# 12

Baby boy Sept 29 - at 8 lbs. 12 oz.
Name to be decided, or TBD for now. 

Rites

Cannot stomach Mitt Romney but do like running mate Paul Ryan.  Not because I know whether or not Ryan is a good man or suitable for vice president.  But because he physically reminds me of my first love, also a Catholic boy who treated a woman in public with the reverence of Mary Madonna, and in the bedroom like Madonna the singer.  

But, what are the options anymore?  Phony liberalism or phony conservatism?  The last time I held my nose and voted was election 2004.  Didn’t do any good, somehow we still had 4 more years of Bush.  I suppose we can be grateful we didn’t get Jeb Bush after Dubya.  

In 2008 I didn’t even bother to vote.  First time in my life, it just seemed such a game, all image and no substance.  However, I would have voted for McCain had he not chosen Sarah Palin.  Sarah was initially, briefly interesting to listen to but she couldn’t hold serious attention any longer than a one hit wonder personality.  She proved early in the game she was going for media darling rather than a woman of substance; unable to finish out her governorship in Alaska as she chased book deals, speaking tours, reality shows, the occasionally  talking head opinionater on Fox News.  Yeeshish.  

I can just hear those naysayers saying I'm judging Ryan exactly on image rather than substance, that I am doing exactly what I detest others for doing, blah blah blah.  That's the point, all pols are image and no substance.  But I respect your faith in the religion of voting - I too used to attend the Church of Chads.  

Those around me no longer tell me if I don’t vote I can’t complain – because the truth is – that bumper sticker fallacy is obvious - if you DO vote, you can’t complain.  You vote, you asked for it, you signal your acceptance of the status quo.  I no longer participate in your voting rites. 

Love Me Like a Song

Kimmie Rhodes/Willie Nelson

Photo hOPe

Obama, Clinton, Bush DMZ. 

Incidents

U.S. sergeant kills 16 in Afghanistan.  The kind of story that makes decent people cringe. Another body blow to a servile and battered U.S. public which has no control over its leaders.

I also cringe because I know particular net-rooters will jump on the conspiracy theories with claims of "government cover-up."  The "official story keeps changing."  "Lone gunman."  The Manchurian candidate.  Mainstream and alternative media headlines are predictable. 

The perpetrator is said to be a 38-year-old married father of 2, with 11 years in the military, status post 3 tours of Iraq, and in Afghanistan since last December.   Although with 11 years the sergeant has probably re-upped at least twice and knew what he was signing up for.  Many will blame PTSD.  Some say it's payback for the soldiers murdered after the Koran burning.  Some will blame the military for not detecting the monster among them, or for making the monster.   

Journalists and talking heads will pant like dogs to interview anyone even remotely connected to the victims and/or the perpetrator.  TV physicians will tell us the mental state of the perpetrator, that all concerned will need counseling.  Everyone steps up to their soapbox with solutions.  There will be calls for this and for that by pols and social experts, and a lot of noisy panelists.  John Q. Troll will spend hours in the forum arguing or collecting followers until the next topic appears on the screen.  Please donate to keep this alive, and sign a petition to end this or start that. 

And while some folks use the incident for their particular political agenda or belief, nothing will change in the grand scheme of things.  It will be another horrific incident in a world of horrific incidents.  The PTB will "end the war" when they want to end the war.  More books will be written and movies made to entertain the public and enrich Hollywooders who care only for image and money but often believe their own PR is truth and not scripted.  In the end credit and blame, mostly credit, will be doled out to dirty politicians and  worthless personalities. 

I'm so glad spring is here. I can put real manure to good use.

This is Serious Business

The "alternative" sites still passing off rumor and imagination as news.  The US is amassing troops on a couple of "strategic" islands, one being Socotra, between Yemen and the Horn of Africa.  To attack Iran.  Google search for information brings up the usual suspects, Godlike Productions, Above Top Secret, Prison Planet, WRH, etc. etc.  I will credit WRH prefacing with "if this turns out to be true" before the crapolla.  The story seems to have initiated from Debka.

Debka is known for pulling "the attack on Iran" neocon-based dream out of thin air.  Folks need to deprogram their minds (and money) from left/right and in-between rumor mills - the sites peddle more bogus stories than even mainstream media.   

According to Debka "Since 2010, the US has been quietly building giant air force and naval bases on Socotra ."  How does one quietly build giant air force and naval bases, in secret?  They don't, it's not happening.  The only truth in the piece is that the ships deployed to the ME, which is what ships do. 

According to Mac Slavo at infowars.com "Make no mistake: this is serious business. They will kill as many as is needed (on our side and theirs) in order to push the agenda forward."  The "agenda" being ?  Oil? And where is Iraq's oil going? To China according to T. Pickens Boone.  Told you, years ago, China the biggest factory on the global plantation needs that oil.  No reason to think Iran's oil wouldn't go there too.  Make no mistake about it.  But Iran already fuels the dragon so... 

...so, tell me again, what's the agenda? Oh oh oh I remember, it's the New World Order oppression agenda, designed by "financiers, politicians and influencers."  Those global ruling illuminati Masonic lizards with secret handshakes and hidden symbols everywhere. 

First Time 1972

Robert Flack
(When this hairdo was popular we used to say "rock my stuff with my afro puffs.)

Rush & Fluke

Georgetown University officials have released a statement defending law student Sandra Fluke, calling Rush Limbaugh’s attacks “misogynistic” and Fluke “a model of civil discourse.” And President Obama has called to thank her for “speaking out about the concerns of American women,” according to Fluke.

The Georgetown law student derided as a “slut” and “prostitute” by Rush Limbaugh for her support of women’s access to birth control spoke out against the conservative talk show host Friday morning.

Appearing on NBC’s “Today,” Sandra Fluke said she was “stunned” and “outraged” by Limbaugh’s comments, which she deemed “an attempt to silence me, to silence all of us from speaking about the healthcare we need.”

----- Waa waa waa. No more than the usual Limbaugh "attempt" to manufacture attention for himself and ratings. Nothing more than the usual political sideshow so we the little people are not mentally challenged to think too long about other things, such as political corruption, political greed, collapse of the empire, etc. Note, Nancy Pelosi got in on the "act" by arranging a "hearing" so Ms. Fluke could give her speech. Then Obama thanked Fluke for speaking out ... and now I too kill time porking this non-story with a story.

At Pelosi's hearing, Fluke testified her fellow students at Georgetown, a Jesuit university, pay as much as $1,000 a year for birth control. Wanna know how much a baby will cost per year?

Putting OxyContin Rush aside for a moment, how real is Fluke? Is she just another advocate/activist who in 10 years or so will hold a government position with perks and power or maybe a lobbyist? A future Hillary on the Hill? A present or future recipient of a govmint grant to write/research scholarly on domestic violence and the horrendous plight of American women today? Oh, if only I could find a worthy cause someone would fund me to bellow creatively about.

In Fluke's own words from the written transcript, "Georgetown does not cover contraceptives in its student insurance, although it does cover contraceptives for faculty and staff." She goes on to say that her fellow students have told her they have to go without contraception because it is not covered by insurance. Seriously. Grown-ass educated women going without contraception because someone else isn't paying for it?

How did women of my generation survive womanhood without Big Daddy government mandating birth control coverage? Wanna know when "the pill" went from about $2.25 a pill pack to the current $60? It happened when government launched health care with Medicaid, Medicare, funding clinics, health departments, etc. Anytime Big Daddy picks up the tab the costs soar and quality sinks, because it's a gravy train, and Big Pharma, Big Insurance, and Dr. Quacker are more than happy to ride the rising cost train if taxpayers are pulling it.

Assuming Ms. Fluke's friends and acquaintances are smart enough to be at Georgetown (BTW my youngest daughter was just accepted there, proud momma) are they not smart enough to find a way to manage their own contraceptive options?

Fluke says "A friend of mine, for example, has polycystic ovarian syndrome and has to take prescription birth control to stop cysts from growing on her ovaries. Her prescription is technically covered by Georgetown insurance because it’s not intended to prevent pregnancy. " But she must have 2 friends with PCOS because she also is quoted in other articles as having a "friend who lost an ovary" because birth control was not accessible. Maybe she has several friends with bad ovaries.

I haven't listened to Limbaugh's program, and right-wingish or not, Limbaugh may have a grain of truth in his latest rant that the mainstream and alternative media tell us is newsworthy.

The classic triad in PCOS is chronic anovulation, hirsutism, and obesity. PCOS is most often found in younger, overweight or obese women, often accompanied by diabetes or prediabetes, and promiscuity, yes promiscuity. I suppose PCOS does prove that even hairy fat women have lots of sex. So, even though I cringe at the word "slut" cone-head Limbaugh may have a point.

Medical professionals will say "Although a great deal is now known about polycystic ovary syndrome, the exact cause has yet to be determined." And then go on to say that it may be genetic or probably inherited. May be or probably. Hmm. Have you noticed that medically, in the last 50-70 years or so, much has become "genetic?" Even when there is no evidence to support the genetic theory?

When PCOS was first discovered in 1935 it was considered a rare reproductive disorder. Today, it's the most common female plumbing disorder, often resulting in infertility. So what caused this "rare" disorder to become the "most common?" Has female sexual behavior changed? Could be, could be. I mean, in 1935 the majority of women had a decent BMI, healthier diet and exercise, and were more selectively cautious when choosing sexual partners. If the medical profession today had an ounce of decency they would be honest about the destruction women are reaping with their "sexual freedom." Do you think men created feminine virtue just to keep us oppressed? Could it be that somewhere on the ladder of evolution mankind realized that limiting sexual partners was healthier for mind, body, and soul?

But why "cure" something with lifestyle changes when a syndrome can be "treated" for years and is maybe probably genetic, therefore out of your control.

As for Limbaugh and Fluke, I don't who is phonier, gasbag or professional activist. Both blow hard without any common sense.

Cogwheeling

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul warned the U.S. is "slipping into a fascist system" dominated by government and businesses as he held a fiery rally Saturday night upstaging established Republican Party banquets a short distance away.

------- Ah yes, Ron-R, the hamster wheeling candidate, who at 77 would be older than even Ronald Reagan who took office at age 72. Paul thinks we're slipping into fascism. Last time I checked, fascism was "an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization." Right-wing, you know, a Republican label.

Remember the "14 points of fascism" that was blogged around so much under Bush the Frat Boy president, let me break those down for Dr. Paul:

1. Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism.
2. Disdain for the importance of human rights.
3. Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause.
4. The supremacy of the military/avid militarism.
5. Rampant sexism.
6. A controlled mass media.
7. Obsession with national security.
8. Religion and ruling elite tied together.
9. Power of corporations protected.
10. Power of labor suppressed or eliminated.
11. Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts.
12. Obsession with crime and punishment.
13. Rampant cronyism and corruption.
14. Fraudulent elections.

Think about those. Expressions of nationalism? Down by about 75% since I was a kid growing up in rural America. We still have the anthem, flag flying and flag waving, and the really big one the Pledge of Allegiance. I can still recite it. Today, only 5 states require the Pledge of students 1-6th grades, the majority of states let students "opt out." God knows what memorization and recitation might do to a young mind. Students can also opt out of retaining information beyond a few grades but that's another subject.

Disdain for human rights (#2). Oh really, it's better than 100 years ago or even 50.

Scapegoats as a unifying cause (#3). Most folks construct scapegoats, and like the members of government there is a payoff to making the opposition the enemy, until congress is in session and they're all goats. Making foreign governments the goat works until such time as they become new BFFs (Japan, Germany, Russia, China, etc.)

Avid militarism (#4). Admit it or not, the military still has a swollen eye from Vietnam, with half the country continuing to think the troops are dumb thugs, and half of that half are too fat to consider the military as a career anyway. America will never have to worry about "avid militarism." Unless the hordes at the gate frighten the left/progressives that their lifestyle needs protection, but Noam is safe and the hordes are not allowed on his property.

Rampant sexism (generally discrimination against women)? Oh pleeeese. The worst gender discrimination is when attractive women get away with murder, abuse, molestation, infanticide, and other crimes. Wage discrimination maybe? Looking around at today's women I gotta say they're definitely proving most are not as smart as their male counterpart, for what man (in his right mind) would teeter around in stilettos, shaving places they shouldn't, and wearing a lace wedgie?

Controlled mass media, #6. That's the second oldest profession, hardly a sign of anything other than more of the same.

Obsession with national security, #7. If that were true the border would not be a sieve and there would be no "immigration" issue. If that were true we would have more than Iran on the national security shitlist, and sanctions against more than gnat size countries like Cuba and N. Korea. National security is often code for a way to funnel pork to every pol and his crony.

This one makes me laugh, #8. Religion and ruling elite tied together. The notion that religion was created by the ruling elite to control the masses is an old one. Usually spouted by the young or never-grew-ups, typically while sitting at the feet of ideological celebrities who practice cabala or Buddhism or other ohhhmmmm time religions. While I don't think religion came about as a method for the ruling class to control the masses, it has been used that way, and still is in some countries. I think most humans need or want to believe there is something bigger than self. Need or want, both exploitable.

Power of corporations protected, #9. Yes, that's gotten much worse in the last few hundred years but has always been around, ask Hudson Bay and King Charles about the fur trade. Or go back further, there are hundreds of corporations founded in the 700-1200s which are still around because their power was either the state or state protected. Maybe if we nationalize the world we'll come full circle, but instead of referring to the King, Emperor, Pharaoh, President, etc. they'll be our Mr. CEO. Today's U.S. corporate power protection racket can be laid at the feet of supposed do-gooders, creating more and more government bureaucracies to protect we the people from corporate evil-doers, who then climb in bed with said evil-doers and need more funding to continue watch-dogging the evil-doers, but not really watching. It's a "sting" perpetrated on the public by professional grifters working with one another. The pig in the poke, a 3 card Monte, the Spanish prisoner, - you're promised good bureaucratic results down the road, so are your children, then grandchildren, and on and on it grows.

Labor power #10. What can I say. Like all things that are good in the beginning, it's now corrupt. Labor leaders/organizations - more grifters squeezing money from Joe Cog, que RICO. Note too that Joe's power is suppressed and/or eliminated, today not by cruel rich bossmen, but because there's too many Cogs in the work pool. And what has Joe done to assure he's a necessary cog in the machine? Rage against it? Occupy something? Feel good when socially responsible folks like Unilever's Ben & Jerry Inc. "stand with you" Occupy folks? Out of about $200-500 million yearly revenue B&J pay a hundred or so full-time grunts a yearly wage of $27,560, and you may even earn some "Ben Bucks" which can be redeemed in the company store, where you don't go deeper in debt or owe your soul, because you have Ben Bucks.

Disdain of intellectuals and the arts, #11. Ah, yes. If someone doesn't see the artistic genius in butt whips, fecal painting, blood, and believe the smutty and perverse is edgy and exciting - well they're not artistically sophisticated. And what makes a person a public intellectual these days? Lecturing and writing? Chomsky, Paul Krugman, Naomi Klein, Kissinger. Disdain has not hurt their careers. If anything the U.S. has too many intellectuals, hopping from talk show to talk show, or getting their own show, plugging their latest scholarly work or 2 cents opinion analyzing our social, political, economic, psychological, and sexual lives. The intelligentsia natterati. Oh look, I'm being disdainful.

Obsession with crime and punishment, #12. Hmm. Is this the part where I wail and gnash about the U.S. having the most prisoners in the world, or about the black incarceration rate? I don't see the government obsessed at all about crime/punishment. The PTB could not care less - heinous violent crime seldom effects them, and they legalize the crimes they perpetrate. The obsession comes from the left/progressive, convinced that every aberrant behavior is a disease that can be treated. Not a bad bone in anybody, although personally I believe some folks are just bad to the bone. Furthermore, bad bones and/or those involved with bad bones are a big voting block, if you can get enough vans and buses to give 'em a ride to vote.

Rampant cronyism and corruption, #13. Wholeheartedly agree with that one. Not only of the ruling class, which is always corrupt to a degree, but right on down to Joe and Jane Cogsters, who think defrauding the government or big business is not really stealing because Big Brother and Mr. Big can afford it. Crony corruption rolled all the way down hill to the 'burbs, the 'hood, the trailer park.

Last but not least, #14. Fraudulent elections. How do we know they were ever honest?

There it is Mr. Ron. That scary group of words "slipping into a fascist system." I thought you were too mature for that sort of unoriginal scare tactic.

By the way, has Dennis Kucinich and Ralph Nader died? Haven't heard anything from them this election cycle.

Progress Ho

Stumbled upon this from Think Progress. "Rep. Allen West Falsely Claims China Controls The Panama Canal, Calls It A ‘Serious Threat’ To U.S." by Scott Keyes.

Keyes: During a Fort Lauderdale town hall last week, Rep. Allen West (R-FL) warned his constituents about "serious threats to our country," including Iran and Hezbollah. However, one of the examples West used repeatedly, was not just overblown; it was demonstrably untrue. Warning the crowd about the economic and national security dangers that China poses to the United States, West declared – twice – that "China is in control of the Panama Canal."

Keyes states that Chinese control of the Canal was debunked back in 2006 by the conservative NewsMax, after Hillary Clinton made the same claim of Chinese control of the Canal. Wow, ThinkProgress referencing NewsMax. Ironclad proof that we can all just get along (or is it get abong).

--- It appears the Chinese only control 2 ports, at each end of the canal. The Panamanians claim "the operation of ports is different, separate and unrelated from the Canal." And the Canal is a national treasure to Panamanians.

Never mind that controlling "both of the ports gives China strategic influence over the vital waterway." Interesting to me is slick Hillary must have made her remarks before her handlers gave her permission. After all, it was hubby Bill who handed the canal over in 1999 after a 1977 treaty between Jimmy Carter and Panama president General Omar Torrijos. What was Hillary thinking, bringing up anything about China when one of Clinton's "major achievements" was granting permanent trade status to China, second only to his NAFTA success, and numerous other Clinton-Gore chinagates during the '90s.

At the time of Hillary's remarks (2006) Hutchison-Whampoa held those ports. More recently Cheung Kong (Holdings) Limited, Beijing, now holds 49.97% of Hutchison-Whampoa. "Cheung Kong (and certain of its subsidiaries) will (through their 49.97% interest in HWL) also be deemed to have the same interest in HPH Trust as Hutchison Port Group Holdings Limited ("HPGH")." The issue managers for the initial public offering and listing of Hutchison Port Holdings Trust are DBS Bank Ltd., Deutsche Bank AG, Singapore Branch, and Goldman Sachs.

Goldman Sachs?

And then what did Goldman Sachs (AIG) do last summer? After receiving billions in bail-outs? Fired 1000 American workers and outsourced the jobs to Hong Kong. Some folks thank you Timmy Geithner, current Treasury Secretary, former president of NY Fed Reserve.

So, the comments of Allen West are not "demonstrably untrue." Port control, along with rail lines and other ongoing projects China has in Panama, could potentially be a threat to the US, economically, if not militarily. Just think outside the press box of anonymous sources and D.C. insiders.

On the other hand, both Panamanian and Chinese officials have assured us China has no control over operating the canal, they only operate a couple of ports for loading and unloading and storage, and operation of the canal rests solely with the government of Panama, which as we know, is trustworthy and stable with guys like the Arias dynasty, and defacto commandantes - Torrijos, Noriego, etc., and the current drug cartel connected el presidente Ricardo Martinelli Berrocal.

Panama, rightfully, should have their canal and give port control to whomever they want. The US can always go back to the original Canal Zone plan and build one through Nicaragua. Unless someone beats us to it.

But above all, let's hope congress and others are thinking ahead on how and where the US will ship its products (particularly grain) and upgrade our aging facilities accordingly. (Our infrastructure port facilities a whole other scary topic.)

---- In most recent "legend" news, Whitney Houston is dead at 48. I never particularly liked her music. My first thoughts were the 1980s parody of "Don't My Songs All Sound the Same" and her shrieking "kiss my ass" on the Bobby Brown squabble and dysfunction this is your brain on drugs reality show.

---- In tree hugger news, "going green" has become code for legal thievery. Ener1 has filed bankruptcy, as did Beacon and Solyndra, just 2 days after Obama referred to Ener1 in his SOTU speech: "In three years, our partnership with the private sector has already positioned America to be the world’s leading manufacturer of high-tech batteries." Ahem, we're positioned, but there's nothing private or high-tech about taxpayer bunnies bend over ankle grab battery partnership.

---- BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — No immediate discipline is planned for any Dickinson State University employees in the wake of an audit determining the school awarded hundreds of degrees to foreign students who didn't earn them, the chancellor of North Dakota's university system said Saturday.

Hmmm, the university VP has resigned, the dean shot himself dead, and the school's chancellor, a former state lawmaker, is retiring soon. The college has 127 agreements with international schools. Diploma mill. Academia's get richer quicker scheme. And you thought foreign students were smarter. At least, as far as we know, the staff isn't molesting children in the showers, on or off campus.

Conversion

Rev. C. L. Bryant, former NAACP chapter president, now Tea Party member conservative. Of course, liberal/progressives call him a fraud, the "uncle Ruckus" hustling black conservatives with liberty snake oil, the Kingfish of con. Below is part of Bryant's upcoming documentary "Runaway Slave."

Supreme

Isn't this the sorriest election cycle? Barack Obama versus Mitt Newtered. If I voted republican I would have to choose Gingrich over Mitt. On the other hand, Mitt is more comparable to Obama, as it seems the general public prefers girlie-men these days and Mitt and Barry, equally and constantly aware of themselves, posturing and posing as if a hair might fall out of place or a collar wrinkle - makes them more presidential.

Newt has the look of a bloated aging philandering perv and that's unappealing - voters do respond to looks (remember JFK and RMN). But then again, Newt's moral skeletons from the past align more with Joe Sixpack's closet of bones - and often times folks choose that which is more like themselves.

Still, the public gets excited over the guy or gal who appears physically and personally damn near perfect, so the appearance that Mitt and Barry have nary a sexcapade in their past (and every hair and pore in place) ... makes them more electable I suppose.

I remember when the party challenged the incumbent. I.e. Ted Kennedy against Jimmy Carter in 1980 primaries. We don't seem to do that anymore. Unless you consider Obama's challengers as serious contenders. Democratic runners for 2012 are Darcy Richardson (even his name is girlie). There's Vermin Supreme (see above photo), performance artist and perennial candidate from Massachusetts who indeed looks verminish. Randall Perry, pro-lifer who plans to run ads with aborted fetuses. And a Tennessee attorney, John Wolfe, Jr., who claims he represents the 99%, although he owes a $10,000 fine in TN which disqualifies him from any office in that state until it's paid.

Saddest thing is - there really is no choice. It's still twiddle vermin and twiddle varmint, placed in office by those who handle the votes (all the way to the lake, the river, the swamp, the mineshaft, the fire pit).

"Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything." (Stalin, supposedly.)

Proof

All black folks can sing. (Not really, I have a grandchild with a voice that will make babies cry, dogs howl, and empty out a room.)



On the flip side is Herman, singing Imagine.



But leave it to John Ashcroft to pen and sing his own "Let the Eagle Soar."

We're all rock stars now.