The Economy Sucks

Things are slow, so I thought I would swing by and drop a note to say hello to everyone.

Blowing Up the Moon

Blowing up the moon

In keeping with the Moon theme, I offer you this....

Play Time

MOON BASE

Apparently, NASA wants a permanent moon base. Now these guys aren't exactly rocket scientists...

Ok, maybe they are exactly rocket scientists since the only thing that is exactly a rocket scientist is a rocket scientist - but you know what I mean.

This just sounds stupid. What are we going to do with a space station? Have they really thought this through? A space station is a shit load of work. You have to maintain it, paint it, keep all of the mechanical systems in good operating condition. Just the cost of calling a plumber out to repair a drippy faucet is going to cost the tax payer $500,000,000 - and if it is a Saturday, Sunday or holiday - fuggedaboutid. You have to keep it clean and not only is it really tough to vacuum while in a vacuum, there is no illegal alien (or alien illegal) work force on the moon to do this for you.

They will spend BILLIONS of dollars on a space station with the primary purpose of sending a man to Mars. In 2004 Bush made this his goal ala John F. Kennedy. It is an ego trip at its most costly. It is every bit as silly as the Emperor's New Fence on the Mexico border.

This idiot took the fantastic economic reforms put in place by Ronald Reagan and is flushing them down the toilet on his toys and games. He is bankrolling the embellishment of his phallic shortcomings using our tax dollars and, likely, our children's tax dollars. Meanwhile he is playing army in Iraq and Afghanistan and building space stations. Wouldn't that be cool?

Enough already. It is time to cut the bloated government budget, put this little piss-ant in time out and make him put away the toys that he has before he gets any more out of his toy box.

I watched the Ted Koppel special on Iran last night. Ted went to Iran and interviewed the average man on the street. He was very candid about when the Iranian officials let them film freely and when they were censored. During this special he interviewed a man who said that there used to be a lot of rumors flying around that the U.S. wanted to invade Iraq - but they considered them just that; rumors. But then, Bush went and did it. Now there are a lot of rumors floating around that the U.S. is going to invade Iran. Why should he now believe that these are just rumors?

I am not suggesting in any way that I support nuclear proliferation in Iran or North Korea. BUT I am saying that I can understand why these countries want nuclear weapons. They are just as afraid of us as we are of them and, after the invasion of Iraq, they probably have good reason to be nervous. Watch this special if you get a chance - it was on the Discovery Channel and it was very well done. Koppel isn't blowing smoke up anyone's ass and he does not appear to have an agenda.

I surmise that this new toy - this space station - is just another frontier on which he wants to put missles; you know, for our safety. Does he honestly believe we will all feel more safe with a bunch of nuclear arms sitting on the moon pointed down at us? Do you feel safer today than you did on September 12, 2001?

I don't. In fact, Mr. Bush has done more to undermine global security over the last several years than any president has done during my lifetime. We have committed troops to Iraq and Afghanistan. Meanwhile other countries with nuclear weapon dreams are now somewhat free to go about their business and develop them - would Bush enter into yet another military theater - not likely - and they know it. We have put our cards on the table and no longer have anything to use to bluff. Our choices are now play or walk away...

...and it appears that, once again, Georgie wants to play with his cool new moon base.

I need some chicken up in herrrrr....

When it's my time to go...

this is how I want you to take me out.

Freedom

Cacti and sand slip silently into the mirror, individually unnoticed, universally appreciated. The engine's steady rumble envelopes my ears and burrows into my bones. Electronic ignition and central nervous system fuse. I can feel the rough asphalt beneath the wheels; I wear nothing but these raw rubber soles.

My head and my heart explode into a spontaneous rendition of the Eagles - Take It Easy - for only me to enjoy and no one to judge.

All problems fade away.

All thoughts turn to joy.

No fear. No time. No demands. Escape.

Freedom.

Adam & Steve

"God made Adam and Eve - not Adam and Steve"

No redneck quote on the planet pisses me off more than this one. All in one comment I am informed that (a) you object to homosexuality; (b) you are a "Christian" and (c) you believe in creationism. Furthermore, those who voice this idiotic idiom are communicating to me, in the most trite way possible, that they expect me to believe in and be subject to these very same premises.

Let me state for the record that (a) I have no objection to homosexuality or homosexuals - what makes your heart go pitter patter or your genetalia perk up is your business and does not completely identify and pigeon-hole any one individual; (b) I am not a "Christian" but I do respect your right to be one and I do not make an effort to cram my religious beliefs down your throat (although I am happy to share them if asked); (c) I believe in the science of evolution - I do not believe that God created Adam and Eve or Steve (other than indirectly through a philosophical belief I have heard called "original motion" - but I promised I wouldn't cram that down your throat).

I am a registered Republican and, today, I voted. I did my civic duty. One of the issues on the ballot was a proposition to make a constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage. A "Yes" vote was a vote to approve the constitutional amendment. A "No" vote was a vote to maintain the statutory ban on same-sex marriage. The result was the same - the only difference was whether it should be added to the constitution and thus made significantly more difficult to overturn later.

I mentioned in passing in my one year anniversary post my position on this issue. This set of a series of debates between and among some of my peers. I am stubborn, but not irrational. Generally a good healthy debate will result in a thought or an issue that I had not considered. I left this debate even more convinced that two adult, consenting individuals should be permitted the legal benefits afforded a married couple.

Why can't we separate the issue of where one man puts his penis from the issue of whether that man can check the married box on his taxes, inherit (by statute) from his significant other and have other rights afforded any married man and woman?

Back in the good ole days, the Republican party stood for something completely different than it does today. It stood for small government. Republicans believed that government should stay out of the individual's private lives and certainly out of their bedrooms. The Republican party has been taken hostage by the Wal-Mart shoppers and the ultra-right wing Christian movement. It is now dead to me.

Where have you gone Barry Goldwater?