tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5132598324775409372024-03-05T20:11:24.519-08:00Markus' Mind - Ramblings of a liberal craniumA depository of thoughts, ideas, rants and other such musings that I wish to share with anyone willing to read them.Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06178206404929798869noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-513259832477540937.post-92017819225003856192011-07-26T08:53:00.000-07:002011-07-26T08:58:04.794-07:00The Hijacking Of America<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">We're in the last few days before August 2nd – That day could very well be doomsday for America and many who depend on America for support and us being a strong nation.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">That is the deadline for Washington D.C. Federal elected officials to raise the debt ceiling so that the United States can continue to pay their bills abroad and not go into default and lose its AA credit rating.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Problem is, is that nobody wants to raise the debt ceiling until a budget plan has been passed with it. President Obama and Democrats want large corporations and America's “Elite” - the top 1% (who owns 90% of the country's wealth) – to contribute more for revenue generation to offset the national debt, even if it's a little bit – anything would help. First it was to raise taxes on the Top 1%, then raising taxes was removed and replaced with making some tax reform and close some of the “loopholes” - special deductions that allow the wealthiest of multinational corporations and individuals to pay far less in taxes than what they're supposed to pay – in other words, have them actually PAY their taxes!</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Republicans want major “reforms” in entitlement spending and reducing military spending. “Entitlement” spending means Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Welfare, Unemployment Insurance – everything that the Middle and Working Classes depend on in order to survive on a day-to-day basis. Their view is that the “job creators” (those same multinational elite corporations in America/Top 1%) are slowly being “taxed to death” for contributing to these programs (employers match the deductions in your paycheck to the Federal Government through FICA and other deductions).</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Both sides are at the proverbial “stalemate” - The President and Democrats don't want to touch entitlements and Republicans don't want to touch corporate loopholes in the tax code. Both sides won't come to an agreement without their side's “banner causes” being left alone. Therefore, nobody will sign off on any bill for raising the debt ceiling unless their causes are stripped from it and not touched. Thus, there is a more than fair chance that the August 2nd deadline will pass with no bill for raising the debt ceiling signed and the country will go into default and our credit rating will go in the crapper – along with the value of the American dollar and any chance of the United States coming out of the Great Recession. In fact, it could become The Great Depression – Part II!</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">And the kicker of this is, it's all being held up by a small band of “new Republicans” that got voted in by those TEA Party whackadoodles who don't care about anything else except cutting taxes and spending – of EVERYTHING! Seasoned Republicans want to deal with Democrats and come to a compromise which even the President wants to do. But those Republicans can't get enough of a vote for any compromise bill because of those TEA Pary Republicans. These TEA Partyers would rather see the country spiral into poverty and possibly become the largest third-world nation on the planet than come to a compromise!</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Pardon my vulgar American English, but ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME??!!! How is it that a small, fringe group of ONE political party that only has control of ONE house of our government can hijack and hold ransom the entire U.S. Government and its people?! We are so worried about Muslim terrorists, these TEA Party loonies are worse! They will financially destroy America to further their fundamental right-wing conservative agenda!!</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Yes, let's let the people with ALL the money contribute NOTHING, but take everything from those that HAVE NOTHING?! That's fucking smart!! Ever heard of “can't take blood from a stone”? We the middle and working class are petrified from having all the life taken out of us, and they want to take more – so the elites of this country can continue to make incredible profits off our backs! We've seen our incomes drop, benefits reduced and savings accounts dry up, while the top 1% continue to get rich even in economic hard times! One of these corporate Vice Presidents makes more in a year than most of us will see in a lifetime of labor! Even if you got rid of ALL the loopholes these corporations and wealthy individuals make, it STILL won't hurt their bottom line! Especially wealthy individuals – they really make me laugh on how ridiculous they are bitching and moaning about the taxes they pay. Even without their loopholes and massive amounts of tax deductions they have, they would still have more money than they will EVER need to live a comfortable, lavish lifestyle!</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">But you can't tell these conservatives anything. They praise Ronald Reagan and his “trickle-down economics” theory – that theory that if you give everything to the elites, that it will turn into jobs and more wealth for those under them. In other words, the money would “trickle down” to the rest of us.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">That's bullshit!! When has ANY tax breaks, deductions, and “corporate welfare” EVER given the rest of us more wealth? They extended the Bush Tax Cuts on the wealthiest Americans and corporations, and we're STILL losing jobs – but corporate CEO's, VP's, board members and stockholders are still making money as if it were just a minor recession while the rest of the country (the other 99%) are becoming homeless, jobless, and losing everything they've worked for all their lives!! But heaven forbid you ask the Top 1% to shoulder some of the burden. Oh no, that's not possible! That would be SOCIALIST!</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">They wouldn't even CONSIDER a “trickle-up economics” model – which is essentially what the Democrats are proposing. Leave entitlements alone (other than streamlining how these programs operate so they work more efficiently and thus cost less on the administrative end), get rid of all those corporate tax loopholes, and those at the bottom will spend the money they get on the products and services the corporations provide – thus, they'd make the money that they gave up by paying THEIR FAIR SHARE back! Ya see? Trickle-UP economics!</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">But as I said, they would look at it as socialism. Republicans have wanted to destroy these programs ever since their creation! Now they feel that they have a chance by holding the entire country and this Democratic administration hostage with the debt ceiling to get to their ultimate prize: the end of all social programs in America! Praise fucking capitalism and its Monarchist-style mentality!</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Y'know, socialism doesn't seem so bad after all since giving up your freedom of speech and unbridled liberty means your country will weather any economic storm and you'll be guaranteed a home, food and healthcare until you die.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">China is doing pretty good economically. I hear Cuba is nice! :/<br /></p>Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06178206404929798869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-513259832477540937.post-7005709882551652502011-05-16T11:14:00.000-07:002011-05-16T11:16:35.652-07:00Forget the '3-R's', Teach Capitalism!<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">I've come to the conclusion that our education system absolutely sucks!</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">It's not on that it sucks because kids are below the global averages in reading, writing, science and other such subjects, but it's because today's educational system doesn't prepare you whatsoever on how to be an American. And to be an American means to be a Capitalist.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">What good is all that math, science, history, writing & reading, if you don't know how to monetize it? How can you take what you learned in the years of grade school and make a living out of it? You can't. That's something they definitely don't teach in High School is how to be a good capitalist, how to be an entrepreneur, how to be an industry force to net you the American Dream.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">In days long gone (mainly after WWII), it was possible for someone to have anything from a mediocre job digging ditches or assembling things on an assembly line to working in a bank or in an office to get a home, a car, appliances, support a family of 4 or more, and be able to retire and enjoy one's “Golden Years”. That was the late 40's to around the 1960's.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">That has all changed. Companies are outsourcing to foreign countries for cheap labor or are replacing humans with robotic machines. Recessions bring massive layoffs and, when the economy “recovers”, the jobs have been replaced leaving those that lost their jobs to find another career – to start over from scratch. There's no company loyalty and no employee loyalty for that matter. Benefits are cut or reduced, promised pensions are cut or eliminated, costs go up and wages stay stagnant – not able to keep up with an ever changing economic landscape. Housing is beyond the affordability of most Americans, and you can't even purchase a car without being stuck with a major bank loan.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Working for someone will net you nothing! The moment the economy goes bad, you lose pay, lose benefits, lose your retirement dreams or (worse yet), you lose your job and have to fight with millions of other people for only a couple thousand jobs that pay below what you need to live on. It's pathetic!</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">So what needs to be done is, our educational system needs to change the curriculum. What needs to be taught to America's youth is American Capitalism: Market trading, business management and marketing, and finance. Every High School graduate should come out with knowing how to buy and sell on the stock market, run a business, and manage money. What good is all the math you learn if you can't balance a business ledger or figure out how much money it will cost you to borrow $150,000 at 6.2% interest over a five-year period? Most kids don't know the difference between “gross” and “net” income until they take that first summer job. They don't even know how taxes impact their lives whatsoever or how laws affect their ability to make money.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">And Republicans wonder why so many people want to keep government-funded social programs (the proverbial “Entitlement Programs”). It's because most Americans don't truly understand how to be capitalist. It's been drummed into our heads that we're “free” and a “democracy” and that we have “liberty and justice for all”, but what our society truly is, is capitalist. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">All that so-called “freedom”, “democracy”, “liberty” and “justice” is only given to those that have money and power. The less money you have, the less power and therefore less freedom. “Democracy” is only for those that have the financing to influence policy in their favor. “Liberty and justice” is a luxury for the rich. Most of the people that are in prisons around the United States are poor to middle-class people – very few come from wealth, and most of those are ones locked-up because they had achieved said wealth through illegal means. Rich people usually avoid jail because they can afford the fancy lawyers to work much harder in their favor than some snot-nosed, rookie fresh out of a low-end law college that works as a court appointed attorney who either won't or can't do squat to help you.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">So the way to avoid the pitfalls of America is to rise high enough above them that even when you fail, you're still way ahead of the game – such as becoming independently wealthy. Wealthy enough that you have “liquidatable assets” to get you money to survive on for when things go bad, and keep you floating until things get good again. It is this ability to prosper or be able to weather any social/financial storms that come along is what makes a good American capitalist. Something that the average American is never taught.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Perhaps it's because those at the top want to keep their “Billionaire Club” as a limited membership. If everyone were rich, then nobody would be rich.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Well, if that's the case, then why do they bitch so much when people want Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, Welfare, Unemployment Insurance, Public Healthcare, etc., etc.? Working for the top 1% doesn't give you the opportunities in this country as a successful entrepreneurial enterprise. Working for yourself is the only way to go, but unless you know what you're doing it'll be doomed to fail.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Therefore, I reiterate that Americans need to be educated on how to be true Americans – we need to learn how to be capitalists!!</p>Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06178206404929798869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-513259832477540937.post-84414380402705894062011-04-27T11:01:00.000-07:002011-04-27T11:05:46.045-07:00Another Rant on Birthers - They Deserve It!<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Y'know, this whole “Birther” thing is just getting to the ludicrous level. It was at ridiculous when it first came out, now that it's being dragged back into the media again is just plain insane, stupid, and why I continue to have no respect for the Republican Party and conservatives in general!</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">And what's worse is, it's being trumpeted by Donald Trump! I mean, the man is supposed to be a “leader” in real estate development, was smart enough to make millions in that trade regardless of what was, or is, thrown at him, and now is looking to run for the Presidency. And what does he choose to make his strongest platform? Questioning the legitimacy of Barack Obama's birth certificate. WTF?!!</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">To make things worse, more conservatives are jumping in on the “Birther-bandwagon”. Conservatives I have to deal with on a daily basis want Obama to produce his birth certificate, have it tested to see if it actually was made around the time of his birth (testing the age of the paper, type of paper, etc.) and so forth. Really?!!</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Now, I got a CNN news blurb stating that Obama's long form birth certificate is being released. When the whole “Birther” crap first started, he had released a certificate of birth from the state of Hawaii, but that wasn't good enough for the Birthers – even when other Republicans said he was a U.S. Citizen, that still wasn't good enough. Now, he's getting out this “long-form” which I think is the hospital records of his birth to once again prove his citizenship.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Betcha the Birthers will STILL not believe it! They will find something wrong so they can cry “foul!” The thing about Birthers is that they absolutely despise Obama – not disagree, not dislike, not even hate, it is most definitely a despise of the man. They think he's a liar (duh, he's a politician! What politician tells the truth unless it's advantageous to them?!), but the depth of their distrust in him is so deep, that they think he's part of some great conspiracy to get a “Muslim sympathizer” in control of the U.S. Government so that the Middle East can take us over! Really? The nation of Islam knew that this little baby born Barack Hussein Obama would grow up to be President when he was born in the 1960's?! Wow! Then those Muslims must have been better than Nostradamus!</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">And that's at the heart of this Birther stuff. Birthers don't want him proved to be a U.S. Citizen, they want him proved to be a NON-U.S. Citizen! What they want is not Obama or someone else showing undeniable proof of him being born an American, they want Obama to come out and say, “Okay, you got me! I've been lying all this time. I was actually born in Kenya and grew up a Muslim, but wanted to be an American so badly, that I faked my Hawaiian birth and my Christianity! I will step down as President effective immediately with my most sincere apologies to the American people and the Constitution on which governs it!” THAT is the only thing that Birthers want – to be vindicated of all their conspiracy-theory insanity and proven right!! Short of that, the Birthers will keep preaching, “show us your birth certificate” even after Barack Obama has left office and died an old man!</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Honestly, would Collin Powell had to have dealt with all this bulls**t if he ran and was elected President?! I think not! There's a reason why President Obama is going through all this crap and it ain't because of the color of his skin. It's because a) his father was a FORMER Muslim (became an Atheist), b) his name is Barack Hussein Obama, and c) he's a Liberal Democrat. THOSE are the real reasons why such “conspiracy theory nutcase” issues get such intense, serious consideration in the media – with emphasis on the first two items! If Obama had decided to call himself “Barry Dunham” - taking a more “American” first name and using his Mother's maiden surname, the BS about his birth certificate wouldn't get much credence.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Then the Republicans and their ilk would have nothing else to hammer Obama about except for REAL issues – like jobs, healthcare, taxes, energy, foreign policy – y'know, the kind of stuff that the majority of Americans actually give a crap about?!</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Y'know something? Let those Birthers dominate the GOP landscape – it'll just help insure that Barack Obama gets re-elected come 2012! Works for me!</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> </p>Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06178206404929798869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-513259832477540937.post-35725641481210293562011-03-19T10:05:00.000-07:002011-03-19T10:10:24.291-07:00Birthers: The Cult<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.factcheck.org/demos/factcheck/imagefiles/image/Ask%20FactCheck%20Images/Birth%20Certificate/hands.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://www.factcheck.org/demos/factcheck/imagefiles/image/Ask%20FactCheck%20Images/Birth%20Certificate/hands.jpg" alt="Image of Obama birth certificate from FactCheck.org" title="Image of Obama birth certificate from FactCheck.org" border="0" /></a><br />I've come to the conclusion that, no matter what you do, you will never, ever convince Birthers that Barack Obama is a U.S. Citizen, born in Hawaii in 1961. It's just beyond the comprehension of their anti-Obama minds. To this day, they still chant, “show us your birth certificate, Obama!” <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Which is absolutely ludicrous - since he not only showed it, but made it available ONLINE! Tell me, what other president has had to go through as many loops and jumped as many hurdles to prove themselves an American as this man?! </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I firmly believe that you could have the governor of Hawaii go right up to one of these birthers with a legal, notarized copy of Obama's birth certificate, put it right up to their face and say, “Here is Barack Hussein Obama's birth certificate, and I can confirm under oath that he is indeed an American-born citizen”, that birther would lean to one side out of view of the birth certificate and say, “show me his birth certificate!”</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Because they just don't WANT to believe anything else other than Obama being a liar about his citizenship. These Birthers are so strongly convinced that Obama's legality is some sham or conspiracy, that no amount of proof will convince them otherwise. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The only way to categorize these people or to be able to explain their stubborn obsession with the subject is to say that Birthers are like a cult – they have a religious-level belief that Barack Obama is not a U.S. Citizen. Trying to convince them otherwise would be like trying to convince a devout Christian that God or Jesus Christ doesn't exist, and never had.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">So, if the level-headed and fact-minded people of this country really want to stop all this Birther nonsense, all would have to start referring to Birthers as cultists. So, therefore, people who follow the Birther belief are committing blasphemy (or some other religious high-crime) against their original chosen religion – whether it be Christianity, Judaism, Islam or whatever.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">That should do to point these Birthers out as the short-sighted, hateful, paranoid simpletons that they are!</p>Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06178206404929798869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-513259832477540937.post-89673717611624257762011-03-04T04:57:00.000-08:002011-03-04T05:27:41.652-08:00Funeral: A wake, a burial and a protest?I got this from my CNN News headlines that get sent to my email on March 2, 2011:<br /><br />"Supreme Court upholds Westboro Baptist Church's right to stage anti-gay protests at funerals of U.S. troops."<br /><br />I found the full article on <a href="http://articles.cnn.com/2011-03-02/us/scotus.westboro.church_1_anti-gay-protests-albert-snyder-westboro-baptist-church?_s=PM:US">CNN U.S. HERE</a>.<br /><br />And all I could think of when I first read it was, "What the F*** is this??!!!"<br /><br />The supreme court ruling was to protect the protester's first amendment rights to free speech. I can understand that but, regardless of their rights, there's a time and place for things.<br /><br />Protesting on a divisive domestic issue at a funeral FOR A SOLDIER is insulting and disrespectful for both the grieving families as well as the soldier being buried, in my opinion!<br /><br />And it's not just that these protesters are anti-gay, they're protesting under the belief that God is punishing the United States with killing U.S. soldiers BECAUSE of homosexuality! And the signs that they bring to their protests (according to the CNN article) read things like: "Thank God For Dead Soldiers", "God Blew Up The Troops", and "AIDS Cures Fags".<br /><br />Some of the families have sued the church that organized the protests, have won, then had the decision overturned on appeal.<br /><br />Quite frankly, I attribute these protesters to groups like the Ku Klux Klan and Neo Nazis. I wouldn't want them showing up at my house, my hometown and especially at a funeral for a soldier (or ANY family or loved one) protesting with anti-semitic or anti-black signs and rhetoric. We don't stand for that kind of treatment - even if it's against the First Amendment right of Free Speech - from those groups, so why are our courts upholding the First Amendment to anti-gay groups?<br /><br />Because they ARE anti-gay! We curb the First Amendment rights to those that preach hatred based on ethnicity or religion, but gays are open season still in this country so those that preach homosexual slurs are protected under the First Amendment!<br /><br />Personally, if my friend who's serving in Iraq right now was to come home in a pine box, and these protesters showed up at HIS funeral, I would get myself a couple of guns, point them at those protesters and tell them, "You have exactly FIVE SECONDS to get the f*** out of here before I exercise my Second Amendment right on you!!"<br /><br />"Five........... four.............. three............... two....................."Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06178206404929798869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-513259832477540937.post-53606621532224709472011-03-03T07:01:00.000-08:002011-03-03T07:16:11.452-08:00Right Wing Mindlessness - MY Hot Button!Here's MY hot button for today...<br /><br />Another rant on Obama at the office I work at. WHAT ELSE IS NEW?!<br /><br />They were complaining that the House had put forth a budget of 14 trillion dollars and that the cuts that House Republicans put in are something like less than 1% of reduction of spending. Now, this was the REPUBLICANS that put this forth, but who's fault is it in their eyes?<br /><br />President Obama.<br /><br />That seems to be the theme – regardless of who's at fault, blame Obama. Like it was President Obama that brought us to the brink of the economic collapse – that the EIGHT YEARS OF “DUBYA” BUSH HAD <span style="font-style: italic; text-decoration: underline;">NOTHING</span> TO DO WITH IT!!!<br /><br />Then they were going on that Obama should authorize offshore and Alaska drilling – like THAT will help the economy!<br /><br />The oil industry is already THE most profitable industry in America – with the oil sources they currently have! They don't need to “drill, baby drill”. Our costs for gasoline/diesel fuel, home heating oil and other petroleum products isn't because of short supply, it's because the oil industry is ramming high costs down all our throats so they can make record profits – keeping the oil barons of America and the Wall Street fat-cats/stockholders wealthy and on cloud nine!<br /><br />But what really burned me was that one of them, when asked why we don't do more offshore drilling or drill in protected lands or all of Alaska, it was responded with, “It's because of the environmentalists – they say we'll ruin the environment.”<br /><br />The person that asked the question (a known right-wing conservative) responded, “The heck with the environment, we need to utilize our own resources.”<br /><br />Yeah, “<span style="font-style: italic;">the heck with the environment</span>”. I guess that right-winger is still getting their facts from Fox Republican News where their environmental data comes from the oil companies themselves who believe that all the global upheaval in the climate is a natural occurrence an that we humans have NOTHING to do with what's going on – even though EVERY geophysicist and/or climatologist around the world says differently!<br /><br />Well, I guess when a country <span style="font-weight: bold;">that's ranked 25th in math and science in the world </span>says that the global weather changes is a natural occurrence, when those ranked 1-5 say otherwise, we should be considered right!<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Yeah, and I own both the Brooklyn Bridge AND Golden Gate Bridge!!</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">So yeah, let's “drill, baby drill” - let's drill ALL the oil out of every square inch of American soil we can! Fuck the environment! Who needs it? We don't need things like animals, trees, flowers, insects, clean water and FRESH AIR, because we need oil – that's the most important thing! We can get along with using personal re-breathers or oxygen tanks to walk outside. We can get used to getting acid burns on our skin when it rains because the water will be so polluted falling from the sky that we literally WILL melt in the rain! And we can learn to be nocturnal – because the daytime will be too much for us after we loose the ozone layer and radiation levels from the sun become so intense that just 60 seconds in direct sunlight will burn you and give you skin cancer!</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">But who cares about having that life – we need oil. That's all that's important!</span><br /><br />(In case you didn't understand, that last block of text, marked in <span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">maroon</span> was sarcasm. If you did not understand that, then it's further evidence we should NOT cut education funding, but cut giving tax breaks to the 1-2% of the country that has 90% of the total WEALTH of the country!!)Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06178206404929798869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-513259832477540937.post-79596590352350910492011-02-04T13:38:00.000-08:002011-02-04T13:42:40.467-08:00Entitle THIS! oo0oLots of conservatives and neo-conservatives (moderates on all sides) keep talking about “Entitlement Reform” to try and reduce the deficit. First off, I don't see why during an economic crisis we have to try and reduce the deficit. Sure, slowing down the increase of the deficit would be a good thing (smarter spending practices and re-negotiating government contracts and such) but trying to reduce it could only be accomplished with a healthy economy – that is, without screwing over the hard-working 95% of the United States that have to live on every penny they make!<br /><br />But that seems to be the order of the year. From what I have come to understand about “entitlements” in the context of politics happens to be Social Security, Welfare, Unemployment Insurance, Medicare, and every other social program designed to help ease the lives of Americans who either get a “raw deal” in life (health issues, loss of job/company, natural disasters, inflation, investment losses, etc.) or who just don't have the skills (or luck) necessary to become independently wealthy to weather everything that life can throw at them.<br /><br />Of course, what conservatives call “reform” is really “repeal” - as in getting rid of all those “Liberal/socialist laws that are crippling our country and our freedom!” in their minds. They would like nothing more than to see the end of Social Security, Welfare, unemployment insurance and every other social program that everyone contributes to so that Americans won't wind up begging on the streets, homeless, pennyless, hungry and sick due to circumstances either beyond their control or from simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time – or one of the other thousand ways people can lose everything in our Capitalist society!<br /><br />These programs came about from the events that happened during The Great Depression – when our country realized that our great capitalist system could be quite vulnerable and that given the proper conditions, can leave many of the populous with nothing of what they've worked all their lives for. The New Deal addressed these issues – one of them being social security: a fund for senior citizen Americans or those stricken down with illness or injury and are unable to work anymore so that they can live their lives in dignity with food, shelter and some basic “creature comforts” (like electricity, telephone service, heat, air conditioning, etc.) Welfare for those that are either unemployable or underemployed so they're not wandering the streets begging for money, food, shelter, etc.<br /><br />And don't forget Medicare and Medicaid for those that are too poor to afford health insurance (Medicaid) or are on fixed incomes but have ever-mounting medical bills and medicines needed to stay alive (Medicare).<br /><br />But as far as conservatives are concerned, these are all waste of taxpayers money – that the elimination of these programs would put more money in the pockets of Americans so that they can take care of themselves. <br /><br />What a crock of sh*t!! The reason WHY these programs came about was because no matter how much money the average citizen makes or gets to take home, Capitalism is volatile enough that you can lose everything at any time! These “catch nets” programs allow citizens to feel safe knowing that when the chips are down, when they lose betting on capitalism, that there is a place they can fall back on!<br /><br />Conservatives just want to get rid of them because they want things the way they were back in the 1920's and earlier – when the average citizen in America was the serves, “the peasants”, of the wealthy of America – social programs allow Americans to live without needing to beg the rich for help because... it's the law!<br /><br />And conservatives (most vocal of them being in the top 1% holding 90% of the country's wealth) hate that!<br /><br />Don't like social programs, want to call them “entitlements”? Well, entitle THIS muthafaquar!!Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06178206404929798869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-513259832477540937.post-83265109532045276772010-08-31T10:21:00.000-07:002010-08-31T10:30:45.513-07:00So, what's so great about Republican control?This year, the Republicans are on the offensive - backed by grassroots conservatives such as the T.E.A. Party Movement and all the disillusioned moderates who voted for Barack Obama and now are disappointed, disgusted, and are downright ticked-off at the current president. Tell you honestly, I've been pretty unhappy with President Obama myself (but not necessarily for the same reasons as conservatives).<br /><br />The thing is, does the majority of the country really, REALLY want to go 100% conservative? Especially from what I've seen on television, we're talking die-hard, right-wing conservatives want to take control of the government and run it from their far-right playbook.<br /><br />Take the Republican Whip, Eric Cantor. On Fox [Republican] News, he was going on a passionate speech about how he and his Republicans, <span style="font-style: italic;">when</span> they take back the House and Senate (very confident, isn't he?) how the first thing they're going to do is get rid of the Healthcare Reform Act - or more popularly known by those opposed to it as “Obamacare”. He and his Republicans want to repeal, de-fund and in a more summarized word, <span style="font-weight: bold;">obliterate </span>Healthcare Reform.<br /><br />One thing during the entire right-wing-thumping speech about how bad the Democrat's Healthcare Reform Act is, how much the “American People” want it gone, and how fervently they want to pursue its demise (above anything else such as economic recovery and the Afghan War), is the fact that there was NO mention of what will REPLACE the Healthcare Reform Act.<br /><br />So, if the country goes and gives back control to the Republicans, and they successfully repeal the Healthcare Reform Act, what's going in its place? Huh, Mr. Cantor? What are you and your Republicans going to replace this piece of legislation with? Are you going to give the populous back its previous failed healthcare system? Is there NOTHING in this Healthcare Reform Act that you will keep? One thing of "Obamacare" I don't want to see repealed is the law against denying benefits to people with pre-existing conditions/illnesses. I know a few people who would be quite hurt if that was repealed - since they DO have pre-existing conditions and will most likely need to change healthcare providers within the next couple of years due to job losses.<br /><br />One of the reasons America voted Barack Obama into office was his pledge to overhaul the healthcare system. What Obama was offering seemed more acceptable to the public during the campaign trail than what your party's candidate, John McCain, was offering, Mr. Cantor.<br /><br />And how much “privatization” do the Republicans want for our government programs? You want your Social Security funds on the open market? You want the same wizards that brought us to this economic point – the “Bernie Madoffs” - to have control over the Social Security, Welfare, and Unemployment programs of this country? How about your State and Interstate road systems, bridges, tunnels and National Parks in the “capable hands” of private enterprises – perhaps even FOREIGN investors?<br /><br />What if the Republican government decided to sell off the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge or Yellowstone National Park to wealthy oil companies in an effort to “save taxpayers money”? You really believe they'll protect those lands as well as federal laws would? Or would it be the “Sarah Palin Syndrome” of “Drill-baby-drill!!”<br /><br />And also, let us not forget that the “ballooning deficit” and “out-of-control spending” that Republicans accuse the current Democratic-controlled government of creating BEGAN with the previous Republican government – or has everyone forgotten about George W. “lets-drill-everything-fight-everyone-and-deregulate-oil-companies” Bush?! Don't forget Ms. Sarah “Drill-Baby-Drill” Palin who wanted to drill the hell out of her own State of Alaska! You think tourists will want to see the pristine, picturesque horizons of Alaska filled with oil rigs belching smoke and machine-noises, pipelines cris-crossing the landscape, and the smell of oil in the air 24/7? Thank GOODNESS Palin and Bush were pushed down when they suggested opening up ANWR to drilling!<br /><br />Yes, let's bring back the Party that gave us $3+ per gallon gasoline, The Iraq War (which it alone claimed the lives of over 4,400 and countless wounded & permanently-disabled U.S. sons and daughters in uniform – and hasn't brought us ANY closer to getting the bastards that attacked America on September 11, 2001!), and the bogus tax breaks that mainly helped the top 1-to-5% of the wealthiest people and began the spiraling deficits we continue to feel!<br /><br />Not saying that the Dems are doing such a great job, but honestly – what would be so great about having Republican control of the government again?!Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06178206404929798869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-513259832477540937.post-73621856744177555702010-08-04T12:14:00.000-07:002010-08-04T13:15:37.419-07:00'No Mosque at Ground Zero'? You're DAMN Right!!In the latest affront to the United States and everything we enjoy about being American, a group wishes to build one of the LARGEST mosques in New York City...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">RIGHT IN VIEW OF GROUND ZERO!!!</span><br /><br />First, those opposed to the mosque wanted to have the building it was going to replace - a run-down, Italian design structure - to be made a landmark so that it couldn't be built there. Unfortunately, the tired old building was just not up to the task of being labeled a landmark.<br /><br />Now, even Mayor Bloomberg is behind the building of this mosque. He, and others that support it (including those that are <span style="font-style: italic;">building </span>the mosque) herald the mosque as a '<span style="font-style: italic;">bridge to understanding and tolerance</span>' (not a quote, just an inference of what they believe).<br /><br />And if you believe that piece of dookie-shyst, I got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you... CHEAP!!<br /><br />If the people of New York, and the country as a whole, allow this project to come to fruition an be completed, we're going to be buying into more than a scam - we're buying into our own destruction! The complete and utter breakdown of all the freedoms and liberties we love about America!<br /><br />Here's an opinion from a British citizen (British mind you - not even an American) about this proposed project. And to be perfectly honest, I agree with this fellow 100%!!<br /><br />YouTube video: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjS0Novt3X4" target="_blank" title="YouTube video opinion (opens in new window)">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjS0Novt3X4</a><br /><br />As far as I'm concerned, having a mosque build the size they propose and in such close proximity to ground zero as this, is like building a statue to honor Osama Bin Ladin and his Al Quaeda forces! That mosque will symbolize (in my opinion) victory for Al Quaeda in their holy war against the United States and our allies!<br /><br />AND, they plan on having it built and ready to open in SEPTEMBER of 2011!! We're still futzing around with the "Freedom Tower" to be built on the site of the old Twin Towers property, and they'll have their mosque done before the new site at ground zero is completed! WTF??!!! Not to mention, these mosque builders want to open the structure to the public (<span style="font-style: italic;">muslim </span>public) on or around the anniversary date of the terrorist attack in September (y'know: 9/11??!)<br /><br />America, you better <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">WAKE THE F**K UP!!!</span> I don't give a damn about our country's constitutional right of "freedom of religion", these friggin' muslims are spreading their ideology across the globe like a cancer - and they're infecting <span style="font-weight: bold;">AMERICA</span>!! Unless America <span style="font-style: italic;">REALLY</span> wants to live under Sharia Law and have our country's laws and culture dominated by the Qura'an and Islamic theocracy, then we need to stop their influential spread <span style="font-style: italic;">HERE AND NOW!!</span><br /><br />New York will be their stepping stone down the road to victory against the United States and our American way of life! Their spread has been going on for MANY YEARS here in America - through the influence on black America in the prisons across the country (remember Malcom X?!) Our country's past long-lasting intolerance towards African-Americans - especially from so-called "Christians" (many I think are no better than the muslims) have driven many of our black citizens into the fold of Islam - ensuring an Islamic foothold and increased dominance in America and the world! Most of Africa is now muslim and little-by-little, most of Europe as well.<br /><br />NOW, that same pattern of "stealth jihad" - the quiet takeover - is forming here in America.<br /><br />Instead of this country's militia standing against our government because of the fear of losing their second-amendment rights (right to bear arms), they should get together and drive out the muslim invaders of this country! If there was any time that America needed the militia, the good ole fashioned "Minutemen", it's now!! Our country is being invaded by a foreign force intent on the destruction of America.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">WHERE ARE THE MILITIA NOW??!!!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">My challenge to those militia people is this: If you have ANY guts at all - if you're not a bunch of wusses playing with pea-shooters in the woods - and if you <span style="font-style: italic;">TRULY</span> care about America and the flag you fly in your bunkers and training camps, then FIGHT against these muslim invaders and drive them from our borders! If you believe that you should fight and possibly DIE for this country and the constitution you believe in, then the time is NOW!!<br /><br />I DARE you to do to them what they've been doing to us for YEARS! Become America's "freedom fighters" and bring terrorism to THEM for a change!!<br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Unless you militia people are gutless wonders that WANT to be taken over by Islam! Our government and mainstream people are too blind and whipped to do anything. If you want to truly preserve your constitutional rights AND have a future of being able to stand up and fight peacefully for your rights, you'll do this.<br /><br />OR, you can fight the whole world after it's taken over by muslims! Your choice!<br /></span><br /></span>Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06178206404929798869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-513259832477540937.post-54969240813149108032010-06-28T10:07:00.000-07:002010-06-28T10:12:36.618-07:00Jump For Joy! One Less NY Tax to Worry About!!<a style="" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTQhlmfxzVFPWvZcvvAdyHjusdS0ausZQ5JQjqzDrABAFTpSdUQwnNW6JFK20gxAgzXpLNPkbFFNOmjDepbN9jEPnCRexeXPKPnH-AHbCWnMygVoBzrP5mEwGLNMP_5Faym_PItT6tIm4/s1600/MSClipart_Jump4Joy_150px.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTQhlmfxzVFPWvZcvvAdyHjusdS0ausZQ5JQjqzDrABAFTpSdUQwnNW6JFK20gxAgzXpLNPkbFFNOmjDepbN9jEPnCRexeXPKPnH-AHbCWnMygVoBzrP5mEwGLNMP_5Faym_PItT6tIm4/s320/MSClipart_Jump4Joy_150px.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487872751776572770" border="0" /></a><br />Well, some good news for a change to come out of Albany...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">NO TAX ON SODA!!</span><br /><br />It seems that Gov. Paterson's idea of imposing a surtax on carbonated and "sugary" drinks has been nixed.<br /><br />Although, we New Yorkers are still screwed on the tobacco tax and they have as yet not voted on the clothing tax (aka - removing the tax relief on clothing under $100.00) but at least the "soda tax" is one new tax we don't have to worry about being saddled with!<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">(I'm still voting these bums out!!!)</span>Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06178206404929798869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-513259832477540937.post-35406643450820844482010-06-24T12:23:00.000-07:002010-06-24T12:34:16.253-07:00Albany: “Tax-Baby-Tax!!”<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6ipwSSO31of6fkSRRz3jblAA8I1h0lMZe1T4W6oPWfrb-rqZ9SU1Fs3fULd-gdY0keJ8NyjAsntNAMTK9qgI0PGz5GrNilnJvq62G9W_bNzo2CZCc-xQE61AOdVC8O3oxaPeNZx7u0lY/s1600/ShakeOutMoney_Person1.png"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 152px; height: 160px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6ipwSSO31of6fkSRRz3jblAA8I1h0lMZe1T4W6oPWfrb-rqZ9SU1Fs3fULd-gdY0keJ8NyjAsntNAMTK9qgI0PGz5GrNilnJvq62G9W_bNzo2CZCc-xQE61AOdVC8O3oxaPeNZx7u0lY/s400/ShakeOutMoney_Person1.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486423563515103714" border="0" /></a><br /><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">New York State has been know for many things – the entry point into America for many immigrants, New York City, The Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Wall Street, West Point Military Academy, the New York Yankees, the World Trade Center (and the subsequent 9/11 bombings), et'cetera. Now, New York is know for something else...</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">... <span style="font-weight: bold;">the <span style="font-style: italic;">HIGHEST</span> tobacco taxes in the United States!</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Yes, New York will now have the honor of having THE most expensive smokes in all the 50 States! Governor Paterson and his merry bunch of miscreants in our State's capital of Albany, have raised the tobacco taxes to astronomical proportions. I believe it's something like 90% for cigarettes and up to 75% on cigars and other natural tobacco products. PLUS, they're now slamming tobacconists who sell to Indian Reservations in New York as well – something that had always been either very low or non-existent.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Now, don't get me wrong. Smoking is bad for you and I could care less about cigarettes – meaning those light-weight, paper-wrapped, chemically-altered, nicotine-intoxicated, cancer-sticks that has everything from deadly chemicals to fiberglass in them. However, the natural tobacco of cigars and pipes are untreated, unaltered and provide (in my opinion) a much more enjoyable smoke than anything those nasty cigarette companies could ever produce!</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">However, the new tax will make it about $10 for a pack of cigarettes, and cigars retailing for $5.99 or $9.99, will soon be in the range of $12.50 to over $20.00 PER CIGAR!! And those will be the CHEAP ones! Oh, and they're now lumping the cigarillos (miniature cigars) in with cigarettes so that cigarillos will be HIGHER than full-size cigars!! Many small retailers that sell cigarettes have stated that these new taxes will put them out of business because many smokers will opt to either buy less or buy elsewhere (meaning one of the neighboring states like New Jersey, Connecticut, or Pennsylvania). It may get a few people to quit, but the numbers don't justify the money (IMHO). My local tobacconist had stated that these new taxes will finally finish him off. Already hit with low sales due to the poor economy, having to charge more for cigars that are not selling at the prices now will detract customers even further which will inevitably put him out of business – probably before this year ends! I'm sure there will be many other places that will either go under, or have to cut back – which means more layoffs!</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">NOW, our dear mental-maniacs running the asylum that is our State's representative's building in Albany – who haven't been able to pass a State budget on time since taking office!! - have had yet another epiphany to help them close their own budget deficit: raise taxes on clothing!! For many years, New York State hasn't taxed clothing under $100.00 – to save the pocketbooks of the lower-class and working poor. Well, that bit of “charity” has gone out the window now! Now you'll have to pay sales tax on ANY piece of clothing – no matter how cheap it is!! Same scenario – small “Mom-&-Pop” retailers will go under and larger stores will lay off employees to balance their own budgets – even MORE unemployed added to the high levels!!</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Anyone who knows me or knows this blog knows that I am quite the liberal. However, I'M now starting to side with the TEA Party people – y'know: Taxed Enough Already?! We here in New York have been screaming “uncle” for a while now, but Albany and the local governments (ie – County, Town and Village) haven't heard our screams of pain yet. Well, they will come election day! Even THIS liberal-layman is going to look for a TEA Party-er to vote for come next election! I've had enough of these taxes and the cost of living here in New York! It's out of hand and it needs to stop NOW!!</p>Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06178206404929798869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-513259832477540937.post-66539662361074612632010-03-31T10:06:00.000-07:002010-03-31T10:12:58.908-07:00I'm a Socialist?? Was this quiz made by a Republican?!<p>Well, I took this quiz and the results are below. I think a Republican came up with this test because its basically designed for, if you want to be a capitalist, you have to be a cold-hearted, anti-labor, anti-artist, money-grubbing bastard! I know there are artists and laborers that are capitalists and conservative!<br /></p><br /><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="350"><tbody><tr><td style="color: rgb(238, 238, 238); background-color:#ffffff;" align="center"><br /><span style=";font-family:Georgia,Times New Roman,Times,serif;font-size:14pt;color:black;" ><br /><strong>You Are 40% Capitalist, 60% Socialist</strong><br /></span></td></tr><br /><tr><td bgcolor="#ffffff"><br /><center><img src="http://www.blogthingsimages.com/areyouasocialistorcapitalistquiz/politics-2.jpg" height="100" width="100" /></center><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br />You tend to be quite wary of businesses, especially big business.<br /><br />While you know that corporations have their place, you tend to support small, locally owned shops.<br /><br />As far as the rich go, you think they're usually corrupt and immoral.<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div align="center"><a href="http://blogthings.com/areyouasocialistorcapitalistquiz/">Are You a Socialist or Capitalist?</a></div><br /><div align="center"><a href="http://www.blogthings.com/">Blogthings: Take a Quiz. Annoy Your Friends.</a></div>Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06178206404929798869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-513259832477540937.post-67778521262503639102010-03-11T07:18:00.000-08:002010-03-11T07:47:23.623-08:00Movie: Repo Men - VERY believable scenario!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3661497369/" title="Click for IMDb movie trailer" target="_blank"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 88px; height: 139px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtxPEChR-fv15Tk6wlaJ_V2ja6I1pZnJjQS97T6oR4k4vdcI0MtfUjNF4rJWw3WnGzlKXetmC-UqjKHJS2NS8u__GMxBHg8ryfFwQfVsTw3AqPUl7xebuHJ_Bxl2ILXpTfBiKWfVdvXW0/s400/IMDb_RepoMenPoster1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5447402050881269170" border="0" /></a><br />Couldn't come at a better time - taking into account the whole craziness with Healthcare Reform!<br /><br />I'm talking about the new movie coming out called "Repo Men". The plot from <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1053424/" target="_blank" title="IMDb page with 'Repo Men' information">Internet Movie Database (IMDb)</a> is about a future time when a medical company comes up with the ability to create artificial organs that can extend people's lives for many years. Problem is, they're very expensive organs (no explanation why there's no health insurance coverage for them - have to see the movie first) and people have to buy them on payment plans. However, if you default on your payments, the company sends Repo Men out to reclaim their property - and it ain't pretty! They'll jump you wherever you are and cut the organ out of you on the spot (no anesthesia, no hospital, no way you'll survive)!!<br /><br />The thing about it is, it's totally believable to me! With poor healthcare coverage, rising healthcare costs, and our capitalist society, that scenario is quite plausible. It is unregulated capitalism - profit over humanity!<br /><br />It's this kind of mentality - that money is more important than the health & welfare of the citizens and the environment - is why I always support regulation, why I support healthcare reform, why I support regulations on commerce and industry, and why I support public funded programs. Left in the hands of entrepreneurial capitalists, the United States would resemble more like a monarchy rather than a democracy (not like it's not close to that right now!) with the rich and powerful being able to do anything they want just because they can and they want to keep their great power. Not like the government doesn't abuse power, but that's why our Founding Fathers set up the democratic system of goverment of, by and for The People. WE, The People, decide how much or how little regulation, power and control the government has - not the markets or money.<br /><br />That is, in theory.Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06178206404929798869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-513259832477540937.post-11207005146359764022010-03-04T05:17:00.000-08:002010-03-04T05:19:45.108-08:00Untrusted Kindness with DoorsThe way I see it, the average person would never trust anyone to catch them.<br /><br />You know those “trust building” seminars where you're supposed to fall backwards into the arms of another person and you have to “trust” they will catch you? They've always been the butt of jokes on sit-coms and comedy shows for years where the person catching gets distracted and fails to catch the trusting person falling backwards. Makes for funny television, but I wonder if most people feel that they can't rely on someone else to show some kindness and not let them fall?<br /><br />Take the simple act of holding a door open for someone. Next time you do that, take note in the reaction of the person you're holding the door open for. I'm not talking about if they say “thank you” or not - it's not a verbal observation, it's physical. How many of those people, regardless of how far open you hold the door, will push the door open more and react as if you weren't even there holding the door? Almost everyone I've ever held the door open for, both men and women, have either put their hand on the door or have pushed it back further. I would say this happens to 95-97% of the times I show this act of kindness – except for a few women and the odd romping child running through the doorway.<br /><br />The only explanation I can come up with is that these people don't trust that I'll keep holding the door until they're safely through the doorway. It's as if they're protecting themselves from me letting go of the door and having the door hit them before they go through. Have we become so distrusting in our society that we can't even trust that someone can hold a door open for us? Are we so much in a rush and so preoccupied with our lives that we can't take 60 seconds or two minutes to hold a door open for someone until they're safely through the doorway?<br /><br />To me, it's a basic act of civility. The kind of kindness that is built from being in an organized, advanced civilized society. Of all the years of evolution, have we forgotten basic decency? The next time you hold the door open for someone, just reassure them, “don't worry, I will hold the door until you're through.” I'm sure they'll still put their hand on the door or even push it open more, but you might get a couple of them to stop putting their hands up to the door and just walk through.<br /><br />Reassure them that you'll catch them when they fall.Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06178206404929798869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-513259832477540937.post-66592246670410070202010-03-03T11:05:00.000-08:002010-03-03T11:37:14.895-08:00A Rant FOR the EnvironmentHere we go again - the latest "Obama-bashing"...<br /><br />Now the conservatives/GOP/industrialists/oil barons (I lump them all together) got their dander up because of a memo about a <em>possible</em> (not concrete inevitable) plan from the Obama Administration to grab hundreds of acres of unspoiled land (land that happens to be possible oil drilling/land-raping sites) and make them Federally protected natural habitats. Also, Utah (which has some of the most beautiful unspoiled landscapes in America), who has about two-thirds of their state designated Federally protected lands, is in the process of trying to (through the courts) seize back that Federally protected land using "eminent domain" as the reason why they should be allowed to get all that land back and develop the hell out of it.<br /><br />Funny how each economic downturn brings about "develop, develop, develop"...<br /><br />Same old capitalist dogma: develop all of "God's Green Earth" for the glory of the Human Race and the Almighty Dollar! If capitalists had complete, unfettered control of the world, we'd all be living in a rotting, dead, unlivable cesspool resembling a cross between the over-developed "Coruscant" from "Star Wars" and the black-sky, smog-infested industrial wasteland of "Giede Prime" from the movie "Dune".<br /><br />I hope the environmentalists beat back the greedy industrialists and their GOP politician lapdogs once again!<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%; color:#990000; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">SAVE THE PLANET - DOWN WITH HUMANS!!!</span><br /><br />The human race is the biggest environmental hazard of this world - if we weren't here, the world would be a better place! Unacosted, unspoiled, and (as the religious-right "bible-thumpers" might say) <span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; TEXT-DECORATION: underline">JUST AS GOD HAD CREATED IT!</span><br /><br />Yeah, all you uber-conservatives, religious-right-wingers who are so busy telling us liberals we're all sinners to be atheists, agnostics, homosexual, bisexual, transgendered, same-gender marrying, pot-smoking, evolutionists, yet you're destroying the very world that you firmly believe the God you love created - all for the sake of money and personal power!<br /><br />You so-called "Christian" land developers, industrialists, and any Republican (and "Tea Partyer") that supports environmental decimation all for the sake of money, are among the <em>biggest</em> hypocrites in the world!!Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06178206404929798869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-513259832477540937.post-82592742697113069712009-12-07T09:16:00.000-08:002009-12-07T09:28:59.006-08:00Did you remember Pearl Harbor Day today?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjenoZEECEQktcNajqr3J74fCSvMZ-hNIHo038DNEdrJLusyi69Qg5wp9WA9MvW9FBQN9RI4s4Cqxhc-qgMeK-sXq8Xi6b48l2ShwBtb-sLilWZtfRYIWOAngomT5TZSdLnzK59vaZw7sE/s1600-h/USS_Arizona_Memorial-sm.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 224px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjenoZEECEQktcNajqr3J74fCSvMZ-hNIHo038DNEdrJLusyi69Qg5wp9WA9MvW9FBQN9RI4s4Cqxhc-qgMeK-sXq8Xi6b48l2ShwBtb-sLilWZtfRYIWOAngomT5TZSdLnzK59vaZw7sE/s400/USS_Arizona_Memorial-sm.jpg" alt="USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, HI" title="USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, HI" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412545416186625394" border="0" /></a><br />To many of the “older generation” - especially the few that are still alive and kicking who fought in World War Two, December 7th holds a special meaning. On the early morning of December 7, 1941, the then Empire of Japan launched a sneak-attack lead by Admiral Yamamoto on the US Pacific Naval fleet moored at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Thousands of lives – both military and civilians – were lost that day – the day that then President Roosevelt told congress and America would “live in infamy”.<br /><br />This attack spurred the United States to declare war on the Empire of Japan which launched “The Pacific War” portion of World War Two - and brought America officially into the war. It gave rise to the phrase “Remember Pearl Harbor” as a battle cry for pushing forward in beating the Japanese Empire back to its homeland of Japan, the long fought and very bloody battle of Iwo Jima – where the raising of the American Flag on top of the island's highest peak, Mt. Suribachi, by US Marines is immortalized in a metal statue in Arlington, VA, the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway – Midway Atoll, where if the Japanese Empire had a stronghold there, would have been able to launch air attacks on US soil past Hawaii. It is also the starting point that lead to the deployment of the first atomic bombs to ever be used in war to be dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the unconditional surrender of the Japanese Empire on the USS Missouri (“The Mighty MO) to General Douglass McArthur. That attack changed America forever, and set forth a new path for both the United States and Japan – once bitter enemies, now allies.<br /><br />Yet, since the September 11th terrorist attacks, this pivotal moment in time barely makes a blip on the minds of Americans – only remembered by our parents and grandparents who either lived through or fought in World War II. The search giant Google didn't even make one of their “Google search graphics” of their letter logo to point to a search of Pearl Harbor information. Bing has a backdrop image of Pearl Harbor today, Yahoo has “Pearl Harbor” as #2 on it's POPULAR SEARCHES block, and CNN has a buried text link that just says “Intriguing people of December 7, 2009”. The Net doesn't seem to pay much attention to it unless you go looking for Pearl Harbor information.<br /><br />Today is the 68th anniversary of the attack. What are you doing to remember those that died on December 7, 1941? Will there be a televised reading of all the names of those that died on 12/7? Will a maritime bell be rung for each sailor that died that day? Will the primary stations of your area be presenting an all-day program remembering Pearl Harbor Day?<br /><br />Think about it.Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06178206404929798869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-513259832477540937.post-81431500083132352752009-10-30T08:21:00.000-07:002009-10-30T08:47:40.814-07:00Economic Stiff-ing PackageDon't get me wrong, it's not that I'm against Obama and what he's been trying to do to help us from the train wreck "Dubya" Bush left us in, but I question some of it. Hey, I wouldn't be an American if I didn't question my government!<br /><br />Take this stimulus bill. I'm still on the fence about it because my friend Hackfittle just <span style="font-style: italic;">BARELY</span> ducked foreclosure on his house through no fault of his own (lost job, poor economy, health issues) and couldn't get the refinancing he needed to help himself out because he was among the millions unemployed (lukily, he escaped homelessness with some "creative entrepreneuralship" if you will - by taking whatever odd-job he could do and hocking a lot of his collectible collections from NASCAR to Star Trek items on eBay).<br /><br />The stimulus bill was suposed to help people keep their homes and create jobs. Well, if you're someone who HAS a job but has a house you can't afford in your lifetime, the stimulus money helped you. In the case of my friend who had lost his job that was able to pay for his mortgage, but needed a lower rate in order to keep paying with his limited income (ebay and unemployment), he got no help whatsoever.<br /><br />But I digress. The main point I'm posting about here is that I got a CNN "news-blurb" that states the following: "<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">White House says 650,000 jobs were created or saved by $150 billion in stimulus funds.</span>"<br /><br />So, it took $150 Billion to create or save 650,000 jobs. 650,000 people were kept employed or got employment and it cost the American taxpayer only $150 billion to do it. From what I can understand, divided evenly over the 650,000 employed people, that comes to <span style="font-weight: bold;">$230,770</span> (rounded up) it cost the taxpayer per person employed thanks to the economic stimulus money.<br /><br />That's about the wages of an upper-class junior executive! Do <span style="font-style: italic;">YOU</span> know of anyone getting that kind of wage thanks to the economic stimulus package? How much you wanna bet that those 650,000 people aren't even getting HALF that amount in wages?<br /><br />So the question is: Where is the rest of the money going?!<br /><br />Ahh, yes. Our tax dollars hard at work - being squandered!Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06178206404929798869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-513259832477540937.post-89281426727916918972009-09-11T09:17:00.000-07:002009-09-11T09:37:13.187-07:00Obama Healthcare - Sink or Swim?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-QqFR5tPczRlRQz-J6Q2ge3fEqdqqXdXd_qFkGey5nmUSFnhQoVUEyP7_6e8qgDFZMo95BHrE9CU148DD79wuCY8_vA1eJaKnsHLZifEkMtlM-zyIbvZbOeHDZTn-1svRsFCktiLgg1A/s1600-h/Obama_congress_9-9-09.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380245807264228098" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 239px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 147px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-QqFR5tPczRlRQz-J6Q2ge3fEqdqqXdXd_qFkGey5nmUSFnhQoVUEyP7_6e8qgDFZMo95BHrE9CU148DD79wuCY8_vA1eJaKnsHLZifEkMtlM-zyIbvZbOeHDZTn-1svRsFCktiLgg1A/s400/Obama_congress_9-9-09.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>It seems that our first black President is going to go down in history as the most controversial President (and I thought that honor would go to Bush?)</div><br /><div><br />From people that have labeled him a “socialist” to those that question the legitimacy of his Hawaiian birth certificate (“Birthers” as they're affectionately know, still contend that Barack Obama's family faked his U.S. birth certificate and that Obama is not a “born and raised” U.S. Citizen - therefore ineligible to hold the office of President), people against this man will do anything to destroy him and any policy he wants to put in place towards his attempts to make America better. Hey, I don't envy the guy at all – Obama inherited a wreck when he got elected and is trying to fix it the best he can.</div><br /><div><br />One of his biggest repair jobs of this country, and what has turned into the most controversial to date, is Healthcare Reform. From the moment Obama first proposed reform to today, he's had to fight tooth-and-nail to get support for reform. He's been met with complete opposition by Republicans and conservatives of all shapes and sizes. Even centrists and some moderate liberals haven't fully supported Obama's plan. The President has crisscrossed the United States, holding “town meetings” along with supporters of his reform, to try and drum up public support in his effort to get healthcare reform passed. Problem is, that with all the slander, spin-doctoring, and the general mistrust in the government, many people in this country - although supportive of reform - are not behind the President's plan. Each time Obama or one of his supporters have tried to explain what will become of the healthcare system after the reforms are put in place, people still ask the same questions or belief the opposite of what they're told – thanks in large part to people like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Sarah Palin filling the minds of those who listen with things such as “socialism”, “senior death panels”, “expanding deficit”, “bureaucratic control over medicine”, “Medicare cuts” and “take your doctors and health insurance away”. All of this has left the populous with a bad taste in their mouths about reform – and closed their minds to what the President and his supporters are saying.</div><br /><div><br />So, as a last ditch effort, President Obama addressed the joint session of Congress on September 9, 2009 to once again explain (on national television) what the reforms will give Americans regarding healthcare, and try to gain support and extend his hand in friendship for cooperation between the ruling parties to come up with a solution to the divide on healthcare reform. And, as it has been from the start, it fell on deaf conservative ears. Other than the one Senator from South Carolina who called out “You lie!!” during Obama's speech regarding not giving public-funded healthcare to illegal immigrants, the gist of the sentiment from conservatives is that the reforms will do exactly the opposite of what President Obama stated they would do during his speech. It seems no matter what this man says, people against his reforms will not waver from their belief that the opposite will happen.</div><br /><div><br />Now, I can't say if the opposition is going from a position of being “anti-black” (most extreme cases) or “anti-liberal/Democrat” or “anti-socialism of ANY form” (same people who oppose Medicare/Medicaid, Welfare, and Social Security), but it seems evident that Obama will only get healthcare reform passed by either 1) relying on 100% support of all the Democrats and thus using their majority to get this legislation passed without Republican support, or 2) will have to make a bill that's mostly conservative-friendly and hope that liberals will get on board anyway even though they don't like the bill. If not, then Obama will be yet another President in a long list of Presidents who could not get healthcare reforms done.</div><br /><div><br />Quite frankly, I'm beginning to get the feeling that this reform bill will wind up being Obama's “Achilles Heel”. With so much controversy, misinformation, and duality of definitions of what's in this bill, Americans can't get a complete grasp on what exactly this bill will offer them and, thusly, don't trust it. If this reform doesn't come off without a single hitch, it will be “fuel for the fire” that Obama and his supporters' opponents will use against them come next elections – the same fate as George Bush, Sr. faced with the infamous “read my lips” quote that made him a one-term president. And it could most likely hinge on one, single statement by the President – the one where he said, “There are also those who claim that our reform efforts would insure illegal immigrants. ... The reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally.”</div><br /><div><br />This seems to be a catch 22 for the President – since earlier in his speech he pointed out the need to insure everyone in America so that nobody walks into a hospital uninsured and, thus, add to the rising cost of healthcare. However, what about the proposed “uninsured illegal aliens” that walk into our public hospitals every day, and fill up the emergency rooms with headaches, nausea, colds & flu, and various infections? If Obama holds fast that the plan will not insure these illegals, then the problem of the rising cost of healthcare because of the uninsured getting care will still be there. If he insures these illegals to help bring down the cost to hospitals, then he's going back on his ardent promise that the healthcare reforms won't pay for them (which will be like ambrosia to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly who will eat it up and spew it out as a “see, we told you Obama was going to use YOUR money to pay for illegal immigrants!!”)</div><br /><div><br />So what would be left? If you don't have insurance you don't get healthcare at all? Every humanitarian and ethnic group would call for Obama's blood if he imposed that. So would he then authorize a nationwide crackdown on illegal immigrants and send them all back to the country of their origin? Again, those who are pro-immigration (legal or otherwise), Latino groups, and every other ethnic group in support of people fleeing poor conditions in their country and seeking a better life in America will want to tar-and-feather him for that.</div><br /><div><br />So I feel that this reform, if passed, will be a lose-lose situation for Obama and the Democratic Party in general. Now, if the intention was to pass healthcare reform regardless of the political ramifications, then it wouldn't matter to him if he needs to “fall on his sword” so to speak – or for Democrats to fall on their collective swords - in order to get healthcare reform passed. Because, as I stated before, this initiative could be what drives Obama, and the Democrats, out of power if it's not 100% perfect and completely accepted by all (except for those on the “fringes” of the left and right). This would also include if even one PENNY is added to the deficit or 0.00001% in higher taxes is levied to pay for this. Again, that would go against what Obama promised and, thus, be the battle cry for the GOP in their bid for the Presidentcy in 2012.</div>Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06178206404929798869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-513259832477540937.post-82073717867291052342009-07-23T14:57:00.000-07:002009-07-23T15:04:57.381-07:00What energy crisis???<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-exwdxnJ2QLfkijQnBgyKAPdYWbZe3ElNVKGGiQEIpNVNqZRaWrgEBz7ofPNw221lOwVzAFSRIvNMakWmkc3_95D3-gIbfP1OLcSaWBC3NA7k4z__fHsO7DayWKyXdDo7bDnsGsebulA/s1600-h/SUV_Lineup_072209001_edited-sm.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 123px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-exwdxnJ2QLfkijQnBgyKAPdYWbZe3ElNVKGGiQEIpNVNqZRaWrgEBz7ofPNw221lOwVzAFSRIvNMakWmkc3_95D3-gIbfP1OLcSaWBC3NA7k4z__fHsO7DayWKyXdDo7bDnsGsebulA/s400/SUV_Lineup_072209001_edited-sm.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361779234716654450" border="0" /></a>Okay, so what energy crisis???<br /><br />By the looks of this line of majority SUVs and minivans, you'd think we had $1.09/gal gas again!<br /><br />I guess they didn't get the memo that we should be conserving gasoline, eh?Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06178206404929798869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-513259832477540937.post-39312748335351967222009-07-20T12:47:00.000-07:002009-07-20T13:59:15.780-07:00Obama polls down, Republican bashing upWhy am I not surprised!<br /><br />Article link: <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-07-20-obama-poll-economy_N.htm">Poll: Less faith in Obama's economic abilities - USAToday.com</a><br /><br />It ain't the article, it's the comments posted to the article!<br /><br />Wow! Show a negative article about Obama and all the right-wing Reboobicans come out in droves to bash him and give everyone the "See? We told you so!!" rhetoric that their unofficial party spokesperson, Rush Limbaugh, popularized.<br /><br />Well, if your conservative/Republican position was so spot-on right, why'd you lose to Obama? Oh, that's right, the country on a whole had enough of Republican politics for EIGHT YEARS that did squat for helping avoid the situation we're in and absolutely wasted precious military resources fighting an unnecessary war with Iraq when the REAL enemy of the U.S. was being sheltered by the Taliban in Afghanistan (now hiding in Pakistan!) In fact, you're precious Reboobicans helped drive the deficit higher than the past 20 presidencies COMBINED!<br /><br />You don't want "socialism", then show the average American (those that work HARD for a living - 2-3 jobs, no or inadequate healthcare, and barely able to keep up with bills while still living with their parents because they can't afford a home of their own!) that capitalism and the free-market system works for everyone - not just the top 1%! However, all America has seen is how the wealthy and powerful SCREW the average American any way they can: Enron, Worldcom, The Oil Industry (remember the $5/gallon gasoline and their "record profits" during that time?), Bernie Madoff, General Motors, etc. The conservative's only defense has been labeling Damnocrats as "socialists" and makers of "tax-and-spend" policy.<br /><br />I will give that to them. Republicans didn't do "tax-and-spend" in their 8-years, it was "BORROW FROM CHINA-and spend"!<br /><br />I myself who voted for Obama am not so crazy about everything he's doing, but it was better than the "business as usual" message from John McCain! The worst thing the Reboobicans did to McCain was to convince him to run under their banner! Once McCain stopped being "The Maverick" and became the party mouthpiece, he lost all credibility with the swing voters and a good number of moderate Republicans! If he ran as himself, he probably could have beaten Obama (the Reboobican Party ruined McCain in my book!)<br /><br />So fine, if all these whining, über-capitalist conservatives feel they're right and everyone else is wrong, then get a candidate who can beat Obama in 2012 and overturn every law his administration puts in place (pretty much what Bush did after Clinton)! <br /><br />Oh, and for the record: Not everyone who voted for Obama was so näive as to believe he'd solve all our problems in the first 6-months of office. I'd like to know how a few ultra-left wingers become EVERYONE who voted for Obama as these Reboobicans paint us as?!<br /><br />They question why the defense of those rebutting the FOX-News-style postings is to "bash Bush"? Who do you think LEAD us to this point? Obama inherited this crap, he didn't <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">cause</span> it! And don't bring up Obama being a US Senator before his run for President either because the majority of Bush's tenure in office the Reboobican party had majority control. Obama, being a Democrat, was in the minority party!<br /><br />These anti-Democrat Obama-bashers are all just pissed that someone with liberal views got into office because THEIR OWN PARTY SCREWED UP!! If the Republican Party agenda was so great, then why'd they drive the deficit higher than it's been in our nation's history (hey, the Democrats are just continuing the downward spiral, they didn't start it) manage to piss off EVERY ally our country has, and missed getting the damn S.O.B. responsible for starting/leading the organization that sponsored the men who bombed the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on 9/11/01, by dragging U.S. forces into a country that STILL, to this day, had NO involvement in the 9/11 attacks OR were involved with the group responsible for 9/11; Al Quaeda?!<br /><br />Tell me how their f***ing up America royaly is Obama's fault?! As I've said to others before, I don't envy Obama his job as President. He's fighting not an uphill battle, but a scaling-Mount-kilimanjaro up-mountain battle to do, all while trying to appease everyone who is so willing to wait patiently to pounce on every little mishap that happens to him!<br /><br />There isn't enough money in the UNIVERSE to pay me to take his job!Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06178206404929798869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-513259832477540937.post-82529541541738574682009-07-02T06:51:00.000-07:002009-07-02T06:52:06.557-07:00c57aj24hivc57aj24hiv<br /><br />(It's all in the code!! The Matrix is REAL!!)Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06178206404929798869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-513259832477540937.post-42733920310952898312009-06-24T07:24:00.000-07:002009-06-24T09:10:45.859-07:00Reality stinks!!<p>Just like the American Auto Industry, American Television is spiraling into the abyss with their top executives laughing all the way down like deranged madmen/madwomen (keeping P.C.)</p><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s278/Markus10527/hotlinkers/jonkate8_fam_pic_sm.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 308px; height: 244px;" src="http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s278/Markus10527/hotlinkers/jonkate8_fam_pic_sm.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><p>Take the absolutely idiotic TLC (supposedly stands for "The Learning Channel") show "<a href="http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUS328&=&q=jon+and+kate+plus+8&btnG=Google+Search&aq=0&oq=Jon+and+kat" target="_blank">Jon and Kate, Plus 8</a>" - a reality show following the "adventures" and drama of Jon and Kate Gosselin and their sextuplets. No surprise, with the stress of having EVERYTHING about their lives broadcast to millions of people, having everything they do scrutinized and commented on publicly, and just having a camera in their faces all the time, it's no wonder their having problems with their kids AND their marriage (which from what I understand as of this post is going to lead to divorce).</p><p>To top it off, these acts of stupidity that pass as American television programs are <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53032-2004Aug9.html" target="_blank">SCRIPTED</a>! Yes, they're carefully controlled chaos and drama to keep the American public tuned in to see "what happens next?"</p><p>Is this the best that Hollywood script writers can come up with? This dreck that passes for entertainment today? No wonder we're the laughing stock of Europe and hated by the Middle East! They look at our television programs and say, "is THIS how Americans behave??!!"</p><p>Just like with the products of our auto industry, as well as other industries that have gone by the wayside over the years, our television entertainment industry is cranking out massive amounts of crap that nobody but the lowest of the low would want to even THINK about spending time watching.<br /></p>So what does that say about the American viewing public? Have we "dumbed-down" so much that this is the only form of programming we find entertaining? The absurdity of "The Simpsons" and "Family Guy", and the soap-opera drama/documentary style of reality-TV?! The quality of the programming coming out of the entertainment industry anymore reminds me of the types of programs they featured in the fictional sci-fi movie "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robocop" target="_blank">Robocop</a>" - remember the dirty old drunk guy with the bimbos on each arm repeatedly uttering the tagline "I'd buy that for a dollar!"? We're pumping MANY dollars into programming that isn't worth a dime!<br /><br />Sadly, that's yet another "prediction" that science fiction writing has gotten right - piss-poor television entertainment! And people wonder why I like the Japanese Anime so much - it's INTELLIGENT entertainment - not that the Japanese don't make dopey animations, but there are so many titles that are far better stories that what is belched out of U.S. studios!Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06178206404929798869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-513259832477540937.post-39997595446889772462009-06-18T07:57:00.000-07:002009-06-19T03:59:27.574-07:00Why Liberals Get a Bad Name: PETAOh, for the love of tofu....<br /><br />This is just plain stupid!<br /><a href="http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/06/peta-says-no-more-flykilling-sends-obama-a-humane-fly-catcher-.html">PETA Says No More Fly-Killing, Sends Obama A Humane Fly Catcher (ABC News blog)</a><br /><br />I thought that PETA stood for "People for the Ethical Treatment of <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Animals</span>", not "<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Allthings</span>"!<br /><br />Are they being serious?! Now we're monsters for swatting pests?! What's next? Outlawing cold and flu remedies because, "viruses are living creatures too!"<br /><br />And my fellow liberals wonder why we get slammed by ultra-conservatives like Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh. It's for stupid crap like this!<br /><br />Flies, or the <a href="http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/urban/flies/house_fly.htm">Common House Fly (Musca Domestica Linnaeus)</a>, multiply faster than rabbits <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">(in 4 months time, one pair of flies - if none of their offspring are killed, eaten or otherwise prevented from multiplying - will become 191.01 quintillion flies! That's 18 zeros after the 191!!)</span>, carry bacteria and in some case diseases, and (in case those of PETA forgot), they begin life as MAGGOTS! Have you ever seen flies feeding on flower pollen or drinking from a clean lake or stream? No! They're hanging around road-kill carcases, feces and stagnant, mosquito-infested pools of water!<br /><br />Give me a freakin' break! And PETA wants to SAVE these things??!! If it was up to them, this whole world would be infested with disease-carrying pests that would spread a plague across the world that would make Bubonic plague, swine-flu, ebola, west-nile virus AND limes disease combined look like a minor head cold!<br /><br />Unless of course, their goal is the extermination of all life on the planet! Left unchecked, pests like flies, mosquitos, ticks & fleas would devastate the planet - including all those precious animals that PETA is supposedly protecting!<br /><br />PETA, stick to what you know - <span style="font-weight: bold;">ANIMALS.</span> Last I checked, the common house fly is NOT classified by any credible biological scientific research as an animal...<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">...it's an INSECT, you morons!!!</span></span>Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06178206404929798869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-513259832477540937.post-89155642337960294322009-05-20T07:30:00.000-07:002009-05-20T07:37:56.167-07:00Yorktown, NY Central Schools – When is it “enough”?!Each year or so, we the citizens of Yorktown Heights, NY – along with the other school districts in the Yorktown Central School District – must vote to deny or approve budget spending. Each time, it goes up: higher taxes, a new bond to pay for, whatever.<br /><br />And EVERY friggin' time, it passes!<br /><br />This year was no different. Our residents, even with the overwhelming majority of us struggling to make ends meet with this horrendous economy, approved a 2.6% tax increase to pay for the schools. They say it's the lowest increase the town has had.<br /><br />I don't care if it was only a .000000001% increase – I CAN'T AFFORD THIS CRAP ANYMORE!!! My taxes are more than my mortgage!!<br /><br />I can tell you, it isn't just because costs have gone up – there is MASSIVE wasteful spending done in this school district (like that should surprise anyone). Just ask Jack Meehan – he ran for and secured a position on the school board some years ago. A conservative and the father of a friend of mine, he let me know exactly what was going on in our school district and, believe me, it was an eye-opener! They even waste money on purchasing paper towels! Why? Because they stay “loyal” to a supplier they've had for years!<br /><br />Hey, if the company I work for had that mentality, we would have been out of business BEFORE the Bank & Housing Market meltdown! But government can do that because whenever they run out of money, they raise taxes (or in the case of the Federal government, borrow from China!)<br /><br />Oh, Jack left the board for "health reasons". I think it's really because no matter how hard he tried to change things and save the taxpayer some money, nobody would listen and/or support him. Personally, I think he gave up because he was beating the proverbial dead horse - nothing would change so why waste the time?!<br /><br />So, enough is enough already! I've been screaming “UNCLE” for the past few years, but they keep twisting my arms off! To me, it seems they won't be satisfied until I'm bankrupt! It's bad enough the economy is in shambles AND I've had my hours at work cut back (again, due to the bad economy) so I have even LESS money to give them in taxes I already can't afford! Ain't that something – a home that's been in our family for about three generations (grandparents, then parents, then myself and my brother) may be lost due to bankruptcy and foreclosure!<br /><br />I CAN'T EVEN AFFORD THE HOUSE I GREW UP IN!!! And it's a small house – not even 1,800 square feet!<br /><br />Forget the “can't get blood from a stone” - I'm not a stone, but I'm hemorrhaging from all these taxes! They won't be satisfied until I'm dead in a gutter somewhere - and they'd probably take my body to pay for the back rent from lying in the public gutter!!Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06178206404929798869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-513259832477540937.post-57973966631944923492009-05-15T13:42:00.000-07:002009-05-15T13:50:25.563-07:00What's “Fair” With Bailout Bonuses?<p>Sitting in the doctor's office waiting for my turn, I saw a “New York” Magazine with a big picture of a fist on the front. The words next to it was, “The Rage of the Rich”. The article was written by Gabriel Sherman (article title was, “The Wail of the 1%”). I only read the first couple of paragraphs that spoke of AIG executives watching their boss, CEO Edward Liddy, on TV before congress getting wailed on by the panel regarding the bonuses that were paid with the bailout money Congress and President Obama approved. The article then talked about the AIG execs getting a memo from Liddy the next day asking them to give back 50% of what they received – and they were pissed. They feel that some kind of “sacred contract” of honoring pay agreed upon either in writing or a golf clubhouse handshake was broken. They didn't want to give ANY of the money back!</p>Now, regardless of the fact that millions of our tax dollars (and future deficits for our children and our children's children) went to insuring that a handful of Americans could continue to lead the life of excess, they were promised these bonuses. The company had to make due on it.<br /><p>However, as many conservatives like to point out that the government isn't their to provide a living, just manage the laws and the military, AIG wouldn't have HAD any money to give out if it weren't for us taxpayers. I would like to know, if we did things the strict conservative way – which would be to keep out of businesses business and let companies sink or swim strictly on their own merits – if AIG filed for bankruptcy and went belly-up flat out broke with not a penny to their name, how would they have been able to pay out these bonuses to the AIG executives? The fact that these people got ANYTHING from the government for essentially being a failure, they should be happy.<br /></p><p>So I'd like to know – how WOULD they have gotten ANYTHING of a bonus without us taxpayers? What, we scream bloody murder that they get a whole-ton-of-extra-moolah while the rest of us are struggling to keep up with our rents and mortgages in this economy and they think WE'RE being unfair?!</p><p>WTF?!!!</p>The way I feel about it, the way things are, they should be happy to have OUR table scraps – instead of us (the majority – aka middle-class) getting their scraps.Markushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06178206404929798869noreply@blogger.com0