Forgiveness...

As much as I loath the media ghouls who follow the grieving, I find it comforting to know that there are still those in our country who try to retain their humanity. Being exposed to the blood suckers who favor wars of agression and torture for our nation's future (and present) can tend to jade someone. Any sign of hope for peace, kindness, and humility bring a smile to this atheist, pinko, subversive's face.

16 Words...

"The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."
- from George W. Bush's State of the Union Address, January 2003

Ketih Olbermann: Special Comment About Lying Part 2

Keith Olbermann: Special Comment About Lying Part 1

I Hate Texas Chainsaw Massacre…

I said it.

They heard it.

It’s all my fault.

Sure, the original was a classic. Back in the 70’s, we hadn’t seen too many movies about stupid kids being trapped in a stupid house (or similar structure) and killed by stupid homicidal maniacs. It was still relatively new/not completely overdone.

But then, the sequel… and the sequel to the sequel… and the sequel’s sequel to the sequel… and…

They were all the same! All of them! Stupid family. Stupid kids. Stupid lines. Stupid directing.

And I said, “NO! No more! I’m sick of it! I hate Texas Chainsaw Massacre!”

And… it seemed to help. For a while… for a little while… it seemed to stop. For several years, movies almost exactly like it were made – distant cousins slaughtering sex-crazed teens in a warehouse – but not EXACTLY the same!

Then… the horror. They remade the movie! And it was even worse than the original! Now, the kids were obviously retarded. The killers were more inbred than most scientologists (thought I was going with a southern state, didn’t you?). The deaths were all so obviously escapable!!!

When will they stop making this fucking movie???

But, at least, now it seems there’s a slight reprieve. They’ve done every sequel they can. They’ve remade the damned thing. They’ve made it as many times as possible… right? I mean, what else can they do? Where else can they go with it?

How else can they film exactly the same story and insult our intelligence in
exactly the same way?

What are they going to do?

Make a prequel???

(Ssssssshhhhhh! Quiet Ken! Don’t say it out loud! It might come……. true….)

Success 5k...

For those of you following my search for the meaning of success, following the progress on my new book, I'm happen to report that I've reached the 5,000 word mark. A pittance, I know. I expect a great deal more out of myself.

But keep in mind that this isn't just some romantic comedy I'm writing. I've been assembling a mountain of research and every bit takes me down some new direction. Outside of the many pages of information from the Internet(s), I've found that I'm going to need to read some of those "book" things you hear so much about. I've settled on three:

Essential Tibetan Buddhism by Robert Thurman. Religion is very important to our idea of success and eastern philosophy differs greatly from western. I plan to present some Biblical references but those are all fairly obvious and simple. Eastern thought is filled with a variety of pitfalls and this book should help shore up my minimal knowledge on that topic. I've already started reading this book and can feel the bruises on my brain.

Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle. This one's the big boy, the real pain in the ass. As a philosophy major (and I plan to finish my degree one day, honest), I knew I'd be faced with this book sooner or later. I was kind of hoping it would be later. Aristotle had a lot to say on the subject of success and this book should help me feret out some of the complexities in that.

Maslow's book on Self-Actualization. Can you guess I haven't bought this one, yet? Well, he wrote a few and I'm having a hard time tracking one down cheap. I've already hit a few used book stores and I'm contemplating driving up to LA to continue my search. We'll see. The connection between Maslow's Heirachy of Needs, Kundalini Yoga, and success is palpable and only a small part of what I intent to bring to this book.

So, 5,000 words. The frightening part is that I have only - just now - mentioned success. The rest has been setting up the back story, packing up the car for the journey.

Now, it actually gets difficult.

Those who live in glass houses…

… shouldn’t try to molest children.

Or, at least, Mark Foley shouldn’t…

I originally wasn’t going to comment on the folly of Foley, that’s why it’s taken so long to get around to it. Then, I realized that the sad truth is, as always, the arrogance of his Republican counterparts.

What will a Republican do to deny culpability? Any answer will do.

Keep in mind that this is the same bunch who tried to burn Clinton at the stake for having sex with a consenting adult woman! Having sex with a consenting adult woman, it seems, it the most heinous sin. Molesting children on the other hand…

And so it began with excuse after excuse. First, he was a pedophile because he was an alcoholic. Then, he was a pedophile because he was gay. Neither of which are reasons to become a pedophile. The only reason to become a pedophile, it would appear is…

… the Democrats are responsible!!!

… No. That’s not right.

But that’s Dennis Hastert and Rush (“Let’s fly to South America and do it with enslaved, child prostitutes!”) Limbaugh assert. It’s all the Dem’s fault!

And Matt Drudge has an even better excuse: It’s the children’s fault! That’s right! They were asking for it! With their tight pants and their little packages and…

… mother fuckers.

The next time these bastards try to pass themselves off as the party of “morality”, can someone please shit in their face?

Let’s face it. There’s no level to which these evil sons of bitches won’t stoop. Start a war against a nation who did nothing to harm us? Sure. Hand over our nation’s financial reserves to the top 1%, including the major oil companies? Okay. Torture, steal, illegally imprison? Why not?

This is your nation going to hell. Hope you’re enjoying the view.

Countdown: NY Post...

More from Keith Olberman and a fine example of why I believe defeating the neo-cons is more than just a "difference of opinion".

What did Bush Do?...

I'm going to try to post more clips from Olberman - one of the finest journalists in recent memory. Of course, most Republicans can weather the facts with cold, indifferent, prideful ignorance but I prefer the truth.

(WWJT) Who Would Jesus Torture?

Otherwise known as "With Shrub you get torture... and eggroll..."

Yahoo... stupid...

Amateurs… fucking amateurs…

As a writer, I get a bit peeved at dogshit that tries to pass itself along as writing. As an out of work writer… well… it pisses me off.

Take, for instance, this recent article on Yahoo. “Big Bang Busters” the teaser heading read. Big Bang Busters? Well, wouldn’t that mean that someone busted the Big Bang theory – the most widely agreed-upon theory in cosmology (the one right-wing nutjobs are so afraid of… no, not evolution, the other one) – yes, that’s what such a heading would mean.

… No. When you click it, you find out that the article is about scientists who have helped substantiate that theory even more. Not Bust. Substantiate.

Dear Yahoo… LEARN HOW TO FUCKING WRITE!

(I know this isn’t totally fair. Competency is sadly lacking is most journalistic avenues these days… But I’ll start with Yahoo!)

Buns of…

(This just goes to show I’ve spent too much time at the gym lately…)

From the people who brought you BUNS OF STEEL comes the latest in making your asscheeks as metallic as ever, get ready for

BUNS OF STRONTIUM!

Is it metallic? It’s silvery baby!

Is it hot? Baby, it burns in air to produce strontium oxide!

Is it radioactive? Listen to this: it’s got a half-life of 28.90 years!

And best of all, they’re still a bit squishy, preventing all those unwanted lawsuits and jokes about cracking a walnut!

BUNS OF STRONTIUM – when buns of steel just aren’t enough!

The "Fuck You Bill" has passed the Senate...

The Republicans - you know, those elite father figures who know best... wasting the surplus, starting wars, etc. - have now decided to take another big bite out of our civil rights.

The Senate today passed the "detainee interrogation bill"... sounds like it regulates how detainees are interrogated, doesn't it? But it true Repulsivecan fashion, it also means:

Any legal residents of the country could be rounded up with no rights as an "enemy combatant". Remember when the enemy was just illegal aliens?

Violation of the Geneva Convention. But that wouldn't be the first international treaty Shrub and his cronies have violated.

Wave bye-bye to Habeas Corpus. But does anyone really want to know why they're being carted away against their will to an internment camp?

Prisoners are no longer allowed judicial review. Shrub can simply label them an enemy combatant and it's disappear time for them.

Confessions under torture are admissable as evidence. You know, the thing you confessed to while they were breaking your thumbs? Yeah, when you confessed to killing Jesus? Well, now they can try you for that, too.

Secret Evidence. As a defendent, you don't need to know what's being held against you - fuck your miranda rights!

Rape and sexual assault are still illegal... IF you can prove that it was against your will!!!

Now, before you really start to become afraid, you should realize that this still needs to pass the House... which already passed a similar bill... and Shrub's desk to...

We're boned.

Success? “I don’t know anything about that.”…

With the month ending, I thought I should probably add a kind of post-mortem on the success survey. Well, it didn’t work as well as I’d hoped. While I received over a dozen responses, all of them very insightful, I was hoping for a lot more.

Today, I think I found a reason why the responses were so spare.

I asked someone about the survey and if she’d received it. She had. “But I didn’t have anything to add.”

I didn’t quite understand. “Anything to add?”

She said, “It was about success, wasn’t it? I don’t know anything about that.”

Don’t know anything about that.

In the past month, I’ve found myself buffeted by just this attitude. As if their own success is something people know nothing about. As if success should be left to someone else.

Abdicating the success of your life to another – shying away from that most primary of responsibilities… where do people think that’s going to lead them? And yet, I’ve run into that same (lack of) philosophy wherever I turn.

It frightens me.

I don’t think of myself as up on a mountain – but in this one case I can’t think of another analogy. It’s not just that people are apathetic about living successful lives but, rather, that they fear it on some kind of primal, phobic level. And I can certainly understand that. After all, my neurosis about being successful in my own life is what’s driving me to write this book. But to shy away from it, to claim no responsibility for it… that’s just wrong.

Another reason why I’m not a Christian…

My friend, Megan, died recently.

She was kind and good, honest and caring, compassionate and loving. She was honest and nonviolent and generous. Megan was not, however, a Christian.

According to Christian doctrine, she now burns in the fires of hell for all eternity.

Christians are a group of people bullied by a belief.

No thanks.

I’m proud to say that Megan did not have any last minute conversion. She died unafraid, unbargaining. I can only hope to be as brave.

Terrorists less scary & gas is cheaper!...

Yep, gas just gets cheaper and cheaper under Shrub's leadership! And the terrorists have suddenly become less scary - they even forgot how to make bombs out of bottled water!

Yep, those neo-cons sure are doing a great job! I feel so much safer and ready to waste precious, natural resources!

... does anyone really buy this shit?

The Converse of Success…

With all of my talk about success, I’ve never sought to point out failure, or someone I thought was a failure. The point of the book I’m writing isn’t to point at success and say, “There! That’s what it is. That’s what you need to achieve.” Rather, I want to create a dialogue that approaches what success could be. And I’m not even trying to get near failure.

Who would want to?

But then, of course, it happened. And it was right in front of me. Failure – writ large – right in front of my eyes.

Which is why I finally decided to write about it, because the example is so clear. Like success, failure isn’t a thing – it’s a state. And just as you hope to find success one day, I think it’s a natural reaction to hope that someone who is a failure will leave that state with great rapidity.

We have probably all known a failure or two. Most of the time, it’s something simple – along the lines of just fucking up, blowing it. So, failure as a concept is pretty simple to reconcile. I think if I was going to define the most profound state of failure, I’d say that it is the state in which a person is so lost to their own needs and best interests that they have created a perpetual no-win situation for themselves. Personal entropy. Extreme suckage.

So, there’s this person I know. I shouldn’t really feel bad for her, she’s brought her situation on herself, but I do. She finds things in life she wants, disregards her motivations and best interests, and goes for them, no matter who gets hurt (including herself). I’ll give you an example. She wanted to have a kid so bad she had one with the first sperm donor that came along. She didn’t think too much about being a parent and has since discovered that she hates it.

You see, she created her own failure condition.

She used to be Megan’s best friend. When Megan was sick, she didn’t reach out a hand in friendship and, though she’s a medical professional, she didn’t try to help Megan’s medical condition. She just ignored her… and Megan died. She found out about this because Megan died in her hospital and Megan’s file happened to pass by her desk.

So, she failed as a friend.

Then, Sean told her that (though he’d allow her to pay her respects at Megan’s memorial service) he never wanted to see her face or hear from her again. She used to be an integral part in this group of people but, because of her disregard for her sick friend, she’s now ostracized.

So, here’s a person who has put herself in a situation where she’s lost her friends, has a child she doesn’t want, doesn’t consider the long-term ramifications of her actions but simply reacts to impulses from her Id like a child… and is, as a result, miserable. In fact, until she breaks this cycle, she’ll always be miserable – and she won’t know this until she breaks the cycle.

That’s failure, without a doubt.

Megan Deyo…

I don’t know what to say about this but I know that I probably should as a few readers know who I’m talking about.

Megan Deyo died this weekend, early Sunday morning. (Well, it was early for me.) She was the wife of one of my best friends. She was the person who introduced me to Rosa... but try not to hold that against her. She and I knew each other for a long time and were even intimate on occasion. (We even shared fluids.)

Megan was honest and never anything except herself and I gotta give her props for that. Yes, she pissed me off more than once but that’s par for the course.

She died of lung failure as a result of host versus graft, after battling leukemia. It was a five-year battle and she was tired.

Megan and I met 22/23 years ago in Miss Griswold’s class, back at Santa Ana Valley High. Tim Murphy and I sat near each other. We each gave Griswold a hell of a time – ah, memories! Megan, meanwhile, would sit on the sidelines, telling us both to shut up. But we got her to laugh a few times, so it wasn’t a complete loss.

Sean, Megan’s husband, helped me through the loss of Rosa and now I’m doing whatever I can to help him through the loss of Megan. The foot’s on the other hand now, as they say. Sean’s a wee bit less crazy than me, though.

I’ll miss Megan. She never liked me very much and I didn’t exactly go out of my way to spend a whole lot of time with her, either. And, yet, we traveled along similar tracks and went down neighboring roads.

I’m too young to be losing friends this way. Next time, let’s just get in a fight.

TERRORSTORM

I watched this film tonight (at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5792753647750188322&q=terror+storm) and I think you might find it of some interest. You might also be interested in http://www.prisonplanet.com/ and http://www.infowars.com/.

Please take this survey...

To help me along with this new book, I thought I'd put together a little survey, thus...

What is success? How do we know we are living successful lives?

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines success as: a) a degree or measure of succeeding, b) a favorable or desired outcome, and c) the attainment of wealth, favor, or eminence. American Heritage defines it similarly. But how do these definitions pertain to our lives? Can we really consider ourselves successful merely on these terms?

I am presently working on a novel that addresses just this issue: how do we reconcile ourselves to our successes and our failures. To this end, I’ve broadened the dictionary’s definition to include the following: a) Success is a positive resolution in the process of self-definition. An action with a positive outcome, we term “success”. An action with a negative outcome, we term “failure”, and b) Success is the yardstick against which we measure our lives.

As you can probably see, I’m hoping to address the concept of success as a long-term concept. It’s easy to accept or gain success in the short term, via a test grade or a party your threw or a job you did well, but long-term success in life is, in my experience, much harder to define.

This is simply scratching the surface and that’s why I need your help. The survey, below, asks questions about success. I would like to have as many people possible complete this survey as part of a study (however unscientific) on the idea of success. Please complete it right away, posting your results in the comments section. Your help is greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time and participation.

Success Survey

1. Looking back on your entire life, do you consider yourself a success or failure? Please provide up to five reasons why.

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.


2. What specific qualities make you a success/failure?

3. How can you achieve success in your life? What are you doing to achieve success?

4. Why do people fail to achieve success?

5. How much importance do you place on living a “successful life”? Why?

Round Two: Demographics

6. Gender:

7. Date of Birth:

8. Years of Education (above high school, count years progressively: 13, 14, etc.):