Wednesday

Well, yesterday was a struggle but I managed to stay awake for most of the day and I am feeling pretty good today. I got a solid 1 am to 7 am sleep session and that is pretty much what my body needs to keeps itself on its natural schedule. So that is a good thing.

Valley - Tramped By Turtles

My music player sometimes seems to know just what I need to get things started. I love this song.


Yesterday was an interesting day. I spent a good chunk of the day in a fog because of the lack of sleep. So it was odd. I felt very off but at the same time functional.

Drowned - The Who

The intro into 'I am the Sea' off of the classic Who album Quadrophenia. You can never go wrong with this one.

I watched the State of the Union address last night. I always enjoy listening to the President speak even if it is a President that I am not a particular fan of. In the case of President Obama I was far more excited about him when he was first elected then I am now. But I am also well aware that I am operating at a certain level of frustration dealing with the federal govt and Congress right now because of their decision to end emergency unemployment. President Obama addressed that issue last night but I am not going to be holding my breath. Because even if they reinstate it I doubt I will be getting back pay and I am still going to be behind on some of my bills because of the their being no money of any kind coming in at all. But the job search continues. I applied for a job at the Oregon Lottery yesterday.

A World Of Our Own - The Seekers

A classic late 60's number. I like it.

I also watched the latest episode of the television show Justified last night and that show just seems to be getting better and better as far as I am concerned. The first 4 seasons are available on Amazon Streaming right now and if you have not ever watched it I would highly recommend it. If you are a fan of Elmore Leonard novels or police or detective stories I do not think you can go wrong with this one.

Mother of Light (A New Age Dawns pt 2) - Epica

One of my beloved Northern European metal bands. Except for these guys are Dutch. I love them.

I really feel like I am reaching for these to write about this morning. It feels like one of those days that I want to sit quietly in my room with the light off and sip my coffee while I listen to music with my eyes closed. I imagine that is how I am going to be spending part of the day for sure. I suppose that sounds depressing to some of you. But that isn't what it is. It is for me a way to just kind of calm myself and feel centered and anchored as part of the existing world around me. I am not being distracted by the latest television show or video game but am able to just sit quietly and breath. Thoughts may come and go but I do not dwell on those thoughts. They rise and sink but I continue to sit quietly and breath. That is for me, often, the best way to get myself back on track so to speak.

Beth - Kiss

I love this acoustic version of the song Beth by Kiss. One of my favorites.

 Well, that is is for today folks. The darkness is calling for me with its calm and its solitude. Keep those feet moving and keep on loving each other and try to remember that despite our politics we are all human and all deserving of a little pleasantness. Be kind to each other.

Surprise, Surprise....

Well, last night was very interesting...I honestly was not sure that Obama would win. But it happened and it seems to have happened without a bunch of accusations of widespread voter fraud from the right. So that is a good thing. I do not think that a lot is going to change on a national level since Congress is still the same.

I am sure the usual suspects will continue to ring the bells of doom and America will continue to roll along. Like it always has. Then four years from now there will be someone new to panic about on one side or the other. But until then lets remember we are all in this together and let's keep on rockin!! Because if we weren't free then why in the world would freaks like this be allowed on stage.

Speech Has Consequences

I am tired right now. I am tired of all of the Presidential election news. I am tired of people talking like electing Obama to a second term is going to be the end of the world and America as we know it.

"Yea verily, when the Black Devil Barack Obama is re-elected, then truly the real death will come upon America. The Angel of Death with all of the powers of his evil Socialist Masters shall fall upon us. The Communist overlords shall stand atop the smoking ruins of our capital and true patriots shall weep as a Thousand years of darkness shall fall upon us." 

Well, maybe that won't happen. I don't know either way. What I do know for sure is that I made all of it up just now. I didn't read something or study something that made me think I could predict the future because really I also know that you can't predict the future. It is silly to even try. It also benefits no one for me to do so. Now one thing I could do is send out a letter that kind of vaguely predicts things and is geared to scare people and prey on their fears. Their fears may be religious based or they may just be coming out of sheer ignorance but maybe if I can pray on the fears I can get them to send my some money and line my pockets a little bit. I mean really, what harm can I cause? Who is really hurt? What is wrong with a few white lies or grey lies as it were. 

What follows is a letter that Focus on the Family sent out in 2008 just before the Presidential elections. There are 34 things that they say might happen. There is one that maybe happened and 33 others that did not at all. It is an amazing exercise in trying to spread baseless fear.

Focus on the Family letter



 I think people should think before they claim that Obama wants to destroy America. The people like Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter. Words have consequences and people know that. During the last election as things began to wrap up and it looked more and more like Obama would win, I heard the same kind of talk about Bush. The liberal pundits and conspiracy theorists were sure that Bush was going to call a "State of Emergency" and suspend the election. That didn't happen. That the Republicans would use the electronic voting machines to change results. That didn't happen. America survived Bush and it will survive Obama and if Romney wins the election it will survive Romney. Life goes on.

 The only real difference this time around as far as propaganda goes is that there seems to me too be a lot more biblical speak that is being used to justify the accusations.  They know that the more inflamed they can make the populace the more money they can make. The more books they will sell and the higher their radio and television ratings will be. They don't care about us. I do not even think they care about America. They care about making money. They care about marketing and they care about getting fat on their propaganda while the rest of us shrivel away and get eaten up inside by stress and and anger and fear.

Ahhhhh, thanks for letting me vent folks. Deep breaths, Lance. Deep breaths. You guys be safe out there.

Is Rick Perry A Liar?

I am not sure if he is or isn't but as I linked above he certainly seems to be liar, liar pants on fire about this issue. Is this true about all politicians or just Rick Perry? If he is willing to lie about this who knows what else he is willing to lie about?

Is Rick Perry a liar? Or just dumb? Decide for yourself.

5-10-2010 (Monday)

Hey, I hope you all had a good weekend. I am not feeling particularly inspired this morning.

There was an interesting development in Utah over the weekend in that a GOP senator who was the incumbent lost his primary. What that means is that he is not going to be able to run for office. He could run as a write in candidate but he will not be nominated by the GOP party.

Most analysts think that he basically got politically assassinated by the more conservative Tea Party people in the state. I am not sure what it means. But I do find it very interesting that an incumbent is getting knocked around by his own party. This does not happen often and makes me wonder what this next election cycle is going to look like nationwide. I think it could go one of two ways. I think either the Democrats will end up stronger as the GOP eats itself with all the in-fighting. The end result might mean that the Republican party the GOP ceases to exist in a few years. Or that all of the dissatisfaction with President Obama causes the GOP to become even stronger and the final two years of President Obama's term becomes one where absolutely nothing gets done in Washington. So, there you have it my predictions for the future.

Also the President nominated another Supreme Court Justice. I just do not really care. We have had conversations on the blog before about my feelings about the Supreme Court. I do not like them. I do not like the institution and I do not like that they are appointed for life. I think that they are a completely undemocratic institution in America and they do not benefit us as a country. If you disagree that is fine and I would love to have a conversation about that as well. It isn't that I do not think they are needed. I just do not think they should be appointed to serve for a lifetime. That bothers me.

That is all. Good day sir!!

4-8-2010 (Thursday)

I am a little groggy this morning. No. I did not stay up to late last night. But my neighbors kept me up to late. If it wasn't the thump of, what I think is, techno. Then it was girls outside talking. I do not mind people having a party and staying up late. Or even music being played loudly but at 12:30 or later on a Wednesday night? Come on people!!

So far Kent has gone over there once at 1 am and they turned their music down. I have gone over there once at about 11:30 and they turned their music down. But I wonder how often I need to do that before they figure it out. Or, should I just take it to the next level and call the police and let them deal with it. If I was living in a house in a normal neighborhood then I might have already done the second option. But since I am living in basically a duplex that makes upsetting the neighbors a little more problematic.

Sorry for the break there. I was filling my coffee cup and looking at the ducks outside the office window. It is nice outside this morning and the ducks are starting to look at each other with amorous intent. I am looking forward to the appearance of ducklings in a few weeks. But, what I am not looking forward to is the appearance of the Herons which I have been told fly in to eat the ducklings. Ahhh, the circle of life! It is things like that which make me glad I am on top of the food chain. It would be an interesting world if there were creatures who stalked us and used us for food. Think about that for awhile and let it blow your mind. There would be stores for them and they would by human fingers and eat roasted human. I imagine ours would be a tender meat. I think in my case I would be nicely marbled and filled with flavor. But I know a few people who would certainly be lean and too tough.

Hmmm, maybe we should consider this idea for ourselves. I mean overpopulation is fast becoming a problem why not fatten us up for harvesting? Wait a minute. What is McDonalds and the other fast food chains doing? Is that what is going on? Is this all part of President Obamas grand Socialist agenda? To fatten us up for the harvest? Is that what this is? He isn't a president he is a farm manager!! He is fattening up the American people to be harvested but harvested by who?

Rest assured my readers I will get to the bottom of this. We will find out who it is that we are being prepared to be eaten by.

2-25-2010 (Thursday)

It is Thursday and I am having a bad hair day. I opted to not wear a hat or to put any sort of product in my hair and now it is falling over my face. I feel like I should be wearing all black and listening to the Cure. I really, really need a hair cut. It is days like this that I really miss the mo-hawk. I had a pretty sweet one going for awhile there. I also miss being bald. It was easier for me to take care of. I would just use normal soap in the morning and maybe apply a little lotion and boom done for the day. Then every week or so I could shave it or have someone shave it again. I think I am to lazy to have a haircut that takes a lot of maintenance.

Today is a pretty big day in the world of politics. It is the big Health Care Reform meeting with President Obama and Congress. I doubt much will come of this at all. There are to many vested special interest groups and to many people making millions and millions of dollars off of health care right now for there to be any kind of meaningful change.

Yesterday was also a pretty big news day with the head of Toyota coming to America to testify before a special committee about the Toyota recall. I found it pretty interesting and I felt like he said really all he could say about the whole thing. A thought that struck me while I was was watching and one I heard later on from someone on the television I can't remember who. The thought was now that the federal government owns a majority share in General Motors at what point does investigating another car company become a conflict of interest? I am not trying to be snarky about this. I really do want to know. I understand the need for automobile safety and I think you do need to build cars to some kind of standard so that our highways are relatively safe. Maybe this is why the federal government should not be in the business of buying up companies because then it makes any attempt on their part to regulate an industry a conflict of interest? I just do not know.

That is about it for today. Just a couple of thoughts that were ping ponging around inside my noggin.

1-28-2010 (Thursday)

Good morning folks. It is Thursday and I am back on the train. I just decided that I did not want to drive today so I pulled into Wilsonville and here I am. I enjoy the driving but I was not feeling it today.

Pretty big things going on in my corner of the world. The Presidents state of the union address was last night. I didn't think that he said anything extreme or really thought provoking. If anything I think he has chickened out on his ideas of change and has begun to act just like any other politician and that is sad to me. But, I guess I should have realized that when he asked Joe Biden to be his VP. If anything said "Hey, I am going to say change but really it will be the same old, same old." The presence of Biden should have clued me in. Now granted I did not want the kind of change that McCain was pushing with Palin but I wanted something more then we have gotten from Mr Obama. I hope the next two years may allow for some of that.

In Oregon, the fallout from Measures 66 & 67 is building. It really felt like someone had died yesterday. Because everywhere I turned on Facebook there was someone expressing sadness at the bills passing. Now I realize that there were some pretty heated things being sad and statistics being thrown back and forth about job loss and such. But, the sad reality is that it really did not matter if these bills passed or not. Because in Oregon right now there would be, will be job loss. I think the biggest thing that the bills did was to decided from where that job loss was going to happen either the public or the private sector. The other big thing these bills did was to highlight the differences in what the people of Oregon think is good politics and isn't. When I looked at the county listings of the vote outcome it was pretty obvious that along the I-5 corridor and through the Willamette Valley these counties voted yes. But east of them and south it was a no vote. What this means is that the population centers of the state are controlling the future of the state. While I realize that this is frustrating for people I think that is Democracy and when the populace has a vote well sometimes you have to eat a crap sandwich.

I have also heard a few people mention, one on the radio, that they wonder about voter fraud. I hope that isn't the case. I like the vote by mail system in Oregon and I do not want it to change. I do not think there was voter fraud and until I hear actual evidence of such a thing I am going to continue thinking it was a fair vote that played out along party and population lines.

All of that being said. I think Oregon will get through this. The wheel keeps turning and life moves forward. Big business will stay and return to Oregon. We will get out of this recession and the jobs will come. I am confident of that. I do not think our state is going to go the route of California or Arizona. So hang in there Oregonians there is always sunshine after the rain but we all know that sometimes the rain lasts for several years.

1-27-10 (Wednesday)

Well...in what I think is a surprising result Oregon voters decided to pass measures 66 and 67. This is the first time in 70 years that Oregon has voted in a tax increase. In fact 9 times in the past Oregon has said no to a sales tax. So I think there are more then a few of the so called experts that are shaking their heads over this one. Now as I mentioned yesterday, only time will tell if this is going to be a net gain or loss for Oregon. While the supporters of the measures feel that this is going to be a gain because of the tax revenue it is going to generate that anti people feel that the amount of private industry jobs that Oregon is going to lose because of this will make this a net loss. I have no idea and I am not even going to attempt to make a prediction on it.

Tonight President Obama gives his State of the Union address. I am not overly excited by this. I think the primary reason for me is that because Mr Obama has been out speaking so much I am not feeling a need to listen. With other Presidents it was rare to hear them speak so I would sometimes view it just because I wanted to see how they spoke publicly. But with Mr Obama that is not anything I haven't seen before. As a matter of fact, along those same lines of public speaking I saw a clip of President Obama last night speaking to a class of 6Th graders, somewhere in America I am not sure where, the clip was on the daily show. What was interesting to me and what Jon Stewart mentioned was that the President was in a 6Th grade classroom with the presidential podium set up and two 'TELEPROMPTERS' set up!! One to his right and one two his left!! I mean come on! You are in a grade school class room!! Do you really need to have teleprompters? I am beginning to feel more and more just like the old Who song says "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss" I know people will disagree with me and it isn't that Obama is the same as Bush. It is that he is becoming the same business as usual politician that infects this country. The conservatives are excited right now about Scott Browns victory in Massachusetts. I would argue that given a year or maybe as little as six months he will be sucked into the machine will be spat out the same politician as the rest of them.

It doesn't matter what party they are from. The lobbyists for the corporations and the corporations run things in Washington D.C.. I am beginning to feel more and more that the only real safe haven for people is what can happen for them at the state level. Maybe what we need is a return to federalism and a step back from the large umbrella of national government. I do feel that I am in favor of the new spending freeze idea. I just hope it works.

Journalistic Integrity?

Good morning friends, I have mentioned before that I have been listening to three types of radio on my way to work and coming home each day. These are basically conservative, moderate, and liberal though to be fair NPR does lean more to the liberal but I like that there stories tend to be a little deeper and thoughtful and not so full of the propaganda that either side likes to throw around.

That being said the lady on the liberal station that is on after work was going on and on last night about Rush Limbaugh and several passages that he had read from what he thought was President Obamas thesis from Columbia. Here is the passage,

" ... the Constitution allows for many things, but what it does not allow is the most revealing. The so-called Founders did not allow for economic freedom. While political freedom is supposedly a cornerstone of the document, the distribution of wealth is not even mentioned. While many believed that the new Constitution gave them liberty, it instead fitted them with the shackles of hypocrisy."

Now Limbaugh read this passage on the air and then went on a rant about Obama and the damage that he is doing to America. It was not that his rant was any different then other rants but word soon came down that the quote was actually not real. That it in fact was completely made up. It was taken from a blog called Jumping in Pools.

Well it seems that this is a blog that does mainly satire. I looked it over and really was unimpressed with the level of humor or even cleverness in it. But that is a story for another day. But, why I bring this up is because this whole so called thesis was completely made up by them. Once Limbaugh found out this was his response

"So, I can say, "I don't care if these quotes are made up," "I know Obama thinks it."

Now, while it may very well be true that this is what Obama thinks. I think the bigger issue here is integrity. Should not a news show actually do research and verify what they put on the air. I know there are people who feel that what is on liberal radio or conservative radio is all truth all the time. So I wonder should he not apologize rather then just attack. I understand being embarrassed when egg hits your face. It has happened to me before. But I do not claim to be a journalist. I am not held to any kind of standard. I can write and often have about whatever garbage I want to write about. But even then if I knowingly say something that I am wrong about I will do all I can to correct it.

It seems to me that Mr Limbaugh is doing just the opposite of this. I could be mistaken and if I am please let me know. But do it gently please. I am very sensitive. I promise to print a full retraction if that is the case.

A Civil Discourse

I listened to the Presidents speech last night about health care reform. It was interesting to me in several ways. I do not think anyone would argue that something needs to change in terms of health care in America. It seems like the argument starts when you begin to discuss how to pay for it and who it covers. In fact during the Presidents speech what caused the most stir was when he said that his plan would not cover illegal immigrants.

That surprised me. Not because people disagreed though the vocal nature of the disagreement did. I thought South Carolina Rep Joe Wilson was out of line when he yelled out "You Lie". I understand being upset and disagreeing but his response did not seem appropriate for the location of the speech. Had it been a formal debate I would have expected it more. I would have expected more of a response when the President said that the people who had talked about the existence of death panels were liars.

The response or lack of response by the Republicans surprised me. I really thougt they would jump on him for calling people liars to there face. I wonder if Sara Palin was still Governor of Alaska if there would have been any response because there just wasn't. Also and I have not seen it attacked much so far today but I am sure that it will happen as the day goes on. I was surprised when President Obama said that his plan would not add one dime to the deficit. I mean come on. Not one dime! That is really not even a plausible position.

Lets at least be logical about the cost of this purposed plan. As far as I am concerned the cost does not bother me. I think we are wasting a large amount of money within the defense industry and if we juggle some of it around then the health plan could happen with out it bankrupting America. But to say that it will not add a dime to the deficit is just plain bad math. I hope the numbers shake out better as more discussion happens on the issue but I will be surprised if this plan doesn't end up costing us qute a large amount of money.

I would love to have a discussion about this issue. the pros and the cons, the nuts and bolts of why and why not it would be a good idea. But, what I am not interested in is having an argument about it. So please if you read this silly little blog of mine. It doesn't matter to me if you are pro or con on the issue but lets talk about it. Lets see where we differ and why we differ. Lets see how big the differences are and if we can reach some common ground on it. But, lets discuss it. I do not want to shout and sto stomp my feet. I want to have a conversation. I am willing to be wrong. So please share with me your thougts on the issue of Health Care reform in America.

Crazy

I need to take a step back today from chronicling the adventures of a gentleman on a train and mention something that is starting to drive me a little crazy.

That is the whole idea that President Obama was/is somehow not a natural born American citizen. This idea that he is actually Kenyan with a fake birth certificate just blows my mind. I am all for a good conspiracy theory. There are several websites that I go to that I really enjoy who speculate about conspiracy's all of the time.

But this one seems so far out side of the realm of even possible truth. I am amazed that people are even considering it in the slightest. This is just one quote that I feel really hits the nail on the head for me.
"In any event, even if you were of a mind to indulge the Kenyan-birth fantasy, stop, count to ten, and think: Hillary Clinton. Is there any chance on God’s green earth that, if Obama were not qualified to be president, the Clinton machine would have failed to get that information out?"
-Andrew McCarthy (Thanks to Word Around The Net)

To me that makes sense I also can not imagine that the McCain/Palin machine would have allowed this to pass under the radar. I know people are upset about President Obama and worried that he is turning us into a socialist nation. But in reality we are going to be nothing like Sweden or any other socialist nation. Government in America has grown bigger and bigger under each successive president since Roosevelt and Obama is doing what each president has done before him. Either conservative or liberal. It is fine to be upset. It is fine to protest and to Tea Bag and to write letters. But to indulge in the type of conspiricy fantasy that the birthers are doing is just silly. I think it demeans the Presidincy as well as the people doing the contemplating. It just makes them look foolish.

The Tea Has Steeped!!

So, the Tea Parties are over. What is next? Has everyone gotten it out of their system and now they will go back to burying their head in the sand and pretending that it is all ok? What happens if somehow against all expectations Obama is right and the economy stabilizes?

I really believe that Obama was elected as a response to the policy's of Bush. I also believe that unless something really changes there will be a new president in four years as a response to Obama and his policys. With the way that the system is their appears to be no other choice but to vote out the old and bring in the new. The problem rises when the new is really just a slight variant of the old and as long as we have a two party system this will never change. But, I do not need to rant again about the problems of the two party system.

My question for the people that are on fire about the Tea Party is what is next? Are you wanting to run your own candidates like the Green Party and some of the others? Are you wanting to start another political party that has as it's core fiscal responsibility and constitutional limits? What is next?