Die Boomers! Die!

My son has a bias against hippies. This surprises me. My perception of hippies is basically neutral - if anything I'm way more in favor of that life style rather than the Right Wing group led by the Karl Rove's, Dick Cheney's, and Grover Norquist's of the world.

It turns out that in part - his opinion about hippies was formed by a season 9 South Park episode - Die Hippie, Die - I have to admit it was pretty funny. South Park does a great job of making fun of just about everything.

As I watch all of my boomer friends rushing to retirement, expecting to be supported in the styles they've become accustomed to - the phrase "die boomers, die" comes to mind. If I were a young person - for example my adult children's ages - I'd be looking at the cost of that and be looking at some cheaper alternatives. Solyent Green anyone?

Bail me out...

Dear Fellow Citizen and Mr. President Obama,

I've grown weary of listening to all the talking heads drivel on and on about how to save banks from the current financial crisis. All of it is "trickle down" to the people who really need it. Clearly the Bush regime demonstrated that corporate greed could not be curtailed in this manner - as bank after bank took the taxpayers money, spent it frivolously, bought other banks, paid bonuses, distributed dividends, and could give no public account of how they had done anything to help the citizens who need it. They simply ask for more billions and billions...

In contrast - I would like to suggest that the simplest way to help the people who need it the most - is to exempt the first $50,000 of income from any source from federal income taxes. This could end withholding form everyone's paycheck - putting money directly in citizen's pockets.

This could be expanded at tax time - end all tax deductions - exempt the first $50,000 from income taxes - couples filing a joint return would get $100,000 in exempt income. Apply this to everyone - treat us all equally - you and Michelle, Mark and Pasha, Bill & Melinda Gates - get $100,000 in exempt income - no other deductions...

It really is that simple - to put the money directly into the pockets of the people who need it...bail me out please!

I never thought that I would miss Nixon...

One of the beauties of this page is that I can vent...

I was told about the bumper sticker on a recent trip to Southern Illinois - it reads: "I never thought I would miss Nixon" - He was my "Commander In Chief" and an unrepentant criminal - whose pardon by Gerald Ford may have been the greatest legal error and injustice done up until recently. Bush, Cheney, et. al. have clearly out done him - plundering everything they can from the working class of Americans and the rest of the world...will they be held accountable?

A sign seen in front of a church along U.S. Hwy 51 on the way north: "The Rapture Is Coming - Get Right or Get Left" -

Makes me long for the nostalgia of Nixon...

I know he won't do it but I have to get this off of my chest and since no one reads it - I think that President-elect Obama could spice up the whole inaugural spectacle by three rather trivial events. First, his first act after being sworn in could be having Donald Rumsfeld publicly executed with Bush and Cheney in stocks observing the event. Then he could go over to Cheney and have the crowd give him a thumbs up or thumbs down on whether he should meet the same fate, then repeat for Bush...they took a lot of pleasure in hanging Saddam and I for one feel that they should meet the same fate...

Forgive me for voicing these thoughts on vigilante justice...but I think that it would be a just fate for these members of the "greediest generation"...

Thankful...

Today is the day celebrated as Thanksgiving in the United States. Many think that it is a misplaced celebration - after all the WASP committed genocide - to get us to this point.

One can acknowledge these sad facts and still be grateful for a day that causes us all to pause and be grateful.

I am thankful...

• that I was born in this country - life is easier here than most other places.
• for my parents - who through some twist of fate were also born here and chose to raise nine of us.
• for my partner and fellow adventurer of 39 years and mother of our two children.
• that I was saved by the Cold War and not killed in Viet Nam during my time in the U. S. Army Air Defense Command.
• for our children, Zachary Elden and Emily Rose who have grown up and chosen different paths in life.
• Zach has determined career and financial ambitions at the moment and Emily has chosen to be a mother - giving us two wonderful granddaughters - Michelle Faith and Elizabeth Mae.
• for the friends and relatives that we have in many differing physical locations but always in a soft spot in our hearts.
• all bless us with their qualities and character.
• for the property that we live upon...we are learning with it.
• that I can see the eagle fly and have the pileated rest in the crab apple next to me.
• that I can chop wood, mow the hay, and till the soil through my physical efforts.
• that we can reason our way to a different way of producing and consuming foods that will bless us with health.
• for all my fellow Earth Companions...sharing and educating me about the Divine Creation that surrounds and supports us all.

Amen.

Bailout the car companies...

As a veteran family business man - I must tell you that I find the "too-big-to-fail" concept beyond insulting - it's disgusting. Anyone who has been in a small business knows that the government makes no attempt to save us...and in fact asserts penalties to crush us whenever possible...

But enough on that - the too-big-to- fail concept was started to justify our elected elite to pick our pockets to bail out banking interests whose greed outdistanced their common sense. Not too worry - they are needed more than we are and who cares if you are struggling to make your mortgage and eat?

Now the American car companies are lined up at the end of the Bush administration with their hands out - wanting to put them in our pockets more than they have been for many years...

But wait - every one in Congress should be required to watch Who Killed The Electric Car before one more dime comes out of my money. Could it be Andrew H. Card had his hands in it?

Now after taking away full scale real life production models of cars their owners did not want to give up - GM has the audacity to tell us that they are now developing the Volt - for sale in 2010.

And they can be confident that the Congress will give them more of the citizens money...

Frankly, Barack would need totally clean house in Washington to have any hope of reversing the kind of governments Federal and State that are the deep pockets for the global corporations...

A little something to think about over coffee...

I was listening to the "news" this morning on NPR - and I was informed that it was sponsored by The Department of Homeland Security. Hmmm...

How Orwellian...

Does the P stand for "Public" or "Propaganda"? Not to worry, maybe its just part of the "transition" of power...

Historic election...

It truly is gratifying to see the joy and optimism reflected in most American faces with the election Barack Obama...having lived through the shock of the deaths of Martin Luther King, Bobby Kennedy, Selma, Viet Nam, etc...seeing tears stream down Jesse Jackson and Oprah's faces for a positive event was truly joyous - I'm thankful to be alive to share in it...

I stayed up and watched the returns and cheered when Ohio and Virginia went for Barack...the celebration in Grant Park, Chicago was a stark contrast to the police terror I witnessed in 1968 at the democratic party convention...but we the people have a long way to go...

Hopefully - this election will mark the end of the era of the greedy American imperialist bullying most recently - championed by war criminals - Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld. If you don't believe that they are war criminals - you are on the wrong page...hopefully they will be prosecuted somewhere in the world - so the rest of us have a chance to clear our names...

The profitable "commentary" about an Obama administration has already started - the "liberal" label - is being thrown around - this seems to be applied to any economic plan that doesn't give money to all the corporate conglomerates lined up for payback for their campaign contributions...

Thank you Barack and many blessings to you as you undertake the work - please stay the course where your heart leads you - not the expedient political habits that will be pressed upon you...