One step forward...two steps back

I figure New York will have marriage equality this week. I figure it'll be fought in the courts. I figure they'll keep it in the end.

I also figure that people who disagree with you will be able to censor your speech whenever they like a la Roger Ebert today.

Now, let me state I'm not a huge fan of Roger's. He's been a bastion of film criticism for many years, and congrats to him for beating the cancer his counterpart Gene Siskel didn't.

But today he's been under attack for saying something that could probably have been phrased a bit more thoughtfully.

Yesterday Ryan Dunn, one of the stars of Jackass, drank drove and died as a result. Roger Ebert made a quip regarding jackasses and got his ass handed to him as a result. Including the fact that Facebook took down his page.

This brings me to a little diatribe about our willingness to allow Facebook to tell us what we can and cannot say. I'd go on about this being the beginning of Big Brother watching us and censoring our speech, but it's not the beginning, this has been going on, and no one seems to care.

Do we think so little of our freedoms and our hard won ability to speak our minds no matter how offensive or thoughtless, anywhere and everywhere, that we'll allow someone else to enforce them?

I will say that the privatizing of free speech considerations is a huge big deal and one we need to be more and more mindful of as the internet is regulated more heavily.

Ask any artist how well their job works when they're told what to say and how they can say it.

And so it goes:

I'm not Nick Cassidy

Ever had one of those days when, at the end of it you're sick of the sound of your own name?

Today was one of mine.

At the end of it though I did manage to make a connection with someone from my  past.  I can't wait to see how it turns out.

In the meantime New York is well on the way to approving Marriage equality...cool.

Of course the Supreme Court is fucking women...and not in a good way.

And so it goes:

There's a teabagger among us

And not the fun (ny?) kind.


(i just don';t see the humor in teabagging)

Alas, it appears my  nephew is such an exteremist conservative, that he's now succumbed to tea party   notions.

It wouldn't seem possible except he's been lead to this moment in is life by all the forces necessary to make him a worthless nutcase.

First, he;s a cop. Bad enough, but I can forgive that in light of the fact that it provides great benefits for his family and he'll be able t retire at a  reasonable age. 

But still, tea party?  I mean this is the likes of Michelle (crazy eyes) Bachmann, and Rand Paul.  (I feel compelled to continue the Joemygod tradition of calling her Michelle (crazy eyes) Bachmann, because there's not a better descriptor I can come up with.)  And those two have proven time and again they're dangerous and stupid.

It wouldn't scare me so much except their constituents were so ready and willing to elect them in the first place and here we go with their insanity in congress.  A place flled with enough insanity already.

So it frightens me a little that our government is being, if not exactly run, at the very least influenced by these wingnuts. 

And now I have one of their very own in my life.  At least part of the time.  He made a bad Obama joke the other day and I politely laughed.  his wife tried to wave him off and he muttered something to the effect of "I don't give a shit." So I see where this is going and I choose not to play. 


Teabaggers unite!  (At the ECT clinic, pls.)

And so it goes:

new fangled invenchuns

Gotta figure out how to log from the new phone I had plenty of time to do it, just no way to get it accomplished.

Here's a little link to an amusing story for today's blog, sorry i was late, but I was busy.


And so it goes:

A day late...

I was all prepared to do a huge post on Michelle Bachman, the woman I think/hope will bring down the GOP.

She is truly

 But as I was doign some research to talk about her positions I ran across a site that's already done all of it for me. 

crooksandliars.com

I just got a little excited in my pants.  This site takes her all the way down.

Here's a lttle block quote:

I'm not sure who is more evil: Michele Bachmann or Sarah Palin. Both have an uncanny ability to sound high-pitched shrill dog whistles for their fellow racists.
Michele Bachmann spoke in Colorado at the Western Conservative Conference over the weekend, and in Bachmann-like fashion, dropped a few claims that just made me shudder. This one, in particular:

"'We are determined to live free or not at all. And we are resolved that posterity shall never reproach us with having brought slaves into the world,'" Bachmann read from founding father John Jay , ending her reading with the statement, "We will talk a little bit about what has transpired in the last 18 months and would we count what has transpired into turning our country into a nation of slaves."

She then launches into the requisite Tea Party theme of tyranny, pointing specifically to health care reform as some sort of tyrannical monster threatening the nation. (Cue death panels.)
But really, it's worth looking at her agenda, because Bachmann is as wingnut crazy as Sharron Angle:

“We reform social security, then we reform Medicare, then we pare back welfare to the truly needy, for the truly disabled, because, yes, we can make that determination,” she said. “Close and secure American boarders, cut the budget, limit our foreign entanglements for America, then we massively cut spending first, then we cut taxes.” Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0710/39608.html#ixzz0tamKLmmS

A closer look, restated with real terms would read like this:

We privatize Social Security, then we privatize Medicare, then we starve those most needy, we let the disabled twist in the wind. Then we leave our troops twisting in the wind while cutting all social programs but not touching military spending. Then we give it all to our corporate masters.

And for icing on the cake they provide a link to her "owners"

 http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/can_give/2009_H6MN06074

Slave indeed.

And so it goes:

hate musicals, love nph

can't get there from here

Since the haters can't seem to get rid of the Prop 8 ruling any other way, they're trying to get rid of the judge.

Well, "he's a fag," they reason, so he'd benefit directly from his own ruling so we can get rid of this mess by declaring he had a personal interest and therefore should have recused himself.

Grasping at straws I'd say.

And so it goes:

genius should be recognized

and these guys have got it

hgf

Narcissus has been looking in that damn pool again

Rick Santorum wants everyone to know that:



as if...

I'm becoming a huge fan of the late Howard Zin. Read him.

And so it goes:

They just keep giving me more and more help

It is true that all good things come to those who wait. I've spent over 1000 posts and about four years of my life dedicating myself to extolling the horrors of the depth of the stupidity of the average American. And now...

nsfw btw


And in an effort to meet their mandate to be a public service organization, Faux news has mistakenly used this picture

of Tina Fey instead of a real one of Sarah Palin.

They must have hired the former Kansas City Star intern who mistakenly used this photo:

to promote national clown week a few years ago. It's a photo of John Wayne Gacy. oops.

So I am forever grateful to the galactically stupid,(Tom Cruise pun intended) who keep this blog afloat.

I hope they get someone to read this blog to them so they know how grateful I am.

And so it goes:

Ain't we got fun

I love Sarah Palin! Her unwillingness to admit a mistake, and her incurable American Disease, i.e. her insistence that someone else was at fault...always...enamors me to her.

I mean where else would I find a joke that makes its own punchlines so readily?




The best part is that the teabaggers are so willing to support this POS that they're attempting to change the wikipedia page on Paul Revere to support her contentions that her version of events is correct and that Paul Revere was actually warning the British.

Why admit a mistake? Just rewrite history to suit you...much more expedient.

Ah Sarah, you justify ALL of my contentions about the hideous education system in this country.

Thanks.

Of course there's always my favorite patriot...hehe.

And so it goes:

yes i know, and hgf

Yes, I did I skipped yesterday's post. I was busy, and I was trying to figure out how to work my new phone.

Holy shit! I swear there's a period in the firsts ten days in which all one really wants to do is to throw a new phone against the wall. I was very tempted.

Well, today in political news a conservative hypocrite pays for his own helicopter rides,(Christie NJ) and a liberal hyopcrite goes to court to answer for some more of his sins(Edwards).

We have such an upstanding citizenry.

And so it goes:

you CAN make this stuff up!

So often I sit here and rail about some nutcase in a position of some influence who is abusing their power, and point out exactly what I think we need to do about it.

However, there are times, such as this one, when all I can do is let the latent speak for themselves.

Enjoy:
via towleroad.com


And so it goes:

last week in joplin

and so it goes:

In a minute....!

Alright, now hold on here.  HGF will be along in just a second you big pervs, just hang on.  First I want to show you a letter from the Director of the Vermont Arts Council to Dam Brownback and address a couple of issues regarding him and that...THEN we'll leer, just bear with me.

The letter:

An Open Letter to Kansas Governor Sam Brownback

May 25, 2011

The Honorable Sam Brownback

Governor of Kansas

Dear Governor Brownback,

I have been following with great interest your efforts to remove government support from the Kansas Arts Commission and to re-establish it as an independent, non-profit agency, with the expectation that doing so will relieve your administration of the responsibility of allocating taxpayer funds to match federal funds from the National Endowment for the Arts.  The budget now awaits your signature and there is a great deal of concern that you will use your line-item veto to effectively abolish the Commission which, I understand, a bipartisan coalition in the Kansas Senate representing a broad cross-section of Kansas citizens hopes you will not do.

It is neither my place nor my intention to engage in the political discourse of your state.  However, since our small agency has been frequently singled out by your administration as an example of a nonprofit state arts agency that is thriving without, as the media has reported it, the benefit of state investment I am compelled to weigh in and set the record straight on just three points.

First, in Vermont our nonprofit state arts agency is effective only BECAUSE there is significant state investment in our work.  Without a State appropriation of just over $500,000 we would be unable to provide the professional development services, educational outreach to underserved communities, accessibility services to hundreds of historic cultural venues that were built long before the passage of the ADA, and a host of other grants that support our creative sector.

Second, without State support we would be forced to raise more than half million dollars (to match our Federal grant from the National Endowment for the Arts) from the private sector—an activity that would put us in direct competition with the very cultural institutions that our mission requires us to support.  In addition, our largest grant program (Cultural Facilities), not only provides significant improvements to our historical and cultural institutions in the area of accessibility, the funds we award employ hundreds of carpenters, bricklayers, plumbers, electricians and other blue-collar workers that are, along with artists and teachers, the life-blood of our communities.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, every State SHOULD invest in the arts sector simply because it makes good economic sense.  One of our most conservative policy analysts looked at state and local tax revenues that flowed to state and municipal coffers from our very narrowly-defined arts sector in Vermont.  Income taxes paid by artists, arts administrators and independent arts contractors, as well as the long-established IMPLAN economic modeling analysis on just the nonprofit arts institutions in the state, reveal a total return of $19.45 million on a combined investment of $2.5 million, which includes our $500k appropriation.  This annual ROI of 775%  is even more astonishing since virtually all of Vermont’s state tourism dollars promote skiing, outdoor recreation, fall foliage, maple syrup, and artisanal food preparation and service, NOT art and culture—a circumstance which, I am happy to say, is going to change starting this summer.

Our legislature is getting more and more comfortable with thinking of the work we do as expanding the revenue base of our state, not increasing the expenses that our citizen taxpayers must bear.  Our sector provides good jobs.  It adds enormous social and civic value to our communities.  It improves the relationship that young people have with their schools and communities.  And it serves as a powerful attraction to entrepreneurs seeking to locate their new businesses in a creative, vital community setting.  The “creative economy” is real and it is thriving here in Vermont.  I believe that all these arguments are relevant to making the case for keeping the Kansas Arts Commission on sound financial, PUBLIC footing.

With great respect for you and for the wonderful citizens of Kansas, I am

Sincerely yours,

Alexander L. Aldrich

Executive Director

Vermont Arts Council

Dam Brownback (the first time it was a typo but I've decided I like it) is a prime example of GOP extremism.  We're seeing it all over the place and I have high hopes that the voters will react appropriately.  The sudden  insurgence of the teabaggers should, (if it already hasn't) alarm each and every one of us.   The small towns in Kansas are dying, and no one seems to understand why. But they keep voting for the GOP, who then gives all the power, wealth, and tax breaks to the corporations that are starving these communities of their money.  And no one seems to get how they're perpetuating this vicious circle.

Recently I posted about the meat packing plants in western Kansas that are essentially creating a third world out on the plains at the expense of the immigrants, legal or otherwise, that live and work there.  there are no roads, no sewage infrastructure, no decent schools, no health care, and if the locals   rebel, they pack up the whole operation and move it to the next town where they'll be allowed to do as they please.

We are the only ones who can put a stop to what's being done to this country, and we have to accept the responsibility of fighting the people like Dam who think it's a good thing.  The longer I live the more I realize that we're doomed to repeat history because we not only don't learn from it, we don't teach it.

Anyone who has ever received a check, a job, an opportunity to view or participate in  an arts event  due to the existence of publicly funded arts councils should be supporting their existence, and fighting to keep their budgets intact.

Vote responsibly folks.  The GOP no longer stands for what you think it does.  

And now for something you'll really like:

Today is my birfday!

Four activities planned, a bike ride, lunch at the gallery with a friend and then viewing of the monet, a horseback ride, and dinner with a friend. 

Such a whirl!

Have a nice day!

And so it goes:

Them that's got shall get...them that's not got lose, So the bible says...

It's amazing to me that  after Katrina, the GOP would even consider not rushing immediately to the aid of American citizens.  Alas...

New York – Eric Cantor says he won't OK aid money for Missouri tornado victims unless Democrats agree to an equal amount of spending cuts. Goodbye, "compassionate conservatism"?


In the wake of the murderous tornado in Joplin, Mo., plus other recent natural disasters, the federal government may need to replenish its disaster-relief accounts. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) says that, before his House GOP caucus would support such a funding bill, it would have to be offset by spending cuts elsewhere. Is this insistence on budget-slashing in the face of disaster "heartless," or is ruthlessness necessary to turn the "tide of federal spending"?


The GOP's callousness is shocking: "I don't expect much from House Republicans, but this has managed to actually surprise me," says Steve Benen at Washington Monthly. When part of the country is devastated by a deadly natural disaster, federal lawmakers "are expected to put aside politics and ideology" and help, not hold the victims "ransom" to their pet causes.


But cutting spending is the GOP's mission: Cantor is just faithfully representing his caucus' views, says Stephen Dinan in The Washington Times. Plus, Cantor has clearly learned a key lesson from former Majority Leader Tom Delay (R-Texas), who "stumbled" and "took flak from conservatives" for arguing that disaster relief for Hurricane Katrina should be tacked onto the deficit.


Well, voters were warned: No one should have "reacted with horror" to Cantor's remarks, says David Dayen at Firedoglake. Republicans gave up "compassionate conservatism" as a Bush-era failure, and their renewed passion for small government essentially means "you're on your own," even in the face of disaster. So the fine folks of Joplin might have to get ready to "rebuild their homes themselves." Elections have consequences.

But there is a ray of hope-

Last night Democrat Kathy Hochul upset Republican Jane Corwin in the blood red New York 26th Congressional District special election -- largely because of Corwin's support for the House Republican plan to end Medicare.


Her victory comes on the heels of a month during which Republicans have been battered for their vote to end Medicare at town halls across America and polls that show their plan is radioactive.


Maybe last night's election will be the alarm that awakens the Republican establishment from their dream-like fantasy that -- as much as the right hates Medicare -- the American people don't agree.


Memo to Republicans: snap out of it! Americans love Medicare and there is nothing you're going to do to change that.


Of course, the Republican right has hated Medicare since it was first passed in 1965.


At that time Ronald Reagan, who was a spokesman for the AMA, railed against Medicare as the harbinger of socialism in the United States.


Thirty years later, Newt Gingrich waxed eloquent about the Republican plan to allow Medicare to "wither on the vine."


And just this Spring, Congressman Paul Ryan managed to convince all but four Republicans in the House to vote for a plan to end Medicare and to put seniors back at the mercy of private insurance companies -- this time with a plan that provided partial "premium support". You can call that whatever you like -- maybe "partial care" or "coupon care" -- but it's not Medicare. Really, what were they thinking?


The thing is that Republicans can't seem to remember that every time they grab the third rail of opposition to Medicare they are very nearly electrocuted.


You'd think they'd remember that after they had scored an overwhelming victory against the Democrats and Bill Clinton in 1994, it was the battle between Newt Gingrich and Clinton over cuts to Medicare that turned the political tide and helped assure Clinton's re-election in 1996. Democrats accused Gingrich of wanting to cut Medicare to give tax breaks to the rich. Sound familiar?


Well, Newt Gingrich himself apparently did remember, when he called the Ryan plan "right wing social engineering" -- only to be sent off by the party's right wing ideologues, with his tail between his legs like a dog that chewed up his master's favorite shoe.


You'd think the Republicans would remember the damage that was done by the 1996 Democratic spot that showed Republican Presidential candidate Bob Dole making a speech to conservatives where he bragged: "I was there fighting the fight, voting against Medicare."


You'd think they would remember that just a few short months ago, their own ads blatantly, falsely and effectively pandered to the public's love affair with Medicare by claiming that the health care reform bill had "cut Medicare."


They are like Dr. Strangelove in the famous 1960's movie. The Doctor -- a German former scientist -- had an irrepressible tick. No matter how hard he tried he could not help periodically snapping out a Nazi salute. The right wing of the Republican Party can't help themselves when it comes to trying to eliminate Medicare. To them, the basic idea of Medicare is an abomination.


Basically this is a question of values. They don't believe that we're all in this together. They believe that we're all in this alone -- that you're on your own, buddy. They don't believe that government is the name we give for the things we choose to do together. In other words, they believe -- like their ideological mentor author Ayn Rand -- in a society where the strong dominate everyone else - in essence a society based on social Darwinism. And they positively reject the notion that our top priority should be to create a society where everyone can achieve their full potential -- a society with shared prosperity a strong middle class.


To them it just doesn't compute that Medicare is the most efficient system to deliver health insurance -- and that people like the idea that they are guaranteed coverage of their health care needs in their senior years. They simply dismiss the fact that Medicare spends -- depending upon how you count it - from 3% to 6% of total outlay on administrative costs and private insurers spend from 26% to 30%. I guess when the facts don't conform to your pre-conceived ideological view, it's just easier to dismiss the facts.


Medicare is a "fact on the ground" that demonstrates that all of their theorizing about how big corporations always do things more efficiently than government is a fairy tale.


That's why initiates in the cult of right wing orthodoxy are made to take a blood oath to destroy Medicare and Social Security.


But Medicare is an example of the political axiom that once something is a "fact on the ground" it is very hard to destroy. It's one thing to prevent people from getting the things they aspire to. It is much harder to force them to give up something they love and already have. That's why the right is desperate to undo the Affordable Health Care Act before its provisions themselves become "facts on the ground" too. When they do, everyday Americans will like what they see. And they will see that just as Medicare was not, as the right warned, the beginning of the Soviet conquest of America - heath care reform will not bring "death panels" to seniors' bedsides.


In the meantime, yesterday's defeat in the New York 26th District, the shellacking they are taking at town meetings, and the fusillade of angry calls to Republican offices have begun to cause panic in the Republican ranks. The Empire struck back last fall. The progressive counter-offensive has begun.

Woohoo!

And so it goes:

It just never stops!

I have driven through Joplin Missouri many many times when I was in grad school. I went home to KC at least once a month from Fayetteville, but these pictures and video leave me speechless, and regular readers know how difficult that is.

These pictures are before and after of the same corner.

 

 The video has no narration and I couldn't imagine what one would say, the town is just gone.



And so it goes:

Happy Birthday K!

It's a big day in paradise! Someone can now join AARP!!! woohoo!

And now for something you'll really like!

Congrats my friend!
And so it goes.