Memorial Day

This is Memorial Day, the day of the year set aside for us to honor and remember those who fought and died for our country, not the day for capitalist pig giant corporations to send their mechanized telephone calls to attempt to garner yet more profit from people.

So, for those of you companies who have called the FFM's phone today- 3 times I have answered- I hope sincerely that you all see a tremendous deficit this quarter. Hellz, all year.

Dogs

Man, dogs are like people.

First of all, even though you'd like to think they have the brains to recognize you are extending a kindness or regard, they don't get it. And then, when you hope they have the courtesy to at least extend respect in return, they don't.

Damn dogs. Damn people. And still, you like them. At least I do.

Thanks to Leonberger for the sweet pic.
http://leonberger-hunde.org/dogs/

Chicago Torturer's Overdue Day in Court

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/05/26-5

This is a pretty good commentary, right up until the very last paragraph, the final sentence. No matter who wrote the words, it is an error to call the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq President Barack Obama's wars. Those wars began under Commander in Chief George W Bush and continue under Commander in Chief Barack Obama. They are the American People's wars, and as long as either side, left or right, continues to point fingers and place blame on one or the other, The United States of America loses on more than one front.

Patriotic Duty

Now this is what I'm talking about. Screw tea party wine bagging.

Get some chickens. Pok pok!

It's Hard in Mexico- take two

Here's an e-mail I received this morning. And here is my response. And yes, I don't care who sent it. In this case it was someone I love and would defend with my life- except for the politics.

Dear President Obama:

I'm planning to move my family and extended family into Mexico for my health, and I would like to ask you to assist me.

We're planning to simply walk across the border from the U.S. into Mexico, and we'll need your help to make a few arrangements.

We plan to skip all the legal stuff like visas, passports, immigration quotas and laws.

I'm sure they handle those things the same way you do here. So, would you mind telling your buddy, President Calderon, that I'm on my way over?

Please let him know that I will be expecting the following:

1. Free medical care for my entire family.

2. English-speaking government bureaucrats for all services I might need, whether I use them or not.

3. Please print all Mexican government forms in English.

4. I want my grandkids to be taught Spanish by English-speaking (bi-lingual) teachers.

5. Tell their schools they need to include classes on American culture and history.

6. I wa nt my grandkids to see the American flag on one of the flag poles at their school.

7. Please plan to feed my grandkids at school for both breakfast and lunch.

8. I will need a local Mexican driver's license so I can get easy access to government services.

9. I do plan to get a car and drive in Mexico but I don't plan to purchase car insurance, and I probably won't make any special effort to learn local traffic laws.

10. In case one of the Mexican police officers does not get the memo from their president to leave me alone, please be sure that every patrol c ar has at least one English-speaking officer.

11. I plan to fly the U.S. flag from my house top, put U. S. flag decals on my car, and have a gigantic celebration on July 4th. I do not want any complaints or negative comments from the locals .

12. I would also like to have a nice job without paying any taxes, or have any labor or tax laws enforced on any business I may start.

13. Please have the president tell all the Mexican people to be extremely nice and never say critical things about me or my family, or about the strain we might place on their economy.

14. I want to receive free food stamps.

15. Naturally, I'll expect free rent subsidies.

16. I'll need Income tax credits so although I don't pay Mexican Taxes, I'll receive money from the government.

17. Please arrange it so that the Mexican Gov't pays $4,500 to help me buy a new car.

18. Oh yes, I almost forgot, please enroll me free into the Mexican Social Security program so that I'll get a monthly income in retirement.

I know this is an easy request because you already do all these things for all his people who walk over to the U.S. from Mexico . I am sure that President Calderon won't mind returning the favor if you ask him nicely.

Thank you so much for your kind help. You da man!!!

I gotta take issue with this.

First of all, the people who walk over the border from Mexico, don't just "walk" over the border from Mexico to the US. It's hard to get here. Many of those people die. Many more die waiting on the other side to get here because even though life isn't all that easy here, it's better than it is in Mexico. (Something for which we in the US should and can be proud.)

Second, the jobs those people take here in the US are not jobs that American citizens are interested in taking, if they are illegals. I wonder why we are so busy picking on Mexicans who come here to pick lettuce or put on roofs, working 12 hour days, but we invite Indians and Chinese into our country to take high-paying computer-industry jobs our college grads should be getting? (Except that we are too busy luring those people in rather than making sure our own kids get high quality college educations.)

Third, when did this country get so mean that we can't allow others in here to live and work? We are a nation of immigrants. Would the pilgrims have survived here without the help of the Indians, who subsequently the whites booted onto the worst real estate in the country, after herding them there like lower animals? I think not. And the history of immigration continues from there.

Further, what is the problem with learning more than one language? We should all be learning Chinese because one day the fact we don't teach it in our schools could come back to bite our butts as a nation. We haven't been the superpower forever. The rise of globalism began in the 15th century with- you got it- Spain and Portugal. And those people spoke- that's right, Spanish and Portuguese.

Finally, go ahead and fly the American flag with pride, from your rooftop in the US or in Mexico. And do it on Cinco de mayo here in a Californian school, and as Ebert suggested, don't be alarmed when a Muslim kid flies the hammer and sickle next door on the 4th of July. Not only Americans can be mean.

Hey! Fatty Fatty 2 by 4!

OK, peeps, guess what? Ronald McDonald has been asked to retire because he directly appeals to kids, therefore stimulating childhood obesity. Of course, the parents (or other care givers) who drive the kids to McD's on however regular a basis are in no way responsible for their weight.

http://www.wcsh6.com/news/watercooler/story.aspx?storyid=118069&catid=108

And Gawd forbid that Mama Obama try to encourage people to get educated about and end childhood obesity. That's the gubmint interfering in our lives! Offering help and encouraging people to be healthy is "interfering." Yup.

Since 26% of Americans nationwide are obese and maybe could use a little help, it seems Michelle could do little harm with her campaign.

And guess where the fattest damn towns are in this country? According t0 a May 2010 report in WebMD the Magazine:
8. Kingsport/Bristol, TN/VA, 32.9%
7. (tie) Lynchburg, VA, and Huntington/Ashland, WV/KY/OH, 33%
6. Bakersfield, CA, 33.6%
5. McAllen/Edinburg/Mission, TX, 33.7%
4. Flint. MI, 33.9%
3. York/Hanover, PA, 34%
2. Visalia/Porterville, CA, 34.1%
1. (tie) Montgomery, AL, and Stonckton, CA, 34.6%

Undoubtedly, ole Ronnie is standing right around every street corner beckoning with his irresistible gloved hand. Lord help us all; clowns truly are evil!

Because Cynthia Lummis Asked

Thanks to all of you who have responded. Everyone else in Wyoming, here is how to tell our Representative your priorities for the federal government, and our ideas for "taking America back (like bringing our troops back from Iraq and showing neighborly conduct by trying the Bush administration for their war crimes and keeping our National Guard here to protect our borders; not telling seniors there has been no cost of living increase so they don't get a raise in Social Security and then giving themselves in Cogress rasies, and instead cutting the budget by cutting their own fat salaries and benies a bit; immediately ending all government subsidies to corporations and engaging in some trust busting; by regulating private enterprise so that corporations are not allowed to limit the opportunities all Americans are supposed to have to live the values espoused by our Founding Fathers; and so on):"

http://lummis.house.gov/Forms/Form/?ID=773

I know the FFM thinks it's a worthless endeavor, but hellz, why lie down under the dozer? I'd rather face the blade and go knowing I stood up for my rights.

Tea Party for Change?

Peeps, it's making me a little nervous hearing all these people talk about how Rand Paul's victory in the Kentucky Republican primary is a sign that the Tea Party movement is growing and strong and that people really do want change in this country. Only David Sirota, on Denver Progressive Radio AM 760 this morning, came close to noting my concern.

Here's what it is, OK? Yes, the American people are looking for change. Yes, people are not impressed with Obama's alleged socialist agenda- at one end of the spectrum- or his patent lack of balls- on the other end. Yes, people are sick of sending the same bums back to DC to make the same money- and power-driven mess on Capitol Hill.

But this crediting "Tea Party" with scattering the seeds of change scares the hell out of me. First of all, for the most part these people are represented by educated white males who have their own interests, rather than the people's interests, in mind. Now, think about that for a second. The government in this country was formed by a bunch of white guys with the time and resources to go sit around talking politics and making decisions for everyone. And most of the people "representing" the rest of us in Congress and the White House these days are... well, white, and male, and endowed with the time and resources to get elected and to go sit around talking politics and making decisions for the rest of us. Do you really think that the Tea Partiers want a better America for everyone in America? heheheh

That is not to say that I think Rand Paul is one of them. I appreciate his deviation from the mainstream and laugh at the Dems who are picking on him from their own seat of fear. A little something different in this country can only be a good thing, as so many of us are disheartened by the status quo in all three branches of government at the federal level.

But, frankly, I am not interested in anyone thinking that because I personally want to see change, that means I just want to see some other privileged white guy kicking the old privileged white guy out of his seat so that he can take the money himself.

Nah, not so much.

More on the Department of Injustice

http://www.scribd.com/doc/31123258/Scott-Horton-Speech

"Customer Service": Delta Airlines and WY DMV

Peeps, I will not go into the ugly details about Delta Airlines's failure to provide what they charge for right now. Let me just give you one piece of "customer service":

My mother is not a frequent flyer. In fact, she is a nervous flyer who does not fly often. So, yesterday her Delta flight got off the ground late from La Guardia, and she was concerned about making her connection in Minneapolis. As Mom sat on the plane, she asked a flight attendant if she had an estimate of arrival time in Minneapolis and if the airline holds flights if there are late arrivals. And you know what the "attendant" told her? "We don't give that information any more. We don't have time for that."

I ask you: If a flight attendant is paid to be on a plane for a flight and is in fact on the plane for the duration of the flight, ostensibly working, what the hell is the reason for her not to have time to answer a question?

Mom likely has the correct answer to that question: The employee was too busy attending to the guy up the aisle who wanted to purchase a 7 dollar drink.

In the time the woman gave my mother that unacceptable answer to her simple question, she could have said, instead, "I am sorry I don't know what time we are estimated to arrive, but we will keep you all posted." or something akin.

Delta will not get my business again. In fact, don't you all think it's time we stopped letting big companies charge us for goods and services they don't provide? I had to go pick my mother up in Colorado Springs, not Denver, which was an additional 150 miles added to my trip. We joked that I may as well have driven all the way to Minneapolis to pick her up. Why do we let these people get away with piss-poor to nonexistent service?

Now, Delta Airlines is a private company. Let's move on to government "services." For all of you, including the FFM, who was just screwed by bureaucracy, who love the government, let me ask you this: Do you pay your taxes to not receive government services? No, I imagine you do not. You expect that your money is going to providing services that private companies cannot or do not provide. Yes?

So, what would you do if you learned your driver license had been suspended because of a mistake that originated with the local police department and that was supposed to be rectified by the court and the State Department of Motor Vehicles, but that despite your own time and effort to be sure that had happened, it had not?

And then you called the DMV to tell them you had just received a ticket for a suspended license and that your license had been physically removed from your possession, and that you wanted this government mistake fixed so you could drive yourself to work, legally, and the woman on the other end of the line said, "We don't make mistakes."

WHAT?! Surely you do! Someone dropped the ball! Is this why we pay taxes? So bureaucrats can backtalk us when they screw up? People, this is bullshite, undeniable bullshite. Don't you think it is time We the People said "no" to this kind of treatment?

I sure as hellz do.

Why do "Tea Party" and "mean people" appear together in a blog entry?

OK, it is true that in this great country, people are allowed to speak freely- though people at either end of the political spectrum attempt regularly to limit that freedom to those with their own views. And so it is true that 5 kids can wear American flag t-shirts to school on Cinco de Mayo, and that they will, especially if their parents are also mean people or are simply people who don't know or care what their kids are up to on any given day.

But it's also likely that those same kids, as implied in Roger Ebert's tweet, would be pretty agitated to see kids around them wearing the hammer and sickle on the Fourth of July. So, should the kids have been booted from school? Frankly, I'm not so sure I'd jump on the "yes" bandwagon, but that's another conversation. The intolerance of the kids and their parents by default is, well, practically intolerable. And the Tea Party advocates' rudeness is just dispicable.

Peeps, I did not puke at this one. I cried.

Commentary: Tea Party member mocks Ebert's cancer following the recent Cinco de Mayo controversy

Last week, Ebert read a news story about five students that wore American flag shirts to school on Cinco de Mayo, an obviously antagonistic gesture meant to ruffle a few feathers at their Californian school. In response to this news, Ebert made the following Tweet, which has led to all manner of controversy and panty-waddage from Tea Party members:

@ebertchicago Kids who wear American Flag t-shirts on 5 May should have to share a lunchroom table with those who wear a hammer and sickle on 4 July.

http://www.examiner.com/x-15166-Comedy-Examiner~y2010m5d10-Roger-Eberts-cancer-mocked-by-Tea-Party-member-following-the-recent-Cinco-de-Mayo-controversy

This Just in: Terrence Lakin, Our President is an American citizen!

No holds barred: Terrence Lakin, you do not deserve the title "Colonel." You are a disgrace to the US military and to the men and women who faithfully carry out their duties to their country. To be redirected when you refuse to show for deployment to Afghanistan and insist that something that has already been proved be proved to you again before you do your job? You should be ashamed. You should be fired. Without a severance package of any type. Dishonorable discharge. And you ought to have your license yanked. Clearly your bedside manner sucks. "Deocrated?" For what? Being a jerk?

Excuse me; I have to go puke now, a lot.

Sex Addiction

While I was involved in a very interesting conference on mine design, operations and closure, with some particularly cool pics of bad reclamation moves, preoccupations with sex were festering.

I mean, just crawling right under my skin. It started with a FaceBook friend (and old college chum) posting some really important story from National Enquirer (or one of those fine papers) about Obama being caught cheating. And further, commenting on how that particular paper had been the same to expose Tiger Woods and John Edwards. And how...

Well, that's important news! Hellz, it's extremely important to me, and to the rest of America, that these cheaters be caught, and that media time and attention and money, and even moreso, if necessary, government money, be spent on finding the truth. The truth about their cheating on their spouses. Because if they are doing that, they are letting us all down.

Who gives a crap if they are doing their job (ie. playing decent golf, taking care of domestic or foreign policy...) as long as we know what they are doing with whom in bed? (Because, God forbid that any of us common people do that. You know we do not. We are all pure and faithful to others. It's the American way, you know, a legacy of our puritan times. We always show great discipline in these matters and have a right to expect our celebrities and leaders to do the same.)

Don't get me wrong; I do think it important that we at least consider whether these highly visible people are doing their jobs or not. After all, this is a nation of workers, and we all have jobs to do, except the unemployed lazy bums, of course, which are a shameful scar on our great country in which everyone has an equal chance to become rich- and even famous.

But, I digress. I apologize; the topic here today is sex- cheating and addiction. Is sex addiction a legitimate disease? Should Sandra take Jesse back? I mean, he is in rehab, right? He is trying to beat his addiction to screwing other women. This is the real issue we should be watching, people. These are the important questions we should be asking in this country. I have a lot to consider, so I am going to cut this off here now. I will be back another time, soon, with the latest news on that, unless you've already got it.

Oh, weird, wow... Did you guys know there was this giant oil spill..?

I know that I haven't written in a while, FFM,

and other peeps, but all the crap I would talk about is mean stuff and I would rather concentrate on being away in a new place (Butte, MT) and learning new stuff (about mining, especially hard rock mining). So, I will get back to this... sometime soon.