While I'm in love with the universe ( a rare event so get it while the getting is good) I'd like to continue the Kumbaya fest I began with my last post, The Deuce Loves...TV, with another discussion of an artistic medium that I love...MOVIES!
Do you remember the first movie you ever saw in a theater? I do. It was The Blob, starring a young Steve McQueen. It was my birthday, so my mom took me into town to an air conditioned theater (that was a big selling point for theaters back in the day as most homes were not yet air conditioned...remember that scene in Back To The Future where the theater's marquee advertised air conditioning?) and I got my first tastes both of theaters and Science Fiction. I've been a Sci-Fi fan ever since. The Blob had been released a few years earlier, so I assume this was a Sci-Fi triple-header, though I don't remember the other movies shown that day. I was so young it's doubtful my mom actually thought I'd pay much attention once I had a bag of popcorn in my hands, but as the fates would have it I was mesmerized by the movie. I've loved movies ever since.
In my early years I was severly limited to movies shown on TV or that were being shown at the local drive-in theater ( an experience that is sadly disapearing from the American scene) that my folks wanted to see. Hence I was enthralled by Dracula, The Invisible Man, Jason And The Argonauts, Robin Hood, Ivanhoe, The Hound Of The Baskervilles, The Guns Of Navarone, Where Eagles Dare, A Fist Full Of Dollars, The Searchers, Cleopatra and The Vikings. Clearly my parents tastes ran to westerns and adventure and so do mine...to this day.
As I got a little older my tastes expanded to epics, or what the Hollywood insiders called "swords and sandles" movies. Ben-Hur, Sparticus, Lawerence Of Arabia, El-Cid, and The Ten Commandments. This love of epics would continue thoughout my life time. There's much to be said for movies that trumpet heros and what makes heros what they are...physical courage, moral courage, perseverence, confidence, intrepidity and leadership. Films like Brave Heart, The Patriot, Star Wars (hey, you don't think Yoda was a leader?), Gladiator and The Lord Of The Rings trilogy continue the genre. Just as history is writ large by heros, so are movies. Alexander the Great becomes Aragorn; Achilles becomes the Road Warrior; Sparticus becomes Tyler Durden; Jesus Christ becomes Neo. Think about it.
As I grow older my tastes in movies hasn't changed much. Some may think that makes me inmature, or "lacking in artistic growth." So be it. I like what I like, and I don't really give a rat's ass what others may think of my tastes. I'm a little more open to "exotic" ideas though, like those found in Fight Club ( the alienation of young blue collar men), V ( facism versus anarchy), The Matrix (reality versus the subjucation by an artificial reality) or The Terminator ( man versus man's machine creation). It's all good! Just don't bore me or depress me.
"Serious movies", like Schindler's List or Crash depress me and bore me ( though I've seen both of them). I don't watch movies to wallow in the evil that some people revel in. Graphic depictions of human suffering, factual or fictional, do not entertain me. I may learn about such suffering watching the news, or in history books or contemporary fiction, but I don't really want to see such dispicable behavior on a thirty foot screen while I'm trying to enjoy the company of my children and my popcorn . Reality is real enough...I don't go to matinees to get the artistic version of it.
Sadly, I rarely go to the movies now. As much as I love them, the expense and the rudeness of other movie goers inhibits me. When I first started paying for my own movie ticket a weekend matinee cost me $1.25...now it's $6.50. But as we all know, it's the concessions that really get you. A popcorn and soda will cost you more than the ticket to get in. Oh, and the movie going public! Those clueless morons that kick the back of my seat and talk throughout the movie and make calls on their cell phones...ARGH! I gave up trying to enforce theater courtesy years ago after almost coming to blows with some idiot who refused to turn his cell phone off after taking two calls after the movie had begun. After he took the second call I told him if it rang again I was going to take his phone away from him and shove it up his ass. My date knew I meant it and begged me to leave before I got arrested for assault. The miscreant was convinced and he moved to another seat far away from me. Well, I don't really want to do the perp walk over some schmuck's lack of etiquette, so I don't go near a theater unless the movie I'm seeing has been out for at least two weeks and I'm pretty much guaranteed a sparsely attended showing that gives me plenty of room that keeps the mouth breathers far away. Curmudgeoness does not lend itself to rubbing elbows with dip-shits.
But God bless the silver screen. From The Blob to Flash Gordon serials to a dubbed Godzilla crushing Tokyo to the Duke taming the West and the 300 saving Greece...God I love the movies.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Friday, May 29, 2009
The Deuce Loves...TV
Back at the turn of the new year I posted an article about how I was not going to go super nova over every thing in the world that pissed me off. Since then, well, I've pretty much gone super nova over every thing that's pissed me off...at least those things I had the time to write about. Seriously, there are so many things going on that piss me off there are not enough hours in the day for me to write about them all. So today, I want to write about one of the things going on in the world that I absolutely love...TV.
I LOVE TV! I've loved it ever since I was old enough to watch it and grasp what was going on. My dear mother, God rest her soul, always laughed when she would tell people that the first word I ever said was Popeye. I wonder how many of you even know who or what Popeye was? It was a cartoon...in black and white ( how many of you even know that TV was once broadcast only in black and white) and only came on on Saturday mornings...when all cartoons came on at that time. Back in the Pre-Camera-brian age when there were only three TV channels, and sometimes less, depending on where you lived. Believe it or not, I once lived in a place that had NO TV. That place, Del Rio, Texas, was the place my mother always said was her favorite time of life. People sat on their stoops after supper, when the cool of the evening came on, and actually talked to one another! They played cards; threw a birthday party at the rec center at least once a week; they actually knew each other. How amazing is that? And here I am saying how much I love TV. My mother was smarter than me, but I was better entertained.
Since the days of Popeye I've been a child of television. I can still remember Saturday morning cartoons. I, of my own free will, actually got up at 7:00 am every Saturday just so I could watch cartoons! I watched Popeye, and later on watched the very best cartoons ever created; Johnny Quest, The Herculoids, Space Ghost, The Adventures of Bugs Bunny and Rocky & Bullwinkle ( that included Fractured Fairy Tales and Dudley Do-Right and Mr. Peabody and the Way Back Machine). Oh, the halcyon days of Saturday morning cartoons! Later on, these magnificent creations would be replaced by the likes of H.R. Puffnstuff, and other live action shows created by loser commie hippies. It was the 60's after all, and the long haired maggot infested hippies even destroyed my Saturday morning cartoons! No wonder I've never voted for a Democrat in my life.
Oh, but Saturday mornings weren't the only time excellent TV was to be had. In the evenings were such classics as Combat, Rawhide, Wagon Train, The Time Tunnel, The Man From UNCLE, The Green Hornet ( with an as yet unknown Bruce Lee as Kato...Napoleon Solo and Kato inspired my neighborhood buddies and me to flip each other and otherwise throw down the sweet Kung Fu), Get Smart, Hogan's Hero's, The Addams Family, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Andy Griffith Show, Bonanza, The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, Star Trek, and Gilligan's Island. Masterpieces, each and every one of them.
Then things changed. The Vietnam War wore everybody down, and then Watergate brought down a president, and TV took on a more "realistic" veneer. Women and Blacks came on the seen, almost explosively. Suddenly, real world issues and problems were getting the treatment every night on TV. War, race, bigotry and women's rights were thrust into my TV...and into my conscience.
In the late 60's and early 70's, came Rowan and Martins's Laugh In, M*A*S*H, All In The Family, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Mod Squad, Adam-12, Sanford and Son, Maude, Hawaii Five-O, Mannix, Chico and the Man, The Jeffersons and Good Times. The early 70's were all about realism, even if it was addressed as a comedy. I saw the comedy and laughed with everyone else, but by then I was living in a small town in Iowa and I had nothing in common with Blacks or Hispanics or women struggling to find their way in the work-a-day world. But it was great TV.
Then Americans got tired of all the heavy messages and things eased up a bit. This is when Happy Days came along, with Laverne and Shirley; Welcome Back Kotter; The Bob Newhart Show; The Six Million Dollar Man; Baretta; Barney Miller; The Love Boat and Fantasy Island. By then I was no longer a kid, but it was still "don't miss" TV.
Since then, as I've gotten older, the great TV shows have gotten fewer and farther between, even if there are now hundreds of channels showing everything imaginable and many things unimaginable. But there have been some. Cheers; Magnum P.I.; Hill Street Blues; St. Elsewhere; Family Ties; Frasier; Everybody Love Raymond, The West Wing ( commie bastards all, but some of the best writing TV has ever had); Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (finally a Star Trek with real human beings that weren't perfect); ER and Seinfeld.
As a guy who grew up as an only child, and has been single since 1992, TV has kept me company, made me laugh, made me cry and made me think. But regardless of the issues of the day or the tumultuous times America has experienced, or that I have personally lived through, TV has always been my friend...sometimes when I had no other.
I simply can't imagine life without it.
I LOVE TV! I've loved it ever since I was old enough to watch it and grasp what was going on. My dear mother, God rest her soul, always laughed when she would tell people that the first word I ever said was Popeye. I wonder how many of you even know who or what Popeye was? It was a cartoon...in black and white ( how many of you even know that TV was once broadcast only in black and white) and only came on on Saturday mornings...when all cartoons came on at that time. Back in the Pre-Camera-brian age when there were only three TV channels, and sometimes less, depending on where you lived. Believe it or not, I once lived in a place that had NO TV. That place, Del Rio, Texas, was the place my mother always said was her favorite time of life. People sat on their stoops after supper, when the cool of the evening came on, and actually talked to one another! They played cards; threw a birthday party at the rec center at least once a week; they actually knew each other. How amazing is that? And here I am saying how much I love TV. My mother was smarter than me, but I was better entertained.
Since the days of Popeye I've been a child of television. I can still remember Saturday morning cartoons. I, of my own free will, actually got up at 7:00 am every Saturday just so I could watch cartoons! I watched Popeye, and later on watched the very best cartoons ever created; Johnny Quest, The Herculoids, Space Ghost, The Adventures of Bugs Bunny and Rocky & Bullwinkle ( that included Fractured Fairy Tales and Dudley Do-Right and Mr. Peabody and the Way Back Machine). Oh, the halcyon days of Saturday morning cartoons! Later on, these magnificent creations would be replaced by the likes of H.R. Puffnstuff, and other live action shows created by loser commie hippies. It was the 60's after all, and the long haired maggot infested hippies even destroyed my Saturday morning cartoons! No wonder I've never voted for a Democrat in my life.
Oh, but Saturday mornings weren't the only time excellent TV was to be had. In the evenings were such classics as Combat, Rawhide, Wagon Train, The Time Tunnel, The Man From UNCLE, The Green Hornet ( with an as yet unknown Bruce Lee as Kato...Napoleon Solo and Kato inspired my neighborhood buddies and me to flip each other and otherwise throw down the sweet Kung Fu), Get Smart, Hogan's Hero's, The Addams Family, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Andy Griffith Show, Bonanza, The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, Star Trek, and Gilligan's Island. Masterpieces, each and every one of them.
Then things changed. The Vietnam War wore everybody down, and then Watergate brought down a president, and TV took on a more "realistic" veneer. Women and Blacks came on the seen, almost explosively. Suddenly, real world issues and problems were getting the treatment every night on TV. War, race, bigotry and women's rights were thrust into my TV...and into my conscience.
In the late 60's and early 70's, came Rowan and Martins's Laugh In, M*A*S*H, All In The Family, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Mod Squad, Adam-12, Sanford and Son, Maude, Hawaii Five-O, Mannix, Chico and the Man, The Jeffersons and Good Times. The early 70's were all about realism, even if it was addressed as a comedy. I saw the comedy and laughed with everyone else, but by then I was living in a small town in Iowa and I had nothing in common with Blacks or Hispanics or women struggling to find their way in the work-a-day world. But it was great TV.
Then Americans got tired of all the heavy messages and things eased up a bit. This is when Happy Days came along, with Laverne and Shirley; Welcome Back Kotter; The Bob Newhart Show; The Six Million Dollar Man; Baretta; Barney Miller; The Love Boat and Fantasy Island. By then I was no longer a kid, but it was still "don't miss" TV.
Since then, as I've gotten older, the great TV shows have gotten fewer and farther between, even if there are now hundreds of channels showing everything imaginable and many things unimaginable. But there have been some. Cheers; Magnum P.I.; Hill Street Blues; St. Elsewhere; Family Ties; Frasier; Everybody Love Raymond, The West Wing ( commie bastards all, but some of the best writing TV has ever had); Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (finally a Star Trek with real human beings that weren't perfect); ER and Seinfeld.
As a guy who grew up as an only child, and has been single since 1992, TV has kept me company, made me laugh, made me cry and made me think. But regardless of the issues of the day or the tumultuous times America has experienced, or that I have personally lived through, TV has always been my friend...sometimes when I had no other.
I simply can't imagine life without it.
Racist
By Mr. Quarter
Racist. A label that seems to be tossed about almost casually these days. The nomination of Judge Sotomayor has brought this label out once again. It seems that in remarks to the law school at UC Berkley, Judge Sotomayor is quoted as saying "“I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.” Now, I'm no expert in such things, but that certainly sounds like she thinks that Latino women (by the way, isn't "Latina woman" sort of redundant?) are superior to white males by virtue of their race - at least in terms of their judgement and ability to reason (does that mean intellectually superior?). What I mean by "by virtue of their race" is that she seems to think that a white male with the same experiences or hardships in life could not reach correct conclusions, although a Latina woman could. If the phrases "Latina woman" and "white males" in that quote are inverted, and the entire quote spoken by - say Senator Trent Lott, don't you think that the media outrage would be unending? Don't you think that Trent Lott would be run out of town on a rail, demoted from - well everything? Just like when he said that it was a shame that Jesse Helms never got elected president?
I was absolutely enraged after reading this article on the subject in Vanity Fair that asserted Republicans in general are racists for expressing exactly this same analysis presented above. In that commentary by Michael Hogan (who is a senior editor of the magazine), he asserts that conservatives are racists because they make the simple argument, as he puts it, " if we’re not allowed to discriminate against you for being brown, then you can’t discriminate against us for being white." He goes on to justify this position by an arithmetic argument - slavery existed in the US for 9.8 generations but has been abolished for only 5.7 generations. He further suggests that the almost 50 years since the civil rights movement really haven't rectified the issues of slavery. So, if I'm doing the arithmetic correctly, by Mr. Hogans reckoning, we still owe 4.1 generations worth of guilt!
Mr. Hogan sums up his comments by saying, "...... we don’t live in a perfect meritocracy. Legacy matters, family matters, connections matter, and inevitably, unless the law insists otherwise, skin color matters. Maybe not to you, but to plenty of people." Well, isn't that the crux of the issue? Of course, Mr. Hogan is trying to make the point that merit is not a sufficient yardstick, that all of the other issues are the things that should be considered in the award of position and advantage in life's competition. But, isn't that exactly what equal opportunity, affirmative action, school busing, and a hundred other adjustments to law and the way that society works are meant to correct? Isn't meritocracy exactly what we wish to achieve and the intent of the Constitution and Bill of Rights; no matter your skin color, family, connections, or legacy, you earn your position in the competition in life is according to your merit and achievement?
I am sure that some racism still exists in this country, and I believe that it is not prevalent or commonly condoned. I am equally certain that it is practiced by persons of all colors for all kinds of reasons. I am also certain that mere affiliation with a political party does not make one a racist, nor is racism the position or philosophy of the Republican Party. I am conservative in my politics, belong to the Republican party (although I actually voted for Carter and, once, for Clinton), I am certain that I never owned a slave, and so far as I am aware I have never caused harm to anyone because of their skin color. I feel no racial guilt merely because of my own skin color or my ethnicity. So Mr. Hogan, take your opinion and commentary, fold it 'til its all corners and stick it where the Sun don't shine!
Racist. A label that seems to be tossed about almost casually these days. The nomination of Judge Sotomayor has brought this label out once again. It seems that in remarks to the law school at UC Berkley, Judge Sotomayor is quoted as saying "“I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.” Now, I'm no expert in such things, but that certainly sounds like she thinks that Latino women (by the way, isn't "Latina woman" sort of redundant?) are superior to white males by virtue of their race - at least in terms of their judgement and ability to reason (does that mean intellectually superior?). What I mean by "by virtue of their race" is that she seems to think that a white male with the same experiences or hardships in life could not reach correct conclusions, although a Latina woman could. If the phrases "Latina woman" and "white males" in that quote are inverted, and the entire quote spoken by - say Senator Trent Lott, don't you think that the media outrage would be unending? Don't you think that Trent Lott would be run out of town on a rail, demoted from - well everything? Just like when he said that it was a shame that Jesse Helms never got elected president?
I was absolutely enraged after reading this article on the subject in Vanity Fair that asserted Republicans in general are racists for expressing exactly this same analysis presented above. In that commentary by Michael Hogan (who is a senior editor of the magazine), he asserts that conservatives are racists because they make the simple argument, as he puts it, " if we’re not allowed to discriminate against you for being brown, then you can’t discriminate against us for being white." He goes on to justify this position by an arithmetic argument - slavery existed in the US for 9.8 generations but has been abolished for only 5.7 generations. He further suggests that the almost 50 years since the civil rights movement really haven't rectified the issues of slavery. So, if I'm doing the arithmetic correctly, by Mr. Hogans reckoning, we still owe 4.1 generations worth of guilt!
Mr. Hogan sums up his comments by saying, "...... we don’t live in a perfect meritocracy. Legacy matters, family matters, connections matter, and inevitably, unless the law insists otherwise, skin color matters. Maybe not to you, but to plenty of people." Well, isn't that the crux of the issue? Of course, Mr. Hogan is trying to make the point that merit is not a sufficient yardstick, that all of the other issues are the things that should be considered in the award of position and advantage in life's competition. But, isn't that exactly what equal opportunity, affirmative action, school busing, and a hundred other adjustments to law and the way that society works are meant to correct? Isn't meritocracy exactly what we wish to achieve and the intent of the Constitution and Bill of Rights; no matter your skin color, family, connections, or legacy, you earn your position in the competition in life is according to your merit and achievement?
I am sure that some racism still exists in this country, and I believe that it is not prevalent or commonly condoned. I am equally certain that it is practiced by persons of all colors for all kinds of reasons. I am also certain that mere affiliation with a political party does not make one a racist, nor is racism the position or philosophy of the Republican Party. I am conservative in my politics, belong to the Republican party (although I actually voted for Carter and, once, for Clinton), I am certain that I never owned a slave, and so far as I am aware I have never caused harm to anyone because of their skin color. I feel no racial guilt merely because of my own skin color or my ethnicity. So Mr. Hogan, take your opinion and commentary, fold it 'til its all corners and stick it where the Sun don't shine!
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
So Much to Say and So Little Time
By Mr. Quarter
As the title of this piece implies, Mr. Quarter has a lot to comment upon but not much time to write it all down. The Deuce has shamed me with his prolific output of late, and he has again earned my gratitude and admiration for the straightforward manner of his arguments. You can't spell "The Deuce" with nuance!
So many items in the news that need some passing mention, so I will start with one of my favorite people - Nancy Pelosi, the esteemed Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Also known as Big Fat Liar. It seems that our Nance was never briefed on the extended interrogation techniques (EIT) even though she was one of two members on the House Intelligence Committee that were cleared, er.. well she was briefed that maybe it could be done in the future but hadn't been done yet, er.. well actually it wasn't her that was briefed but her aide and he just recently mentioned it to her. Well actually the CIA mislead her, er.. well the CIA lied to her, er... well her notes are all mixed up! Can she get in any deeper in the manure than she is now? I think not. At least she has given her mouth a vacation this week. Notice that no one on the Democratic side of the isle is calling for investigations into torture any longer? Ummm, why do you suppose that is?
Mr. Obama signed the executive order to close Gitmo on the day after his inauguration. Made the whole crowd at the Daily Koz and Huffington Post wet their panties with happiness. Too bad he never considered that those bad apples will need a new address! So, this past week, Robert Gibbs, the Presidential Press Secretary actually said out loud that, "Well, perhaps that was a hasty decision." No shit. And, the Senate told Obama to pound sand on the $90 million for closure. It seems Harry Reid didn't want a bunch of brown, Arabic speaking gangsters moving into his Nevada neighborhood. Way to grow a pair Harry.
England just had a warning issued by Moody's on potentially reducing its credit rating because its national debt now exceeds 100% of its GDP. The Obama spending orgy, if allowed to continue according to his plan will result in a national debt approaching 81% of the GDP by 2019 and increases from that point in time. The national debt of the US has been a steady 41% of GDP since 1981 until now. So how do you get that debt under control? Well, you can raise taxes or you can inflate your currency. There is real talk right now about a 10% Value Added Tax - read about it here. Inflating your currency is also known as "monetizing the debt." That's a cute trick where the US Treasury sells treasury bonds and the Federal Reserve buys them, thereby creating money out of thin air and placing it into circulation. The result, inflation. So my advice is invest in gold and other precious metal commodities. Your savings are going shrink like your unit during dip in the North Sea!
Kim Jung Il, that crazy guy, is rattling the bars of his play pen and throwing his toys around again! It seems Lil' Kim isn't feelin' the love from Obama and needs his attention. So after firing a couple of missiles toward the Japanese mainland, he thought he could make the point clear by lighting off a 20kt bomb. Registered a 4.3 Richter in Japan. Since then he has been firing missiles into the ocean like some kid skipping stones on a mill pond. All of this while the citizens of Chosun are truly starving for lack of food. I really don't know why any government has the least concern about a NK military excursion. The North Korean army couldn't make it across the street without collapsing from hunger; they don't have a shot at hiking it 20 miles into Seoul.
Finally, here is my favorite. It seems that Canada's Governor General, in a show of solid support for the downtrodden Inuit, attended a seal hunt. At a festival on Monday in the frozen north, the "General" used a traditional knife to slice open the belly of a freshly killed seal, extracted it's heart and ate a piece - raw. European environmentalists vomited at the mere thought. Now that is my kind of man!
As the title of this piece implies, Mr. Quarter has a lot to comment upon but not much time to write it all down. The Deuce has shamed me with his prolific output of late, and he has again earned my gratitude and admiration for the straightforward manner of his arguments. You can't spell "The Deuce" with nuance!
So many items in the news that need some passing mention, so I will start with one of my favorite people - Nancy Pelosi, the esteemed Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Also known as Big Fat Liar. It seems that our Nance was never briefed on the extended interrogation techniques (EIT) even though she was one of two members on the House Intelligence Committee that were cleared, er.. well she was briefed that maybe it could be done in the future but hadn't been done yet, er.. well actually it wasn't her that was briefed but her aide and he just recently mentioned it to her. Well actually the CIA mislead her, er.. well the CIA lied to her, er... well her notes are all mixed up! Can she get in any deeper in the manure than she is now? I think not. At least she has given her mouth a vacation this week. Notice that no one on the Democratic side of the isle is calling for investigations into torture any longer? Ummm, why do you suppose that is?
Mr. Obama signed the executive order to close Gitmo on the day after his inauguration. Made the whole crowd at the Daily Koz and Huffington Post wet their panties with happiness. Too bad he never considered that those bad apples will need a new address! So, this past week, Robert Gibbs, the Presidential Press Secretary actually said out loud that, "Well, perhaps that was a hasty decision." No shit. And, the Senate told Obama to pound sand on the $90 million for closure. It seems Harry Reid didn't want a bunch of brown, Arabic speaking gangsters moving into his Nevada neighborhood. Way to grow a pair Harry.
England just had a warning issued by Moody's on potentially reducing its credit rating because its national debt now exceeds 100% of its GDP. The Obama spending orgy, if allowed to continue according to his plan will result in a national debt approaching 81% of the GDP by 2019 and increases from that point in time. The national debt of the US has been a steady 41% of GDP since 1981 until now. So how do you get that debt under control? Well, you can raise taxes or you can inflate your currency. There is real talk right now about a 10% Value Added Tax - read about it here. Inflating your currency is also known as "monetizing the debt." That's a cute trick where the US Treasury sells treasury bonds and the Federal Reserve buys them, thereby creating money out of thin air and placing it into circulation. The result, inflation. So my advice is invest in gold and other precious metal commodities. Your savings are going shrink like your unit during dip in the North Sea!
Kim Jung Il, that crazy guy, is rattling the bars of his play pen and throwing his toys around again! It seems Lil' Kim isn't feelin' the love from Obama and needs his attention. So after firing a couple of missiles toward the Japanese mainland, he thought he could make the point clear by lighting off a 20kt bomb. Registered a 4.3 Richter in Japan. Since then he has been firing missiles into the ocean like some kid skipping stones on a mill pond. All of this while the citizens of Chosun are truly starving for lack of food. I really don't know why any government has the least concern about a NK military excursion. The North Korean army couldn't make it across the street without collapsing from hunger; they don't have a shot at hiking it 20 miles into Seoul.
Finally, here is my favorite. It seems that Canada's Governor General, in a show of solid support for the downtrodden Inuit, attended a seal hunt. At a festival on Monday in the frozen north, the "General" used a traditional knife to slice open the belly of a freshly killed seal, extracted it's heart and ate a piece - raw. European environmentalists vomited at the mere thought. Now that is my kind of man!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
The Deuce Pays For World Health
Earlier this month The Glorious Leader announced his dedication to improving world health, and in doing so assumed the American taxpayer's willingness to fund his compassionate urges to the tune of $10.5 billion per year for the next six years. Yes! Finally we have a president with the vision and compassion to spend billions of our dollars for the benefit of the unwashed masses around the globe ( that means Africa ).
This giant wad of taxpayer money is supposed to be used to fight AIDS, malaria, TB and reduce maternal and infant mortality. I support this fight. Like most of us I imagine, I'm not immune to the plight of millions of my fellow human beings living in squalor and suffering from these diseases. However, I support the voluntary giving to international charities to combat this suffering, not the use of taxes which I must pay.
I don't pay taxes to the federal government for the benefit of unknown people on the other side of the world. I pay taxes for the benefit of my family, my community and for America. Sorry, but that's the way it is, or should be. I give to charities like the International Red Cross when I'm moved to help people outside the U.S.
Now you're probably thinking, "Man, that Deuce is a real bastard. He doesn't even care about all those little kids running around with swollen bellies and flys crawling on their faces. What's a few billion here and there to alleviate all that suffering?"
Well, for starters, don't we have enough things to spend our tax dollars on right here? You know, the constitutional stuff like providing for the common defense, funding the federal judicial system, maybe keeping the interstate highways and bridges in good repair to foster interstate commerce. Or how about increasing the funding for research into heart disease and cancer and Alzheimer's and the other diseases that kill so many of our own people?
Of course, since America already has trillions of dollars of national debt, and social security is on the crazy train to bankruptcy, and TGL is printing so much money the presses at the mint must be smokin' hot by now, maybe it's time to just realize that we can't fix every problem that plagues the world. And some times, we can't even help just a little bit...like now.
Even if America had no debt and was swimming in cash, we still shouldn't spend tax dollars like this. Every president in the modern era has felt compelled to use our tax dollars as a carrot to make other nations do our bidding or to just like us so they'll stop saying mean things about America and hurting our feelings, while at the same time getting accolades from the likes of U2's Bono ( does Bono lobby his own nation, Ireland, as hard as he does America? ). Obama thinks spending this money will help make America more secure. This used to be known as paying extortion money. Deputy Secretary of State, Jack Lew, said;
"Our announcement today exemplifies a strategy we're bringing to bear across our foreign aid programs, even as we address crises in regions with conflict, we need to make the investments necessary to prevent such crises from occurring in the future," he said. "We are ramping up efforts to fight poverty, food insecurity and disease with solutions that will leave behind the tools to sustain long-term progress." ( emphasis mine ).
The Obama administration thinks poverty and disease in the far corners of the world foments hatred of America and helps terrorist groups to recruit new members. His is not the first administration to think so ( it was the heartless and cruel Republican president Bush II who started this program, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief or PEPFAR ). But if that were the case, terrorists from China, India and Bangladesh should of been bombing our cities long ago. Young men in Sudan or Ethiopia don't wake up one morning and suddenly start saying, "You know, I'm tired of living in all this misery. I bet it's America's fault. I think I'll go join Al Qaeda and go jihad on America." Why not believe Bin Laden? He said years ago that he's waging war on America because he didn't like American military forces in Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries during and after the Gulf War I. Bin Laden recruits muslims by saying, "Help me drive the Great Satan out of our holy lands." As much as reason can explain Al Qaeda's hatred for America, it's clear what motivated Bin Laden and his minions was not poverty and disease in Muslim nations, or anywhere else.
TGL's proposed spending would foist 70% of the international community's total spending on "world" health on the backs of American tax payers.
We can't afford it. Even if we could, it's not why we pay taxes.
Support the International Red Cross or other legitimate international charities. American tax money should be spent for Americans.
This giant wad of taxpayer money is supposed to be used to fight AIDS, malaria, TB and reduce maternal and infant mortality. I support this fight. Like most of us I imagine, I'm not immune to the plight of millions of my fellow human beings living in squalor and suffering from these diseases. However, I support the voluntary giving to international charities to combat this suffering, not the use of taxes which I must pay.
I don't pay taxes to the federal government for the benefit of unknown people on the other side of the world. I pay taxes for the benefit of my family, my community and for America. Sorry, but that's the way it is, or should be. I give to charities like the International Red Cross when I'm moved to help people outside the U.S.
Now you're probably thinking, "Man, that Deuce is a real bastard. He doesn't even care about all those little kids running around with swollen bellies and flys crawling on their faces. What's a few billion here and there to alleviate all that suffering?"
Well, for starters, don't we have enough things to spend our tax dollars on right here? You know, the constitutional stuff like providing for the common defense, funding the federal judicial system, maybe keeping the interstate highways and bridges in good repair to foster interstate commerce. Or how about increasing the funding for research into heart disease and cancer and Alzheimer's and the other diseases that kill so many of our own people?
Of course, since America already has trillions of dollars of national debt, and social security is on the crazy train to bankruptcy, and TGL is printing so much money the presses at the mint must be smokin' hot by now, maybe it's time to just realize that we can't fix every problem that plagues the world. And some times, we can't even help just a little bit...like now.
Even if America had no debt and was swimming in cash, we still shouldn't spend tax dollars like this. Every president in the modern era has felt compelled to use our tax dollars as a carrot to make other nations do our bidding or to just like us so they'll stop saying mean things about America and hurting our feelings, while at the same time getting accolades from the likes of U2's Bono ( does Bono lobby his own nation, Ireland, as hard as he does America? ). Obama thinks spending this money will help make America more secure. This used to be known as paying extortion money. Deputy Secretary of State, Jack Lew, said;
"Our announcement today exemplifies a strategy we're bringing to bear across our foreign aid programs, even as we address crises in regions with conflict, we need to make the investments necessary to prevent such crises from occurring in the future," he said. "We are ramping up efforts to fight poverty, food insecurity and disease with solutions that will leave behind the tools to sustain long-term progress." ( emphasis mine ).
The Obama administration thinks poverty and disease in the far corners of the world foments hatred of America and helps terrorist groups to recruit new members. His is not the first administration to think so ( it was the heartless and cruel Republican president Bush II who started this program, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief or PEPFAR ). But if that were the case, terrorists from China, India and Bangladesh should of been bombing our cities long ago. Young men in Sudan or Ethiopia don't wake up one morning and suddenly start saying, "You know, I'm tired of living in all this misery. I bet it's America's fault. I think I'll go join Al Qaeda and go jihad on America." Why not believe Bin Laden? He said years ago that he's waging war on America because he didn't like American military forces in Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries during and after the Gulf War I. Bin Laden recruits muslims by saying, "Help me drive the Great Satan out of our holy lands." As much as reason can explain Al Qaeda's hatred for America, it's clear what motivated Bin Laden and his minions was not poverty and disease in Muslim nations, or anywhere else.
TGL's proposed spending would foist 70% of the international community's total spending on "world" health on the backs of American tax payers.
We can't afford it. Even if we could, it's not why we pay taxes.
Support the International Red Cross or other legitimate international charities. American tax money should be spent for Americans.
Friday, May 8, 2009
The Deuce and Free Speech
While some semblance of free speech still exists in this country, there are a few things I would like to get off my chest. I realize that this expression of my first amendment right might come back to haunt me should certain legislation now being "debated" be made retroactive, but frankly I am beyond the point of caring. And since I so wisely have kept any "right wing extremism" bumper stickers off my truck, I might get to enjoy my free speech just a little bit longer
hate: 1 to have strong dislike or ill will for 2 to wish to avoid.
With the full understanding that hate can be self destructive and that as a Christian it is my duty to do all that I can to avoid hate, I still hate the following people and things. May God have mercy on my soul.
Political Correctness: if you don't like what I say, that's cool. Wow me with your logic and reason and attempt to change my mind. But if you attempt to shout me down, or threaten me with violence, or otherwise deny my right to speak, or smear my reputation, or demand that my employer fire me , or deny me a job or promotion or scholarship because you don't like what I say...then I hate you. I hate you because you have no respect for the 1st amendment to our Constitution. You know, the amendment meant to protect that speech that most needs protection...speech that angers or offends someone else.
Do you remember when those that opposed your views would say, "I disagree with what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it?" You don't hear that much anymore, do you? I HATE anyone who believes in, practices or condones political correctness. Burn in Hell.
Politicians: I don't necessarily mean elected representatives. I mean professional politicians...like Arlen Spector, D-PA. Mr. Spector recently changed political parties, from Republican to Democrat, because he knew he would lose his next Republican primary. His goal? To remain a U.S. Senator of course. His beliefs didn't matter, only the latest polls coming out of Pennsylvania. He said he changed parties because the Republican party had moved too far to the right, never mind that the Republican party as represented by Washington, has never been more liberal than it is right now, hence the current "listening tour" of such staunch conservative Republicans as John McCain and Jeb Bush.
Rep. John Murtha, D-PA, is another example. Himself a former Marine, he was more than willing to support the "war is lost" contingent of the Democratic party when he proclaimed some Marines to be guilty of war crimes in the Haditha firefight. News of the shootout was barely a week out when Murtha very publicly announced that his fellow Marines were murderers. Quick to believe Iraqi "civilians" and to discount early Marine accounts, Rep. Murtha rushed to abandon the Marine motto, Semper Fi ( always faithful ) and hang his fellow Marines out to dry. Since Murtha trumpeted their guilt, ALL of the Marines charged and tried in Courts Martial have been found not guilty. Oh, and since then Rep. Murtha had stated his willingness to house Gitmo detainees in his western Pennsylvania district since they are of little to no threat to his constituents. So quick to damn his fellow Marines, so ready to excuse the cut throats in Gitmo.
It appears to me that about 90% of the current crop of senators and representatives are more than willing to sell out their true beliefs, as long as it will get them re-elected. They're cynics and cowards. They hold that you can't do anything if you don't get elected. They are not leaders...they are simply professional politicians. In short, they're scum, willing to say anything and vote for any legislation that will keep them in power. They're treated like princes and they just can't stand to give that up. I HATE you. Burn in Hell.
Liars, Prevaricators and Dissemblers: Bill Clinton was the champion of this group until he was surpassed by Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, D-CA. When being questioned by a U.S. Attorney in connection with the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Slick Willy had the balls to say, under oath, "Well, that depends on what the definition of is, is." Remember, he "did not have sexual relations with that woman, Monica Lewinsky." No, he didn't have sex with her, he only got a few blow jobs in the oval office...on the people's dime no less. I don't know about you, but I don't expect the leader of my country to be enjoying hummers during working hours in the oval office.
But now we have Ms. Pelosi, who swears she was not informed prior to the fact that "enhanced interrogation techniques" were being used by American interrogators on high value Al-Qaida detainees...the techniques she now calls torture. Did she raise hell about the "torture" when she was briefed about it in 2002? No. Did she raise any objection to the "torture" at all? Apparently not. But now, now that a fellow Democrat is in the White House, she's all in favor of investigating and indicting Republican officials who played a role in determining that the enhanced interrogation techniques were legal. The lying bitch. Worse than Spector. I HATE you. Burn in Hell.
Media Toadies: the press is supposed to be non-partisan and unbiased. Perhaps I'm naive in believing that they ever were, but now it is all too apparent that they are not. However you care to measure it, the press is truly in the bag for President Obama and his socialist agenda. It was readily apparent during the campaign and it is just as obvious now. From high level meetings at MSNBC to determine if the network was too supportive of Obama ( gee, ya think?), to their approving fascination with the First Lady's fashion, to the President's recent lunch at a D.C. burger joint where he showed "his common touch" by deigning to eat in a public restaurant. Never mind the positive focus on Obama's most recent announcement that he was proposing $17 billion in cuts to the upcoming budget for fiscal 2010, despite the fact that such a "cut" represented less than one half of one percent of his truly mind blowing $3.4 trillion budget, which got nary a comment. Nationalizing America's financial sector? No problem. Firing the CEO of GM, a private company, no problem. Chumming it up with banana republic dictator Hugo Chavez? No problem. Not caring that a handful of cabinet appointees are tax cheats? No problem.
As far as the toadies in the media are concerned, if it's Obama, it's All Righta! I HATE you. Burn in Hell.
Steroid Cheating Athletes: Cheating is cheating you punks. You want to sell your souls for temporary fame and fortune, go ahead. When you take the fifth at congressional hearings you've just admitted your own guilt and broken the heart of every baseball fan. Like you care. No Hall of Fame for you! Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, I'm talking about you.
Hollywood Commies: If you can visit Cuba and Venezuela and think you've just seen the apex of human society...you're as dumb as the media toadies. Sean Penn, I'm talking about you. And while I'm at it, Jane Fonda, I haven't forgotten your treason either.
Islamic Jihadists: I want all of you to blow yourselves up. Your 72 virgins are breathlessly waiting for you. Who am I to delay you? Don't bother with the whole training and insertion crap...just push the button as soon as you have the vest on or as soon as you get in the truck. You ignorant savages. Just die. As long as you're alive you're just waisting air that could be better used burning the gas in my truck.
The Eco Insane: What happened to Global Warming? Why are you now calling it all Climate Change? Do you know the difference between climate and weather? Ever heard of the Ice Ages? Ever heard of sun spots and their effect on our climate? Do you realize that any change in the global climate over the last ten years is statistically insignificant? Do you realize that any changes in global weather over the last ten years can hardly be called climate change? Do you realize that the word climate denotes hundreds if not thousands of years of weather? Do you realize that you're morons?
Yes, I hate. So sue me. Oh yeah, I hate lawyers too.
Enjoy your free speech while you can. Even you that I hate.
hate: 1 to have strong dislike or ill will for 2 to wish to avoid.
With the full understanding that hate can be self destructive and that as a Christian it is my duty to do all that I can to avoid hate, I still hate the following people and things. May God have mercy on my soul.
Political Correctness: if you don't like what I say, that's cool. Wow me with your logic and reason and attempt to change my mind. But if you attempt to shout me down, or threaten me with violence, or otherwise deny my right to speak, or smear my reputation, or demand that my employer fire me , or deny me a job or promotion or scholarship because you don't like what I say...then I hate you. I hate you because you have no respect for the 1st amendment to our Constitution. You know, the amendment meant to protect that speech that most needs protection...speech that angers or offends someone else.
Do you remember when those that opposed your views would say, "I disagree with what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it?" You don't hear that much anymore, do you? I HATE anyone who believes in, practices or condones political correctness. Burn in Hell.
Politicians: I don't necessarily mean elected representatives. I mean professional politicians...like Arlen Spector, D-PA. Mr. Spector recently changed political parties, from Republican to Democrat, because he knew he would lose his next Republican primary. His goal? To remain a U.S. Senator of course. His beliefs didn't matter, only the latest polls coming out of Pennsylvania. He said he changed parties because the Republican party had moved too far to the right, never mind that the Republican party as represented by Washington, has never been more liberal than it is right now, hence the current "listening tour" of such staunch conservative Republicans as John McCain and Jeb Bush.
Rep. John Murtha, D-PA, is another example. Himself a former Marine, he was more than willing to support the "war is lost" contingent of the Democratic party when he proclaimed some Marines to be guilty of war crimes in the Haditha firefight. News of the shootout was barely a week out when Murtha very publicly announced that his fellow Marines were murderers. Quick to believe Iraqi "civilians" and to discount early Marine accounts, Rep. Murtha rushed to abandon the Marine motto, Semper Fi ( always faithful ) and hang his fellow Marines out to dry. Since Murtha trumpeted their guilt, ALL of the Marines charged and tried in Courts Martial have been found not guilty. Oh, and since then Rep. Murtha had stated his willingness to house Gitmo detainees in his western Pennsylvania district since they are of little to no threat to his constituents. So quick to damn his fellow Marines, so ready to excuse the cut throats in Gitmo.
It appears to me that about 90% of the current crop of senators and representatives are more than willing to sell out their true beliefs, as long as it will get them re-elected. They're cynics and cowards. They hold that you can't do anything if you don't get elected. They are not leaders...they are simply professional politicians. In short, they're scum, willing to say anything and vote for any legislation that will keep them in power. They're treated like princes and they just can't stand to give that up. I HATE you. Burn in Hell.
Liars, Prevaricators and Dissemblers: Bill Clinton was the champion of this group until he was surpassed by Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, D-CA. When being questioned by a U.S. Attorney in connection with the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Slick Willy had the balls to say, under oath, "Well, that depends on what the definition of is, is." Remember, he "did not have sexual relations with that woman, Monica Lewinsky." No, he didn't have sex with her, he only got a few blow jobs in the oval office...on the people's dime no less. I don't know about you, but I don't expect the leader of my country to be enjoying hummers during working hours in the oval office.
But now we have Ms. Pelosi, who swears she was not informed prior to the fact that "enhanced interrogation techniques" were being used by American interrogators on high value Al-Qaida detainees...the techniques she now calls torture. Did she raise hell about the "torture" when she was briefed about it in 2002? No. Did she raise any objection to the "torture" at all? Apparently not. But now, now that a fellow Democrat is in the White House, she's all in favor of investigating and indicting Republican officials who played a role in determining that the enhanced interrogation techniques were legal. The lying bitch. Worse than Spector. I HATE you. Burn in Hell.
Media Toadies: the press is supposed to be non-partisan and unbiased. Perhaps I'm naive in believing that they ever were, but now it is all too apparent that they are not. However you care to measure it, the press is truly in the bag for President Obama and his socialist agenda. It was readily apparent during the campaign and it is just as obvious now. From high level meetings at MSNBC to determine if the network was too supportive of Obama ( gee, ya think?), to their approving fascination with the First Lady's fashion, to the President's recent lunch at a D.C. burger joint where he showed "his common touch" by deigning to eat in a public restaurant. Never mind the positive focus on Obama's most recent announcement that he was proposing $17 billion in cuts to the upcoming budget for fiscal 2010, despite the fact that such a "cut" represented less than one half of one percent of his truly mind blowing $3.4 trillion budget, which got nary a comment. Nationalizing America's financial sector? No problem. Firing the CEO of GM, a private company, no problem. Chumming it up with banana republic dictator Hugo Chavez? No problem. Not caring that a handful of cabinet appointees are tax cheats? No problem.
As far as the toadies in the media are concerned, if it's Obama, it's All Righta! I HATE you. Burn in Hell.
Steroid Cheating Athletes: Cheating is cheating you punks. You want to sell your souls for temporary fame and fortune, go ahead. When you take the fifth at congressional hearings you've just admitted your own guilt and broken the heart of every baseball fan. Like you care. No Hall of Fame for you! Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, I'm talking about you.
Hollywood Commies: If you can visit Cuba and Venezuela and think you've just seen the apex of human society...you're as dumb as the media toadies. Sean Penn, I'm talking about you. And while I'm at it, Jane Fonda, I haven't forgotten your treason either.
Islamic Jihadists: I want all of you to blow yourselves up. Your 72 virgins are breathlessly waiting for you. Who am I to delay you? Don't bother with the whole training and insertion crap...just push the button as soon as you have the vest on or as soon as you get in the truck. You ignorant savages. Just die. As long as you're alive you're just waisting air that could be better used burning the gas in my truck.
The Eco Insane: What happened to Global Warming? Why are you now calling it all Climate Change? Do you know the difference between climate and weather? Ever heard of the Ice Ages? Ever heard of sun spots and their effect on our climate? Do you realize that any change in the global climate over the last ten years is statistically insignificant? Do you realize that any changes in global weather over the last ten years can hardly be called climate change? Do you realize that the word climate denotes hundreds if not thousands of years of weather? Do you realize that you're morons?
Yes, I hate. So sue me. Oh yeah, I hate lawyers too.
Enjoy your free speech while you can. Even you that I hate.
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