I haven't blogged in a while. Yeah, I know. I've been busy. I work. I do school and then I work some more, only the second round of work is on the election.
What? You thought I was only going to fired up and ready to go in 2008? Yeah screw that noise. This election is as important.
Oh, you're diappointed in the president because he didn't buy you a pony and set up a big candy fountain in your front yard? Get over it. He had work to do and he did it well, not prefectly but well.
I've heard a lot about the enthusiasm gap, lately. I could lecture you about it but I won't. I'll let this guy do it for me.
Then watch this.
Then fucking vote, bitches.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Sister Wives, if I Must
People won't stop asking me what I think of the the show so here is my one big answer to which I am going to refer anyone who asks me from now on.
I think that show is to my marriage as The Craft is to my religion.
In other words, those morons are on a fucking TV show. They have nothing to do with reality. Yes, I know they call it “reality television.” They’re lying. Nothing that heavily edited and carefully produced can accurately be connected with reality.
The primary difference is that Mr. and Mrs. Potamus are equally my spouses. We are not “sister wives.” We’re just wives. She is my wife as much as she is his. That’s how our family works.
Lots of people take it upon themselves to pass judgment on us, especially Mr. and assume that we are in some sort of religious, repressive, freaksome, patriarchal relationship.
Those people have never met us.
Seriously, have you been reading anything I’ve written here? There’s no “man as the head of the household,” bullshit in my home. It just doesn’t work that way. I don’t work that way.
The people on Sister Wives don’t work that way either, not really. I mean, they may have their whole divided up house, sleeping rotation thing going but anyone who believes that these women are simply cow towing to their husband they have simply never been married, or met other humans. Relationships do not work that way long term and the more people that you involve in the relationship the less likely it is that any one person is really in charge.
The bottom line of this show is that they, like every other person on “reality TV,” is in it for the adulation and the money. Period. Don’t kid yourself. Whatever their claims of motivation are, that’s what it’s really about.
I think that show is to my marriage as The Craft is to my religion.
In other words, those morons are on a fucking TV show. They have nothing to do with reality. Yes, I know they call it “reality television.” They’re lying. Nothing that heavily edited and carefully produced can accurately be connected with reality.
The primary difference is that Mr. and Mrs. Potamus are equally my spouses. We are not “sister wives.” We’re just wives. She is my wife as much as she is his. That’s how our family works.
Lots of people take it upon themselves to pass judgment on us, especially Mr. and assume that we are in some sort of religious, repressive, freaksome, patriarchal relationship.
Those people have never met us.
Seriously, have you been reading anything I’ve written here? There’s no “man as the head of the household,” bullshit in my home. It just doesn’t work that way. I don’t work that way.
The people on Sister Wives don’t work that way either, not really. I mean, they may have their whole divided up house, sleeping rotation thing going but anyone who believes that these women are simply cow towing to their husband they have simply never been married, or met other humans. Relationships do not work that way long term and the more people that you involve in the relationship the less likely it is that any one person is really in charge.
The bottom line of this show is that they, like every other person on “reality TV,” is in it for the adulation and the money. Period. Don’t kid yourself. Whatever their claims of motivation are, that’s what it’s really about.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Never Forget?
So everyone knows what today is. Everyone knows that a bunch of people died due to extremism and today everyone is going to bombarded with two things; idiotic “Never Forget,” signs, images, bumper stickers and what not as well as multiple television shows and movies attempting to retraumatize the public for cash.
And all we’re going to be told today is that we should never forget. Yeah…thanks. I needed that reminder because the image of two people holding hands as they leapt to their deaths from the higher floors of the North Tower, so as to have some human contact in their last moments on earth, was going to go away any time soon; just pop right out of my head.
You know what we shouldn’t forget?
We shouldn’t forget that there were actually three planes that crashed that day. One took out a building full of soldiers. One crashed in a field after it was retaken by the passengers. One hit two buildings full of people.
Why do so many people focus on the building full of victims rather that the building full of soldiers or a plane full of ordinary Americans who stepped up when it was necessary and made themselves heroes? I think we should never forget the other two planes that crashed.
Guess what else we shouldn’t forget?
The terrorist attack on September 11th wasn’t random. It was the result of two things; religious extremism and global politics.
Notice that I didn’t say Muslim extremism. Yes, the people who attacked the U.S. were Muslims but that is peripheral. Religious extremism isn’t exclusive to Islam as evidenced by the idiot reactions to Park 51.
As a result of the religious extremism that led to the attack on September 11th we, the United States have responded with a level of extremism that makes no logical sense and is, in fact, pathetic and sad.
Somehow, in our strong, tough response to terrorism we’ve embraced the very worst traits of those people who attacked us and shown that what we as a nation mean by strong and tough is actually acting in the most cowardly, counter-Constitutional way possible.
Never forget that in the days after September 11th people who looked like they might be Muslims were attacked and in some cases were killed.
Never forget that fear and panic are exactly the reactions that the people flying those planes on September 11th wanted.
Never forget that religious extremism is what is happening right now in the United States. Go to any right leaning website and do a search for the word Muslim. You’ll see what I mean.
Never forget that September 11th is the event that led our nation into signing away our civil rights in the form of the Patriot Act.
Never forget that September 11th is the event led directly to a war we never should have fought in which 4400 American service men and women gave their lives and countless civilians died.
Never forget that the U.S. tortured people.
Never forget that part of the reason that the U.S. was targeted was our actions. That doesn’t, in any way, justify the actions of the terrorists but it’s something that we need to cop to.
The U.S. has been meddling in the Middle East for decades and doing so with little regard for the wishes of those in the region or the sovereignty of the nations therein.
Never forget that the events of September 11th are far more nuanced and complex than any t-shirt of very special episode can possibly cover.
You want to memorialize September 11th? Remember that real patriots respect Islam. Remember pluralism, the concept that two divergent ideas can and must exist in the same nation at the same time and each be equally respected. Remember that we the people have a responsibility to the nation and the Constitution to stand up for our fellow Americans, no matter what religion or nation of origin.
Remember that. While you're at it, remember that all of the memorials that are showing on TV are happening for profit and all the memorials that are happening in the media are too.
And all we’re going to be told today is that we should never forget. Yeah…thanks. I needed that reminder because the image of two people holding hands as they leapt to their deaths from the higher floors of the North Tower, so as to have some human contact in their last moments on earth, was going to go away any time soon; just pop right out of my head.
You know what we shouldn’t forget?
We shouldn’t forget that there were actually three planes that crashed that day. One took out a building full of soldiers. One crashed in a field after it was retaken by the passengers. One hit two buildings full of people.
Why do so many people focus on the building full of victims rather that the building full of soldiers or a plane full of ordinary Americans who stepped up when it was necessary and made themselves heroes? I think we should never forget the other two planes that crashed.
Guess what else we shouldn’t forget?
The terrorist attack on September 11th wasn’t random. It was the result of two things; religious extremism and global politics.
Notice that I didn’t say Muslim extremism. Yes, the people who attacked the U.S. were Muslims but that is peripheral. Religious extremism isn’t exclusive to Islam as evidenced by the idiot reactions to Park 51.
As a result of the religious extremism that led to the attack on September 11th we, the United States have responded with a level of extremism that makes no logical sense and is, in fact, pathetic and sad.
Somehow, in our strong, tough response to terrorism we’ve embraced the very worst traits of those people who attacked us and shown that what we as a nation mean by strong and tough is actually acting in the most cowardly, counter-Constitutional way possible.
Never forget that in the days after September 11th people who looked like they might be Muslims were attacked and in some cases were killed.
Never forget that fear and panic are exactly the reactions that the people flying those planes on September 11th wanted.
Never forget that religious extremism is what is happening right now in the United States. Go to any right leaning website and do a search for the word Muslim. You’ll see what I mean.
Never forget that September 11th is the event that led our nation into signing away our civil rights in the form of the Patriot Act.
Never forget that September 11th is the event led directly to a war we never should have fought in which 4400 American service men and women gave their lives and countless civilians died.
Never forget that the U.S. tortured people.
Never forget that part of the reason that the U.S. was targeted was our actions. That doesn’t, in any way, justify the actions of the terrorists but it’s something that we need to cop to.
The U.S. has been meddling in the Middle East for decades and doing so with little regard for the wishes of those in the region or the sovereignty of the nations therein.
Never forget that the events of September 11th are far more nuanced and complex than any t-shirt of very special episode can possibly cover.
You want to memorialize September 11th? Remember that real patriots respect Islam. Remember pluralism, the concept that two divergent ideas can and must exist in the same nation at the same time and each be equally respected. Remember that we the people have a responsibility to the nation and the Constitution to stand up for our fellow Americans, no matter what religion or nation of origin.
Remember that. While you're at it, remember that all of the memorials that are showing on TV are happening for profit and all the memorials that are happening in the media are too.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Let Justice Roll Down Like Waters
Many people will comment on Glenn Beck and his live action infomercial today.
I'm not going to be one of them.
Here's what I'm going to say.
47 years ago a group of people marched on Washington. It was one of many marches, boycotts, registration drives and bus drives that had been happening for years. It was hard. It was dangerous. Some of them, including the man whose speech became timeless as soon as he spoke it, died in the fight for equality.
So to all of them I say, thank you. Well done.
I'm not going to be one of them.
Here's what I'm going to say.
47 years ago a group of people marched on Washington. It was one of many marches, boycotts, registration drives and bus drives that had been happening for years. It was hard. It was dangerous. Some of them, including the man whose speech became timeless as soon as he spoke it, died in the fight for equality.
So to all of them I say, thank you. Well done.
I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."
But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.
We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.
The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.
We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.
We cannot turn back.
There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: "For Whites Only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."¹
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.
Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.
And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."2
This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.
With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:
My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,
From every mountainside, let freedom ring!
And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.
And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.
Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.
Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.
Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.
But not only that:
Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
The Best Part Of My Day
That's the prompt for the second day of the journaling project. I haven't decided if I'm going to post pics of the things that I put in the journal or not because it's kinda private.
But I did the first prompt and have just finished the second. So, yay me for following through for two days.
OK, subject change:
Dear M. Knight Shitty Director,
Nope. Sorry. You will not fool me again. I don't care how interesting the commercials for Devil look. It will suck. We all know it will suck. Everything you have gone near has sucked since Unbreakable.
No Love,
Me
There's been a lot going on in political idiocy lately but I need to research and reflect before posting about it so it'll be a couple of days.
But I did the first prompt and have just finished the second. So, yay me for following through for two days.
OK, subject change:
Dear M. Knight Shitty Director,
Nope. Sorry. You will not fool me again. I don't care how interesting the commercials for Devil look. It will suck. We all know it will suck. Everything you have gone near has sucked since Unbreakable.
No Love,
Me
There's been a lot going on in political idiocy lately but I need to research and reflect before posting about it so it'll be a couple of days.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Late to the Party
But I'm still gonna dance.
So there was this really interesting thing that happened a month or so ago called The 30 Day Journal Challenge.
I totally missed it. Had no idea it was happening until it was over.
I'm going to do it anyway. Starting today I'm going to take up the challenge, reading one prompt every morning and fulfilling it after work.
So here's today's assignment
Journal Prompt Number 1: Create a full page design introducing yourself :)
Highlight your name many times in the midst of your design.
I chose to use a lot of line design because I love it so much lately.
I also chose to draw some of the things that I like as well in there!!
Have fun, be creative, don't stress, just jump right in!!
So there was this really interesting thing that happened a month or so ago called The 30 Day Journal Challenge.
I totally missed it. Had no idea it was happening until it was over.
I'm going to do it anyway. Starting today I'm going to take up the challenge, reading one prompt every morning and fulfilling it after work.
So here's today's assignment
Journal Prompt Number 1: Create a full page design introducing yourself :)
Highlight your name many times in the midst of your design.
I chose to use a lot of line design because I love it so much lately.
I also chose to draw some of the things that I like as well in there!!
Have fun, be creative, don't stress, just jump right in!!
Monday, August 23, 2010
You Know What's Fun?
Moderated comments.
Anyone who knows me, here or on the various sites where I spend time and thus debate (because if I'm spending time somewhere, I'm debating. It's a fact.) knows that I'm always up for a good debate. I love them. I live for that shit.
However
If you comment starts with "God says," or any variation thereof I probably won't care.
If your comment contains a screed in defense of FOX, I will mock you. And you will deserve it.
If you simply disagree with me I will research your point of view or point out the many, many ways in which you are wrong.
All of these comments will get published. Like I said, I love to debate.
What won't get published is this:
"I don't want to argue with you about this. I'm just expressing my opinion."
Hey moron. IT'S MY BLOG. If you just want to drop your opinion and do a runner get your own fucking blog.
You know what else is fun?
The democratic process.
This is what I did with my Saturday.
That's how I make my point; standing in the rain, getting screamed at and hated on by idiots because it matters. Somebody had to say no to these people. Their speaker is a hate monger who lies for a living.
It was just us out there in no small part because there had been rumors that they were going to change the venue or cancel the event and I didn't want to get a bunch of people together for nothing.
The Mrs. carried these two:
and
I carried this one in case you can't read it above.
Yes we got yelled at but you know what? Those people are fucking cowards. One woman, one had the courage to come up and talk to us. She was wrong and she didn't stay long enough to do much more than state her position, take our picture and bail but at least she didn't drive by in her car and shout.
That was the funniest thing. People would creep past us, accelerate slightly and then roll down their windows and scream.
Cowards.
Anyone who knows me, here or on the various sites where I spend time and thus debate (because if I'm spending time somewhere, I'm debating. It's a fact.) knows that I'm always up for a good debate. I love them. I live for that shit.
However
If you comment starts with "God says," or any variation thereof I probably won't care.
If your comment contains a screed in defense of FOX, I will mock you. And you will deserve it.
If you simply disagree with me I will research your point of view or point out the many, many ways in which you are wrong.
All of these comments will get published. Like I said, I love to debate.
What won't get published is this:
"I don't want to argue with you about this. I'm just expressing my opinion."
Hey moron. IT'S MY BLOG. If you just want to drop your opinion and do a runner get your own fucking blog.
You know what else is fun?
The democratic process.
This is what I did with my Saturday.
That's how I make my point; standing in the rain, getting screamed at and hated on by idiots because it matters. Somebody had to say no to these people. Their speaker is a hate monger who lies for a living.
It was just us out there in no small part because there had been rumors that they were going to change the venue or cancel the event and I didn't want to get a bunch of people together for nothing.
The Mrs. carried these two:
and
I carried this one in case you can't read it above.
Yes we got yelled at but you know what? Those people are fucking cowards. One woman, one had the courage to come up and talk to us. She was wrong and she didn't stay long enough to do much more than state her position, take our picture and bail but at least she didn't drive by in her car and shout.
That was the funniest thing. People would creep past us, accelerate slightly and then roll down their windows and scream.
Cowards.
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