I love banned books

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

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

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?

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

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

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...

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

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...

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

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...

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...

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...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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