The Constant Reader knows of the high esteem in which I hold my beloved wife, the Lovely and Talented Cathy. Her latest project is another stunningly wonderful idea. She has started podcasting and a new website, Student Tech. This podcast covers all the nifty technological goodies she has found helpful in her quest for her doctoral degree. It also shares ways to save money and blow off steam with low-cost fun, since keeping your sanity is just as important as gaining an education.
In addition to learning all kinds of stuff, you will also get to hear the beautiful voice of the woman that is the light of my life. Check out Student Tech and tell her The Amused Geek sent you!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
The Lion Sleeps
America lost perhaps its' greatest liberal champion last night. Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy lost his battle with brain cancer. This man, born to wealth and privilege, never ceased to battle for the rights of those less fortunate. Kennedy spent more that 47 years in the U.S. Senate and left his stamp on every major civil rights and anti-poverty legislation presented to that body. He will be missed.
It seems ironic to me that the darkest day of his career may have done more than anything else to extend Senator Kennedy's life. His brothers, John and Robert, came to early ends in possesion or pursuit of the nation's highest office. Ted could have easily become President had it not been for the tragic "Chappaquiddick" incident. He remained in the Senate and probably did more good for the disabled, poor and under-privleged over his long Senatorial career than he ever could have in a four to eight year Presidency.
Your labors are done, old lion. Rest well.
It seems ironic to me that the darkest day of his career may have done more than anything else to extend Senator Kennedy's life. His brothers, John and Robert, came to early ends in possesion or pursuit of the nation's highest office. Ted could have easily become President had it not been for the tragic "Chappaquiddick" incident. He remained in the Senate and probably did more good for the disabled, poor and under-privleged over his long Senatorial career than he ever could have in a four to eight year Presidency.
Your labors are done, old lion. Rest well.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Tyranny of the Wingnuts
In the days since I've last updated this missive, a disturbing trend has come to the fore. People (and I use that term loosely in this case) staring at the President's birth certificate still claiming that he's not a citizen, Medicare recipients railing against "government run health care" and the right-wing screaming meemies (This means YOU and your kind, Plush Windbag!) spewing talking points that are intellectually bankrupt and morally reprehensible.
It seems like the airwaves are filled with people shouting bullshit at the top of their lungs under the impression that volume can replace truth. On the news recently I saw elderly person after elderly person crying about how a public insurance option would mean that old people would have to die rather than get the health care they deserve. Do you honestly think that a country that specially designed a government-run single-payer healthcare system JUST for the elderly would make these same people end their lives due to a lack of healthcare? What color is the sky in your world? You sure don't live here! By the way, all of you who are screaming that America doesn't have a government-run single-payer healthcare system just for the elderly, it is called Medicare.
This mess is so pervasive that there is even a name for it. They are called "astroturf movements" because they claim to be coming from the "grass roots" but are fake. The Republican party is behaving like it believes that this is what the people want. Take that lying and barely literate village-idiot-of-the-tundra (could Dubya and she be related? Scary!), Sarah Palin. She is blathering on about how the Obama healthcare plan would create panels that would decide whether a citizen would live or die when, if Palin had the intelligence and integrity to read the actual bill, she would know that what is being offered is voluntary end-of-life counseling to the terminally ill. Palin, you lying guttersnipe, you have no room to chastise the press for "makin' stuff up"! Senator McCain, your selection of this moron didn't kill your campaign, but it did put it out of our misery.
The Constant Reader will know that I am a recent but devoted convert to liberalism and social justice, and I want to ask a favor. Please write, call, email or send a carrier pigeon to your Senator and your Congresscritter telling them that you want healthcare reform WITH a public option, and tell them that The Amused Geek sent you. I especially want you to write if you have the ill-fortune to live in a Congressional district represented by a Republican. I don't have much of a following, but perhaps we can make the Geek voice heard!
It seems like the airwaves are filled with people shouting bullshit at the top of their lungs under the impression that volume can replace truth. On the news recently I saw elderly person after elderly person crying about how a public insurance option would mean that old people would have to die rather than get the health care they deserve. Do you honestly think that a country that specially designed a government-run single-payer healthcare system JUST for the elderly would make these same people end their lives due to a lack of healthcare? What color is the sky in your world? You sure don't live here! By the way, all of you who are screaming that America doesn't have a government-run single-payer healthcare system just for the elderly, it is called Medicare.
This mess is so pervasive that there is even a name for it. They are called "astroturf movements" because they claim to be coming from the "grass roots" but are fake. The Republican party is behaving like it believes that this is what the people want. Take that lying and barely literate village-idiot-of-the-tundra (could Dubya and she be related? Scary!), Sarah Palin. She is blathering on about how the Obama healthcare plan would create panels that would decide whether a citizen would live or die when, if Palin had the intelligence and integrity to read the actual bill, she would know that what is being offered is voluntary end-of-life counseling to the terminally ill. Palin, you lying guttersnipe, you have no room to chastise the press for "makin' stuff up"! Senator McCain, your selection of this moron didn't kill your campaign, but it did put it out of our misery.
The Constant Reader will know that I am a recent but devoted convert to liberalism and social justice, and I want to ask a favor. Please write, call, email or send a carrier pigeon to your Senator and your Congresscritter telling them that you want healthcare reform WITH a public option, and tell them that The Amused Geek sent you. I especially want you to write if you have the ill-fortune to live in a Congressional district represented by a Republican. I don't have much of a following, but perhaps we can make the Geek voice heard!
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Grim Reaper Working Overtime
Is death just in the air, or what? In the last seven days we've lost Ed McMahon, Farah Fawcett, Michael Jackson and Billy Mays died today. On top of that, Walter Cronkite is reported to be gravely ill. Seems to be a bad week to be famous.
I normally wouldn't comment about this, but I am amazingly most moved by the sudden death of Billy Mays. One of my recent guilty pleasures has been the show Pitchmen on Discovery. It's the story of Mays and Anthony Sullivan and how they find and pitch products. High-brow television it ain't, but it was fun and I'll be sorry to see it go. For all his bluster in public, watching him on TV turned him into a real person. I guess you can't ask for more from putting yourself in the public eye like that.
I normally wouldn't comment about this, but I am amazingly most moved by the sudden death of Billy Mays. One of my recent guilty pleasures has been the show Pitchmen on Discovery. It's the story of Mays and Anthony Sullivan and how they find and pitch products. High-brow television it ain't, but it was fun and I'll be sorry to see it go. For all his bluster in public, watching him on TV turned him into a real person. I guess you can't ask for more from putting yourself in the public eye like that.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Brain Droppings
(with all proper credit to George Carlin) Too much shit going on in the world for my brain to absorb these days, but my biggest fan that I'm not married to commented that I've not written lately. So for my favorite waitress, Sharon at the Pancake Palace in North Highlands, here we go...
Am I the only one that finds the latest Dos Equis commercials, featuring "The Most Interesting Man in the World", utterly fascinating? "His personality is so magnetic, he is unable to carry credit cards." Amazing!
The World Series of Poker is in full swing down in Las Vegas. Jeffrey Lisandro has already won an incredible THREE bracelets this year! It is one of my fondest dreams to play in an event someday. One of those bracelets would look really good on my wrist!
Michael Jackson is dead. Big, fat, fucking, hairy deal. The only person that started as a poor black boy and ended as a rich white woman finally overloaded his body. I really don't care what finally killed him, but what I want to know is how or why he went from black to white and what was up with all the cosmetic work... I heard one today that said how Jackson's body is going to have to be recycled because of all the plastic.
Finally, is it just my imagination, but is President Obama not living up to the hype? He's had ample opportunity to live up to his promises and it seems like all we're seeing is more of the same. He has a Democratic Congress and a popular mandate. Shouldn't he be giving the Republicans a dose of their own medicine? Isn't that what we elected him for?
Am I the only one that finds the latest Dos Equis commercials, featuring "The Most Interesting Man in the World", utterly fascinating? "His personality is so magnetic, he is unable to carry credit cards." Amazing!
The World Series of Poker is in full swing down in Las Vegas. Jeffrey Lisandro has already won an incredible THREE bracelets this year! It is one of my fondest dreams to play in an event someday. One of those bracelets would look really good on my wrist!
Michael Jackson is dead. Big, fat, fucking, hairy deal. The only person that started as a poor black boy and ended as a rich white woman finally overloaded his body. I really don't care what finally killed him, but what I want to know is how or why he went from black to white and what was up with all the cosmetic work... I heard one today that said how Jackson's body is going to have to be recycled because of all the plastic.
Finally, is it just my imagination, but is President Obama not living up to the hype? He's had ample opportunity to live up to his promises and it seems like all we're seeing is more of the same. He has a Democratic Congress and a popular mandate. Shouldn't he be giving the Republicans a dose of their own medicine? Isn't that what we elected him for?
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Seven Justices, One Spine
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?
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?
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.
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