Howl At The Moon?

Honestly, this madness in Gaza is enough to drive you howling mad.



But  From Whence Cometh Israel's Raging Bull*@? Sometimes when leadheads (like NetanYahoo and his pals, like the Raygun)  try to talk us into stuff that's plainly untrue, it's a good idea to take a timeout for context, for  a wee history moment. And, say, where did Israel get that little Iron thing 'Star Wars' shield they're using anyway? Were those MY tax dollars?)



 Above is from Al Jazeera's excellent program Empire, (available to watch on line.) And if you seek some reality based idea of what's going on in Gaza, well, the western media, including the various Times and Posts, ain't the place. Nor is the BBC. Some interesting viewpoints here, and, tomorrow, Sunday morning on Up with Chris Hayes, the smartest show on TV, at 8 a.m. on msnbc and, immediately the show is over, available to view online here.

Good news of the week here. From Goldman, no less. Who knew?

And while I'm at it, Twinkies No More? Seriously? Someone still cares? Just before providing viewers with a demonstration of and the recipe for Deep Fried Whole Turkey this morning (clearly catering to some uncategorizable viewer cohort, perhaps the Twinkie fans? Perhaps all viewers?) Fox "news" shamelessly blames unions for Hostess' demise?  This bit is closer to the real story. Can't those Fox folks get anything right? I mean, Deep Fried Turkey? sigh – I've lost my appetite.

Laugh of the day? Gay Fishermen of Maine celebrate passage of same sex marriage. The accents may be more Gloucester than Maine, but funnnneee?

Cliff Notes for Literary Snobs

We won't be fooled again?

"Letting those high-end tax cuts expire would amount to a blink-and-you-miss-it 0.003% contraction in the U.S. economy, according to Moody’s, and it would raise tens of billions of dollars in desperately-needed tax revenue next year. That’s no small thing when you consider that federal revenue has fallen to its lowest point in more than half a century."

After reading, at long last, a simple, reasonable article on the subject (exerpt above) I thought I'd throw this out there for anyone who's reached their limit with this Fiscal Cliff malarky; it's every bit as annoying as tv campaign ads, isn't it? Makes you want to suggest that anyone who brings it up, or mouths off about a topic about which they've managed to glean a smidgen of info somewhere, find one to jump off without delay. Wanna know what's really going on? go Here, read the calm, brief synopsis, then tell everyone you know who's caught up in the moan and groan of Cliffitis to put a sock in it.

Jeez, don't folks ever read?

But we'll be keepin an eye on those snakes in DC. Them tax cuts for those makin over 250 Gs a year better die a certain death. Wouldn't hurt to keep yer pitchfork sharpened.

A Binder Full of Women

Driving through this Downtown Smalltown on Wednesday the massive sense of relief was palpable. Yes, Happy Days, even with the Cliff looming, sez Gail. A huge sigh seemed to permeate the atmosphere here in Maine, folks breathing freely,  Thank god that Karl Rove fella didn't steal the election! And hey, gals, you won the future for the rest of us! Who knew? Well, we knew, we gals. Like the Black Panther women used to say, You got to use what you got to get what you want. And we used our votes! yes, the ladies were out in force this election. More power to 'em, hopefully. We now have 20 female Senators – only 25 to go to have some semblance of equal representation in the upper level of the US Congress – for now, we are finally on par with sub-Saharan African national assemblies at 20% female members. (No bs.)

And Elizabeth Warren won! Yayyy! And New Hampshire has put its faith in the ladies as well, You go, girls. And an openly gay woman managed to snag a congressional seat. Now if the female contingent in Congress doesn't sell out to good ol' boy intimidation, we may be on the road to more progressive solutions to the nation's troubles. It's up to all of us to let those gals know we have their backs, as they say. Keep in touch, send letters, emails, keep it going. (Like the Obama folks kept their ground game going in nearly every state for the last four years – smart!) Just think, only another few election cycles and we may reach the kind of national assembly gender parity they have in, um, oh yes, Rwanda. (No bs, it's around 50% female.)

I guess it remains to be seen what Barry O will do with his mandate from the ladies, not ignore or doubt us. (The Repubs sure called it wrong.) There will surely be hell to pay if he doesn't make himself more visible and use that bully pulpit which costs him not one dime and kick some of the right wing nutjobs back under the rocks they crawled out from under. And for pity's sake, explain the fallacy of "the Cliff" to people, get on the tv and 'splain that it isn't what the crazies are saying it is. One can only hope Michelle (O not Bachman) uses what she got to get us all what we want.

Me, I'm gonna go hide for awhile and see if I can't get someone to publish my book and start another one. Leave the politicking to the  politicians, but not for so long that I become one of those Undecided voter types. (Never happen.) I'm thinkin taking the debates back is next, return the whole process to the League of Women Voters, like it used to be. It was Jamie Oliver who said if you want something done, hire a woman to do it.

So here's a weird thing, a harbinger of something: The Saudis are calling on countries like Turkey to reset clocks to Islamic Mean time rather than Greenwich. Odd that. And they've built a clock with six tons of gold at the top to convince the blingingly impressionable. On the subject of the middle east, next time you wonder why the Middle East peace isn't happening, try reading up on Bebe N, the man who won't take Yes for an answer.  Every bit as detestable as Mr. Rove's ideological adherents; no wonder Barry looks unhappy whenever he visits the White House.  When are these guys gonna deal with their childhood issues?

d'accord. A plus tard.. why there's one now!

Ms. Fixit

“Well, I guess I’ll just fix this country myself.” 

So sayeth Elizabeth Warren (and more power to her, literally), the Dem Senate candidate in Massachusetts as she tries to win back Ted Kennedy's seat from the unpredictable Scott Brown and the thinly veiled racism of the Republican right. And if the voters of Mass. (Mainers often call them Massholes) give her the chance, no doubt she'll fix it proper, as Eliza Doolittle might say. All women hear her, it's how we feel at the end of nearly every day. In the face of the East coast flood, your typical female is prone to say, "Just grab a mop and let's giterdone. Stop moanin about the mess, waitin for someone else to take care of it, git off yer duff."

A  native Jersey girl myself, I feel for the thousands of folks along that tortured shore trying to find a loaf of bread, or a place to shower, or their car, at this point. Not to mention treasured keepsakes gone forever. The losses and devastation are beyond conceivable really, the photos mindblowing. How will they ever rebuild their lives? Where would you start? It's Katrina minus the levees.  My uncle's funeral may not take place as planned if, as my cousin wrote me, they don't "get the boats and sand outta the streets in time." Not to mention the electricity back on. And still the climate deniers lead in too many polls across the country, poised to retain (in Arkansas, to win) control of state houses (where they will carry forth the tenets of the Repub platform no one has actually read) largely thanks to the Repubs' success with redistricting after the 2010 census. I don't want to think it's because people are stupid, willfully so, but... I've gnawed my nails raw in anticipation of next Tuesday's results, praying Nate Silver knows something the other pollsters don't. I voted straight Democratic ticket this time, hoping they'll get their act together, adhere to time-honored principles and stop trying to play the game of political footsie with Big Money – because Citizens United said they have to simply in order to enter the playing field.

I can't help but recall swearing after the 2000 "election" that if my fellow citizens were dumb enough to either elect (which they didn't) or put up with W (they guy you wanna have a beer with?) installed as president, I'd have to relocate to more liberal shores, you know, where they still remember what life under fascism was like. And his numbers tanked shortly after he assumed office. But Nineleven fixed that, suddenly he was Superman. Aghast, I stayed, confident that after four years of the W cabal "misleading" us and disassembling "good" government while more than doubling the size of "bad" government (the part that spies on us), the country would rebel, would see the agenda unfolding, reject the radical conservative spiel that government is bad (unless spying on us or subsidizing Big Oil and Big Money), out-of-work folks are just lazy fekkers, women are designated by God solely as sperm repositories and baby machines (oh, and idle flatterers to whom "every sperm is sacred"), and if you can't afford health insurance there's something inherently wrong with you (no, it's not the lack of guaranteed health insurance one finds in those commie nations), that you're  the problem – unfixable, a drain on society. The list goes on. It's what the would-be president's ambition untethered to substance campaign of Myttology is all about. 

I'm trying to work, but it's hard, knowing that my son's and daughter's friends and their daughters may be imprisoned if they choose to have an abortion, that millions of have-nots will wither and die without the healthcare they need, that four years from now much of the country will be denied their right to vote, that some wacko now running down in Arkansas will pass a law allowing the state to execute uncooperative children... From Fuqua's (pronounced fookyu) book:

"The maintenance of civil order in society rests on the foundation of family discipline. Therefore, a child who disrespects his parents must be permanently removed from society in a way that gives an example to all other children of the importance of respect for parents. The death penalty for rebellioius children is not something to be taken lightly. The guidelines for administering the death penalty to rebellious children are given in Deut 21:18-21:"

That anyone could run with the backing of the Republican party on such a platform should scare the shyte out of everyone about what that party really stands for now. Read their Platform here, scroll to page 9, and decide if these folks threaten your idea of personal liberties guaranteed by the Constitution or not.

Obama is right:  It IS all about the Supreme Court, the final arbiter of laws since Marbury v Madison in the early 1800s. There were plenty of folks in the 2000s saying this as well, folks who saw which way the tide was moving. Why don't americans know these things? Willful ignorance, and they, and their "undecided" cohorts who choose ignorance over being informed, those Johnny-come-late-to-the-table, never miss an episode of Dancing with the Stars, citizens, will get what they asked for if Romney/Ryan have their way. 

I encountered a friend on the street the other day and the subject of the election came up. I mentioned I was glued to all media in anticipation of Tuesday's outcome. Perplexed, he asked me why, and I insisted that our shredded democracy/Republic hung in the balance. His opinion was that my keen interest amounted to an obsession. Well, okay, yes, I guess you could call it that. Or you could call it, as I do, giving a shit, understanding that what happens rests with ME, with each of us, being a responsible citizen. Being able to tell shit from Shinola.

If you wanna play "I'm an American", you gotta know the rules.

Find them here. And pass 'em on.