sad state of education, scary appointments and wasted money...

I managed to catch the final moments of the miss teen usa pageant the other night...and I am sure you have heard by now, it was a frightening experience. four young ladies left on stage, put under the bright lights and asked really tough questions like "why can't americans find the united states on a map?" the answer was just painful and sad to watch. something about south africa and iraq and helping educate those folks...not only a non-answer of a simple question...but a non-answer to any question. no matter what was asked...that answer would have made no sense. it was a rather damning indictment of the american educational system...one that provides braindead sheep capable of worshipping the likes of friedman and crying from the rooftops the joys of financialization and never-ending growth...all in the midst of a crumbling market and vanishing economy...yet it cannot provide the one simple thing education was meant to provide...not business leaders...not money-grubbing slaves to Big Corporations...but informed citizens. people capable of thinking for themselves and examining the world and their place in it. so if you are a student, stay away from business...it is a joke and a lie and nothing but an opportunity to sell your soul to god of the almighty dollar - a god that doesn't seem to have much pull in the heavens these days. instead, get into an art classroom...a history classroom...a science classroom. study something that makes you a better person, not a better bottom-line.

alberto gonzales is gone...cheers. yes, the man was a complete shitbag incapable of understanding what the american "way of life" actually means. yes, the man was instrumental in ensuring that your rights and liberties fanished more by the day...and sent kids off to kill and be killed for the death of liberty. yes, the man turned the justice department into yet another political hackery. but one of the most frightening things about gonzales is how incredibly inept he was as a lawyer and a manager. just some texas asshole that bush decided he liked and pulled him up from private practice to the governor's mansion, to the state supreme court, to the white house, and then to one of the most important positions in the country...and at no step along the way did he prove to be capable of anything but patting the boy king on the back. and this is one of the worst aspects of the boy king...his loyalty never seems to be to accomplished or capable people, but to yes men. and here I always figured that in the most important decisions it would be expected that differing views would be raised and discussed. but then analytical thought isn't exactly a staple in texas educations these days...so perhaps that is asking too much of an intellectual midget and his band of incompetent boobs.

and speaking of inept leadership...the boy king is sending a budget to congress that will include over $650 billion on the machinery of death and destruction. think about that for a minute......$650 billion.....on killing. and now look around and you will see none of your neighbors have access to affordable health care...you will see many foreclosure signs popping up in your neighborhood...you will see the school down the street forced to share textbooks and use trailers to house students...you will see your children stifled by rising debts while they try to educate themselves...you will see your pension wiped out, even though they told you it was better to have a 401k than a guaranteed pension...you will see your roads crumbling and your bridges collapsing...and you will see the graveyards filling up...and you will never see a flag at full-mast...and you will see more and more prisons rising up and yet crime rates continue to rise...and you will see so many families weeping over a flag in a triangular fold, the boy king's way of saying "thanks for giving your loved one so that I might destroy your life." and maybe, just maybe, you will wonder if there is not a better way to spend $650 billion dollars next year then in the art of killing.

"As long as war is regarded as wicked, it will always have its fascination. When it is looked upon as vulgar, it will cease to be popular." - Oscar Wilde

the boy king’s history lessons, making poverty a crime, and obama disappoints again...

the boy king is now providing history lessons...a rather amusing prospect given his apparent complete ignorance of the fascinating disaster he is piloting which history foretold time and time again. he wants us to believe that iraq is japan...and since the US helped japan "turn defeat into democracy" it must work in iraq too (we just ask that you please ignore that it first required incinerating a few hundred thousand woman and children and the US taking over a permanent role as japan's military which has led to ridiculous amounts of animosity towards this nation in the areas where our military bases bring crime to foreign lands). yup...all we need to do is set up permanent bases all over iraq, govern it is a military dictatorship for a decade or so, and use the a-bomb and we should be a-ok.

he also wants us to remember the lessons of korea...but forget that, again, there is a permanent and large military force provided by your tax dollars. and forget that rollback turned pretty damn ugly when chinese forces ran our asses back to southern korea.

oh...and don't forget vietnam. the boy king wants you to think that millions died and became "boat people" after the US military finally stopped supporting an unpopular corrupt puppet regime. he wants you to ignore our involvement in making the "killing fields" happen...he wants you to ignore the countryside that was devestated by american bombing raids. he wants you to ignore the millions of innocent civilians that were slaughtered from the air. and he also wants you to forget that just about a year ago he was telling you how wonderful things turned out for vietnam.

here's the history lesson he should be giving you...hegemonic societies inevitably have been drawn to financialization and "globalization" (as we like to call it these days). this destroys the foundation of a strong and sustainable economy...labor and manufacturing. unfortunately, by this point they have often come to see themselves as saviors of the world...to be spread by military might. intense militarism sets in, conservative assholes take over the government and the military becomes the only place that social mobility is at all possible anymore as the stratification of weath shoots to unimaginable heights. with a faux-economy propping it up, the over-use and extension of the military becomes a huge drain of resources that cannot be supported. things fall apart and the hegemon drops into serious relative decline, watching all those it used to bully speed past it. its been happening for many, many centuries. we are the latest victim...enjoy the ride.

awhile back a man got hammered and drove the wrong way on I-25, slamming into a minivan and killing all but one daughter of a family from las vegas, new mexico. he was served booze on the plane, and then stopped at a gas station to get a six pack (maybe...there was a receipt in his wallet). cue the posturing from politicians about how drunk driving is the worst of all possible offenses and that the best way to cure it is to crack down on anyone and everyone while ignoring the root causes of over-consumption of alcohol and the fact that it is impossible to get anywhere in this state on public transportation. so now they are charging a clerk that was working at that gas station that night and might have sold a six pack to a guy that might have been drunk at the time he bought it. here's wondering if charges would be brought if the chief of police had a shindig and gave a guy too many beers before he headed out....my point? this poor clerk is basically being charged with having a shitty job. but then making poverty a crime is a good way to keep people down I suppose...

obama doesn't have the balls to be a savior. he will never be the man so many of us hoped he could be. when given another opportunity to decry the unquestioning love of all things military by our society, and perhaps point out that not only was the war a bad idea...but it is morally reprehensible...obama went out on a limb and became another cheerleader. his only question...speaking of after the boys and girls in camo finish their "outstanding job in carrying out military operations" was "what then?" not why.

is it too much to ask that just one of our supposed leaders follow martin luther king and ask us to consider what has gone wrong with our society when we climb all over each other to show how much we love soldiers and pour more and more money in to the machinery of death and destruction while our schools crumble and our children go without medicine?

watching television in an electronic prison waiting for the darkness to fall. homegrown terrorism, one nation in division and the talk shows are to blame for it all. the atf and fbi make preparations to invade...the bill of rights disintegrates because freedom just gets in the way.

the crime rate is alarming, the citizens are arming against uncommon enemies. a fourth world revolution, invisible pollution...in the 21st century.

the homeless were a nuisance to the 5 o'clock commuters so they were erased from the streets. apocolyptic rumors are consumed by the consumers, there's a new disease every week. the nightly news has no more room for truth inside the narrow case. the markets slip, a panic hits as a fever spreads across the land.

genetic engineering, one step from ethnic cleansing...copyright your dna. moral indescretions, unnatural selection...in the 21st century.

watch the politicians as they jockey for position in the endless race of the rats. all the kids are listening to some junky musician as the empire show signs of collapse. the upper crust, the one percent, have run off with all the cash. don't pay the bills, forget the rent, its the beginning of the end.

the book of revelations, the cult of information, the power of prophecy. you don't need a crystal ball to track the rise and fall...of the 21st century.

a touch of red hair to make love stay...

An excerpt from Tom Robbins' Still Life with Woodpecker...

When the mystery of the connection goes, love goes. It's that simple. This suggests that it isn't love that is so important to us but the mystery itself. The love connection may be merely a device to put us in contact with the mystery, and we long for love to last so that the ecstasy of being near the mystery will last. It is contrary to the nature of the mystery to stand still. Yet it's always there, somewhere, a world on the other side of the mirror (or the Camel pack), a promise in the next pair of eyes that smile at us. We glimpse it when we stand still.

The romance of new love, the romance of solitude, the romance of objecthood, the romance of ancient pyramids and distant stars are means of making contact with the mystery. When it comes to perpetuating it, however, I got no advice. But I can and will remind you of two of the most important facts I know:

(1) Everything is part of it.

(2) It's never too late to have a happy childhood.



Personally, I'm rediscovering both...holding on for tomorrow...

panzy democrats and disaster on the horizon...

in yet another showing of how the "left" in this country has disappeared in favor of pandering to mindless (fill in the blank) phobic fools that occupy the right...the democratic candidates for president showed us just how much they hate the bill of rights and basic human dignity...just how much they do not believe in the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. (that is, of course, except for kucinich...who actually is what the democrats should be). this time it was a forum on gay issues...which, in itself I suppose is a step foward...where they reminded us that anyone that can get elected president should be forever banned from holding office. we had obama counseling gays not to concentrate on liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and just move on to other things than marriage - ironically pointing out that his parents marriage would have been illegal in many states...apparently ignoring that 50 years ago such logic would have meant he never came to be. we had clinton telling us how much hard work she and her husband had done for gays...apparently forgetting the defense of marriage act and "don't ask, don't tell"...both wonderful setbacks which, as melissa ethridge said, threw gays under the bus. we had richardson telling us its a choice before admitting he doesn't know shit about the science behind it - perhaps because this country has abandoned learning and teaching science in favor of pandering to the almighty dollar and MBAs for everyone. we had edwards claiming he is now comfortable with gays...the comment coupled with nervous laughter. WHY DON'T ANY OF THESE PEOPLE HAVE ANY FUCKING BALLS?!?!?!?! when will one of them simply say this..."when was the last time your community was hurt by more marriages?" I seem to remember a certain document claiming "all" were created equal...guess my copy just doesn't include the bit excluding leather daddies, fems and the like.

the DOW took an incredible hit and markets worldwide are showing just how shaky "globalization" and financialization actually is...and I must admit, a part of me took some glee in it. I mean, I hate to say "I told you so"...but is anyone else noticing this would only be about the umpteenth time in history that the love of finance caused economic disaster? you can keep trying to shuffle the red ink around as much as you want...eventually you just can't move it fast enough...eventually people wake up and demand to know why they are working so hard for so little...eventually people realize it has all been a sham...and they run...and your currency collapses...and your never-ending growth does a nosedive...and a dark age ensues...and we can only hope that some good comes out of it in the end. to everyone that is relying on a 401(k) to retire on...I'm sorry to tell you this...but you're fucked. you worked hard, you tried to save...and they told you you would be ok...but they lied. you are fucked. when you put it next to Big Business, Big Government doesn't look so bad does it?

but don't worry about the impending doom on the economic horizon...we have more pressing issues...like the impending doom on the environmental horizon. the ice sheets are hitting record lows again...funny how that seems to coincide with record highs on wall street - message from the powers that be perhaps? scientists at the university of illinois released a study that points out we are really playing with fire here. if you ask me...and no, you didn't...I'd say we are well past the point of no return, and it is just a matter of time before mother nature truly unleashes her wrath upon us and sets the record straight. and in the same way that I wish it weren't true and still enjoy the impending implosion with the stock market...part of me is glad to see comeuppance happen.

if the world is bad, refer to your dad...and his before four score what's the reason he saw for...karma is real, part of the deal is how you started the deal...cause everything is 360, it will start the cartwheel and snowballs...

I can't take the world no more - pass me another cup...

try something interesting...get on google and check for animal shelters in your area. now check for shelters for homeless youth. discuss...

high school kids are apparently proficient in "economics" (which is basically the bullshit study of how things don't actually work in reality - three cheers for another generation of mindless corporate drones) - of course when it comes to areas of study that will actually help improve the quality of life for the nation, well, they pretty much are fucking morons. so there you have it...national priorities...understanding where you come from and the context of events while being able to analyze and understand the world around you? who needs that. being able to read the bottom line and laugh at the growing number of paupers...now thats just good edumacation.

kids automatically think food is better if it has the golden arches on it. some fuckhead was on tv this morning talking about how it is the parents fault. so here we go again...all about personal responsibility while ignoring community responsibility and corporate responsibility. if we are going to say corporations are entitled to the same protections as people...shouldn't they also have the same obligations?

last night a friend asked me what would happen to me if the draft was re-instituted...my first thought was I would wind up in federal prison. have a feeling I would see some of you there...

barack obama is the biggest disappointment of my generation...apparently changing the culture in washington meant shifting the brunt of our militarism a few nations over...for those of us that listened to your early rhetoric mr. obama, I offer you this heartfelt message...fuck you.

libertarians are not liberal. please stop telling me they are.

the boy king won't raise taxes...and if congress tries, he will veto it. in related news...the boy king won't fund the gi bill so that the young american's lives which he royally fucked up can afford college. wouldn't want to lose too many of them to college...that would be a shame. seriously...what good is an educated citizenry? then who will buy macdonalds?

and back to militarism...now people are getting criticized for their children not joining in the violence and killing...when was the last time a candidate was asked why their kids didn't join the peace corp instead of the war machine?

I take comfort in knowing that when it all falls apart, I have a connection to the elites in ecuador...

apparently the boy king is healthy...not very surprising that the stress of the job isn't getting to him...he hasn't really been on the job for more than a day or two here and there anyways.

headline in the ny times..."US Set for a Crackdown on Illegal Hiring"...but the employers won't get their due. instead, workers will get fired and parents will be shipped off away from their kids. hooray for xenophobia! if there are any immigrants we don't want in this nation, it sure as hell are the ones that got jobs and are contributing...especially those ones that insist on community...that's just plain un-american.

the administration is feeding us propoganda on why iran must become the next failed state and breeding ground for hatred of "our way of life" (is it really a surprise that people would hate a way of life that was basically just hollow consumerism wrapped around militarism without any sense of community, family or a true moral compass? I mean...I'm just posing the question). I am just wondering why they are bothering...really, it isn't like the boy king and his minions give two shits about you and I anyways...

had the unfortunate opportunity to catch some of drew carey's sad new game show last night. one question posed was about a duel between cheney and the responders...as in who thought they would shoot him before he shot them. I'm just wondering how many that answered that cheney would get the bullet walked around daydreaming all day...

I hear al gore is liked more than the dems in the race somewhere out east (I can't remember which state, and it doesn't really matter)...so to those people I have just one comment...al gore is a conservative shitbag. I'm not saying that hilary or obama or richardson or edwards (who talks a good game but I just can't take seriously yet...although he may have had a RFK transformation) aren't shitbags. just pointing out that al gore is also a shitbag. when it mattered, when he had an opportunity to really do something about it, the environment took a backseat to big business and the almighty dollar...ain't NAFTA grand?

if you had any doubt that the economy is strong...the boy king just asks you to look at ebay. its very existence is proof that you are better off. please just ignore that you have no health insurance, can't afford gas and there is no public transit, your kids schools are failing to teach them anything but supply and demand, have no pension to speak of, and have seen your wages stagnant for decades while the cost of living keeps rising, not to mention you really have no job security anymore. ebay is out there! what the fuck else do you want in life? seriously...you can get a michael vick dog chew toy...and you want your health and security?

but all in all...as pissed off as I should be this week...I've been doing a hell of a lot of smiling recently...

pass me another cup...

trigger happy cops, shitting on the constitution, and spineless representatives...

the other day I was speaking with a witness in a case that proposed a test designed for the human olfactory in picking up the scent of raw marijuana leaf under certain circumstances. this witness also proposed utilizing officers in the test because they are officers and they are sworn to tell the truth and therefore would be honest...a laughable string of logic for anyone who has ever had contact with law enforcement. in reality, they are just as full of shit as the rest of us, and often the wrong type of person is drawn into the work...and they are more full of shit then the rest of us. of course the prevailing attitude seems to be that cops are good, honest people much moreso than the rest of the general population.

and so, when chicago officers gunned down an 18 year old kid by putting a bullet in his back, the story that he was pointing a gun at them (apparently they feared he was a hell of a shot with his back turned) will likely be taken as truth and no criminal charges will be filed...fourth amendment be damned. now, those of us here in albuquerque are no strangers to trigger happy cops...it seems like once a month APD or BCSO puts a few slugs in some guy, whether he be brandishing a screwdriver or robbing fruit stands. and murder charges never seem to result...

now contrast that with the story of a young all-american boy from texas. this kid joined the marines and was in-front of the front lines in iraq. did his time half a world away fighting in an imperialistic and un-american war...and then came home to continue his work for the country by carting around warheads to and fro, often leaving his wife and newborn at home for a week at a time. one night he comes home late from a trip and is sitting down to have dinner...noises outside, grabs his gun (which of course he has for just such an occasion pursuant to the 2nd amendment - or so the republican assholes will tell you) and steps into the front yard. he is immediately greeted by a caricature of a burglar, complete with black cap and black gloves with the knowledge that his wife and newborn are inside. he does everything he can to apprehend the man (unlike our friends in law enforcement), including struggling with the drugged up and drunk individual for some time. eventually, the would-be burglar winds up dead from a gunshot wound...and the local DA's are pissed the grand jury would not indict for first degree murder and instead just went with second.

so there you have it...cop shoots running kid in back...cop gets paid leave. marine, nuke currier does everything to apprehend burglar and shoots in chest in a position that indicates the arm was raised as if pointing a weapon...charged with murder. if only he had a local badge...he'd be a fucking hero.

speaking of civil rights going out the window...congress has again decided to try and cut a little thing called the fourth amendment out of the constitution (ironically at the same time we were being told republicans used nypd like hoover used the fbi). good thing they were sent up there to reign in the boy king and his minions. none of these fuckers have any balls to step up and do what is right...all too worried that when the inevitable attack comes again (which it will...when you continue to poke a hornets nest for centuries, usually you wound up stung...and when stung, I can't imagine why the response would be to poke the nest harder) they will catch the blame if they don't skirt the rule of law and democratic values to save democracy by destroying it. here is betting that when the next nasty thing happens, nobody will seriously listen to the one voice that will stand up and say "told you so...you keep fucking with fire and you are going to get burned"...but every media outlet will give more than ample air time to the asshole saying "told you so...we need a dictatorship police-state or else the terrorists win."

which makes the words of a certain wisconsin representative all the more refreshing...and stirs memories of a certain mysteriously killed in a plane crash senator from minnesota. steve kagen got to washington and turned down the government health care that is apparently is wonderful for our congressman, but would be a disaster for the general population. in having the balls to point out that the folks in congress do not represent you or I (shortly after we learn that the GOP thought john kerry would be a good fit and that bush money men are moving over to bill richardson - all clear signs that democrats are just as out to rape you as republicans) representative (one of the few that have earned that title) kagen put it in simple terms...

"if every congressman had to go to bed hungry, we'd solve the hunger problem."

amen to that rep. kagen. so in the spirit of solidarity and togetherness...here is a challenge to congress...either you are with us or you are against us. turn down your pay raises, your perks, your benefits, your pensions, everything. live like the millions nationwide that only make it paycheck to paycheck. throw yourselves into the "free" market you praise so highly...and I guarantee poverty, lack of health care, poor education, crime and the like will be properly addressed.

but then, we all know that is a pipe dream...they'll just continue to fuck us over with a faux-empathetic glance a la bill clinton as long as we continue to agree to send them to washington. throw them all out...well, not all...keep this kagen guy around.

am I losing my soul?