Good morning Boys and Girls.

Here in the U.S. tonight is State of the Union night.

Once each year our president is constitutionally mandated to come before a joint session of congress, and bring everyone up to date on the way he sees things.

I expect a rosy speech filled with blue sky and cotton candy covered in thickly poured maple-syrup metaphors all delivered in that patented squinty-eyed smugness and clipped speech pattern meant to convey the confident assurance he has in the meaningless tripe he'll spew for an hour or so.

Let me save you the trouble. President Bush will say the following:

We're making progress in Iraq. Stay the course. We regret people die. Oh well. Most aren't Americans and they're kind of a light brown.

The economy is doing just great. Everyone who works hard is doing great. Couldn't be better.

I have the right to do anything I want. Fuck the law. If I say it's legal? it's legal. See how confident I am when I say this? That's your proof.

Judge Alito was confirmed earlier today. Yippee. (unsaid)

North Korea and Iran... (skip)

Hamas. Hmmm. hey that's funny. HMMMMMaaSSS... heh heh... get it?

Katrina, Wilma... beyond my control. Did what we could.... We regret some white people died too. Oh well.

Initiatives:

Government partnership with Walmart for job training program whereby people are offered retail store employment experience (for years if they want) and they are paid for the privilege. Walmart will be exempt from minimum wage laws for this program. All current employees are "requested" to sign up as well.

IRS partnership with Exxon to learn profitability concepts. ("Exxon makes $1060.00 per second... now that's money management.")

Bounty system for turning in neighbors or acquaintances with light brown skin if they're seen using a phone.

Summery:

Half-truth, lie, deception, smile, snicker, stumble, pause a while. Half-truth, lie, deception, smile, snicker, stumble, pause a while. Half-truth, lie, deception, smile, snicker, stumble, pause a while. Half-truth, lie, deception, smile, snicker, stumble, pause a while.

Good morning Boys and Girls!

I've been trying to think of another song melody to use for todays little deal-ie, but damn if I can think of another that works so easily and that everyone knows, so here we...

GO! dut dut, dah dah dah,
doot dut dut, dah dah dah

as always then, to the tune and rhythm of "my Favorite things."

doot dut dut, dah dah dah
doot dut dut, dah dah dah

(I saunter out to the middle of the stage, coffee mug in one hand,
cigarette and the mike in my other... the boys in the band are doing a jazzy little thing softly as I wave at the crowd, who applaud politely, if unenthusiastically. I wink at Pete on the drums and he gives me my cue...)

doot dut dut, dah dah dah
doot dut dut, d-dah d-dah d-dah

(on the second d-dah, I flip the mike in the air, spin once, gracefully catch it on the third without spilling even a single drop of my "coffee" -and I start to sing on the downbeat, arm extended and grinning foolishly...)

Good morning, Blog-gers
let's feed our obsession
Let's read our friend's blogs
- hear their confessions

Maybe today we'll start to understand
all of the changes here in tBlog land

doot dut dut, dah dah dah
doot dut dut, dah dah dah

Some folks have loved them
and some folks have screamed
one in par-tic-u-lar
thinks she got reamed

Rocky and Nick - did what they thought they should
and they got it up quickly - as fast as they cooouuuld

(chorus)

Now it's work-ing
for the most part
as the bugs are trapped
Event-u-ally, this site'll be great
as spam and the porn - get zapped

doot dut dut, dah dah dah
doot dut dut, dah dah dah

Now, I hope the comments
will work as they used to
where the replies we make
are sent t'those, we re-ply to

I miss the pod-cast icons in my posts
for me those two things are what I miss the mostttt!

(chorus)

And I can't post
from - sa-fa-ri
I'm not sure just whyyy
Maybe it's something that I'm doing wrong
I guess I just shrug - and sighhhhhh!

(I look over to Pete and hold my hand out, palm down, signaling him to ease the tempo down to half speed as we work into the last verse. I take a swig of coffee as he makes the transition...)

doot... dut... dut..., dah... dah... dah...
doot... dut... dut..., dah... dah... dah...

Well I hope this song
is not seen as bitch-ing
It's just, to have things
back on track, I am itching

I love read-ing all the blogs that I can
And writing my own proves there's no free speech bannnnn

I say "write it!"
never hold back
get your thoughts - out there!
start punching keys till you've expressed your-selffff
and laid your whole soul, out barrrrrrre




Thanks folks! Don't forget to tip the waitress, and remember?

Be good to everyone!

Good morning Boys and Girls...

7:54 a.m. T-minus 60:00 to post, have another cup of coffee, shower and walk out the door.

Given a lot of thought to the "comment" war of a couple of days ago after the post in which I tried to make the point that, in my opinion at least, the religious right is callously used by the Republican party as a means to gain and stay in power by pandering to the hot button issues for that group of folks.

It, of course, quickly degenerated into a debate over the "a" word, which, as graceshaker tried to point out, correctly, tends to be fruitless since there are people who see the light, as the anti-"a-word" people do and then there are the rest of us who presumably hate babies and eat them as appetizers with cheese whiz. (Kidding... don't jump on me.)

T minus 52:37

I simply wonder this:

The GOP has control of all three branches of government, right? Other than making noise, in the last five years, what have they done for the religious right? I hear all kinds of things bandied about, and true, the Alito nomination may eventually lead to overturning Roe, but even that's not a lock. Other than spending the country into long term hock, with unprecedented special interest riders that further threaten our nation's environment and line the pockets of huge corporations, tell me, how are you (the religious right that pushed them over the top) better off?

Haven't you been scammed?

They don't care about "you." They never have and they never will. You were a means to an end.

You have access to the powers, I see that. But I don't see any tangible signs of making the country more "Christian Right" friendly. Hell, every other day I read or hear a bunch of "you" whining about how the country is going to hell in a hand-basket.

Oh... waaait a minute.

It's the activist judges.

Sorry.

My bad.

I forgot.

Still have to wait to get a slate of Federal Judges who leave their brains at the door and replace their law libraries, case precedents and critical thinking skills with the NIV Bible - or the King James Version if they're really "old school."

Well, in the end? Maybe that'll happen.

When it does? Where to go... Hmmm. I'd been thinking Canada...

Anyway... someplace where I can help start a new country called:

The United States of America.

I have a slogan and everything - even a ready made constitution. Gonna nickname it, "The Land of the Free."

Thought we'd emulate a wonderful 235 year experiment in representative democracy that failed when some people decided to ignore the precept that there MUST be a separation between church and state and we ended up living in a cross between "1984" and "The Handmaid's Tale."

T minus 16:40


Be good to everyone!

Good morning Boys and Girls.

Well, seems like I upset the apple-cart a bit yesterday.

Sorry.

How Kingmakers make controllable Kings

Just said what I think,
hell, said what I know...
This is the strategy
of how they make "their" base grow

The folks pulling strings
are proud of their ploys
"We simply can't lose,
if we make enough noise."

"We'll get all these folks
fired up, get'em talking
Schedule some marches
shoot pics of them walking..."

"There's gay rights, abortion
what else makes them mad?
Between-'em there' still
the best two that we've had"

"Now, flag-burning's good
and there's praying in schools...
Think they'll catch on
we just use'em as tools?"

"We run on this crap
cuz it gets out the vote,
but then govern as usual
and screw these same folks."

"We're really just here
to get richer and richer
and this guy in the White House?
He's a dumb little pisher.

"But he jumps when we call him,
He's been a good boarder.
He knows how to thank us,
and he follows our orders."

"This war's been just great,
we clear million's an hour!
Plus it's us against rag-heads.
That plot never sours."

"We can milk this for years.
Hell, maybe two more elections
Just thinking about it
gives us big ole' erections..."

"These poor foolish sops
Think we play on the level
It don't cross their minds none
that they're tools of us devils."

"Screw-'em, I say,
Let 'em think, let-'em wait.
By the time they get wise?
It'll be wayyyy too late."

Be good to all breathing people. (God'll take care of the rest.) 

Jesus Reporting.

This is about surrogate. And it's so condensed that it may not make sense, but maybe it will explain his strong feelings about the Terry Schaivo case.

When surrogate and his wife moved into their family's home in Michigan, the first day they were settled in, he and his wife came home from work to new flowers planted along the front porch and a hot dinner waiting for them sitting, wrapped carefully along with a card, next to their front door welcoming them to the neighborhood.

As the years went on, the neighbors who'd shown this initial kindness became very important people to surrogate and his wife.

At the time, Mr. and Mrs. Simpson were in their mid seventies. They had no children, but adopted, in spirit, not only nieces and nephews, but quite a few of the kids in the neighborhood.

By the time Mrs. Simpson died in 1987, for surrogate and his wife, it felt like they were losing a member of the family.

After surrogate's divorce, he and his son occupied the family home. surrogate continued to visit Mr. Simpson daily, joining him at his dining room table which for years had been Mr. Simpson's watch post for keeping an eye on the neighborhood, gleaning more information than one would have thought possible just from his constant vigil, which he loved to share.

"The Clarks got a new dishwasher today. I figured they would be getting something new soon, the repairman's been there twice in the last week."

"Larry started a new shift. He always left at exactly 8:30, but now he's home till after noon."

Never gossip, really, just informational tidbits that kept him in touch with the world he knew. And it was Mr. Simpson that kept surrogate from going any crazier than he did after his divorce. But Mr. Simpson was failing. He'd fallen a time or two, and he almost started a fire with one of his 80 daily cigarettes. At 91 years old, he figured he was entitled to his single vice. His smokes, and his home. He hated doctors almost as much as he hated the idea of not dying at home.

On a beautiful crisp Thanksgiving morning in 2001, surrogate walked the mile or so to Mr. Simpson's house, surrogate and his son having moved a few months earlier into an apartment. surrogate let himself into the house and found that Mr. Simpson wasn't up yet so he busied himself doing up some dishes, and straightening up and then sat watching parades on T.V. waiting for Mr. S. to wake up.

At about 11:00 a.m. surrogate walked into Mr. S's. bedroom and discovered him lying in his bed looking like he'd been shot, drying blood covering his whole face and pillow.

He'd fallen in the night on his way to the bathroom. A deep gash ran from his forehead to his chin, just missing his eye. surrogate never did figure out what he hit his head on and Mr. Simpson couldn't say, but surrogate knew something had to change.

Six weeks after Mr. S. moved in with surrogate and his son, he became completely bedridden. For the next thirteen months he slowly declined. Doctors actually made house calls and hospice stopped by to say it was too early yet for them to be involved but gave invaluable advice to surrogate on ways to keep Mr. S. comfortable.

That year was in some ways a wonderful experience for surrogate and his son. Mr. S. loved being there and actually quit smoking about three months into his stay after succumbing to the chastising of just about everyone who came to see him. surrogate used to tease him that he looked silly smoking in the hospital bed anyway.

But he was slowly fading. His ever-present smile was still there most days, but his enthusiasm for telling stories and joking slowly disappeared till by the next Thanksgiving, he was a shadow of himself.

Christmas day he ate a little dinner, but not much. He just didn't want to eat.  New Years Day 2003, Mr. S. stopped eating altogether. He'd had it. He'd smile and shake his head. His voice was by now, nonexistent too. surrogate would try to at least give Mr. S. water and keep him hydrated by using little chips of ice on his lips, and then try to sneak them into his mouth.

The last real reaction surrogate got out of Mr. S was a sly smile and a shake of the head after one of these ice chip insertion ploys.

surrogate called hospice again. They were wonderful. They came and said that yes, he was going and that it was quite normal for people who are shutting down to discontinue taking nourishment before they die.

Two days later, January 9, 2003, Mr. S. died. He was 93 years old and he was loved.

Death is simply part of life.