From here to there...

Although I'm going to watch the wedding of William and Kate in the early hours, my thoughts are with people in the south who are recovering from strange and devastating tornadoes.  The national news is showing residents already sifting through the wreckage recovering what they can.  Many are able to speak calmly and with some humor about how frightened they were while they were whipped around in various tornadoes throughout the region; at least one was reported to be one mile across, packing 200 mph winds, and on the ground for up to 300 miles.  Other people, sadly, have lost family, or are recovering from injuries themselves.

Locally, our news reports some areas of snow, hail, and thunderstorms interspersed with sunbreaks.  

It's a big world.

The Royal Wedding Official Website

Obama and the Birthers...

Today, Obama presented his long form birth certificate.  I feel sad about it.  Why do we have to give in to the bullies?  Is this the Twilight Zone where up is down and black is white?

The media fanned the flames of this ridiculousness when it gave the 'birther' supporters an equal platform with other news of the day - war, famine, genocide, etc. 
Now, they act all righteous and angry that this story has been given traction - they're the ones who gave it traction. 
I don't understand how they don't know that.
And why aren't they ashamed for their complicity?

The Republican Party Chairman chastised Obama for bringing this up when there are so many other problems in America.
But, it's from the Republican Party and their right-wing co-horts that all the nonsense was brought up.
I don't understand how he doesn't know that.
And why isn't he ashamed for his complicity?

It doesn't make sense for reasonably intelligent people to honestly believe some of the things they're saying.
I'm not talking about opinions, I'm talking about debates and arguments to defend positions.

There's something else going on here.

America is run by bankers and media moguls.

They've created a world that isn't even real so they can continue their backroom shenanigans without interference.  Us 'regular' folk are distracted by the fake world, so the people with money can move their puzzle pieces without interference. 

I've never felt so much like I'm living in a science fiction movie as I do now. 
Listening to news of the day seems eerily like the beginning of many of the post-apocalyptic movies I've seen where they're describing the events leading up to...whatever apocolypse it is.  Gas prices rising, wars and revolutions all over the world, economies failing, hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes. 

I suppose the people who believe in biblical prophecy about the end times and Revelations are getting pretty excited.

Maybe they're right.

Sigh.

This post reads like I believe that Obama releasing his birth certificate is the beginning of the end of the world.
No...the regular folks will win in the end - I believe in the power of Love to overcome the power of fear.  Sometimes it just takes a long time.

Reality Bites

The Wars continue...

See here for the casualties and deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan

Pay Day

"Taxes are the price we pay for civilization"

     Oliver Wendell Holmes

Check out some patriotic millionaires who want their taxes raised. 

Goodbye ABC Afternoons

Boo Hoo...ABC cancelled my two soaps today.  Double Whammy!

I started watching All My Children around the time Phillip Brent came home from Vietnam.  He was in love with Tara Martin but she was with Chuck Tyler.  I watched pretty faithfully during the 70's and into the early 80's.
I don't remember what storyline was on when I started watching One Life To Live.  OLTL was on after AMC so eventually I was too lazy to get up and change the channel (back in the day) so I got hooked.
(Which is how I started watching General Hospital - I specifically remember the storyline that caught my eye was when Laura Webber was accused of killing David Hamilton).

For a time, I watched Ryan's Hope at 11:30, All My Children at 12:00, One Life to Live at 1:00 and General Hospital at 2:00 straight through.

One Life to Live was more consistently my favorite soap - the stories were quirky enough to keep me interested.  However, each one of the soaps had more than one storyline I can remember to this day.  Sometimes I'll look at soap websites to read old recaps...I'm reminded of what I used to care about and surprised by what I don't remember.

I've started watching AMC and OLTL again in the last year.  It gave me a familiar comfort in these crazy times.

I thought it would never end.

BFB

Friday, congress came to an agreement about the budget for the rest of the current fiscal year.
I think the Republicans/Tea Party supporters are Big Effin' Bullies.
"I'll relent on the Planned Parenthood 300 million, but only if you give me 900 million in other cuts"
"I'm just going to attach this rider to get rid of a social issue I don't like, and I'll take it away if you give me 5 times the amount of cuts in other areas."

They lie and posture and threaten and twist things around.
They get away with it the same way other bullies and dictators around the world do - they batter and abuse and call people names.
They gather together all the people who don't have a world view, the ones who can't see beyond their own fear in life, and they use those people as battering rams.  They change the argument so the new normal is the battering ram.  Far right wingers are the new normal.

I'm disgusted by it.
I don't know how to overcome it.