Mary Burke - to weak to unseat the JERK.

So far, Mary Burke seems to be the sort of insipid Democratic candidate that one would expect of a former Trek Bicycle CEO. For instance, her weak and insulting idea of raising the minimum wage.... by the underwhelming sum of 35 cents per hour. Looks like yet another lousy Donkey campaign against the elephantine behemoth. Badgerland's GOP governor would seem to be firmly entrenched. Uggh. Brace yourselves for at least another four years of Scott Walker occupying that big ol' Maple Bluff mansion. http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/gov-scott-walkers-approach-spend-money-we-dont-have-b99189024z1-241915151.html

"....Trigger Happy... Trigger Happy USA!" -Weird Al Yankovich

Welcome to America, where there IS a fool-proof way not to get shot by psychopathic mass shooters, who need emergency anger management to deal with their murderous, suicidal proclivities. Just AVOID the following places: 1. Elementary, middle and high schools 2. College campuses 3. Shopping Malls 4. Grocery stores 5. Churches & other places of worship 6. Auto dealerships 7. Playgrounds 8. Public lands open for deer-hunting season 9. Beauty parlors 10. Nail salons 11. All-you-can-eat buffets 12. Post offices 13. Military bases 14. Gun shows 15. Countries occupied by USA, like Afghanistan. Yes, it's true, I'm a former deer and small game hunter, so I know whereof I speak. And I support "Jews For The Preservation Of Firearms Ownership." But things in USA have gotten BEYOND sick, sick, sick. And it's making me feel SICK. But NO, not THAT kind of sick. Never. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/howard/columbia/bs-md-columbia-mall-shooting-20140125,0,967893.story

Billionaires for Obama

Heard today on Wisconsin Public Radio this report documents how the 85 richest people on Earth have as much as the poorest 3.5 billion people COMBINED. That's $1.7 Trillion. All men may be "created" equal, but the notorious "Free Enterprise System" certainly guarantees that all women and men won't stay that way! And the children have no say whatsoever, so they really don't count at all. Ah, but these freakkin' billionaires NEED their billions in order to.... ensure that they can... purchase other planets, I suppose... after they've finally succeeded in utterly destroying this one.http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/jan/20/oxfam-85-richest-people-half-of-the-world

Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Malaise

It makes me barf blue-green barium bromide bile to hear the horrible hand-wringing honky hypocrites, even as I type this, crying their crocodile tears over the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.'s unfortunate demise, way down at the Wisconsin State Capitol on this here humble holiday. First "they" kill him, then, even as the blood is spillin', "they" make him out the saint he never was. Though I firmly believe MLK Jr. had good, solid, socialistic sentiments. And he was a true martyr to a fine cause. But it's just like J. Edgar Hoover undoubtedly said to his underlings: "Who will rid me of this troublesome priest!?" http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/the-forgotten-radical-martin-luther-king-jr-20140120

"Who is a Jew?

A friend just asked me via email: "Who is a Jew?" (He included an interesting article on the subject.) I answered: "Spinoza, zum Beispiel, war Jude." (Spinoza, for example, was a Jew.) But first and foremost, Bob Dylan. Also: William Shatner, Barbara Ehrenreich, Leonard Nimoy, Naomi Klein, David Lee Roth, Elizabeth Taylor, Dustin Hoffman, Peter Sellers, Abbie Hoffman, Anne Frank, Al Franken, Jerry Rubin, Warren Buffet, Elliott Gould, Wynona Ryder, Carl Sagan, George Soros, Amy Winehouse, Louis Brandeis, Mila Kunis, Theodore Bikel, Frida Kahlo, Marc Spitz, Gilda Radner, Adam Sandler, Matthew Broderick, Freud, Marx, Einstein, Jesus Christ, Barbara Streisand, Jack Ruby, or Rubenstein, and so many more. Some are "obvious" Jews, some not so much. Some of these Jews are living, some dead. All must have had Jewish mothers to be so "genuinely" Jewish. Barry Goldwater, interestingly was "Vierteljude," or one-quarter Jewish. I don't have a Jewish mama myself, so I'm NOT, unless someone "Jew-baits" me, like a guy at a free meal here in Madison recently. Or unless I feel like being as Jewish as my name sounds. I guess another answer might be: "It's complicated." http://www.docstoc.com/docs/135474361/Famous-Jewish-and-Jewish-Americanspdf If you speak/understand German, this is a valuable film, in this connection: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYYXyt1c5RU

First Mountaintop Removal, and now THIS:

I was going to say, "Gee, West Virginians, how's that Laissez Faire, 'Free Market,' raw, unregulated Capitalism (Dare I say 'Libertarianism?') working out for you? Now that we've discovered how 'Freedom Industries'' tanks full of 4-methylcyclohexanemethanol (crude MCHM), which leaked (are leaking?) toxins into the Elk and Kanawa Rivers hadn't been inspected since 1991?!?" Well now, only 300,000 W. Virginians have had to line up to obtain potable water for what, four days running? And the spokesman for the company was getting fatigued having to answer so many of the media's questions, while Metro Charleston residents are obviously nearing their wits' end. But some positive signs are emerging at last, as this DemocracyNow! report indicates. Maybe West Virginians will finally stop voting Republican in every presidential election. Not that "Democrats" are much better, but still. Of course, this critique of mine applies to most Americans as well, and most of Humanity too. http://www.democracynow.org/2014/1/14/erin_brockovich_after_chemical_spill_west

Just call me the Anti-Christie!

I'm absolutely certain that Chris Christie, who everyone agrees is the very non-confrontational, hands-off kind of manager who delegates nearly all decision-making to underlings, who prizes his low-key approach, who has ALWAYS preferred to remain behind the scenes, and who possesses a strong sense of equanimity besides, was completely out of the loop. The governor was every bit as unaware of what his subordinates were doing to the NYC region, as say, Richard Nixon was unaware of what Haldeman, Erlichman, Hunt, Liddy, and the rest of "The Plumbers" were doing when they orchestrated the Watergate burglary. And my name is really Johnny Depp!

Anti-Christie Rant

Ah, how the heavy, hectoring putz has fallen, hopefully without causing seismic tremors that might cause the Jersey Palisades to quake, wreaking yet more havoc upon the region. I'm also hopeful that Christie's act of throwing a subordinate or two under the bus will not be sufficient to save him come re-election time. No one deserves to be cut down to size more than this arrogant pig and notorious bully.

Doe Het Licht Uit!

Remember to clap your hands - don't let them clap you! That would be even worse than the tail wagging the dog. Never forget what matters most in a man's life - spectacles, testicles, wallet & watch. Though not necessarily in that order. And the formula is surely slightly different for women. Have an ICE day today; as if you could avoid it. Sleep well tonight; the CIA drone hovers above, silently affording maximum protection. If you haven't done anything wrong, you have nothing to fear! Life is great, life is good, even if it's made of wood. Just like the billions of tailor's dummies that claim to animate our ailing planet. The Genus Homo Sapiens, of course. Finally, when your done, close the door en doe het licht uit!

Capitalism = Death.

Capitalism = Death. Global Death, that is. If you don't believe me, just look at the photos in the link posted below. Once there was a time when one could legitimately blame the "Socialist Block" for its own acts of ecocide: Chernobyl in 1986; the widespread, unbelievable air pollution in Hungary, Poland and USSR during that same period; The evaporation and desertification of the Soviet Union's Aral Sea. But nowadays, the only "Socialist" counties are few and far between, and the Capitalist model reigns supreme. It's given us BP's Gulf of Mexico oil spill catastrophe; the ravaging of Alberta's tar sands region; the ongoing nuclear disaster at Fukushima; the ruination of the Amazon jungle by desperate people fleeing Brazil's overcrowded cities, who are looking for land; and corporate interests busy destroying once pristine areas of Peru in order to obtain new sources for metallic mining. The latter example also applies to the near-certainty that northern Wisconsin's beautiful Penokee Range will be wrecked by Gogebic Taconite. GT's a corporate criminal outfit fanatically determined to maximize profit by digging the world's largest open-pit iron sulfide mine perilously close to Lake Superior. Capitalism KILLS. Every day, and in just about every conceivable way. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/30/1266172/-Train-Carrying-Crude-Oil-Derails-in-ND-Entire-City-of-Casselton-Being-Evacuated

Encyclopedia Distractica

Here's a work in progress, and also in its infancy. I call it ENCYCLOPEDIA DISTRACTICA. It is a loose assemblage of events, some gravely important, some absurd, that I've considered showcasing for several years now, in order to remember Humanity's gleefully-forgotten recent past, but more importantly, to compare the sublime with the ridiculous. Above all, to bear witness to the interminable American tendency to become absorbed with the minor, the petty, the diversionary, at the expense of what really, IMHO, matters. In every year reviewed, I seek to recall the seminal events, and set them down beside the many OTHER occurrences that were heavily sensationalized in order to keep the US Public ignorant, shallow and downright dim-witted. Feel free to contribute or offer corrections or suggestions. 1974: Facing certain impeachment proceedings in Congress, Richard M. Nixon abdicates the presidency, effective Aug. 9. 1974: Evil Knievel "jumps" Idaho's snake river Canyon, September 8. 1975: North Vietnamese forces win the Vietnam War, April 30. Shoot-out on Pine Ridge Reservation between Lakota warriors and FBI agents leaves two agents and on warrior dead, June 26. Leonard Peltier extradited from Canada the next year as a result of false testimony utilized; Petier later framed for the death of the two "G-Men" and sentenced to life imprisonment 1976: The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence(?), otherwise known as the "Church Committee Report" released, detailing widespread illegality and other malfeasance by the US intelligence community. 1976: "Rocky" hits the theaters, Captain & Tennile's "Love Will Keep Us Together" at or near top of the charts. Bicentennial of "US Independence" leads to year-long mega-hype about this nation's supposed wondrous superiority. Even NYC fire hydrants were painted red, white and blue. 1977: New York City Blackout provides an excellent opportunity for looting, burning and assorted acts of mayhem, July 13. More than $1 billion in losses, measured in 1977 dollars. 1977: "Star Wars" makes its highly-touted, well-received debut. "Boston" makes radio waves with "More Than a Feeling." 1978: Israel invades Lebanon, March 15. Philadelphia Police end their months-long siege of the "MOVE" compound in a hail of gunfire, Aug. 8. One cop killed, probably by "friendly fire."Jonestown:" More than 900 People's Temple members are supposed to have committed mass suicide in the jungles of Guyana, November 18, giving rise to the immortal expression "Drink the Kool-aid!" Former firefighter and city board of supervisor Dan White assassinates San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, Nov 27. 1978: "The Gong Show" is all the rage. "A Taste of Honey" comes out with "Boogie Oogie Oogie." The Who greatly impressed an adolescent Dan Goldstein with the Album "Who Are You?" 1979: "The Warriors" appears on the big screen, the film is blamed for provoking shootings and stabbings, some fatal, inside theaters across the country, late Winter or early Spring. Partial Meltdown" at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island nuclear plant, begins March 28, only a couple weeks after the "China Syndrome" warned movie audiences of the possibility of an atomic "accident." Jimmy Carter's "Malaise Speech," in which he never used the word "malaise," July 15. Iranian students seize US Embassy in Teheran, Nov. 4. 1979: Neil Young's "Rust Never Sleeps;" The Knack sings (shouts?) "My Sharona." First of the Star Trek movies series released. President Carter, "attacked" by a rabbit April 29 during canoe trip in SW Georgia; wallops the offensive bunny with a paddle. 1980: "Solidrnosc," or "Solidarity" labor union emerges as force to contend with in the Poland's Gdansk shipyards, August. Iran Iraq War begins, September 22. "October Surprise," in which Team Reagan purportedly worked out a deal with the Ayatollah's government to keep 52 US hostages detained in Iran until after the 1980 presidential election, and also the "mysterious" theft of Carter's briefing books for one of that election year's televised debates. Ronald Reagan elected, Nov 4. John Lennon assassinated in NYC, December 8. 1980: Jack Nicholson "terrorizes" vapid film audiences with his typically disgusting, highly talented performance in "The Shining." (I never said I would avoid editorializing.) Bett Midler is "The Rose." "Hot Tubbing" is very popular that year. 1981: Attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan, March 30. Attempted Assassination of the Pope in Rome, May 10. GRID, or "Gay Related Immune Deficiency" (later renamed AIDS) officially detected in NYC and San Francisco during Spring-Summer period. Reagan busts air-traffic controller's union, PATCO, strike begins Aug. 3. All striking air controllers fired. 1981: Royal Wedding of Prince Charles & "Lady Di, July 29. MTV debuts, Aug 1. Bob and Doug McKenzies' "12 Days of Christmas" causes the most imitative North Americans to parrot "Hey Hoser!" "Hill Street Blues" a TV sensation. 1982: Israel invades Lebanon, June 6. 10,000-20,000 Lebanese & Palestinians slaughtered in Beirut. Tylenol product tampering fatally poisons several people, September/Early October, mainly in suburban Chicago 1982: Frank Zappa's "Valley Girl" changes female (and eventually male) adolescent speech patterns nationwide, apparently a permanent effect. Fifty-seven day long NFL players' strike begins, Sept. 21.