stimp and the world

He's going home, and other ramblings

2010-06-18T16:36:00.000-04:00

June 18,2010

So it looks like Tony from BP is being recalled to England. That's nice. I guess he'll finally get his life back. I wish the same could be said for the nice folks living on the gulf coast.

I get angrier every day about the whole mess. I want Obama to make it all better. I'm not sure he can. He's good, but he can't put everything back the way it was. No one is that good, and the people and environment are the proof. Epic fail.

I may have to take a break from the news. I won't, but I probably should. I get depressed and angry when I see the mess things are in. I am enraged when I hear what some of the idiots on the Right are saying. I get scared when I realize how many people don't ask, or read, or make any effort to learn about a problem. They take what they hear as gospel truth. After all, it was on the news, right? This isn't our parents news anymore. It cannot be assumed that the person reading the news had anything to do with its research or writing. Most of them are news models. Nice to look at, some of them. but not to be taken seriously. Or they are commentators, which is fine, but shouldn't be assumed to be without an agenda. People who think Glenn Beck gives them the unvarnished truth have other nasty habits. Beck and his ilk are about ratings. I can only hope they go away before anyone gets hurt. But it won't happen. good night and good luck...stimp

Safety in Numbers

2010-06-16T19:07:00.002-04:00

What does it mean to be safe? I know that is a stupid question. I was out with a group of my friends last night. Two different people, both guys, suggested that they could behave more like themselves with me because, since I was married, I was "safe". Indeed. I am a happily married woman. Delightedly married. I am not looking for anything outside my marriage. But just what does it mean to be safe? If I weren't married, would my male friends feel less comfortable being themselves around me? If so, that is a shame. I have always enjoyed having male friends, almost more than female ones. My relationships with males have always been less complicated, once we were both clear of the "relationship" baggage. I like guys. In a way, I must admit I was almost insulted. What does it mean to be safe. I felt like every body's mom. I'm married, so I am no longer a woman? I am some sort of neutral? I'm no femme fatale, but it would be nice to be acknowledged as such. Treat me like a lady sometimes, not one of the guys. Sure I'm married. But even I still like to flirt a little. Even more now, because I am married. Flirting, bawdy wordplay, makes me feel female. Doesn't mean I'm trying to be a tramp, or sleep around. it just make me feel, I don't know, "girly". Like a real woman. Maybe most women don't need that kind of sort of reinforcement. I like it. Sue me. It makes me feel safe to be the woman I am. good night and good luck...stimp

Mama, I'm coming home

2010-06-16T16:32:00.002-04:00

June 16, 2010

Yeah, I know. I haven't been in a while. I've been writing for a local newspaper for the last year, and I was concerned about overlap. I couldn't publish what I wrote there here. But I have two more columns left for them, so I figure I can come back to where I started on my merry way. I'm glad to be back. And my mileage still varies. But nothing else seems to. So let us return to the place where I can say what I want, cuss when I want, write about what I want, even if it's stupid. Enjoy the ride.

Adieu, Jon and Kate

2009-11-24T07:43:00.002-05:00

November 24, 2009

I found something new to be thankful for.

I can only hope, now that the Gosselins have turned their breeding habits into a train wreck, that they will go away and leave me alone. I don't, and never have, watched the "show". But their family life has been forced on me and everyone else since day one. I said it about the Octomom, and I'll say it again. Having a litter is not a talent. It is an aberration. Having said litter, then using it to cash in is an abomination. Children are not a commodity. I have a child. It is difficult enough to raise a child in this world without turning their lives into a circus. I work with kids, and see kids every day whose parents don't take their job seriously. Broken children with only the system to help fix what went wrong. I feel bad for those kids. I feel bad for any kids who have parents pimping them for their own selfishness. The parents suck, and the children are left to confusion. Go away, Jon and Kate.

Death Squads

2009-08-13T05:13:00.002-04:00

August 13, 2009

They are not going to kill Grandma.

I am getting sick of listening to all of the nastiness. I have said before that most of the world's problems could be solved by a little civility, some manners. Of late, it seems manners have gone the way of the dodo, or full service gas stations. Sure, they still exist, but you're gonna really have to look. When I published my first column in the local paper, the criticism I got, for the most part, had nothing to do with the topic at hand. I got personally insulted, but not my subject matter. A lack of interest in the subject matter seems to be afoot again. Our representatives, with all good intentions, come home to see what we think about things. They hold town hall meetings. Some of them are being screamed at, insulted, and abused for their good intentions. Some have been subject to personal attacks and death threats. There is one representative who had a swastika spray painted on the sign outside his office. How does this further the discourse? Not discussion, but screaming and threats. Not listening, but being shouted down. This serves nothing. It reminds me of little kids throwing a tantrum. They hear or see something they perceive that they don't want. Might be true, might not. Either way, they respond by kicking and screaming "NO, NO,NO" at the top of their lungs. They might miss something important, like an answer to their concerns. There is evidence that people are being encouraged to behave this way by interest groups that could be negatively affected by health care reform. I don't care whose idea it was. Fact is that instead of reading and learning, the lies and distortions are being taken as gospel, and acted on as such. None of the incomplete bills before Congress suggests pulling the plug on the old, infirm, or handicapped. It is against the law, Federal law, to use taxpayer money to fund abortion. And I've got news for you, our health care is being rationed by bureaucrats every day. Insurance companies make money by taking your premiums, and not paying your claims. They decide who gets what treatment. End of story. We pay more every time we use the system, because people don't have health care. Being taken care of when sick or hurt should be a human right, not a job benefit. We need to examine our souls, close our mouths, and treat each other with a little common decency. Really, people, grow up. good night and good luck...stimp

newspaper

2009-07-31T12:00:00.002-04:00

July 31, 2009

I started a new endeavor. I was selected to be a community columnist for the next year in my local newspaper. I am not allowed to republish what I have written for the Trib here. However, if there is interest, it can be found at www.tribtoday.com, under Opinion. I have been writing a blog on and off for years, but this is my first real foray into journalism. I hope I don't screw it up. good night and good luck...stimp

The revolution

2009-07-30T10:08:00.002-04:00

July 30, 2009

OK. Perhaps My Space wasn't as much fun as I thought it would be. I have had my account a around a year, and blogging there isn't as fulfilling as it was here. So I am coming back. I liked it here.

I am getting a big kick out of Twitter. It's fun. Not particularly deep, but lots of fun. Find me there at stimp99 if you wish.

I am starting to write for a real newspaper. Our local hires folks to write as community columnists for a year. My first column is tomorrow, and I am nervous about writing for it. This seems less intimidating somehow. The paper seems more real, considering I am getting paid for it. We'll see how we go.

In the meantime, check this space for more interesting blogs in the near future. good night and good luck...stimp

the 21st century

2008-07-25T13:03:00.001-04:00

I have made a leap forward and joined the 21st century.

I now have a My Space page.

God, I love the Internets.

www.myspace.com/stimp99

Enjoy...good night and good luck...stimp

Philosophy

2008-06-23T21:18:00.003-04:00

June 23, 2008

In the not too distant past, I achieved a BA in philosophy. I remember arguing, more than once, that dead, white, Christian men from academia were not the only philosophers worthy of study. I believe at the time I was arguing the case for the study of Ayn Rand.

I will make the case again, for George Carlin.

We used to have speed trials, in my misspent youth, to see who could say the "seven words" fastest. We had no conception of what the argument was for the use of those words. Or that he fought to the Supreme Court to use them. Only that someone was saying the biggest, baddest cusses we ever heard, on purpose, to be funny.

It was a long time before I discovered the philosophy part. How he talked about the use of language, and the way it's use affected our discourse. I suppose that sounds a lot nerdier than it's meant to. Frankly, he inspired me to use the word fat. I've been stealing some of his lines for years. "Dinosaurs are big boned." The use of euphemisms to shield ourselves from the truth. And the unvarnished, no bullshit look at what the truth was, as he saw it. Even something as benign as "Your stuff is shit, and my shit is stuff." opened a window.

And he was incredible fucking funny. One of my favorite bits came during the close of one of his concerts. He unrolled an enormous list of things you couldn't say. Must have been six feet long. And he proceeded to release a comprehensive list of some of the funniest names and phrases I have ever heard. All language, in and of itself, that was not objectionable. But used in a certain way, filthy as hell. And funny.

His books should be the basis for a master class in the use of language and culture in the late 20Th century. His examination of American culture was flawless. He seemed to want us to think about who we are, what we believe in, and why we believe in it. And to laugh our asses off in the process. I will miss him.

Shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, and tits. Strangely...still satisfying.

good night and good luck...stimp

Sunday Morning

2008-06-14T09:29:00.002-04:00

June 14, 2008

In my house, Sunday Morning always started with basically the same conversation.

"Mom, can I watch cartoons/play video games/watch a movie?"
"Later, honey, I'm watching "Meet The Press"" Or if I was feeling humorous "Press The Meat".

Yeah, I know. I'm a hoot.

I don't claim to be any kind of journalist, as some of my blogging cohorts do. I've always been a loudmouthed housewife. But I know class when I see it.

Tim Russert was class.

I watched him on TV for years, and never knew his political leanings. He was true neutral when asking our leaders, and wannabe leaders, everything I wanted to know. No partisan spin, just the facts.

I loved watching him covering the election campaigns, and watched no other network. He was on fire, and seemed to love every minute of it.

I loved "Meet The Press", because I felt like he was there asking the questions I would have asked, had I been smart enough to think of them. Many a show, I would listen and go, "Oh, yeah!". Why didn't I think of that? And as serious as it ever got, there was always a joy, and a sense of humor. Politics was taken seriously, but he never seemed to take himself too seriously. He was never one of those pontificating blowhards bringing the truth down from the mountain. He was us, only faster and smarter.

I love politics, and all the annoying discussions and details that drive my family nuts. Watching a guy dive into the process with such joy was a treat.

I spent yesterday watching grown men cry on TV, over the loss of a friend. My heart is a little broken too. And I regret losing the opportunity to continue teaching my son the civics lesson of American politics, with Tim Russert as our guide.

I guess Sunday mornings will belong to SpongeBob.
Good rest, and bright blessings Mr. Russert. And thank you. Good night and good luck...stimp

Anger Accomplished

2008-05-01T21:13:00.002-04:00

May 1, 2008

Every night, Countdown ends with Keith Olbermann reminding us how many days since W declared "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq. Today is the fifth anniversary of that statement. As he was discussing the matter with Rachael Maddow tonight, he wondered where the anger over this has gone. How to tap again into that anger.

Mr. Olbermann, the anger has never gone away.

I have been angry about this war since before the war started. I yelled, and hollered, and argued, and wrote, and protested. All to no avail. I have been beaten down verbally and threatened physically by total strangers over this horror. I keep my sadness and anger to myself mostly. But it is always there. And every time I hear of more soldiers and civilians dying, it's there. Every time that idiot in the White House asks for more money to carry it on, it's there. It's never gone. But the expression of it is, for the most part.

I can't scream everyday without losing my voice. My anger has served no one. It hasn't saved one life, or one day, or one dollar. I never stop being against this horrid war. My conviction is the same. But what would you have me do? I will continue to speak, write, and be involved. But until we get the murdering thugs out of the White House, and get some common sense in, my voice is nothing more than air with some noise on it. And my anger is still intact. I just ran out of energy after a while. The best thing about beating your head against a brick wall is how good it feels when you stop. It doesn't hurt the wall. Good night and good luck...stimp

Brains.....BRAINS!!

2008-04-30T21:40:00.002-04:00

April 30, 2008

I have been listening to the term "elitist" being thrown around like a discus lately. Oops, I said discus instead of frisbee! Could I also be...an elitist! I don't watch American Idol or NASCAR. I get great enjoyment from non-fiction books. I like foreign films. Oh, Heavens! Maybe I am an elitist!

Oh, bullshit. My favorite word, the one that gets the most use, is the "F" word. I wear old t-shirts and sweat pants. I like beer, American Gladiators, and football. Maybe I'm just a regular Stimp.

Why are we making all this fuss about being intelligent? That seems to be the bottom line here. The smart guy, the nerdy one, one that might have gone to college, can't possibly understand what it is like to be poor, or relate to the problems of the working class.

Except what happens when you get your education, and you never leave the working class. What if you are smart, and well educated, and don't go too far from the tree? Why must smart people pretend to be otherwise?

This has really been brought home to me this campaign season. I remember when they were saying that W. was the candidate more people felt they could have a beer with. I don't know about you, but when I am selecting a president, I don't want a beer buddy. I want someone smart enough to think for themselves! I want someone who has read a few books, maybe had a few original thoughts. Why in the world were folks more impressed by W's down home manner than Al Gore's intellect? Of course Gore was stiff! Nerds usually are. I want a nerd for president. I want a president who makes me proud of my geeky roots. Doing shots, or bowling, or yukking it up with a drawl doesn't impress me. I want to stop feeling like a freak because I like books. I want a leader I can imagine reading one!

So I guess, even with my working class background, I must be an elitist. There are worse things I could be. Like an idiot. Or a pretender. or W. good night and good luck...stimp

Welcome to the Steel Valley

2008-04-12T18:19:00.002-04:00

April 12, 2008

"You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them," Obama said. "And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

Senator Barack Obama

When I first heard about this statement, I knew Senator Obama was going to get a lot of abuse for it. But he's not wrong. The truth isn't elitist. It's just true. Instead of talking about Pennsylvania, he could be talking about my home in Northeast Ohio.

The steel mills closed here, for the most part, in the '70's. They still call it the "Steel Valley", even without steel mills for all these years. I was a child when those mills closed. Since then, I have lived here through the moving of Packard Electric (now Delphi) jobs to Mexico. Countless industrial jobs have gone from here, from the GM plant, to the mills, up to the closing of the aluminum plant where my husband worked, which closed last month. Thousands of people have lost their jobs.

I have also lived through politicians of many campaigns, Democrat and Republican alike. They come through here every four years like locusts. And every one, from Clinton to Bush, to Clinton to Bush to Obama to McCain, talk about "moving the Valley forward" again. They make promises of jobs, and money, and protection for the jobs that are left. And then they leave, taking their promises with them. Is it any wonder folks are bitter? If we turn to God, can it be that we feel failed by Man? If folks are afraid of immigrants, maybe it's because it's harder to remember your family were once immigrants too, when your job has just gone overseas.

But I make no excuses for those bitter souls left here. We spend our time talking about and living in the past. Right up to the nickname, "Steel Valley". There hasn't been much steel in this valley for a long time. While we cannot forget the things that made this place strong, we must move past them. Those jobs aren't coming back. Ever. As long as cheap labor exists elsewhere, and the almighty dollar is more important to executives and politicians than American workers, industry will continue to be sent to the lowest bidder. If we are so concerned about "homeland security", why aren't we protecting one of our greatest assets? Our ability to stand on our own.

But economics and industry aren't my interest here. Senator Obama's comments are. I am the proud daughter of a man who spent his life working for Packard Electric, only to be cast off as too expensive. In the '80's, my dad told me not to depend on the mills. He said he was a dinosaur, and that the jobs wouldn't last. He was right. I was born and raised blue collar Democrat. I got to go to college to make a better life. And I am still here in the Steel Valley. People here still talk about the mill closings. And they are bitter. Sometimes we don't want to see ourselves for who we have become, spoken in the bluntest of terms. But we still are. good night and good luck...stimp

News of Record

2008-03-31T21:07:00.002-04:00

March 31, 2008

Today is the 5Th anniversary of the start of my favorite television program, Countdown with Keith Olbermann. I know I tend to wax rhapsodic when I speak of Mr. Olbermann. I've been watching him in various incarnations since Sportscenter. But looking back, I think there should be more to it than that. I think that the show is more important than my fleeting hormonal enjoyment.

In a vast landscape of "everything is just fine" news, he is a voice of reason. He gets angry about injustice. He is tenacious in his opinion. Even when I don't agree, and sometimes I don't, I admire his passion. The show is a voice of difference in a corporate media structure that allows precious little dissent. I greatly admire Mr. Olbermann and his show, and I wish him five score years of prosperity and success. Keep up the great work, Keith. And in tribute to you, and the great journalist you honor, I sign off as I always do. good night and good luck...stimp

That dog won't hunt

2008-03-31T13:15:00.002-04:00

March 31, 2008

I'm listening to all this discussion about whether Senator Clinton should withdraw from the primaries left to be run. All the talking heads yammering "She can't win, It's dividing the party". Blah, blah, blah.

First, let me make it clear, I have been supporting Senator Obama. I don't have anything against Senator Clinton, I just like him better. I've been a Democrat since I could vote, and in the general election, I'd vote for either.

The thing that bothers me is this. This is getting to be a real ugly fight. Both sides are trying to tear each other down, and this does no good for any of us. Let Senator Clinton run til all the votes are cast. That's democracy. Let the process see itself through. But for Pete's sake, let's stop putting weapons into the hands of the opposition! Every time we Democrats offer up insults, throw nasty barbs, detonate bombs, we are giving the other side ammunition for the general election. It's evident that the Repugnicans are going to have plenty of time to get ready for whoever is nominated. Why hand them the clubs to beat us? If you can't win with your own good campaign, why malign the other opponent, making it easier for the Repugs to do it later? Seems fairly simple to me. Clinton and Obama both have their soft spots, just like McCain does. Let's at least try to be civilized while we still can. good night and good luck...stimp

Good sports, or "Hey, those guys should get paid, too"

2008-03-20T12:43:00.002-04:00

March 20, 2008

I am a life long Yankees fan. So what I am about to say is going to cause me to flinch a little.

Today, I am really impressed with the Boston Red Sox.

In a story I heard on Countdown, and reread on Dan Patrick.com, the essentials are thus.
The Red Sox are supposed to go to Japan next week for the season opener against the Oakland A's. The players for both teams will receive extra compensation for the trip to the Tokyo Dome. The coaches and managers, the important support personnel, would not receive the compensation. They had in the last two years, but it was not included in the negotiations or contract for this year.

Boston's players didn't think this was fair. So they voted not to go, unless the others got paid as well. From what I can tell, Oakland's players basically agreed. Not only were the Sox not going to Japan, they weren't going to play last night's spring training game. It was finally decided that everyone would be equally compensated on the Red Sox side. Oakland is still working out the details, from what I gather.

In a sports world where there are constant scandals about cheating, bad behavior, horrible ticket prices, and a variety of naughtiness, I am blown away by one team's act of fairness. Of thinking of someone else's treatment. With all the nastiness in the world, two groups of pro athletes said, "All for one, and one for all", and intended to stick to it. Fair is fair.

So, for today, hurray for the Boston Red Sox!

I'll return to hating you later. good night and good luck...stimp

A More Perfect Union

2008-03-18T23:09:00.002-04:00

March 18, 2008

"This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning of this campaign - to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America. I chose to run for the presidency at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together - unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction - towards a better future for of children and our grandchildren."

Senator Barack Obama, Philadelphia, PA

Why do we still need someone to remind us of these things in 2008? I saw the video of Reverend Wright's comments in his sermon. I don't agree with some of the things he said. I don't agree with racial divisiveness. I wish we were past this by now. But we're not. There are people in this country who hate and avoid each other based only on the shade of pigment. I know some of these people, of a variety of colors.

Why, with all that is going on in the world, good and bad, do we need to take time out because we still don't get it? Why do I have to explain to my son the ugly words we use to talk about one another? Why am I 40 plus years old, and still wincing when I hear the "N word", no matter who says it? Why am I still hearing the "N word", or any other racial epithet, to begin with? I don't agree with Senator Obama's pastor, but I don't assume they share all the same views. And to an extent, I understand Rev. Wright's views as much as is possible for a white woman from Ohio. I haven't lived his life. Neither has Barack Obama.

I am not sure what troubles me more. That we are still divided by race. That a man running for President has to stop talking about what he wants to accomplish, in order to defend himself regarding something he didn't even say himself. We need to focus on what we can do about the things that trouble us, the progress we need to make. And I think we need to move past the things that divide us. Not forgetting them, not ignoring them. But marking them, and then moving on to the things we need to solve now. I would like America to become and ever more perfect union. For my family and families yet to come. As long as we are still fighting over our past, we can't move into our future. good night and good luck...stimp

A Boy's Life

2008-03-14T21:41:00.004-04:00

March 14, 2004

I was thinking about boy's adventure stories. The old ones. Where the cowboys were always fighting the Indians, and might always made right. Before I lost my innocence.

I wonder if, with all that has happened on his watch, our president still has his.

At least when it comes to war. I was watching the news tonight, and there was a story about the President making a conference call to our troops in Afghanistan. In part of his remarks, he said that he was envious of those serving there. That there was something romantic in the war, that it was a fantastic adventure.

Spoken like someone who has never had to go. I don't claim to understand in full what people experience in war. I've never been there. But I'm not sure "romantic" or "adventure" are words I would use. I have relatives from WWII who wouldn't discuss what they saw there. I've met people who fought in Vietnam who were never the same, and fought the demons ever after. I lived at Central Command in Tampa during Gulf War I, and remember how frightened I was that someone I loved would have to go. And this time, I've seen family and friends leave, and waited for them to come back in one piece. I am a peripheral player at most.

But I do pay attention. Do you, Mr. Bush? You've been to Walter Reed to see the men and women sent back in pieces. Does that seem like a fantastic adventure to you? As Commander in Chief, you see, or I assume you see, the reports about the hardships our military and their families VOLUNTARILY go through while apart. The horrors of battle, for both the soldiers and civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan, that never cease. This seems romantic? Actually, this puts a lot of things in perspective. Mr. Bush is living in a movie, in one of the patriotic stories written in years past to keep every one's chins up during the hard times in war. From that perspective, maybe I can see it. If you assume those stories are true, or were fed those stories as part of your manhood or patriotism, war must seem a great adventure indeed. Next time you go to see the troops, instead of spouting off your rhetoric, listen to the kind of adventures these folks have been having while they were away. On this 5Th anniversary of the start of the Iraq war, listen to the reality, instead of tall Texas tales. Maybe that will suck some of the romance out of it for you. I doubt it will spur you to end this insanity, but maybe sharing the nightmares will keep you from saying anything else stupid...oh, wait. I forgot who I was talking about. Never mind. good night and good luck...stimp

Where's spring?

2008-03-09T11:32:00.002-04:00

March 9, 2008

I AM SICK. AND FREAKIN' TIRED. OF FREAKIN' SNOW!

I know I live in Ohio. I know it is only March. I know it's not spring yet, officially. But really. Could Mother Nature throw me a bone already? I get one day of nice warm weather, and then two days of a freakin' blizzard. My ride home last night got stuck in my driveway. I think they said we got 11 inches of snow between yesterday and Friday.

I am a total pussy when it comes to driving on snow. A panic attack having, hyperventilating, calling off work pussy. But I just finally got a new job. And since I work in a hospital now, I have to get there no matter what. I am fine with that. I like my job. And the last two days, I managed to find rides so I didn't have to drive. For which I send up hosannas to the gods, and great thanks to those who helped. Today I was going to have to get there on my own. I went out at 10:30 with two shovels, my ten-year-old, and one of my neighbors to dig my car out. My neighbor even managed to get the car to move, no small miracle in itself. What happens next, you ask? Turns out after an hour of digging, I have a flat tire and can't get it fixed until tomorrow anyway! The gods conspire against me! Fortunately, I have a wonderful friend, who has kindly agreed to come (on her day off) and give me a ride.

But I want spring. I'm ready for it like you can't believe. I need rain and warmer breezes. A little sunshine would be nice. I want to sit on my porch and read a book. To let my kid play outside without having to put three layers of clothes on him. To get to and from work without sliding all over the freakin' road. I want green grass, and to see my roses bloom. To plant flowers and putter around in the garden. I want to put my dog out to pee without having him look at me like I'm insane before he goes out in the yard. I don't expect Florida weather in Ohio. But a little break from all the ice, snow, and cold would be welcome. Come on, Spring! good night, and good luck...stimp

An inconvenient question

2008-03-06T14:13:00.003-05:00

March 6, 2008

Last night, in the aftermath of the Ohio primary, my son asked me a question. He wanted to know what the first thing I would want him to do was if he were elected president. Sadly, the first thing that came out was, "I would tell you not to run for president". And he wanted to know why.

I did tell him that if he chose to serve his country in that way, I would be very proud of him. That being president was a very difficult job, and a great honor. And that I would want world peace, and that no one would be hungry or homeless, without a job or good health care. He decided that he would rather be a musician, and help the homeless in his spare time.

But I am rather sad that my first response was not to do it at all. I have always been proud to be an American. Even when we did things I couldn't be proud of or agree with. I think we aspire to be the most generous, best nation on Earth. Sometimes we fall short, like everyone does. We are only human after all.

In my lifetime, I have seen what being the leader of this nation can do to a person. I have watched Presidents grow old before their time, careworn and hard used. The first president I can clearly remember is Carter. He seemed so young and smiling when he first got to Washington. But by the time he left office, to my child's eyes, he seemed to have aged twenty years. All the pressure and responsibility kind of sucked the life out of him. I'm not sure I would want that for my son.

Looking at the folks who wish to be president this time, I wonder how the office will change them. Even when I don't like them, I think it takes something unusual to want to give your life to this country for four or eight years. Men have been broken by less. I'm not sure I would choose that life for my son. Public service is noble, and none more so than President of The United States. But I think, in the long run, I'd rather he were a musician. I'll be proud of him either way. good night and good luck...stimp

I'm baaaccccckkkk!!!!

2008-02-27T17:19:00.002-05:00

February 27, 2008

Hey I heard you missed me. I'm back! Got my Internets reinstalled at home again. So I can once again participate in the mighty blogosphere. As I am always saying at work...we'll see how we go....good night and good luck...stimp

You Must Be Kidding

2008-01-19T12:22:00.000-05:00

January 19, 2008

I don't get to watch as many talking heads as I used to. So I have been listening to lots of local talk radio lately. Lots of Rush...ick. I can't believe how much he is yakking about the "Uncivil War". Talk about things getting blown out of all sense. I am sure that Sen. Clinton never meant to imply that Martin Luther King was a pawn of the White Establishment. That he could have never succeeded in his life's work without the help of LBJ. But Johnson was able to make law and twist arms precisely because Dr. King was bringing attention to the inequities of the system. If President Johnson hadn't had the ability to twist arms and cajole Congress, how much longer would it have taken to see even the smallest of changes? Both men's contribution was necessary to bring change. Which leads me to my point.

We spend a horrifying amount of time being offended, or looking for offense, in our wondrous free speech. I don't like everything that comes out of everyone's mouth. I'd personally like to duct tape Rev. Phelps's mouth shut. Having said that, I don't think we remember the "free" part of free speech. Short of inciting violence, even the speech we don't like is necessary. After all, how do we know where the crazies are if they don't speak up? We spend so much time being offended anymore, we don't take time to think over what is bothering us. Another example is the unfortunate comments made by that one commentator on the Golf Channel. I know she suggested lynching Tiger Woods in a back alley. But if Tiger wasn't offended, and no one was really advocating stretching his neck, why are we freaking out? The point was, he is such a great golfer, that nothing short of violence will stop him. As long as we all understand what she meant, I think we need to chill out. I understand the history of violence against people of color in this country. But is the overreaction against a commentator on the GOLF CHANNEL really going to change a climate of racism? Or are we making ourselves look petty by reacting to every imagined insult, no matter how benignly it was meant? I saw this morning that the editor of Golf Digest lost his job, and the current issue was pulled, because they chose to bring attention to the current debate by putting a noose on the cover. But was there a reasonable discussion of the subject, or was this another knee jerk, get them before they get you, look out, it's Janet Jackson's nipple kind of hysteria. I don't agree with everthing that comes from everyone's mouth. But jamming a cork in the mouths of those we disagree with jeopardizes our free speech, as well. We need to get over ourselves. good night and good luck...stimp

Hellooooo!

2008-01-07T13:34:00.000-05:00

January 7, 2008

Happy New Year! I know I haven't been around, and I certainly miss writing. A few notes to pass on. Keith Olbermann's new book is awesome, in the non surfer sense of the word. I highly recommend it. We are in Presidential election season again, and I am backing Barack Obama this time. He seems a great choice in an otherwise uninspiring lot. I wanted to choose Senator Clinton, I really did. But the more I listen, the more I watch, the less I can get behind her. A shame. We are still sending folks off to die for that idiot in the White House and his pals, which becomes more frustrating over time. This time I have family going, so I get to spend some more time in anger and anxiety, waiting for news, hoping for none. I'll pray. To all fo you who still check in, thank you, and happy new year. good night and good luck...stimp

Life, Death, Misery, and Blog Maintenance

2007-09-30T13:00:00.000-04:00

September 30, 2007

I missed you, whoever you are. I have had a Godawful time blogging, what with no Internet and all. But I have been writing, on the chance I'd finally get to post. So here are some of the things that have been on my mind the last few months. Gods willing, I'll be a better blogger in the future. good night and good luck...stimp

May 22, 2007

I miss the rest of the world.

That sounds (or looks) really bizarre, but it’s true. I miss the rest of the world. Desperately. It is strange when you spend most of your life denying technology, to admit that there is a part of it that has become almost necessary. But I have come to that conclusion about the Internet. I don’t miss my phone. Most of the time, my phone calls involved someone wanting money from me in one fashion or another. I don’t get any more calls about who has done what to whom recently. Other than the continuing drama that is my own real life, it’s actually pretty nice not to have the phone ring. But the Web was where I got mail I wanted, talked to friends, socialized, and kept track of all the events in the wide world from a variety of sources. I got to chat with newfound friends about the war, or the world, or the tie Keith Olbermann happened to be wearing on the show this evening. I am now as cut off from that world as if it never existed. I miss watching the news all day. I feel tremendously ignorant of what is happening around me. One half hour of network news, no matter who does it, doesn’t get the job done.

I miss my blog. I know that very, very few people actually read the thing. But I am proud of stimp and the world. I think I was learning to write, really write, by writing there. I was learning how to say what I meant with economy, thought, and a style of my own. I am proud of that. I must admit that I keep most of these sentiments to myself. With things here the way they are, I would not want to make things worse by complaining about something that there is no cure for. Still, the quiet and isolation is sometimes overwhelming. Believe it or not, even I can read only so many books. I can only watch so many movies. I can play only so much Dungeons and Dragons, although that is one of the few times I interact with people who don’t actually live with me.

I think the isolation was brought home most vividly today. One of my oldest friends stopped by to see us today. We rattled on for a little while about the horror of doctors, nurses, lawyers, and workman’s comp. And when I asked my friend how things were going with him, he told me that his mother has passed away. A week ago. I knew nothing about it. If I had a phone, one of my friends would have called me. There are probably several emails on the subject I haven’t seen, having no access to email. And so someone I care about, whom I have been a friend with for 20 years, could not receive support and condolence from our family, because we knew nothing about it.

I really miss the rest of the world. Maybe someday I will post this on the blog, to document this time as well as the other blithering idiocy I usually carry on about. Until then…good night and good luck…stimp

September 13, 2007

Far Too Long

There are ways to tell if you have been away from other people for far too long. I must admit that my life is fairly solitary at the moment, what with all that is going on lately. I don’t go out much, have limited phone conversations, limited internet access, and few people stop here. Don’t seem to be able to get a job, so all in all, I don’t get around. That sounds way whinier than I mean it to be. For the most part I don’t mind. No phone means no irritating calls from people I don’t know trying to sell me things. I admit, not having 24-hour news makes me feel more cut off than lack of phone does. But I noticed some things that are signs that I haven’t been out in way too long. I was sitting here a bit ago, playing a “Wheel Of Fortune” computer game. That is a bad sign in and of itself. Pat and Vanna get on my nerves, and this game only has Vanna. But when I start thinking to myself that I really hate Player Three, that “she” is a total bitch, and Player Three is a computer, this may be a bad sign. Besides family, for whom I am grateful, my entire social interaction lately has been comprised of “Dungeons & Dragons” games every Saturday, and funerals. The only new people I have met were at the funerals, and my son’s school open house. I met his new teachers. Banner night. When I am watching football games on Sunday night I don’t care about because I dig the witty repartee between Bob Costas and Keith Olbermann, I need to get out more. The fact that I am complaining in a blog article that will get saved to a file when I am done, and I may or may not remember to put on a disc to take to the library and post on the site is pathetic. This may never see the light of day, but I will be damned if I don’t write it anyway. The fact that I am writing it at 2:53 am instead of sleeping is not a good sign. But perhaps it is better to be writing than worrying about not being asleep. Some interaction is better than none at all. The fact that I still have clarity of mind enough to write is good. I am worried lately about my ability to focus. I am jumpy and easily distracted. I sleep too much during the day, or not at all. Things are so fucked up right now that even my old weird normal would be an improvement. I miss my life. I try not to think about it too much, but I really do. I miss my therapist. I miss cable. I miss Keith Olbermann, and “Mythbusters”, and “Ninja Warrior”. I am sick of CSI this, and Law and Order that. I want to watch Sportscenter. I miss playing this one trivia contest on the local radio station’s website. I miss my friends at the O.o, and streaming internet radio. Maybe it’s not being alone too long, but losing almost everything all at once, and having this massive gap where my life used to be. By now, I should be accustomed to the way things are. They have been like this for a while. Hanging on a thread, and having it set on fire. Maybe the little things are what kept me from thinking about how scary it has gotten.

Even so…Player Three is still a bitch. Good night and good luck…stimp

Happy Birthday to me…

Today is my 41st birthday. I am not planning anything extraordinary to celebrate. A return to my blog, as I have several entries saved to post. A trip to the library, to check my email, and get fresh books and movies. My folks are bringing me one of my favorite foods, cabbage rolls with sauerkraut, and a pineapple upside down cake. My sweet husband asked his mom to bake me a cake. My birthday, in the past, had held unpleasant surprises. I am hoping for none of those, but I am not counting on it. I was thinking of some other things, unlikely as some of them are, that I wish I would have for my birthday.

I wish I had cable and the internet again. I hate feeling disconnected from the rest of the world. I wish my newly repaired Xbox 360 would get here today. My kid would be in seventh heaven if it did. I wish those assholes would quit fighting it and give my husband the medical attention and temporary disability he needs. He is in pain, and I hate it. I get angrier everyday about the flaming hoops he has to go through to get fair Worker’s Comp benefits. We’ve been fighting at least nine months. I wish I had a job. I have been looking for one, but a fat manic-depressive in her forties is not good job material, I guess. Sure would help though. I wish I could go and sing with all of my friends. I used to throw the best birthday parties for myself. After all, if you throw your own party, you know exactly what you are going to get. I miss my friends. I wish the war were over. My kid asked me about the whole “Mission Accomplished” thing last night. I explained to him about the political concept of “bullshit”. He is too young to have to worry about all of that, but this horrifying stuff has touched his life as surely as the ones of all the adults he knows. His cousin has already done one tour of duty in Iraq. I wish I had more money, more groceries, health insurance, and a big fat Borders gift card. (Not everything on this list is deadly serious!) I wish I had a day at a spa, with a massage, hair styling, a manicure, the works. A day of beauty, or at least as close as I can get considering what I have to start with. I wish I had an autographed picture of Keith Olbermann. I wish I could sing with Meat Loaf, somewhere other than in my car. (I said some of this stuff is silly!) I wish I could go to Florida and see my friend Lisa. I miss her.

Mostly I wish for peace. Peace on Earth, peace of mind, peace of spirit. Those are a lot harder to come by, and not likely to come with a bow on my birthday. Good night, and good luck…stimp

Songs

There are songs for everything. Unfortunately. There is also no way to control how songs are sometimes used. I hate hearing Electric Light Orchestra or Beatles songs used in commercials. Didn’t there used to be a whole profession of people who wrote catchy songs for ads? Anyway, I was making a playlist of songs I wanted to hear this morning, and it occurred to me to share some of them with others. You, the six of you reading this, being the others. So here I go.

An unexpected song: “I’m Coming Home” from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Of all the wonderful songs to come from the spectacular silliness of that movie. I love that movie, and that song.

A sexy song: “Cry To Me” by Solomon Burke. Anyone who has ever seen Dirty Dancing knows this song. Think of Baby and Johnny in his cottage. Enough said.

A song for a good day: “Do Ya” by Electric Light Orchestra. The opening guitar chords are enough to put a smile on my face.

Anything by “Weird” Al Yankovic. I adore “Weird” Al. My favorite is “One More Minute” from the album “Dare To Be Stupid”. One of my sisters is also partial to “Amish Paradise”. And head over to You Tube and watch the “White and Nerdy” video, complete with Donny Osmond. I dare you not to laugh.

Barry Manilow and Neil Diamond: Okay, stop laughing. I love these guys. Good, clean emotional songs to sing to. “Could It Be Magic” is one of my favorite songs ever. I even have a disco version.

Bette Midler singing “Stay With Me” on the Divine Madness soundtrack. I sing along, badly, usually crying my eyes out at the same time.

Gods, there are too many. Bobby Darin and “If I Were A Carpenter”. Bruce Springsteen’s “Thunder Road”. “Beginnings”, a wonderful Chicago song I sang to my husband on our wedding day. The Dells singing “Stay In My Corner”. Dolly Parton’s simple, original version of “I Will Always Love You”. I have a live version of The Doors singing “Gloria” that is so sexy and raunchy, I listen to it alone. “Bernadette” by The Four Tops. So longing and desperate. Janis Joplin. Johnny Cash covering “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails. The song is different, but the exquisite pain is the same. “This Woman’s Work” by Kate Bush. The song they keep playing a bit of the current “CSI” promos. Meat Loaf. Otis Redding. Prince. Randy Newman singing “Political Science” or “Burn On”. Go look for “Songs For Dustmites” by Steve Burns. Yes, the “Blue’s Clues” Steve Burns. The whole album is amazing. The long live versions of “Everytime You Go Away” by Hall and Oates, or “In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel.

Wow. There is way more of this than I originally thought. I was looking at my personal playlist on my computer while I made the list, and there must be 200 more songs I could list. But like 500 lawyers at the bottom of Lake Erie, it’s a good start. Good listening! Good night and good luck…stimp

George

An old friend of mine is gone, at least for now. I knew a wonderful man named George. I met him twenty years ago, when I went to work at McDonald’s. I hated working at McD’s. Both times. But somehow, hanging around with George made it better. I left McDonald’s, got married, moved away, moved home, got divorced. But George was still here. Not at the Golden Arches anymore, but still home, going to college, just like when I left. We took up more or less where we left off. I was older, sadder, but no wiser, I think. But George was still George, funny, sweet, same as he ever was. I got to know him a bit better this time around. I saw he was troubled, and sad too much. He still joked around, but now I could see some of what was beneath, and sometimes we talked about it. He wouldn’t talk much, though. If he hadn’t talked me into it, I probably would not have spent time with the man who is my sweet husband, and has been for the last eleven years. Because I wouldn’t have joined the “Star Trek” fan club they both belonged to. When we learned we were having a baby, George would come and see me at work, with a huge list of silly suggestions for baby names. I think it is by the grace of the gods that my son isn’t John Paul George Ringo, instead of Alexander. He would make me laugh forever with suggested names. He used to tell me that George was a great name, and if it was a girl, we could name her Georgia. He showed me Monty Python, for which I am eternally grateful. He was generous to a fault sometimes. If I said I might want to get a CD of someone’s music, he might show up next visit with all the CDs he had of them. When I sang charity karaoke, he would show up, donate $20, and request I sing the silliest things. Like “Safety Dance” or songs from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”, which we had gone to see forever ago. I’d sing anything he asked, as long as I knew it. He never failed to make me laugh, cry, or do both at the same time.

My friend died way too young last week, at 39. He was, as usual, alone. It was a freak accident, and no one knew. The sad thing was the “alone” part. I try not to think about it much. And when I found out, my heart was broken. Will be for a long time, I think. All around my home, I see things that remind me. My “Monty Python” movies. The DVD of “Rocky Horror”, with the figurines he gave us for Christmas one year. My Princess Leia slave girl doll. We were alumni of the same university. And every time I think of him, in a way I wish he hadn’t kept me at arm’s length quite so much. I wish he had let us give back as much as he gave us.

There is a picture of him on my desk now. He and my brother in law, who were also friends from that long ago fan club, are wearing kilts. They were in a contest. I like to remember him that way. Being with a friend, doing something maybe a little silly. It helps to ease the sadness of knowing I can’t be silly with him anymore. I can never explain all the things he was, all the things he meant to me. But I miss him, every day right now, very much. Wherever he is, I hope he is having a Guinness and a laugh. Hopefully, someday I’ll join him, with all those I loved, and have a laugh over all the silly shit that happened since last we met. And maybe sing the “Spam” song. See you on the other side, George. Good night and good luck…stimp

shut up, speak up

2007-04-11T23:39:00.000-04:00

I was originally going to come here and rail about the Imus train wreck/Duke Lacrosse case. There were parallels of speech and accountability, which I am now going to save for another day.

Kurt Vonnegut is dead.

I just heard about it listening to Lionel, and zipped over to the New York Times to get the full story. He was 84 years old.

He was one of my heroes. When I was in college the first time, at eighteen, and in the time thereafter, I made explorations which have affected my whole life. I read Orwell, Bradbury, Huxley. I read assembled columns of the Village Voice. I read Tom Wolfe, and the voices of the generation before mine. And I read Vonnegut.

At first I didn't get it. I understood it on the surface, but deep down, it took a while to assimilate. I still have copies of "Slaughterhouse-Five" and "Cat's Cradle", among others. His works were strange, and funny, and weird. I loved them.

I suggest that if you haven't read his work, you should. And if you have, you should again. Geniuses, true ones, are hard to come by. Best to embrace and remember the ones we have. There was a quote in the Times article I liked, and wanted to finish with.

“Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you’ve got about a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies — ‘God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.’ ”

Sound advice. Good night and good luck...stimp

Inigo Montoya

2007-03-18T19:01:00.000-04:00

In the movie "The Princess Bride", Inigo Montoya seeks to kill Count Rugen for having murdered his father. There is a piece from the movie that struck me today. In the final battle between Inigo and the Count, when the Count is at the end of Inigo's sword and out of options, he tries to bargain. At one point, Inigo says "Give me everything I ask". The Count replies "Everything I have". At which point, Inigo runs him through and says "I want my father back, you son of a bitch".

You might wonder what brought this on. I wanted to blog about yet another anniversary of this misbegotten war. But as I was watching the news this evening, something occurred to me. The corruption, lies, and misery go far beyond Iraq. And while Iraq is uppermost in my mind, I wish to paraphrase the valiant Inigo.

I want my country back, you son of a bitch.

I want our armed forces out of Iraq. I don't want one more family to suffer one more loss. I don't want one more family to make do, worry, or miss someone, or prepare to face the possibility.

I want the people of Iraq to get their country back. Tonight I saw pictures of Iraqis suffering and dying because their own health care system has been nearly destroyed by this war.

I want my voice back. I am tired of assholes like Trent Lott and his ilk questioning my patriotism, love of my country, or support of the troops because I think this whole thing was a mistake and I want it finished.

I don't want to have to keep explaining all of this to my son, whose questions become more painful and complex as he gets older. I don't want to send anymore family members away, and then live the twin grinds of worrying from them, and justifying my own pacifism. I want the "leaders" of our government to listen to the people who elected them, and who pay them. For the most part, we have had enough. No one can totally agree on how it should end, only that it should.

I don't want another anniversary of death, destruction, and pain.

I know it was just a fairy tale movie. But with Inigo's words ringing through my head, I found some words of my own.

I want my peace back, you son of a bitch.
I want my hope back, you son of a bitch.
I want my America back, you son of a bitch.

Hopefully, I will find some measure of justice someday, as Inigo did. I only hope I don't have to wait as long. good night and good luck...stimp

A search for truth

2007-02-20T09:26:00.000-05:00

I was at the grocery store this morning. This in and of itself is not unusual. But while there, I was struck by an amazing thought. About Britney Spears. I usually only think about her as often as I am forced to, and the whole head shaving thing has forced her upon my notice again.

But for a moment, just a moment, something occurred to me. Maybe she isn't just doped up, drunk, or crazy. Maybe shaving her head was a bold existential statement. Maybe she had found, finally, the place in herself where she faced all that happened in her life. She could have been using the moment to make a statement, create a separation from the pop-tart, Mouseketeer part of her life. She could have been saying that she was a child no more, but a mother, and an artist, fully in charge of her life, and ready to move on, clean up the mess, and forge a new path for herself. Maybe it was her Victoria Jackson "I Am Not A Bimbo" moment. (Obscure SNL reference...look it up)

Maybe from this moment on, she will work to be a fulfilled, fully fledged member of the adult community, and her hair was like waving a signal flag from the highest hill...

WHO THE HELL AM I KIDDING! I am not sure why she shaved her head. I know that I don't care. What does bother me is that between Anna Nicole and Britney, real news from the war or anywhere else is hard to come by. And you can only look at so many train wrecks. Can we leave it alone now? good night and good luck...stimp

An Inconvenient Question

2007-02-19T21:56:00.000-05:00

Tonight, my son asked me how to avoid the draft.

Leaving aside the facts that there is no draft, and the fact he is NINE, he wanted to know how to avoid going to war.

He had asked me about going to war before. In this day and age, there is almost no avoiding it. The war is everywhere. Especially for a bright, aware child who sees the news and watches Countdown with his mom. (He's got good taste!)

But he never asked how to avoid it in detail before. I asked him why, considering the above mentioned facts, he was concerned about it. He said he didn't want to go and be blown up by a car bomb.

I was floored. I was unsure how to answer. I wondered if it was a good idea for him to see the news, if he was going to worry about things like that. But there is no real way to protect him from what is real, and the truth is preferable to false comfort. So I told about how it works, and the options to avoid it. My nine year old son chose jail rather than the draft. Clearheaded. Just about broke my heart. Because I had a hard time telling him convincingly about honor and service to your country when needed. There are members of both sides of his family who answered the call when their country needed them. But my son knows that the government lies sometimes, and that they don't always have his best interests at heart. He is a cynic at nine, not a patriot. In one way, I am glad that his eyes are wide open, that no one will take advantage of his youth and inexperience to send him off to war. But I am more than a little sad that he never had "America, the Beautiful". The trust that he was safe, and that everything was going to be all right. He was 4 on 9/11, and it has colored even his world. He never even got a chance to be innocent of the dangers. Or the opportunity to be proud to be an American. Just lies, and danger, and war that even he knows was wrong. I hope I can teach him to love this place, and work to make it the best it can be. But I wonder if he, and kids like him, are going to give up hope. Or if they ever got to have any. good night and good luck...stimp

Interesting...

2007-01-30T05:54:00.000-05:00

Somewhere, Sartre is laughing.

I just read a story on Yahoo News about a young Australian man who sold his life on EBay.

A 24-year-old Australian surfer who sold his life, including baggage from a painful break-up, on eBay says he is still not quite sure why he did it.
Nicael Holt sold his name, phone number and all his possessions, including clothes, CDs, a surfboard, a laptop, a wonky pushbike, childhood photos and a "nice lamp" given to him by an ex-girlfriend, on the internet auction site.
The successful applicant bid 7,500 dollars (5,790 US) last week to become Holt, right down to spending Christmas with his parents and inheriting "some tension with a former ex from a painful break-up."
The identity of the eBay auction winner is known only as ridderstrade.
Holt, a philosophy student from the southern coastal city of Wollongong who has set up a website to explain his actions and ask for donations to charity, said he was unable to explain why he sold his life.
"Im still racking my brain to come up with the answer or any answer as to why I did this?" he wrote.
Motivating factors were boredom and intrigue as to what constitutes a life and what made him who he was.
He added he was "hoping to make a point that the amount and type of things that are for sale in this world is insane and wasteful."
In his sales pitch, Holt said the winner would be entitled to a four-week training course in how to be him -- including lessons on how to surf, climb, skateboard, fire twirl and do handstands -- as well as two months of on-call support afterward.
He also promised to introduce the winner to all his friends and potential lovers, including eight people he had been flirting with.
"Lifestyle is very social. It includes a lot of going out," he noted on his eBay advert.
"Friends will treat you exactly as they have treated me. This includes friends who take me surfing, running, climbing and cook for me. All of these features will be transferred over to the winning applicant."
His legal identity, passport, qualifications and future inheritance were not for sale.

What an amazingly existential thing to do. Or an amazingly adolescent one. To be so miserable in your own life that you are willing to sell it in order to start over. What a statement about the times we live in! He actually managed to sell it! I read a bit about him, what he had written on his website, and I can't imagine why he would want to sell. No divorce, no scandal, no money troubles. Just unlucky in love. And someone else, somewhere, wants a new life enough to pay for it. I am flabbergasted by the whole transaction. It is possible, after all, to completely change your life without commerce entering into it. People do it every day. Yet there are two people in the world sufficiently...I don't know what...to buy and sell a life. Bizarre. Philosophically brilliant, because it leads to all manner of questions. What is a "life"? Is it able to be bought and sold? Not a person, mind you. They have been bought and sold for millennia. But a place in space and time that you have created, complete with other people, places, and identity. I still can't decide whether this is the bold action of a philosopher, or the juvenile behavior of someone who wants to change everything because he didn't get his own way. This one is a thinker. good night and good luck...stimp

I can't help it...

2007-01-27T11:27:00.000-05:00

OK, this is really pathetic and fan girl of me, but I have to...

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday dear Keith...

Happy Birthday to you!

(Many thanks to Olbermann.org for the wonderful photo!)

good night and good luck...stimp

No. Really. You're kidding me.

2007-01-22T10:06:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, as I was perusing my daily email from Firedoglake, I came across this little gem, and thought I'd share:

National Sanctity of Human Life Day, 2007 A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America
…
National Sanctity of Human Life Day serves as a reminder that we must value human life in all forms, not just those considered healthy, wanted, or convenient. Together, we can work toward a day when the dignity and humanity of every person is respected.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Sunday, January 21, 2007, as National Sanctity of Human Life Day. I call upon all Americans to recognize this day with appropriate ceremonies and to underscore our commitment to respecting and protecting the life and dignity of every human being.

Now, I am well aware that this statement was a pity fuck for the Righteous Right, who W has used brutally, and then never called until the next time he was needy. And it is the anniversary of the decision in Roe v. Wade. But this is beyond the pale, even for the Idiot in Chief.

Who in the Hell does he think he's kidding? "We must value human life in all forms, not just those healthy,wanted,or convenient". Tell that to the people in Iraq, those who can't afford proper health care, or the people in the 9th Ward in New Orleans. Never have so many people failed to be "healthy,wanted,or convenient". Tell that to all the people waiting for the potential miracle that stem cell research and treatments could bring. Talk about unhealthy AND inconvenient.

I am sick and tired of abortion, and reproductive rights, carrying all the water for this idiot's personal agenda. I would like to make one thing clear: NO ONE WANTS TO HAVE AN ABORTION! For a great many reasons. People, for the most part, don't prance about saying "Well, whatever, I can always have an abortion". I had to consider the prospect myself at one point. Fortunately, I never had to go through with my decision. But it wasn't happy. I was sick, and sad, and wondering, and second guessing.

Which seems to be a luxury this President doesn't worry about. It must be nice to be so certain of your rectitude, that you can slap a couple of layers of polyurethane varnish on your opinion and call it right. But to actually say he wants to "underscore our commitment to respecting and protecting the life and dignity of every human being". Again, he must really be delusional. He's doing a piss poor job of protecting human life in Iraq, either American or Iraqi, and he's going to respect 20000 Americans so much, he's going to send them over into that cluster fuck too. The only kind of human life this man cares about is the one that isn't here yet. Zygotes don't make mistakes, don't ask for money, aren't liberal, and can't see right through him. Once a child gets here, they are much more difficult, not quite so easy to deal with as they were in the abstract. They start needing food,and shelter, and education, and all the stuff that makes those of us already born such a pain in the ass.

Well, celebrate your "National Sanctity of Human Life Day", Mr. Bush. Throw that big bone to the anti-choice fundamentalists, and forget all about the humans who are already here, needing someone to recognize the sanctity of their human life. The poor, the sick, the battle scarred and war torn. Those who have given everything, and those who have had nothing to give. We'll keep trying to take care of the rest, W. That's what liberals do, when we're not off having abortions and stuff. good night and good luck...stimp

I take it back

2007-01-11T06:44:00.000-05:00

I thought I was nuts. Blind screaming insane. I'm not even close. I sat through W's speech last night and thought, "He's got me beat by a country mile". I thought he was just being stubborn. Now I think he is delusional. PTSD got him on September 11th, and he's been gonzo ever since. Does he really believe that if we send a drop in the bucket's worth of troops to Iraq, it will make one iota of difference? He spoke of Iraqi police going around neighborhoods introducing them selves and making everything all right. Who is he kidding? There has been bad blood between Shia and Sunni since before there was a United States. We tend to forget that the Middle East is called the "Cradle of Civilization" for a reason. They had writing and math while my ancestors were still grunting around fires. Well, maybe not grunting, but you get the idea. After all of the history of the Middle East, Israel, the Crusades, and everything else, what does he expect? That these guys are going to gather around a big campfire hugging and singing "We Are The World", then thank us for showing them the error of their ways? How rude. W, after all this strife, still understands nothing of the culture and people there.

And to make things even more special, he's sent a carrier group to perch near Iran, and is making noises about Iran and Syria. I'm not swearing to it, but I don't figure those guys are scared of the big, bad, United States. The "insurgents", the "terrorists" he's managed to get stirred up in Iraq, where there were precious few before, have our guys by the balls, and are squeezing.

So now we're sending 22,000 new targets. Not enough to really accomplish anything, and too many to risk. I agree with Michael Moore, in a letter posted on his site last night, and which I will post with great thanks here. We're in a position now where we cant win, we can't leave, and we can't do anything constructive. Thanks, George. good night and good luck...stimp

1/10/07
Dear Mr. President,
Thanks for your address to the nation. It's good to know you still want to talk to us after how we behaved in November.
Listen, can I be frank? Sending in 20,000 more troops just ain't gonna do the job. That will only bring the troop level back up to what it was last year. And we were losing the war last year! We've already had over a million troops serve some time in Iraq since 2003. Another few thousand is simply not enough to find those weapons of mass destruction! Er, I mean... bringing those responsible for 9/11 to justice! Um, scratch that. Try this -- BRING DEMOCRACY TO THE MIDDLE EAST! YES!!!
You've got to show some courage, dude! You've got to win this one! C'mon, you got Saddam! You hung 'im high! I loved watching the video of that -- just like the old wild west! The bad guy wore black! The hangmen were as crazy as the hangee! Lynch mobs rule!!!
Look, I have to admit I feel very sorry for the predicament you're in. As Ricky Bobby said, "If you're not first, you're last." And you being humiliated in front of the whole world does NONE of us Americans any good.
Sir, listen to me. You have to send in MILLIONS of troops to Iraq, not thousands! The only way to lick this thing now is to flood Iraq with millions of us! I know that you're out of combat-ready soldiers -- so you have to look elsewhere! The only way you are going to beat a nation of 27 million -- Iraq -- is to send in at least 28 million! Here's how it would work:
The first 27 million Americans go in and kill one Iraqi each. That will quickly take care of any insurgency. The other one million of us will stay and rebuild the country. Simple.
Now, I know you're saying, where will I find 28 million Americans to go to Iraq? Here are some suggestions:
1. More than 62,000,000 Americans voted for you in the last election (the one that took place a year and half into a war we already knew we were losing). I am confident that at least a third of them would want to put their body where there vote was and sign up to volunteer. I know many of these people and, while we may disagree politically, I know that they don't believe someone else should have to go and fight their fight for them -- while they hide here in America.
2. Start a "Kill an Iraqi" Meet-Up group in cities across the country. I know this idea is so early-21st century, but I once went to a Lou Dobbs Meet-Up and, I swear, some of the best ideas happen after the third mojito. I'm sure you'll get another five million or so enlistees from this effort.
3. Send over all members of the mainstream media. After all, they were your collaborators in bringing us this war -- and many of them are already trained from having been "embedded!" If that doesn't bring the total to 28 million, then draft all viewers of the FOX News channel.
Mr. Bush, do not give up! Now is not the time to pull your punch! Don't be a weenie by sending in a few over-tired troops. Get your people behind you and YOU lead them in like a true commander in chief! Leave no conservative behind! Full speed ahead!
We promise to write. Go get 'em W!
Yours,
Michael Moore

Mr. 3000

2007-01-01T14:10:00.000-05:00

OK, so I know everyone will be calling him that. I've seen it on Firedoglake already.

I am not going to blog a long time today. It is a holiday, and I have things to do. But when I got online to check my mail after a wonderful New Year's Eve party with my family, I discovered we had cracked 3000.

Three thousand men and women have come, or soon will come, back from Iraq in a box. If we're being told the truth, and if they are lucky. Thousands of mom and dads, brothers and sisters, wives, husbands, children, and friends have lost something precious. I know that you know all this. I know it's not the last milestone number we will pass. I know that the idiot in the White House and his thugs are going to send more to be killed.

And it pisses me off.

I've heard the arguments for, the arguments against. I've heard about volunteers to our military. I've heard every justification and lame ass excuse in the world for this horrifying abortion in Iraq. And none of them are good enough. Not to excuse the loss of one life. Not an Iraqi, not an American, not an Ally, not even Saddam Hussein, and I was no fan of his either. This continuous slow bleed of lives, and gushing eruption of tax money, must end. Now. I could rant on for days about the variety of ways in which I hate Mr. 3000, and the variety of torments I expect he'll enjoy when he passes from this life into the next. But it's New Year's, and there's football and family. Happy New Year, and peace, most especially, to all this year. good night and good luck...stimp

What I want for New Years'

2006-12-28T14:49:00.000-05:00

So, I am assuming that everyone survived the Christmas holiday intact. Now we get to face 2007. We could have done a lot better this year, but we surely could have done a lot worse. And we have some things to be hopeful about.

We won back control of Congress. Now, while I'd like to see subpoenas flying around all over the place, I'll settle for more and better work for America. Real investigations may be too much to ask.

I'd like to see us get the hell out of Iraq, instead of sending more troops in. This may be too much to ask, however, as they are already trying to sneak more troops in. I hope that idiot doesn't decide we need to invade Iran, or to do anything else stupid to them. We don't get to decide who can play with nukes and who can't. While I wouldn't like to see any new country with nuclear weapons, I think that ship has sailed.

I want us to be nicer to each other this year. We spend so much time lost in our own worlds, arguing about such petty things, not showing the least civility. Let's start small, with please and thank you. Let someone in front of you in line, or in traffic. Smile once in a while. After all, it can't be that bad.

I'd just like to go through a whole year without any more misery, suffering, or rudeness than is absolutely necessary. I'm not asking for much. It's not like I asked for world peace or anything. Like that would happen. Happy 2007. good night and good luck....stimp

Merry, Happy, Joyous...

2006-12-21T00:11:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is Yule, the Winter Solstice. I will light the Yule log my husband made for me, complete with candles to sub for a fireplace. I try to come up with something for all the major holidays to post here. I was coming up empty, I admit, because I am depressed. Things around here, and in the world, have me in somewhat of a funk. But then, a phrase crossed my mind, cliche as that sounds. Peace on Earth, goodwill to men.

It seemed so right somehow. It's what I'd ask Santa for (well, that and a job). It's what I hope for, pray for, and despair for. Peace on Earth, goodwill to men.

There seems to be little of either this year, but I suppose if I tried hard enough, it could be said of any year. There is always a war, or poverty, or crime. No peace, and very little goodwill. And still, every year we sing for it in our carols. Some of us work for it, as much as any one person can. We smile at our neighbors. We give our time and our money to charity. We acknowledge the homeless man when he speaks to us, giving him the humanity he desperately needs and deserves. We say please and thank you and have a nice day to strangers, or let someone in front of us at the store, or in traffic. There are a million ways to spread peace, and goodwill.

It is something we can start, right now. One of the greatest losses with all our technology is a bit of our civilization. We rush, and push, and forget that we aren't the only ones in the world. As bad as I have ever felt, and I have felt pretty bad, I always said "It could be worse". Somewhere, for someone, it is.

So this year, before the new one gets here, let's find our civilization. Our own peace on Earth, goodwill to men. My mom always says the only place you can change is your own corner of the world. I think we can do more than that. But either way, we must change, for all of us.

Whatever your holiday, I wish you all the blessings of the season. May you have the brightest of new years. Just in case I don't get back here before then. I'll be making merry with the ones I love. good night and good luck...stimp

If you hear a loud popping noise...

2006-12-20T00:27:00.000-05:00

It is probably my head exploding. Didn't we just have a watershed election, where at least some of us made it clear that this shit in Iraq didn't make sense anymore? Haven't we been saying, more and more loudly, that we are tired of this horrible waste of money and life? We have been lied to, frightened purposely, and made to feel disagreement was treason.

Now, from the looks of it, that dumb son of a bitch is going to ignore everything that went before, and try to send MORE troops to Iraq. To expand the military.

To quote MSN news:
Bush said he has ordered Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates to develop a plan to increase the troop strength of the Army and Marine Corps, heeding warnings from the Pentagon and Capitol Hill that multiple deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan are stretching the armed forces toward the breaking point. "We need to reset our military," said Bush, whose administration had opposed increasing force levels as recently as this summer.

So instead of listening to the Iraq Study Group, the people of America, the people of Iraq, and everyone else who has more than four working brain cells, he's going to send more troops over there.

Where is he going to get them? Recruitment levels are falling, and the people we have plus those that are joining are not going to go around forever. So what is he going to do? Frighten us some more? I think that ship has sailed. Start a draft? I'd like to see that. I don't think the American people, especially those registered for Selective Service, would stand it. Stop loss the ones there forever? I don't think so. Too many National Guard and Reserve families are having their lives messed up as it is. And don't tell me about "They signed up for it". My husband was in the Guard after he left active duty. It's no mystery to me.

To quote again:
"I've got more consultations to do with the national security team, which will be consulting with other folks. And I'm going to take my time to make sure that the policy, when it comes out, the American people will see that we . . . have got a new way forward."

A new way forward? Who is he trying to kid? The hard core hawks and the idiots who believe anything that comes out of his mouth? The acolytes of Hannity, Bill-o, and Rush? This is not a new way forward. It is an expensive game of cover your ass. He invaded when he didn't need to, didn't send enough folks to get the job done correctly, and then let us get bogged down in a mess. Meanwhile, Iraqis are being killed everyday by their own countrymen, and they are taking our guys with them. I hate to break the bad news, but it is a civil war now, and our meddling started it. We can't end it. And the war we started ostensibly to root out the bad guys who did attack us is forgotten. The Taliban and terrorists are regrouping, and they are coming back.

So let's review. We are needlessly getting our soldiers killed everyday, in part because we wrote checks our military couldn't cash. Billions upon billions of dollars are gone, and we have a deficit my grandkids are going to be paying off, if we aren't owned outright by another country by then. All of it for what? Saddam's show trial? The elusive Osama bin Laden? Summer vacation?

And this asshole wants to make it bigger. What a fucking genius. Start praying, if you aren't already. I have a bad feeling it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better. good night and good luck...stimp

addendum

2006-12-16T08:08:00.000-05:00

Well, they didn't show up. The loonies who were going to protest at Sgt. Marco Miller's funeral didn't show. Thank God for small miracles.

Of course, it makes me proud to see who did show up. A large number of members of the community were there, to honor the fallen Marine, and to help shield his family in case those idiots did show up. The number of people, including a group of veterans serving as kind of an honor guard on motorcycles, was wonderful. Makes me proud to be from my hometown.

I hope the other families who are targeted by this horrible group (and there were others on the list) are as fortunate. I love and believe in free speech. But the fallen and their families deserve better than this kind of treatment. good night and good luck...stimp

Oh, God, No...

2006-12-14T07:33:00.000-05:00

I am a pacifist. I think that over time I have made that quite clear. I have also made clear that I have nothing but respect for those who serve in uniform. My nephew has done a tour in Iraq, working in a hospital in Balad. So imagine my horror and shock when I learned that the pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church, Fred Phelps, was encouraging folks to come to my hometown.

Recently, a young man from here was killed in Iraq. I heard on the news last night that these crazy bastards were going to come here and picket his funeral. I didn't want to believe it. So when I got up this morning, I went to their website, charmingly titled "GodHatesFags.com", and lo and behold, I found this.
http://www.godhatesfags.com/fliers/dec2006/20061212_marco-miller-funeral.pdf

These people are sick, insane, and without soul. Marco Miller gave his life for his country. And considering that the leaders of his country have thrown his life away, it is even more tragic. That is a discussion for another day. But to picket a soldier's funeral, to disturb those who love and mourn him for an agenda, is nothing less than horrifying. I do not have the words to explain how angry and soulsick this makes me. So I'll share some of their comforting thoughts.

"God himself has become America's terrorist, killing and maiming American troops in strange lands for fag sins."
"They turned America over to fags; they're coming home in body bags."
"Thank God for IEDs"
"America is now in God's eternal crosshairs."

We worry about carry on bags, secular progressives, and terrorists falling out of the sky, when we have these guys sitting in Kansas, doing the "Lord's work". Now I'm no Bible scholar. I have read the book, and tried to understand how the message of peace, tolerance, and love could be so perverted. Hell, I'm even nice to the sweet little old lady who brings me Jehovah Witnesses publications every couple of weeks. And when I think of these things, of the true Christians I see around me every day, who love me in spite of my liberal Pagan soul, I want to explode with anger at these terrible people for perverting God's word, and using Scripture to justify their evil.

Strangely, the most class of all was shown by Sgt. Miller's brother. He suggested on the news last night that free speech was something his brother had died for. He didn't like it, but there it was. Bravo. And Bravo to our local law enforcement, and Trumbull County's American Legion, DAV, police and fire departments, and some 60 school children, all of whom will be there, and will try to shield the family from this atrocity. To mangle a phrase, they can't stop then, I only hope they can contain them.

Go away, Fred Phelps. And flights of angels sing you to your rest, Sgt. Miller. good night and good luck...stimp

A new phrase

2006-12-12T10:45:00.000-05:00

There is a new "catchphrase" floating in the air, coming from the general direction of the White House. Like a thought bubble over a comic strip, it is just as substantive from the looks of it. Our Glorious Leader keeps talking about a "New Way Forward" on the war in Iraq. Now I'm no genius, but catchphrases do not bode well for this administration. "Wanted, Dead or Alive" became "I don't think about him very much" as Osama bin Laden slid off the radar like it was Teflon. "Mission Accomplished" was premature celebration at best, a flat out lie and photo op at worst. "Stay the course"? If I had a dime for every time he and his lackeys uttered that phrase or one like it, I could pay off the deficit. And now we have a new way forward. From the looks of things, it is the same way forward wearing new shoes. Mr. Bush has given the least possible time to the very people who he asked for counsel. An hour to the Iraq Study Group, and no questions for them? Why bother with them at all, if you are not going to use what you asked for? A brief meeting with some hand-picked generals, looking for answers? Why? Aren't they going to tell you exactly what you want to hear? How can we have a new way forward if we are doing the same old shit we have been doing all along? Talking to who will agree with us, blowing off those who don't. He says he is not going to accept the recommendations of the ISG in full, because he is not going to "outsource" the job of Commander in Chief. Why not? He has outsourced lots of jobs during this war, particularly to Halliburton and KBR. If the ISG had some better ideas, we need to listen and follow them. We cannot continue to bleed money and kill our countrymen and Iraqis to keep Bush from having to face, to borrow a phrase, and inconvenient truth. It may be a New Way Forward, but it is the same road and driver we've had all along. good night and good luck...stimp

Mommy, what did you do during the war?

2006-11-22T15:56:00.000-05:00

I almost fell out of my seat when I saw Bill O'Reilly's name in my church newsletter.

My minister was talking about the War On Christmas, and how Wal-Mart, Target, Kohl's and Sears were officially endorsing Christmas. I thought that Christmas already had an endorsement deal. For at least the last 1500 years, give or take.

The whole War deal has really annoyed me. Christmas has never come under attack. I figure that other faiths, some of which have been around a lot longer than Christianity, decided they wanted to be of worth as well. I remember saying Merry Christmas until it made no sense when I worked in retail. Yet somehow, Christmas needs to be endorsed, and fought for. Hmmm.

You would think that time would be better spent on finishing up some of the other wars we have going. We seem to be waging a war on peace, a nice traditional Christmas value. If I recall correctly, Jesus is known as the Prince of Peace, not the Prince of Wal-Mart. Seems lately that all you have to do to be a terrorist is to have heard of them, and not have the proper bumper stickers on your car. Which reminds me of the war on poverty. We supposedly started that one in the Sixties. We were going to eliminate poverty, and hunger, and homelessness. Haven't seen any real progress on that one. And since love for fellow man, and charity, are biggies on Jesus's list, you'd figure more effort would be expended. And how about the war on drugs? That is another one we're still pouring money into. Grandma can't get a cheap prescription to save her life. But we can pour money and time into what has been a fruitless quest to get rid of drugs. Course, we don't help our fellow man by getting him off drugs, helping him solve the problems that started him off. That would be too easy. Instead we warehouse these guys in prison. At least they'll get Christmas dinner, right? That will fulfill our generosity clause...way to go!

The older I get, and the more things we declare war on, the more I lose hope. I have no problem celebrating all of the holidays of the season. On the up side, you add one more party! And maybe, if we open our minds, we can love one another in concrete ways all the time. That was the idea, after all, in Scrooge's keeping Christmas all year long. Not beating people over the head with the idea that their holiday is the only valid one. But giving, and loving, and taking care of one another. With or without Santa...or Bill O'Reilly.

so Merry, Happy, Joyous, Blessed, as I usually say during the holidays. Have a happy Thanksgiving. good night and good luck...stimp

what is it with kids today?

2006-11-18T00:59:00.000-05:00

I sometimes wonder what in the hell is going on with this world. I watched people tear each other apart trying to get PS3's, trying to be first, not caring who got hurt in the process. We are uncivil sometimes to the point of real cruelty. This is a place sometimes that the Marquis de Sade would not only recognize, but approve of. And before anyone asks, I have read works of the Marquis in sufficient quantity to say.

But adult misbehavior and stupidity is not what troubles me. I was listening to the Lionel show tonight. (As an aside, Lionel is one of the best talk hosts on the air. He offers a podcast of his show free, and can be found at www.lionelonline.com .) There was a young man who called his show, and he entirely blew my mind. He was 15 years old, and had called to offer his opinion on one of the topics of the day. But he became the topic after listening to his opinions. Lionel questioned him briefly about himself. He was in a business program at school, and basically intended to go into international currency after college, because money was so important. The longer I listened to this budding Alex P. Keaton (Google it), the sadder I got. And I wondered...where had childhood gone?

Let me be clear, I am all for education. I am a big fan. I think schooling is one of the most important things we do. I hassle and help my own child as much as I can, sometimes too much, to do well in school. I understand its importance. But in expecting our children to plan their lives from kindergarten on, are we stealing something from them as well? When my son goes to school, I am not necesarily thinking entirely about what he will be when he grows up. I have told him that school will be important in helping him decide his future, that it is not optional. But what I want for him, this child on the radio seemed to have lost. I don't want a child programmed to perform at the highest levels without thought. A monkey can be tought to do that. What I want for my child, for all children, is the opportunity to search. I wish for them curiosity, exploration, critical thinking, and the joy that discovery brings. If I had merely wanted to program something for maximum efficiency, I would have bought a fancy VCR. I want my boy to see farther, look deeper. Money and materials are all well and good. But they mean nothing if you give your heart and soul away to get them.

I am sad for this boy on the radio. He was so certain, so set. No one should be set at 15. There are too many variables left to encounter. And eventually, even Alex P. Keaton found his heart and soul. good night and good luck...stimp

Thank you

2006-11-09T12:37:00.000-05:00

We did it. After all the nastiness, confusion, hard work, wishes and prayers. I think we have a chance now. At last report, the House and the Senate have both gone Democrat. Not by a ton, but by enough. Our state has cleaned house. We have a new governor, secretary of state, attorney general, all Democrats. Ohio is, for the most part, blue, as she has almost always been. The minimum wage bill passed, so some folks can get closer to a living wage.

I am speechless in a way, breathless, from the good news.

But it is only a beginning. Now comes the hard work. We must end this murderous, unjust war in a civilized way. Which is a contradiction in terms, I know. Just sit down, make a plan, and find a way to exit with the most dignity and least bloodshed possible. Then, let's make sure that the people we sent over there have all the medical care they need, for both physical and emotional needs. No skimping. Heal their wounds, inside and out.

A part of me wants to take the newfound power of investigations we'll have in January, ram it up the White House's ass, and break it off ragged. But I hope cooler heads than mine will prevail. There are some things which must be looked at, investigated. Take care of those, and pin blame where it is due. Besides that, We can't afford to do anything else but try to fix our broken constitution, carefully restore the civil liberties we have had taken from us. We must not let these people scare us anymore. Tell us when it is a real, and important, threat. Make sure of what we have. No more telling us something that might or might not be, depending on the polls.

There is so much more, I am sure, that we will tackle in January. But for now, it is enough to take a moment and breathe. And again, to all who made a difference, who VOTED, my most sincere and humble thanks.

It looks like it might be all good from here. good night and good luck...stimp

Did ya do it? Well, did ya?

2006-11-07T12:23:00.000-05:00

I voted.

I hate the electronic voting machines. I know they are easier to work and all. But there was always something satisfying in punching out my butterfly ballot. For all the supposed problems with them.

So did you vote yet?

It is too important not to go. All opportunities to exercise your right are important. But this time, there is a great deal more at stake. We need to inject some sanity into the government we are currently saddled with. We have allowed fear and anger to lead us into a war under false pretenses. We have given away some of our basic, fundamental rights, or let them be eroded beyond recognition. We have allowed our country, which once stood for what was right and decent, to embrace endless imprisonment and torture as a matter of course. Just good policy. The catch phrases have been endless, turning all the death and destruction into bite size pieces to swallow. Stay the course. Fight them there so we don't have to fight them here. The war on terror. Mission accomplished.

But the mission is not accomplished, because we were never clear on what that mission was. The target kept changing. We have lost the war on "terror", because good people are made terrified everyday by this administration. And staying the course is not a strategy, it is not knowing how to fix what you broke.

So, please, go vote today. And when you do, think about what we have given away. Our freedom. Our government's basic setup of checks and balances. Thousands of lives in a distant land, and right here in ours. The freedom to feel safe. And then vote your conscience the best you can. In the meantime, I'll be praying that we can fix all of this, that it is not too late. good night and good luck...stimp

Do it. It doesn't hurt unless you don't.

2006-11-03T15:25:00.000-05:00

I love politics, but I sometimes hate election season. The arguing, bickering, namecalling of it all. And with the 24 hour news cycle, it is almost as if nothing else in the world exists. I have gotten so many "Vote for me" phone calls I shut the ringer off. My mail is 2 to 1 political flyers over regular mail. It can be enough to make you want to lock the doors, stay home, and wait for it to be over.

But don't. VOTE.

People have fought, argued, marched, been hurt, and died for the privledge. They had to fight to make it a right for all of us. And yet many of us toss away this right through laziness, apathy, or despair. Don't give up. Vote.

I heard someone today say that the founding fathers didn't die to give someone like him the vote. That voting would be a compromise of balance, of integrity. I've got news for you, newsboy. A lot of people, from the founding fathers to today have died to give you the right to vote. You, and I, and everyone else who is able, must take responsibility for the country we call home. This is the place we live, we work or not, we learn or not, we succeed or not. We make it what it is. If we ignore participation in our political process, we are giving our voice away. And we don't get to decide who we give that voice to. We are soundless, surrounded by the noise of the process that we have let pass us by.

And the decisions that those who represent us, whether we vote for them or not, make everyday will define the world we live in. We are bound by their decisions, for good or ill. Why would we want to give that power away? Do we really want someone else to choose what is important for us?

So Tuesday, I will wade through the "Vote for me" folks outside the polling place, show my ID, punch the little buttons on the touchscreen, and sound my voice. I am only one vote, true. But better one vote than none at all. So go vote. Feel the force of democracy flowing through you. It won't hurt a bit. good night and good luck...stimp

ok, I've had it.

2006-10-27T14:03:00.000-04:00

Ok...in my last post, I vented about some gossip. I tried to be circumspect, leave out names, be nice.

Now, I'm not going to be so nice.

First, the new gossip that lit the fuse...From the nice folks at the New York Post...

October 27, 2006 -- KEITH Olbermann is thisclose to his day of reckoning for a one-night stand. The 30-something Cuban lass who says the MSNBC loudmouth courted her, bedded her, then told her to get lost, says she's about to release the 100 or so more e- mails she claims he sent her before their night of un satisfying sex in a Manhattan hotel. The woman, who calls herself KarmaBites and launched a blog to warn others about his boorish bedroom habits, says of the outspoken Olbermann's refusal to say a single word about her story: "Do you actually believe KO wouldn't deny my story publicly if it weren't true?" And she believes Olbermann is getting heat from his new girlfriend, Katy Tur. "Methinks he's feeling the pressure of the new squeeze to deny this publicly, but sadly for him he can't," KarmaBites says. "I guess my only alternative is to publish the e-mails . . . I'm tempted to re lease the e-mails just to see what excuses they come up with." She also says the more criticism she gets from Olbermann's fans, "the closer I get to going full-throttle and publishing all of the dirt. You're KO's worst enemy. I hope you can live with it."

Enough is enough, KarmaBites. He's feeling the pressure? You're blog is "by invitation only". Why should anyone defend themselves against a nothing and no one like you. You behave like a tramp, and then complain because you are treated like one. Once again, what did you expect, moonlight and roses? Happily ever after? And that is assuming that what you are saying is true. Whether it is or not, you are now a tool, willing or not, of the big boys at the Post, and therefore NewsCorp. You know, the guys who own Bill O'Reilly, archenemy of intelligent people everywhere. Are you seeing the pattern here? You give your "story", and it offers the opportunity to discredit a competitor. Smart.

But, that is beside the point. I don't believe you. You could swear on a stack of e-mails. At best, you are a pathetic groupie who didn't get the "big romance" that you were hoping for. At worst, you are a psychotic lying wacko who is trying to stir up trouble for someone who didn't follow your playbook, whatever it was. I'll make it simple. Shut up and go away. Leave us all alone. Because sooner or later, someone is going to do to you what you are trying to do to him. Can you stand up to that scrutiny? Are you clean enough for it? Considering your current behavior, I doubt it. If you didn't piss me off, you would make me sad and sorry for you. Just fade away...stimp

grow up and shut up

2006-10-18T15:28:00.000-04:00

I try, very hard, not to be a gossip. In a way, I've always found it a little gross. I don't read People, Star, Us, or any of the other crap factories that pump out "true" stories about celebrities and wannabes. I think that is probably obvious from my previous post. But recently, I have been reading about an ugly situation involving one of my faves. Woman not only insinuates a lack of class, personal good behavior, and honesty of said celeb, but goes so far as to claim a lack of prowess on the famed one's part. I have been trying, in all honesty, to ignore the whole sordid mess, which made its way into the blogosphere and the NY Post, setting up a horrifying feedback loop.

So finally, I am pissed. I am tired of all the nastiness. So here is my opinion.

WHAT IN THE HELL WERE YOU EXPECTING, IDIOTIC FEMALE?

Supposedly there was something of a long term internet conversation. Lovely. I talk to people on the internet every day. But I don't fly a couple of thousand miles to fuck them. If you were expecting moonlight and roses, you thought wrong. How old are you in your head, twelve? Did you somehow figure that some e-mails and a roll in the hay with what was essentially a stranger meant anything? "He wasn't nice to me, he blew me off after". What did your behavior invite? Sometimes karma, REAL karma, does give you what you deserve. And if you behave like a besotted preteen with a thinking problem, don't be surprised if you are treated like one. This whole story has made me sick. The only stupid thing our celeb in question did was having anything to do with a bimbo with arrested development and delusions of grandeur in the first place. Now I know that I am going to be branded an apologist, a mysogynist, or worse. But I am a woman, and not a prude. But I must say that it never ceases to amaze just how little class some people have.

So to the sad one who thought herself Cinderella, all I can say is: Pull up your big girl panties, pack your bags, shut your mouth, and go away. You've been here 15 minutes too long.

And to my celeb fave...try thinking with the big head next time, not the little one. good night and good luck...stimp

Rants Due

2006-10-14T11:56:00.000-04:00

It has been a while since I had a good solid rant and blown off some steam. But something forces upon my notice made me just mad enough to go.

WHY IN THE HELL SHOULD I CARE ABOUT PARIS HILTON?

I mean really. I was just watching the "news", and it seems that our Paris has made up with her old friend Nicole. It is all part of a greater crapification of the news that I can't stand. If I tune into a sports program, I want to hear about sports, not who is dating who. If I am watching the news, with Iraq, North Korea, and Congress in such wonderful shape, with an election just a couple of weeks away, I want the news. Or at least to know that at some point, I will be given some celebrity sorbet to cleanse my palate. I don't care about this stuff. I don't care what Brangelina is doing this week. And it is really sad that they are trying to cram this stuff down your throat so fast that two "adults" can't each have a name. I don't care who or what Tom Cruise is jumping on. I don't care which actresses are too skinny or too fat. Since these idiots can't make up our minds for us what exactly we are "supposed" to look like this 15 minutes, I say screw them. I don't care what food/wall/cleaning implement Jesus or Mary showed up on this week. I figure if either of them wanted to make a statement, they have the personal wherewithal to make it on a much grander scale. REALLY get everyone's attention. So no more Virgin Mary pop tarts, OK? And speaking of pop tarts, no more Britney and K-Fed. I don't care. I don't want to know. Or about Madonna adopting an African child. If you want to impress me, part with some of your ready cash, and time, and do something to make a real difference. Guys like Bono and George Clooney are putting their time and money where their mouths are, and I haven't had either of them shoved up my ass recently. If someone is making a real difference, or doing something of real value, let me know. Otherwise, let your Mel Gibsons and all of your other idiot children remain on Entertainment Tonight or E!. Let my news be news, OK? good night and good luck...stimp

Baseball

2006-10-08T13:18:00.000-04:00

(many thanks to Trekkerlass for the photo)

Well, this year's baseball season ended for me yesterday, when the Tigers beat the Yankees to clinch the ALDS. That's OK, I guess. With all that has been going on in the real world, it has been kind of hard to concentrate on baseball. For the three of you reading this, my nephew made it home from Iraq safe, and I am assuming, sound. Time will tell. And all the business with Foley and the pages, Hastert, the upcoming election, and world events are almost dizzying. But something happened the other day, not necessarily significant in the grand scheme of things, but noteworthy none the less. Buck O'Neil passed away Friday night, from complications of congestive heart failure and bone marrow cancer, at the age of 94, according to MSNBC.com. I will admit, I didn't know much about Mr O'Neil until recently. I learned a great deal about him after the controversial vote that left him one shy of entering Cooperstown with other greats (and not quite so greats) from the Negro Leagues. Such and uproar! There were baseball writers and fans all over America who were frothing at the mouth. Keith Olbermann was apoplectic. But for me, something kind of funny happened in all the outrage. I listened to Buck O'Neil talking about the "slight". And I realized that everyone else was angrier for him than he seemed for himself. Quiet and gentlemanly, he seemed happy just to be there, just to be considered. With the whole firestorm, he just smiled, and let it go by for the most part. He was even part of the ceremony at Cooperstown inducting the folks on the list he himself was not considered good enough to join. For class, there is none greater. So I wanted to remember this man I never knew of until it was too late. I'm not much of a historian, but I usually know a great ballplayer when I see one. And he will be remembered long after the Steroid Boys are gone. Thanks, Buck, for helping a little girl see the magic in baseball again. You're playing in a greater league now, and one that will not leave you out. good night and good luck...stimp

I love banned books

2006-09-27T23:00:00.000-04:00

I love books. I think I love them more than I love some people. My son came home today with his Weekly Reader(there's a blast from the past), and in it, there was a discussion of the American Library Association's Banned Books Week. I didn't think of it too much for a while. But tonight I got to thinking that here I am, in the 21st century, hearing about books getting banned. So I went to the ALA's website to see what some of these horrific books were. And I was truly shocked. The entire Harry Potter series? We have read those together. Of Mice and Men? Captain Underpants? The Catcher in the Rye? As the list went on, it made less and less sense. Huck Finn. To Kill A Mockingbird. Brave New World. James and the Giant Peach. Slaughterhouse Five. Tom Sawyer.
This isn't the whole list, obviously. Which is sad, that there are so many that I can't even name them all. I looked at my bookcase, and thought of books I have either owned or read. They'd have to burn down my house, then burn me at the stake. The book I'm reading now, which I got for my birthday, would make some of these guys hair fall out. I love that the ALA brings the idea of the banned book to the fore every year. This is the 25th anniversary of Banned Books Week. I wish to make some suggestions for future book banners who approach the ALA, and save us and them a lot of time. If you don't think the book is appropriate for your child, DON'T GIVE IT TO THEM! Parents do have a certain amount of control, after all. If your kid reads something you find offensive, don't freak out. Talk to them, and explain why you think it's inappropriate. Takes away the feeling of forbidden fruit. And for crying out loud, if you don't want to read something, that's fine. But quit assuming that no one else should read it either. So you don't want to read the works of the Marquis de Sade, maybe I do. I'm a grown up, you don't get to pick my reading material. good night and good luck...stimp

Today

2006-09-11T14:37:00.000-04:00

A great many words will be said today, some sincere, some expedient. I am going to add my words to the flood, and hope they will be sincere, and not noxious.

I live in Ohio. I knew no one personally who perished this ugly day, five years ago. I have some friends, who had some friends, but that is not the same thing. It is not the raw pain of the loss of someone you loved. As a matter of fact, not being involved and all, I can't imagine why life didn't go on. I was safe, my loved ones were safe, just mourn and move on, right?

Nope, I got it wrong. There has never been a day that hasn't been touched by what happened. I lost what little safety I thought I possessed. Because if it can happen there, it can happen anywhere. I don't send my family out the door now without saying "I love you", because you never can be totally sure if they're coming back. I lost my freedom. I never used to worry that an unpopular opinion could be possibly seditious. I can't go anywhere now without looking over my shoulder. I haven't slept properly in five years. I see our lives, my life, being whittled away into little fear boxes, where as long as we toe the line and don't make waves, we won't have to fight them here. People die every day to avenge the deaths of those who died today, world without end. There is no safety, no ending, only a never ending parade of lies, death, and passing the buck.

So this morning I watched the replay of the Today show an MSNBC, the original, honest to goodness broadcast from that morning. I was in chemistry class when it happened originally, and I saw nothing of it until later. It was a weird experience. Looking at the clock and remembering "This is when I was in chemistry class, this is when I went to Arby's between classes and found out what was known, and watched a massive building collapse, this is when I called my dad to find out what the hell was going on. " I went to my next class, took a quiz, started taking notes like normal. I only really got scared when they interrupted class to close the University, by order of the Governor. And it was a like an armed camp getting my kid out of daycare. Or him asking me, at all of 4, why all the grownups were scared.

A lot of perfectly ordinary days have passed since that day. My kid is now 9, I am going to be 40. We live our lives basically just as we did before. But nothing is different, and nothing is the same. It has been like being dropped on a new planet since then. I cried again today when I saw the remembrance. But to be honest, I think I have been weeping inside since the original occurrence. good night and good luck...stimp

no excuses

2006-07-29T19:25:00.000-04:00

The other evening, Keith was on Craig Ferguson's show. As anyone who has known me more than five minutes knows, I think Keith is great. OK, maybe more than great, but that is not the point. Something he said struck me funny. He said he does not vote. If I understood him correctly, he thought voting would somehow compromise his objectivity as a journalist. I don't buy it. The fact that you have a certain job does not relieve you of your rights and responsibilies as a citizen. You were a citizen way before you were a journalist. And I hate to tell you this, since you should know better. But NO ONE is totally impartial about anything. From the stories you choose to do, to the way in which you choose to do them, what you leave out, what you leave in, is not an impartial process. No matter how great you are, nor how hard you try. Walter Cronkite was not totally without opinion, nor was the revered Edward R. Murrow. Neither is the great Keith Olbermann. Or Stimp for that matter. But as a citizen, an informed one, you have as much right, and carry as much weight as the rest of us. Not to sound too idealistic, but we all count, unless you live in Florida or Ohio. So come on Keith, fill out that registration card, and join us in the thrill ride I call democracy. I promise, it won't hurt a bit. good night and good luck...stimp

What More?

2006-07-20T15:00:00.000-04:00

When I was younger, in my late teens and all through my twenties, I swore that I would never have children. I had nothing against kids. I had it against the world. I swore that this was not a world, not a time and place to bring a child into. It was too dangerous, and there was no real way to protect them. But times change. I met a wonderful man, and became a great deal more optimistic. The world seemed less dangerous, with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of the cold war, and the seeming prosperity.

Then the attacks on America came and changed all that, and I had had a child I couldn't protect. Not really.

I was watching MSNBC a little bit ago, getting my early dose of doom and gloom about the Middle East. And I saw the children, from both sides. Hurt, dead, traumatized, and unable for the most part to understand why the world has exploded around them, literally. I thought I was beginning to become numb, just a little, to the constant chaos. The war in Iraq has that neverending effect after a while. But this senselessness, this constant battle in Israel lately is breaking my heart. Not for the adults, who know better, or at least should. But for the kids, who always end up lost in the games grownups play. And they play for keeps. When there is a new wave of terrorists, or a new wave of Israelis who will do what they THINK they must no matter the cost, that is when the bill will come due for the things done to them today. We must once and for all find a way to live together in peace, or we will eventually perish together. This must stop now. good night and good luck...stimp

waving the white flag

2006-06-07T21:07:00.000-04:00

I give up. Totally.

As most of the three of you have figured out by now, I love baseball. I have always said that I was the last person in America to believe that Pete Rose didn't bet on baseball. The creeping cynic has always said that I was pulling the pine tar rag over my own eyes. But in my heart of hearts I wanted to believe. Sure, I read "Ball Four" and "Juiced". I even started to read Rose's book. But still, I wanted to believe.

I guess I'm not in Kansas anymore.

The night Mark McGwire broke Roger Maris's home run record, I sat with my kid in my lap, wanting to share the moment, even if he was too little to understand it. I showed him the greats on ESPN Classic, even when he wanted to watch cartoons. I wanted him to know about fair play, good sportsmanship, and the wonder of the game. But after all is said and done, I feel like a liar.

Today on Bloggerman, Keith Olbermann related the final straw on my camel's back. You can read it yourself at www.countdown.msnbc.com. Another player, this time a guy in the league 15 years, playing with 7 teams. Looks like he was using, and dealing, as well as having an interest in a pharmaceutical company. More steroids, human growth hormone, whatever.

So I give up. I will probably still watch my beloved Yankees, but not with the same joy. These guys want to shoot themselves up with HGH, steroids, horse piss, tequila sunrise, have at it. They can continue to go to hell in their own merry way. When it all falls apart and everyone gets hurt bad, or arrested, or both, the creeping cynic will say good riddance.

But the pure fan inside will mourn for what she thought she had. Til she heard "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!"

good night and good luck...stimp

stupid people shouldn't breed...or report

2006-06-03T18:00:00.000-04:00

Many is the time, either on this blog or the previous one, that I have said that Keith Olbermann is one of my heroes. I admit to finding him extensively easy on the eye, true. But I think that he calls them as he sees them, to use a sports metaphor. I offer as example, part of a transcript of a recent show. After all is said and done, I can't imagine why Bill O'Reilly still has a job. But it is apparent that if he knows how to read, it doesn't extend to American history. His remarks were a slap in the face. But I will let them speak for themselves. And Keith? Blaze on, Q'apla! good night and good luck...stimp

OLBERMANN: Abraham Lincoln did not shoot John Wilkes Booth. Titanic did not sink a north Atlantic iceberg. And FOX News is neither fair nor balanced. These are facts intelligible to all adults, most children, and some of your more discerning domesticated animals. But not, as the third story on the COUNTDOWN prove yet again, not to Bill-O.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEWIE GRIFFIN, BABY, FAMILY GUY: COUNTDOWN presents “Factor Fiction,” wherein we catch that bastard Bill O‘Reilly lying again. Oh wait, no hold still. Allow me to soil myself on you. Victory is mine!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OLBERMANN: The guilty pleasure offered by the existence of Bill O‘Reilly is simple but understandable, 99 times out of 100, when we belly up to the Bill-O bar of bluster, nearly every time we partake of the movable falafel feast he serves us nothing but comedy, farce, slapstick, unconscious self-mutilation, the Sideshow Bob of commentators forever stepping on the same rake, forever muttering the same grunted, inarticulate surrender, forever resuming the circle that will take him back to the same rake. The Sisyphus of morons, if you will. But this is the 100th time out of 100. It is not funny at all. Bill O‘Reilly has, for the second time in under eight months, slandered at least 84 dead American servicemen. He has turned them again from victims of the kind of atrocity our country has always fought against into perpetrators of that kind of atrocity. He has made these Americans into war criminals. They are dead and have been dead for 61 years. They cannot defend themselves against O‘Reilly. We will have to do it for them.
Last October Bill O‘Reilly railed against a ruling that more photos from the infamous Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq might be released. His guest on his program was Wesley Clark. Clark is a retired four-star general, was for four years supreme allied commander of NATO in Europe. First in his class at West Point, wounded in Vietnam, earned the Bronze star, the Silver Star and has streets named for him in Alabama and in Kosovo. Therefore, naturally O‘Reilly knows much more about the military than General Clark does. Clark defended the release of the additional Abu Ghraib photos saying we need to know what happened and to correct it. O‘Reilly lectured him and concluded that there had always been atrocities, even by Americans in war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL O‘REILLY, “THE O‘REILLY FACTOR”: General, you need to look at the Malmady Massacre in World War II in the 82nd airborne.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OLBERMANN: It was a remarkable mistake. The Belgian town of Malmady did lend its name to one of the most appalling battlefield war crimes of the 20th century. But O‘Reilly‘s implication that the Americans committed it was entirely backwards. Americans, most of them, members of the Battery B of the 285th Fuel Artillery Observation Battalion, surrendered to German Panzer troops and were then shot by their captures by the S.S. Yet O‘Reilly had implied that the Americans had massacred these Germans in this one stark moment of the Battler of the Bulge. And he used this Alice through the looking glass view of history to somehow rationalize Abu Ghraib while trying to dress down a four-star American general.
Still it could have been a mistake, we make them. Even historians do. O‘Reilly had not explicitly called the Americans the war criminals of Malmady. Our war troops, too, were accused of crimes against prisoners in the Second World War. It was assumed last year that he had simply made a foolish error and though he got beaten up appropriately in some places, it was all largely dismissed as merely that, a mistake.
Then came this Tuesday night, again O‘Reilly‘s guest was General Wes Clark. This time the topic was the apparent murder of Iraqi civilians at Haditha. That O‘Reilly was dismissive of that event should be no surprise, that he should have described as the real crime of Iraq the events of Abu Ghraib, should be no surprise of those who know of his willingness to jettison his most important beliefs of yesterday for the expediencies and the ratings of today, but that he should have brought up Malmady again, that was a surprise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
O‘REILLY: In Malmady, as you know, U.S. forces captured S.S. forces who had their hands in the air and they were unarmed and they shot them down. You know that. That‘s on the record. Been documented.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OLBERMANN: Thus was the full depth of Bill O‘Reilly‘s insult to the American debt of World War II made clear. The mistake of last October was not some innocent slip nor misrembered history. This was the way O‘Reilly understood and thus, this way it had to be. No errors corrected, no apologies offered, no stopping the relentless tide of bull even briefly enough to check one fact.
The facts of Malmady are terrifying as described by Michael Reynolds in his painstakingly detailed article from a 2003 issue of “World War II” magazine. One week before Christmas, 1944, 139 U.S. soldiers, most of them from the 285th Field Artillery, encountered the German comf (ph) group, Piper, the leading formation of the German first S.S. Panzer Division, one of only two German units in the entire war which actually carried Adolf Hitler‘s name. The American were overrun. The 11 of the 139 soldiers were killed in the very short battle of Malmady, two more were killed as they tried to flee, seven escaped, six became prisoners of war. The other 113 Americans, nearly all of whom had surrendered outright, were ordered to assemble in an open field next to a restaurant, the Cafe Bodarue (ph). What happened next has been attributed to many things, a cold-blooded decision by that unit Panzer commander, Colonel Joachim Piper, that he could not handle the prisoners, or an unjustifiable overreaction to some kind of escape attempt or simply horrible mass murder.
Within 15 minutes the S.S. Colonel or someone directly under him had ordered his men to shoot the unarmed American POWs. The bodies at Malmedy were not found until a month later. There were 84 of them, all American soldiers, more than half shotgun wounds to their heads. Six had received fatal blows to the head, nine were found with their arms still raised above their heads. The fact that O‘Reilly got these horrible facts completely backwards twice offended even his usually compliant viewers. From his program Wednesday night:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
O‘REILLY: Don Caldwell, Fort Worth, TX. Bill, you mentioned that Malmady as the site of an American massacre during World War II. It was the other way around, the S.S. shot down U.S. prisoners.”
In the heat of the debate with General Clark, my statement wasn‘t clear enough, Mr. Caldwell. After Malmady, some were executed by American troops.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OLBERMANN: Wrong answer. When you are that wrong, when you are defending Nazi war criminals and pinning their crimes on Americans and you get caught doing so twice, you‘re supposed to say I‘m sorry, I was wrong, and then you‘re supposed to shut up for a long time. Instead, FOX washed its transcript of O‘Reilly‘s remarks Tuesday. Its Web site claims O‘Reilly said in Normandy, when, as you heard, in fact, he said in Malmedy.
The rewriting of past reporting worthy of George Orwell has now carried over into such online transcription services as Burell‘s and Factiva. Whatever did or did not happen later in supposed or actual retribution, the victims at Malmedy were Americans, gunned down while surrendering by Nazis in 1944 and again Tuesday night and Wednesday night by a false patriot who would rather be loud than right.
In Malmedy, as you know, Bill O‘Reilly said on the air Tuesday night in some indecipherable attempt to defend the events of Haditha, “U.S. forces captured S.S. forces who had their hands in the air and were unarmed and they shot them dead. You know that, that‘s on the record and documented.” The victims in Malmedy in December 1944 were Americans, Americans with their hands in the air, Americans who were unarmed. That‘s on the record and documented, and their memory deserves better than Bill O‘Reilly. We all do.

oh, here we go...

2006-05-12T21:27:00.000-04:00

I was originally going to write about the tremendously scary NSA having trillions of our phone calls logged so that they can keep track of who we are talking to. The whole thing is terrifying. Not surprising, but terrifying. Instead, I am going to share a story I received from one of my compatriots in the peace movement. I also heard about it on the Mike Malloy show on Air America. We must start to put the pieces together, and object to the kinds of things that are being done in the name of national security, before it is too late for all of us to say anything. It may already well be. good night and good luck...stimp

Judge Orders World Can't Wait Activist to Jail Psych Unit
CAROL FISHER REMAINS STRONG AND UNAPOLOGETIC

May 9: Judge Timothy McGinty forcibly incarcerated Carol Fisher in the psych unit of the Cuyahoga County Jail in downtown Cleveland, where she now sits for an indefinite period of time.

In a hastily called hearing yesterday, Judge McGinty made a highly unusual and outrageous decision to force Carol to undergo a state psychological exam as part of her pre-sentencing investigation. From the very start of Carol's case, the judge has openly said that she must have mental problems for resisting an unlawful and brutal encounter with Cleveland Heights police. He went even further in yesterday's hearing, saying that her opposition to the Bush regime makes her "delusional."

The small courtroom on the 21st floor of the Justice Center was ringed with 5 armed court bailiffs. McGinty started off the hearing by making Carol stand up and had one of her attorneys read her t-shirt, which said:

"Wanted for Illegally Crossing Borders: The Bush Regime

"If you are going to insist that crossing borders illegally is a crime which cannot be tolerated, how about George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice (and yes, Colin Powell) and the rest of that gang, with their highly illegal, and violent, 'crossing of the border'-into Iraq, among other places?!"

McGinty then said this was proof of her delusion! He also kept saying Carol "wants" to go to jail, and that she has a "martyr complex." When Carol tried to explain why she wouldn't take this test, the judge's only response was, "I do not negotiate with felons."

Does Carol really want to go to jail? No! But she is not willing to comply with a vindictive court ordered test to "prove" her sanity. And more than that, she is taking a stand for everyone who is angry and fearful of a government that, under the rubric of "national security and the war on terror," willfully and unapologetically tramples on the most basic rights of privacy. Think about this in light of the NSA spying scandal, and now Bush wants to install the head of the notorious NSA to be CIA chief! As Carol said before she went to jail, "I'd be crazy to go along with this shit! That which you will not resist and mobilize to stop, you will learn--or be forced--to accept."

Just look at this whole case: a woman posts a "Bush Step Down" poster on a telephone pole, being brutalized by the police in the process, and now not only faces 3 years in prison but also a mandatory psych exam. As Terry Gilbert, one of Carol's attorneys said, "This is Gulag stuff--saying that people who are dissidents are crazy." He further added that in his 33 years of practicing law, he has never seen anything like this.

Is this the kind of country you want to live in?

On the phone this morning, Carol Fisher stated that, in addition to sending her to the psych unit, McGinty has also put her on "suicide watch"! They have taken away her eyeglasses. And if she refuses the psych exam, she will be forcibly sent to North Coast Mental Institute for a 20 day evaluation.

Legal challenges are continuing, including seeking a writ of habeas corpus.

When the transcripts are available to the public, they will show how outrageous this hearing was.

(Click here for previous news and more information about Carol Fishers arrest and trial)

WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Donate to Carol's legal defense. It costs a lot of money to get transcripts, file appeals, etc. Make checks payable to “Carol Fisher Defense Fund” and mail to “NION/WCW PO Box 609034 Cleveland, OH 44109.
Call Judge Timothy McGinty and express your outrage: 216-443-8758
Join us at a "Speak Out!" for Carol Fisher - Saturday, May 13 at 7pm at the corner of Coventry and Euclid Heights Blvd in Cleveland Heights.
Get your legal organization to be part of Carol's defense: make statements, file friend of the court briefs, etc.
Have your church group, school group, organization or club join this battle by sending statements of support, donating funds, etc.
Request radio stations play any of the following songs, dedicate it to Carol Fisher and explain what is going on with her case:
Tom Petty’s “Won’t Back Down”
Pearl Jam’s “World Wide Suicide”
Pink’s “Dear Mr President”
Neil Young’s “Let’s Impeach the President”
Write letters to the editor of:
The Cleveland Plain Dealer. Go to website: www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/lettertoeditor
The Cleveland Free Times. Email: editor@freetimes.com
The Sun Press. Email: sun@sunnews.com
Send this article to your list serves and post to blogs.
Join the World Can't Wait- Drive Out the Bush Regime!Contact: World Cant Wait, Cleveland 216-633-6200PO Box 609034 Cleveland OH 44109cleveland@worldcantwait.orgwww.worldcantwait.org

Pay attention

2006-05-08T16:30:00.000-04:00

Thus far, I haven't said much about the whole brouhaha about "illegal aliens", and the giant immigration ruckus. I admit, it is a problem, having folks sneak into the country undocumented. But this whole thing is an unwinnable argument. I was on my sister's blog Reality for Dummies, and there is quite the discussion going on. I haven't commented on this issue for two reasons. First, I think it is a smokescreen, a distraction from all the other things going to hell. It is a button push. If we are all freaking out about immigration, we aren't talking about, say, the sabre rattling with Iran. Or the multitude of lies and corrupt activities going on, both at the federal and the state level. We won't be discussing warrantless wiretaps, or the new CIA guy, or the 750 signing statements attached to various new laws. We'll forget about the slow erosion of our civil liberties, thanks to our war on "terror". And don't even get me started on gas prices. Then, there is a little place called Iraq, and all the lies, torture, and death going on there. Second, part of the "blame" for the immigration "problem" belongs not to the poor people sneaking in here, but the rich folks taking advantage of them. We are screaming about the illegals, taking jobs from us, using up our resources, and so on. But we never talk about the businesses, both large and small, who go out of their way to hire people they can pay less, tax free, and without benefits. As usual, it is all the little guy's fault. "They come here illegally and take our jobs...." blah, blah, blah. How about "they are poor and need work and come here illegally and the employers take advantage of their need, just enough, so the folks back home hear about it and are drawn here looking for the same". The immigration argument is the same as the gay marriage argument. If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit. good night and good luck...stimp

and now we wait...

2006-04-29T20:40:00.000-04:00

Today, I went to the going away party for my nephew. He is leaving for Iraq on Friday, coincidentally my son's birthday. Are going away parties intended to wish someone a good trip, or a good time? Or in today's case, to wish that someone comes back? I am heartsick and soulsick. And worse yet, I am doing my best to keep it all inside. What good would it do anyone to say what screams to come out? I told him to keep his head down as we said goodbye. He reminded me that "they" are not allowed to shoot at medics. Well, he knows that, and supposedly the other side knows that. But who says the bullet knows that? Or the IED, or whatever else comes along. No one else seems to be as concerned about this as I am. Which is understandable. I am, after all, the family fruitcake, certified crazy, and a whacko lefty pacifist besides. Part of me is proud of him for wanting to serve, and offer the most precious thing he has. He volunteered to go. Part of me wants to strangle him, to scream at him. Don't you pay attention to the news? Haven't you seen what has happened to so many others? We passed the 2400 dead mark today. And still we are thumping our collective chest, and beating the drums, this time for Iran. I have hated, argued about, and protested this war since before it began. We have been lied to, tricked, and frightened into doing this, and giving up a good many rights in the process. I was hoping not to have to give up part of my family as well. Others in my family are serving already. But as far as I know, this is the first time one has gone to the actual war. So now I'll wait, and pray, and call his wife more often. If anyone is actually reading this, maybe you could throw out a small prayer to the deity or your choice as well. It's all I can do. That, and wait. good night and good luck...stimp

a little nightmare music

2006-04-22T20:31:00.000-04:00

A little song to close out this interesting week, with all respect to Mr. Randy Newman...

No one likes us-I don't know why
We may not be perfect, but heaven knows we try
But all around, even our old friends put us down
Let's drop the big one, and see what happens

We give them money-But are they grateful?
No, they're spiteful and they're hateful
They don't respect us, so let's surprise them
We'll drop the big one, and pulverize them

Asia's too crowded and Europe's too old
Africa is far too hot
and Canada's too cold
And South America stole our name
Let's drop the big one
There'll be no one left to blame us

Boom goes London and boom Paree
More room for you and more room for me
And every city the whole world round
Will just be another American towm
Oh how peaceful we will be
We'll set everybody free
You'll wear a Japanese kimono
And they'll be Italian shoes for me

They all hate us anyhow
So let's drop the big one now
Let's drop the big one now.
(copyright 1969 January Music; composed and arranged by Randy Newman)

good night and good luck...stimp

And the bad news is...

2006-04-16T17:03:00.000-04:00

As we all know, today is Easter Sunday. For our Christian friends, it is a day to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus, and all that entailed. It is a joyous day. It is also a day to spend with family. We spent our day with my husband's family, having a large dinner together. Today is a good news/bad news day. My wonderful minister has delivered a beautiful, healthy boy. A great blessing to be sure. My nephew and his wife found out that they are expecting a third child. I was so happy for them. Spring, even for us heathens, is a time of renewal and rebirth. So imagine my shock when I learned that my nephew will not be here, for at least the pregnancy. He is being deployed. My nephew is shipping out for Iraq.

MY NEPHEW IS BEING SENT TO IRAQ!!

I am not entirely a stranger to the war, or the military life. My first husband, my current husband, and both of his brothers served during the first Gulf War. My sister's husband is serving in the Navy. I have said it before: I am a pacifist from a long line who have served their country. I love my family, and am proud of all those who have served. Those who make the promise and keep it are the bravest among us. But I am not sure I can take this. I don't hate anyone, especially not my own, who are in the service. That is a common misconception about people who are against the war. We just expect that when our loved ones are asked to serve, and perhaps to die, that it is for the actual defense of our nation, not the hubris of a clown and his court of fools. I have hated this war from the beginning.

And now they are making it personal. Big mistake.

good night and good luck...stimp

If anyone ever told you life was fair...

2006-04-05T16:45:00.000-04:00

My mom always told me that if anyone told me life was fair, they were lying. At the time, I thought it was heresy. The universe must be inherently fair! Well...she was right, as she is so often. Nothing has brought this to my attention more than the Delphi bankruptcy, and the bullshit going along with it. There is no one factor that has caused this mess, and no one solution will fix it. That being said, I wish to make an observation. The guy in charge of Delphi is one of the biggest assholes I have ever seen. I watched a speech that he gave the other day, to a business club of some sort in Detroit. It must have been a huge stretch for Miller to try to be both smug and hangdog at the same time. He is crying poormouth, and planning on cutting hourly wages and benefits by a horrifying amount. I don't think that people understand what that means. I hear all over the place "They make too much anyway". That is not the point. These same people don't say the same thing about the upper level guys who have a wage and benefit package that would choke a horse. Are these guys going to be forced to deal with "reality", and give back half of what they make? Of course not. It's not the same thing, they cry. But it is the same thing. If the guys making the things, whether cars or parts, have to bite the bullet, then so should the guys at the top. Because the fault is more theirs than the guys on the line. Life isn't fair, but it shouldn't cheat this much. good night and good luck...stimp

I've got your bipolar right here...

2006-03-22T16:52:00.000-05:00

Anyone who has known me for more than about a half an hour will hear me refer to being nuts. The correct terminology is bipolar disorder. A cycling between mania and depression. One day you are sitting in a corner wrapped in a blanket wondering why you should stay alive. The next you feel like George Jetson during the opening credits of The Jetsons: "Jane! Stop this crazy thing!" I hate it. But for once, it's not all about me. Don't faint. I was listening to the press conference with the teacher in Florida who had sex with a 14 year old student. And she was claiming that in all the horrible things that were said about her by the press, no one thought to mention her illness, that she was bipolar. As if it were an excuse for statutory rape of a 14 year old boy. Bipolar, with rare exceptions, is not an excuse. It doesn't get you a free pass from all your actions. I will admit that upon occasion, I need some time to get myself under control. I have been in the hospital twice. But when I was having a major depressive episode, and didn't pay the bills, they still repo'ed my car. And I can't imagine they would have said "You're bipolar. Oh, we're sorry. We'll bring your car back right away." Mental illness can make people do strange and terrible things. Sometimes you don't understand what you are doing. But it's not a "get out of responsibility free" card. And people who try to use it that way, as an excuse, make it more difficult for those of us who are on the S.S. Bipolar to find safe harbor. Life can be relatively normal, and that includes taking charge of your own mistakes. So to our teacher in Florida, pull up your big girl panties and get on with it. good night and good luck...stimp

An Aristocrat

2006-03-19T01:24:00.000-05:00

I literally just finished watching an amazing film called "The Aristocrats". For anyone with a good sense of humor (and a strong stomach), I highly recommend the film. I am not going to ruin the film by describing it. I wouldn't do it justice anyway. Penn Jillette made a great movie. I wasn't sure if I was going to wet myself or vomit, I was laughing so hard. This movie is not for the faint of, well, anything. Bring your smarts and real sense of the absurd, and leave behind your PC. It will just get in the way. One thing apart from the movie struck me as odd, though. At the chain store where I rented the movie, all of the copies were clearly marked "must be 18 to rent this film". I think this is in part because the film has no MPAA rating. I would not recommend this movie for anyone under, say, 30. Not because of the content or language necessarily, but because te type of humor requires some experience to appreciate. But they wouldn't give this film unless you were 18. At the same time, all around me, I saw movies and video games that depicted gratuitous violence, against man and beast, real and imaginary. War games, zombie movies, killing movies galore. But you know, other than the "Playboy, the Mansion" game, nothing else was marked must be 18. So you can kill it, you can maim it, but you can't fuck it or laugh at it. Unless, of course, you pass the magic age line. Doesn't make a bit of sense. But I'm glad that I am still the one making those decisions for my son. good night and good luck...go and have a laugh...stimp

Happy Anniversary

2006-03-18T09:25:00.000-05:00

2313...17004...33679...our guys dead, our guys hurt, Iraqis dead...and in only three years! Today is the anniversary of our excellent adventure in the Middle East. You remember, the one with the invisible weapons of mass destruction. The "fight them over there so we don't have to fight them here" war. I knew I was going to write something today, after all the misery, but I wasn't sure what. I have writen so many words about the war before. My former blog was thick with it sometimes, a lot of the time. I have been weeping, and screaming, and fighting in one way or another since before this mess started. I have marched, and signed petition upon petition. None of it has made an iota of difference. But I had to try. I have always been against the war in general, because I am a pacifist, and because I believed it to be illegal. But, as they say in the movies, now it's personal. I have been told that my nephew may be deployed to Iraq this year. I don't know for certain; no one does. But I got mad all over again. I am proud of the history of service in both my family and my husband's. There are many current and former members. I am proud of those who make the promise to serve, and keep it. What I object to, and hate, is the waste. We didn't need this war. It has been a waste of money. More importantly, it has bled us of lives. Wives and children left alone to cope. Parents left in fear. Too many hearts sick, too many tears falling. And all in the service of a lie, and hubris, and empire making. I don't want to lose my nephew so our Commander in Chief can continue to try to prove he is a man. In the meantime, I will pray. And weep. good night and good luck...stimp

Spring

2006-03-04T14:40:00.000-05:00

Ahhh, baseball. I was overjoyed the other day, when I logged on and saw that my beloved Yankees had lost in a bad buttkicking to Philadelphia. I didn't care. It was baseball. For all its flaws and follies, it's Buck O'Neills and Jose Cansecos, it is still the most beloved of sports to me. I am one of those people who will, upon occasion, look at baseball as a microcosm of life. And then I get all silly and wax philosophical about it. But, as I mentioned before, baseball is a sign of spring, and all that spring means. A renewal, a new beginning, a starting over. Some teams are better, some worse, some richer, some poorer. But on opening day the dreams of the fans remain the same. And up from every ball park the quiet wish whispers on the wind: "Please don't let these guys suck this year..." I know that I am really pathetic about baseball. But who couldn't use a clean start, a chance to prove all over that you are the best in the world? Who doesn't need something to believe in, at least until September, when they can say "Well, there's always next year" ? This is one of the best times of year, when hope springs eternal and all that jazz. So I'm gonna bust out the Yankees beanie baby, dust off my kid's glove, and get ready for another season. And who knows, maybe our guys won't suck this year. good night and good luck...stimp

stuff like that there

2006-02-27T16:35:00.000-05:00

Well, I made it all the way through the Olympics. I watched a lot of sports. A lot. Even the sports that nobody watches, I taped and watched later. I think I took care of my hockey jones. And it's nearly time for baseball. Doesn't get much better. I wish sometimes, in my sad naive way, that people actually believed in the Olympic ideals for more than two weeks at a time. It would be nice if sports could do what politics cannot: help us play fair and resolve our differences in a semi civilized manner. Not everyone involved plays by the rules, and there is a process for that to be resolved. Sometimes there are hurt feelings, but with time they pass, and no one dies to correct them. The thing that always strikes me the most is at the end, when the athletes from all countries come in together. Not separated by country, but in a huge jubilant group. I cannot imagine wanting to blow someone's face off if I have just spent two weeks learning who they are. Once someone becomes human, it's really tough to go back to them and us. And I think that is the part I like the most. That for a short while, them and us just becomes an Olympian, an athlete. A real person. We should all be so lucky. good night and good luck...stimp

spring, and sports

2006-02-18T16:05:00.000-05:00

I have a surefire way of knowing that winter isn't going to last forever. And in a godforsaken snowhole like this, it's good to know. Pitchers and catchers reported to spring training this week. If baseball is coming, and the local Dairy Queen has opened, it is only a matter of time. Not that I have seen much of the great outdoors anyway. I am currently up to my rings in the Winter Olympics. I love the Olympics. Two full weeks of sports, and more drama than the tackiest Jerry Springer episode. You can't beat it. I mean, where are you going to see life stories played out with such pathos, especially if Bob Costas is involved? I have actually been missing Countdown to watch this stuff. I didn't know about Swinging Dick shooting that poor guy in the face until my husband told me a day later. This is a serious lack of news concern for me. But I don't care. Bring on the figure skaters, the hockey players, the snowboarders. I'll keep recording the curling, cross country, and hockey that's on in the early morning. I'm not sure what I will watch after the Games are over. The Oscars are coming up. A whole different type of drama. good night and good luck...stimp

2006-02-01T17:43:00.000-05:00

OK...all I wanted to do was reply to my sister's post, and now I have a new blogsite. Well, it can't hurt. Hopefully I will enjoy the new neighborhood, and it will enjoy me. Until later...good night and good luck...stimp