The Problem with Teaching Religion in Public Schools; And Further More!

Texas is revisiting an old issue. Its so old that I just roll my eyes looking at this shit. Because what its going to come down to, is costing tax payers dollars when this hits the courts.

Apparently some people in Texas believe that kids need to be taught how much religion influenced the formation of our country and its government.

"The foremost problem that I see is that there is not nearly enough emphasis or credit given to the biblical motivations of America's settlers and founders," Evangelical minister Peter Marshall, the president of the Massachusetts-based Peter Marshall Ministries and one of the experts on the panel, told ABCNews.com.

Pardon me Mr Marshall, but I will never forget having to read about Calvin and his angry God and using that to contextualize attitudes in some of the founding colonies of this country.

It appears that Peter Marshall sells Homeschool Curricula that is Christo-centric, but no longer is this good enough. He now wants to impose his unique curricula on everyone else through public schools. One has to wonder will Marshal profit from this? Is he setting himself up for a sweet heart deal with ole' Texas?

Peter Marshall's attitudes are not new nor isolated. All one has to do is think back to the Stealth Campaigns of the 1980s which oddly enough corresponded with the founding and promotion of the agenda of the Moral Majority.

Having seen similar attacks on Public Schools for the past 15 years, I can honestly say I know this song and dance number quite well though I must admit that this is first time I have seen Homeschool curriculum applied in this manner.

Peter Marshall isn't asking for fair and balanced coverage of religion in general, and how it influenced early colonists. He is asking for Texas Public Schools to promote the Psuedo History that we know so well, a history that is promoted by people who like to invoke the Mythos of our White, Christian, Founding Fathers. This is all about Mental Conditioning. Basically using our Public Schools as Reprogramming Centers, and potentially as a means of furthering his own financial interests as a writer of curriculum. Even if Texas doesn't buy his curriculum, if he has a hand in rewriting that material, it will be a tremendous feather in his cap and a potential selling point for his homeschool material through what would basically amount to free advertisement of his homeschool curriculum and his ministries.

I wonder if he also sells refridgerators to Eskimos?

Anyhow, Such battles back and forth over the role of religion [read Christianity--exclusively] have severely weakened our Public Schools, they have been turned to political mush, and they are ripe for the picking within some red states. Texas being one of several. Administrators and Teachers are often too frightened to tackle any religious issue in school, unless of course it deals with singling out unpopular minority kids. Why? Because they don't have the ACLJ jumping on the administration everytime someone farts in class.

Peter Marshall states:

"You never read about how the founding fathers were nearly all Christian believers and that it is their biblical world view that shaped the way they thought and achieved what they did," he said.ABC News

This is utter bullshit of course. Refer to Calvin Statement above for starters. Marshall has also forgotten about school children reading the Scarlet Letter. I realize that probably hits a little too close to home for these guys, but there it is.

I cannot tell you how many times I had to read about the culture of Pilgrims. Or why the Great Schism was important, or even how it was that the Monarchs of England became defacto defenders of the faith when they broke away from the Catholic Church, but I digress.

Some of our founding figures were not Religious at all, or at least not a kind of Christian that Marshall would find acceptable. But then historical fact wouldnt matter to one so wrapped up in that Cultic Milieu of Christian Supremacist Psuedo-Theology.

AND Because these men and women are dead [those lionized leaders of the past], Marshall can prop up their facades to make them say whatever suits Marshall's agenda at the time. Dead Saints, Heroes, and leaders are convenient that way you know. But wait, Marshall has a partner in crime. David Barton.

David Barton, president of the Texas-based Christian heritage advocacy group WallBuilders, is another expert on the panel who would like to see changes made to the school curriculum. ABC News

What I don't understand is why they are calling Barton an Expert? According to Positive Atheism:

"Christian nation" propagandist David Barton has issued a statement conceding that the following twelve quotations attributed to prominent historical figures are either false or at best questionable. WallBuilders' observations about the quotes are in parenthesis."

You can click on the hyperlink and scroll down to "David Barton's Questionable Quotes."

Needless to say it reads like Sally Kern's Morality Proclamation in OKC. In fact I would be willing to bet she ordered Barton's book from Liberty University herself.

Barton's scholarship had been initially called into question by a Professor Emeritus at the University of Richmond, a man who is also an author, and a scholar on James Madison. James Madison, being the source of the alleged quote in question. Dr Robert S. Alley was bothered by some quotes that seemed inconsistent with his knowledge of this illustrious founding father, so he did some digging on the questionable quote below that is attributed by David Barton to James Madison.

"We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God."

The quote was fictional. It did not exist even in part, in any of Madison's papers. Dr Alley wrote: James Madison on Religious Liberty.

The Positive Atheism article, Consumer Alert, Wallbuilder's Shoddy Workmanship by Rob Boston, went on to state:

Now the major purveyor of the quote, Texas-based Religious Right propagandist David Barton, has admitted it's bogus. Last year Barton's group, WallBuilders' issued a one-page document titled "Questionable Quotes," a list of 12 statements allegedly uttered by Founding Fathers and other prominent historical figures, that are now considered to be suspect or outright false. Madison's alleged comment about the Ten Commandments is number four on the list and is flatly declared by Barton to be "false." (See [below] for a full list of the bogus quotes.)Advocates of separation of church and state were left breathless over Barton's audacity. For nearly 10 years, the Texas propagandist has traveled the country, putting on programs about America's alleged "Christian heritage" at fundamentalist churches and other venues. During these events, Barton argued that the separation of church and state is a myth foisted on the country by the Supreme Court 50 years ago. The United States, he insisted, was founded by Christians and was intended to be a fundamentalist-style "Christian nation."

Basically what we are looking at is a naked assault on Social Studies, History and Civics classes in Texas Public Schools. And considering that Texas has an enormous school system, this could become a precedent for others to launch similar attacks in other state school systems across the country.

The sheer size of states like Texas and California, in terms of school children, means that changes in one of the states' curriculum could affect the rest of the country, Prothero said. "The main textbook publishers have to be attentive to these states' standards because if they produce textbooks that don't meet the guidelines, they won't be issued," Prothero said. "So the states with the largest number of textbook buyers tend to have the most clout. ABC News

By all accounts we could make our next generations of children dumber than the most ridiculous guests on the Jerry Springer Show. I say that because in all honesty, the individuals I encounter online and in the real world, who use these and similar faux history to shore up their rather interesting take on politics and religion, are often quite frankly, Slack Jawed yocals, and when I look at them, I find it hard to believe they could qualify for a driver's liscense or even read a McDonald's Menu [with pictures].

Barton argues that in order for fifth-grade students to fully understand how the American government was formed, they must also understand that it was rooted in religion. ABC News

really? You mean those weeks we spent reading about the Rule of Divine Right, and how Monarchies in other countries were all based on that concept of Divine Right, and how that concept helped create the aristocracy, and how that aristocracy in turn lead to slavery and serfdom, and feudal insanity, and how, finally, our "Founding Fathers" wrote a document to break away from that paradigm and instead opted for a country that operated on the consent of the governed, where merit was supposed to be more important than accident of birth or alleged divine bloodlines?

"Students must also understand the framers' very explicit (and very frequent) definition of inalienable rights as being those rights given by God," Barton wrote. ABC News

This is code for, and if you are not a Christian or the right kind of Christian, these rights are not for you. I have some first hand experience with this one.

Marshall said, "If you're going to properly teach American history, you need to teach the Christian world view motivation of the people who made the history." Quinn said a similar dichotomy formed last year when the Texas Board of Education reviewed the science curriculum. A different group of conservatives was largely unsuccessful in getting creationism discussed in textbooks, he said. ABC News

Creationists and FoundingFather-ists are like the birthers of our Public School System.

The root of this problem is that there are certain Christians who resent the fact that other religions and cultures share the stage with them. That Christianity no longer warrants automatic supremacy or correctitude just by being there. And now, this is but one of several underhanded attempts to win that top tier position back. Apparently they never read the rhyme of Humpty Dumpty.

My personal experiences with Public Schools shows a preponderance of Christian Wackiness that passes for curriculum, as well as social pressures instituted by Administrators, teachers and other students. I can honestly say, that I heard more about Armageddon and the Rapture in public school than I ever did in years of Church Going. And the sources? Teachers.

My observations have indicated to me, that nothing much has changed. The situation has become more volatile, and so I took action.

I homeschool my kids so that we can read the best material on Science, on History, on Civics, and other subjects. I avoid material that is watered down with religious nuttiness like the curriculum offered by Barton and Marshall.

Religion is not the enemy, but fanatics are not welcome in my home or curriculum. Christian's aren't the only ones who can filter the material their children are exposed to.

Church belongs in Church.
Logic and Reason belong in school.

Case in point:

If one were to read the Bible itself as a political document, that changes the entire context of that book and its applications. The science that I associate the Bible with is Archaeology, which leads us into studying not only the Ancient Hebews and the Hyskos, but the neighboring tribes and city states in the fertile crescent. Many of whom, including the early Hebrews, who were not even monotheists. [gasp!]

We will have to compare the Epic of Gilgamesh to the Flood in the Old Testament. The Egyptian folktale, A Tale of Two Brothers to the OT Joseph for starters.

Will we also be reading Elizabeth Cady Stanton's Women's Bible and comparing that to the Jefferson Bible as opposed to the Zondervan KJV?

I personally cannot wait til we study why ancient Hebrew people likened the uncleanliness of a menstruating woman to that of a person with the Clap, and why they were not allowed to approach an altar.

So Marshall, Barton, you can hire me to teach the bible, I guarantee I could do it right and that you would be profoundly unhappy and decide that perhaps the Bible isn't the best document to promote your Christian Supremacist Agenda.

Its people like you who make me thank Jesus everyday that I am not a Christian.

New demotivational posters for your use and enjoyment:

Way to Sell us and our healthcare all down the river Blue Dogs! You rock!

The Young Turks on the Health Care Reform

I really wish that someone other than tin foil hat crazies would address this issue of holding the reform hostage with Abortion and how that is indeed Ye Olde Divide and Conquer tactic.

Pitting men and against women for healthcare reform, as well as dividing people down party line and down religious lines.

Anyhow check this out. I ran across this, initially posted on Contextual Criticism. They always have something interesting at that blog. You can check them out by clicking on my blog roll. And I would love to see a clip of that Jim Inhofe Quote mentioned in the video below. If anyone sees it floating around post the hyperlink on the comment section.

When Abortion is the Subject, Everyday is Opposite Day.

While scanning the news at Yahoo, I found this story:

Abortion Coverage Threatens to Derail Health Care Reform.

I would just like to point out to the Journalist and Editor in Question:

Dont you mean that Conservative Troglodytes hold Health Care Reform Hostage over Abortion Issue?

Just saying.

While abortion coverage isn't currently mentioned in the health reform legislation, it threatens to derail President Obama's health reform efforts. A group of conservative Democrats in the House have vowed not to vote for any bill that doesn't include explicit language banning the use of federal funds for abortion. They, as well as most Republicans, charge that abortions will otherwise increase if more women have insurance coverage that pays for the procedure.

Let Me Guess, More "Centrist" antics by DixieCrat Pieces of Shit, who should have switched over parties during the Carter Administration? Well the story makes some excellent points. Seems there are lots of Religionists out there who adhere to a variety of Faiths who could object to lots of treatments. Abortion being the hot ticket item, contraception, Invitro Fertilization, --my personal favorite--Pap Smears for Single Females---Psychiatric drugs, and hey why stop there, why even treat Gay People or Single Women for HIV or AIDS? You do notice that a very large percentage of these treatments are for WOMEN!

Can we say Sexist Pieces of Shit Girls and Boys?

I am so fucking sick and tired of seeing this crap pop up over and over again. My tax dollars go to a bunch of bible thumping assholes via Faith Based Initiatives that Obama didn't get rid of, so my question is, why do these cocksuckers think they are so special that I have to give tax dollars to their UFO church, while they get to object--on religious grounds--what kind of medical treatment others get via government healthcare programs?

Hardly seems fair does it?

Its all about who exercises Pussy Control ladies and gents. And apparently he who hold's the purse strings to the government, controls the pussy. Maybe we should send all these jerks some Pimp Hats so that maybe some of them might get the sacred clue phone.

And by the way, that is supposed to cover all federal workers including Military Women. No Abortion services for you, you uniformed Slatterns! You Federal Hussies! That'll Teach You.

Never ever doubt that this is the attempt to punish women for having sex in which reproduction is not the goal. Pregnancy is the wages of sin.

Porno for Pudendas!

You know this weeks news has depressed the hell out of me, so when I found an article about women watching porn on the net, well I jumped at the chance to look at anything {Operative Word---ANYTHING} but reality right now. And there is nothing less real than Porn.

Its no secret that over the years, with women's empowerment and raised consciousness, that they have discovered and rediscovered kink, sex toys and porn. I know that like politics and math, we aren't supposed to *get those sorts of things, but well, I guess that shows how little some people can see into the hearts and eros of women.

I found this little tidbit interesting:

In a 2006 study at McGill University, researchers monitored genital temperature changes to measure sexual arousal and found that, when shown porn clips, men and women alike began displaying arousal within 30 seconds; men reached maximum arousal in about 11 minutes, women in about 12 (a statistically negligible difference, according to the study).Even more compelling were the results of a 2004 study at Northwestern University that also assessed the effect of porn on genital arousal. Mind you, a copy of "Buffy the Vampire Layer" and a lubed-up feedback device isn't most girls' idea of a hot night in. But when the researchers showed gay, lesbian, and straight porn to heterosexual and homosexual women and men, they found that while the men responded more intensely to porn that mirrored their particular gender orientation, the women tended to like it all. Or at least their bodies did.

Women do tend to be more open minded than men about these things. And not in ways some of you expect. Why would all different kinds of Porn give these women a physiological thrill? Because sex is in the brain. Most women I know, myself included, have no trouble suspending disbelief when watching people who have genuine chemistry performing erotic acts.

Guys tend to get hung up on ----it being two guys, not, that two people with chemistry are exuding some ineffable quality on the silver screen. Or two Women or whomever.

The author of this piece did point out some of the main reasons I don't personally care for pornography. Other than the fact that I have children in the house, first and foremost, there are these other issues.

1. Scary Closeups. As my husband might say, "Is it supposed to look like a gunshot wound?" Actually being able to see the G-Spot, Prostate, or count the tastebuds on an actor or actress is not erotic. It's icky and it stresses me out. I feel like I am watching naughty medical films. For me, icky, scary closeups are the line between erotica and pornography. To me porn is infinitely more hardcore, and it usually henges on one of several things, this being in the top 2.

2. Violent and/or Nonconsensual Sex Acts. I like for everyone to have a good time. And I don't like to see [especially] women disempowered by films that cloud the "No Means No" issue. I do not like rape or simulated rape scenes or where sex is coerced. To me, mock coerced sex is really just a set up to allow one or more people in the scene to abstain from being responsible for their own desires, as well as avoiding the adult role of saying yes and/or no--about having sex, or what kind of sex or with whom. I place any film in which someone is penitrated or fondled while unconscious in this catagory.

3. Atrocious Writing. This covers plots, lines, story, etc., Sometimes the most embarassing thing about viewing pornography is the thought that someone might see you watching something so poorly crafted and assume, that the writing was adequately entertaining or worse yet intellectually stimulating. Because my sex occurs in the brain first, bad writing is a major turnoff. Its so uncomfortable for me, that I won't even watch out of curiosity.

4. Lack of Sexual Tension. I prefer movies and shows, if they use sex as a device in the story line, that contain sexual tension, rather than constant, ad nauseum, sexual release. If you have fucked 5 or 20 people 30 minutes into the show, then clearly I am not watching anything but maybe a depiction of pathological sexual expressions of addiction or compulsion of some kind. The chase is important, pursuit, the verbal exchanges, etc., This would probably cut the nuts off of a lot of porno and put these into something more akin to a chick flick, but then there it is. Sex is simply the end product. If there is nothing building up to that point, then for me and my brain, it is anti-climatic. If it happens too fast and too often, I am quickly desensitized to other elements in the movie and I quickly become bored watching people do each other in some zombified series of encounters that are without meaning or depth. The Sexual Tension on Moonlighting was intense, as was Star Trek Enterprise--and neither of these series qualified as porn. But the tension between the characters was sufficient to add a lot of spice to these shows. These are just examples.

I once watched Deep throat with my best friend in highschool. It was tripe. It was just a series of felatio scenes, and even though I was doing something forbidden, and that should have been cool enough, honestly I was turned off and bored by the whole deal. I couldnt believe that anyone found that movie erotic at all. It was flat, gross, sexist, and shallow. And poor Linda.... Watching that was the equivalent of eating your first cigarette. You never forget that. And you probably won't repeat it on purpose either.

Who knows maybe other women enjoy conventional pornography for the just the reasons I listed. I dont know. But basically this is why I don't watch porn. This is why I don't troll porn sites online or rent movies, etc., I kept an open mind, I explored my curiosity and found that this genre of adult entertainment to be thoroughly lacking.

The suggestion of sex, and romance, to me is more erotic, than the splayed legs and bump and grind that is found on pornography. Erotica yes, pornography---not so much.

I do have a collection of history books on erotica and human sexuality. Those are awesome. My favorite is a book on Tiajuana Bibles. That being said, to me these are images that make powerful statements about sexual mores of the day. but hey different strokes for different folks I suppose. My favorite movie about Porn, Orgasmo!


Porn does apparently have a little something for everyone. Even T-baggers.


Well I am off to bed finally.

This story was brought to you by:

Bad Attitude and shit sundaes.

Today I have reached my limit. I have pretty much decided that Blue Dog Democrats are Dinos. They suck and should just switch their party affiliation because it would be more honest.

The other day while listening to NPR, I heard that Big Pharma interests have spent[are you ready for this?] [you might want to sit down] 40 Million Dollars on lobbying efforts to obstruct or otherwise manipulate the Health Care Reform, in their favor. Because Gods know they make more money in the U.S. than in any other industrialized nation that claims to also be civilized. They spent 40 million dollars in 3 months.

That is 3 million dollars a week since this reform attempt started. Now I don't know about the rest of you, but I haven't seen any cable commercials by Big Pharma, so I am figuring that 40 million dollars has to go somewhere.

First suspicion? Do they have every Hooker in the Beltway on Retainer? Of course there is summer break, perhaps there are loads of Island Junkets to be had as well.

"Drugmakers, hospitals and insurers continued to pour millions of dollars into lobbying during the second quarter of this year, hoping to limit the damage to their bottom line as lawmakers and the Obama administration wrangle over landmark health-care legislation."

40 Million Dollars in 3 months. You know that is only a dent in our trillion dollar debt right now, but to me, a mere mortal it seems like a mountain of money, with which anything is possible.

Can you imagine if that money had otherwise been donated to our ailing health care system, used to pay think tanks who actually gave a damn about people like me, or even people like you?

Can you imagine if that had been used to solve some minor but repititive problem in our healthcare system? But instead, it was thrown at the problem in the hopes of making the rich richer and the poor sicker.

Thanks Friends. You know though, if you were really my friend, you would give me a reach around first before you ass rape us all using sand and glass as lubricant. But you know the lines of the song: If her Daddy's poor you can do what you want....

Yes, you got tax payers on your mind. We know.

If these companies have this much money to throw at lobbying efforts to keep tax payers on their backs, then that should be a clear indication that Reform is needed and needed now. You cannot argue that you are loosing money when you throw millions of dollars at lobbying, so that you can keep making dollars hand over fist, while claiming to be loosing money. That whole, "Poor Pitiful Me" song seems empty and flat.

Now I hear that bullshit, about if we set up a system like what they have in Canada or Britain, that we will not have choices as to who treats us, and supposedly we will be forced to ration health care.

Um, Here is a clue all you numbnuts out there:

If you don't have money, you don't get a lot of choice as to who treats you, if any choices at all. That goes for using ER for regular healthcare services, or simply getting on something like state funded care or even the military tricare program. A lot of companies have networks and you have to use doctors in that network, or none at all, and those doctors can then give you a referral if your insurance company approves.

Wow, Great Choice! I have been in situations where doctors in a network sucked. They know you don't have a choice and it is reflected in their demeanor. No Thanks.

As for Rationing, we already do that too. Even with insurance, the deductables are so high in many cases, that people like myself put things off because even with insurance, doctor's visits out strip the money we bring home. If you don't have insurance at all, then you wait til something is hanging off of something else. Its that simple.

So the facts are, we are already severely limited in our choice of healthcare practitioners, and we already severely ration our visits to the doctors AND the dentist.

I have dental coverage too, but dental care is also so expensive that I have to have a special credit card to ensure I can pay in a timely manner that also won't end in bankruptcy. And if you don't take care of your teeth, that is tied to heart disease, gall bladder problems etc., But you know those rich fucks on the hill forget all this. They have everything they need and the money to pay for services that are not provided.

They are so far removed from the life of the average American, that they cannot conceive what it is like to struggle in this world in spite of the fact that one is educated, works hard, and pays taxes.

Politicians are fucking clueless and the lobbies just don't give a flying fuck on a rolling doughnut what happens to us, as long as there are enough chronically ill people to fill their coffers. {or is that coffins?}

So Blue Dogs--Hey just like that asshole military analyist, you have proven to me, that "No One Can Fuck You Like Your Buddy Can."

Republicans? Well we have always known you are on the side of the devil, so there are no surprises there.

Big Pharma, we know you just want your money, even if you have to kill us to get it.

Don't get me started on the Moron Brigade who votes against their own interest. Those are people who need to be forcibly sterilized.

We know they have run out of good arguments because now, this cabal of idiocy has started to use Women's Health Issues as a wedge to try and slow this down. Abortion, but that is code for the following items: Abortion, Emergency Contraception, Contraception, STD treatment, Vaccination, Breast Health, Sterilization, Fertility Treatments and Sexual Freedoms--FOR WOMEN.

And we think slavery is dead in this country. Fuck, I guess the joke's on me.

People are fed up. I know I am, I would march in the streets. I remember once some years ago, truck drivers in France got pissed about something, so they dumped tons of Potatos in the streets, stopping traffic and really snarling things up. I think that is what Needs to Happen.

Because the way things stand right now, these corporate interests want to rob us blind. We as citizens do not have powers of negotiation because the Corporate Entities go over our heads and affect legislation directly, whereas we can only write letters to our legislators who might or might not even be in town or near a phone or fax. And it seems to take hundreds or even thousands of letters to weigh against one fat lobbyest.

I don't even make 1 Million Dollars a year, and so I have to ask, how am I supposed to compete against someone who spends 3 million dollars a month?

If I took a politician out on the town, it would be on a 99 Cent Menu. I would spend all my money to get to Washington, and another bundle to get a cheap room in a roach motel.

My Clothes are not even high end Dillards Clothing. So even in my best I would look like a bag lady next to most lobbyests.

No one gives me money to stay there in DC, so I cannot wait indefinitely for appointments, or hang out and have multiple meetings. Eventually I have to go back home and make more money and pay my bills.

By Comparison Lobbyests have unlimited monetary resources and time with which to realize their goals.

So yea. I am fed up.

FUX NEWS to Regina Benjamin: NO FAT CHICKS

I thought all the hoopla about Hillary Clinton aging by Flush Limpburger was pretty ridiculous stuff, but now the Republicon Chain Gang have decided that Obama's pick for Surgeon General is too fat.

Compared to Whom?

Flush? Glenn Beck ain't no catch either looking like an petulant blond toddler with a 5 0'clock shadow. Sexism is never attractive, but these assholes take it to a whole new low.

One thing I have learned about Men who feel they have permission to critique a woman's professional standard based on her looks:

That somewhere deep within the recesses of their lizard Scrotum, these troglodytes actually think they have a chance in hell of fucking her. But then decide,

"NAH...I won't fuck the potential surgeon general because she is not my type, she is too fat."

That right there makes me chuckle. Who in their right mind would fuck any of these guys, even after a drunken bender without being paid first---without making them wear two bags over their fat heads in case one fell off. For women, Beauty is just a light switch away. Its far more complicated for men, since we are discussing Pig-Mode here.

For intelligent women, sex is located in the brain and if a man cannot stimulate the brain, chances are, he ain't going to stimulate much of anything else either. I mean could you imagine some of these Reich Wing Pundits having the vocabulary, necessary to convince her, that they could actually carry on a witty, interesting conversation with a highly educated professional woman oozing self confidence?

Figure the odds. I mean we have all seen these bozos on television, and just hearing the angry whine of their voices is enough to turn me off, actually listening to what they say could cause me to apply for a testosterone patch to help me recover my libido after the trauma of their endless political tripe.

So Regina Benjamin is not a size zero. She doesn't have Michelle Obama's arms, or Winehouse's habit. Maybe she is just fine the way she is. Shrubya wasn't fat, but he was the dumbest Mountain Biker I have ever seen, and that is counting the really stupid young ones. He could peddle a bike and he could run a country into the ground, but Woo Hoo, at least he aint fat?

Well that makes it all okay.

Ms Benjamin is no spring chicken. She is not applying for National Spokesmodel, she is not trying to get a job at Hooters or at a topless Coffee Bar. She is an appointee for Surgeon General. And she isn't fat. Don't make me show you fat. She looks like a middle aged matron to me, and thank the gods for that. If I have to look at one more 40 something with a tramp stamp and low riders and a rack job, I may just loose my lunch.

Thank you Regina Benjamin for not being trashy.

Can you imagine if these assholes said that of Madeleine Albright?

Just Another Day in Paradise

Well I was about to express some profound thoughts, but then the kids started whining and the fucking phone started ringing, and the song I was listening too, Walking in Memphis is all but over. Wouldn't you know. Such is the life of the exalted SAHM.

For a moment I had hope but then it was interrupted. Now its just frustration. Funny how that changes so quickly. And the Universe changes channels and Be Still my Beating Heart by Sting comes on. Perhaps the universe is telling me to not tell too many secrets, and there is the phone again....

I would like the Backstabbing Special, and yes I would like some apple pie with that!

I just stopped by Ironicus Maximus, and found this lovely video in which Lt Col Ralph Wiggim tries to [as Ironicus stated] "outcrazy Michael Sheuer" in his attempt to incite terroristic acts against our citizens. In this case, a citizen soldier who is right now in enemy hands. Basically this guy is suggesting that the soldier in question walked away from his post, committing some kind of act of desertion, and that the Taliban should do us a favor and save us the trouble of court martialing the kid and just shoot him.

Shoot em Now! Shoot em Now!

No doubt people who support Ralph will state that he has a point. Yep sure does, but his tact and his timing suck green donkey dicks. There is always the possibility that some soldier somewhere who gets in trouble, who ends up in enemy hands did something stupid or unlawful. I mean anything is possible. BUT, personally we will never know that, until we question the soldier, until we do an investigation. Its awful easy to stir that pot Wiggim, when you aint the one sitting in that boiling water.



Lt Col Ralph-the-Mouth seems to have let it escape his notice that this soldier didn't occur in a vaccuum, that he has family, and friends and a home town, people who are terrified for his safety, who--right or wrong--could not conceive of this kid deserting his post, and Ralph just now put the thumb screws to these people who haven't slept a wink since the news came in.

Ralph's main concern is propaganda being perpetuated via this young man's capture. Well if Lt Col--I know Everything about the Military--had perfect recall, then he would also tell you that when he went through Sere school that he was also subject to enhanced interrogation techniques, and could have had him signing a confession that he fucked goats on the forth of July to celebrate this country's Satanic declaration of independence.

Sleep Deprivation and some roughing up will go a long way to creating a surreal existence for any POW. And if one tortures a man or woman or child long enough, that unfortunate individual will confess to anything--no matter how immoral or ridiculous, and will say anything their captors want them to say. But ole Ralphie would rather the Taliban shoot this kid. I wonder what John McCain would say to that? He spent some time in Hanoi Hilton with other POWs--I wonder what McCain would say when he got back if Ralph had been making that call back then, to just shoot McCain and save us the trouble?

Ralph has also conveniently forgotten that these troops have had longer deployments, less resources, little backup, and that leads to incredible stress. Sometimes soldiers do strange things in response to that kind of stress. I doubt Occifer Ralph recalls what thats like for an enlisted puke on 18 hour days.

So Ralphie, This one's for you. Thank you for reminding me of this pungent lesson I learned all those years ago in the military.

Being Annoyed with Relatives Talk of Politics.

Okay, after years of activism, I get annoyed easily. That is probably not something to brag about, but there it is. When people come to me with a problem or a complaint, even if its not about me, I expect them to have details so that whatever it is they are bitching about, can actually be addressed in a discussion premised on logic and not on the generalities of anger punctuated with unidentified *thems and *theys.

The other night I was on the phone with a relative who shall remain nameless and she hates Obama. You know that's okay, it's a free country, and all and I know this relative is more than a bit on the prejudice side when it comes to folks who aint White, especially nonWhites in positions of power. Of course she always premises her rants with how much its not about Obama's color, as if she says it enough, it will convince me or anyone else in earshot, but knowing this person as I do, and all the off-color jokes that have mortified me in semipublic places over the years, I can safely say, that the smell of bullshit permeates these claims of racial innocence.

Oh well.

The other night she went on and on about 32 people Obama put into power without congressional oversight, and how this dark cabal [dark ha ha] will destroy the country with their blinding loyalty to Obama and his secret Muslim overlords, who scheme constantly to run the country into poverty by spending money we don't have.

I pointed out that even if that were true, Obama would have a hard time topping what Shrubya did to the country--financially and politically. That like a car accident that totalled the car, all Obama could do at this point, is set the car on fire to mark the spot, but that wouldnt make much of a difference in this case.

She kept harping on these nameless people. And I kept asking her WHO? Do you have any names or positions? Of course she didn't. It took me a while to think about who it was Obama had appointed that didn't need confirmation hearings.

Not his Cabinet. All I could think of were various Czars. You know like the Drug Czar. I hate that term. but there it is. So I had to convince this relative {which I probably failed to do} that Obama is doing what every president has done at least since Reagan. That every president has the right to put his own people into various positions of power---to the winner goes the spoils and all that.

Then she went on about how people who made 100,000$ a year would be taxed so that they brought home 50,000$ a year and that it was all in black and white. I asked her what bill was this. She didn't know. Sigh. I informed her that I would have to see that in writing, because most news agencies cannot be fully trusted to deliver an objective perspective on anything to do with the President or politics. That these organizations have their own agendas, favorites and targets.

She got so worked up about all this. And I asked her, knowing the answer, "Do you make 100,000$ dollars a year?" No? Then why are you worried. I don't see that happening anytime soon. This is a relative who has struggled with health care bills and all manner of financial issues caused by the negligence of the prior administrations, and all she can do is rail against some lone Black Man who slipped through the Great White Brotherhood and got to the top.

Well the end might be nigh. But Obama has not been in power long enough to have started that massive ball rolling. You don't have to like him or his policies, it is a free country. I just wish that the vitriolic racism could be dropped and some knowledge and common sense be interjected into these conversations.

Is it too much to ask?

Damned Cause I Did.

Watching the confirmation hearings of the newly proposed appointee for the Supreme Court has been interesting. Watching how every one of Sotomayor's past speeches and writings are scrutinized within an inch of her life--reminds me yet again, to never run for public office. Not even Dog Catcher.

That my humorous, ironic and sarcastic utterances, my angry rants, and incandescent writings would damn me to the inner ring of the 9th Level of Hell. As in move over Satan, "The mean ole dawg's comming in."

There have been more than a few times I have lost friends over Blog and Internet posts. I mean let's face, the feminine flower of my delicate--psyche blooms like Skunk Cabbage, or maybe a man eating orchid.

I find myself neither fish nor fowl. I want sensitivity to basic humanity, but not so much that we cannot laugh at ourselves.

I want freedoms, but I want those freedoms practiced with responsibility, and maybe a tiny bit restraint when children are present.

That means that I make fun of people. I point out Foibles, sometimes I am the main subject of these tear apart numbers and sometimes its some poor fool who has unknowingly shit on whatever I consider sacred ground at the time.

I am just one of millions of voices out in the blogosphere. Sometimes I hit on poignant themes and other times, I am just mean and hateful. Nope, I cannot imagine squirming in front of a congressional hearing examining my every communication. Even without the blog entries--all the hard lessons and partying I did in my younger days would pretty much make me untouchable.

And I think that bothers me the most. You cannot get wisdome inside a bubble. But that seems to be the method in which we judge people. Not by the power of redemption or the depth of the lessons learned, but by their ability to be like teflon and to lay like broccoli, or worse yet, to lie like dogs.

I think that is a shame.

Not just for me, but for all of us. That the colorful people might mostly be excluded for just that. For being colorful.

So let this be a lesson to us all:



And now, everything finds it's way online. Sometimes when I watch the news and congressional hearings etc., it reminds me of the funerary prayers for ancient Egyptians, stating that they deserve entry into paradise because never did --this, or that, or the other, were never naughty or mean, or any of those bad things. And often these lists were very very long.

Whether it's to avoid journalistic scrutiny, or the ire of present or would be employers, or ex-spouses, teachers, etc., We are all reduced to this in some way or another.

There is a kind of irony there in this land of free speech. Overcompensation perhaps?

Classism Reaches a Whole New Low

Credit Card Companies in a desperate scramble to keep their profit margins high and our backs on the ground have found a new way to fuck the consumer.

Apparently if you believe in the concepts of Recycle, Reduce, and Reuse--and you involve your credit card, then your credit score could be ruined.

Take for instance, yours truly.

Green Stay at Home Mom, Home Schooler.

We recycle--by doing several things. The most obvious is sorting through our trash and taking said sorted plastic, glass, and cardboard to a recycling center.

But we also shop at thrift stores for the following items:

Children's Play Clothes.
Books
and
Good Wood Furniture that needs a new finish.

Treasures I have found at Thrift stores:

Whole collections of encyclopedias, Good ones for my kids work like Childcraft, and a whole collection of 3rd grade American History books that detail the foundation of this country. Geography books with fold out maps in excellent condition. Toddler Board Books that my 3 yr old can beat the hell out of.

Dressers and Night Stands and Occasional Tables. Refinished by yours truly.

Tee Shirts and Blue Jeans and Overalls for the whole family to work in outside in the garden or to play in.

And I use my bank card to buy these things which has a credit option, which usually pops up on the machine.

Credit card companies have found a sneaky way to lower credit scores and raise interest rates here because many bank cards are both ATM cards and Credit Cards, and people like me use the ATM the most, but the credit option comes in handy when the electronic equipment that processes the card, doesnt ask for or take a pin number.

I have also had this issue at the grocery store on occasion, as well as the gas station. So when I read this:

Here's a word to the wise: Think twice before whipping out that credit card to pay for purchases at the Salvation Army or a discount store, have tires re-treaded or even buy a late-night round of drinks. Credit card companies see those purchases, and a slew of others, as a sign of real or impending financial trouble and they'll quickly cut the credit limit, raise the interest rate or even cancel the card with no warning. Once that happens the credit score that determines who is worthy of a loan and at what rate usually plummets.

Boy military folk will really be in trouble with those slew of late night drinks. You are on leave or not on call at least, and out with your buddies at some bar and its your turn to buy drinks. Hello! Happens all the time. So heads Up American Patriots, you could be ruining your credit score by buying your buddy's drinks. Same thing with you Bachelors and Bachelorettes.

Now Credit Card Companies, I just wanted you to know, that I paid off and got rid of several credit cards just to piss you off. Sure it probably hurt my score, but then by the looks of this I am damned if I do and damned if I don't, so I just wanted to send out a big fat FUCK YOU, just so you know, you don't own me bitches! In fact, you--Credit Card Slavers, inspire me to stuff money in my mattresses.

Apparently spending money at the thrift store isn't frugal. Nope, its a sign of impending financial doom! Dumbasses. Thrift store shopping isn't green, its not recycling and reusing, it's the last gasping effort of a credit holder as they go down financially with the tidy bowl man.

Some of the warning signs:

Charging items at auto parts or grocery stores. Both are seen as a sign of financial distress.

Um, we do that. My old man changes the tires and the oil out regularly. We spend over 100$ on oil every time to change it out in two vehicles to keep them in good running order. We also change out filters and the like. And since we don't carry 200$ or 600$ in bills around, its just easier to make that purchase with plastic and then pay it off later by transferring money from another account to the card.

The author of this piece points out that the credit card companies are doing that wild pendulum swing. First they didn't screen anyone, but just threw cards at everyone with a pulse. And now they are trying to close that barn door after the horses done run off to the next county.

"The problem is in the ham-handed, one-size-fits-all way credit card companies and their computer programs use spending information. It makes no sense to penalize frugality. Someone who shops regularly at thrift stores despite earning a good income is certainly a better credit risk than someone who regularly runs a balance on a department store card. "

So credit card companies: You fuck me, I cancel you. Its that simple. I will find some other way to make do without credit cards. Then your employees can get laid off, and go shop at thrift stores too.

Female Vets Underserved by VA. Well DUH!

Such is the way of life. Most women I know of who are vets who had the bad luck of having to even attempt to use the VA, have told me as much.

I have a friend, she was committed to a psychiatric ward against her will at a VA for crying during an interview where she had to talk about a violent assault by fellow military members. The VA's resolution--throw her ass in the psycho-clink. That'll dry those tears up for sure.

So they put her in Pink PJs and put her on a floor exclusively peopled by male patients, in a room with a door that didn't lock. Here is a survivor of violent sexual assault--and they do this to her, to "help" treat her for her Rape Related PTSD.

Wow, and for their next trick, the VA plans to put singular Vietnam and Korean War vets on floors alone with no locking doors, in the company of non English Speaking Asians wearing cheap Tennis shoes.

Well hell, why not. I am sure that this treatment option will have a similar "helpful" affect on these Vets and their combat PTSD as well.

Fucking Geniuses, why didn't we think of that?

Now this has been common knowledge for a while, but it took some eggheads somewhere to do the research, gather anecdotal evidence, and then crunch numbers to finally make irrefutable, what us split tails knew all along.

You can read the whole story here: VA inadequately Serving Women.

This is my favorite line from the story right here:

GAO investigators found that many VA facilities had gynecological tables that faced the door — including one door that opened to a waiting room. It also found instances where women had to walk through a waiting area to use the restroom, instead of it being next to an exam room as required by VA policy.

Yes, that is just what every woman wants. To have her ass and pussy in the air, facing an open door that offers a full view from the waiting room. I mean who needs porno at the Drive In--when you can just hang out in a VA waiting room.

What the fuck? I thought Doctors and Nurses were supposed to be smart or something, but this pretty much tells me that common sense died with the DoDos. It also makes me very happy that the few times I tried to use the VA, that it didnt work out.

Women do not have access to private bathing facilities, some like my friend are unable to lock doors to ensure at least temporary privacy while changing or sleeping. But wait, like the salad shooter infomercial, there's more!

Beyond privacy concerns, there are other issues as well, they said, such as a lack of child care at VA hospitals and difficulty in finding diaper-changing tables.

Now I know there will be some groaning about this being why women shouldnt be allowed to serve cause all that gross baby making shit that goes on with their secret but plush girl parts. Well dumbasses, here is the deal.

Even male vets who are taken to the VA by their female relatives or spouses have to contend with this lack of family friendly services, such as NO childcare, NO diaper changing areas and no place to breastfeed. Because someone has to drive their asses to the VA, and often if the Male breadwinner is med-ed out of the service, that means Mrs Vet becomes the primary breadwinner. That means that HE, not she may also have primary care of small children during working hours and/or before or after school. Because the days of ancient WWII and Korean War Vets being your primary customers are over. Lots of people who have families or who are starting families are now Veterans who are eligible for services from the VA.

Men don't give birth, but they are still parents. The days of gender specific labor division are over. Men and Women now can stay at home for a variety of reasons and care for the children.

See. Dumbasses. This is just as dumb as Gynecological Table Placement. But leave it to the press and the VA to try and make it sound like child care issues and diaper changing tables are a special and inconvenient service they must provide to use inferior whining females.

Whatever!

The last time I pursued a VA service I backed out because they were not sympathetic to my child care issues, and didnt understand why I didnt throw my children like footballs at the first seemingly able bodied adult I could to make the appointment. Dumbasses one and all. And that from another Female.

AND if you are a disabled vet going through your hearings to determine level of disability, chances are you don't even have the money to pay a baby sitter or a temp day care agency to watch your kids. Those services are expensive. Especially if you want somewhat competent safe care of your children. Ooooh there is an idea.

A majority of the women veterans who have turned up at VA facilities are between the ages of 20 and 29, and on average are much younger than the average male veteran, the GAO survey found. Nearly 20 percent have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, and many experienced sexual trauma while serving. Yet, a smaller percentage of eligible women than men use VA care.

What does the VA have to offer women other than more trauma, and disillusionment and rejection.

I have met more than a few people who think that women raped in the military got what they deserved for straying into a male dominated job description. So the VA is really just promoting that negative mentality towards female service members by ignoring our needs in spite of our service. I got a lot of nasty comments sometimes from other women of a certain generation:
"Well I just don't think that women belong in the military." Um, well you are right, you don't think. and btw, its a little late for that. About 40 years late for that. I have heard directly from older female vets that they have to convince workers at some VA centers that they are indeed military vets. You know that vagina causes confusion in this area. That if a female vet who wears a Vietnam Vet cap or any insignia, that male Vietnam vets feel totally justified in balling her out until she takes it off. After all, what she put up with wasn't as legitimate as what they put up with. LOL. Whatever old men.

I have watched as men and women are mistreated by the VA, but in the case of female Vets, it is plainly obvious that they are very low on the Veteran Food Chain. Not as important, hysterical, emotional, illigitimate, and therefore not as qualified for treatment or benefits. After all, female vets coming for their benefits are just looking for egg money. You know like working moms in the 70s. Its not real, they just need a little extra cash to buy some pumps for their 30 yr highschool reunion.

I have known more than a few females who have been told that because they didnt serve in combat positions that they couldnt have PTSD. um really? Only Combat Vets get PTSD? Its like the fuctards are running the assylum.

Many of the female Vets I know have dentures or need them. They have been depressed, suffered from PTSD, and neglected by their country. Their dental health goes to shit because they can't afford it. So that when it comes time to look for a job if they can leave their own house, they look like a meth head. Thanks VA! I have seen Battered Women who looked better after 20 rounds with a drunk hubby!Yep that will get them hired at the dollar Store.

There are just so many things wrong with this situation that I cannot list them all in one post. So when I see statements like the one below, I have to say, that it really minimalizes what female vets face. And not just Female Vets of Recent Wars. The recent female vets have it better than ever {if you can imagine or call it that} their predecessors though have been run through a VA food grinder.

Patricia Hayes, chief consultant of the veterans strategic health care group at the VA, said the VA recognizes the care given to women isn't as good as what's offered to men, but it's made changes and will continue to do so.

Oh well that makes it all better. Yippie for the VA. Considering that we have had Female Vets going all the way back to the Korean War--longer than that, but the U.S. refused to recognize its women as vets--you know they might have gotten cooties-- its not like the VA hasn't had ample time to improve it's services for female members. But that didnt happen. Its only after the public has been made aware of glaring sexist, mysogynistic, and negligent practices that the VA has even begun to change.

Bravo VA Bravo. Way to institute the Tao of Crisis Management. Which is to say, to let the shit pile up so thick and high, that no one can ignore it any longer. And now you can all give yourselves medals for shaving the first 10 feet off the top of this 1000 ft pile--because gods know that will make such a big difference to so many women.

So VA, this video is dedicated to you. For missing the obvious for so many years, and institutionalizing this lack of vision and common sense.

The Backlash Against Modern Parenting.

Every generation, we get a crop of adults telling parents, why kids suck, and why these kids will be the downfall of all society. It's a version of the most common rant, "This is What's Wrong With the World."

Aparently National Public Radio is not above promoting such tripe. I found an article posted there about "What we are missing by raising happy kids."

And This toxic sense of entitlement that afflicts modern society is a recent invention, just the last two generations--but that somehow this recent development is also responsible for our current economic downfall and our recent lack of presidential leadership skills {see Bush Administration}.

So Parents! Stop raising Happy Kids! Don't give them positive feedback, Don't tell them they are good or that you love them. You need to scare the shit out of them a few times a week, and if your kid is being bullied at school--Well for Kee-Rist's sake don't do anything about it. And if Child Protective Services shows up and complains, well you just send them to: Richard Weissbourd over at National Public Radio. I am sure he can clear this all up for ya by explaining his parenting technique that will indeed save the planet, or at least Christian Culture in America.

If you do try to raise a happy child, you could be depriving your precious little angel of learning some seriously, deep life-lesson about bullying and power distribution. If you coddle your crotch fruit--then YOU could be raising the next Bernie Madoff or AIG exec and then what?

Hey I sort of get what this jerk is trying to say. But at the same time, I cannot help but wonder, who coddled him through his college degree and convinced him he is even an adequate communicator, because this essay get's an F in my book.

Every generation of parents has a child-raising mission. My research suggests that this generation's mission is happiness. Many parents campaign fiercely for their kids to feel good and feel good about themselves.

Whatever dude. My personal experience tells me this is not necessarily a bad thing. Every generation, we also deal with tons of neglected and abused children. Their parents are on a mission too--it is apparently to raise self destructive, mini-terrorists whose anger management problems won't be recognized til they are in their 30s and shooting up that shithole they call a house, taking potshots at the old lady, whom they hate and lust for simultaneously. You know the one that left their sorry ass with a 12 pack of cheap beer to find someone else who could keep a job, and maybe cut back on the angry sex. But I digress.

Honestly if I had Bernie Madoff's self esteem issues, I would be filthy rich and used to traveling in influencial circles where people deferred to me because of my wealth and my political and social connections.

Just so we are clear, THAT has never happened to me, and even if I won the powerball tomorrow--it still wouldnt happen, I would still be jumped up white trash with new money.

Adults in previous generations didn't think so. Moral character came from making sacrifices, facing challenges and dealing with adversity — ideas rooted in the Bible. What I've found in my research is that these days, many parents and children are not only intensely focused on happiness and self-esteem, they also believe that these positive feelings will lead to "doing good." As one teen put it: "If I'm in a good mood, then I'll care more about others." It's the airplane oxygen mask philosophy: Fill yourself up first, and then help your neighbor.

So are you saying that people now days do not face challenges? Considering the shere number of people who cannot afford health care or dental care, even with decent jobs, I would say there is one challenge.

Fewer people can afford to go to college, even though that is the only way you can make more than 10 dollars an hour short of dealing drugs on a corner, welp--there's another challenge.

Our society's emphasis on physical beauty and youthfulness--how many people are going to look like Brangelina til they are 80. Yep there is another challenge.

Probably what you are seeing are parents who remember what it felt like to be Bullied, and socially isolated. They spent years in therapy trying to undo all that, because let me tell you--that sort of thing can and does fuck a person up for life, especially in those severe cases. People kill themselves over that sort of thing--even kids commit suicide when subjected to constant bullying by their peers.

We are also in a generation of unprecedented Sexual Abuse Survivors. People molested by family members, neighbors, teachers, priests, camp counslors, and that also is said to severely damage self esteem. And that children with low self esteem are often targeted by sexual predators.

So it seems to me, that while you go on and on about the good old days, that really weren't that good to begin with, that you have missed all these other factors that affect parenting styles that exist currently. This tells me that for someone who did "research" that you are short sighted--myopic, and politically motivated as well.

I am sure if I dig hard enough I would find parents out there somewhere who do what you are describing. But so far I have yet to meet anyone on that behaves with their children as you describe. I see people doing things and perpetuating things all the time that seem ridiculous, but this aint one of them.

Happiness is an internal state.
Healthy Self Esteem is also.

What you are really talking about is a Sense of Entitlement. That the people you describe feel the world owes them something. That has been a problem for a long time, longer than you have been alive.

I wish we could teach more people to be happy with what they have--or to be grateful for what you have. Thinking of that Aesop's Fable, "Upon Reflection." Because Consumerism is a problem in this country and it will eventually change our environment until it's no longer able to sustain healthy human life.

The Stork and the Fox: Do as you would be done by--seeing compassion as an extension of personal boundaries and assertiveness, and empathy.

Blaming children for long term social problems to me is a sign of idiocy. Blaming parents for the sins of unrelated adults who act like children--even more so.

At some point everyone has the ability to embrace their conscience and to own their choices.

Bernie Madoff, Bush, Cheney, Libby, etc., they all made choices---I am not responsible for their poor decision making abilities, nor are my parents. And I work every day with my kids to teach them the value and the consequences of Freedom, Individualism, and Choices.

Summer Doldrums

This week has been interesting. I had the pleasure of experiencing America's fine Emergency Room service over this weekend, because I don't know about the rest of you, but I never get sick or injured before 12 pm, or on a weekday. I mean that just never happens.

Over the weekend of the 4th, I developed an ear ache and a very sore throat. By Sunday evening, I had two very enlarged tonsils and felt like fire shot out of my ears everytime I tried to swallow water or saliva. It was a lovely and enchanting experience. When I started to run a fever and alternate with the chills, I thought crap! I must have strep.

So, because there are no after hours clinics where I live open after 8pm on any given day, no urgent care clinics, and no doctors who will see you, I had to go to the ER.

Its not my favorite place to go for a mere potential strep infection, but like I had any choice.

So if any of you Quacks out there are reading this--Consider this: THERE IS NO WHERE ELSE TO GO for After Hours anything, when you are hit by situations that Might be an emergency, and really need a professional eye to make that call. Nope, not much choice. Its either the Psychic Friend's Network or the Emergency Room.

So I get there a little after 10 pm. I am looked at, in the Triage, and you know those assholes don't even look at my throat at all. I am put on a "list" and at about 2am I left the ER totally pissed off. I sat there, saliva pooling in my mouth, able to force about half of it down at a swallow, throat on fire, sweating my ass off, and then chattering teeth and goosebumps.

At about midnight I asked the lady at the desk, where I am on the list. She said I am about #5. So I wait it out. 11 people later when my ass is numb and my back is now sore from sitting in a waiting room for 4 hours, I and a bunch of other people who arrived at about the same time, leave.

I go home and wait til the sun comes up, and go to the urgent care clinic, by now I am sweating again, my tonsils feel like two basket balls in my neck and the back of my tongue hurts, and now my ears feel like they are full of battery acid. I am punch drunk, and pissed. Luckily the doctor there didn't suck and hooked me up with an antibiotic and a culture. I didn't have strep but in fact a really bad ear infection, which at my age could lead to hearing loss if not dealt with in time. In addition to tonsilitis and who knows what else.

I hate going to ERs I do. But where else are people supposed to go? When they have a problem in the middle of the night that might be bad? It sure felt bad. I had symptoms that indicated to me that I had some kind of infection, potentially the kind that can turn into meningitis, or something just as ugly. I love reading those news stories about some poor schmuck who dies that way and the story ends with some medical official stating, "If only they had gotten here sooner...blah blah blah..."

I paid a 12 $ copay at the Urgent Care Clinic, and got to see a doctor within 25 minutes of arrival.

I was at the ER for 4 hours with no doctor, and they would have charged me hundreds of dollars.

If I had gone to my regular doc, it would have taken me days, maybe even a week to make an appointment.

Anyone else see a problem with this shit?

Lets face it, our medical system works on bank hours, uses it's doctors like hookers, and treats us like johns. Oh yea and they make appointments like Cable Installers. You show up on time, and they get to you some time that day, after waiting days or even weeks to see someone.

Its just plain stupid. There are times when I wish this was like Mexico where I could just go to the Pharmacy and buy an Antibiotic sans doc, and just do it myself, if this indeed how we are going to play this fucked up game.

I mean if I cannot even see a doc when I need to, I might as well hone my diagnostic skills and access the medications myself. What have I got to loose? Its the same with the Dentist too.

In a world where logic and common sense ruled, people get to small problems BEFORE they become big ones. Whether that's a severe ear and sinus infection turned tonsilitis, or whatever it is this time. You show up, get what you need, go home. Do what you are supposed to do.

America has become the leader in Crisis Management Care.
And I learned something very important in the military that is pertinent to that unfortunate fact: Crisis Management Isn't.

Independence Day

This is one of my two favorite National Holidays. The other being Halloween. Of course this holiday for me is about the smell of sulphur, black powder, things that go crack, and boom! and that make lots of pretty sparks and billowing puffs of stinky delicious smoke.

But this Independence Day, more than others has me reflecting on my life as an American Citizen. I, like may other people, gingerly pick our way through a path of acceptance and the drawing of personal boundaries.

Of both respecting the citizenship and rights of others, while still expressing ourselves, in positive or advesarial manners. Sometimes that in itself is difficult. Because if enough people pile on a person, then it can be bullying rather than just communicating. Sometimes that is a fine line to negotiate.

So the things that I wish for my Country and my fellow citizens regardless of their religion, their political party, gender, sexual orientation, creed, or race:

Health
Prosperity
and
Happiness.

These are the same things I wish for myself and my family.

I don't have to like or agree with another person in order to hope for these things on their behalf.

I am tired of being angry. I hope for better times, and good friends and worthy advesaries.

My Half Ass Art Therapy

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