F16’s Don’t Kill People, 500 Lb. Bombs Kill People

If the Republicans are trying to get the working class vote, it might work better not to snicker and laugh at "community organising." Sure, it was a cheap shot at Obama, but the reaction from the audience with boisterous laughter summed up the Republican position on the poor and working class. As Saul Alinsky used to prove time and again, successful community organising relies on engaging the entire community and that usually would cut across party lines. He used to get bishops and labour leaders marching together. I pretty much expect that sort of idiocy from Giuliani, but I guess I wasn’t prepared for the enthusiastic audience response.

That whole chanting USA! USA! whilst waving fists and stomping feet doesn’t really project the best image either.

We live next to a wildlife area where people can hunt and fish. Yesterday was the start of dove season. Today, I let our little doggie (all nine pounds of him) out to do his thing when a truck drives up. Out hops a guy in camouflage toting a rifle. I know he was headed to the other side of the yard, but he parked directly in front of the house and well, our little dog is kind of territorial.

It’s always the little dogs that bark the loudest. I quickly brought him inside and waved to the guy and he went to the back of his truck and let out his hunting dog. Let me tell you, that big dog looked nervous. I don’t know how well the birding will go while he’s on the lookout for a vicious poodle. For a fourteen-year-old dog he still has it!

It took him under three minutes to shoot his dove and leave. I can’t understand the challenge in that-is it even worth getting into the whole uniform? Isn’t the variety of dove here basically a pigeon? I guess having never tried it I shouldn’t knock it but it does seem like quite a bit of bother for such a short hunting trip and tiny bird.

I guess pheasant season is around the corner and I can look forward to people knocking at the door wanting to shot birds in the lawn when there is a state wildlife area adjacent to the driveway. Signs everywhere-not like you could miss it.

I read THIS story about dealing with State employees and it brought back memories of getting Danny’s birth certificate. Part of the problem is that states were so quick to establish websites that they didn’t work out the kinks prior to taking them live. In our case, we applied for the birth certificate by faxing our information and then never heard from them again. I drove into Lincoln (not exactly around the corner, but we live in a big, sparsely populated state) and went to the office (after parking half a mile away and dragging a newborn in a carrier through the early January ice-covered streets) only to be told that they could not process the application because the fax wasn’t readable-however, I couldn’t just start over because it was pending. Basically, they were saying I wouldn’t ever be able to get Danny’s birth certificate processed because the paperwork was in some sort of limbo. At that point, I think I cried or something and they went in back and had one of those consultations where they drag a supervisor away from watching old episodes of Marine Boy on YouTube for five seconds and find out they can actually process the application. Fun times.

People are being preemptively arrested because they might protest at the RNC convention. Since it is getting no coverage in the mainstream media I sort of feel obligated to post links here for the three or four regular readers.

 I wish I could say I’m shocked, but I’m old enough to have seen all of this before. Unfortunately, most of our protections against this sort of thing have been so eroded that it is easier for them to get away with it now.

As an aside:

I saw two Homeland Security cars marked "Federal Protective Services" peeling out of a Dairy Queen in West Omaha yesterday. Maybe there were vegans nearby. Note to Homeland Security-there isn’t an actual Queen to protect. I’m sort of doubtful there’s much actual dairy either, but at any rate, no royalty in need of protection. Well, at least West Omaha is in safe hands.

THIS has to be one of the stupidest things I’ve heard of late. Students who wore t-shirts on the first day of school that read, "RIP" in memory of a classmate that was killed last spring, are being suspended-something like twenty three of them. The school’s argument is that it is distracting and they have grief counselors available. The ACLU’s argument is that we still have protected speech in this country and that the administrators are out of line.

I knew it would happen eventually-Danny has an imaginary friend.

Danny: We’re going to make lunch now mama.

Mama: Who are "we?"

Danny: My friend, Alice Cooper and me.

Mama:  Oh.

Which is actually kind of cool, I mean why shouldn’t your imaginary friend be Alice Cooper, you know?  

Watching the Democratic convention this evening it occurred to me that I don’t really want to hear "speak truth to power" become the campaign slogan-primarily, because the Democrats are not speaking truth to power. I’ve heard it twice so far this evening. It was absurd coming out of John Kerry’s mouth and even more ridiculous from Joe Biden’s. Talk about diluting meaning.

It’s that amnesia thing again. "Speak truth to power" has been so removed from context and turned into a marketed catchphrase that it is meaningless. So there you have it-that’s how capitalist America deals with radicalism-by turning it into a marketable commodity. Fashionable radicalism, but not enough to get you on a watch list or infiltrated by the Feds. It reminds me of a friend’s daughter who as a nine year old declared herself an anarchist as an excuse to dress only in black.

It is almost as absurd as the crowd at PBS comparing Biden to Hubert Humphrey. I never thought I’d feel sorry for Hubert Humphrey. 

In the span of seven months, 90,000 infants and children were deported to Mexico-without anyone to claim them. You can read a translation of the report HERE.

My first reaction is to think, "if people only knew about this, it would stop", but really, I know it wouldn’t. These horrors happen because the victims are not viewed as fully human. Once the media accepted and began using the term "illegal", it was a done deal. You’d get a more outraged response if cats were being abandoned at the border.

It’s the same tactic the Nazis used to justify smashing the heads of toddlers and heaping them up in the ovens. I know you’re not supposed to make comparisons with Nazis, and believe me, I don’t do it casually. This is very, very Nazi.

Sure is easy to bring out the worst in people, eh? Just make them feel threatened and pretty soon they’ll accept-hell, they’ll willingly participate in the vilest treatment of other human beings.

Remember that sinus infection and sore throat that was making me miserable? It decided to move to my lungs. I don’t know why people enjoy drugs-I’ve been taking this codeine cough syrup (that doesn’t actually do anything except let me sleep) and it really unpleasant. As I already mentioned over at the cooking blog, I’ve been dealing with pneumonia and a shortened attention span by sitting in bed sewing and watching my DVD set of old Soupy Sales episodes. Man, why didn’t Obama take Soupy Sales for a running mate? He’s from West Virginia-that would have totally taken care of the blue-collar vote that Biden was supposed to bring to the ticket. And as a bonus, he totally knows how to take a pie to the face. That’s what’s wrong with Washington-no one knows how to take a pie in the face anymore.  

I did watch a bit of the convention last night to see poor old Teddy give what will probably be his last speech. You know what’s funny? I was watching the tribute video and thinking to myself;

"Damn, this is like every goddamned documentary you see on PBS. It screams PBS documentary."

Then, I find out it was made by Ken Burns which made me laugh so hard I had to take more cough syrup. Did anyone else see it and think the same thing? And what’s up with the whole "sea" metaphor? You’d think, being a tribute to Ted Kennedy and all, you’d want to stay away from water references. Maybe people have just forgotten already.

Speaking of the collective American amnesia, they had Jimmy Carter make an appearance and he gave a lengthy interview on The News Hour. I’m not sure which was worse, listening to Carter, or the round table of pop-historians praising him as a wonderful president. I know these things are relative, and compared to the other two democratic presidents in the last forty years, maybe Carter looks good in hindsight-but come on. Carter was a terrible president. MX Missiles in Europe. Funding and training death squads in El Salvador. We all know how well his support for the Shah of Iran turned out. No, I’m not suffering from amnesia and really all I can think of when I see Jimmy Carter is what a waste his presidency was. Why don’t you go play with your nuclear submarine, Jimmy?

Bah!

I’m enjoying my little Internet breather as well. I’ve gone something like four days without reading much news and I like it so much I might just stay in bed. I wish I had some comic books. Or an Atari. You know what’s really good? Those frozen sugar-water pops in the plastic tubes. Those things are great. I’m going to go get one right now.

Soupy For President in 2012!

Just when I was weighing the psychological damage it would inflict to show Danny pictures of grossly disfigured children with the reminder;

"Their mamas told them not to touch", along comes THIS post.

My parenting style isn’t wrong, exactly…it’s antiquated. By late 60’s early 70’s standards I would be an excellent mother.

OK, I’m off to Google images of one-armed kids now.

Danny: What do naughty kids get for Christmas?

Mama: Coal. They get a lump of coal.

Danny: I don’t believe you. That isn’t true.

Mama: Of course it’s true-everyone knows naughty kids get coal for Christmas.

Danny. You’re making it up. I don’t believe you. Prove it-ask Google. 

Prevention magazine is offering advice for manipulating your friends, family and co-workers. Funny, I always thought good relationships were built by not engaging in this sort of nonsense. Being devious about it makes it that much worse.

How utterly depressing to think that every interaction you have with someone is being guided by a self-help article, buzz marketing, or daytime television talk shows. It certainly makes it difficult to take people at their word.

We always have a few boxes of powdered milk on hand because Danny likes it (lucky, I know) but I never considered painting a room with it.

Some of the other uses sound excellent as well.

Little known fact-I used to eat the stuff dry when I was a kid. I used to consider myself some sort of weirdo until I read Ake, The Years Of Childhood where Wole Soyinka talks about doing the same thing. Anyone else want to own up to dipping a finger into the powdered milk as a kid?  I mean, if it is good enough for a Nobel Laureate…

I’m glad Obama picked Biden for a running mate-he’s pretty articulate for a white guy which is good because when those wealthy white guys from the East coast get together and start yammering about tee-off times, and annuities it’s pretty hard to understand what they’re talking about with all that non-standard English. Why can’t the rest of the white people speak like Biden? They’re only hurting themselves, blathering on that way.

He must write his own speeches or something.

I was pleased to hear Katharine Whitehorn’s Cooking In A Bedsitter has been republished in a new edition by Virago. I lived in a bedsit once (briefly, until the evening the bugs appeared and I begged out of the lease) but I can’t say I cooked on a hot plate. I did have a small microwave and tiny fridge though the fridge held mostly beer. By the time I knew about Cooking In a Bedsitter I lived in a spacious town home. No matter, it makes wonderful reading and if you feel the need for a one-pot meal of tripe, this is your best guide to preparing it. Even if you don’t, the prose is amusing. The book would make a wonderful gift for any soon-to-vacate the nest children.

Some really appalling recipes are offered at the end of the article.

I’m getting the mental image of a couple making love in an igloo by the light of a soapstone lamp…and then a pizza delivery man shows up.

Bedspread with large mapleleaf on it, optional. 

Actually, I’m really thinking Pierre Bear-where Mrs. Pierre Bear squeals and giggles and claps her hands and then they get baby bear on the next page-and then a pizza delivery man shows up.

Edited to add: They also can set you up with THIS kind of ecstasy as well-you know, in case you need to tranquilise a moose or something.