"I'm a sweet Transvestite..."

For those who have no idea where the title comes from here is a handy link.  You should really watch this insane movie sometime.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bc80tFJpTuo

     Okay now that you have been thoroughly traumatized by Rocky Horror, onward to the matter at hand!
     So a Lady who I am proud to call an E-Friend (Never met her, but find her absolutely amazing.) Jenn Burleton posted a link to this new kids show coming out on the HUB this month  (Okay next month by one day don't get persnickity with me!)  I actually went to the HUB website and watched the trailer and I loved it!  I provide two links for you to peruse.  The first is Jenn's link to a Breitbart Article.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Hollywood/2013/05/28/Children-network-transsexual-superhero

     As per usual, I find the comments posted after the article much more interesting than the surprisingly (At least for BB) complimentary article.  People railing on and on and on about how a show about a Boy who becomes a girl superhero is bad, nasty and down right wrong.  My personal favorite is "WRONG, Kids between 2-11 in NO WAY should be Exposed to this Type of Un-Natural Depravity."  Will cover the reason I find this so damned funny in a second.

http://www.hubworld.com/watch/2378698461001/shezow-series-premiere-promo

     Above is the link to the actual series trailer, watch it for yourself and make your own decisions about the show.

     Now on to why I find the almost rabid condemnation of this show that is basically about a Cross Dressing (Kid's voice never changes so I am not sure if he is actually Transgender or just some poor kid stuck wearing female attire while he battles crime.)  Most of the people railing about this sort of thing probably grew up watching the sort of toons that I did.  So I find it funny they rail against gay stuff, cross dressing stuff etc in modern toons as a danger to their poor fragile children.  Why?  Let me whip this out for you.  (Gasp!)
     Let's cover Loony Toons for firstsies.  Gods how many times did Bugs, Daffy and even Elmer a few times get dressed up in women's clothing?  Prolly every fifth episode or do.  Heck there is even one episode where a Norse Elmer carries a metal bra wearing Bugs to a romantic spot and starts making nice nice.  Fast forward to a newer generation and shows like Tiny Toons and Animaniacs were filled with cross dressing toons.  So far I haven't seen a lot of trauma or confusion resulting from those shows.  Well, unless you count grumpy older people railing against change.

     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XW9BapLxwkw

     Slightly more obscure unless you are into Anime is the show linked above which tells the story of a boy who (Gasp again) turns into a pretty young girl when doused with water.  I know a lot of people my age who have watched the many versions of that show.  Despite what so many people are terrified of, they turned out normal.  (Well okay, close enough)  I'd say 97% are straight fairly well adjusted people and the 3% that aren't were pretty durned messed up even back then.

     Really what it boils down to is this.  We are becoming so overly sensitive and fearful as a culture that anything we see as a threat to the very tenuous status qua becomes a threat in our minds.  Ignoring the arguments over morality and right or wrong for a moment, the overwhelming fact is that LGBT acceptance is becoming more common every day.  States are moving against the Federal DOMA mindset and allowing Same Sex couples the same marital rights as everyone else.  People who are "different" no longer hide it in shame, but openly show it no matter where they go.  The Stigma is shifting from LGBTs to the people who condemn them.  That scares the crap out of a lot of people.

     So much like Women's Rights back in the day and Racial Equality not so far back, people are seeing the "way things have always been" eroding away.  Suddenly they are faced with the fact that a group of people who have been ostracized (Huh spelled that right first time) for a long time suddenly have the power to fight back.  So instead of accepting the inevitable, these people will continue to rail against every single "attack" that comes along and will probably never realize that their fear and hate is making them the minority.

End of rant

PS:  and in response to some of the comments in the BB post, Really?!  In this day and age, we really still have people that believe that being Gay or Bi or whatever is a Mental Illness?  Wow, what's next locking them up in little rooms and attaching electrodes to sensitive body parts to change their orientation?   

Whither goest Truth or Sorry I can't hear you with my head in the sand!

Zat you Sam?

    (Aside the first: And before we even start this romp, please let me assure you that I do indeed know that the old Ostrich with its head in the sand thing is pure hokum!  I just happen to like the analogy of it and this particular image.)
     (Aside the second:  Does it amaze anyone else just how vast and amazing the Interwebz is?  No matter what the topic no matter how esoteric and obscure, if you type it into the right search engine, you will find some article or picture on the subject.  I won't even begin to go into how many Ostrich images I found.)

     Anyho, onwards and spiraling ever downwards to the depths of Heck.  So a bunch of different articles were posted by various friends on FB today that kind of got me thinking.  The topics ranged from sheep innards to gas prices to hams made in China.  (Well to be fair, they aren't being made in China now, but they might be soon enough.)  Like I said the topics were extremely varied, but they all made me ponder how elusive Truth is and how so many people would much rather avoid it all together to keep it from conflicting with what they believe.
     Many moons ago, I read an article in an actual honest to gosh paper magazine that interviewed 250 people who were suffering from some form of terminal, very nasty disease.  Many of the illnesses could have been either cured or greatly eased if the illness had been caught early enough, but the majority of these sufferers admitted that they had postponed going to a Doctor to see what was wrong with them because they were terrified of finding out the truth.  So even though there were multiple indications something was seriously wrong (Coughing up blood, strange rashes etc.) they refused to find out what because they were afraid of knowing.
     Someone said recently (Can't remember who and can't find citation of the quote.  Hell it might have been one of my many personalities for all I know.) that it is a shame that we live in an era where information and facts are freely available to a huge number of people, but we still choose to live in our own ignorance.  I'd like to modify that slightly by stating that people choose to live in their own ignorance or the ignorance of others as long as it supports what they believe.

I tell you they are out there!  I saw it on the Interwebz!

     People KNOW what they KNOW and anything that doesn't fit into that knowledge is a lie or part of some grand conspiracy to keep the TRUTH from coming out.  Prime examples of the are:  The Moon Landing was faked, 911 was a inside job, Sandy Hook was some secret government plot to take away our guns.  However, these are the extreme examples.   Even most doubters laugh at these.  (Or at least snicker quietly to themselves.) 
     Less extreme examples which are supported by an astonishingly large number of people are:  Aspertame causes everything from male pattern baldness to whooping cough, Inoculations cause Autism and Coffee causes cancer.  They support these ideas because they KNOW that they are facts because a bunch of people posted it on the Interwebz.  Never mind the Doctor who supposedly started the Aspertame Scare doesn't exist and the so called researcher who created the Autism scare has been thoroughly condemned by all of his peers for sloppy oftentimes dangerous research on children and has even admitted that he used improper techniques himself.  We won't even go into the ridiculous idea of coffee being bad.
     No matter how much data comes out.  No matter how much truth is revealed, people refuse to listen to it or to even consider it because it contradicts what they know to be true.  Course, in all fairness this is not a new phenomenon.  Long before the Interwebz, people always clung to their own truths even when facts attacked.  Guess it shows that we have not come all that far after all.

No no no!  I said Facts not Fax!

End of rant

    

Step away from the Deceased Equine!

http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/barackobama/ss/Michelle-Obama-Vs-The-U-S-Flag.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJgWMI0hch8

     So I have been reading snide and insulting comments about the above video since essentially the day after it happened.  Thousands of people jumping on the bandwagon in outrage over Michelle Obama reportedly saying "All this for that damned flag" or minor variations on that theme.  Seen so many "experts" claiming to have read her lips and KNEW what she said and so many thousands more willing to follow just because they don't like the Obamas and want to believe anything bad about them.  (Barry Sotero anyone?)

     Now I personally know several people who are actually deaf and are very good at reading lips.  Most of the ones I asked about it couldn't clearly make out what she said, but agreed that the way her lips moved didn't form the words in the sentence in question.  Keep in mind these are people who lip read every day to essentially function in the real world.

     Still, people may argue (And Gods do they argue) that my friends could be wrong.  And I agree that everyone is fallible.  Everyone makes mistakes.  However, this little rant isn't really about whether my friends are right or someone else is right.  This rant is about credibility.  

     So the person/s who posted this particular link on You Tube said, "Yes, folks, that is what she said, according to an instructor at a School for the Deaf and Blind who watched the video."  This would be incredibly damning except for one teensy weensy fact.  "Contrary to what's claimed above, no instructors employed by the River School in Washington, D.C. participated in the interpretation of Michelle Obama's lip movements in the video in question.

"Please be advised," read a statement posted on the school's website in 2011, "that the River School was not involved in any translation services for a recent video clip currently circulating on the Internet." The denial was reaffirmed by River School director Nancy Mellon in a statement quoted by Politifact.com. "It's definitely not us," Mellon said. "We would never try to do anything like this."
     The plain and simple fact is, anytime you try to back up your "facts" with lies then that automatically discredits anything you are claiming.  The fact that the rumor mongers couldn't find a single actual expert to back up their claims damns their claims as lies.  It comes under the same heading as Obama's birth certificate.  Real experts who have spent their entire lives in their chosen fields have tried to prove that Obama's BC is a fake.  They failed.  No credible proof has ever been put forward to show that he is anything other than a natural born US citizen.  So instead of accepting this, people cling to lies like the aforementioned Barry Sotero April Fools Joke or the Umpteen dozen Barack Obama Social Security cards.  People refuse to accept actual facts as long as it contradicts what they "know."
    To me, when anyone argues with lies, they have already lost.  Even if what they are trying to say is true, the fact that they have to resort to lies and disinformation means they will never prove their point.  Baffling people with Bullshit may get you the sheeple, but will never prove your point.

End of rant 

A little Squid Pro Quo for my brother.

Yummy!

http://porkbrainsandmilkgravy.blogspot.com/2013/05/even-more-discombobulated-than-usual.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PorkBrainsWithMilkGravy+%28Pork+Brains+with+Milk+Gravy%29

     No folks, don't worry.  You haven't stumbled across the wrong Blog by accident or found some odd cooking site instead of my usual rantings.  I am here to tell all of you about a much better blog and writer than my own NSHS (Not So Humble Self).  If you like my insanity, you will love this guy.

     The all of this started was yesterday when I was down at the Author's (Who I am proud to call brother) and we were discussing writing while watching children happily frolic in the pool.  I mentioned that, thanks to all of you, my readership in portions of the world where English is not the dominate language now exceeded the readership in the US.  (A fact that still amazes me, thank you.)

     My Brother said (And I quote hence the "  ") "Well, F'dang, how the hell can you have more readers than me?"  I had to honestly shrug and admit that I had no idea.  We both use the exact same resources for our blogs and he is a much better writer than I could ever hope to be.  He grumbled that any time he mentioned my blogs in his my readership skyrocketed and griped that when I did the same for him, his readership barely blipped.

     So once again, I am putting his very well written, insightful and often times humorous blog out for all of my readers to see.  Go to his site, read his blogs and subscribe to his weekly humor column.  You will be very happy you did.

End of rant

What if the shoe was on the other foot?

http://news.yahoo.com/judge-ariz-sheriffs-office-profiles-latinos-225627617.html;_ylt=AwrHgMu4JqBRxVMACQUJVux_;_ylu=X3oDMTI5OGJsdTJmBG1pdANBVFQgMyBTdG9yeSBKdW1ib3Ryb24gSG9tZSBDYWNoZWQEcG9zAzIEc2VjA01lZGlhQXR0V2lkZ2V0cm9uQXNzZW1ibHk-;_ylg=X3oDMTFkcW51ZGliBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3BtaA--;_ylv=3

     Now believe it or not, this isn't about Old Joe and whether or not he is profiling Latinos (Hispanics) or whether or not said profiling is wrong or justified.  I am not even going to touch let alone open that can of worms.  Nope, like most articles I read, most of my ire is aimed at the comments section.

     Overwhelmingly, (I read 10 pages of comments) the whole attitude is "Whoo Hoo!  Go get them!"  People seem to be okay with the idea that an entire section of people Might be being targeted just because of their appearance.  They cheer these actions even though the vast majority of the targeted group have done no crime or harm to anyone.  They seem to think it is okay to target the majority if it catches the minority.  Doesn't that worry anyone besides me?

     I very seldom if ever play the Hitler/Nazi Card because it is so often misused and overused.  However prior to and during WWII, the Nazi Party deliberately targeted a select group because they felt the group was a danger to national safety.  Though there was little if any evidence, the Jewish people were arrested and placed in Concentration Camps simply because they were Jewish.  

     Course on this side of the ocean, The US Government was just as guilty.  They rounded up 1000's of Japanese Citizens, many of which were second and third generation, and shipped them off to our own Concentration Camps even though there was no evidence that any of them had committed any crime or bore any hard feelings toward the US.  They were imprisoned simply because of their ethnic origins.  

     Moving down the line a bit, during the Racially Heated times of the 1950s and 60s, it was not uncommon for Black people to be targeted by law enforcement simply because of their race.  A Black man driving a very nice car would be pulled over by police not because he had committed a crime, but because they thought he had stolen the car.

     Moving down a bit further, we have NYPD who, with CIA training, began targeting large sections of Muslim populations even though there was no evidence that any of them had done anything illegal.  Most of them were law abiding citizens/immigrants who had no ties to any sort of terrorist/extremist groups.  They were targeted simply because of their faith.

     Lets toss some numbers out there.  According to the 2011 Census there 52 million Legal Residents of the USA not including our protectorates.  Meanwhile, the entire (Including all races and nationalities) population of Illegal Aliens is estimated to be between 7-20 million.  (Course this a number that is impossible to accurately measure since most people in the US illegally aren't just going to come out and admit it.)

     So lets take the mid-range of that estimate and say that the entire population of Illegal Immigrants is 13 (Hope I did that right, my math sucks) million.  And just for Gits and Shiggles, lets say that All of them are of Hispanic origin.  (They aren't but this is a mental exercise.)  So that is roughly one quarter of the Hispanic Population.  So ignoring the numbers and just the percentage, that means that any action targeting the whole to get to a portion would be harming a very large number of innocent people.

     So we have Jews, Japanese, Blacks and now Hispanics who have been targeted.  All of you should ask yourselves what happens when it is your group being targeted?  Will you still be cheering next year when someone in power decides that since the WBC are a bunch of inbred morons that anyone who is a White Southern Baptist should be targeted just on the chance they might be planning something dangerous.

     Selective targeting of groups is a slippery slope.  The human mind is brilliant at justifying the things we do even if those things are wrong.  I will leave you with the words of Martin Niemöll (Which have also been overused and abused lately, but seem appropriate here.)

First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.
Then they came for the socialists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak for me.

     Never forget that you are always "one of them" to someone else.

End of rant

Define "Fair wages?"

Man is not human, he is an alien I tell you!

     So one of my FB friends posted this yesterday and it isn't the first time I have ever seen it.  I think that the way this man treats his employees is amazing and the world would probably be better off if more people were like him.  However, it sparked a bit of a heated (One sided since I am pretty damned mellow) argument with another FB "Friend."  (I say "friend" because I have never met them and very rarely "Speak" to them online.)  Her argument got me thinking and I decided to once again mention my thoughts on the subjects discussed.
    X's main argument basically amounted to "Everyone should be paid a salary that they can live off of comfortably whatever job they possess or skills they have."  In short, a burger flipper at Wendy's should make the same salary as someone who has gone to college/school for  years and received specialized skills and training.  A Janitor should make the same money as a Lawyer or Doctor.  She said it was wrong for the companies and corporations to "Keep all their money" and not give it back to the people who work for them.
     I have several problems with this attitude.  The first is that why should an unskilled laborer be paid a salary with benefits equal to someone who took the time to spend 4 or more years studying and working hard?  My wife went to college for 4 years and graduated with honors with two degrees.  She later went back to college and received her Masters WHILE also attending the Air Force NCO Academy AND still working her full time job.  She now makes a very nice salary and will make even more as time goes on.  She has earned her success.
    This idea that everyone "deserves" to make that same kind of money even though they have done Nothing to deserve it is annoying.  I am all for everyone earning Minimum Wage (Whatever that might be where you live), but the concept that everyone has the right to earn a salary good enough for them to own a house, buy a car and live comfortably while working that previously mentioned Burger Joint Job is beyond silly.
     When I was growing up, my father worked 10 hours a day for the County Road Crew.  He also cut 5-10 yards a week.  See, he didn't make enough all the time at his regular job to make ends meet so he...(Gasp of shock here) worked at another job to make the extra money.  He didn't whine about his pay (Which was decent back then) he just did what he had to do to make the money he needed to take care of us.
     Today, the vast majority of Americans want everything that everyone else has but they think that they should have it all without doing what is necessary to get it.  The aforementioned FB type person said that EVERYONE should make at least $25.00 an hour and that it was unfair that companies didn't pay them that much.  (She also mentioned retirement bennies, free health insurance etc, but we will let that one go.)
     People need to check that ridiculous attitude at the door.  If you want better pay, better benefits then go out and do something to earn them.  Get the training or schooling you need to get them.  Don't expect to live high on the hog working as a cook for a fast food chain.  If the job you currently have doesn't pay you enough, then get two jobs.  No one "deserves" to make the big bucks.  Like anything worthwhile in life, it has got to be earned.  Minimum wage means exactly that, the bare minimum needed for One person to survive.  Want more, do more.

End of rant

"It's all on the wheel..."

     Seems to be a day for movie/song quotes.   The quote "Ace Hunter: It's all on the wheel, it all comes around." is from the totally fun, totally bad 1982 movie Mega Force which was actually just a cinematic excuse for Stuntman Supreme Hal Needham to show off every single vehicular stunt he could come up with along with tons of explosions.  If you can find it, rent it.  It is Highlarious.!

http://news.yahoo.com/wave-attacks-kills-least-86-iraq-150634066.html

     Don't get me wrong, I don't approve of the attacks that occurred/ are occurring in Iraq.  I feel that these acts of terror are the height of cowardice and evil.  I believe that anyone who commits these acts should be hunted down and executed.  This is also not a rant about how "Gee, look at all the good the American Invasion of Iraq did.  See how much better off they are now!" might not be entirely accurate statements.  (Sarcastic yes, accurate no.)

     Nope this rant is more a discussion of Karma or the Golden Rule.  Two statements from the Article so profoundly illustrate this.  "Sectarian tensions have been worsening since Iraq's minority Sunnis began protesting what they say is mistreatment at the hands of the Shiite-led government."   "Iraq's Shiite majority, which was oppressed under the late dictator Saddam Hussein, now holds the levers of power in the country."

     See during Hussein's reign, he promoted the prosperity and well being of his chosen few.  The Sunni's held all positions of power in his government and held most of the nation's wealth.  The Shiites were basically treated as less than second class citizens and were often murdered and oppressed.  The Shiites cried for justice and mercy and the people in power ignored them.  It was good to be the King.  Now, the shoe is on the other foot.  The Shiites are in charge and the Sunnis aren't.  Who's oppressing whom now?

     I am not saying that it is right that the Shiites are oppressing the Sunnis.  In a perfect world, once the Shiites had gotten into power, they would have remembered how they felt when they were the underdog and worked to make things better for everyone.  In a perfect world, they would have realized that it would be just as wrong for them to abuse the Sunnis as it was for the Sunnis to abuse them.  Of course this is far from a perfect world, so anyone with any gram of sense would have known what would happen.

     All I am saying is you can't spend decades abusing a people, ignoring their cries for justice and then turn around and whine when the same thing happens to you.  What goes around comes around.  You pile crap on other people and eventually you will wind up covered in crap yourself.

End of rant!

"Ohh, its Christmas at Ground Zero. The button has been pressed..."

For those poor unfortunate souls who have no idea where the title of this blog came from see below link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t039p6xqutU

For those poor unfortunate souls who have no idea where I got "Poor unfortunate souls" from see below link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyFVG4VfPmg

     Anyhoo, on with today's rant.  I spent a healthy portion of my childhood living during the Cold War Era.  Mutually Assured Destruction (That's MAD by the way not MADD which is Mothers Against Drunk Driving which is more about preservation than destruction and a moniker I find suitably appropriate...but I digress.) was the natural order of life.  We could live in comfort (Snigger) knowing that if the Russkies ever dropped the H-Bomb on us, we could spin around and turn Russia into a sea of glass.  Yeah everybody would be dead, but hey at least we got each other!

     During this era, Bomb shelters were insanely popular because everyone wanted to survive the final nuclear holocaust.  Heck, there was even a very simple concrete bunker bomb shelter on the land of one of the houses my family rented.   Now most of these shelters would not have survived a direct hit from a fire cracker barrage, let alone an Umpteen Dozen Ton Hydrogen Bomb, but I guess it gave people some degree of (illusionary) comfort.  Sure there were massive, self contained shelters but those were the domain of the rich and very powerful.  Of course the humorous part of all the billions of dollars spent to build these things is that only two bombs were ever dropped in an act of aggression and they happened long before the Cold War heated up.

http://gma.yahoo.com/bomb-shelter-boom-sees-underground-pools-basketball-courts-222036802--abc-news-lifestyle.html

     Well, it seems like we have come full circle again.  With Global tensions running at all time highs with nutjobs like Little Dough Boy from NK or "We are not trying to build bombs" from Iran posturing and yelling, people are getting nervous again.  With Soviet Era Nukes going missing left and right like car keys, people are getting scared.  Suddenly the idea that someone might carry a nuke into a major city and set off a nuclear chain reaction has people crapping in their metaphorical pants.  So once again, people are building bomb/survival shelters "just in case."

Home Sweet Bomb Shelter, Circa 1950s

     Above is a picture of what a fairly expensive and advanced Bomb Shelter during the cold war would have looked like.  A fairly prosperous family could have afforded to have something like this built.  Beyond what is shown here, some models would have also had fold down bunks and some for of storage for food and supplies.

Surviving in Style!

     Above is what a modern bomb shelter looks like.  These days for the price of a really nice house, you can have a...well a really nice house only underground and complete with air/water filtration systems and a horticulture area to grow your own food.  Not too shabby.  Hells if I have the money, I would love to build my retirement home to be like this.
     Of course, you are wondering exactly how is this a rant?  Where's the gumpiness?  Where's the Snarkiness that you have come to know and love/hate?  Simple, the bomb shelter boom (Bomb...Boom...Get it?) happened out of this insane, propaganda driven idea that we were all doomed because we couldn't play nice with each other and everyone was going to drop their nukes on everyone else.  For decades we lived in a Government generated cloud of fear and terror.  We finally moved beyond that and started trying to live our lives again.
    Now I see it happening all over again.  Their side/s toss out threats and propaganda to try to terrify us.  Our side tosses out our own propaganda that paints their side as mad dogs who are a threat to global peace.  The News Agencies grab hold of both and broadcast it out for headlines and ratings.  We are rapidly slipping back into that Cold War Mentality where fear is the rule.
     I am not saying that there aren't threats to peace out there.  Hell we have quite a few right here in the US.  I am not saying that some Nutjob couldn't lob a nuke from NK or Iran.  I freely admit that some crazed individual could smuggle a pony nuke into a major city and set it off.  These are all real possibilities.  However, unless every single individual in the world suddenly looses what is left of their minds and launches all of their ICBMs at once, the threat of global thermal nuclear warfare (God I still love that movie!) is very slim.
     We learned to move away from the fear once and the world was a much better place for it.  So if we can learn to do it once when the threat seemed pretty tangible, can't we just say "Fugg It!" and move past it again?  Besides, lets be honest.  Despite what the Government and Builders of Bomb Shelters want you to believe, if WWIII ever happens and all the buttons get pressed, there won't be a whole lot of people left to worry about it and these shelters just mean that you can at least burn in luxury. 

Benghazi, Done thatzi

Before I begin, a few links for you to peruse.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/16/republicans-benghazi-emails_n_3289428.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/09/12/f-embassy-attacks.html

     Go ahead and read those.  Don't worry I will wait till you get back before I continue.  (Plays Solitaire on phone while waiting, singing badly off key while doing so.)  Oh, you're back!  Okay, on with the rant.

     Now of course, the big "news" is that the GOP Dweebs probably altered the White House Emails.  Dims are leaping on this as proof that the GOP was trying to make the POTUS and WH look bad with the responses to the Benghazi attack.  A very entertaining free for all has erupted over it and it shows no signs of letting up anytime soon.

     I find this amusing for one simple reason and it is the same reason that I find GOP uproar over Obama not labeling the Benghazi attacks a "Terrorist Attack" instead blandly mentioning "Acts of Terror" when speaking after the attacks.  It is all about semantics!  People all over the country are arguing over the words and not the meanings just like they did with the above instance.

     I have read three different sources and studied the emails.  Of the ones that I have seen and the ones that have been released, Yes it does look like the GOP altered the wording of the emails.  Some claim that this is because initially the emails were actually read to them over the phone, or the emails were read and transcribed because copies weren't allowed to be made.  Of course, others claim that it is an effort to paint the WH and Prez in a bad light.

     No matter what the reasons (although if it the latter, it is a pretty crappy effort.), the alterations do not in any way change the meaning or even the context of the emails.  Yes, the wording is different in some ways, but the wording doesn't change the meaning.  In a literary sense, it is like saying, "A bright red fox leaped over the wooden fence" instead of saying, "A fox jumped over the crude wooden construct.  It's crimson fur glinted in the sunlight."  The wording is different, but the meaning is the same.  So until more obvious nefarious intent becomes clear in the altered emails, I am afraid it doesn't do much for the Dim cause.

     On to the second link and this is the one that really grinds my gears.  Benghazi was a horrible event and should be mourned and investigated.  However, the massive GOP uproar is kind of shocking.  If you check out the list (And there are other websites too) you will see that there have been much worse attacks on American Embassies/Consulates over the years.  What you will find mysteriously absent during attacks that killed hundreds, is GOP uproar.  No screams of coverups and no finger pointing can been seen and believe me I checked.  Crickets make more noise than the outrage over these attacks.

     So why the outrage now?  Why the vitriol aimed at the POTUS and the WH?  Why the cries for investigations over incompetence now when none were heard so many times in the past?  Easy, this is just the latest attempts by opponents to cast shame and disgrace on the President.  The Opposition smells blood and like any predator is swooping in to get their bites out.

     I am not saying that the WH didn't mess up.  I am not saying the WH didn't try to cover it up.  I don't have enough information (Actual facts, not the crap fed to us by the News Outlets) to decide that yet.  Given the way pollyticks works, we may never have enough actual facts.  All I am saying is that the outrage and anger being professed by the GOP and their cronies is amazingly selective.  

     By all means, let us get to the truth.  Let us find out exactly what happened and did not happen.  We need to find out who was responsible and punish them.  But get rid of the rhetoric.  Get rid of the empty arguments over semantics.  Stop the name calling and finger pointing and find out the truth.  

End of rant.

What if it happened to you?

     So the Big Buzz Headlines this week are: Benghazi, IRS and the AP.  Anyone who hasn't been living in a cave knows what the headlines and roar is about so I won't go into that part.  (Also if you are living in a cave, it is highly unlikely you are getting the internet so I don't need to go into for you either.  Course if you don't get the internet than it is unlikely that you just saw me tell you how unlikely it is that...Argh!)  So there is way to much to talk about with the three subjects, so today I am going to focus on just one.  May cover the others later, may not.  I am kind of unpredictable like that.
     The IRS is apparently guilty of targeting Conservative Non-Profit organizations during the elections.  They used buzz words such as Tea Party, Conservative and Taxes to deliberately target CNP organizations.  Now I could spend volumes going into the apparent whyfors and what whatnots, but suffice it to say that they messed up, tried to hide it and got caught.  I will also not go into how much involvement, if any Obama had with this situation since I for one do not have all of the facts and refuse to comment on things that I don't have facts for.  (Well okay most times I refuse to comment.  I'm moody, get over it!)
     No, what bothers me and coincidentally what this little blog is about is a lot of peoples' reactions to the news that a office of the US Government deliberately targeted people/organizations without any sort of actual evidence that said groups had done anything wrong.  No tips, no clues and no hidden messages in cool pictures appeared to let the IRS know that somebody was being bad.  They acted on purely "Coulda beens."
     (As an historical aside here, I would like to unhappily point out that this is nothing new under the sun.  Both the IRS and the FBI targeted the Reverend King.  During his election bid, JFK was targeted by opposition forces.  Malcolm X was targeted by pretty much every single Government Organization out there.  So unfortunately this is nothing new, just the most recent.)
     What concerns me is the reaction that so many Democrats/Liberals etc seem to be having.  (In this case I refer to individuals not politicians.)  One of my FB friends even went as far as to say, "Good for the IRS."  (Wow how many times have you heard that line?)  The consensus seems to be that the IRS did the right thing because these organizations COULD have been doing something shady.  Not were, but could.
     This concerns me for one simple reason.  What if it was someone/thing you supported?  What if the IRS had been targeting Balding Middle Aged White Men Who Are Left Handed?  What if they had been targeting your Church, your club or your family because you "might have been doing something wrong?"  How would you feel if it was suddenly "Us" instead of "Them?"  Would you be as happy and proud then?  Probably not.
     Everyone should be concerned and worried when groups start acting on crimes that might be committed instead of crimes that have been committed.  When we start tossing out the rules just because we don't like someone or something, then it is only a matter of time before that tactic is turned on you.

End of Rant

NONE SHALL PASS! (Owch that was my FOOT!)

     Hokay, so I am out and about to buy some basic grocery like essentials and try to find my lovely wife a special kind of salt for her new diet program.  I bought everything I needed at the Kroger's nearest my house, but could not find her salt even though her friend said it could be bought there.  So in spite of the rain and my bad knees, I headed out to the next Kroger's which is newer and has a wider variety of stuff in the hopes of finding her salt.
    As I walked in, I saw an elderly Black woman standing beside the little motorized carts that the stores provide for those who have mobility issues.  She was wrestling with of those really cool wheeled walker/stool combos while clutching her umbrella under her arm.  She was standing directly beside the only scooter I saw trying to get the walker folded so she could use the Scooter.
    I was on the verge of helping her when this very LARGE (Can we say More than Tubby Boys and Girls) Black Woman (Gods don't get me started on what she was wearing.) rushes past me (Okay waddles past me) pushes this 80+ Lady out of the way, gets in the scooter and starts backing up.  The Elderly Lady was too shocked to even say anything, let alone react but yours truly was truly honked off!
     (Before I go any further, this isn't about the Tubby Woman in way to tight pants and a BRIGHT ORANGE top taking the Scooter when it was pretty durned obvious from the way she scooted past me that she prolly doesn't have mobility issues.  Yes it annoys me when I see people that probably don't need them using the scooters, but I try not to judge since I don't know for sure.)
     So this honked off middle aged White Man (That's me folks) steps up behind the over laden scooter and jams my right foot under the rear wheel.  I say very politely to the woman, "I'm sorry Miss, but this lady was here first to get the scooter.  You should let her use it and wait for the next one."
     Folks I hope that the Lady doesn't kiss her children with that mouth, because the rather colorful diatribe that came out of her (Purple lipstick) lips amazed even me.  "Motherf***er, I was here first!"
"You Stupid Piece of Sh*t, get the f**K out of my way!"  are some of the tamer lines she used.  The whole time she is trying to "gun" the Scooter and run over my foot, but not having much success mainly cause I have big feet and those things aren't known for their horsepower.
     Needless to say, by this time we have drawn quite a crowd.  I spotted at least two people filming it so I suspect it may either make the evening news or at least You-Tube.  (Keep an eye out will ya?)  Finally, the Floor Manager (five minutes later, I think he was afraid to come over.) shows up and asks what the problem was.  The Scooter Lady proceeds to tell him that "This Racist Motherf**ker is messing with me."
     (As another side note here, I am indeed a Racist in the truest sense of the word in that I think the vast majority of the Human race truly sucks.  Okay back to the rant!)
     I explained to the Manager what had occurred and my testimony was backed up by several people who had witnessed the beginning of this little conflict.  He politely told the Woman that she had to allow the Elderly lady to have the Scooter and assured her that another would become available soon.  The woman gets off the Scooter, looks right at me and flips me off.  She then storms (Waddles) out of the store cursing the store, me and my venerable ancestors.  I help the Elderly Lady into the scooter and she just kind of smiled at me kind of puzzledly.  I told her to have a good day and kind of grinned to myself as she rode off.
     No one applauded, no one cheered, but really I didn't need it.  I didn't do it for praise.  Hells, technically I didn't even do it because it was the right thing.  Truthfully I did it because that Tubby Woman with the bad attitude PISSED ME OFF!  It just so happens that my temper and the right thing to do coincided today.
     Oh also on the bright side, I found the salt that I was looking for to send to my Wife!  Definitely a win win sitch.

End of Rant

The Moaning After Pill

http://news.yahoo.com/debate-over-morning-pill-15-olds-152402863.html

NOW AVAILABLE WITHOUT CONSEQUENCES!

     Okay before I begin this rant, let me make a basic statement or two.  I am against abortion except when it involves the health of the mother or in cases of Rape and Incest.  I realize that this probably makes me very unpopular with a lot of people, but meh so what else is new.  I am also okay with the so-called Morning After Pill.  A lot of you will probably say that makes me a hypocrite, but to me it all boils down to exactly when does a bunch of rapidly dividing cells go from being "Whee, let's divide and multiply like its 1999" to becoming a person?
     People argue that life begins at conception and in a purely technical sense, they are correct.  Once Old Mr. Squiggles meets up with his date and makes happy time, the product of their union is indeed alive.  (Course I could also point out that both the sperm and egg are alive before that so technically live begins before conception.)  No, to me the argument should be, "When does awareness begin?"  After all viruses are alive and multiply, but not many people cry out when they are wiped out in the billions.
     Which revolves back to my support of the Morning After Pill.  Sorry, folks but even two days after conception, that mass of cells inside the lady are no more self aware than the aforementioned viruses.  So if a magic pill can stop some woman who had a little bit too much to drink the night before or who made a bad decision from carrying a kid that they do not want then I am all for it.  If you think that makes me a hypocrite, well I have been called much worse and would be happy to argue the points with you.
     Now having said that rather long winded pre-rant, let us get onto the meat of this rant.  WTF is the idea of letting children have access to a drug that essentially takes away the biggest consequence of having sex?  If our government has their way (Obama is against this BTW, God Bless him), the morning after pill will be available over the counter to children as young as 14-15 years of age.  So Kids can't buy cold medicine, but don't worry!  If little Jenny goes out and gets knocked up the night before she can buy a pill to fix it!
     Folks, I know that Teenagers have sex.  Hells, they had it back when I was a Teenager.  (Well when we weren't running from dinosaurs.)  I won't even say it is more common today than in my time, because I knew a lot of kids who did it.  (Yes I was one of them, deal with it.)  We will never stop this from happening despite what a lot of people wish.  Unless we find someway to magically neuter everyone till they reach the age of 21, it will keep happening pretty much forever.  That is just (pardon the pun) the facts of life.
     The main difference I see these days is responsibility.  Daddy always told my brother and I (Me?  Always mix those two up.) that if we planned on having sex, we had to deal with the consequences.  He said if we got a girl pregnant, then we had to take of the girl and the kid.  He told us that if we didn't want that we either had to not have sex or take precautions.  He even bought me my first condoms.  (As an anecdotal aside here, I am reminded of the night when my Brother was in a nasty car wreck on the old One Way Bridge outside of our home town of Goshen.  When Daddy and I went to the hospital to pick him up, the nurse gave Daddy my Brother's things and Daddy kind of grinned when he saw the string of condoms.)
     IMNSHO, the MA Pill does away with another of the consequences of children experimenting with sex.  Nothing is going to stop the kids who are determined to have sex no matter what, but a lot of kids are terrified of experimenting with sex because they might make a baby or get punished when their parents find out that someone is pregnant.  It is kind of like a MAD for teenagers.  (Mutually Assured Destruction for those who didn't grow up during the Cold War.)  They resist temptation because they know that either outcome is going to completely screw them over.  (Again pun intended.)
     I am okay with a frightened teenage girl taking the pill.  However, I am not okay with an underage teenage girl being able to get one of the pills and pop it anytime she decides to make the beast with two backs.  This does not discourage underage sex and does not encourage responsible actions.  In fact, it encourages irresponsible actions because if the pill can keep you from getting pregnant (BTW it is not 100% effective) then there is nothing keeping you from doing it over and over again.
     Like I said, we cannot (as much as we might like) stop underage sex.  It simply ain't going to happen.  However, if we keep taking away the consequences of doing it, the situation is only going to get worse.  It is time we stopped inventing new excuses and started taking responsibility.

End of rant

Flagged for your consideration.

Before I begin this little rant that is bound to piss a bunch of people off, let's deal with some basic historical information.  Yeah, yeah I know.  "The Hell with the learning, get on with the Rant!"  Sorry, my blog my rules so deal with it.

This is a National Flag of the Confederate States of America.

This is also an National Flag of the CSA.

This is also a National Flag of the CSA.

This was not.

Nor was this.

     Now what prompted this little rant is a lively discussion that was going on with some of my Facebook friends over a School's "Redneck Day" which of course sparked the usual discussions on the "Confederate Flag" that so many Rednecks choose to wear from time to time.  One side points out that the Flag everyone sees is a symbol of Slavery, Bigotry and Oppression.  The other points out that it is a symbol of people fighting against overwhelming odds for causes they believe in.  The Obligatory reference to Hitler was indeed thrown in just in case you are wondering.  This is a tricky subject because, technically both sides are right. 
     The various forms of the CSA Battle Standard and the National CSA Flags (Despite what most seem to believe, they were not the same animal as can be seen above.) were flown over a Government and an Army that were dedicated to keeping Black Slaves in chains as property as part of the South's "Peculiar Practice."  The flags represent one of the darkest times in American History and remind us of a time that most people would be just as happy to forget.  No matter how clean you try to make it, a very large number of human beings were treated as property and experienced horrible times.  This should never be forgotten or downplayed.
     However, the flags also stood for people resisting a force that they saw as Oppressive and Tyrannical.  The vast majority of CSA citizens did not own slaves.  Slaves, especially Prime ones were impossibly expensive and your average White Confederate could no more afford one than a White Share Cropper in the 1950's could afford a brand new car.  The Average White Confederate didn't fight to keep Slavery, he fought because he believed that a force just as bad as the English during the Revolutionary War was trying to destroy his nation.  He fought with the same sort of patriotism and pride under the CSA flags as a modern soldier does under the USA Flag.
     I feel the same way when people object to the CSA Battle Standard as I do when I hear people object to Swastikas albeit for slightly different reasons.  Swastikas in their various forms have been around for a very very long time and are a part of many different religions, spiritual beliefs and cultures (Native American and Hindi just to name a couple.)  They existed long before a German Madman decided they looked cool and made one his national symbol.  However I have seen several cases where Swastikas (Even one or two that didn't look exactly like the German version) were attacked because they represented Genocide and the NAZIs.  Everything from fashion to a trading card game have been attacked because they chose to use Swastikas because of the "perceived" insult to the Jewish Holocaust.
     Now on the one hand, the various flags of the CSA did not exist before the beginning of the Civil War so you cannot argue history.  However, you can argue perceptions.  Sure you can claim that the Stars and Bars flew over a nation dedicated to keeping his fellow man in chains.  Of course, you can say the same thing about the various flags of the USA.  Keep in mind that 4 States who stayed in the Union remained slave states during the war AND the Emancipation Proclamation ONLY freed slaves in the CSA and did not free Union Slaves.  Bring in the treatment of Native Americans and the various forms of the Stars and Stripes aren't exactly sparkly white either.
     To a lot of Southerners, the Stars and Bars and other CSA flags have come to represent fierce determination and drive to be independent.  I myself have worn the Confederate Battle Standards many times and I promise you that I have no desire to put someone in chains or force my fellow man to work on a plantation.  The S&B has become a symbol of determination and pride.  If we can move past the horrors performed under the Stars and Stripes (Wounded Knee, Trail of Tears to name a couple, there are many more) and still feel pride when the flag flies, then maybe it is time to move past the horrors represented by the the CSA flags and let those who wish to wear or fly it live in peace.
     Like I said in the beginning of this rather long rant, The American Civil War the darkest, bloodiest period in our nation's history.  It should never be forgotten or downplayed.  We should never forget the treatment of Black Chattel Slaves during that time and the long decades that would follow.  "Those who do not remember the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them" still holds true today.  But the flags are just flags.  Images woven into cloth or burned onto paper.  They are nothing but symbols and symbols can mean many things to many people.  Let those who wish to fly or wear these flags do so.  At least as long as the flags are still seen, nothing is ever forgotten and Nothing should ever be forgotten.

End of rant

(Oh for those who are curious, the last two flags are the Confederate Battle Standard flown by a large chunk of the troops who fought in the war and the Naval Jack which was flown by the Confederate Navy.  As a side note, the modern "Battle Standard" seen by most people is actually a 20th combination of both flags.  As noted in the beginning, whereas both flags saw a lot of use during the war, neither was actually the National Flag of the CSA.)