The Price of Government for the People.

It is time to pay.  Pay your fair share.  Would I like low taxes?  Yes.  Would I like low taxes at the expense of our government not being able to function?  No.  I'm willing to pay for competent government.  

You, dear American reader, and I have made a deal to live together in relative harmony for the better.  It is up to us to create the peace to enable us to survive together.  That is the point of us creating this nation.  To enhance our ability to survive by banding together to form a more perfect union, in order to suffer less, and live more.  Sometimes, this takes money.

I want the same government that administers Medicare to be in charge of a national healthcare program.  I want the same government that allowed the banks to gamble away obscene amounts of money, to administer the national stimulus package.  I want the same government that tortures people to oversee the proceedings that bring torture to an end.  I want those who bombed and killed and broke the dignity and hope of millions of people, to lead the way in restoring the health and well being of those people and the families of those people.  Why?  I am that government.  You are that government.  Together, we can make positive changes in OUR government.

At the very least, be prepared to get out your checkbook.  Better yet, get out there and create the changes you want to see in your community.  There is a lot of work to be done.  We have left too much to the charlatans.  It's time to get to work and lift ourselves, and the world, up.

See you on the front lines.

Leaders in a Free World

Obama doesn't have the leadership experience.  McCain has leadership experience from being in the Navy.  McCain has Navy experience, but it doesn't matter.  Obama has experience in...AW!  Who the hell cares!

This is the United States of America!  We do not have "leaders".  We have individuals that represent the will of their constituents.  Politicians do not tell us what to do, we tell them.  I cannot believe the constant "Leadership" rhetoric.  

If the President of the United States told me to move out of the way, I wouldn't.  Why?  Because he does not have the right to make such a request, unless I was breaking the law.  The President is the chief law enforcement officer in our country, not the king.

What does that mean?  It means he is there to enforce the law.  He cannot create laws (unless it's a real good signing statement).  The President cannot operate outside of the law.  Which has me very disturbed.  How can Barak Obama say the the FISA compromise puts the issue to bed.  That, with this compromise, it will be clear that the President cannot operate a wire-tapping operation without the FISA courts being involved?  WTF?

Wire-tapping is illegal.  No compromise needed.  The President has been quoted saying a court order is required for domestic spying.  So why the big fuss?  Just bring his ass up on charges for breaking the law and move on!  Oh Yeah!  It's an election year and we must get as many Democrats in office as possible.  So they cannot look weak on defense.

Since when is defending our Constitutional rights weak?  

Vive la Résistance!

Here we go again! The House leadership has revived the dead corpse of immunity for the telecom companies. I’m going on a trip with this one.

Imagine zombies are trying to take over your house. You’re surrounded and have managed to secure all the windows and doors. You and your compatriots are feeling pretty safe. Then, tragedy strikes. A zombie slouches his way into the room and takes your friends arm for a snack on the run. Everyone pitches in and dispatches the zombie, then the poor armless one for the greater good.

Safe again. But wait! Another zombie picks off another loved one. What the hell is happening here? After the battle and the tears, you realize Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are among the survivors in your “secure” home. They keep letting the damn zombies in to try and negotiate with them. Why? No one really knows except Nancy, Harry, and maybe the zombies.

Really! Is anyone else getting tired of this? Nancy will not impeach on overwhelming evidence that W shit on the Constitution. Harry Reid needs a backbone implant. Would someone please tell them they control the agenda? These Constitution shredding bills do not have to come up for a vote! If W and Dearth Cheney can run out the clock, so can the Democrats.

Call your congressperson. Now. Tell them to vote “NO!” on the bipartisan FISA “compromise”. It’s funny. They take away our constitutional rights and call it bipartisanship. It’s nice to know there are traitors on both sides.

Fossilized Remains

1) The Easter bunny leaves everyone Easter eggs.  2) Climate Change is a fallacy perpetuated by scientists that have a natural aversion to the economy.  3) Santa Claus slides down the chimneys of good boys and girls.  4) Storks bring newborn babes to waiting parents.  5) Hydrogen fuel cells will allow us to be as lazy and ignorant as we are now.  6) The tooth fairy will leave you money for your tooth, if you put it under a pillow.  7) The oil will eventually run out, so plan now.

I know it's hard to believe, but only two of the above statements are true.  Can you guess which ones?  Maybe after reading the following blog, you will guess correctly.

Fossil fuels suck.  It has been the equivalent of feeding cocaine to the masses.  I used to love fossil fuels.  Back in my happy ignorance, driving around in my gas-guzzling hot rod, burning up sets of tires was a favorite pastime.  Ah!  The halcyon days of the early nineties.  Of course, that was before I cared about melting ice caps, massive droughts, and an unimaginable extinction of various life forms not seen since Homo-sapiens began using tupperware.

Back in the day, I was happily blind to the seriousness of the problem.  I even believed that we, as  a united people, would find a way to come together and change our reliance on fossil fuels to power the salt-water taffy machine.  Being an ignoramus really is bliss.  Hell, I even believed Israel and Palestine were going to play nice in the nineties.  Silly me.

So.  "Global Warming" is still under debate.  Whatever.  Even if the issue cannot be settled by the great brain-stems of our time, does it matter?  I mean, look at the price for this shit.  $4.59 a gallon down the street at the friendly cocaine-for-the-masses station.  I'm not independently wealthy like the rest of the world, so this is starting to hurt...a lot.

I learned in the education system/baby-sitter that there was a leader named Geeem-E Car-tr.  At least that's what I remember.  I think his brother brewed beer in the bed of a pickup truck.  Anyway, he had all these crazy ideas about energy that lead him to climb up on the roof of the White House and install solar panels!  What a kook.  I mean, using all that free energy falling from the sky.  Why the hell would anyone want to do that when we could pump liquid gold right from under the Middle East, ship it around the world, then burn it for kicks.  That guy should have been committed.  Instead they gave him a Nobel Peace Prize.  Sometimes there is no justice.  

That god the Great Discombobulator had enough sense to take those panels off the White House before the citizens got any funny ideas of "Energy Independence".  We really dodged a bullet on that one.

Ok.  I'm going to get serious for a minute.  Why aren't there solar panels on every house, building, and parking lot.  I mean, I love parking in the shade on a hot summer day.  Why not catch some of that free energy and keep my car cool at the same time.  I wouldn't doubt if more energy falls on my poor car every year than I use driving my fat ass around in it...with the air-conditioning working at capacity (Is it getting warmer?).

Honestly, just think if we would have taken energy independence seriously.  The world would have been a better place today if our ancestors had looked to the future, instead of selling out, and filling the place with shit.

That brings us to this point in history.  It's kinda easy to place the blame on the past, but I don't want to be that asshole that refused to make changes in the face of serious trouble looming on the horizon (long sentence, sorry!).  Every day is a chance to make positive changes.  Let's act and start putting those solar panels up wherever we can.  I'll start by putting the nice shady one over my car.  I'll even share the energy with you.  We can build a real future based on "renewable" sources of energy.  

Cut the oil and gas subsidies.  Would you subsidize a deck-chair manufacturer on the Titanic?  No.  Stop being lazy and make the change.  If we all come together and do this, then I can prove to myself that I wasn't being naive.  Isn't that worth it?

By the way, here is the answer to the first question I posed:

1) The Easter Bunny is a myth the Easter Eggs you find every year are left by relatives with nothing better to do but mess with your head.

2) Climate Change is real.  Stop listening to Sean Hannity.

3) Santa is also a myth.  If you hear someone sliding down your chinmey, call the cops.  It may be a Chupacabra.

4) Storks have enough to worry about with Climate Change, much less delivering newborns.  Take a high school sex-education course.  You may learn something.

5) Hydrogen fuel cells can allow us to be as lazy and ignorant as we are now,  Only if we use them as an energy storage/conversion device powered by solar/wind energy.  Otherwise, were burning fossil fuels to make hydrogen.  Not smart.

6) The Tooth Fairy.  If you put your tooth under the pillow, get your head checked.  If you find money under there, invest in security upgrades for your room.

7)  Ok.  So there was only one really true answer, but number five was kinda true...with conditions.  Hey!  I don't make this stuff up.  Oh, Wait.  I do.  Carry on, nothing to see here.

Species Identification: The Circovicwestian

This creature sports a seemingly non-conformist chic that is -
seemingly, upon further inspection - a conformist combo of punk, wild
west, and victorian posh. Think ripped fishnets, velvet jackets,
cleavage, and cobalt blue hair. There also seems to be an endless
supply of striped socks involved. They move about the various bay
area events where fire art and circus athletics mix to showcase their
non-traditional fine and physical arts. I find them fascinating and
at the same time cliquish and elitist. The appear to be highly tribal
and are almost never seen outside of their familial groupings.

Scientists believe this is an evolved species, having started off many
years ago more Mad Max than Deadwood. They wander around the
Crucible, Maker Faire and Burning Man, and haunt various Oakland and
San Francisco warehouses with their endless supply of lace, black
leather boots, and dreads - listening to music that few homo sapiens
have heard. It is believed that they have a minimal need for food
and sleep as a result of the regular ingestion of chemicals that
provide non-food based stimulation.

The result is that very few of them can be classified as portly or
larger. Quite often the CVW conform to the subjective standards of
homo sapien attractiveness. They have, by no means, evolved from the
underdog, loser, nerd, or dorky classes. They are perhaps the result
of past, unacknowledged, secret, and furtive mating rituals of
inquisitive cheerleaders, with the burn-outs that had the great
hair. Or perhaps a blend of the beauty queen and the tragic, yet
beautiful rock star.

Skynet

September 11th changed everything.  It ushered in a new era of useless security protocol.  I'm in the airport today.  Standing next to the large trash container full of "hazardous" liquids that must be discarded before people can make it through the security line.  That makes me feel safe.

If we are worried about liquids being smuggled onto a plane to create an explosive, why would they allow these potentially lethal items to remain next to the security area?  Most of the time they are piled high in small trash cans, mere inches away from hundreds of passengers.  I think if this was a real threat, a Hazmat team should be carting away each bottle.

That brings up another question.  Are people that uninformed that they do not know the requirements for running the security gauntlet?  Come on!  You know there are no liquids allowed.  Yes, it applies to the 64oz. drink you must finish before the next overflowing trash can full of death.

Speaking of death, if my plane comes down because of the trusting TSA agent that allowed a passenger a bottle of cologne, I'll refuse to post any more blogs!  Unless I survive.  What good is a policy if you can talk your way out of relinquishing your liquids.  Yes, it is a bottle of expensive cologne.  Yes, there is only a quarter of it left.  I understand it's not in a plastic bag as required, but you look like an agent with strong character and good moral judgement.  (Implied) I'm a middle-aged white guy with my wife.  Really, do I really look like a terrorist?

It's all show and bullshit.  We have to practically strip to get on a sardine can with crappy food you have the privilege to buy during the trip.  It's coercion.  The security apparatus has got us all trained, so it will be that much easier to corral everyone when state of emergency is declared and the fascists finally ship democracy off to Guantanamo.

Whoa!  I think my tin-foil hat just exploded.  Well, I'll add that to the list of prohibited items while traveling.

Shut 'er Down

Independent truck drivers went "on strike" the other day. Did you notice? They can no longer afford to haul freight. Yet another example of Capitalism at its finest.

The independent truck drivers should not be striking against high fuel prices. They should be striking for fair compensation for the services they provide.

Way back in my trucking days, it took months for a fuel surcharge to make it through the freight companies to the independents. The company would let you bleed a little before they adjusted the compensation for the increase in fuel cost. It's good business.

Here are my recommendations for the independent truck drivers of America:

1. Park your trucks until the surcharges are guaranteed. I think America would come to a grinding halt within the week.
2. Demand fuel-efficient, hybrid trucks. The technology is already here. Instead of having Congress cut the fuel tax, have them fund a clean truck exchange. We'll all be better for it.
3. Band together and form some kind of organization ... What did they call those things ... Union! That was it! A Union! If only there was one of those still around ... dedicated to people in transportation. Yeah, I know the Teamsters are there. You should join. And if you don't like the way it's run, change it. When your a member, you can do stuff like that.
4. Lobby to get rid of NAFTA. Foreign trucks only dilute the potential power of the truck drivers. It has nothing to do with immigration, or hating on Mexico or Canada. It has everything to do with corporations exploiting and devaluing labor.

Well that was short and sweet. Now that my advice is out there, I can sit back and watch the world become a better place.