I saw something, yesterday, that I hadn't seen in a long time. In fact, I'm not even sure I had ever seen it with my own eyes, before and not just in a movie.
I was feeling sick to my stomach, last night. The supper I'd planned wouldn't have set well, and we were out, anyway, so I suggested we swing by KFC/Taco Bell, where my family could get whatever and I could just get mashed potatoes & white gravy. As we waited on our order, I noticed an older man come in and a few seconds later, I heard him order just a cup of hot water. I wasn't really paying attention. I guess at the time, I probably assumed he took it to go and needed it to thaw something on his car or some-such. Our number was called a minute or two later, we grabbed our to-go bag and turned to leave.
As I turned, the older gentleman's eyes met mine and we exchanged warm smiles. He was seated in the dinng room. What he was doing, though, took a couple of minutes to register - he was emptying a ketchup packet into his hot water to make hobo soup. I was so stunned I didn't react as I should have, I SHOULD have given him my meal -- sparse as it was, it was more than he had to eat. I will long regret that I did not react quickly and correctly to offer my meal in trade for his. Perhaps if I had not felt ill, I might have had my wits more fully about me, in the moment. Instead, I wasted precious time processing, over and over, whether what I'd just seen was real.
This gentleman was no bum. His attire wasn't new, but it wasn't shabby. He was clean and shaven. And he wasn't whining or moaning, he was smiling. I've memorized his face - if I see him again - and this being such a small town, it's not unlikely that I will, he will not go hungry that day.
Thursday, December 08, 2011
Monday, December 05, 2011
Slang Thang
It amazes me, sometimes, the terms I've heard and used, for years, that are completely missing from Urban Dictionary. Today, while browsing and musing over what they *do* have ("Wow, they even got THAT one!" I discovered a whole family of terms completely absent, that surprised me far more than anything else I've ever discovered missing:
Running and Gunning -- when a cop is cruising up and down the highway, usually between two emergency turnarounds on a divided highway or
interstate, at the legal speed limit (running) and is shooting his speed gun (gunning) at passing motorists.
Stunning and Gunning -- when a cop car is sitting in such a well concealed place that you don't see him (stunning you with his presence) until it's too late (he's done gunning you with is speed gun.)
Stinging Like Bees -- One cop (The scout bee,) guns you, but doesn't pursue you. Just when you've traveled far enough you're sure you're safe, you see more cops (worker bees) - some may have other motorists pulled over, one has his lights and sirens on in your rear view mirror - this one pulls you over & gives you a ticket (Sting!) ALTERNATE USE: When several cops are spaced out along the same few-mile stretch of road, so that if one clocks a speeder & is too busy (busy bee)issuing a ticket to gun you as you speed by, there are plenty more bees buzzing around to sting you. (In this case, the one who scouts you is the one who stings you.)
Barking And Biting -- Usually done over holidays where people are more likely to travel or drink, this is when the police have advertised heavily, (barking - same meaning as in Carnival Barker) ahead of time that they'll have extra forces out aand/or will be operating road blocks and they let motorists know exactly where, when and what they'll be cracking down on (biting)... like speeders, drunk drivers, lack of seat belts, etc. Then they issue tickets (or harsher penalties) to each and every idiot who ignored their advance warnings.
Not the usual snark or commentary, but I thought I'd try sharing something a little different than my usual blog fare. I now return you to your regular Internet, in progress.
Running and Gunning -- when a cop is cruising up and down the highway, usually between two emergency turnarounds on a divided highway or
interstate, at the legal speed limit (running) and is shooting his speed gun (gunning) at passing motorists.
Stunning and Gunning -- when a cop car is sitting in such a well concealed place that you don't see him (stunning you with his presence) until it's too late (he's done gunning you with is speed gun.)
Stinging Like Bees -- One cop (The scout bee,) guns you, but doesn't pursue you. Just when you've traveled far enough you're sure you're safe, you see more cops (worker bees) - some may have other motorists pulled over, one has his lights and sirens on in your rear view mirror - this one pulls you over & gives you a ticket (Sting!) ALTERNATE USE: When several cops are spaced out along the same few-mile stretch of road, so that if one clocks a speeder & is too busy (busy bee)issuing a ticket to gun you as you speed by, there are plenty more bees buzzing around to sting you. (In this case, the one who scouts you is the one who stings you.)
Barking And Biting -- Usually done over holidays where people are more likely to travel or drink, this is when the police have advertised heavily, (barking - same meaning as in Carnival Barker) ahead of time that they'll have extra forces out aand/or will be operating road blocks and they let motorists know exactly where, when and what they'll be cracking down on (biting)... like speeders, drunk drivers, lack of seat belts, etc. Then they issue tickets (or harsher penalties) to each and every idiot who ignored their advance warnings.
Not the usual snark or commentary, but I thought I'd try sharing something a little different than my usual blog fare. I now return you to your regular Internet, in progress.
Sunday, December 04, 2011
James McMurtry and Occupy
According to the WHIP newsletter, James McMurtry is offering his famous song "We Can't Make It Here" (one of my personal favorite protest songs on the issues of economy and the working class) for free download and encouraging fans to use the song to make videos telling their story and/or supporting the Occupy movement. The best stories and videos will be featured on jamesmcmurtry.com
Download the song HERE
Send your videos to mcmurtrysite@gmail.com with the subject line: OCCUPY MOVEMENT or
post them to the James McMurtry Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/JamesMcMurtry
Excerpted from James' Blog:
In October, the New York City Police Department arrested over seven hundred Occupy protesters on the Brooklyn Bridge. Some were held for hours without charge. Earlier this year, J.P. Morgan/Chase, one of the recipients of the government bailout, derided by both Occupy and the Tea Party, donated 4.6 million dollars, partly in technology, patrol car laptops and such, to the New York City Police Department. This was the largest single donation ever received by NYPD. You can't tell me there were no strings attached.
Download the song HERE
Send your videos to mcmurtrysite@gmail.com with the subject line: OCCUPY MOVEMENT or
post them to the James McMurtry Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/JamesMcMurtry
Excerpted from James' Blog:
In October, the New York City Police Department arrested over seven hundred Occupy protesters on the Brooklyn Bridge. Some were held for hours without charge. Earlier this year, J.P. Morgan/Chase, one of the recipients of the government bailout, derided by both Occupy and the Tea Party, donated 4.6 million dollars, partly in technology, patrol car laptops and such, to the New York City Police Department. This was the largest single donation ever received by NYPD. You can't tell me there were no strings attached.
Thursday, December 01, 2011
Petition Smetition
There's a petition making the rounds on the social networks that asks the Republicans to stop sabotaging the economy. It's a noble cause, but there's little point to signing it.
Why? Because Republicans don't believe they are sabotaging the economy. They are successfully shaping the economy they want. This is the economy they've openly legislated for and campaigned on for decades. They haven't hidden this agenda, it's been their party line for as long as I can remember. That so much of the wealth of the working class has been redistributed to and then hoarded by the ultra wealthy is a huge success for them. That profits of major corporations have gone up while wages and standard of liviing have gone down for the overwhelming majority of Americans is a huge success for them. Our 99 problems are their goals. It's what makes them Republicans.
That's why this petition and others like it won't work. Boiled down to its salt, the petition is asking Republicans not to be Republicans. And that's not going to happen.
Are we stuck, then? Are we doomed to live in their modern "libertarian" version of a feudalist society, eeking out survival as serfs to our corporate lords and masters? Is there nothing that will work?
There is one and only one thing that will work -- vote them out. Vote them out at every level from the Federal to State to County/Parrish to Township to City/Village. And never vote them back in, whatever name they might campaign under. But we have to act fast - while we still have the right to vote and the vote of a poor man is equal to the vote of a rich man.
Why? Because Republicans don't believe they are sabotaging the economy. They are successfully shaping the economy they want. This is the economy they've openly legislated for and campaigned on for decades. They haven't hidden this agenda, it's been their party line for as long as I can remember. That so much of the wealth of the working class has been redistributed to and then hoarded by the ultra wealthy is a huge success for them. That profits of major corporations have gone up while wages and standard of liviing have gone down for the overwhelming majority of Americans is a huge success for them. Our 99 problems are their goals. It's what makes them Republicans.
That's why this petition and others like it won't work. Boiled down to its salt, the petition is asking Republicans not to be Republicans. And that's not going to happen.
Are we stuck, then? Are we doomed to live in their modern "libertarian" version of a feudalist society, eeking out survival as serfs to our corporate lords and masters? Is there nothing that will work?
There is one and only one thing that will work -- vote them out. Vote them out at every level from the Federal to State to County/Parrish to Township to City/Village. And never vote them back in, whatever name they might campaign under. But we have to act fast - while we still have the right to vote and the vote of a poor man is equal to the vote of a rich man.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Wednesday, August 03, 2011
So What If We Have Sex?
(Read my response, below the quoted section, in italics.)
Via Think Progress
This week, the Obama administration announced that all health insurers will be required to cover birth control and other women’s health services without charging co-pays. This historic move has sent the burgeoning right-wing campaign against birth control into an apoplectic fit.
8<----snip----
Fox’s anti-birth control “expert,” Family PAC Federal Vice President Sandy Rios, however, found her own reasons to lambast the policy as “ridiculous.”
8<----snip----
– “Why in the world would you encourage your daughters, and your granddaughters, and whoever else comes behind you to have unrestricted, unlimited sex anytime, anywhere and that, somehow if you prevent pregnancy, that somehow you’ve helped them. I would submit to you that uncontrolled sexual behavior is what is harming our girls, not our lack of birth control — which by the way they don’t seem interested in taking anyway. Having a baby is not the worst thing. I think having multiple sex partners without any kind of restraint or responsibility is much more damning, why would you support that?”
Dear Ms. Rios,
Three of my four children are grown, my youngest daughter is in her teens. I am no child and I have not started menopause. Has it ever crossed your mind that perhaps I and millions of other adult women might want to have unrestricted, unlimited sex anytime, anywhere... many of us with our own husbands?
Why would I want to encourage my daughters NOT to have and enjoy unlimited, anytime, anywhere sex with their spouses?
And what, exactly, is so damaging about women enjoying sex - whether it's with one person to whom they are married or a series of people to whom they aren't, so long as that's what they want, enjoy and prefer? It is certainly no skin off your nose and who are you, exactly, that what YOU think about it is any more or less important than what any other individual person on this planet thinks? If you think it's wrong, if it's not what you want, enjoy and prefer - don't do it.
I am curious whether you grew up isolated from other females through your late teens and early 20s. I suspect this because unless you were so isolated, you know full well what free form of birth control a lot of promiscuous young girls (not to mention cheating girlfriends and wives) use and recommend to their female pals. It's this piece of sage advice, that's been handed down through generations of women and is still alive and well to this day: "You can't get pregnant if you're already pregnant." So much for your theory that cutting off access to birth control will prevent any girl or woman from sleeping around... it frees some women up to do exactly that and it's been doing that for centuries!
I am sorry for you that you don't or can't or won't enjoy sex, Ms. Rios. (I'm assuming you don't since you seem to think only young girls enjoy it AND because you are not home caring for your 20 some odd children whilst recovering from the birth of your newborn and celebrating the news that you're expecting yet another.) I know frigidity is your preferred birth control method, but I still feel sorry for you because I am fortunate to know what you are missing. Oh. So. Fortunate.
When sex is good, it's awesome! I mean, seriously, mind blowingly, OH MY GAWD, Earth shaking awesome! And yes, I tell my daughters and my son that it is. But, I also explain to them all the things that make the difference between awesome sex and just copulating or procreating.
I will give you credit, though. You're very right, having a baby isn't the worst thing. I'll even add that it can be the best thing, when it's something you want. It was certainly the best thing ever, for me, with each of my four children. But, Ms. Rios, lots of things, many of them quite horrific, aren't the worst thing. (ftr, death is the worst thing.) Example: Having both your legs amputated is not the worst thing - but I'm guessing if you suddenly found yourself legless you wouldn't be jumping for joy. (*ahem* so to speak.)
If you don't like prescribed birth control, fine. Don't use it. Your life, your choice. I respect that. Please, afford me the same respect: leave me to my life and my choices.
That said, want to know what I don't like? Well, I'm going to tell you anyway. I don't like war. Guess what, though - my tax dollars fund it, anyway and I guarantee you that defunding war would save us a helluva lot more of the tax payers' money.
Via Think Progress
This week, the Obama administration announced that all health insurers will be required to cover birth control and other women’s health services without charging co-pays. This historic move has sent the burgeoning right-wing campaign against birth control into an apoplectic fit.
8<----snip----
Fox’s anti-birth control “expert,” Family PAC Federal Vice President Sandy Rios, however, found her own reasons to lambast the policy as “ridiculous.”
8<----snip----
– “Why in the world would you encourage your daughters, and your granddaughters, and whoever else comes behind you to have unrestricted, unlimited sex anytime, anywhere and that, somehow if you prevent pregnancy, that somehow you’ve helped them. I would submit to you that uncontrolled sexual behavior is what is harming our girls, not our lack of birth control — which by the way they don’t seem interested in taking anyway. Having a baby is not the worst thing. I think having multiple sex partners without any kind of restraint or responsibility is much more damning, why would you support that?”
Dear Ms. Rios,
Three of my four children are grown, my youngest daughter is in her teens. I am no child and I have not started menopause. Has it ever crossed your mind that perhaps I and millions of other adult women might want to have unrestricted, unlimited sex anytime, anywhere... many of us with our own husbands?
Why would I want to encourage my daughters NOT to have and enjoy unlimited, anytime, anywhere sex with their spouses?
And what, exactly, is so damaging about women enjoying sex - whether it's with one person to whom they are married or a series of people to whom they aren't, so long as that's what they want, enjoy and prefer? It is certainly no skin off your nose and who are you, exactly, that what YOU think about it is any more or less important than what any other individual person on this planet thinks? If you think it's wrong, if it's not what you want, enjoy and prefer - don't do it.
I am curious whether you grew up isolated from other females through your late teens and early 20s. I suspect this because unless you were so isolated, you know full well what free form of birth control a lot of promiscuous young girls (not to mention cheating girlfriends and wives) use and recommend to their female pals. It's this piece of sage advice, that's been handed down through generations of women and is still alive and well to this day: "You can't get pregnant if you're already pregnant." So much for your theory that cutting off access to birth control will prevent any girl or woman from sleeping around... it frees some women up to do exactly that and it's been doing that for centuries!
I am sorry for you that you don't or can't or won't enjoy sex, Ms. Rios. (I'm assuming you don't since you seem to think only young girls enjoy it AND because you are not home caring for your 20 some odd children whilst recovering from the birth of your newborn and celebrating the news that you're expecting yet another.) I know frigidity is your preferred birth control method, but I still feel sorry for you because I am fortunate to know what you are missing. Oh. So. Fortunate.
When sex is good, it's awesome! I mean, seriously, mind blowingly, OH MY GAWD, Earth shaking awesome! And yes, I tell my daughters and my son that it is. But, I also explain to them all the things that make the difference between awesome sex and just copulating or procreating.
I will give you credit, though. You're very right, having a baby isn't the worst thing. I'll even add that it can be the best thing, when it's something you want. It was certainly the best thing ever, for me, with each of my four children. But, Ms. Rios, lots of things, many of them quite horrific, aren't the worst thing. (ftr, death is the worst thing.) Example: Having both your legs amputated is not the worst thing - but I'm guessing if you suddenly found yourself legless you wouldn't be jumping for joy. (*ahem* so to speak.)
If you don't like prescribed birth control, fine. Don't use it. Your life, your choice. I respect that. Please, afford me the same respect: leave me to my life and my choices.
That said, want to know what I don't like? Well, I'm going to tell you anyway. I don't like war. Guess what, though - my tax dollars fund it, anyway and I guarantee you that defunding war would save us a helluva lot more of the tax payers' money.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
So You're Getting Raptured...
We know the date of the Rapture! May 21, 2011. This may come as a shock, dear Righteous reader, but I will not joining you. That's right, I will be a Rapture Reject. It's OK. I know what I did. (and I really, REALLY enjoyed doing it... I mean like REALLY enjoyed doing it!)
That said, I could not be more excited you'll be shaking loose this mortal coil (and your clothing) to rise into the sky with your beloved Savior & accept your heavenly reward for all those years of being completely uncool & having no fun at all. Seriously, I am thrilled for you! My only regret is that I won't get to read your tweets about how cool it felt to be naked, outside, for the first time. (It does feel AWESOME - you're going to LOVE it! That I know this is part of why I don't get to go with you.)
But, what to do with your Earthly belongings? You won't be needing them, but not all shameless sinners are created equal. You don't want the home you raised your children in or Grandma's wedding ring falling into the wrong hands? Satan LOVES to defile that stuff. (Yes, in THAT way! EW!) And you don't want your hard earned money used by Satan to pay his whores. Do you?
Well, dear Righteous Reader... I'm not THAT kind of sinner. I'm the fun, harmless kind. So harmless I made it through all but the final Rapture cut. I can't stand Satan or his devoted minions and they can't stand me right back!
I've been letting it be known on Twitter and elsewhere that if you're being Raptured, you're welcome to send, sign, deed and/or title your Earthly belongings & holdings to me.
Today, it came to my attention, via The Political Carnival that I have competition. Yes, that's right! There is another person making the same offer, but via the vile/evil stalking grounds of murderers & rapists (aka Satan's executive staff!)known as Craigslist. (Don't believe me about the murderers & rapists who hang out there? Look it up on Google News! It's true!!)
Please, May 21 will be here before you know it. If your choice comes down to trusting your Earthly gains to him or me, know that UNLIKE HIM I promise not to let Satan lick, hump or in any way defile your stuff!
If you're interested, leave me a comment that includes some method of private contact so I can let you know where to send your money, property deeds, jewelry, etc. without tipping Satan off to where they'll be after you've departed.
Bon Voyage & God Speed!
That said, I could not be more excited you'll be shaking loose this mortal coil (and your clothing) to rise into the sky with your beloved Savior & accept your heavenly reward for all those years of being completely uncool & having no fun at all. Seriously, I am thrilled for you! My only regret is that I won't get to read your tweets about how cool it felt to be naked, outside, for the first time. (It does feel AWESOME - you're going to LOVE it! That I know this is part of why I don't get to go with you.)
But, what to do with your Earthly belongings? You won't be needing them, but not all shameless sinners are created equal. You don't want the home you raised your children in or Grandma's wedding ring falling into the wrong hands? Satan LOVES to defile that stuff. (Yes, in THAT way! EW!) And you don't want your hard earned money used by Satan to pay his whores. Do you?
Well, dear Righteous Reader... I'm not THAT kind of sinner. I'm the fun, harmless kind. So harmless I made it through all but the final Rapture cut. I can't stand Satan or his devoted minions and they can't stand me right back!
I've been letting it be known on Twitter and elsewhere that if you're being Raptured, you're welcome to send, sign, deed and/or title your Earthly belongings & holdings to me.
Today, it came to my attention, via The Political Carnival that I have competition. Yes, that's right! There is another person making the same offer, but via the vile/evil stalking grounds of murderers & rapists (aka Satan's executive staff!)known as Craigslist. (Don't believe me about the murderers & rapists who hang out there? Look it up on Google News! It's true!!)
Please, May 21 will be here before you know it. If your choice comes down to trusting your Earthly gains to him or me, know that UNLIKE HIM I promise not to let Satan lick, hump or in any way defile your stuff!
If you're interested, leave me a comment that includes some method of private contact so I can let you know where to send your money, property deeds, jewelry, etc. without tipping Satan off to where they'll be after you've departed.
Bon Voyage & God Speed!
Monday, May 02, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
More on Wisconsin
It bears noting that real American workers are being stripped of a hard earned right they can name but have zero support from those teabaggers who have screamed at rallies and protests and town hall meetings about their rights being taken away... whether those who whined that we were taking their guns despite not one gun being taken from them or those who frantically cried that they were losing their religious freedom despite not one church being closed or those who couldn't name a single right they'd lost but were dead sure they'd lost some.
Here's my response to the question "What is the Unions solution to the budget problem?" posted to a thread on MoveOn.org's FB, by an anti-American-workers teabagger:
The Union's solution to the budget problem? In Wisconsin, there was no budget problem. In fact, there was a surplus until tax cuts to corporations created this so-called budget crisis. They're asking workers there, many of whom hold jobs t...hat require a college degree, to pay for those tax cuts through decreased income, decreased benefits and by losing the right to bargain collectively, forever and henceforth - even if the state recovers and runs huge surplusses for decades on end. In other words, they're redistributing wealth directly from the working class to corporations - the workers agreed to all the concessions asked of them and Gov. Walker said "No" - only union busting will do. This isn't about the budget. Here's a thought for solving some budget problems: Address the trade defecit head-on, discourage companies from relocating to third world & communist countries by enacting tariffs on imports. Where's the Governors' lobby on this issue? The Governors have power at the federal level when they band together - but they are mum, as are the legislators on both sides of the political aisle at both the state and federal level of our gov't. Why is that?See More
Here's my response to the question "What is the Unions solution to the budget problem?" posted to a thread on MoveOn.org's FB, by an anti-American-workers teabagger:
The Union's solution to the budget problem? In Wisconsin, there was no budget problem. In fact, there was a surplus until tax cuts to corporations created this so-called budget crisis. They're asking workers there, many of whom hold jobs t...hat require a college degree, to pay for those tax cuts through decreased income, decreased benefits and by losing the right to bargain collectively, forever and henceforth - even if the state recovers and runs huge surplusses for decades on end. In other words, they're redistributing wealth directly from the working class to corporations - the workers agreed to all the concessions asked of them and Gov. Walker said "No" - only union busting will do. This isn't about the budget. Here's a thought for solving some budget problems: Address the trade defecit head-on, discourage companies from relocating to third world & communist countries by enacting tariffs on imports. Where's the Governors' lobby on this issue? The Governors have power at the federal level when they band together - but they are mum, as are the legislators on both sides of the political aisle at both the state and federal level of our gov't. Why is that?See More
My letter to Gov. Walker
I support the hard earned right of every American worker to bargain collectively and I strongly oppose your methods to redistribute the wealth of the working class to corporations and conglomerates, by paying for tax cuts to businesses by stripping working class Americans of their rights, their incomes and their benefits.
My family and I will set neither tire nor toe in Wisconsin - we will not visit your tourist attractions, eat in your restaurants, shop in your stores, fuel our vehicles at your gas stations, sleep in your hotels or in any way contribute to Wisconsin's tourism income until the rights of all Wisconsin workers are out of jeopardy. I will encourage others to work, shop and play elsewhere, as well.
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