Category Archives: Uncategorized

G.O.P.; Genuflect or Perish

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Welcome to the brave new world of 2012 politics. We have established a new party. It is no longer the Republican Party. It is the party of the one percent; The Genuflect or Perish Party! This party cleverly uses the weapons of mass stupidity at their disposal. Fox News leads the charge of this blatant misinformation. It seems that every day they wonderfully spin and skewer the facts to mislead people into believing that the GOP has a valid plan to bring our country back to growth and prosperity. Sean Hannity recently said that people can survive cheaply on beans and rice! He even suggested that we might throw some “cheap meat” in the pot! Pink slime is the answer. Its cheap and has ammonia in it. Ammonia is spelled with two m’s. Must mean mmm this is good.

Mitt Romney stated in brief that the rich should be given congratulations on their wealth. Genuflections are just around the corner. Prepare the masses to eat beans and rice and wait for their trickle down handouts from the rich. Not even food stamps are safe in the newly proposed Paul Ryan budget. Why should we care if people are hungry? If they aren’t rich isn’t it their own fault? Wait just a minute. Didn’t we all play the game of Monopoly as children? Remember how that game would end? Sooner or later someone would own Boardwalk and Park Place and everyone else would pay. This is where our economy stands at this very moment. The rich are in place and are desperately trying to retain control of the media and the masses. The internet and the new age of communication are their worst enemies. It is easy to see why they want to quash education by making it exclusively available to their elitist cabal. Education for the few and privileged only. No lower caste members need apply!

We like to say that America is the “greatest country in the world”. This description is thrown around all the time. If we don’t believe it we are not American. Unfortunately this generalization is outdated. Do we really need to indulge our sense of nationalism to preserve our currently stagnating system of government? Perhaps instead of the “greatest country in the world” we would be wiser to aim for “the most educated country in the world”. This would certainly hep us maintain our cutting edge technologies in the emerging multinational civilization we are embracing. To not fund education, promote its value and preserve the inspiration it provides would be to throw our country into back to prerevolutionary time where we all work as indentured servants for the benefit of the few.

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” — George Santayana

“Fifty percent of people won’t vote, and fifty percent don’t read newspapers. I hope it’s the same fifty percent.” — Gore Vidal

Get off the cell phone and Drive! — Jake Shween

 

 

Nugent Rewrites ‘Journey to the Center of the Mind’; Now called: ‘Journey to the Center of the Bunghole!’

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In case you missed it Ted Nugent shot his mouth off the other day at an NRA rally. This is a figurative representation of course from a man who is known for such genius works as: Kill it and Grill It, Wang Dang Sweet Poontang, Cat Scratch Fever and one of his first hits with The Amboy Dukes, Journey to the Center of the Mind. Ted dear boy it seems you did not smoke enough of the peace weed back in the day or perhaps you neglected to meditate on peace like your band mates did. It appears that all those random sexual acts you engaged in overloaded your neural network with a flood of testosterone causing you to think that violent acts towards living things including your very own neighbors who don’t agree with your blood lust perversion is some kind of solution for your obvious lack of social skills and tact. Perhaps you should go with your flow and write a new song about a coyote peeing on your couch!

Can you imagine that a powerful lobby like the NRA  would engage in such rabble rousing and encourage such animosity and hatred towards fellow human beings? Why yes of course! Isn’t this the very same organization that wants to arm everyone until we return to the wild west? How sad the the very people who need evolution the most are the ones who don’t believe in it and seek to have the theory quashed altogether in our educational system. The people who fight against abortion tooth and nail would like everyone to grow up first and then shoot each other. Apparently this makes for better television and biblical prophesy.

No sooner had Ted gone ballistic above and beyond the call of the idiotic at the blood thirsty NRA rally than did he reappear the next day to reiterate his brand of hate on the radio show of the Fox Network fired Glenn Beck the self ordained clown prince of violent stupidity and cockamamie conspiracy theory. Nice to see birds of a feather still flock together. If only there was a way we could safely transport these petulant lunatics to a cordoned off insane preserve where they could play with guns to their hearts’ content without harming any innocent people. They could swap conspiracy theories around camp fires and dine on uncooked animal intestines.

This should serve as a wake up call to the GOP. Look at the violent fools you have brought into your fold. Is it really worth making these kinds of associations for the sake of an election? What will you do to appease these violent people in the future? Do you really expect them to be satisfied without them killing something or God forbid someone?

It is perfectly alright to disagree with the way things are being run in and around Washington DC, but the way to change things is not with acts of violence. The civilized way to change things is with intelligent and patient discourse with the whole world as your witness.

“People kill people and guns make it easy and impersonal.”— Jake Shween

“Apparently, a democracy is a place where numerous elections are held at great cost without issues and with interchangeable candidates.”— Gore Vidal

 Get off the cell phone and Drive! — Jake Shween

Rabble Rousing; The Media and You

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We live in a time when news is used to generate viewership and profits. Often the wide spread horrors of the world, the stories that are haphazardly reported on, are shunned because they are not the stories that readily arouse our curiosity or anger. Much of this has to do with the way the media portrays these stories to us. Consider the case of the recent viral video “Kony 2012” which called the countries’ attention, however briefly, to the atrocities committed by Joseph Kony the head of a Ugandan guerrilla group, The Lord’s Resistance Army. These atrocities have been going on for years. It was not until film maker, Jason Russell, packaged the story into a viral video that we were made aware of the situation. There was an instant outpouring of support for the organization he was representing: Invisible Children Inc..

As an information society that is continuing to develop we have to be careful not to get caught up in group-think or mob mentality. It is now easier than ever to latch on to the story of the day and become disturbed by it. The information that we now receive almost instantly every day can be a curse as well as a blessing.  If we don’t take the time to make up our own minds we have lost our individuality altogether. We can be easily spoon-fed what the five major media conglomerates want us to hear and little else. Even with the advent of YouTube, the new kid on the block for spreading information, we need to be extremely wary of what we are seeing and hearing. It was only in the last century that film was first used as a propaganda tool. In 1925 the Soviet film director Sergei Eisenstein cleverly edited footage to show the Russian people why they needed to overthrow the Czar. It is now easier than ever to reach the masses with similarly clever editing to rouse their sentiments against injustice and social inequity or whatever other cause is the flavor of the day!

It is now more urgent than ever that we educate ourselves and are able to call to question what we see and hear every day. A population without a filter and the ability to distinguish what is right or wrong will quickly doom democracy as a viable form of government. We will become like lemmings ready to jump off the cliff when everyone else does with no way back to reason. So Dear Reader as you consider the everyday barrage of information that we call the news be wary, skeptical and thoughtful and make sure you get the whole story!

“A point of view can be a dangerous luxury when substituted for insight and understanding.” — Marshall McLuhan

“The media is too concentrated, too few people own too much. There’s really five companies that control 90 percent of what we read, see and hear. It’s not healthy.” — Ted Turner

“There is one other business where the customer is always wrong and that’s the media.” — Rush Limbaugh (He sure loves his Dittoheads!)
Get off the cell phone and Drive! — Jake Shween
J.B.

Government For Sale To The Highest Bidder

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Thanks to the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens v. Federal Election Commission this upcoming election is sure to bring us a record number of ads supporting either candidate for President. Brace yourself for an overwhelming barrage of mudslinging before this Novembers election. This is certain to make the advertising coffers full for the countries’ advertisers but it is sure to distort the peoples’ views on who should be elected. The danger is in the fact that we now have corporate interests in control more than ever in peoples’ mindsets. Not only are we told what to buy, how we should look and what we should laugh at we will now be instructed on how we should think, who we should trust and why it’s good for industry to rape the environment.

It is quite apropos that this comes in on the heels of the country wide anti-bullying campaign. What better way to prove our stance against bullying than to let the corporations battle it out for our loyalties and bully us through the media. Once again the court system has failed us. Instead of supporting the rights of the people the Supreme Court has openly declared war on the popular vote by opening the door for the Super PAC. Surely there is a better way to disseminate information to the people than through a barrage of mudslinging and distorted facts.To make matters worse, if possible, the majority of Super PAC contributors are actually wealthy individuals which further illustrates their underlying private interests. Shame on the Supreme Court for not standing up to the corporate bully.

Thus our ideal of “Government by the People, for the People” as stated so eloquently by Abraham Lincoln  has been desecrated. Perhaps our new slogan should be “Government for sale to the highest bidder” or “Corporations rule now step aside”. What promises will be made in order to garner large contributions? With the environment in peril can the country afford to relax instead of strengthen environmental regulation? Sure the oil sands project in Canada will create jobs but it will also cause deforestation rivaling that of the destruction of the rainforests. Will it lower oil prices? Not in the least. The oil prices are subject to the pricing of the commodities market much to the glee and profit of big oil.

We desperately need to elect individuals who will ignore corporate interests and do the right thing. The interests of the majority of people are to provide a better life for each other and for future generations. It is time to put “principles over profits” before it becomes too late.

“Absolute power corrupts absolutely” — Lord Acton in 1887

“A Conservative is a fellow who is standing athwart history yelling ‘Stop’!” — William F. Buckley

Get off the cell phone and Drive! — Jake Shween

Screw Healthcare; Buy a Gun

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If more people owned guns the great citizens of the United States could do away with the need for healthcare altogether. After all when a horse becomes lame it is usually shot to death. Certainly the cost of a bullet is much cheaper than a statin drug, an aspirin, chemotherapy or any of the drugs prescribed for depression. Heck a bullet cost less than a stalk of broccoli. Just think of the billions of dollars that could be saved if we simply shoot people who are ill or depressed.

Perhaps the Supreme Court should enact a law that to be a citizen of the United States one must own a gun. (After all they pick Presidents don’t they?)  There could be classes in schools where we could teach our progeny to shoot first and ask questions later. If there were any unfortunate accidents in this process we could simply say that we were “decreasing the surplus population” just like the famous character of Ebenezer Scrooge did in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Now there was a man ahead of his time!

Imagine what a better place this country would be. The waiting lines everywhere would become so much shorter. No more listening to drug ads ad infinitum on your favorite television shows. Instead we could listen to the testimony of a husband who cured his wife’s depression with a single shot from his brand new .357 magnum:

“She started complaining again that she felt like the walls were closing all in around her. I just went to my gun case and whipped out my shiny pistol and gave it to her right between the eyes! The silence was golden! I think grandpa is next, his Alzheimer disease is rubbing me the wrong way! God Bless America!”

So listen up and stay ahead of the curve. If you have any spare funds invest them immediately in arms manufacturers. Take to the streets and extoll the virtues of guns and live ammo. The world could be such a better place without all the sickos walking around! The new slogan is “Bullets not Broccoli!”

“If that’s the eye of the law, the law is a bachelor; and the worst I wish the law is that his eye may be opened by experience—by experience.” —- Mr. Bumble in Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist

“You can make people buy broccoli!” —- Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia

Get off the cell phone and Drive! — Jake Shween

The Shame of it All

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In the past week various news sources have been reporting on the fact that certain employers have taken to asking potential hires for passwords to their Facebook and Twitter accounts. Once again as a society we move closer to the elimination of the individual and their respective rights to an amalgamation of persons dedicated to the sovereignty of any given corporation. The Founding Fathers would be disgusted as to this profane abuse of power. It quite literally flies in the face of the great thinkers who fought for freedom from King George and the tyranny of the monarchy. Consider the words of George Mason in the Virginia Declaration of Rights:

“That all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.”

In other words dear corporations. Do not tread on me! How dare any financial or corporate institution impinge on our right to privacy and liberty as expressed in the Bill of Rights. It seems that tragically our democracy is in the process of devolving into an institution that bows to some sort of lobbied beltway oligarchy. The rights of the individual to think freely are being called into question if they want to work for certain companies. What would it be like if we could see the hidden workings of the purported rulers of this new Metropolis? Would their Facebook and Twitter accounts help us decide if they were fit to have any say at all in our lives?

This Friday will see the release of the movie Hunger Games. It is a story set in a post apocalyptic world were teenagers representing certain districts fight to the death to the amusement of the despotic rulers and the masses. The winner of this barbaric contest wins food and prestige for their respective district. It makes one wonder if we are creating some bizarre self fulfilling prophecy. Is it the fate of humanity to one day live these mephistophelean nightmares?

“The corporate grip on opinion in the United States is one of the wonders of the Western world. No First World country has ever managed to eliminate so entirely from its media all objectivity – much less dissent.” — Gore Vidal

Get off the cell phone and Drive! — Jake Shween

Booth Bobbleheads and Santorum’s Pubic Schedule

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Yes folks it’s official. You too can be the proud owner of a John Wilkes Booth bobble head doll. At least until last Saturday when the items where removed from shelves at the Gettysburg National Military Park visitor’s bookstore according to USA Today. Apparently the doll was depicted holding a gun. I can’t imagine why this would be in bad taste. Surely a marketing genius must have thought up this item. Better still was the procurement of this item for sale at a Nationally owned park facility.

The Altantic Wire reports that Tuesday Santorum staffers sent out an e-mail to reporters announcing his “pubic schedule”. Is this the ultimate Freudian slip? It certainly seems that pubic issues are more often on his staffs’ mind (or lack thereof) than the important and frightening  international issues currently facing the United States and the world. It illustrates clearly the competency of his staff and their obvious reliance on spell check when crafting his press releases. Instead of providing us with details of his possible treatment of vital issues we are caught in a web of challenging what should be personal choices and none of the government’s business.

The GOP clown car rolls on! I guess the folks in Alabama and Mississippi did not buy the carpetbagger Romney’s schtick. Shows what happens when you’re apt to say anything to try and be one of the clan. Very sad that the entire motivation of the GOP’s campaign is only to defeat Obama in November. How ridiculous it is that in 2012 the President’s race is still such a hot button issue.

“I’ve noticed something since I’ve been out on the road. I give a lot of speeches and talk about a lot of things.” — Sarah Palin from America by Heart

“Just a man with a mind for victory, and an arm like a f*cking cannon. But sometimes when you bring the thunder, you get lost in the storm.” — Kenny Powers from Eastbound and Down

Get off the Cell Phone and DRIVE! — Jake Shween

Breitbart Passes & Limbaugh Blows Gasses

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Sadly, last Thursday the blogging community lost one of their main sources of vitriol and controversy with the early demise of Andrew Breitbart at the young age of 43. He was a dynamic voice for the right wing haters and the conservative movement in general.  It was his work that was instrumental in exposing Anthony Weiner and his Twitter escapades. He was a bit of a paradox as he was also an avid supporter of gay rights and assisted in helping Arianna Huffington establish The Huffington Post. He was known to be “selective” with the truth as with his edited video of Shirley Sherrod, a former Agricultural Department official who was fired for a seemingly racist comment at an event held for the N.A.A.C.P.. The editing  displayed her as being discriminatory which was in fact not the case. The entire video if viewed showed her as overcoming her prejudices towards a white farmer. This was typical of his journalistic practices and his tireless devotion to what he perceived as the truth. This illustrates the importance of getting the whole story before jumping to conclusions!

Enter Rush Limbaugh whom Al Franken coined as “a big fat idiot”. This is exactly what this man is. His radio show reaches many more people than Breitbart’s blogs ever could. He incites his followers, or as he calls them, “dittoheads” with blatant stupidity reflective of his own lack of conscience or wisdom. It is sad that Clear Channel Communications stands behind his reputation and it clearly shows how desperate land based radio has become to retain listener-ship. SiriusXM should offer him his own private and perverse channel to reach his “dittoheads” and take him off any station where a young child could hear his ridiculous ranting. Sad it is that in our time  free radio should be reduced to pandering to such imbeciles as Rush Limbaugh. We should applaud the advertisers that pull their support of his lunacy as well as the stations that will no longer broadcast such hateful nonsense!

“I profoundly believe it takes a lot of practice to become a moral slob.” —William F. Buckley Jr.

Get off the Cell Phone and DRIVE! — Jake Shween

Several Oligarchies I Would Like to See!

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Well it’s been another fruit filled week of campaigning for our dear Republican candidates. While I ruminate over their collective fodder I feel the need  to expurgate with the following suggestions.

Why don’t we establish three separate oligarchies? There the candidates can rule supreme and pander to their respective minions.

One – Santoria: This could be a magical serfdom where there are no colleges or universities. All women would live like they did in centuries past in a patriarchal society.  There would be no need for a higher education as all we would need would be the pearls of wisdom that proceeded from the holy lips of our faithful evangelical pope the inimitable Richard John Santorum. Such joyful facts as: “Satan has his sights on the United States of America”.  The people could arm themselves accordingly. Rick Santorum would be the figurehead of this despotic society, he would be the puppet of an energy executive. True control would belong of course to his benefactor, the infallible William J. Dore. He would call the shots from his Louisiana stronghold. They could declare war on the environment and destroy everything waiting in vain for God to give them a new earth!

Two – Romnia: A wonderful country where King Willard of Mitt presides forever! It would be everyone’s task to make sure that all the trees were the correct height. Only cars that he liked would be allowed. His beloved wife, Queen Ann of Davies would have a fleet of Cadillacs. It is quite an irony that someone he despises saved General Motors the auto company that makes the very car his queen drives! All his subjects would also be required to flip flop at the drop of a hat and say anything to get noticed. His robotic style would be revered. Wall street greed would be the credo. Royal subjects would everyday strap their dogs to the roofs of their cars and speed up and down the interstate so they can get fresh air, to hell with walking them! They can defecate on the fly! PETA would be changed to: Pundits for the Egotistical Treatment of Aristocrats!

Three – Gingrinch: A fantastical world were the moon would be populated! We could shift the entire planet! There would be no need for anyone to think any more as the entire population would be controlled by a giant head encased in a bath of saline and micro-nutrients. The giant head would supply everyone’s desires. Hypocrisy would be the new religion and stupidity the role of every man, woman and child. Defy the giant head at your own peril! Periodically stem cells could be generated from his head so that his numerous wives could be impregnated. If they are not pretty enough they shall be terminated. Child labor would be reinstated. The children would slave to run the giant casinos that would operate under the auspices of the real ruler Sheldon Adelson. They would serve drinks and scrape the puke off the bathroom walls while the adults put all their savings into the slot machines!

Now where would we put these oligarchical kingdoms? If we melt Antarctica and divide it into two fiefdoms that takes care of Romnia and Santoria. Gingrinch could be a giant casino town on the moon. Now of course this is not written in stone. Dear reader if you have a suggestion it is welcome!

“History is a Nightmare from which I am trying to awaken!” –  James Joyce

Get off the cell phone and DRIVE!  —Jake Shween

Occupy Wall Street Needs to get it’s Mojo Back!

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I have noticed lately the Occupy Wall Street movement has been getting little or no media coverage. This is a shame because I think this movement might become very powerful. To help the cause I will list some suggestions for an ultimatum.

Demand Number One: A national health care plan for every citizen of the United States. It’s been done in Canada successfully according to my cousins who actually live there. The issue in the United States is insurance lobbyists putting profits before health care. This practice should be antiquated.

Two: Government funded education for everyone. We need an educated society if we are to compete in this age of technology and communication. The system of paying for education with real estate tax is outmoded and needs an overhaul. Everyone deserves the opportunity to learn.

Three: Strict controls on wall street. Junk mortgage derivatives and their disastrous consequences were the reason for the movement to begin with. We can’t let shady bankers and brokers control the destiny of the country let alone the world. Elliot Spitzer was on the right track his libido just made a wrong turn. It’s an enormous injustice that the very legislative bodies that should be enacting legislation for tighter controls on wall street regularly profit from blatant insider trading!

Four: Regulations that protect our environment. If you think climate change isn’t real please visit the Northwest Territories and talk to some native Americans. Before we strip mine Canada for oil sands let’s shift our energy needs to renewable resources. We have bowed to the oil companies at our own peril. Look at the debacle in the middle east. Imagine all the good that might have been done if instead of spending billions on the war in Iraq we had concentrated that money on the betterment of life for all Americans!

Humans are social creatures by nature. Some socialism is a good thing. What does it profit anyone to pillage the planet and leave little for the next generation? This is not the direction of any sane theology or philosophy I know.  Whether you believe in a higher power is beside the point. Think rationally of the big picture then you’ll get it.

Quite frankly I’d like to give my children’s children an existence where people sojourn in the stars together as opposed to their subsisting on Soylent Green.

“If I have seen more it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants”.                               —Sir Isaac Newton

Get off the cell phone and DRIVE!  —Jake Shween