'Thank You' Is Not Enough

DATELINE: WATCHING SANDY’S FALLOUT, AWESTRUCK – I am nowhere near the east coast, yet I have found myself watching what is happening there, worried about friends, acquaintances, their families, strangers... and am in awe of the men and women who, when logic says to stay inside and hunker down, are out there fighting the fires, rescuing the stranded, evacuating hospitals.

There was a storm surge of appreciation for first responders after 9-11, as there should have been. From time to time, after that, when there have been disasters of smaller magnitude, we remember them again. When we watch flag-draped coffins coming home from the Middle East, we pause for a moment, but maybe it’s time to do more than shed a tear and say thank you. In fact, there is no maybe about it.

For the past several months, we have been inundated with billions of dollars worth of election campaign ads. We have listened to the travails of the poor NHL players and team owners, as they work out multi-million dollar deals as if they are talking about chump change. How many hockey players were prepared to run into the World Trade Center, wearing full gear, knowing they had to go up every one of those steps while the building was burning, aware that the odds of coming out alive were, at best, marginal?

Last night, hospitals were evacuated under terrible conditions for everyone. Nurses, paramedics, firemen had to carry every patient out of the hospital, manually providing the breathing support or whatever else that person needed as they were lifted down many flights of stairs. This morning, in Maryland, there is a lake of raw sewage to be cleaned up – something that by itself would be a major disaster. You will not see Gary Bettman or his ilk in there helping.

Floyd Mayweather is a boxer. He earned $85 million dollars last year. What the hell did he do to earn that? Tiger Woods made $4.4M but also received $55M in endorsements last year... for walking around a field, hitting a little ball with a club. Since we are on the subject of hitting balls with sticks, ARod, #18 on the Forbes list of highest paid athletes of 2012, received $33 Million dollars... and they didn’t even make it to the Series. Yes, I do enjoy watching a baseball game. I see NOTHING done on that field that merits more payment to those men on the diamond than what the backbone of the military or the first responders receive, though.

Why are these athletes heroes? What the hell is wrong with our priorities that we place such an insane, obscene value on people who play a game, while those who pull on a uniform every day, without hesitation, then pick up a gun and stand a post to ensure the freedom and safety of the people of their country linger around the poverty line? Why the hell are these people, after dedicating their lives and their youth, and in many cases, their health, to the public good then forgotten, abandoned when they come home, because it might cost too much to give them what they need to survive?

Think about what the budget from just ONE NHL team could do to help those in need. Think about the children who could be fed. Think about the extra staff that could be hired for a hospital, or the books that could be bought for a school. What the hell does someone like Gary Bettman do for his $8M annually? Yes, sports are entertaining, but we need some fecking perspective. How does anyone justify riots in the streets because of a baseball win or a hockey loss? How does a team losing a game in any way equate to police cars being burned, buses being turned over, businesses being looted? We are this distraught over a god damned game yet we shrug when we hear of another soldier perishing while on duty.

While you watch the mudslinging this next week – and believe me, there will be billions of dollars worth of mud flying on the airwaves – or while you watch the latest update of the NHL strike, please take just one minute and think about the waste of money, the misguided values, the greed involved. Then, remember those who have died for you – who died for you without even knowing who you are, but knowing that the ideal of a free society is worth at least that, and did so knowing they would be paid barely enough to maintain a home. Remember the first responders who answered calls last night, who worked through the storm to help those who did not or could not help themselves, how they were prepared to do that for the greater good. Don’t waste your tears on missed hockey games. There are much more substantial issues, and people, to cry over.

'Sanctity of Marriage'? My ass.

DATELINE: WITH MY DICTIONARY, DEFINING HYPOCRISY:

Last night, while watching the baseball game, I was inundated… nay, assaulted, every twenty minutes by some broad telling me that it was okay to oppose gay marriage, that it did not mean I was prejudiced or a bigot, and that the 'definition of marriage' must not be changed. I was told about the ‘sanctity of marriage’ and how children do so much better in a home with a mom and a dad. I was told that marriage was about future generations. If I had a baseball bat anywhere near me, I probably would have, after the first three or four times, used it to smash the damned tv set. Thank God for remotes with mute buttons.


I have been watching this campaign for months, every time I turn on the television, open up a newspaper to read, surf the internet. For the life of me, I cannot understand what the hell the big deal is.


Marriage is many different things to many different cultures, so let’s start with the basics. By definition, marriage is a social union and/or legal contract between two people called ‘spouses’, that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged by society. 'Sanctity' means holiness, saintliness, sacred – to sanctify something is to make it legitimate, justify it, observe as holy and purified. It means one thing in a religious context, another in a legal context. There have been arranged marriages, convenient marriages, especially when looking for citizenship, and polygamous marriages. There are marriages where the ‘weaker’ partner is considered as nothing more than chattel.


In a marriage where there is an abusive partner, how does this benefit the raising of children? In a marriage where the parents are more concerned about social appearance, how does this benefit the raising of children? How about the one where the dad is an alcoholic but the mother is too scared to leave? Or the one where one of the parents brings home their latest fling? Are these nurturing environments? When dad is downing his fifth beer before supper, and mom is throwing a plate at his head, is this still a 'holy union'? When a celebrity is married for a week, what happens to the sanctity of that marriage? If a man has had a vasectomy, or one of the couple is unable to procreate, does someone forbid them from marrying? If not, the argument about the children is at best insulting, but more to the point, it is asinine. It is not the fact that there is a mother and a father in the home to raise a child that makes the difference. It is the fact that the child is raised in a nurturing environment of love.


It is disconcerting when people will hide behind quoted chapter and verse to justify their unfounded hatred. Yes, that is the word for it. If a man loves another man, or a woman loves another woman, how does that in any way impact anyone else’s marriage or the definition thereof? You can’t support a constitution that defends the separation of church and state, then turn to the state to impose laws (on others who are different than you) that are based on religious dogma. You cannot argue about freedom of religion, then demand that everyone in the land pledge allegiance to only your God. You cannot say that gay marriage is offensive and should not be allowed to happen, then claim in the same breath that you are not prejudiced.


I look at couples walking though the mall and wonder what they saw in each other… but it was not my right to tell them who they could marry. We don’t ‘pick’ love. Love is love, and is what God supposedly is about, so how can anyone who believes in God say that He would like those who have a different lifestyle to be struck down.


Getting access and familial rights to loved ones is based on social structure. If you want to be with your loved one when they are dying, you need to be able to prove you are kin. If you want information regarding an accident, you need to prove you are kin. In times of emergency, when you want those whom you love beside you, it is not the time to be denying this same right based on the fact that ‘marriage is sacred’. Yes, there is a need to protect people’s personal privacy, but there then has to be a way to allow those who love us, who commit to us, who are in every way married to us, to be able to be with us without question. Why is this something everyone, especially anyone who claims to hold God and His love in their hearts, would want to deny? The current situation is cruel… it is discriminatory, and it is wrong. It is also just one of the many rights we take for granted that are denied to gay couples… because of our hatred; our misguided, ignorant hatred, of something that is different than that we have.


Our laws and society are based, to a large degree, on the ancient Romans and Greeks. Historically, they too were opposed to same sex relationships… sort of. In both ancient societies, it was ‘wrong’ for a man to have sexual relationships with another ‘equal’ man. It was perfectly fine to have sex with a younger man/boy, with a servant, with someone who was of a lower standing than you. It was a power thing, because as long as you were the ‘screwer’, it was cool – a lot like how things are dealt with in Rome now, ain’t it. As long as you were the one wielding the power, the one with the authority, it didn’t matter who you had sex with; it was fine. It was all in the fine print of the day… sort of like how the constitution guaranteed equal rights to all ‘free’ men. Homosexuality is not a disease, it is not a perversion, and it definitely is not new, so why do we all act like it is? It's been running rampant in the Vatican for centuries.


I am not angry, but I am frustrated about this issue. I don’t see why we would want to deprive anyone of love from whatever source it comes. We need more love… we need a hell of a lot more love. Why are we so threatened about what marriage is that we have to ‘lock’ the definition on it. Our language is a living language. Words and ideologies evolve every day, so why put the shackles on something that is supposed to be 100% based on love and respect, then add absolutely unattainable ideals to that word? The concept of marriage has evolved for centuries, and for the most part each change has been for the better. I’m glad we don’t pay for wives anymore. I’m glad that marriages are no longer nothing more than an addendum to a business merger, or contingent on a monetary transaction. Love is not about skin color, religion or gender. Freedom and human rights should not be about those things either.


If marriage is so damned special, if it is so sacred, so wonderful, then why in the hell would we not want to share it with everyone? It's sad, unbelievable, that what is supposed to be a loving, intelligent society still harbors such profound, unfounded hatred.


“I promise to be true to you in good times, and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life.”


These are the vows that I took, in a Catholic Church. This is the essence of any marriage. I see no reason to deprive anyone the right to make the same vow of love.

RAPE, ROMNEY, REPUBLICANS

Rape – it’s like the new Christmas morning for women!

It’s a sad day. At times, I almost feel ‘held hostage’ by what is occurring ‘on the other side of the line’ with our neighbors, the United States, because what happens down there sets the course for what happens here, and elsewhere. I realize that is an unfair burden to lay on the shoulders of the people of that country, but such is life when you are a land known, for centuries now, to harbor dreams of a better life, a more fair and just life, to prosper, to grow. The United States has, in the past, championed human rights globally. They have been brave enough to come to the forefront, take the stand for those who cannot stand because of the thumb of oppression, and show that the dream can be a reality for anyone, anywhere. It’s an ideal, yes, but many times what the United States does, is, and accomplishes becomes the hallmark for billions of others around the world. They are the big brother who inspires, supports, and yes, helps out the struggling little sibling when needed. They are a beacon of hope for those who have none. So what the hell is happening now?

The champion for human rights, for human dignity and freedom around the world is on the precipice of destroying those rights, those freedoms for well over half of their population. The rights that they cling to, the Constitution, Amendments and now the Bible, that they clutch so close to their breasts, are showing us an alter ego to that big brother, and I have to admit, it’s damned frightening.

There are candidates in every corner of the country now, making statements about rape – stupid, insensitive, scientifically wrong statements about rape. They made these statements while hiding behind a cloak of Christianity, because apparently THEIR God says that it’s okay to brutally attack women, to torment them, torture them mentally, physically, emotionally... and that it is God’s will. They say that women should ‘make lemonade’ when they are handed the lemon of rape. Who the hell compares a capital crime to picking fruit? They spew 16th century ideals about how women should be considered, they refuse to answer questions about what they will do to provide equal pay for women, they state that because of independent single women, there is more poverty and violence – yes, the increase in the use of assault weapons is due to single parent families. How easy it is to pass the guilt on to someone else.

MY God says that we should take care of each other, respect each other, not hurt each other – a drastic difference from the God who said that it’s okay to rape a woman because I will give her a prize for participating. Here’s the real kicker though – my God, and their God, have no place in politics. There is a reason for separation of church and state; you are seeing why in this last run up to the US elections. God is ‘convenient’. He’s a great scapegoat for what they do wrong, he is a wonderful reason to make impassioned asinine statements, he is a totally silent yet powerful supporter of the rhetoric spewed on a daily basis... but where do any of these people get off telling me that their God is right and my God is wrong? What gives them the right to speak for their God in the first place? It’s very easy to put words into a deity’s mouth, then command the rest of us to listen to his divine word, based on contradictory passages in a book written centuries ago, translated many times over, that is more of a political manifesto intended to appease the ruling authorities at the time it was written. Do I know this is what the book is? No, I can assume it, but I don’t know it. The thing is, no one can prove otherwise. Basing government decisions on the passages (that are, in the same authoritative source, contradicted) is at the very least ill-advised. It lowers society to the same level as the Taliban, a group of radicals who cherry-pick the parts of their authoritative source then use them as an excuse for killing thousands of people... including women who want to better themselves and not be controlled by a man.

I have heard discussions about radical Islamists on the news a lot lately. What about radical Christians? Yes, they exist. They are those who are blinded by everything BUT the rhetoric attributed to God. Hitler was a radical Christian – well, he was also nucking futs, but I have to say, some of what we are hearing now would probably make him very happy. Timothy McVeigh was a radical Christian. There are lots of them around – they just don’t get the same amount of press. Apparently their God has a better PR firm working for them.

I don’t want to see the rights of women, the world over, totally obliterated. We’ve worked hard to get the recognition we have, and we deserve a seat at the big people’s table. We don’t need men, apparently uncontrollably horny men, making decisions for us simply because they can’t keep their peckers parked in their panties. They say this issue is about abortion – that’s bullshit. It’s about control. It’s about superiority. It’s about manipulation, desire for authority, oppression, justification of male libido, pride and prowess, but it is not about abortion. It’s time to call it like it is, and it is time for those politicians who have a brain to distance themselves, and to demand a higher standard from their fellow candidates. This is a battle that was won long ago, and quite honestly, there are much bigger issues that need to be addressed seriously by men... and women, and gays, and Hispanics, and Jews... Why is this so hard?

Every 2 minutes, someone in the US is sexually assaulted. Every year, there are approximately 207,754 victims of sexual assault. 54% of sexual assaults are not reported to police, 97% of rapists will never spend a day in jail. Learn more at www.rainn.org

DAILY NEWS - SEPTEMBER 12th, 2012

DATELINE: STANDING TALL, WAITING FOR THE LIGHTNING BOLT – Or the storming of rabid religious zealots ready to kill me because of what I say about religion. I am not editorializing about God, Allah, Jesus, Mohammad, Buddha, or any other diety. I am talking about those rabid irrational morons who believe that THEIR opinion of THEIR god supersedes every other, to the point where in their infinitesimal, moronic, questionably-existing brains, it somehow justifies killing someone else.

I don’t question God or His existence in any way whatsoever, in any form that he might take. I admire those who live their lives in a manner that respects others and themselves, where they treat others as they wish to be treated, because that is what all of these Gods have said in all their holy books. If a person finds strength in their God, all the more power to them. If they find comfort in the sense of not being alone, that’s wonderful.

However, when the bullshit dogma of the various religions, dogma that is intended to keep people ‘in line’ through fear of damnation or bribery of virgins, is something completely different, and is what causes the vast majority of the problems encountered in society, here and abroad. At what point do these morons wake up and realize that their God, in preaching tolerance, respect and love, did NOT intend for those guidelines to result in murders of millions of people over the last two thousand years. We blame God for war... wake up, idiots. It’s us to blame. Don’t cherrypick what your God is telling you.

So on the anniversary of 9-11, in what will without doubt be found to be planned attacks, two US embassies were mobbed, and four men were killed. They were killed because someone made a movie that didn’t look on religion ‘appropriately’. Does no one else see the fucking irony in here? They are so rabid about their adoration of their god, that they disregard one of the basic tenets of all religions – don’t kill. Let me say this again – because of a MOVIE, people deserved to be murdered. The Ambassador had nothing to do with the movie; nor did the other three men who were brutally attacked, but what the hell... it’s all in the name of God/Allah and religion.

To add to the absolute idiocy of this situation, the leader of the GOP responded to a statement that was never made by the sitting president, immediately on the scavenge for political points... political points that are bathed in the blood of innocent American citizens who were serving the US people overseas. Let’s add more emotion, more raving raging stupidity and anger to the situation, because that has worked so well. Scavenge? Hell yes, he swooped in like a vulture ready to pick on the bones of the victims. Political points? Yes, that was all it was about and there is nothing more fucking sacred than those... even if they are based on something that doesn’t exist. This is what you want for a leader? Seriously? Let’s push that button based on an invisible tweet, or a statement that never happened, when the attention should be on sorting out what happened, why, how to protect others... it wasn’t like the US government didn’t have things to do last night, other than be distracted by more Romney stupidity. There is a time for spewed political rhetoric and a time for cool, responsible examination and reaction – Romney, his first time out the potential gate, opted for spewed political rhetoric – and shame on him for that. A considered response is NOT a sign of weakness... the stakes are a bit too high for someone to shoot from the lip before having a fucking clue about what is going on. For once, it might be nice to see politicians doing their jobs instead of working to be re-elected – the only thing they seem concerned about doing anymore, starting about 10 minutes after each election.

The Holocaust was the result, in part, to religious intolerance and hate. The 9-11 attacks were about religious intolerance and hate. In the name of religion, people of the middle east are oppressed, controlled, abused. At what point do we say ‘enough’? It is not ‘showing weakness’ to not jump on the condemnation bus before you know the details. A united front would go so much further to stop the bullshit and cut off the media these terrorist thugs thrive on. This is not the time for political rivals to be taking stupid shots at each other, and this is not the time for the media to be sharing heartbreaking pictures of the Ambassadors last minutes.

Religion has a place in our society. Government has a required place in our society. The two have no business being bed-partners. The inclusion of religion in government creates an instant conflict of interest, inserts emotion where it is neither needed nor wanted. Celebrate your religion – YOUR religion. Understand that the basic tenants of religion are tolerance, respect and love – then try to actually apply those ideals to those of other religions. Can you imagine what a great fucking world it would be once that happens?

My sympathy, prayers and appreciation are extended to Ambassador Chris Stevens, Sean Smith, and the two security officers who gave their lives in the service of their country, as well as their friends and family.

PRESENTING...Your NEW UN Tourism Envoy!!

drum roll......... ROBERT MUGABE, former despot of Zimbabwe! Your prize for winning this auspicious title is falsified legitimacy, and a nice little paycheque because you did not steal enough from the people of Zimbabwe already.

DATELINE: SELLING TOURISM WITH A TWIST – That would be a twist of the thumb screws, at least when you are talking about the United Nations World Tourism Organization and their new... ambassador? Now, I have been trying, very judiciously, to refrain from emphasizing my blogs with colorful euphamisms, and I am trying not to pick on any one individual or issue. That said... what in the name of all that is fucking holy are they putting in the koolaid at the United Nations these days. I have said it before, and that was before their most recent unbelievable announcement... it is time for the whole fucking thing to be over and done with. It is time for that prime piece of downtown New York City property to be turned into a MacDonald’s or something... something useful, with meaning and that might actually not make people puke at the mere mention of the name.

Let’s start with a refresher course. Robert Mugabe... why could just the mere mention of his name create such intense outrage? Why should we not rejoince at the concept of him being the chief tourism officer of the world? Well, it could be, for starters, that tiny little detail that he is not even allowed to travel to many countries because of international sanctions against him. Why would someone put sanctions against Mugabe? It might have something to do with his complete disregard of the wishes of the people of Zimbabwe when they did not elect him, but he claimed victory and the leadership of the country regardless. It could be because he personally bankrupted the country as he was leader, or perhaps his little ‘quirk’ of ordering ethnic cleansing in his country. Yes, come to Zimbawbe, the country with the lowest average lifespan in the world, where celebrating your 37th birthday is against all odds. No worry though, because the people in Zimbabwe are too poor to have parties, food, houses, education, good health... well, you know, all those silly inconsequential things when you are talking about tourism.

What happens in Zimbabwe stays in Zimbabwe? Yes, well, that’s true, because if you are a reporter or a photographer, you were, at best arrested and inprisoned for five years if you were caught. Robert Mugabe made it illegal for reporters or photographers to report what he was doing to his people, to show their agony, their torture, their suffering... sort of a sick fucking irony, isn’t it, that he is now in position to promote camera use to record the sights as your travel the world. We are not talking ten years ago, or twenty years ago... we are talking of events that happened four fucking years ago... where the inflation rate in the country reached an unbelievable 260 million percent... yes... we worry about 2% inflation. 260,000,000% is absolutely unfathomable, and was a death warrant for almost the entire population. People were dying at a rate of 4500 a week from starvation alone... that didn’t include those who were sick with flu, cholera (you know... the cholera epidemic that also killed thousands, but that Mugabe insisted wasn't happening?) or other diseases. Now factor in the tens of thousands of Ndebele people he ordered killed – beaten, burned, shot… because they were Ndebele.

This is not some unfortunate oversight on the part of the United Nations. It is not merely asinine or ridiculous, and it sure as hell is not laughable. This is an outright insulting slap in the face to anyone who has lived or now lives under oppression, to anyone who has suffered from genocide, anyone who has lost loved ones to those conditions. In a time when we are desperate for leaders of moral fiber, to see the United Nations reward a murdering, lying, stealing, power-mongering thug with an international ambassadorship is absolutely unforgiveable, and just additional proof of the corruption and ineffectiveness, and now cruel heartlessness, of the organization that was intended to champion human rights and safety globally. That ANY country should support this appointment is unacceptable, and the saddest indicator yet that society as we know it, is truly fucked up.

Daily News -- May 30th, 2012

DATELINE: SITTING IN UN HEADQUARTERS, CRYING IN MY BORSCHT – What the hell is it going to take for the international community to finally do something... anything... to help the people of Syria? I can tell you what it will take. It will take nothing short of drastic immediate restructuring of the United Nations, and this is something we, as citizens, have an obligation to now push for. Once again, in light of the massacres that have occurred in Syria... again... Russia has vetoed any action that might be taken to hold Al-Assad accountable... again.

The United Nations was created with the mandate to maintain international peace and security. So far, they are doing one hell of a fucking job. Their powers include establishing peacekeeping operations where necessary, establishing international sanctions and authorizing the use of military action when all else fails. According to Security Council Resolution 1674, they have ‘a responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.’ Nowhere does it say that this only applies when it is convenient to Russian interests. This same resolution commits the security council to ‘take action to protect civilians in an armed conflict’. So, based on their own binding resolution, on what grounds does Russia veto? It doesn’t matter what grounds. They can do it, because they, like France, China, the UK and Britain, have the right to veto. These resolutions are legally binding when made under Chapter VII of the Charter – Action With Respect to Threats to the Peace, Breaches of the Peace, and Acts of Aggression. Then again, legally binding is such a nebulous term when you are talking the United Nations, isn’t it?


What about the choice of sending in Kofi Annan to broker some sort of peace in Syria? Yes, he was the Secretary General of the United Nations for 10 years, and yes, he was a Nobel Peace Prize recipient. He was also the man who sat on his fucking thumb, tying the hands of the United Nations when they were sent in to deal with the mass genocide that took place in Rwanda. He dragged his feet, was passive at best, while watching over 800,000 people die because they happened to come from the wrong tribe. True, he has admitted, 10 years after the fact, that he ‘could and should have done more to sound the alarm and rally support,’ but apparently he has not learned that lesson yet. For a soldier sent in to help these people, it would have been absolute fucking hell to be held back from doing what they know is the right thing to do, to be observers in a massacre, and be able to offer nothing but bandaids and chicken soup. Are we never going to learn from past mistakes, especially when human lives... thousands of human lives... hang in the balance?

Let’s give this some perspective. Say your government decides to change the rules for you, that they decide there is no more need for honest elections, that they will not participate in any social programs anymore because all of the countries money will go into the military and to providing for the comfort and convenience of that leader. You aren’t really thrilled about that, as you starve, as you hold your baby in your arms as it dies from a disease that under normal circumstances would not be life threatening at all, while you watch your home crumble around you but you have no income to fix it, no way to improve anything because you are not one of the very few chosen elite in the good favor of the government. You just want to live your life, do your job, and feed your family... so you stand up and say that you want to have the basic human rights that should be guaranteed to everyone on the planet. For standing up, you get shot... but the government doesn’t stop there. They have snipers waiting on the buildings in your village and they shoot anyone who happens to come out into the street for whatever reason. They storm into your homes and shoot you, just because one day you might think you should have more than the nothing you have. They shoot children who are playing in the street, take their injured bodies to prisons, beat them, torture them, then return the dead, mutilated, bloated bodies back to their parents, dropping them on the doorstep with a shrug and a wink. Yes, this is what happens there... daily. So... if that was you, would you not want someone to do what is right and come to help you?

Of course, Russia under the charismatic Vladimir Putin does nothing without there being a political agenda to it. They can’t agree to let the world react because Russia stands guilty of a long string of international atrocities. God forbid they be held to a higher standard. What, then, is Russia doing on the fucking Security Council, and why do they have a veto? For the love of all that is fucking holy, we are talking about a world leader who is not even legitimate, who is there only because of mass election fraud, so why does he or his country have any authority at all within the United Nations? Then again, why is the United States on that same council, and why do they have a veto? They have not paid their dues to the UN for the last twenty years... leaving an unpaid debt that is estimated to be in the range of $1.3T... yes, that would be trillion. If they don’t want to pay for their fucking membership, then they should NOT have a veto. The reason for not paying it? Why, because they claim by not paying it, they can force UN compliance to their wishes. Now how is THAT for manipulating a body that was intended to help globally, without a political agenda?

The United Nations hass, from its inception, been an exercise in the political machinations of self-interested power mongers. They are totally ineffective as they allow global politics and greed to take over for the moral majority. They watch as the people in poor nations are tortured and murdered in massive acts of genocide, because the country has no massive natural resources stocks so why should they care? They watch as Russia takes tanks into a sovereign country because they don’t like the democratically elected leaders. They talk about arms control and transparency with nuclear weapons, yet no one is prepared to take the first step. They are dictated to by private interests, shackled by the greed of despots, and made entirely impotent because of the ability of five countries to veto whatever their fucking hearts desire without having to provide one iota of reason or logic, despite legally binding resolutions to protect those who need protection. We have watched countries the world over in the last five years suffer from illegal, unsound election practices... even here in Canada... but nothing is done or commented on, because the UN cannot rock the political boat. Sadly, that was what they were created to do. They were supposed to be the voice of logic and fairness, the beacon for those who so desperately need a light to look towards to guide them out of hell. They are no longer a beacon, if they ever were. They are nothing but a sham and a laughing stock, an innocent and pure idea bastardized by politicals and now offered in the guise of altruistic intentions shackled by self-serving political greed. The time for the UN to be considered viable is long past. At the very least, a Code of Conduct should be required for any nation to participate, especially in the security council -- how can they pass judgment on other nations while not holding themselves to at least the bare minimum of being a legitimate government themselves? It is time for people to demand accountability of the United Nations; if we don’t do it, who the hell will? Contact your political representative, demand they push for changes in the UN, or that they withdraw from the UN. Anything is better than dangling life on the end of a stick, just out of reach of those millions who are desperately grasping for it.

DAILY NEWS - May 29th, 2012

DATELINE: TURNING ON THE JUICE TO THE ELECTRIC FENCE -- I have a great idea! Let’s build a giant fence, 100 or maybe 150 miles long, and put all the assholes like Pastor Charles Worley of the Providence Road Baptist Church near Maiden, NC inside it. We will drop Bibles to them, so they have something to thump on as they spew hatred. Let’s electrify the fence to keep them in and in a couple years they will be dead, and we can celebrate THAT. While we’re at it, let’s throw some despots in there too, the Putins and the Assads, the world leaders who care not one flying fuck about people but only about their power and authority. You see, these people all have one thing in common – they are ruled by their intolerance and hatred, guised in a flag or the pages of Bible. They spin the truth, put words into others mouths for the sake of promoting their own agendas. The two groups… the despots and the religious radicals… really have more in common than most would expect. They live for rhetoric, the sound bite, the glorious God-given justification for their lies and confirmation of their own greatness and perfection. Alternately, we could be like the United Nations, shake our fingers, click our tongues in shame, and do sweet fuck all about problems that need to be dealt with. Their sanctimonious condemnation of the massacres in Syria are nothing more than what a manipulated mother might give to a petulant child, the final step before sending them to the time-out chair for five minutes. For over a year, we have watched with our collective thumbs up our asses, waiting for someone to do something to help the people of Syria -- you remember them? The ones who get shot for walking out their front fucking door? The actual fact of the matter is that the UN is entirely feckless, perfecting the art of kissing Putin’s anus on demand, letting him run amok in whatever other country he decides to flex his muscles. Of course he supports the Assad regime… just like he supports Ahmedinejad and Chavez… openly, unabashedly, proudly. Unless and until the countries on the Security Counsel take their jobs seriously, without the political agenda that should NOT color any aspect of the United Nations, the entire body will remain nothing more than a sick, pathetic, ineffective joke. The organization is about equal rights and respect for humanity, and if they cannot manage that simple, straightforward task, then close the fucking doors and stop pumping millions of dollars into it... money that can certainly be used for more substantial, proactive purposes, like providing food or water for the impoverished. At what point, amidst the hatred, the killing, the lying, the vitriolic paranoia, do we stand up to church and national leaders and say ‘Enough!’? At what point do we say to the Putin’s of the world ‘No, it is not okay to storm into the sovereign nation of Georgia to flex your political muscles,” or “Yes, we in the international community do have a problem with the poisoning of political leaders in order to prevent them from being elected.”? When to do go to Rome and say 'No, you cannot police yourselves because you believe you are above all laws, especially those involving the abuse of children'? (The irony, of course, of the religious position regarding gays is that, by their silence in regard to clergy moleting and sexually abusing little boys, and their pimping out of semenarians -- you thought we forgot about that one, didn't ya, Pope-ster! -- you are in fact promoting that which, again, you tell us to abhore. Like the Charles Worleys and the Pope Benedicts of the world, the Putins also do not feel the need to explain, justify or listen. Their indignation at our questions is justified, their right to do as they will, or say as they will, superceding the rights of everyone else in the world. They are not to be held accountable. Worley sees no reason to speak to anyone about his bullshit-spewing. He can scream his hate from the pulpit – his sick, unfounded hate, about a God who would condemn someone for loving – yet not have to provide any ‘proof’ that God wants all gays and lesbians killed. Of course, he can’t provide that proof, because none exists... sort of like the proof that Assad is not killing his own people, the Pope does not harbor pedophiles and Putin is not funding regimes that are completely dedicated to the destruction of the west. How long do we stick our heads in the sand, and watch elections be tampered with, (Yes, Harper, I mean you too, asshole -- you have definitely earned your place in this gallery of despots and buffoons. You may think you pulled a fast one, but we all know that those who have to resort to election fraud are those who fucking well KNOW they would not win without it, and are therefore not worthy of the title), villages of innocent people being massacred, preachers using the pulpit to justify their fears and hatred, and world leaders using the United Nations to castrate any hint of compassion or caring when it interfers with their own personal agendas and bank accounts? All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. We know this… so what the fuck are we waiting for. The time is here. Stand up. Scream ‘Enough!’. Tell the world that we are tired of the hatred, the manipulation, the theft and greed that are all borne on the backs of good, innocent people.

Daily News March 8th, 2012

DATELINE: NOT LEAVING ON A JET PLANE – Republican/Conservative: When the hell did that come to mean that, at the cost of everything else, the right of a business owner to make money and the need for me to shove my moral and religious values on you, trump everything else? How did it go from being for less government involvement and more opportunity for everyone to have that great dream of a better life, to let’s fuck over the workers, the unions, and while we are at it, the women as well? When did it become about everyone having to pray to one god, that god being the almighty dollar, under the guise of one christian Deity?

Imagine a world with no labor unions. Seriously, try to think back to when a man could own a flourishing company, rake in money, pay slave wages, offer no benefits and keep getting richer by the day while the people who kept him where he was, those who provided the sweat, who went hungry, who were horribly abused, got nothing. Remember those days when the guys who owned the companies did their damnedest to also own the government, so that the laws could always go in their favor, knowing that politicians are more than willing to take money for their campaign funds, their household funds, or their fun funds. What a great world! The politicians are happy and rich. The big business guy is happy and rich… oh, wait! You don’t need to imagine! Lucky enough there are plenty of third-world models for this delightful lifestyle. Soon enough, we will be fully entrenched in this lifestyle again, if we aren’t already.

Those with the money are continuing to rake it in while those who are working their asses off are finding less in their envelope, fewer benefits, and absolutely no loyalty or respect. Is it really so hard to at least respect the people who work every god damned day for you, doing a long honest day’s work? On the good side, what do they need holidays for anyways? It’s not like they can go anywhere or do anything any more. Those businesses that are not unionized have been taking great advantage of the economic climate, seeing it as an opportunity to totally fuck their staff, resorting gladly to that ‘if you don’t like it, go get a job somewhere else’ line of thought. Those that are unionized are learning, with the government firmly in their employers pocket, their right to collective bargain no longer exists.

I am not, and I have never been, a great advocate for labor unrest. I hate that a group of people can take the entire public hostage while they feather their own nests, demand absolutely disgusting increases and benefits, retirement packages and job security that will mean they can’t get fired no matter what they do or don’t do. In part, the unions have earned a bit of the shit smell they wear, because many times, with the threat of labor disruption, they held their employers over a barrel while demanding, and eventually receiving, what in essence were perverse contracts that certainly did their share to fuck up the balance of the economy as well. It would be a wonderful world if we didn’t need the unions, if employers would treat their staff fairly, with respect, and consideration. It’s totally fucking nuts that they don’t, but the lure of that shiny gold coin has our resident business moguls unable to see the forest for the trees. No, they should not have to accept or pay for a consistently poor performance by an employee. They should, however, realize that there is very little they can produce that is not intended, at some point along the way, for public consumption. Therefore, it should behove them to know they will sell more of whatever they create if there are people making money enough to buy it.

Yes, it pisses me off to see some people in some unions, especially in the public sector, going year after year, daily fucking the dog at my expense… and yes, it happens, all too often. It pisses me off that because of a possible labor dispute that does not involve me, my life is still fucked up and I am out of pocket for something that is now denied to me because of labor disruption. No, the unions should not hold us hostage, but more to the point, the fucking employers should not be so fucking dickheaded as to cause that to happen. No, I don’t think that, in this economy, it is a good idea to demand double-digit wage increases, when the rest of the non-unionized sector is getting fucked in the ear with roll-backs, fewer benefits and the need to pray every fucking night that they will still have a job in the morning, even though they work their asses off every day on that job. I think its insulting. Even more reprehensible is that companies who are still making profits, (or would be if they weren’t so fucking mismanaged while still offering those mismanagers their obscene fucking bonuses for not doing a god damned thing) are taking advantage yet again of the economy and their employees, and fucking them in the ear where pay is concerned. Too many of them are sitting on their cash, hoarding it for themselves, and not realizing that by doing so, they are at the same time fucking themselves.

At one time, to be Republican or Conservative, meant that you embraced a fair work environment that offered the chance for ALL to prosper without the government having to interfere. Government had no business in the business of business. There would be no need for social programs (sic handouts) if everyone was working and earning their way. Now that isn’t possible, and it won’t be until big business pulls their heads out of their asses. Now, to be Republican or Conservative, means that even paying a fair wage is looked on as a handout, and they don’t do handouts. They find ways to minimalize the public, the worker, the regular guy. He is but a means to an end for them, the end being a well-lined pocket at any expense. The big businesses can and do have the ability to turn the economy around, but with the help of a political faction that HATES the worker, and political rhetoric that does nothing to support the needs of the worker or the plight of the worker, what is to be expected. We will just take those massive strides back to the days of Dickens, and hope for a new Norma Rae to come along and save our sorry asses. Maybe it is time for the unions to do what has to be done, for the sake of everyone who has to earn a paycheque out there. It’s obvious the Republicans/Conservatives won’t. They are too busy allowing the business to fuck their staff, while they tell us who, how and why the rest of us will be allowed to fuck at all.

Daily News - February 27, 2012

DATELINE: HANGING WITH CHAD ON CANADIAN ELECTION DAY: You remember that whole US / Bush / Florida / Hanging Chad crap twelve years ago? You remember how we all stood around shaking our heads in disgust that what amounted to possible election fraud happened right on our doorstep? So what the fuck do we do now that it is in our country, that it is not ‘possible fraud’ but plain outright criminal fraud, and that it was committed by the party in charge?

Yes, Harper, in typically fashion, found the guy who happened to be at the bottom of the downhill shit express and offered him up as a sacrificial lamb, and has now declared that the issue is solved, that there is no reason to look any further into the matter. How fucking convenient. Yes, the sacrificed lamb was young, and patently stupid, but he did not have the ability to do this fraud alone. This was a crime that spanned, at last count, 39 national ridings, all across the country. It was a fraud that started out during the campaign as people, falsely representing themselves as members of the Liberal, Green and NDP parties, phoned and harassed voters in an attempt to turn them against those parties. They went so far as to phone known Jewish families during Sabbath, in their attempts to garner favor for their own party while lying, pretending to be from one of the other three parties. This alone was unconscionable.

But then came election day. Yes, our sacrificial lamb went to the University of Guelph and tried to steal a ballot box, claiming that the voting station was illegal, but there was no way he orchestrated the calls that went out all throughout the country in yet another attempt to defraud Canadians. These calls, represented as being from Elections Canada, the Liberal Party and the NDP party, told the voter that their polling booth had changed, sent them across town, confused the voting public, all in an attempt to get them to either go to the wrong place or not bother voting at all. Funny thing, but there are none of these calls made to registered Conservative party members and there have been, so far, no indications that these calls were made to any voters in ridings that were undisputable conservative.

To suggest that Harper was unaware of this whole operation is absolutely insulting to the Canadian public. Harper: Mr. Megalomaniac himself? Captain Control-Freak? Master micro-manager extraordinaire? For the love of all that is fucking holy, do not even try that crap. It’s tired, and we are getting really rather sick of the schoolyard bully tactics that the Conservative Party embraces so much. They are nothing more than urban thugs, gang members in Armani suits, but the mentality is the same – do whatever you have to do to maintain power and line your pockets. This country is a democracy. Men died to preserve for all of us the right to vote, and the Harper conservatives have completely desecrated the sacrifice of these men, as well as their own fucking office. We get told that if we don’t agree to unwarranted searches and tracing of our internet communications, we are child pornographers. We get slighted, insulted, abused on a daily fucking basis, and this has to stop. I realize that the other national parties, every fucking one of them, is in leadership disarray right now, but a god damned capuchin monkey with an ‘anything but Harper’ button on could make a better showing for Canada, and would treat the people who pay his fucking salary a hell of a lot better than the dickhead sitting in the big house on Sussex Drive right now. What does it say about a party that KNOWS the only chance they have to obtain or maintain their power is to lie, cheat and steal to get it?

DAILY NEWS -- February 16th, 2012

DATELINE: STANDING BY THE FONT, WANTING TO PUKE IN IT: It has come to the attention of the media today that the parents of Simon Weisenthal, the now well-known Nazi hunter who passed away in 2005 , has been posthumously baptized into the Mormon faith. While Mr. Weisenthal is not here to defend himself, his faith and the respect of his parents, others have stepped up to the plate, demanding that the LDS church stop the practice of posthumous baptisms… for Jewish Holocaust victims. What the hell is that? No, it should be stopped for all of them! I am sorry, but I am not now, and I will never be a Mormon, and I would be right pissed off if some asshole had the unmitigated audacity to ‘save my soul’ by baptizing me into a faith I did not believe in. Yes, the LDS church claims to have the fastest growing church… it’s just that they are getting dead new members, the ones who can’t cause any problems, or argue about it. It is the most egregious activity I have ever heard from, something that should not be happening, but it does, and it has for years, and GOP front runner Mitt Romney has already acknowledged that he has participated in these activities – ergo he thinks it is just fine to ‘force’ a change of faith for anyone who is not in a position to argue about it. My parents were staunchly Catholic; for them to be baptized into another faith after they are gone would be catastrophic. Where the fuck do these people get off thinking it is their ‘right’ to ‘save’ our souls. The LDS claims these baptisms are their genealogical database, that it only takes relatives of its members, but that does not make it right by any means, especially seeing how far down their bloodlines they are prepared to go in search of a soul to save. If someone wanted to be fucking Mormon, they would have joined that church. If they didn't join the church, then leave them the hell alone! No, they should not be allowed to do it. It should be fucking illegal.

DATELINE: PULLING THAT BARGE AND TOTING THAT WHALE – In what has to be the most offensive mockery of the judicial system and of the suffering of truly enslaved people, PETA once again crossed the line in their fanatical attempts to prove a point. They filed a legal challenge that the whales held at SeaWorld were ‘slaves’, not getting paid to work, their constitutional rights being trampled. First, this is a huge insult to the people who actually do work to promote conservation, because this bullshit sets all of their genuine work into the same category of idiots and assholes that seem to be making decisions at PETA. It is, though, the ultimate slap in the face to those who did live as slaves, generations of them, and their offspring who are still trying to lift that yoke from their shoulders. Don’t even get me going about the waste of fucking tax dollars involved for a court to hear this crap, and the wasted money from legitimate donors wanting to help conservation. This was nothing more than a fucking costly and very ill-advised attempt at self-promotion and it is despicable. Whoever came up with it should have their ass shit-canned from PETA right now. Anything less would be totally unacceptable.

DATELINE: LOOKING FOR A CELEB TO DIE SO THEY CAN RACK UP THE RATINGS – I sent my very sincere apologies to the family and friends of Whitney Houston. Her death was a tragedy, without doubt. That said, the performance of the media in the last week has been, to say the least, disgusting. What the hell is the matter with you freaking death-mongering news anchors? Yes, her passing was news on Saturday. Yes, there was definitely a reason to mention the tribute to her at the Grammy’s because her death was so fresh in the minds of everyone, but come on… five days of coverage of her death?? What the hell is that? There is nothing new to say about it, so give her family and her friends some time to grieve in private. Had I passed in a bathtub, I am not so sure I would want the whole world to be talking about it every minute of the day. If my mother died that way, I would not want it to be fodder for news media for DAYS. This is no longer reporting news. How many times do you have to stick a microphone into someone’s face and ask ‘how do you feel now that she is dead?’ What the fuck are you expecting them to say? This is disrespectful… completely and totally disrespectful and classless. It is disrespectful to Ms Houston, to her family, to her friends, to her colleagues, to others who may have passed, to the family of service men and women who have passed, to the homeless person who did not have the good fortune to be discovered to have an astounding voice. Let it go. Show some fucking class.

DATELINE: DEMANDING SMALLER GOVERNMENT BY CREATING MORE GOVERNMENTAL BULLSHIT RED TAPE – Women wanting to have an abortion, for whatever reason, have to submit to a vaginal ultrasound probe if they live in Virginia. In the midst of all the bullshit about Republican demands about the sanctity of marriage (while the concept seems to mean nothing to them personally), while they thump their bible and decry the rights of other religions, while they try to legislate contraception where women are concerned (I don’t see any of them demanding the end of the sale of Viagra though. Hmmm, if sex is to be done only for the religiously-determined procreative purpose, what the hell do men need Viagra for? Or does the penis earn an exemption again in the population control issue? Penis perhaps are not required to be procreational?) So, while I do not agree with partial-birth abortions or with late-term abortions, to create a law that subjects a woman to an invasive medical procedure for NO reason is un-fucking-believable! What about the woman who, because of cultural reasons, is forced by her husband to have an abortion because the baby is the wrong sex? Now she has even more to deal with? An unnecessary chance for a doctor to stick something more up her crotch just for the sake of making her life more difficult? What the hell is wrong with you people? I guess it’s official, based on this new Virginia legislation and the GOP primaries, that the US is now completely determined to strip absolutely anyone of their rights unless they strictly adhere to the tenets of some convenient religious dogma. Way to go. How fucking sad.

DAILY NEWS -- February 7th, 2012

DATELINE: MAKING POPCORN, WATCHING THE SHOW – Isn’t that what everyone is doing? My set is tuned to Syrian TV, and they have this really vivid, gripping horror movie on about the people there, being persecuted, being shot as they walk out their doors, being tortured because, well, who the fuck needs a reason to torture in a movie, right?

For almost a year this has been going on, in a large part fueled by a big old oil-burning engine that gave Al-Assad more power and money than he ever could have dreamed possible. For a year, the people in that country have lived with terrible daily atrocities, while the rest of us sit and watch, chewing our cud, and wondering what oil prices will do tomorrow because of it. Man, do we have a fucked-up set of priorities.

It is a long-held tenet that the global world does not get involved in ‘civil’ wars. There is a reason for that, an understandable one. I have no doubt that no one really would have appreciated the French picking sides in the American civil war, although, come on, we all know that no one stays neutral. Canada never participated in Vietnam, declared the war to be unjust, yet was more than happy to rake in the coin from the sales of munitions, equipment and other supplies, hypocrites that we are.

War is one hell of a funny thing – and not in the ha-ha sense. A long time ago, it was okay, in fact, it was expected that armies fight to conquer territory for their kings, legitimately crowned or otherwise. Their intent was to ‘civilize’ heathens. There was a lot of death in that civilization process, making it one of the most moronic oxymorons of all time. Then came a time when it wasn’t so cool to move your armies onto someone else’s turf. The bar had been raised, the table set; that shit didn’t happen anymore. The other change, though, was that countries had started to elect their leaders, the people playing a part in the game now as well. When the people spoke, government listened – not just their own, but governments of other countries as well, respecting the will of the people who lived in that country to choose their own path, and all was good.

But then came along a man who wooed his people (as disgusting as the word ‘woo’ might be where he was concerned) and got elected by the people of his country, promising economic fortune, telling them what was wrong with their world, who to blame for it, and what to fear. Once in power, the rules changed though. He built armies, he conquered lands that no longer belonged to him. He then went further, pushing the limits, declaring war on a whole continent that he wanted to call his own. At that point, the rest of the world (well, almost… those tricky Yanks said it was none of their business and had no intention of getting involved) said ‘enough’ and we had our second great war, another war to end all wars.

That’s the thing though, isn’t it? It sort of did, at least by the standards of conquering other lands. Kim Il-Sung and Ho Chi Minh both tried, and thankfully, although no one likes to talk about it, they were stopped. It wasn’t just their thrust for power that was stopped though; it was like a final confirmation that it was not okay to invade and conquer another land… and that was as it should be. Therein lies the conundrum, I guess, because if someone goes in to help, that word ‘invade’ is quickly tossed into the air. The soldiers and marines who went into Vietnam were accused of being involved in something they had no right to be involved in, but that’s not true. They were there to help a people who did not have the means to help themselves, and that is NEVER wrong. In both Vietnam and Korea, the people they were helping were people who had the cards stacked against them, with Russian or Chinese forces backing the original invaders.

So now, we sit back, watch Russia and China make a mockery of the international process created by the United Nations. Did anyone really think for one fucking minute that they would have done anything different? Seriously? Russia, under Putin, is one scary-assed place with a war-mongering power-craving megalomaniac at the helm. We are told that it’s a ‘civil’ matter in Syria – none of our concern.
Let me ask you this though. Suppose it was OUR country who had the power-craving megalomaniac calling the shots (insert hysterical laugher here, cause, well, we do have that) and he changed the rules of the game for all of us. Say it was us who were starving, being shot in our streets by our own government, being forced to live destitute, accept torture and brutality on a daily basis. Say it was us who were unable to set foot outside our doors, unable to get food for ourselves… say it was us who were finding our babies bodies mutilated, decaying, wrapped in plastic and dropped on our doorsteps weeks after they had gone missing and been tortured. Would we not be wanting… praying for someone to come and help us? Is that not what being human, a member of the human race, about?

Had Hitler not gone beyond taking back that which was lost in the Treaty of Versailles, if he had been content with just ‘reclaiming’ land and people, but still went on his binge of cleansing society of all Jews, people of color, people of different nationality, people with handicaps, would that have been okay? Would the world just sit and watch? Would we accept that it was his right, in his country, to kill whoever he wanted? I hope not because what a sad fucking excuse for humans we would be. Let me ask one other question – had Germany been blessed with huge reserves of oil, would we have capitulated and let Hitler run amok? Is a barrel of oil really worth a human life in a fair barter system?

The bar has been set, raised on the lives of incredibly generous men and women who stood up to say ‘that’s not right’. This has nothing to do with any religion or custom, but it has everything to do with greed – ours and theirs. We want the oil. We claim it is better to take oil that is paid for by the lives of little children shot dead in the street, than to take oil that comes from sand pits, and somehow justify that it’s okay. No, I am not making a pitch for Canadian oil and how it is processed. I am saying we have alternatives though, and we should put more effort into finding cleaner ways of extracting what we have, and of using what we have responsibly, but it would still be better than what is happening in Syria. Despots have risen to unprecedented authority because of the money handed to them, by us, for a product we are using in excess to pollute the earth. You want to sit there and tell me we don’t have some responsibility to claim for the terrible abuse the people of Syria are facing today? You are fucking right we do, and we have an obligation, as global community of humans, to help them.

DAILY NEWS: January 31st, 2012

DATELINE: SPEAKING OF VOMIT – As if the GOP, with its endless, nauseating bullshit debates and ads, has not gotten bad enough, if Romney’s arrogant, indifferent attitude towards the millions he makes, or Gingrinch’s misogynistic spewing and Fanny May ass-covering weren’t enough, enter The Rev. O’Neal Dozier. This self-proclaimed ‘prayer warrior who faithfully spends time in his own prayer closet’ is the posterboy for why the hell church and state HAVE to be separated. Have you listened to the ravings of this total fucking idiot? The fact that he endorses that baby-faced fascist Santorum is bad enough, but now, well, he is presenting to the world some incredible insight into the likes, dislikes and digestive issues of none other than, well, God.

Yes, Dozier says ‘God loves homosexuals. He hates the act of homosexuality’. What the fuck? God tells him this? He says that ‘homosexuality makes God want to vomit’. What? Has he held the holy barf bucket for Him?

For this, he is now Santorum’s Honorary Campaign Chairman. Yes, he is the fascist’s mouthpiece. How the fuck can anyone take this shit seriously? We laugh when an Iranian Imam preaches to his people that it is women’s promiscuity that causes earthquakes and other natural disasters, and we laugh. How the fuck are the rantings of this asshole reverend any different? They rail about Islamic extremists and the huge security risk, safety risk they are. How are radical Christian extremists any fucking different?

He also has a lot to say about Mormons – who he claims still claim the black man’s skin is a curse. Yes, there was a time when a black man could not be ordained into the Mormon priesthood, but that was lifted (though not repudiated) in 1978. Lemme ask you this; have you gone into a bar in the southern US and tried to sit and have a beer with a black person? I know that Reverend Dozier is black – more is the shame that he is so fucking intolerant of everyone else. How many of those Bible-thumping ultra right-wing evangelicals don’t actively voice their opinion that blacks still belong in the back of the bus? Far to fucking many, is the answer, so where the hell do they get off pointing a finger at a decades-gone church edict? How is what the Mormon church said, way back when, about blacks any fucking different than the woman-hating edicts of the Catholic pope regarding who can have what role in a church, that they STILL hold dearly to their hearts and pronounce every day as a God-written law?

What annoys me the absolute most though, is that ANYONE feels they have the fucking right to tell me what God thinks. How can they know? How the fuck can Reverend Dozier sit in front of a television camera and state with absolute surety what God wants, likes or dislikes? Does he have tea with the Maker every morning? No, he bases his OPINIONS on what he reads in the Bible. That’s fine, and his right. We all have opinions, and I have no problem voicing mine or letting others voice theirs, unless they are so absolutely fucking stupid, like just about every word that comes out of Dozier’s mouth, but he screams that he knows what God thinks.

Here is a little tip for you, Idiot. The Bible, while a wonderful, and at times enlightening, story is nothing more than the writings of men who had their own god damned agenda to promote, and so over the years it gets edited and interpreted to suit the needs of the interpreter. It was not written in English, so right from the get-go there is much lost, and much augmented in the first translation.

The one thing that is in every book attributed to God in his every form and name, is that we are to treat others as we wish to be treated. Why the fuck is that one the ONLY one that seems to get lost in all of this bullshit? Amid the contractions, the turn the other cheek unless you are taking an eye for an eye crap, the unconditional love unless I have to strike you down fear-mongering bullshit meant to keep the writer’s minions in line, why is the one basic tenet of the entire book always lost.
Any government leader who claims to have insight into God’s mind, or who claims to have a conduit to that same place, deserves the same consideration as the nut-bar on the fucking corner who gets messages from the dead beyond through the smell of his dog’s farts. They certainly don’t belong anywhere near a fucking election, let alone being an advisor to someone running for the fucking White House and the post powerful position in the land. You are talking about the GOP party here, not the GOD party, for shit sake. These fucking nimnos serve no useful public purpose other than to make me spray potable beverages through my nose while watching how Jon Stewart deals with it on late-night television. It’s pathetic but these two idiots make Gingrinch and Romney seem almost reasonable. How fucking sad. God help the United States of America.

DAILY NEWS -- January 26th, 2012

DATELINE: IN THE LAND OF WHAT THE FUCK!! – Nine years, $214 Million… there is no one in the fucking world who is worth that and I don’t give a damned how well they can swing a bat. His fucking nuts could be made of platinum and he could crap gold bricks, but he still would not be worth that. No one is, and certainly not for playing a fucking game.

Today, though, the Detroit Tigers said that Prince Fielder is worth this to stand on the first bag and swing his bat. He doesn’t wear a uniform and stand a post to defend his country. He doesn’t parachute into enemy territory and have to live off his wits and adrenalin for days, or rescue people caught and held by Somali pirates. He does not spend 14 hours standing at an operating table trying to rebuild a fireman’s melted, peeling flesh. He doesn’t run into burning buildings to rescue people who may otherwise have only three minutes left to live. He doesn’t even make fucking decisions about the smooth flow of a fucking hamburger patty as it goes from freezer to fucking cash register. HE PLAYS A FUCKING GAME. He hits a ball with a fucking stick. Cavemen were doing that too, except even they were worth more because they had to gather the balls of sabertooth cat shit from the bushes and gnaw down a fucking tree with their teeth to make the bats.

So how does this completely obscene money pay out to poor widow pwincy? He will get $23MILLION for each year one and two, $24MILLION each of the remaining years of his contract. Too bad there won’t be any fucking fans able to afford a fucking ticket by that time, without being able to auction off a god damned kidney first. He will be paid an additional $500,000 if he manages to become the MVP for the American League, and for each MVP title he wins after that, he gets another cool million for a bonus. In case you have forgotten, let me remind you – HE PLAYS A FUCKING GAME. That’s it. He can’t even balance fucking Frisbees on his nose.

He doesn’t help rebuild Haiti – but he could do that and foot the bill comfortably all by himself. He doesn’t think about how many little babies in Africa might be fed with that sort of money, because if the MBA was to put their money pissed away to PAY PEOPLE TO PLAY A GAME into something a bit more… significant, this world would be one hell of a better place.

“But Bambi! What about Al Pujols? He makes more.” Yes, he does, and that is even a sadder truth, isn’t it? The same applies to the Yankee’s arrogant AssRod (yeah, we KNOW he was worth that kind of money, don’t we?), Ryan Howard and Cliff Lee.
So with all that huge obscene fucking money, guys, where were these geniuses when it came time for the World Series last year? Did all that money really get you any further ahead? It should be twice the shame for the Phillies.

I keep asking myself when the hell are these leagues going to grab some fucking brains and become realistic about this shit. The salaries alone could clear the national fucking debt. Then I realize that perhaps it’s not the league who bears the blame, or the teams even. It’s the fans. It’s the fans who, despite not having money to make a mortgage payment will still hang on to that fucking season’s pass for the year. It’s also the fans who could put a stop to this. Think about it… these guys are getting made in one hour more than most of us will see in a fucking year, and yet we celebrate it and subsidize it? What the fuck is wrong with us? We work hard for our money and we don’t get paid millions of dollars every year. We need some perspective. THEY ARE PLAYING A GAME, for fuck sake.

VIEW FROM THE DRIVER'S SEAT

DATELINE: IN THE BLEACHERS AT PENN STATE – After false reports of his death last night and denials this morning that he was still alive, it has been announced, and confirmed, that Joe Paterno has died. Sadly, some hope that the issue regarding his friend and colleague Jerry Sandusky will die with him. For that to happen would be an even greater injustice to the many victims who suffered at Sandusky's hand.

As I read reaction to his death, it is truly revolting to hear the praise stacked on this man, for the sake of a game. The fact that he was an active enabler seems to be irrelevant. I wonder if it would be so unimportant if it had been your child who had been sexually assaulted in the Penn State locker rooms. Let me state, first and foremost, that I understand the grief of losing a parent. Been there, done that; but it’s a pain that unites the vast majority of us, one thing in life that, regardless of class or position, we share. As hard as it is, the death of a parent, though,is a natural process; the way it is supposed to be, as opposed to a parent experiencing the death of their child.

I know it’s natural to not want to speak ill of the dead,that in death people become bigger than they were in life, but come on. To wish that his legacy is based on his successes on the playing field as opposed to that little blip at the end of his life, that little secret that we would all rather be shoved under the carpet so we can praise and adulate before the great coach of a fucking game, is stomach-churning. At what point does it sink in that he spent his life playing a game, and when does it ever become even remotely possible to consider a game to be more important than protecting the lives of innocent,vulnerable children.

Joe Paterno, more than anyone else in this whole Sandusky clusterfuck, was the one person who could have… and should have… made a difference. He could have set the standard in moral and ethicals in spite of the immediate fallour. He could have proven that the right thing to do is always preferable, and that the hit that comes from doing it would be short-lived, nothing more than farts from the lips of idiots, but he chose not to. He KNEW what was happening, yet he chose to not do a damned thing about it. I wonder if he would have been so ineffective if it had been his child in the shower being taught how to soap and lather? JoPa claimed that he did report it to campus authorities, but he wasn’t sure what to do. He wasn’t sure? Holy crap. He delivered this lame-ass explanation, but wasn’t pressed on it – more’s the shame for the interviewer. He didn’t know what to do… because he didn’t want his assistant coach who helped win games to be in trouble, and he didn’t want his precious fucking football team or the university to be held accountable and perhaps have to get a different assistant coach, which could have cost them a game or two. Holy fuck! Well then, of COURSE it’s okay to keep your mouth shut about vulnerable children being horribly, irreparably abused right there under your nose. What were we thinking? Where are our priorities? We were talking about losing some games here! That could never be allowed to happen.

Sarcasm aside, what absolutely enrages me about this whole thing is that here was a man who was in a perfect place to make a difference… a real difference, a significant difference, in LIVES, not in a fucking game. He dedicated his life to working with young men, preparing them, undoubtedly giving them some life lessons, some counseling, some guidance to navigate the waters that lie ahead, and that’s all good. But he absolutely destroys that good by turning a blind eye to kids who were not his problem, but were being abused by someone he knew, in heinous ways, right on the worksite. He COULD have stood up. Imagine the lessons he could have taught, the example he could have set for others. Imagine the difference Joe Paterno could have made if he had stood up and fought for children desperately needed someone to fight for them. He reported it to the campus then didn’t know what else he could do? What? Was he prepped for questioning by some catholic bishop?

Joe Paterno is dead, his family rightly grieves for the loss of their loved one, and my sympathy goes out to them. Too bad so few have no sympathy for the children who are abused. It's too bad no one considered stopping it before more children were hurt, no one stood up, like a man, and did what needed to be done. A game was more important than the lives of innocent children in the hands of a monster. Shame on you, Joe Paterno. The one person who could have made a difference, and you took the selfish coward’s way out. Your family’s pain will be real. I won’t pretend though; there will be no crocodile tears from me. Those are reserved for the true victims. They’ve been slapped in the face enough times over this; I won’t participate in further abuse against them by idolizing this man, not even in death.Joe Paterno's legacy SHOULD be about that which he chose not to do; God knows, that's what it will be for Sandusky's victims and their families.

DAILY NEWS -- January 17th, 2012

DATELINE: TAKING THE PLUNGE INTO THE LOGIC POOL – I’m Canadian, and what do all Canadians talk about ALL the time? Why, oil pipelines, of course! We are in the midst of two broohaahaas, one regarding the Keystone Pipeline to the Gulf Coast, and one regarding the Gateway Pipeline, running to the Queen Charlotte Islands along BC’s Pacific Ocean coast. The routes for both are problematic, but in our usual inimitable manner, we humbly strong-arm and threaten the people whose land these pipelines will cross over. Aren’t we fucking special?

Here are some of the simple truths that no one has the god damned balls to say. Yes, we need fossil fuels. Even if, tomorrow, we come up with the perfect solution, the magical alternate fuel to run our vehicles and engines, we STILL need oil. We still need it to fuel our homes, and up here, there aren’t a lot of other options. We use it globally to make plastics and nylon, wrinkle-free fabrics, aspirin, cd’s, shoes, dyes… every room in every home will have items in there that are the result of oil extraction. Yes, some could be made from organic sources, but even the process of processing the organic sources requires oil, especially on the scale that services the population. Current means of producing ethanol uses more oil than it saves, and how many fields of corn would be required to keep our vehicles on the road just in this country? So, Yes, we need fossil fuels. Oh, and that whole 'clean coal' shit? yes, its shit. Coal is coal, it is dirty to mine, it is dirty to use, but its a necessary evil as well, but call it what it fucking is. There is no 'clean coal'. That's like saying there is sugar-dipped shit and expecting we will all chow down.

Is there room to compromise? Hell yes, and that is exactly what is needed. Yes, measures need to be taken to protect the environment, but why does everything have to be so fucking extreme now? The Republicans and the Democrats, the Environmentalists and the Oil Companies, do NOT have the ability, the desire or the guts to compromise on ANYTHING. It’s ‘my way or the highway’ in all regards, and that is what will kill us all.

So, we want to stop the pipeline because it is a hazard. God damned right they are a hazard. So is every big tanker truck on a railroad, being dragged down the highway by truckers who are dead on their feet because they can’t slow down for even one fucking minute because of the spiraling costs they face in this fucked-up economy, and in those crap boats that will haul it across the oceans. What about the carbon footprint created by those trucks, those boats and those railway trains? There is one hell of a lot of oil to move, and a long way to move it, and these guys chugging along, farting black every inch of the way seems a bit… counterproductive to the cause.

Politicians and oil companies, what about you? *sigh* Yes, I lumped you together. Why not? One is in the pocket of the other, so what the fuck. Let’s just call it like it is. What’s with this crap about threatening people so they get off their land and give you access? What sort of fucking bullshit is that? What gives you the right to not give fair dollar and work in good faith on this? Is it just because, when you start to work in oil, you become a colossal dickhead? You are so greased up, your head lives up your ass? Get a fucking life! The path you chose for the Keystone is asinine, and you know and you knew it even before you started going in there like fucking schoolyard bullies. The people down there have a right to be pissed. Is it really so hard to do something ethically? Really?

So, here is where the logic kicks in… for some of us maybe. It makes sense to move the oil by pipeline, but ONLY if the pipeline is incredibly well maintained. It will be cheaper, over time, to not have trucks hauling it, so yes, the pipeline makes sense. It also is reasonable to say that there is no way to get a pipeline across a fucking continent, or across a continental divide, without disrupting very sensitive environmental areas. The pipeline should not ever cross migratory paths without some compensation being made to the species… bridges, pathways, something to allow them to do what the good lord intended them to do in order to survive. It should not go over aquifers that would destroy water tables for thousands of people and animals, and it should be on land that is fairly purchased by the oil company, with deals that don’t consistently fuck the real land owners. I realize that one is a reach, but it is possible, if the fucking politicians would hold these assholes to task.

But in order for this to work, why not do it to everyone’s advantage. The land owners make a fair dollar for their land. The oil company gets their pipeline… and the environmentalists? Yes, they too can win, and not just by having fewer trucks and trains out there moving this shit. They need to hold the politicians accountable as well, setting up a program that allows for joint programs (government/private) to consistently patrol, protect and nurture the land around the pipeline. It could, conceivably, become the cleanest, safest, most naturally abundant area in the world with some cooperation and compromise. It would help the economy by creating jobs that could not be farmed out to foreign slave workers, and could be done in conjunction with efforts to refining more sources of fuels that are with not run out and will be less harmful to everyone. It will also, perhaps, lessen the need to frack. Sorry, but that process is just fucking wrong and it has way more potential to do way more fucking damage to everyone than anything else the damned oil companies can come up with.

So there you go – a win/win/win/win, but it requires cooperation and acceptance of some truths, which probably means it won’t ever happen. Although, for someone looking to get re-elected, it might be a handy thought, President Obama?

DATELINE: IN THE CRAPPER, FLUSHING IT DOWN

So, it’s come to this: comedian Stephen Colbert coyly almost announcing his candidacy for the GOP South Carolina primary. What a sad fucking day – but not for the reasons you think.

How did this almost soon-to-be maybe announcement come about? Because five percent of people in South Carolina who were asked about their choices in the primary indicated to pollsters they would vote for Stephen Colbert – so why shouldn’t he throw his hat into the ring. Anyone else would. The sad part of this is that it shows, without doubt, the mockery that the political system has become. It shows the frustration of the electorate, and it shows (no offense, Stephen) that any ass is a welcome part of that system. It shows that too many people don’t take some very serious situations seriously at all.

Yes, Colbert and Stewart have brought attention to the stupidity of the system and the people who are part of it. They have, in essence,proven the hypothesis that politicians take care of themselves first, last and always. Their experiment has removed any doubt that the system now is so corrupt it is virtually impossible to take it seriously. That whole PAC crap about advertising money and the candidate having nothing to do with it? Oh please, there is NO ONE who doesn’t know that Gingrinch and Romney have everything to do with them… because that is the way governments now work. They don’t worry about morals or ethics anymore, especially when it comes to getting a chance to sit behind that fucking fancy desk in the Oval Office. These guys would even eat their young, for fuck sake, if it meant one more vote in a swing state.

‘But Bambi, you’re a Canadian. Why do you give a shit anyways?’ Good question. There are several reasons. The first is that whatever the most powerful country in the world does, it has an impact on every other country, and the closer you are to the US, the more it affects you. The second is that, we are really really close neighbors, and when your asshole leader lets his ego gets in the way, and the bombs start falling, we are right in the middle of the firing range, much to close for comfort. The third is that,whether right or wrong, we are sort of like the US’s adoring little brother,looking up to him, following his lead, emulating what he does… and I do NOT want Canada to be like that ever (although already, as kids are wont to do as they age, we are quickly catching up and becoming more and more like you every day). The fourth reason is because we have to watch all of your political bullshit and ads every time we turn on our fucking sets, and you know, you guys are in Perpetual Election Mode down there now. The minute the votes are counted, you are off and running again, making sure that you win the next one four years later. You are so fucking busy running for election that you have no time or interest in actually running the country.

The even sadder part of this is that you have an incredible system offered to you by some incredibly smart people, who were not looking to line their pockets and have unmitigated power and authority over the whole land. Those people were more concerned about freedom, equality, creating a land where EVERYONE had a chance to live their dreams (not just the top 1%). Once that plan was in place, a plan that the rest of the world looked at in awe and wondered if they should ever dare to dream of some plan for their own countries that offered the same great gifts, it became time to fight for it, and fight they did. They all put their lives on the line, and men and women have been proudly doing the same ever since. They never looked for a fucking loophole to garner them more favor and give them one more vote over the other guy; they were too busy crouching in fox holes under barrages of artillery fire, and watching, horrified, while their buddies had their arms, legs, heads blown off.

I hear people saying there is no point in voting, what difference does it make? They are all corrupt, they lie to get into office. I am not arguing any of that. What I am arguing is that apathy is the most powerful weapon in these candidates arsenal. By not voting, we allow them to do what they want. By not voting, we say it’s okay to do what they are doing. Yes, the system needs change, and it needs it right now, but the system is not going to change it, and the politicians are not going to change it. The people are the ones to do that. You don’t have to don a uniform, pick up a gun and crouch in a fox hole while shitting your pants in fear; but you do have to stand up and be counted, and really, that’s not a lot to ask, is it? You want to see changes, hold these assholes accountable. There isn’t a candidate that wholly appeals to you? Then find one, and ask them to run. There are a lot of smart,honest, principled, hard-working people out there – so find one. If you have to ‘settle’ on a candidate, then when he is elected, hold him to account, write letters, and make a stand. If you are asked to make a political contribution, say no because you don’t like the tactics. You don’t want someone to buy their way into the White House, then don’t give them money – which means don’t give the money to those companies who do support them. If you know that someone is sponsoring a crooked candidate, contact them and say you won’t purchase their crap anymore. Tired of the mudslinging bullshit ads? Phone the television stations and say ‘Enough! I am changing the channel because this is bullshit.’ If the 40% of the population who does not vote did these things, did something more than bitch from their armchair, the system would change. It would be held to account, and it would be because you stood up. Until then, I guess we sit back and watch more people make a mockery of a system that is already sadly, dangerously not more than a daily joke.

So, Colbert MIGHT run. I am not going out on a limb to say that his ideas could not be any more dumbass than the ones being floated by the 'traditional' candidates, his past could not be more smarmy than theirs, he could never be even close to them on the hypocrisy chart, so maybe this is a blessing. Maybe he is meant to be 'the chosen one', Anderson Cooper and his Ridiculist be damned! If Colbert manages to sweep the Carolinas and goes on to take Washington, though, it’s to be hoped that Jon Stewart could be his vice president, and become the first VPOTUS to have his face on paper money. If I had dollar bills with Jon Stewart’s face on them, I would save those puppies, glue them up on the bedroom ceiling, and have a couple in my hip pocket just to take out and lick throughout the day, then lovingly slide them back where they belong. It would create a whole new, much more palatable economic crisis.