Walker vs. Trump

If one were to stage a contest to determine who was worse, Scott Walker or Donald Trump, there would only be losers. And that result would include the residents of Wisconsin, the USA and the whole world - at least those of us who are constantly subjected to the ravings of these two especially deranged "candidates." http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/aug/30/scott-walker-canada-border-wall-immigration-terrorists#comment-58532935

Psychotic commentary from the heavily Republican-leaning Chicago Tribune editorial board.

The only people crazier than Dick Cheney, who would like to re-invade Iraq on a massive scale, are certain Chicago Tribune op-ed contributors. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-chicago-katrina-financial-disaster-landrieu-new-orleans-mcqueary-emanuel-pers-20150813-column.html

Europeans are Trump-crazy, and so am I

I called it! Trump is an Evil Clown, I said. The Observer described him basically as a malign buffoon. Same difference. But this creature must be taken seriously. Although Trump's on stage performance is that of a one-man "political" freak show, he is DANGEROUS. He accurately reflects and represents the intellectual status quo (the lowest cultural denominator) of a large American demographic. The massive, nearly all-white crowd that turned out for one of his "electoral reality shows" in Mobile Alabama was a prime example. I think I need to coin a neologism - "Polititainment." http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/aug/09/donald-trump-malign-buffoon-exposed-republican-party?CMP=share_btn_fb

A very well hung structure

Last month, while on a religion binge, I even prayed a couple times. But the mean old man upstairs knew I still refuse to have my sins forgiven and accept J.H. Christ as my personal saviour. So it didn't count for much, seeing as the wily old fox was plenty aware I was looking for the easy way out, an agnostic's loophole. HAR DEE HAR HAR. https://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/10/31/1252103/-Phallic-shaped-church-to-get-fig-leaf?detail=emailclassic

Do you remember these dreadful tunes from 1971?

"I beg your pardon - I never promised you a rose garden...." "Where's your mama gone, little BABY boy? Little baby BOY...." "Raindrops keep fallin' on my head.... "The candy man can, 'cause he mixes it with sand, and makes the world taste bland...." The last one I modified myself. It's strange to think I'll have all this musical rubbish from forty years ago in my mind until the day I die....

This story is just plain sad and I have no clever headline

Look, I'm pro Second Amendment, within reason. I've gone deer, small game and turkey hunting and I'm not ashamed to admit it. But this is just plain crazy - letting nine year olds fire actual machine guns, especially in such close proximity to other humans. Unless they're like, six foot six nine year olds who can handle these severe implements of death, "safely." Author and journalist Greg Palast called the USA an "Armed Madhouse;" incidents such as these - which are sadly a dime a dozen in America - prove him right. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/23/us/year-after-death-business-as-usual-at-gun-range.html

Just How Focking Rich IS Donald Trump?

I guess Trump's so focking rich, this praise from ex-KKK'er David Duke isn't the political kiss of death for Donald. He's pretty much admittedly out to buy the election, not win it, the old-fashioned way, by campaigning in a meaningful sense. Hey wait a minute..... that applies to ALL of them except Bernie Sanders. "Birds of a feather...." http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/25/politics/david-duke-donald-trump-immigration/

Ronald McDonald Trump

"An uneducated man rarely refuses the opportunity to speak." When I first heard The (Ronald Mc)Donald ranting against "Mexican rapists," I felt the kind of disgust I would towards anyone who effectively employs such revolting prejudice and pandering. His diatribes are not mindless though; they're adroitly utilized by an evil clown with $10 billion to throw around in search of votes. I've gained a new appreciation for Trump, as he's really thrown a wrench into the establishment Republican works. I'd been waiting literally for years for SOMEONE, anyone to make Scott Walker take a dive; who knew it would be this bombastic buffoon from the East Coast. Keep at it, and feel free to "lend" another $1.8 million to your own "campaign," Donald. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/inside-the-gop-clown-car-20150812

President "Jimmah" Carter: Some thoughts on his presidency, legacy

I was born in 1963, so Jimmy Carter is by far the best president in my political memory. He told the American people what they didn't want to hear - that we needed not only to conserve energy, but develop and utilize alternative, renewable sources of energy. As you may already know, he installed solar panels on top of the White House. The Carter administration, while hardly having a perfect human rights record, prodded Congress cut off military aid to Guatemala in 1977; a number of other militaristic regimes were also de-funded. Lord knows there were economic problems, especially in 1979-1980. But the national debt was about $150 billion dollars at the end of Jimmy Carter's presidency; it ballooned to more than $1 trillion under Carter's successor, Ronnie Reagan. I certainly took issue with some of Carter's polices, foreign and domestic; but looking back, the years 1977-1981 were a hell of a lot better than what came afterwards! At least the old peanut farmer and pro-nuclear veteran of the US Navy has had a better legacy as ex-president than he did while in the Oval Office. Can't think of a single other Twentieth Century ex-pres. who founded anything as useful as Habitat for Humanity. The Carter Center has also done some good in places like Equatorial Africa. And of course, there's the following instructive quote from "Jimmah:" “Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself; and where they are, they should be changed. Nowhere is this more clear than in the laws against possession of marijuana in private for personal use... Therefore, I support legislation amending Federal law to eliminate all Federal criminal penalties for the possession of up to one ounce [28g] of marijuana.” ― Jimmy Carter http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/aug/20/jimmy-carters-hometown-cancer-hundreds-signs#comment-57972200

A 9/11 Memoir

9/11, I was up on 110th, near the corner of Broadway. Brother in law comes into the room and says "Dan, a 757 has crashed into the World Trade Center....! " Being a late riser, I began in my grogginess to say "you gotta be kidding m...," but could tell straight up that he was serious as a cardiac arrest. He found out because he'd been listening to NYC radio; suddenly there wasn't a station to be found on the dial. The Twin Towers' antenna had already plunged with the towers, I believe. Or maybe not, just out of service, because when we took the elevator up to the roof of the 15-story building, we saw - from about 6-8 miles distance - the first tower still burning. Then we saw what we thought at the time to be an Air Force fighter sent late to intercept, but during the last 9 years my bro-in-law have compared our experiences. We now both believe that the plane we saw was the one that struck the second tower.
We went back to the first floor and watched the coverage on TV, as the transmission had been switched to the Empire State Building by then. Made me cringe to see "NYC Under A State of Emergency." Of course one must expect it, but it was a very uncomfortable sense of being imprisoned on Manhattan. Which we effectively were, for two days. I went back to the roof a little later and saw a vast cloud of dust and ash where there had been sinister smoke and flame before. I apparently viewed the aftermath of the collapse, rather than the collapse per se.
Thinking we would be under a protracted state of martial law, I went to a nearby supermarket and stocked up on supplies, as did so many others.

It was still Tuesday, 911: We watched the TV and listened to the radio coverage, as transmission had been switched to the Empire State Building. I unsuccessfully tried to donate blood at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center and stopped in on the way at the Cathedral of St. John The Devine for a little "quiet time." Later, I tried to purchase heavy boots for, can you believe it, volunteering - for the "rescue" effort. No dice; I bussed or subwayed or walked down as far as 40th street near Times Square; Manhattan was blocked off south of that point. The whole day we were under the impression that 10-20,000 were dead and thousands more injured. All day Sept 11, 2001 there was a caravan of first responders screaming down the Henry Hudson Parkway from upstate, and black SUVs and NYPD squads screeching through the streets. Still Tuesday, 9/11, I heard about the Pentagon and the Plane that went down in Pennsylvania. I wondered if Bush and Rummy were behind the Terrorist Attack, as Rumsfeld was conviently on the opposite side of the Pentagon from impact. Bush and Cheney, by our reckoning, were god knows where. Wednesday I walked the dog down by the Hudson River and smelled the burning plastic in the air, as the wind had shifted northwards.
The Siege of Manhattan was lifted on Thursday the 13th; bugging out, I got to experience the bedlam and bomb threats at the Port Authority Terminal that day. As the bus emerged from the Lincoln Tunnel on the New Jersey side, there were gasps from the passengers as we all turned to see the smoldering ruins at "Ground Zero." The coach continued almost non-stop to Cleveland, where the station was mobbed. There were hundreds of passengers trying to board various buses, and a near-riot, because those of us originating at New York and continuing to Chicago got precedence over all other newcomers. Some of the transfers who got on in Detroit had been waiting for 12, 18 hours or maybe even longer.

Noticed, between Cleveland and Chi-Town, for the first time in my life, not a plane in the sky! Arriving in Chicago, the skyline never looked better. This is all to the best of my recollection; I've probably got many things out of sequence.

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Never Trust a Billary!

This was good on the BLM activists, very good. We can't allow the Lib-Dem-leaning electorate to immerse itself in complete political amnesia. President Bill Clinton presided over a full eight years of get-tough-on-crime rhetoric and actions, much of which was constitutionally questionable. Senator Hillary Clinton has an equally distinguished record as US Senator from New York. Never trust a Billary Clinton! Chelsea might be OK, (and I doubt it) but as for her parents.... HRUMPH! http://www.democracynow.org/2015/8/19/when_black_lives_matter_met_clinton

Considering religion, once more

Buddhism holds no particular fascination for me, not at this time. I did like "Siddhartha" by Herman Hesse, but as for Buddhism - it's sort of the same way I feel about Yoga, rightly or wrongly. My impression, one that I've had for a long, long time, is is that both Buddhism and Yoga, not that they're one and the same by any means, but they both put one hell of a damper on revolutionary thought AND practice. I have always felt as if... well, not only AM I a malcontent - I wish to remain that way, to my last dying breath. Not in any particularly brave or sacrificial way, mind you - just a major part of who and what I am. For better or worse, two of the "Big Three" monotheistic religions perk my curiosity. Though I will say right off the bat - the violent patriarchy IS a huge problem - has been for thousands of years. Also the numerous other atrocities they have certainly promulgated, shamefully and ceaselessly, over the centuries. Or religious versions thereof, at least. Still, my most inner FEELING is, "Spirituality? Schmirituatlity!" If I ever catch the faith, you can rest assured, I'll "Go for God!" What else would you expect from, for lack of a better word, a "fanatic?" Again, rightly or wrongly, I must add that I find Islam, GENERALLY speaking, considerably worse than Roman Catholicism even, in terms of its sheer misogyny. There is a mosque right off Madison's West Beltline Highway - it has, quite prominently displayed, a "Women's Entrance" and a "Men's Entrance." Need I add a whole lot more. P.S. Hinduism is kinda neat and colourful, but it's just as much a fairy tale as the most preposterous Christian denomination or Jewish sect. Maybe even more like the Brothers Grimm, Hinduism is, with its official polytheism. The more Gods a creed has, the more ludicrous it probably is! And Hinduism's caste system SUCKS!

Waukesha County D.A. Office is more emotionally disturbed than accused "Slender Man" girls

"Geyser was diagnosed with early onset schizophrenia during court competency evaluations, and she still believes in the existence of the mythological Slender Man and fictional characters such as Harry Potter. She is opposed to taking medication because she believes it would stop her ability to talk with these 'friends,' the (Milwaukee) Journal Sentinel reported." http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/08/10/slender-man-stabbing-13-year-old-wisconsin-girls-will-be-tried-as-adults/ Yes, these two GIRLS, at least one of whom has been definitively diagnosed with a serious mental illness, are ADULTS, in the sense of being legitimately susceptible to "adult" punishments. "Adult" punishments being the kind of penalization that is already ludicrously severe and excessive in these United States. They're "grown-ups!" That explains why both these defendants legally purchased alcohol and tobacco previously, before the stabbing. (NOT!) That's why these two defendants have driver's licenses. (NOT!) That's why they were both registered to vote in Waukesha County. (NOT!) That's why the two kids viewed R-rated films, unsupervised, at a theatre way back in the day. (NOT!) While I AM plenty well aware and informed as to the horrifying nature of this offense.... Get real, America! Knowing something about the Waukesha County criminal injustice system, I seriously doubt the prosecutors' motives are as altruistic as some insist. The media frenzy alone has had the whole judicial apparatus fervently seeking retribution, from the moment this attack hit the news. There are better options for getting these GIRLS the psychiatric help that's required. If not, there SHOULD be such options. We as a society need to improve the juvenile "justice system" to the point where Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser can get the kind of help they need, without pretending they are now miraculously somehow a pair of "grown-ups." Then the "pragmatists" who claim the girls' psychological problems will be better served by waiving them into adult court won't have to bend over backwards trying to rationalize their irrational position. Again, these are two GIRLS. Waukesha County, Wisconsin and the USA can't have it both ways - if they are indeed juveniles in need of treatment - and all the factors I listed above prove that much - then they are by definition NOT ADULTS, and not properly under the jurisdiction of adult courts. Rather than entertaining the idiot notion that a couple 13 year-olds are "young ladies," as some commentators would have it, the "pro-punishment for punishment's sake" crowd needs to simply admit they're WRONG. But hey, maybe, just maybe there are grounds for agreement between us. Since the "tough on crime" set maintain Morgan and Anissa ARE adults, for all intents and purposes, who have by virtue of their grievous offense forfeited all legitimate claims they ever had to be considered children, I propose the following. My proposal is at odds with the current reality, to be sure, but no less realistic as an intellectual exercise than some of what's been asserted: If Anissa and Morgan were two good, well-adjusted, mentally sound 13-year-olds who had kept out of trouble their entire lives, well then.... they should have been given the opportunity to enter basic training, with a view to a future in the Army, Navy, Air Force or Coast Guard. Indeed! At the age of twelve! So I disagree with the officers of the court. I most definitely disagree with ALL who actually believe a twelve or thirteen year-old has the same emotional maturity, ethical compass and overall cognitive capacity as an eighteen year-old. And I do so without even taking into account how limited an 18-year old's psychological development is in comparison to a young adult's in his/her twenties.... Of course, I do understand the view from the other side. Those folks clearly believe the girls need additional confinement, past the age of 18. But whether or not the girls remain an obvious danger to the community at that future date remains to be seen. That determination should only be made by actual experts, not by vengeful prosecutors, jaded and/or corrupt judges, or paid consultants of dubious integrity whose services are employed for the very purpose of imposing the harshest penalty possible. Sad, in a way, as it is to say it, neither should that determination be overly influenced by understandably hostile relatives of the victim. Revenge isn't nearly the same thing as justice. It is true, however that this is all my OPINION, and I am not an expert in any field of mental health or penology. A prison sentence as long as forty-five years would be quite excessive, even for a crime this horrific, since said crime was committed by a couple of delusional girls who were twelve years old at the time of the attack.

Addition thoughts re: Master Soglin's cruelty toward the homeless

I especially liked what my friend of 40 years, Abigail Julius had to say about homelessness in Madison, and (in MY words) Master Soglin's obsessive callousness toward those he doesn't seem to realize are his fellow human beings. I've commented extensively on Soglin's relentless inhumanity; "His Honor" actually responded personally to my most recent email in opposition to the idea of meting out additional punishments to people without a place to call home. I was shocked "Paul" even bothered to reply, but in so doing he displayed no improved enlightenment. Honestly, I've never seen Soglin so captivated with any one issue, unless it's his equally deranged preoccupation with the "nuisance" of State Street's sidewalk cafes and advertising signage. Madisonians, let us devise solutions, not more ways to castigate those whose living situation already constitutes a severe form of punishment. http://www.isthmus.com/news/news/soglin-alarms-council-homeless-crackdown/

Try it - you MIGHT like it

When I shave my head, it's not a political statement. Such an invigorating, sensation! "If it feels good, DO it!" isn't a sensible approach in all things human, but it is with regard to hair style. Try it - you MIGHT like it. No selfies though; that whole (originally) American trend of boastful self-absorption has gone too far already.

Watts '65 - It Weren't No Jive!

Here we are, on the 50th anniversary of the profound and bloody Watts Riots, that CONVULSED South Central LA just days after the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into law. I never thought I'd live so long, and many of my drugged-out generation thought the same. Some are dead and some living of course, but I bet few of them remember this particular societal catharsis. Here's the best book I've found on the subject to date: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/832992.Rivers_of_Blood_Years_of_Darkness

Lady GaGa Agrees....

Ten percent are Gaybies, because they're BORN that way.

Cookie Monster like!!

Best fortune cookie in a while contained no fortune. But it did say "Some men dream of fortunes, others dream of cookies." Sharp cookie!

Master Soglin replies

Here's what mean Master Soglin - who just proposed that WE ALL (this is targeted at the homeless, obviously) be limited to one hour only on Madison's regal public benches - had to say in response to my protest: "Dan: The benches belong to everyone: it is not fair to seniors and parents with children to find the benches occupied by people nodded out – often from drugs and liquor. Meanwhile, there is plenty of room at the shelters. We can be compassionate and have rules. In the meantime, there are sexual assaults, fights and needles. All I am asking is that we be compassionate and understanding and have rules and responsibility. Paul R. Soglin Mayor City of Madison 210 MLK Jr. Blvd Madison, WI 53703 Office: 608-266-4611" And NO, there is not plenty of room at the shelters; many are overcrowded, have had problems with such issues as violence and vermin infestation. If you've used up your "shelter days," your options can be dangerously limited. Dangerously, I say, in a climate where winter temperatures have been known to drop to -30 Fahrenheit.

Let's rii-think Inglish Speling, for Kid'z Seik

Ai'm STIL veri muhtsh in feiver uhv uh baedli-niidid Inglish laengwidj speling riiform. Thaet wud impruuv literasii reits for Uhmericuh'z tshildrin, espeshuhlii. I'm still very much in favor of a badly-needed English language spelling reform. That would improve literacy rates for America's children, especially.

Too bad I'm no Southpaw.

Too bad I'm no Southpaw. (I don't have the faintest idea what I was about to say, five years+ ago.)

"The Black Cat's something I can't explaaaaainnn!"

Saw a black cat comin' outta the woods this mornin' - Ah said "here, kitty, kitty, kitty.... ?" No fool feline it - went thataways before I even got the door ajar. Do they know me by my obvious canine tendencies? Ah feel firmly restricted to the Rejection Section. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbIMx2MYNXk

Have you heard the word of the Lord, today?

I finally "found" religion." Last night I stayed up late, reading to myself out loud and silently, too. I learned that the Roman Catholic Church distinguishes itself by insisting on the doctrine of Papal Infallibility, and has a very bureaucratic, ritualistic and redundant nature. "Hail Mary, Hail Mary, Hail Mary." Then there is the Trinity, and there are the sacraments and the beatitudes, the latter of which I never even knew what the hail they are. "Blessed be, blessed be...." Protestantism, on the other hand, distinguishes itself by being in opposition to the Pope and the Vatican hierarchy, and Protestants, are in a sense, like Jews. They are another People of the Book, inasmuch as they take their cues about faith from the Bible, or one particular version thereof, rather than marching in lockstep with those who promulgate Church doctrine. Of course, there is also the distinguishing characteristic that Protestantism has about a thousand, or at least many, many hundreds of schisms, isms, denominations and sects, NOT sex! Then I checked out the article on Judaism - thank G*d I only had an old World Book encyclopedia from 1965 to draw upon, or I wouldn't have slept at all! Did you know....Jews have no Holy Head Honcho in Jerusalem, in the sense that Catholics do what the Pope says.... or else! Rabbis are really like teachers, and many of them are well-versed in non-religious subjects. There are so many other distinguishing features of Judaism; I never really cared enough, for example, about the major groupings - Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform. Plus, Jews really ARE the People of the Book - Oy Vey! The Torah, the Talmud, the Mishnah and everything written by Franz Kafka is their Guiding Light. Just kidding about Kafka, but Kafka war Jude. By the time I got to the volume that deals with the "Eastern Orthodox Church," my eyes were already starting to bug out. Simply TRY to figure out just how The Eastern Churches and the Roman Catholics differ - and how they believe in and practice SOME of the same things....and venerate some of the same people, and how reconciliation has been sought, just as many Protestant denominations have sought, in vain it would appear, to "Get back Together again." I DARE ya. I came away with only the dimmest "understanding" of Greek and Slavic Orthodoxy. BTW, just where can I get a copy of the Roman Catholic Bible - is it even available to infidels like me, the Blasphemer Supreme? And what about apostates, heretics? Or just guys and gals (like me) who are recently.... INTERESTED, in the most academic sense of the word? I swear to Gawd I've never seen one - do they keep the Catholic Holy Book, along with the Holy Spirit (whatever the Heck that is) strictly "All in the Family?" Not any such problems laying layman's hands on the Gideon, or the King James, or any number of Modern, Protestant English language bibles. Get a hotel room! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRsSfNXW01A