what now?

listen to this.

these motherfuckers are pissing me off. and i dont know what the response is. the bastards bash aid agencies and foreign aid workers, all the while they wont let them help. i want to say 'we tried, you wouldnt let us help, so go fuck yourself.' but its the Junta thats being a piece of shit, not the people. the people are the innocent victims.

so what do we do? they claim not only that the elections held a week ago were in favor of the constitution at a 92% approval rating. they also say that 98% of eligible voters turned out for it. theres no fucking way.

im really at a loss. we could easily invade and bring the relief help, but that could easily mire us in yet another unending occupation. we could walk away and wash our hands of it, but that leaves untold thousands, hundreds of thousands, on their own with no homes or reliable food sources. the incompotence after Katrina was a debacle on a huge scale, but this intentional deprivation of aid and attacks on those providing it is insane.

you tell me. what now?

you want misongyny?

to the claims of misogyny leveled by Hilary supporters, i say go straight to the source. dont blame Americans at large. dont say we live in an inherently sexist society. point the finger at the Vatican.

they recently upped the misogyny anti in automatically excommunicating any women ordained and the bishop who ordains them. they say this is because Christ only chose men as apostles. this can be argued on many points starting from the bits of the bible that were left out that looked more fondly on Mary Magdalen. also, misogyny was culturally engrained 2000 years ago, where today we are moving ever toward equality.

the catholic church refuses to move forward and allow female church leaders. why? whats the real reason? sure they can point to tradition, but what the reason they dont state?

oh, and catholics arent alone in this discrimination, they just make it so overt and easy to pick on them. you wonder why the church has a hard time finding willing people to take the collar, well youve made impossible for half of your faith to even try, which will make another fraction balk at the thought of preaching discrimination. i know i couldnt tow that line.

its time to feast on an atheist peace.

one more time

lets review a couple of all too commonly held misconceptions.

Barack Obama is not a Muslim, but he probably understands it on a level most Christians and come close to.

Muslim does not equal terrorist. Muslim does not equal extremist.

read this.

please, Kwame

Kwame Kilpatrick vetoed the city council's resolution to ask Governor Granholm to oust him. its a gesture at bast. it didnt set anything into law, and Councilman Cockerel already sent the letter to the Governor's office.

Granholm's office responded quickly by asking both parties to provide information on legal representation etc. this mess keeps getting worse. Kilpatrick now faces 8 felony charges and a Gubernatorial trial. its ridiculous.

when Nixon resigned he said he did so because the battle would not only consume him but also both houses of the legislature putting their real jobs on the back burner. this reason alone should be enough to make Kwame leave office. nothing can or will get done til this is resolved and the only way to resolve it once and for all is for Kwame to leave office.

just let Detroit move on, Kwame. please.

yup.

i dont think i can say it any better or add anything to make the point: Michigan's government is broken and no one in it is doing a damned thing to fix it.

Daniel Howes' article.

just keep proving me right...

W has proven the point i made in the last post to some degree.

he praised Israel and scolded the Arab nations in continued botched diplomacy, or lack there of, in the middle east. Bush obviously doesnt understand the culture and continues to insult it. we could stand to have a fresh and more understanding leader. maybe one who knows what Islam is about and is willing to talk.

don't break the stick.

John McCain has gone on the offensive. and effectively joined the media in calling Obama the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party in the process. he attacked Obama's promise to be open to talks with leaders such as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran. he calls Obama inexperienced and naive to think that open talks without preconditions would weaken the US position. however, by cutting down Obama he also builds him up. by addressing his policy statement and not Hilary's, he seems to be acknowledging, as have the media at large, that Obama will be the nominee. while nothing has been decided yet, it certainly looks that way.

on to what McCain said: "It is likely such a meeting would not only fail to persuade him to abandon Iran's nuclear ambition, its support of terrorists and commitment to Israel's extinction. It could very well convince him that those policies are succeeding in strengthening his hold on power, and embolden him to continue his very dangerous behavior."

i dont see it. i just dont agree with it. ive said it before, you cant ignore a problem away. Obama hasnt said that he'll concede anything to Iran. he hasnt given any details of how he wants that talk to go. thats the brilliance of it. theres no agenda. its just opening up a diplomatic dialog that hasnt existed. there is no substance that to criticize, just the idea of talking to 'a bad man.'

Obama wants to find common ground with him. he also notes that the US military could crush Iran if need be, but the idea is to talk. Teddy Roosevelt said famously in 1903 that "There is a homely old adage which runs: 'Speak softly and carry and big stick; you will go far.'" which is the very point Obama is making. lets try talking to them. if the spit in our face and stomp on our toes we'll club 'em over the head with that big stick.

this is a reversal of Bush policy, that McCain has adopted a great deal of. we have all seen and are seeing the problems of the 'shoot first, ask questions later' policy of the Bush white house. i think McCain makes a very effective argument against his own policy here. if we open a friendly channel then there is more space to maneuver. have you ever tried to convince a foe to do anything for you? not only is it an awkward task, but they are unlikely to respond with much zeal in helping you. but a friend is much easier to approach and much more likely to see your side.

if you just start swinging the big stick at everyone who disagrees with you eventually the stick will break and youll have a bunch of pissed off people looking to draw blood. meaning the Bush policy wont work in the long run. the military will break down and lots of people will want to kick us while we are down. talking makes you friends and keeps your stick in good shape in case you need to use it.

on a somewhat related issue, i think we need to take off Israel's training wheels and let them confront the big bad world on their own if they are going to be so confrontational with their neighbors. i certainly dont agree with Ahmadinejad, and believe that Israel has the right to exist. Israel just needs to back off to its 1967 borders and just try and be nice to the neighbors. i think they would be more likely to back down if the US and EU backed off in their support a little.

but i digress. Obama's positions on talking to the world and listen to people in general is why i like him for president. hes got ideas, and is willing to hear others out. Bush II scares me. Obama is young and inexperienced and open minded. kinda like Kennedy was. Obama is our best hope to get back on track. in my opinion, anyway.

hey, sweetie, fuck you.

Susan Ager is over-sensitive if someone calling another journalist sweetie is too much for her to stomach. since when does an over used term of endearment constitute and insult?

after moving to the DC area i was taken aback a bit by the use of terms of endearment by total strangers. terms like hun, sweetie, dear, darling, etc. in this area wait staff use those terms with just about everyone. its a southern thing im told. im not fond of it. to me its overly personal for a person i dont know to call me those things, but its not demeaning. at most its mildly annoying. ive never heard of anyone before the Detroit media freak out about being called sweetie.

we have all seen that Obama can address diplomats, senators, congressmen, etc in an appropriate manner, so who cares if he is a little overly familiar with some local media? dont we have better things to criticize candidates about, like say policy or record? i mean, if you want to cut down Obama, why no do it on something like the fact that hes a junior senator with little to no experience?

i have a solution. Susan Ager is a fucktard for getting so worked for someone else being called sweetie. shes fucktarded.

there, now she has something to complain about.

oh, thats why i hated high school...

my high school, well the one i graduated from 7 years ago, if freaking the fuck out. some seniors wore t-shirts saying the following: "Puschin' It To The Limit" on the front and "Class of .08 Seniors" on the back. the front i didnt even get til, the freep explained it was a play on Busch beer.

so anyway, the school suspended 44 students the day they wore the shirts and are threatening not to allow them to attend the prom or graduation ceremony. what the fuck? is Livonia so isolated that they have nothing else to worry about than a passing reference to drinking by high school seniors? we all know they do it. what are the grounds for this? i think the suspension got the message across.

i know i for one did way worse stuff than wear a stupid shirt and nothing happened to me. prom and graduation are events that you look forward to for four years of high school and to take that from them for some silly t-shirts that didnt do harm or offend anyone is ridiculous and im guessing not legal. i hope at least one parent is savvy enough to challenge this, even if they go so far as to hire a lawyer. its a free speech matter to me. IF, and its a big if, these type of shirts are against the rules, i think the suspension is the punishment and that barring these kids from prom and graduation is well beyond the schools rights.

when i was in the same high school people wore shirts with alcohol references all the time, especially after spring break. my friends and i were also harassed for having odd hair cuts and wearing odd clothing. i hung out with skaters and punks most of the time, and we did some fun stuff to stir up the pot, but i never was suspended. you better beleive i would make a hell of a scene if they tried that shit on me.

i hope that these students take this as a message to learn their rights and stand up for them. once they can vote, hopefully they will pick candidates who respect people's rights and the Constitution. and i hope the administration can stick to making the schools better and nor persecuting people for wearing a shirt that could be construed as controversial.

always twirling, twirling, TWIRLING TOWARD FREEDOM!!!

i was happy to see this in the Times today. it seems that some states, well Cali, anyway, is moving forward, rather than backward as so many did a couple years ago. theres no good reason to keep homosexuals from marrying. none. just like theres no reason to keep interracial couples from marrying. none. if you dont like it, then dont, but you have no right to tell someone you dont know or understand who they can or cant marry.

good work, California, i hope more states follow suit, but i have my doubts. but once a again, people with boats seem to get it...

"forward, not backward, upward, not downward, and always twirling, twirling, TWIRLING TOWARD FREEDOM!!!"