Today the California Supreme Court, in a 6-1 decision, upheld Proposition 8. The top court of the state that I used to be proud to call home has effectively made it legal for any group with sufficient money and hatred to force any group they disagree with into second-class citizenry. The one place in America that should be on the forefront of equal rights for all has taken a giant step back toward repression and apartheid. I am saddened not only by the loss to the gay and lesbian wing of the human community, but by the fact that one of the larger demographics that voted for this abomination in the first place was the African-American religious community. It wasn't all THAT long ago that they were the ones forced to ride on the back of the bus...
I am reminded of a poem I first heard in grammar school. We were being taught about Anne Frank. It was an evil time in world history, and I am most assuredly NOT trying to compare today's events to the Holocaust in any way, shape or form. There was a poem, written by Martin Niemöller that has remained in my head ever since. It seems especially appropriate today:
"In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;
And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;
And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;
And then... they came for me... And by that time there was no one left to speak up."
All of you that are members of some kind of minority whose rights are protected by law and the state Constitution, look to your rights. The gay and lesbian community learned today that the state constitution is no longer protection from the neanderthals who prefer religion over reality. We all learned that the law that is supposed to protect the rights of those that need protecting can be overturned for no better reason than the hatred of those that fear you. We also learned that the courts put in place to redress the wrongs of bad law will do nothing.
The lone bright spot in all of this is that the California Supremes didn't retroactively annul the gay and lesbian marriages that took place while we were an enlightened state. To those who were married in that golden time, I salute you and wish you the best. To those seeking equal rights, it is ironic that I suggest to you, perhaps Ohio?
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Dick
There is a lingering plague afoot in this nation. After a thorough high colonic, the parasite that caused this pestilential eruption lingers, continuing to spew filth and corruption. I speak of none other than our former Vice-President, the incredibly aptly named Dick Cheney. This scion of corporate corpulence, this Sith Lord with his hand firmly wearing his former boss like some sort of demented flesh sock puppet, the being that single-handedly orchestrated the greatest single assault on our Constitutional freedoms since King George III, has risen from the slime of his "undisclosed location" to show the moral bankruptcy that characterized the administration of Bush the Younger.
Hyperbole aside, I am constantly amazed at the unmitigated gall of this Dick. Since skulking out of office, he has done nothing but criticize the foreign policy of the Obama administration. On closing Gitmo: It's a bad decision. It's a first-class facility (ABC News). When President Obama officially ended torture? "President Obama campaigned against it all across the country, and now he is making some choices that, in my mind, will, in fact, raise the risk to the American people of another attack." (CNN) The crowning glory came on April 20 when the most secretive government official since that other Dick (Nixon, for you young'uns), who has fought tooth-and-nail to exert executive privlidge wherever possible (and in a few impossible places), was quoted by UPI as saying that the Obama administration didn't release enough information!
After the work-product from the twisted hobgoblins that made up the Bush "Justice" department was made public, Dick had the nerve to say, "One of the things that I find a little bit disturbing about this recent disclosure is they put out the legal memos, the memos that the CIA got from the Office of Legal Counsel, but they didn't put out the memos that showed the success of the effort." (UPI) The implication is that there are volumes of interrogation reports and other documentation of all the plots foiled by America's descent into Inquisition. From Dick's own pen, the truth is somewhat underwhelming.
Dick filed a request for documents from his old office under the Freedom of Information Act. Apparently he had a file labeled "Detainees" in his office. From that he wants the documents that, one assumes, will vindicate his torturing of prisoners. So, how many memos does Darth Cheney think it will take to clear his "good name"? Two, total pages: 21. Is there anyone out there still buying the bullshit?
President Obama made a mistake when he said the the CIA operatives that followed orders to torture shouldn't be prosecuted. The saving grace of that moment was when he said that investigation and prosecution of the torture incidents was up to the Attorney General. AG Holder, the very reputation of the American nation and her people is at stake. Lady Liberty was not just assaulted, she was clubbed, dragged into a dark alley, sodomized and her purse ransacked for cabfare. It is essential that you order investigations and, where the evidence indicates, prosecutions. To make any investigation more than a fancy cover-up, you MUST follow the evidence wherever it leads, even if that destination is the highest office in the land. The ghosts of torture victims throughout history cry out for the restoration of America's reputation as that shining beacon of freedom and liberty that she has been in the past, and is on her way to being again.
Hyperbole aside, I am constantly amazed at the unmitigated gall of this Dick. Since skulking out of office, he has done nothing but criticize the foreign policy of the Obama administration. On closing Gitmo: It's a bad decision. It's a first-class facility (ABC News). When President Obama officially ended torture? "President Obama campaigned against it all across the country, and now he is making some choices that, in my mind, will, in fact, raise the risk to the American people of another attack." (CNN) The crowning glory came on April 20 when the most secretive government official since that other Dick (Nixon, for you young'uns), who has fought tooth-and-nail to exert executive privlidge wherever possible (and in a few impossible places), was quoted by UPI as saying that the Obama administration didn't release enough information!
After the work-product from the twisted hobgoblins that made up the Bush "Justice" department was made public, Dick had the nerve to say, "One of the things that I find a little bit disturbing about this recent disclosure is they put out the legal memos, the memos that the CIA got from the Office of Legal Counsel, but they didn't put out the memos that showed the success of the effort." (UPI) The implication is that there are volumes of interrogation reports and other documentation of all the plots foiled by America's descent into Inquisition. From Dick's own pen, the truth is somewhat underwhelming.
Dick filed a request for documents from his old office under the Freedom of Information Act. Apparently he had a file labeled "Detainees" in his office. From that he wants the documents that, one assumes, will vindicate his torturing of prisoners. So, how many memos does Darth Cheney think it will take to clear his "good name"? Two, total pages: 21. Is there anyone out there still buying the bullshit?
President Obama made a mistake when he said the the CIA operatives that followed orders to torture shouldn't be prosecuted. The saving grace of that moment was when he said that investigation and prosecution of the torture incidents was up to the Attorney General. AG Holder, the very reputation of the American nation and her people is at stake. Lady Liberty was not just assaulted, she was clubbed, dragged into a dark alley, sodomized and her purse ransacked for cabfare. It is essential that you order investigations and, where the evidence indicates, prosecutions. To make any investigation more than a fancy cover-up, you MUST follow the evidence wherever it leads, even if that destination is the highest office in the land. The ghosts of torture victims throughout history cry out for the restoration of America's reputation as that shining beacon of freedom and liberty that she has been in the past, and is on her way to being again.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Tempest in a Teabag
Today is tax day. Corporate right-wing fucktards attempted to stir up the populace and claim it to be a grass-roots movement. Conservatives, if that is the state of your grass roots, your lawn is dead! One of the largest gatherings was here in Sacramento, but they couldn't even out-draw the worst team in the NBA, our very own Kings.
One of the asshats at the Washington, D.C. protest managed to get that prayer-meetin' busted up when they threw a box of teabags over the fence at the White House, earning the ire of the Secret Service who treated it like a possible bomb, and rightly so. I noticed that the tea was from Wal-Mart. It seems that even the right-wing, while protesting the tax policies that are cutting taxes for 95% of Americans, can't afford to shop at better than Wal-Mart.
The funniest thing about this whole thing is that none of the neo-cons or their mouthpieces at Fixed Noise seem to know about the "other" definition of "teabagging". The left-wing media has been one long scrotum joke for about a week now. It shows, once again, that you just cannot fix stupid (with all credit to Ron White)!
One of the asshats at the Washington, D.C. protest managed to get that prayer-meetin' busted up when they threw a box of teabags over the fence at the White House, earning the ire of the Secret Service who treated it like a possible bomb, and rightly so. I noticed that the tea was from Wal-Mart. It seems that even the right-wing, while protesting the tax policies that are cutting taxes for 95% of Americans, can't afford to shop at better than Wal-Mart.
The funniest thing about this whole thing is that none of the neo-cons or their mouthpieces at Fixed Noise seem to know about the "other" definition of "teabagging". The left-wing media has been one long scrotum joke for about a week now. It shows, once again, that you just cannot fix stupid (with all credit to Ron White)!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Five Decades!
A week ago, I reached one of those milestone birthdays. 50 years ago last week, I was brought into this world. I have had time to think about my life and I'm amazed at the changes that have occurred. ATMs, PCs, SUVs and a whole host of other acronyms that have come about. Hell, fifty years a website involved spiders! I am very glad that I didn't have to endure one of those cheesy black-balloon and geezer joke parties. Cathy and I went to Reno, where my birthday spanking was well and truly applied by the denizens of the Peppermill poker room. Now if I could just stop those AARP cards from arriving...
Friday, March 20, 2009
Moment of Clarity
I was in the shower, one of the planet's best thinking spots, mulling over the latest chapter in the saga of the bailed-out financial institutions when I had what my wife, The Lovely and Talented Cathy (TM) so eloquently calls a "brain cascade". That's what happens when one thought leads to another, then another, eventually leading to an epiphany of varying scale from "cool" to "OMFG!"
The thoughts that added to the cascade were that the last bonus I got, my stay bonus when I got laid off last year, had 42% sucked off the top by the Feds and that when I did my income tax this year the unemployment insurance I got was taxable income on my form 1040. Add hot water, soap and a major case of hamster brain...
The two ideas that sprang to mind were these. First, make any bonus awarded to anyone with a base salary less than $50,000 per year taxable as if it were a regular paycheck. No more getting just over half, just tax it as if it was a regular weekly/bi-weekly/monthly paycheck. This would put more money into the economy by keeping the bonus in the hands of the employee, not the Feds. The best part is that if some greedy corporate bastard tries to dodge the law by paying a CEO $50k a year with a $50 million bonus, it gets taxed like they make $50 million A MONTH!
Idea #2 was either the PR move of the year for any Republican or the ultimate "gotcha" for any Democrat. Introduce a bill making public Unemployment Insurance exempt from federal tax, retroactive to tax year 2008. This will provide a small reduction in the tax bills of those who need it most and will stimulate the economy of a record number of Americans by cutting taxes. Republicans can use it as a centerpiece of the "cut taxes is the only answer" BS they spout, and Democrats can just say, "You want tax cuts so damned bad, here you go!"
I wonder if this could gain any traction?
The thoughts that added to the cascade were that the last bonus I got, my stay bonus when I got laid off last year, had 42% sucked off the top by the Feds and that when I did my income tax this year the unemployment insurance I got was taxable income on my form 1040. Add hot water, soap and a major case of hamster brain...
The two ideas that sprang to mind were these. First, make any bonus awarded to anyone with a base salary less than $50,000 per year taxable as if it were a regular paycheck. No more getting just over half, just tax it as if it was a regular weekly/bi-weekly/monthly paycheck. This would put more money into the economy by keeping the bonus in the hands of the employee, not the Feds. The best part is that if some greedy corporate bastard tries to dodge the law by paying a CEO $50k a year with a $50 million bonus, it gets taxed like they make $50 million A MONTH!
Idea #2 was either the PR move of the year for any Republican or the ultimate "gotcha" for any Democrat. Introduce a bill making public Unemployment Insurance exempt from federal tax, retroactive to tax year 2008. This will provide a small reduction in the tax bills of those who need it most and will stimulate the economy of a record number of Americans by cutting taxes. Republicans can use it as a centerpiece of the "cut taxes is the only answer" BS they spout, and Democrats can just say, "You want tax cuts so damned bad, here you go!"
I wonder if this could gain any traction?
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Random Bravos and Bitchslaps...
Too much information swirling through my brain tonight... A few random comments
Alex Rodriguez: Am I the only one that is tired of all these baseball players that refuse to admit to steroid use but keep apologizing for getting caught? A-Rod, Bonds, Tejada and all the rest of you need to just say "I did it. It was all over the place. Once baseball ruled it was cheating, I quit." and then get past it. Until you do that, shut up already! Bitchslap!
Bud Selig, Comissioner of MLB: Take the home run record away from Barry Bonds and give it back to your buddy Hank Aaron? Only if you are ready to take away every record, award and performance bonus from everyone else in the Mitchell Report, dipstick! Bitchslap!
Hank Aaron: Always one of the most classy guys in baseball, for publicly telling the world that the home run record belongs to Barry Bonds and that Selig has the wrong idea, BRAVO!
Bristol Palin: In an interview with Fox "News", she said that relying on abstinence was "completely unrealistic". She also said that having her baby was her choice. Just remember that your mother, Caribou Barbie, would take that choice away from all women in America. BRAVO!
I know there is more, just not tonight.
Alex Rodriguez: Am I the only one that is tired of all these baseball players that refuse to admit to steroid use but keep apologizing for getting caught? A-Rod, Bonds, Tejada and all the rest of you need to just say "I did it. It was all over the place. Once baseball ruled it was cheating, I quit." and then get past it. Until you do that, shut up already! Bitchslap!
Bud Selig, Comissioner of MLB: Take the home run record away from Barry Bonds and give it back to your buddy Hank Aaron? Only if you are ready to take away every record, award and performance bonus from everyone else in the Mitchell Report, dipstick! Bitchslap!
Hank Aaron: Always one of the most classy guys in baseball, for publicly telling the world that the home run record belongs to Barry Bonds and that Selig has the wrong idea, BRAVO!
Bristol Palin: In an interview with Fox "News", she said that relying on abstinence was "completely unrealistic". She also said that having her baby was her choice. Just remember that your mother, Caribou Barbie, would take that choice away from all women in America. BRAVO!
I know there is more, just not tonight.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Super Sunday
Who'da thunk it? I tuned in to the Super Bowl and a football game broke out! After the Cardinals made every mistake you possibly could and overcame a couple of questionable calls by the officials, it took a last minute TD to put the Steelers on top. A really good game to watch by any standard. If anyone doubted Kurt Warner's credentials for the Hall of Fame, I think that was put to rest. It didn't hurt that I had the Cardinals +7 either!
Of course football isn't the only reason to watch the Super Bowl. It may not even be the main reason. The Super Bowl commercials are traditionally as much or more fun than the game. Was it my imagination or were this year's commercials kinda flat? In fact, I think the big winner this year was NBC! My favorite had to be LMAO with the Hulu ad with Alec Baldwin and the Heroes Football Game close behind. Of the "commercial" commercials, my top two were shown in the same break. The Pedigree "Crazy Pets" and Bud's "Stick" (I still think of it as "Fetch") were my favorites. Monster.com also had a good one with "Need a New Job?"
The biggest waste of $3 million: Cash4Gold. Ed McMahon and MC Hammer babbling about how you can sell your "excess" gold. Like anyone these days has EXCESS gold... I feel sorry for Ed McMahon. Between his "Tonight Show" and "Star Search" work and all those commercials he should have never had money troubles again. If it can happen to someone like him, some of us should thank our lucky stars.
Of course football isn't the only reason to watch the Super Bowl. It may not even be the main reason. The Super Bowl commercials are traditionally as much or more fun than the game. Was it my imagination or were this year's commercials kinda flat? In fact, I think the big winner this year was NBC! My favorite had to be LMAO with the Hulu ad with Alec Baldwin and the Heroes Football Game close behind. Of the "commercial" commercials, my top two were shown in the same break. The Pedigree "Crazy Pets" and Bud's "Stick" (I still think of it as "Fetch") were my favorites. Monster.com also had a good one with "Need a New Job?"
The biggest waste of $3 million: Cash4Gold. Ed McMahon and MC Hammer babbling about how you can sell your "excess" gold. Like anyone these days has EXCESS gold... I feel sorry for Ed McMahon. Between his "Tonight Show" and "Star Search" work and all those commercials he should have never had money troubles again. If it can happen to someone like him, some of us should thank our lucky stars.
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