Hope

I was very young when I learned religion was a tool used to organize and manipulate people. I also noticed thinking was portrayed in popular culture as the pastime of social misfits.

The image of television’s A Team comes to mind. There were three heroes; the swashbuckling leading man, the brutish, mohawked, bling clad black giant, and the little broken glasses wearing, pocket pencil protected, skinny little guy with bad hair (the nerd). He was the smart one that always got them out of trouble. He was also the comic relief.

I realize these were icons of the disco, cocaine sniffing, Me generation. That whole trip did eventually go out of fashion, but these characters are still used to play on the instincts of a gullible American consumer public.

The bad guys have gotten much more sophisticated and the numbers of people who find it too taxing to think have grown exponentially.

History is rewritten every time someone uses it to sell a point of view and our press won’t call them on it. I wonder if maybe they’re so entrenched in it they’ve become accomplices.

People are proud to admit they have a point of view even when they won’t do any background research. I am personally embarrassed when I’m not well informed about an important issue.

I was pointing out, what seem to be, irrational elements of Christianity to a friend of mine. She angrily snapped back, “Why do you think they call it faith?” There will be no discussion of time honored beliefs.

I’ve been criticized for my lack of values. Providing shelter and stability for my family and me should be the only important pursuits in life. Everything else is selfish.

Life really is short. It sounds petty, but we should follow our dreams (....long as you don’t hurt me or some other innocent person). We have to push past survival and make something of our little bit of time.

Just when I'm in totally despairing the hopelessness of the human cause, I take a look around me. Most people are just noise but there have been incredible achievements.

Just a tiny fraction of the population has surrounded us with incredible technology, art, philosophy and compassion. It’s here for all of us.

Don’t let the fear mongers scare you with words like SOCIALISM. The National Socialist Party were not socialists! The Union of Soviet Socialist Republic were not a real republic. True democracy would be mob rule and every culture that called themselves a democracy had a ruling elite, usually with slaves.

I’m rambling as usual and I might seem to be contradicting myself but we need to take back the word social. We are a week species and we never would have survived our early years if we didn’t band together to defend ourselves and to hunt. We are like dogs in that respect. We need each other but we have to think for ourselves.

We have to foster a society where thinking is hip.

Reason

Democrats have been a big disappointment to me lately. We have a chance to fix a lot of problems but we’re blowing it.

So many of our “representatives” have their hands in the pockets of big money. It amazes me that the right has been able to put the socialism spin on anything for “the people”. I can’t understand why the Fascism that’s being pushed isn’t exposed.

The Blue Dogs are killing anything constructive. The weak and even bad policies they are compromising with are just going to allow the right to say, “see, told you it wouldn’t work.”

I don’t really have to be specific, it’s in almost every issue. I think we got more done when the right was in power. Even though we have to suffer through unprovoked wars, the mentally ill put out in the streets, greed run rampant, a destroyed economy, and a scorched earth. It’s easy to point out evil when your nose is shoved in it.

It’s hard to be rational. Why is reason so elusive?

The left has to learn how advertising works. We have to accept that people’s opinions have to be manipulated if we want a better world. I’m joking of course. These people obviously don’t want a better world.

I know I’m ranting. I was at a great party last night. I do my best not to bring up religion or politics but everyone insisted. No two people thought anyone else had a clue what political reality was. Somehow we were all rational and enjoyed each other’s company.

I guess it can be done.

Feet To The Fire!

It’s hard not to be disappointed with the American Press. They’re supposed to hold people in power’s feet to the fire. They’ve gotten as lame as the Democrats.

Every time I hear someone state how successful Bush’s “Surge” was and I don’t hear the reporters calling them on it makes me want to scream.

The objectives were to leave breathing room for the Iraqis to figure out how the three sides could share power, share the oil, and live in peace. None of these things have happened and the Shia, who are the majority, seem to have no intention of sharing anything with the Kurds and Sunnis.

Violence slowed with the Sunni awakening. We were paying them to stop fighting us. It seemed to be working but the minute we handed that situation over to the Shia, they stopped paying, wouldn’t put them in positions of power and violence is on the rise.

Republicans come up with distractions like the Acorn scandal. It’s really sad because Acorn has done a lot of good, but there are going to be problems when you’re dealing with the poor and the ignorant. Real people are messy and there was definitely stupidity there.

If you want real scandal you can sink your teeth into look at Blackwater. Infinitely more corrupt. Check out Naomi Klein’s book The Shock Doctrine.

The press is our only hope against an irrational world but most of them seem too cowardly to call out the spin doctors. And you know how I feel about the reliability of public opinion.

One More Hurdle

The health care debate has passed one more hurdle. It got past the blue dogs in the Senate. The rest of the civilized world is scratching their heads wondering why the largest economy in the world doesn’t have single payer-not for profit heath care.

The employer based system we have started during World War II. The government was trying to keep inflation in check and put caps on workers’ salaries. Employers got creative and found other incentives.

Now we expect them to provide our health care. This is an enormous burden for them and is one of the main reasons companies move to other countries.

It’s also why I have to turn jobs I really want down. I’ve been offered good salaried jobs by UPS and Fed Ex but they only hire part time to avoid paying benefits. I can’t feed my family on the income from a part time job.

Okay, we’re so entrenched in a corrupt medical industrial complex that the compromise “Public Option” was introduced. We all need to be covered for a rational system to work and obviously some of us won’t be able to afford it so there you go.

The public option has not only gotten so watered down it won’t work, but it will probably drive the cost up. Allowing states to “opt out” defeats the whole purpose. And I know the red neck state I live in won’t participate.

If this stupid version of health care reform passes it will hurt all of us and the obstructionists will say, “See, told ya so!”

The blue dogs have a chance to really affect positive change in the American quality of life. The fear campaign leveled by the right has gotten to their constituents and the American attention span has never been strong. Politicians care more about being reelected than making a difference.

We are all subjects of a corporate oligarchy and I’m growing too tired to fight back.

Marching For The Lord

I drove by Planned Parenthood the other day. The usual group of protesters were marching with their “Pray To End Abortions” signs and bloody fetus photos. I am often compelled to ask them if they teach contraception. If they don’t, they’re part of the reason abortions happen.

I’m compelled but I don’t. These people scare me. Remember the good Reverend Donald Spitz commenting on my vegetarian post? He was appalled that I would consider abortion clinic bombers anywhere near as evil as The PETA twits that throw paint on fur coats. He asked me to bow and pray with him to ask the Lord’s forgiveness.

My friend ‘Drea had her car keyed. Someone ran a long scratch down the length of her car because she had a bumper sticker that read “It’s a Choice, Not a Child.”

Pro Choice advocates don’t act this way. Rational people don’t act this way!

If your dogma doesn’t allow you to consider the termination of life before consciousness or the ability to experience pain just remember, it’s none of your Damn business!

No one wants abortions to happen. Let’s get real about education and maybe we can actually bring the numbers down.

If you want to end abortions, you should support Planned Parenthood.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/abo_viol.htm

Thou Shalt Not Want

Kiss My Bling!

More on Health

Republicans' fix for our broken healthcare system seems to boil down to tort reform and allowing us to shop for insurance across state lines.

I agree we need a system that ignores state boundaries but if you if you apply that to our current system you get young people trying to get away from a pool of folks that include the elderly and people with pre-existing conditions. This of course would lead to higher costs in those areas.

As for tort reform, it’s in place in Missouri already. It has lowered insurance costs for doctors by a third. It hasn’t had any effect on our premiums at all. If you’re permanently crippled by medical negligence you’re only allowed $300,000 in this state.

Malpractice suits only add 1 ½ percent to the cost of insurance in the most inflated studies.

It reminds me of climate change deniers that claim global warming is controversial because 1 ½ percent of people watching it aren’t convinced. Most of these “experts” aren’t even saying it’s not happening, they’re saying they’re just not convinced.

Recent polls show Americans are beginning to believe human influenced climate change may not be real. It’s pathetic and we should all be ashamed of ourselves for letting this happen.

As far as health care costs go, we need to put doctors on salary, have “not for profit health insurance (like the rest of the civilized world), drug companies have to stop creating new drugs just to take the place of the old ones whose patents have expired, and focus on preventative health care. You know, like educating people about nutrition and stopping the subsidies of crap crops like corn.

We need to feed cows grass. They would die from malnutrition if they weren’t fed vitamin suppliments. Corn is only good for Fritos and popcorn. It’s a stupid source for bio fuel that leaves as big a carbon footprint as oil and the politicians all know it.

I’m on a rant now. I hate the Democrats as much as the Republicans. They’re cowards with their hands in the pockets of big money. The republicans, at least, aren’t cowards. They unashamedly lie and steal.