Gutless Soldiers of KKKrist

Today, while attending services at his church, Dr. George Tiller was murdered by a lone gunman.

This is the lead paragraphy from the Wichita Eagle online edition.

"WICHITA - The 51-year-old man arrested in the shooting death of Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller -- a case that has drawn international attention -- could be charged Monday."

"Wichita abortion doctor"; not Wichita doctor who performed late stage abortions, or Wichita doctor who bravely performed abortions that other providers had been frightened or hounded out of doing. Nope.

"Wichita Abortion Doctor".

Nice touch for the hometown paper of record.

Randall Terry (founder of Operation Rescue),being the piece of shit that he is, issued the following statement:

""George Tiller was a mass-murderer. We grieve for him that he did not have time to properly prepare his soul to face God.""

By any measure that I would make, Dr. Tiller was a decent human being. He provided a service that is only being provided by two other doctors in the entire U.S. Whether one is a proponent, an opponent or an apathetic bystander to abortion, it is a legal medical procedure in this country. It is not murder, by any legal definition. Randall Terry is, of course, nothing but another liar for KKKrist. He has made himself wealthy and powerful by claiming to represent the unborn. He is lucky there is no GOD. If there was, he and the rest of his ilk would be in the deepest circle of whatever hell there would be.

His former business, Operation Rescue, issued a statement of their own:

"We are shocked at (Sunday) morning's disturbing news that Mr. Tiller was gunned down. Operation Rescue has worked for years through peaceful, legal means, and through the proper channels to see him brought to justice. We denounce vigilantism and the cowardly act that took place this morning. We pray for Mr. Tiller's family that they will find comfort and healing that can only be found in Jesus Christ."

Lying fucks. They actively sought to demonize, terrorize, marginalize and persecute Dr. Tiller. They have achieved their goal of saving the unborn, by inciting hatred and violence against Dr. Tiller, his associates, his family and his community of faith.

I am an atheist these days, not likely to change anytime soon, but I have no problem with people believing whatever comforts them--until it causes them to murder those with whom they disagree. Organized religions have certainly done a lot more damage than disorganized atheism, that's not even open for discussion.

I woke up this morning, to a gloriously sunny, late spring day. Gentle breezes wafted through my open windows and the sounds of songbirds going about their daily business, raising their broods, helping to complete the cycle of birth-death-rebirth put me in a reflective mood. I thought a bit, about the events in the news of the last few weeks and arrived at the conclusion that I have been remiss in my duties. I have not been fucking with enough assholes or bitchslapping the incredibly stupid mofo's that inhabit that nether world of religious fundamentalism and lockstep, kneejerkoff "conservatism" with anything like the sort of frequency that they deserve.

The furor over Obama's pending pick for the SCotUS has the senate reptilicans promising to keep the "filibuster option" open. They are saying that "emapthy" (read "reasonableness") is the wrong quality to look for in said candidate and that they want to make sure no "judicial activists" are appointed for lifetime tenure in a venue where they might vote an issue based on their personal feelings rather than relevant law. This, of course, ignores the fact that their darling "textualists", Roberts, Alito, Thomas and Scalia are all men who speak publicly about what they "feel" and, if one looks at the majority of their opinions, vote pretty much the way they feel.

The funny thing about "textualists" is that they don't believe in parsing the "feelings" of the Founders, just the words themselves. As someone pointed out, in a piece I read last week, definitions depend on whose dictionary you use. To quote Bill Clinton, “It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is,”. So, I guess that means that the justices all sorta vote their hearts, depending on whether their "dictionary" of choice is Websters or Conservapedia.

The healthcare "debate" is a fucking joke. Big Pharma, Big Insurance and Big HMO "pledged" to cut our costs by $3T dollars over the next 10 years by trimming their costs by 1-2%. Then several days after they made that pledge they started carping and whining about it, explaining why they couldn't really honor it. Of course most of the people I mention this to are against "National Healthcare" because it will mean everybody gets shitty medical care. Regardless of the fact that "Single Payer" is not "National Healthcare" they delight in regaling me with anecdotal stories about people waiting three months to get a broken leg casted or six weeks to get a flu shot (most such stories are, simply, bullshit) in Canada.

Maybe they're right. Maybe I'm looking at this the wrong way. Perhaps it makes sense to privatize some stuff that is currently handled by the organs of the state. Howzabout drivers licenses? Let's let the insurance companies issue those. If you're under 25, have been in an accident in the last three years or have defaulted on a scheduled payment--no license. That'll keep the riff-raff from getting behind the wheel; or, maybe they'll just drive without insurance OR licenses and let those of us who are paying for it pay for theirs as well.

I hate to be the under-educated churl who has to explain this to people but having approximately 15% of our population uninsured and another 15% (or more) underinsured does not mean that they get free care or care that is subsidized by the skyfairy or Dr. Government. It means that the cost of their care is lumped in with other operating costs of the hospitals and the savings are passed on to us!

More on this later. To quote a couplet I just wrote:

Spring has sprung, the flowers are here.

It's 8:16, I need a beer.


Okay. So I got to work after breakfast and got caught up in sorting out 7 or 8 banana boxes full of books and throwing a bunch of the ones I don't want anymore into a box for the Salvation Army. Then I did some rip&tear on the second floor of the house and needed to make a run to the lumberyard for more 2x4's. After I picked up some stock, I stopped at the supermarket to make my weekly investment in the lottery. While I was scratching a "Cash Word" card (the only thing I ever spell is "loser") a guy at the service window was paying his utility bill.

First he said that the bill was too high. Then he said that his cousin or someone else in his family lived in some other state in a house just like his and that their bill was, like, $88/month, while his was about $400/month. THEN he said it was because the Democrats and the unions are screwing everything up. Now, normally, I let this shit go--not today. I said "Right, it's all their fault.", with, perhaps a soupcon of snidelevity in my voice. To be honest I don't think I heard what he said next, but I said, "If it wasn't for unions you wouldn't get a vacation. You'd be working seven days a week." He countered with a remark that OSHA would keep that from happening (how the fuck he arrives at that conclusion is beyond my understanding). I let that obvious bit of foolishness go by, and I told him that without the unions there wouldn't be any OSHA either. He then walked away without saying anything else. Good thing, too; he was younger, bigger and probably more capable of kicking my ass than vice versa.

I really, truly, find it hard to believe that people are so fucking stupid that they buy into that tripe, but apparently they ARE that stupid. After eight years of a vapid, incurious, dry drunk of a president all such assholes can think of is that it's the democrats' and the unions' fault? Goddamn those fucking fools and their idiotic adulation of the Limbaughs of this world.

Pretty Nazi update

Good morning:

It appears that things have worked out nicely for Carrie Prejean. Not only does she get to keep her Miss California title (courtesy of Donald Fucking Trump) but her nemesister, Shanna Moakler, has resigned.

I think Keith Olbermann does a better job of deconstructing Ms. Prejean's tear streaked rant than I ever could:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwkTAzcToic

And Perez Hilton says GOD made him do it:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedishrag/2009/05/perez-hilton-god-told-me-carrie-prejean-did-not-deserve-to-win.html

Donald Trump, scumbag that he is, simply overruled his underlings and said that Carrie Prejean will remain as Miss California. Why does anyone pay attention to Trump? He's been bankrupt more times than Liz Taylor's been married. I don't know who the current Trumptrollop is, but if I was her, I'd be watching my semi-nude back.

The beauty paegant business, and it is certainly a business, is as corrupt and unreal as professional wrestling--and just as full of phonies. That's to be expected. After all, wherever there are people engaged in the business of exchanging cash for integrity and honesty, they will find a ready market.

The thing that irks me is not that Miss California turns out to be a cheap, fake-boobed, whining strumptet. What irks me is the immediate 180 degree turn that her so called "christian" supporters can make in their own ethics and values. Not that I don't expect it. It has been a feature of the folks I call KKKristians for a long, long time. They can forgive anything that one of their "role models" does as long as that person says they have JESUS in their hearts. What a load of shit. As much as I expect it to happen, I still don't like it.

I think the best way for me to deal with this is by doing the following:

Whenever some KKKristian tells me that poor, poor, pitiful Carrie has been savaged for her christian values and honesty I'll just listen, nodding from time to time; and when they finish I'll say, "Yeah, I know what you mean. All that GOD given beauty and truth and wotta set of headlights!"





"

No Whammy Bar or Effects Pedals

Another in a haphazard series of non-inflammatory posts.

Gentle Reader:

I journeyed to Johnson City, NY on Sunday. The purpose of the trip was to meet a person I'd met on the blogs, William Yelverton, who was playing in a concert at an arts venue there. Bill is a progressive who is both passionate and articulate in his arguments and while he no longer operates his politics blog, I'm quite sure he's not forgotten what brought us to the present.

I knew of him first as a blogger and, then, as a musician. He is a gifted (and I'm sure much practiced!) classical guitarist. I am a person who loves music, without being able to play much of anything--when it comes to the guitar I have the musical equivalent of Black Thumbs--or even read a score, so I enjoy it without truly understanding most of it.

The pieces that were played yesterday were a combination of classical ,baroque, Latin American and one great Bluegrass inspired piece written by one of Bill's colleagues. It was all wonderful. Just the instruments and the players, no microphones, pickups or other electronic augmentation. Piano alone, guitar and piano, guitar and violin. All of the music was played in a room that held 125 or so people in a relaxed "Pops" concert setting with cafe seating, bevvies, little sammies and lots of desserts! The audience was engaged, attentive and appreciative. Fortunately I did not have my Bic lighter--and I remembered not to yell "Freebird!" when both Bill and the pianist returned for their encores!

I am currently listening to one of Bill's albums, "Harpsichord Music On Guitar". The other album that I got is "Music of South America". All the information about the music and Bill's professional creds (as well as his thoughts on his current home in TN--and its environs) can be found at: http://tnparadise.blogspot.com/; give it a look.

I think Bill is the seventh or eighth person that I've met on the blogs and, then later, in person. I have been told by numerous folks that I am courting disaster by agreeing to meet with people in this manner. That has proved to be a non-issue. I'm not saying it's impossible to get in trouble that way, quite the contrary. However, my experience has been that most folks I spend some time getting to know on the interntet (through blogs) are who they have led me to believe they are. Granted I have not been aching to meet the trolls, but only people with similar interests and views on important subjects like the arts, politics and food.

We live in a VERY large world and it helps, imo, to have folks turn us onto things that they find interesting and informative amidst the plethora of experience that is available.

So thanks to Bill, and Dave von Ebers, Claudia, Mack, Nomi, Reverend Jerry Gloryhole, Annti, Richard at "Everyone wants to read my blog" and the rest of the good folks that I've met on the blogosphere. And to those of you whose names are not in that list, or who are on the list but not yet had me "all up in your grille..", your time is coming! Oh, btw, if any of you are into "kink", just remember this--I am the REAL reason that the chicken crossed the road!

I'm putting another of my poems on here, today, 'cuz it's my blog and I can!

Enjoy.

The Lesson


From the street, I watched you.

Through the window I could see the lyricism of you, the fluent dancer;

and the hesitancy of the students, unfamiliar with the language of movement,

afraid of uttering a mistake.

I saw you standing at ease; in a languid, indolent moment.

I saw you, in a moment, transformed, as you moved into a "frame"

Silk and satin for the viewer:

Whipcord and spring steel for the dancer.

That look of effortlessness, that look that costs a thousand, thousand repetitions.

The nights of standing in front of the mirrored walls,

learning by teaching.

making that same, perfect turn; over and over.

Until it is no longer a conscious pattern,

but, rather, it becomes, like breathing, intrinsic to your being.

Giving to the students a way to find the metronome of their own heartbeat.

Getting from the giving; the wisdom of experience.

Learning by teaching.

Learning that every step you will ever take is already in your soul.

7/20/01