Logic isn't Logical

WTF?
We stop the Keystone XL pipeline and the price of gas continues to go DOWN?
Were they lying to us?
California is quickly running out of water. (You, know, that stuff you need to live)
Fracking uses MILLIONS of gallons of water. Hmmm...
I wonder what we should do?

Water? And not a Drop to Drink. It's now as Clear as Mud.

I've always tried to believe the best of people and their intentions, but, by golly, it's getting more difficult all the time.

Gas prices are very low, in case you haven't noticed, and yet some people are still pushing to get this enormous Keystone XL boondoggle shoved right up our Midwest, without so much as dinner first. It's just a live sacrifice to the supreme gods of greed. No jobs, no oil, just good old fashioned graft. Make-work work that will fill the pockets of a very few, who, by the way, have far too much in their pockets already. But congress gets on their knees and starts sucking.

I used to give the benefit of the doubt to the corporations who put crap into our food, that subsequently turned out to be, let's say, less than healthy. I assumed that they had good intentions originally, but now that they know the risks and side-effects, they will surely mend their ways.
Yeah. That happened.

GMOs are necessary to provide enough food for the world? Bovine Feces! On two counts. We don't give a good rat's pi-tout about feeding the world, just selling to the world. If we farmed the natural way, rotating crops, diverse planting, companion planting, etc., we wouldn't even need pesticides or fertilizers.
GMO corn to feed cows? Are you violently expelling me? Cows eat grass. Period. They don't need hormones. They don't need antibiotics. All of these things go directly into ...wait for it...us.

Then there's the pharmaceutical companies or Big Pharma, as they like to be called, you know, like Big Tony or Big Dick. It's been said that Pharma doesn't make cures, it make customers. Have you paid for a prescription lately? Bring a co-signer.
Ask your doctor? That's what we're supposed to do these days. Even though he's probably a pimp for Pharma, ask him if you should try Bleedmedryim, a new treatment for excess money buildup. Got a boo boo? Take a pill. There was a time when we could do what prescriptions do for us, with food, but now it's even difficult to find real food.  And what do people do when they are done taking their prescriptions? They toss them in the toilet. (Another ill-conceived concept, getting rid of our waste using our drinking water) Then, these chemicals and compounds get into our water supply, so we are all taking them, whether we like it or not.

So it's an accident that everything they do hurts us? So it's an accident that everything they do enriches them? Probably not.
For how long, and at the expense of how many Trillions of dollars have our top minds been trying to find the cure for cancer? Is it easier to believe that these dedicated talented and smart people haven't made any significant progress in all that time, or that some how, the results of their research is being hindered, perhaps, even suppressed? Think about it. If there was a cure for cancer, Big Pharma would lose Trillions in revenue from their victims, I mean patients. Do you think in a billion years that they would ever willingly give that up? Right now, they are taking perfectly good (if you can call them that) compounds, that do what they were intended to do, and changing one or two molecules to create another compound that does virtually the exact same thing as the previous one did. The difference? this new one has a new life as a new compound and therefore a new patent which will allow them to charge non-generic prices to us, for pretty much the same thing they've been selling for year. That's why you should ask your doctor. Your doctor, who is so deep in Big Pharma's pocket that Lint is his neighbor.

As I get older, do I get more Cynical, or achieve more Clarity? For years huge corporations have been having "accidents" involving dumping tons of poisons into our water supply. If they face any consequences, it's a tiny slap on the wrist, you know, like the penalty for "legitimate rape" should be. Given the fact that fresh water, sorta like energy can neither be created or destroyed this practice takes on a whole new level of PURE EVIL.
Big corporations have been testing our willingness to buy water from them. Water. Let me repeat that, in case you weren't paying attention. WATER.  Guess what? We passed. With flying colors. Due to our laziness and love of convenience, they have already conditioned us to pay them ridiculously high prices for a product that we can get free or virtually free. Now what do you suppose will happen when they turn off the tap to the remaining fresh water?
Big corporations have been buying rights to fresh water throughout the world. they already have monopolies in many third world regions, where they SELL water to the poorest of the population. The MOST despicable practice of which I can conceive. And that was just a testing ground, now they're going to bring their show straight to us. Maybe those spills, leaks, and oopsies weren't intentional. Then again, maybe they were.
At least think about these things and do what you can to make our leaders answerable to us, not to their corporate masters.
Baby Steps...

Socialism. It's not just for Stalin anymore.

Whenever a progressive even hints at trying to apply some of the trappings of Socialism, the right wing goes full-tilt-defcon-four-batshit and screams about the failure of socialism in the past, usually citing Joe Stalin. The logic, I have to suppose is that socialism killed millions of people, not a seriously homicidal psychopath. They refuse to even consider the more recent, yet equally as deadly failures of Capitalism. The (First) Great Depression, the thousands of lives and treasure lost in the wars for oil, the systematic robbery of mortgage holders, the crash (and subsequent bailing-out) of Wall Street, Lehman Bros. AIG, etc. Miserable, hateful, racist bastards.

No More War.

I'm seriously considering giving up my godless heathen card. Every year I get drafted into this War on Christmas and every year we are defeated by these Fabulous and Christ-like "Christ"ians. While I swing the battleaxe of not excluding others from the holiday season, Christ-like warriors like Bill O'God-I-Love-Torture-Reilly beat back our every sallie. Unfettered Greed and Selfishness (the way Jesus intended it) continues to rule over love, and kindness. I give up in the face of such religious righteousness. Merry CHRISTmas, Mofos!

Count your Gas Blessings Carefully.

The cost of fuel (Okay, the price) has gone down a bunch recently. I have to think that it's because the big oil companies are cutting back on their profits in order to help the economies of the world.

HA! Just kidding. But, wouldn't it be nice?

I suspect that the price of gasoline going down is related to many issues, not the least of which is the success of renewable sources of energy. Don't let them fool you. Even the Biggest, Oiliest Oligarchs are divesting from oil. Every one of them uses solar and wind energy generation at their "Dacha's". Why wouldn't they? They like to save money, too. You just won't see it in their, "aren't we responsible?" advertising. According to the ad, BP have invested over 4.5 Billion Dollars in the Gulf for rebuilding. That's not so much an investment, as a court ordered fine to compensate for all the damage that their slovenly practices caused to the people and the environment of the Gulf. It's like me saying, that I invested over $20,000 in the State of Colorado, instead of me saying, I've had three DUIs!

Unfortunately, a huge contributor to this gasoline "discount", is the glut of natural gas, that these very same companies are extracting out of the ground in ways that make oil extraction look like a gentle kiss from a dying grandmother. You've heard of "Fracking", haven't you? This term is short for Hydraulic Fracturing, which is FAR more hideous than you'd ever expect. These oil barons take pipes and force them into the ground under your homes and into "seams" where free methane and propane are trapped as part of the decaying process of ancient organic life. In order to fracture the rock formations, and therefore "free" the trapped gas, they inject millions of gallons of fresh water, because everyone knows that we don't really need water for human life to exist, mixed with a concoction of carcinogenic chemicals and other chemical agents that assist in the destruction of the rock layers. The contents of this mixture are top-secret because Dick Cheney made sure we'd never know what's in it. Thank God, we know we can trust Cheney. Now, historically these oil entrepreneurs, have always looked out for the welfare and well-being of the public, and in these cases, they are just as publicly responsible as they always have been (Exxon Valdez, Deepwater Horizon, Keystone XL Pipeline, etc).

Take the dip in gas prices with a grain of salt and remember that in Battlestar Galactica if you got "Fracked" it meant something altogether different . Or maybe it didn't.

Baby Steps...

Did that Hurt?

They say that Capitalism has no morals, no ethics. It has no soul and certainly no empathy or compassion.

I say, “Let's change that.”

We're going through a strange phenomenon where really, truly, horrific behavior is being overlooked, even justified, because it effects someone's profit. What's a little whipping on the bottom of a child when it comes to the bottom line? Want to cold-cock your wife? Go ahead. But, as always, if you or any of your INF(L) crew are caught on tape, the commissioner will disavow any knowledge of your actions.

Are we willing to rewrite the laws and/or the morals of thousands of years, because there just happens to be Billions of dollars at stake? Apparently, yes.

Just watch in fascination as these coaches dance around in justification of what their star players are doing. Sounds like the lyrics to Natalie Merchant's Luca, “he's your kid, do as you see fit.”

When are we going to realize: Wrong is Wrong!

Do you honestly believe that ANYONE , in their heart of hearts believes that there isn't a clear and present danger from Global Climate Change? It's quantifiable and it's bloody obvious to anyone who has ever gone outside in the last 10 years. Of course not!

Then why are there still politicians and corporate big wigs and higher-ups who deny it up and down?

Because it might alter the way they do business, and therefore, affect their bottom line. What about the planet? What about their offspring? All of that nonsense is Trumped (get it?) by profit. Profit at all cost.

As somebody once said, “The love of money, is the root of all evil.”

I hope that their money if fire-proof, cause they're going to need it in Hell.

Baby Steps...

Let's Re-Think Family Planning.

It's weird.

I know a lot of women (my wife included) who have remained childless by choice and I'm a little sad to announce that these lovely and educated ladies are sometimes the object of ridicule by the strange “traditional” family-values cadre. Considering the rather dire straits that we find ourselves in, due to over-population and willful and negligent environmental devastation, I feel that this is not only ignorant and cruel, but just plain backward thinking.

I understand that, as mammals, there is a certain, small instinctual drive to procreate. I get that. But it's no greater than the drive to kill and eat other animals, and we've done a pretty good job curtailing that activity over the course of history. There was a time when a male individual would just mount the first female individual he saw whenever he got “the urge.” Thank goodness we've evolved beyond that.

The major reason that the vast majority of woman feel they need to continue to crank out children, is because of religious conditioning and programming. There may have been a time when it was logical to have children (mainly boys) so that you'd have some help in your chosen field of work. Farms needed lots of hands. So did blacksmithing. Same goes for ranching and sheepherding. These people had children for “practical” reasons. In many, if not most, cases this is no longer the case. But whatever religious tradition you adhere to, you are encouraged to breed indiscriminately. The more the better! The training starts at a very young age and is never questioned by anyone. Little girls play with dollies, but rarely do they play NFL owner or CEO. The subject of happily choosing not have children is never even suggested. As a woman, if you don't dream of having children, you're considered some kind of freak.

Smart, intelligent, educated women have myriad reasons for not getting involved in that lifelong commitment of child bearing and raising. Some have aspirations of travel, which is rendered difficult with small children. Some want to make a difference in the world other than populating it. Whatever their reasons, they don't deserve derision for making that choice. Hell, I commend them for even knowing that the choice exists. Your religion won't tell that to you. Or your school. Forget about hearing it from your government. Did you know, these institutions have a vested interested in making sure you have children? Preferably lots of them? People with families are much easier to control. And by control, I mean coerce. Your economic resources are spread thin, so that you have very few options.You will do whatever you are told, because you can't risk the health and safety of your family.

We don't really need any more people. When was the last time you were driving in rush-hour traffic, or walking through a mall and said to yourself, “You know, there just aren't enough people.” I'm not trying to vilify the people who have kids and families, but the #1 worst thing you can do environmentally is have a child. The source of most of our modern ills, is overpopulation and its cousin, thoughtless overconsumption. Restaurants throw away approximately 30% of all of their food. The figure is a little lower for personal households, but not much. In the name of convenience we make cleaning products out of chemicals and instead of cloth, we have to use paper products that can be thrown away. But there is no away. I bring this up because the biggest offender is disposable diapers.

I'm not saying don't have families. I'm not saying people who have families are bad. All I'm saying is let's start letting little girls know that it's okay to dream about things other than becoming a baby factory. And let's start showing them that it's alright to make other choices and maybe even wait. They have to be educated in proper family planning (birth control), and encouraged in pursuits other than gestating. Stop the tyranny of religion. It's not necessary to have a baby to take some

Baby Steps...