst of today's Hard Right Republicans, and when Reagan was elected (due mainly to their dirty tricks, I'm sure) these fanatics transformed the GOP into nothing more than a big bully. With the help of the Noise Machine---Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, etc.---these bullies redefined the honorable term "Compromise" from seeking to find a workable solution to a bizarre 19th century meaning of "being compromised" and having betrayed ones principles in doing so. Thus, in refusing to compromise they became "virtuous", and the others became mere "party hacks". Brilliant, yes, but what parties compromise over is not virtue versus sin, which is what their meaning of "compromise" meant.
They demonized the Democrats partly because, without Communism, they had no "enemy" with which to keep America frightened. Whatever the Democrats/Liberals thought, said, or did became "Un-American". They kept hammering away at that point until now it looks as if most Americans actually agree with that. And I'm afraid.
You see, back in 1967 I was a senior in high school taking a course in American Government, and one of our books was, to me, the bible of American Democracy. This was a book of readings from famous political scientists, philosophers, Founding Fathers, about the problems of democracy. In it was a section on why democracies failed, and one of the most chilling statements was that when political parties no longer worked together one could infer that such a government would altogether fail and fall into either fascism or chaos. Well, are we not seeing it now? The GOP is so hot to win that it will send this country into complete meltdown. No lies are too small, no dirty tricks too nasty that the GOP won't use them to stonewall, bully, and win by any means necessary. Machiavelli would be proud.

Brainwashing And American Males

I've discovered that males seem uniquely prone to brainwashing by the Conservative Media. I don't know why it's so, but maybe it has to do with the male penchant for "being right" (pun intended). Also, I suspect it has a lot to do with their mania for being "well-informed" and spouting their opinions as proof of it. As we all know, women are neither well-informed or right (in every meaning of that word). We are simply opinionated and wrong! Unless, of course, we subscribe to the Right. But what I find truly maddening is that males who hold Conservative opinions have nothing but contempt for anyone who doesn't. They, and they alone, are correct, and the rest of us are Commie-Pinko morons. That includes family members and, most importantly, their wives.
If I so much as suggest that a Conservative commentator is wrong, my son and husband berate me in a rather mean fashion. If I happen to be right in what I've said, they explode! It's gotten so I can't even open my mouth without being taunted "Oh, you just hate Republicans". Well, I don't, but even though I've voted for several (I'm still terribly old-fashioned about voting for the best candidate) they simply forget. Worse, their taunts are getting to the point of cruelty. What's happening to us? Why can't we talk to one another anymore? Frankly, I'm scared. What's next---physical assault on one's Liberal wife? Make no mistake, Fox and the rest of what David Brill so brilliantly termed The Republican Noise Machine are spreading hatred. On purpose. Without Commies to bash and fear, we who are Democrats have become THE ENEMY. Males do seem to be more susceptible to the Right's brainwashing, but will women catch up? God help us if they do. As for me, I will never feel safe voting for another Republican, and that's really scary!

If I Only Knew Now What I Thought I Knew Then

Ah, the absolute certainty of Youth! When I was just out of college I knew everything. So what happened? As I get older I get wiser, maybe, but I find I know so little compared to my younger years. How sad. At this rate I'll know nothing pretty soon.
Bad enough I've forgotten most of what I learned in school---even if most of it is now outdated. In no time I'll be a tabula rasa, God forbid. Is this what happens when you get old? It's almost like Alzheimer's, in a way; I'm always meeting new facts, and the old facts don't look familiar either.
There's so much I'll never know, so much I'll never have time to get to, so much I'll never be sure of again. Sigh.
Youth is indeed wasted on the young. Why wasn't I twice as snotty when I had the chance? Now that I'm 61 it's expected I'll be grouchy. It's assumed I'll be a know-it-all. Worse, it's considered cute at this age. Oh well...

Is This Global Warming Or What?

I'm not sure but I'd say the GOP really botched their call of Global Cooling. Yes, we certainly did have a lot of snow and all that. Even so, all that snow and rain was well within the parameters predicted by the warming scenario, and we all know now that the so-called "e-mail conspiracy" among left-wing meteorologists was concocted by the GOP and their pet weather-mongers.
So what's happening? Well, it's hot enough to set records here in the Northeast. Looks like it won't be breaking anytime soon, either, which is dangerous for people, animals, and plants. Not to mention the fact that farms are having to spray their fruit trees to keep them from cooking on the vine---literally. Then we also have to wonder how the BP mess will affect weather, too. All that wonderful Corexit (does it have an "e" on the end? I can't remember) and oil in our oceans---face it, it's not just the Gulf of Mexico that's had accidents---probably will end up in our rain clouds world-wide very soon. It's the oceans that drive the weather cycles, which scares the hell out of me and should scare you as well. We don't need this weather situation getting any worse, but don't hold your breath.

Be Careful---Your Web Cam Can Be Spying On You

I've just bought a new laptop with a built-in web cam, and while the photo to the left isn't impressive, just imagine if I'd been stupid enough to go naked when it snapped this. Mind you, I'm 61 and not inclined to do daring things, but hardly anyone seems to think twice about computing "in the buff", as it were. They should.
While at the present moment I can see no light indicating any cam action I must nevertheless be concerned; after all, remember how employers, principals, and government officials all gleefully spy on us for whatever reasons they feel are "necessary"? It happens more often than you think---or care to imagine. Frankly, I wish they would mind their own business, but how much would you care to wager on that? Never happen!
I've often toyed with the thought of wearing some ghastly body suit that would make it appear I'm naked. Something really sickening, you know. Maybe open sores running thick, yellow pus. Or perhaps something like the chest-bursting creature from ALIEN. I know it's childish, but you have to admit that there's hardly any point in being an adult if you can't be childish at times. That, by the way, is my favorite Tom Baker quote from Dr. Who.
Let's all be childish and do some absolutely squalid (there's a great British word for you!) pranks to get even with Big Brother. If not (or you're a coward like me), then just cover over the web cam lens. After all, do you really want to make it easy for them?

Don't Go Near The Water---Forever

Mmmm! Don't you just love swimming at the beach? Well, you won't much longer. This is the current state of the waves washing up on Gulf shores, and it's not getting any better---probably never. It looks rather pretty, actually, something like liquid amber, perhaps. Nevertheless, it's deadly, and lots of pretty things are deadly in nature. This, unfortunately, is not nature; at least it's not what nature should be doing to us.
This, I'm afraid is what "nature" will be looking like for at least the foreseeable future. How "foreseeable", you ask? Let's just say that most scientists doubt BP will be able to plug this hole. Ever. Sometimes I have a sneaking suspicion they don't really want to plug it. Just think how much the price of oil might rise, and we all know supply and demand has little, if anything, to do with prices. If the supposed "law of supply and demand" did apply, then how come prices have been able to remain relatively stable thus far?
No, we're screwed, folks. Even if they manage to plug this hole by August (which is looking to be maybe August 2011, if we're lucky) those billions, possibly trillions, of gallons will have poisoned the entire Gulf already. Not only that, but projections by NASA predict that the entire Gulf Stream will be nothing but oil---all the way up the east coast as far as the Carolinas---before heading off toward Europe. And as if that's not bad enough, the dispersant will have been sucked up into the clouds to enable the entire North American continent to be poisoned by oily rains. Not to mention the usual hurricanes as well. Better start praying, but don't expect God to answer. He's probably on vacation---permanently.
Oh, and I wouldn't drink orange juice, either.

Helen Thomas---A Sad Goodbye

She was the journalist they loved to hate. Her questions at press meetings were blatantly biased and loud, and she made her colleagues writhe in embarrassment whenever she stood to challenge a president. But she had courage and a style all her own. She asked the tough questions no one else dared to bring up, and her loss is our loss as well.
She had to be tough to succeed in journalism. Women were few and far between in the world of political journalism when she began. She had to be loud in order to be taken seriously by men in those days, and she wasn't ashamed to be unladylike, either. That she was biased against Israel in no way detracts from her devotion to journalism; she was honest about where she stood, unlike many of her male colleagues, and although I often cringed when she railed against Israel I respected her just the same. This is America, after all, where unpopular opinions are supposed to be feely expressed. She wasn't inciting hatred hatred for Jews. Shame on the cowards who used her latest remarks to oust her! Why should she have been forced to apologize? What, she hurt someone's tender little psyche? This Political Correctness is despicable, and soon none of us will be able to speak freely if this continues.
So she said Jews should go "home", back to Germany and Poland. All right, that may have been insensitive, but surely not the same as saying they should be gassed. If you haven't noticed, neither Germany nor Poland gasses Jews anymore, and Jews have gone to live there in the last decade. She has always been a gadfly, so why should she change now? If she had condemned the Palestinians and demanded they go "home", I doubt if anything would have been said about it.
Yes, I'm a Jew and I care about Israel, but I also care about free speech. The Peter Zenger case, if you'll recall, gave journalists the freedom to report without fear of reprisal. In her case, she had been asked a question and answered it. Opinionated? Yes, but that's Helen Thomas. Her colleagues who, it seemed, used her unfortunate remarks to finally get rid of her should be ashamed. Personal vendettas have no place in journalism.
Goodbye, Helen. We'll miss you. God bless.

Why Can't We Accept The Truth?

I'm going to address two topics, both of which can't be stressed enough. First, Obama is not responsible for BP's mess, and he can't do anything to stop it. Those of you who are screaming that he isn't "doing enough" are angry, and I accept that, but your misplaced anger is playing right into the hands of the same GOP that gave BP the right to risk the very thing that has happened. It was the GOP who clamored for the deregulation of industry ever since Reagan took office. The GOP who, under Bush41 and 43, used the excuse of Free Markets to gut consumer protections---not the Democrats. The GOP who gave corporations the right to buy Congress under the idea of Money=Free Speech. So, if more money equals more speech, then who is it that has the most money and therefore the most "free speech"? Corporations. Is it any wonder, then, that our Coast Guard in the Gulf wears badges with the BP logo, and refuses to tell WE THE PEOPLE what's really happening down there? If BP can silence the Coast Guard, then how can our president find out what's going on? Face it, Obama is being lied to by BP, the Coast Guard, and quite possibly Fox News and the GOP. Fox News is pushing Sarah Palin for the GOP contender, and she wants to continue BP's free-wheeling drilling approach. Most of the up and coming GOP stars are Hard Right. Do we really want to hand this country back to the party that started this whole fiasco?
Take a look at the image above, folks. That bird is us. Wake up. It's not Obama, it's the Republicans who bear the brunt of what is happening, and they couldn't care less what happens to us. They are too busy celebrating their victory this November, because they've gotten you to believe their lies. All they want is to win, and they don't care how. In fact, if Obama could solve this crisis they'd be in trouble. The truth is, the GOP wants it to get worse. Rush Limbaugh stated flat out he "hoped" Obama would "fail", and he speaks for the GOP.
Vote the Democrats out of Congress this November and you'll have the same GOP that gave us the financial crisis, the two wars we didn't need, and the deregulation of BP. Do that, and we're all going to wind up covered with oil. The perpetrators are BP and the GOP. Remember that.

It Might Be Us Next

To whomever created this picture, a million thanks!
Seriously, though, this oil spill is far worse than BP wants us to think. In a Democracy Now broadcast, Amy Goodman was taken for a tour of the spill in a Coast Guard helicopter and, spotting the BP logo on the Coast Guard pilot's badge, when she inquired as to why the Coast Guard should be wearing such badges, he gave her a lame answer.
So why should the Coast Guard be wearing such badges? Does our military and police now work for BP? It sure looks that way, I'm afraid. The press is kept away from seeing the full extent of the spill, and workers are made to sign an agreement (coerced, actually) that they will say nothing to the media. What's going on here? Even the Coast Guard won't answer questions, and that should worry all of us.
In undeveloped nations, such corporations as BP become the de facto police and military of these countries. In short, these corporations might just as well be the governments of such nations.
So, has BP become our de facto government? Have they allowed our president to view the entire spill? After all, who has the kind of money to enable them to buy both houses of Congress? And we all know just about every congressman and senator is in BP's pocket.
The future looks black---with oil oozing right up the East Coast on the Gulf Stream. How long before that happens? It depends on when---not if--- the next hurricane hits the Gulf region. Prepare to see the spill on your beach in a few months. Prepare to see tar balls and dead sea birds all the way up to New England. Then prepare to see the Gulf Stream sweep the spill out into the mid-Atlantic Ocean, perhaps as far as Europe. Don't, however, expect to see our Coast Guard or Navy helping us. They have far too much to do protecting their new master from us. Welcome to the future of government. We all belong to BP now, I suppose. The United States of British Petroleum. How nice.

Is Israel Right Or Wrong?

Frankly, it's a tie at the moment. Joe Biden says the ships could have been unloaded to the north of Gaza and have gotten delivered just as well, that there was no need for these ships to land in Gaza. And he's not alone in that opinion. On the other side we have the activists who say they were fired on by Israeli helicopters, and Israelis indiscriminately shot everyone in sight. U.S. officials are careful not to condemn Israel, and some have said Israel had good reason to believe these ships might be carrying arms for the Hamas terrorists in Gaza, that according to the Helsinki Accords Israel had every right to defend itself the way it had. You decide.
As for me, take a look at the image above and try to defend Hamas. I'm sorry, but Israelis don't strap on bombs---especially on their children---to blow themselves up on public transportation, shops, streets and deliberately kill innocent people. Let me correct that; Israeli Jews and Christian Arabs don't take everyone to paradise with them. How can we support people who would sacrifice their own children? Is the mother/grandmother in the photo your idea of a loving parent? I didn't think so.
Remember this the next time you automatically charge Israel with murder and terrorism.

Turn Off The Television News And Think For Yourself

It seems we can't watch TV anymore without being hammered by "news analysis" that reeks of partisanship and contempt for the American voter. We are all stupid (according to Fox, CNN, MSNBC, etc) because we will listen to them and vote accordingly---at least that's what they think. However, they're forgetting Abraham Lincoln's famous political observation: You can fool some of the people some of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time.
For those of us who prefer to think for ourselves, this constant peddling of gloom and doom about the Obama administrations "failure" to solve everything right away sounds like a bunch of two-year olds throwing tantrums. These problems didn't begin with Obama, or the Democrats. Like Rome, it wasn't built in a day, or even a month. Most began with the previous administration, but no one wants to hear that, it seems. Of course we're upset, but if they think we're simply going to throw a tantrum come November (and the GOP is counting on it), they really must be daft.
Yes, we've read BRAVE NEW WORLD. We know how cunning the advertisement experts are, and that constant repetition of lies can sway people. Perhaps the GOP will be able to sway enough voters to return control to the same party that caused this mess, but November is still six months away. We don't care to be lectured by political pundits who worship opinion polls, nor do we like to endure so-called News Analysts shouting each other down---each trying to sound more apocalyptic than the last. First, there is the statistical Margin of Error which seems to be ignored (plus or minus three percentage points), and then there is the manner in which this poll is given. We have all encountered questions so slanted that it's impossible to answer them with a simple "yes" or "no", which means we're supposedly "undecided" on that particular issue. Not by a long shot! Polls are manipulated for the desired effect, remember.
We who think for ourselves avoid contaminating our minds with such garbage. As it's said in the theater---"an empty drum makes the biggest noise". Television and talk radio is nothing but noise, period. Let the stupid ones, who prefer to be sheep, watch television. And if we want to win, then let's get going.

Why Does Israel Always Put It's Worst Foot Forward?

Whatever the reason for the attack, whether for protection or terror, Israel has put itself in a most ridiculous position. It should have waited until the ships were in Israeli waters, and should have realized how stupid they would look. Perhaps the ships were carrying weapons, but now we'll never know for sure. Perhaps the activists were armed with guns, and perhaps the ships have ties to terrorist organizations, nevertheless, Israel looks like a terror organization. And the fact that they were armed with----get this----paintball guns makes them look like idiots.
Surely there must have been a better way than this. At least Israel should have filmed their side of the story with a bit more finesse. Instead, the Israeli video looks like a bar room brawl, and it's hard to tell who's who. You would think that, by now, Israel would understand how to do believable propaganda. Truth just doesn't work anymore, and lies have to be plausible.
There were pops going off in the background as the newsmen on the ship reported the incident, but it sounded more like fire-crackers to me. And one of the injured activists looked as if ketchup had been poured on his life-preserver, while the others didn't appear to have any injuries at all. There was a lot of bad acting on the part of the injured, especially when the cameras turned their way, and the video didn't show any of them getting shot. Still, no one's going to believe the Israeli version because Israel's video is so blurred and badly lit.
Sadly, Israel never learns. It slams in like the proverbial Bull-In-A-China-Shop, and expects everyone to know that they are the Good Guys, but the world needs better video, better production values, better acting to believe Israel. Israelis are so blunt about everything that they alienate everybody. Now they've made themselves "killer clowns". Who's going to ever believe them again?

Obama Isn't God & Can't Fix Everything

What is it about educated adults that makes them whine like spoiled brats when they don't get their way? This whole BP mess has suddenly become Obama's fault, and normally intelligent Dems from the Gulf States are screaming for him to do something. But what, really, can he do? First, it wasn't his fault but BP's greed and arrogance. Second, it's their duty to fix this---which they may not be able to, and we may just be looking at a dead Gulf. Third, our government doesn't have the equipment nor expertise to handle this mess.
And now even Republicans have joined the baying hounds biting at his heels. Honestly!
This is not Katrina, for which Bush must take some responsibility for having botched. Bush could not have caused the storm, but he became liable when he could have sent FEMA in to help and simply let it continue. This situation is quite different. Let's put the blame where it lies, on BP, and stop demanding our president wave a magic wand. Yes, I know that all too many of us had/have unreasonably high expectations for Obama, but God he is not. And while Democrats scream, Republicans are trying to relieve BP of most liabilities. Of course, the GOP is more concerned about saving Big Oil and stirring up popular opinion against Obama. They only want to oust him come 2012, and they will do anything it takes.
Are we going to throw a tantrum (again) and put back the same jokers who gave us the current financial crisis?

Oil Gusher In Gulf May Poison Us All

Yes, I realize how melodramatic that sounds, but it's unfortunately true. British Petroleum and the Environmental Protection Agency (that's an oxymoron) lied about the extent of the spill. It's not just a spill, it's a hole in the ocean floor where extremely high-pressured oil exploded the rig and continues to pump thousands of gallons into the Gulf.
New estimates are predicting global catastrophe if the hole isn't closed somehow. The volume of oil spewing up out of that hole could most likely---not just possibly---kill much of the life in all the oceans (remember, they're all connected to one another), and make the water so polluted as to kill terrestrials (that's us, and life on land).
We could very well be witnessing the end of the world in perhaps months, not years. And all because BP decided not to follow safety guidelines. Profits come first, you know. The stupidity and cupidity of the corporate world boggles the mind. Scientists say it might take a nuke, planted at just the right spot, to stop it. Barring that, only God could do it. And we all know how often he answers prayers!

America Is Still A Free Country

So, now we have Comedy Central bowing to the murderous demands of Islam. It's forbidden to show any likeness of Mohamed, and Muslims have the right to behead anyone who does? Well, I'm not going to be intimidated. This is still America, and I have free speech. If you don't like it, then leave. NO religion has any more rights than any other here, and certainly those who do not adhere to Islam have every right to ridicule Mohamed. Even Muslims have that right here. Americans ridicule Mohamed, Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, and any other religious symbol. Feel free to ridicule Moses, too.
I will continue to put up pictures of Mohamed forever, if need be. It's my right. Oh, and do you know that Persians have depicted him, and let's not forget that historical drawing of him braiding his nine-year-old wife's hair? Yes, he married her at six years old, in fact. If that's not child-rape I don't know what is. Your prophet was no holier than any other, and in many cases not as holy at all. Grow up, Muslims. You start beheading or killing Americans here and you'll be attacked. We own guns, and we know how to use them.
Don't think the politicians will protect you, either. They may try to get your votes by kowtowing to your imams, but We won't. Even if some of us are cowards, not all of us are. Remember that.

Give A Kid A "Back Hander" & He'll Likely Get A Crooked Jaw

Take it from me. I know---because that's what happened. My jaw was undershot and still slants to the left from years of face slaps, always hard ones, that began when I was about three years old and all through Catholic school. Back then (1952-1961) kids were seen as animals who had to be made to respect authority by any and all means. Corporal punishment, in the form of spankings, whippings, pulling hair,etc. were seen as legitimate means to ensure absolute obedience to those in charge be they parents, teachers or other adults.
Sounds positively chilling, doesn't it? But kids were thought of as "little adults" who understood what they had done. Yes, even at 3! Unfortunately, this idea persists among far too many adults today, who themselves had probably been beaten as kids and who regard the biblical "Spare the rod and spoil the child" as God's own parental advise. Sadly, it is. All through the bible, God is quoted as demanding death to man, woman, and child, so people still do "Imitatio Deo" by inflicting war and a host of other sadistic punishments on their fellow man, woman, and child. What a convenient excuse! Do Unto Others Before They Do Unto You.
The bitter truth is that children who are beaten by adults will probably grow up to beat children themselves, or be so afraid of getting beaten (even as adults!) that they mindlessly obey all in authority. Beatings made me a coward. Even now I do everything to avoid angering "those in charge", especially to their face. I instinctively cringe if someone near me makes a sudden hand movement. The last time I was slapped in the face was at age 22, by my father who demanded to see my graduation photos first. Why? Because he believed he had paid for them (I had taken them with my camera) so they were his. Guess what? He'd been treated the same way as a kid. Both my parents had been beaten growing up and saw nothing wrong with it. After all, they'd self-righteously insist, they had gone through it without harm, so who did I think I was when I dissented---on anything?
I was lucky. College showed me better ways of discipline. Even so, my jaw is still crooked, I don't have enough money to get it straightened, and my teeth are breaking and cracking from excess wear and tear due to my bad bite. Sad. Don't do it to your kids, and try to reason with others who do. Report such a person if they continue this practice. You may lose a friend, or a relative might never speak to you again, but you'll have at least saved some poor kid from disfigurement. I know, believe me I do. This won't stop unless all of us start taking notice and speaking out.

I'm not "a paranoid piece of shit", thank you

One of the less gracious (to say the least) comments left for me was that FCS lowered this individual's interest rate and so was well worth the $800---after calling me the above, of course. Well, when I called the banks that supposedly had been called by the FCS representative, they informed me that they had gotten NO such calls from FCS, and that nothing in my accounts had been changed---yet. In fact, I was told to change all my accounts, put a credit freeze on my cards, and contact the Consumer Fraud agency nearest me to fill out a report.
I did so the next morning, and also filed a fraud report with the police. Thank God here in NH we have a 3 day period in which to refuse any verbal agreements! I have a sneaking hunch that the rude commenter may have been an employee of FCS. I STILL say don't trust them, and I hope that commenter doesn't find any "surprises" in his bank/checking/credit card accounts.