The Fury of Me

When Pizza is a Vegetable

I’ve been trying to find the clarity of mind to write this post for two days now.  Obviously, I’ve found it very hard.  For those of you that went to public schools as child (like I did) you remember the school lunches.  Some, if you were lucky, were possibly cooked at the school (and by cooked I mean reheated).  Others, like my school, had a truck come every day delivering pizza, french fries, and some other disgusting item as an alternate.  You could smell when the truck arrived.  The scents of crap fried in crap and then soaked in grease.  And every day, most of the kids would get pizza with a side of french fries.  The fries were soggy and soaked in grease.  The pizza was dry, had hardly any tomato paste (sauce), and the cheese was cheap and greasy.  Type 2 diabetes here we come.

And now our government has declared that the miniscule amount of tomato paste used on those pizzas is actually a vegetable.  This is tomato that has been mixed with high fructose corn syrup, salt, and chemicals that allow it to last through a nuclear winter. I might take a few fries from my friend’s plate on their crispier days, but I always had the good sense to never touch that pizza. It just looked awful.

I was fortunate, because my mom made me lunch every day and I brought it to school with me.  It was nothing fancy, but it was from home.  PB&J on wheat bread. Yogurt. Apple. Kiwi fruit (my favorite).  There were, and are, lots of kids that don’t have parents that can, or want, to do what my parents did.  That sucks, but it’s the way it is.  Congress has take massive amounts of money from the potato, salt, and frozen pizza (yes, frozen foods have a lobby) to basically turn their brains into the soggy material that the french fries are made out of.  It’s infuriating.

The USDA is not at fault.  It actually recommended that sodium and starch be decreased, while the amount of tomato that constitutes a serving be increased.  And the USDA said half of the starch every week should be from whole grains.  Congress decided it needed more studies to determine what a whole grain is.  ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!!!! It’s the brown bread that doesn’t look as good as the white, nutritionally vacuous bread but is infinitely more healthy for you.

Our Congress is so bought and paid for that they don’t even think twice about doing completely asshatted things like determine pizza is a vegetable when the whole world knows it’s not fucking true.  Where is their decency?  Do they just not give a shit that they are poisoning millions of kids (mostly low-income) around the country?

Here’s the thing.  If you allow schools to serve cheaper, fattier, saltier food, they will.  Republicans have taken money away from school systems at every turn.  And schools, need to put money into classrooms instead of lunches.  On top of this, you’ve got frozen food makers that are willing to smear dog shit on bread and call it pizza for next to nothing.  Government needs to set the floor.  The level by which schools cannot serve food that is less than a certain nutritional value.  By refusing to do so, they are killing our children.  They aren’t pulling the trigger, but they are handing the kids the gun.  And they don’t care.

This is what our country has come to.  Congress won’t even mandate that children be fed healthy food.  There is no shame. There is no responsibility.  Congress YOU ARE ALL FUCKING COWARDS!! ALL OF YOU!  None of you deserve the position that you have.  None of you have the amount of shame or conviction to lead this country.  You’re just in the minor leagues for going over to K Street and becoming a lobbyist that pollutes our system even more.  I hope that fat, diabetic amputee wheels up to you on the street and slits your god damn throat.

I’m clearly losing my clarity of mind now, so I’m going to go eat my depression away with pizza and french fries.

The Environmental Time Bomb Nobody Is Hearing About

If you are a total newshound, you might, might, have heard a small something about a group of environmental protestors in front of the White House – some of who are being arrested.  Why are they there?  To protest a potential pipeline to be built from Canadian tar sands to Houston.  There is currently a pipeline, but it only goes to Cushing, Oklahoma and Illinois.  This new pipeline would go through some of the US’s most pristine natural habitat all because the current pipeline isn’t more direct enough.

I have to admit ignorance to this issue on many levels until recently.  The tar sands have always sounded innocuous to me.  I imagined something like a tar pit with a bunch of sand and oil in it that just sat in a field somewhere.  Completely naïve.  The tar sands are actually soil, clay, and sand with oil mixed in underneath a giant forest sitting in Alberta, Canada.  To get at this tar sand, you must raze the forest either by cutting it down or strip-mining it.  Then, they bring in giant tractors to dig up the ground and take the dirt away.  This is an awful plan on so many levels.

We are destroying a huge amount of trees, which convert CO2 to Oxygen, in order to get at oil which is completely inefficient and in refining and using it, will create what amounts to a CO2 bomb.  It’s absolutely asinine.  Just because it’s there, doesn’t mean we have to drill or mine it.  Jesus Christ! We need to show some self-control.  And we don’t need to build a giant fucking pipeline just because it will be more direct than the pipeline THAT IS ALREADY THERE!

Quick side note here.  The police are arresting peaceful protestors in front of the White House, who are exercising their legitimate 1st Amendment rights.  How come this is an arrestable offense and Tea Bagging fucklenuts can all get together for a gun orgy in public areas, and not get arrested in the claim of excercising their 1st and 2nd Amendment rights?  It makes no sense. Speech gets you arrested, guns imtimidate the cops?  This country is so screwed.

Back to my main point. This is something that Obama can end, all on his own. No matter what Congress wants. No matter what the Tea Idiots want. Because the pipeline crosses a national border, it is a State Department issue.  This is something that we need Obama to take a stand on.  To this point, Obama has disappointed every one of his major constituencies except for homosexuals. Social progressives, environmentalists, middle class, labor, teachers, young people, etc. have all been completely dicked over by the Obama Administration.  He has failed to take a stand on anything.

Over the last ten years, our government has been able to strip all meaningful funding away from any kind of scientific research done on our own planet. This includes our weather sattelite system that allows us to monitor storms like Hurricane Irene which is about to slam into the East Coast, as I write this.  The water in the Atlantic Ocean is at a record high which means more fuel for the hurricane and increases its strength. Also, the fact that the hurricane is reaching so far north up the east coast.  

And because man made climate change is still being denied by a bunch of evangelical fundamentalists and industry companies that care only about the bottom line, NOAA is getting it's funding cut, along with NASA, for monitoring ice levels in Antarctica, weather patterns, water levels, etc. Science isn't a hoax. Scientists aren't out to screw over the common man.  They have no reason to concoct some elaborate lie in order to fool the world into thinking it's apporaching the end. That's what religion is for.

 

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When you have a group of people in government that believe in the second coming of Christ, End Times, and that a war will be fought between Satan and God, you should probably just shoot yourself in the head.  People who believe the end is coming have no incentive to protect and care for the current world because they are just looking toward the fantasy world which doesn't exist.  I find this to be absoltuely, terrifying.

As a country, we currently are barely better than the Catholic Church persecuting Galileo, Copernicus, and the others in their investigation of the world around them. We persecute scientists that are trying to do nothing but explain the world around them.  I watched a show about the creation of the universe on Discovery the other day and at the end it was followed up by a discussion with two pre-eminent scientists, and some theologian from Georgetown.  The theologian offered absolutely nothing for the conversation besides saving Discovery from having to face the wrath of a bunch of crazy religious people.  You can watch the clips of the discussion below.

 

 

 

 

 

I Want to Punch Harry Reid in the Face

I am watching Lawrence O’Donnell interview Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid right now and I just wanted to punch a baby.  He was point blank asked about why he doesn’t support a nuclear waste location at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.  His response, “it’s a national issue.”  After 9/11 we can’t be moving our nuclear waste around the country.  ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!!?? Look at this map.

How many plants do you see on the west coast? I see seven. Only two of those are actively producing power (San Onofre and Diablo Canyon).

Meanwhile, the Hanford site in Washington State contains a huge amount of nuclear waste produced by the rest of the country.  This waste is leaching into the Columbia River which is used in farming, fishing, and drinking by people in Washington and Oregon.  Basically, the Columbia touches every aspect of necessary human life.  What does Yucca Mountain effect? NOTHING!!!!

It’s a rock in the middle of the fucking desert in Nevada.  Fuck you Harry Reid.  (I’ve been trying to censor myself lately, but this really pisses me off.)  If the east wants to keep using nuclear power that runs on uranium, then you keep your waste. I don’t want it.  Or maybe switch to thorium.  Oh that’s right. Thorium can’t be used to make nuclear weapons. So why the crap would we switch to a non-radioactive source of power.

I’m freaking disgusted right now. All I can say, is Nevada is a waste of state with nothing in it beside Las Vegas.  They should make themselves useful by putting use to some of their giant rocks.

The Millionaire Teacher Next Door

I am really confused about the bashing that teachers are taking right now.  I’m not talking about teachers unions, which I have conflicted feelings about, especially the NEA, but the teachers themselves.  I never hear any of the Republican politicians delineate between the teachers individually and the unions which are run by an organizational executive group.

According to PolitiFact (non-partisan fact checking) Wisconsin teachers make about average for the nation and Wisconsin public employees make similar or a little less in wages to their counterparts in the private sector.  Important things that often get left out are that to be a teacher you are required to have a four year degree and 52% of Wisconsin teachers also have a master’s degree.  You would expect Wisconsin teachers with advanced degrees to make more than the general population, but when compared to those in the private sector with four year degrees they are not making the killing that many in the media would have you believe.

Then there is the other question, is it really right to get up in arms about teachers in the United States. Does anybody really feel, truly deep inside, that teachers are overpaid and over appreciated in this country.  Personally, my plan is to have a successful career, retire and then teach because I know I won’t make as much with a career in teaching as I would in the private sector.  Needless to say, I have complete admiration for those that go into teaching as a career choice.  It isn’t because of the money, and it isn’t because of the “fringe benefits.”  It’s because of the job and love of teaching others.  Without teachers, this country would be spinning around the crapper drain faster than it already is.

When we have Wall Street paying out billions in bonuses after being saved with government money, we are getting pissed off about teachers, snow plowers, city workers, and similar?  Are you fucking serious?  Why don’t the tea bag idiots try to claw back some of the Wall Street billions and take away oil subsidies instead of take it out on teachers or unions?  I realize that as a state Wisconsin has little control over this matter, but maybe Scott Walker shouldn’t have passed the tax break for millionaires that created the exact size deficit that exists right now.  Wealth distribution is completely out of whack and idiot tea party politicians think that stratifying it even further is somehow the answer.

Do I think there are crappy teachers out there that need to be fired and are protected by their union?  Absolutely.  But the answer isn’t union busting.  Maybe we should make teaching more attractive so some of our best and brightest decide to teach for monetary reasons as well, instead of counting on the small percentage that feels a moral compulsion to give back to society but sacrifice any kind of financial wealth that could be accumulated elsewhere.  When teachers are harassed and vilified but then we complain that our education system sucks (which it does) you want to slam a door on your head.  It’s the same concept as banks taking tax payer dollars and giving to the people who come up with ridiculously complicated ways of cheating the system.  If our government paid competitive salaries to get some of those people over to the “good” guys, then the tea idiots would scream about government waste.  It’s all enough to make your head go numb.

And now here are a couple other random thoughts. I am sick and tired of hearing Republicans say that they were elected with a mandate and elected to do a specific job – cut spending.  First off, if that was the case, you didn’t win the Senate so maybe you don’t actually have a mandate.  And secondly, if you were elected to do a specific task upon which most of you campaigned on, and that that is what Americans want, then you have to admit that Obama has a mandate to reform health care so that it covers everyone because he won a national election and he campaigned on reforming health care.  You don’t get to have it both ways.

And lastly, I’m sick and tired of hearing about how the “far left” is a bunch of Islamic sympathizers and Islamo-fascists.  First off, whoever believes that is a fucking retard. PERIOD!  Secondly, if any party understands hard-line, no cost too great, fundamental religiosity, it’s the Republicans.  Why would liberals, who are generally more scientific and unreligious, align with Islam?  I mean seriously?  I get that fundamentalist Christians hate Muslims and think their Satan worshippers, but that doesn’t mean the political left is aligning with them.  Give me a break.  Maybe the more tolerant people in this country are accepting of fundamentalist Islam (not terrorism) in the same way they are accepting of fundamentalist Christians (not the ones that blow up abortion clinics or shoot doctors in the middle of church).  Use your fucking noodles and think this one out.  If you want Democrats or more open minded people to be anti-Islam then guess what, they need to be anti-Christian as well, because there are a bunch of idiots out there that believe Jesus rode dinosaurs or dinosaurs lived in the Garden of Eden (this link is hilarious) and that God hates fags.  Funny, I think hardcore Muslim “Islamo-fascists” hate fags too.  Maybe you guys have more in common than you think.

Budget Circumcision

The Republicans have released their first budget to the House that cuts things like NASA, the CDC, EPA, FDA, and programs that assist pregnant women and infants with eating healthy, farm services, and poor peoples’ ability to purchase heating oil in the Northeast.  Nobody has touched military spending, Social Security, or Medicare though. No cuts to oil or farm subsidies.  We’re really only playing with 14% of the budget trying to find ways to cut spending.  So basically it’s just a little off the top (pun intended).

One instance of cognitive dissonance, that makes my head feel like it’s inside of a bell, is the targeting of the EPA and efficiency requirements while at the same time cutting peoples’ ability to get heating fuel while oil is attempting to reach stratospheric prices.  Well done, sirs.   Let’s take away the band-aid and dig the knife in deeper.  I guess a wound will stop bleeding once the body finally runs out of blood, so why not apply the same logic here.  Why are we even still using heating oil? Is this a Charles Dickens book? Oh, and here is some non-EPA regulated water for you. It came from the creek by that coal mine in West Virginia. Be sure to drink the whole glass.

I don’t understand why people of both parties are against means testing for social security. Does a millionaire really need his monthly government check?  Or should they be able to live off of the millions of dollars and let the social security go to a person who worked on a factory floor or in a grocery store or taught for 40+ years doing hard work that needs to be done but doesn’t pay enough to retire with a cushion of many zeros.  Means testing shouldn’t be controversial at all.  Even if you make millions and lose it all, then you can get your social security. It’s not like the rug is being pulled out from under anybody.

Then there is the military.  American is ramping up for a war against an enemy that may only exist in Donald Rumsfeld’s head as one of his famous “unknowns.”  We don’t need super fighter jets.  Nobody can compete with us in the air.  We don’t need to more aircraft carrier groups.  Nobody can take us at sea.  What we need is a smarter and more agile military. We need a military with individuals that specialize in crises and can go in quickly and in smaller groups to neutralize a given situation. This doesn’t require space age fighter/bombers or a super-destroyer to launch from.  Even with our technological prowess we can’t find bin-Laden and we aren’t doing so well in Afghanistan.  Any benefit we get is from boots on the ground and the intelligence of soldiers interacting with the people there.  Oh, we should also just fix the military in general so that our best soldiers don’t leave.  No wonder we piss away money at the Pentagon. We have an army of mediocrity.

And then there is Medicare which provides insurance to the elderly when they can’t provide it for themselves.  People who have Medicare truly appreciate it (to the point of looking like idiots and telling the government to take their government hands off of it).  Ultimately, we should have Medicare for everyone, but that’s another story.

Why we don’t cut money and benefits that go to corporations boggles my mind. Does Exxon really need billions on oil subsidies?  Why don’t we take that and figure out another fuel source?  Why is that such a terrible thing?  Why is it “socialistic” to conduct scientific research, but “capitalistic” to just give money to bloated companies that destroy the environment in their pursuit for profit?  And why is science so demonized?  We can’t research stem cells that could potentially cure horrific diseases because God tells us babies exist when the tadpole goes into the egg.  We can’t understand oru planet better because scientists are lying to us and telling us the climate is changing when it really isn’t?  REALLY? All but one fucking state has had snow this year (Florida).  The US has been blasted by snow while 2000 miles north of us it’s freakishly warm.  How can you say with a straight face that climate isn’t changing? 

And say all the scientists are making everything up because Al Gore told them too.  Why is it such a bad thing to try to preserve our planet? We have one planet. This one. Take care of it. It won’t matter what kind of debt load the old sacks of shit in Washington leave us if they don’t leave us a habitable planet.  How much drinkable water will a dollar buy me when it’s all been polluted?  Our government should be trying to protect us from eating poisonous food and destroying our eco-systems by blowing the tops off of mountains.  That’s the government’s job.  If it wasn’t for that, the corporations would probably just enslave us and feed us poison until we were all dead and then they’d realize they can no longer make a profit.

Republicans should get behind high speed rail.  It was a Republican, after all, that built our interstate highway system.  Can you imagine the country without the freeways connecting everything?  Our quality of life would be drastically altered.  So what’s wrong with building trains?  Even if the government organizes it, it’s still private contractors and firms that will build it.  How is that wasteful?  They’ll have to hire people which will provide jobs.  They’ll connect huge hubs of people so that we can travel and conduct business easier.  I seriously don’t understand why we just can’t figure this shit out.

Anyway, I have to go put my head in a boiling pot of oil to relieve the pain.  If you see Eric Cantor, punch him in the face for me.