Just viewed, courtesy of a friend's post (thank you Betsy Scholl) the opening of the new
Aaron Sorkin show NEWSROOM....
I don't get HBO, so can't view the show as it airs, but seeing this piece makes me want to call
DIRECT TV and change my subscription. This is writing at its best, with ensemble acting
to match. Not since WEST WING have I seen this kind of quality--which makes me believe
that the public, in its predictable reality-tv-soaked stupor, will reject both the message and the
messenger and the show will be canceled after one season.
I wish I wasn't such a pessimist... more than that I wish I could have a shot at being part of
this ensemble, even in the smallest of roles. It would be an honor to work with these people
--and that, at this point in my life, might just be enough to change my attitude and outlook on life.
Slim shot, but who knows?
At all events, kudos to all involved in this groundbreaking show.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Monday, May 28, 2012
Remembering...?...
It's another Memorial Day... A few parades (fewer each year) attended by a dwindling group of
survivors, men and women who served in this country's military sojurns across the globe and across the decades...a salute to their nobility and sacrifice, and to those who were left on the battlefields...
My wife Lisa called her Uncle Al in Albuquerque to thank him for his service...he was a colonel in WWII and Korea in the Army Air Corps and, like my father, survived those conflicts to return to a grateful America rife with parades and waving flags and cheering crowds. She thanked him for his sacrifice for our nation, and remembered her adoptive dad who served in the Pacific on board naval ships during Iwo Jima and Saipan, and mentioned me for my service during Viet Nam. Uncle Al was deeply touched, and then fell very silent. When he was finally able to speak again, he said "nobody thanks us anymore...they don't seem to care anymore..."
Lisa came to me and said she was shocked and troubled by this lack of gratitude. I, however, was
only too aware of this trend. I returned to a nation which spit on me and my comrades in airports,
and looked upon us (especially post-My Lai) as "baby-killers." But then, in the 80's (almost two decades after my service), they staged a massive celebration for us with a parade down Wall Street (we were--mostly--still young enough then to make the route on foot) and crowds and streamers and marching bands. It was gratifying, if late in coming.
There was one great difference between then and now: namely, the demographics of those serving in the military. Viet Nam was the end of the draft and, hence, the end of the era of the citizen soldier. Men of every walk of life and every strata of economic class served together in that, and preceding, conflict. This is no longer the case.
Today, our army, navy and air forces are peopled by "volunteers", a pseudonym for people who--due to their lack of access to economic or educational opportunity--are facing such limited options that they have no choice but to enter the military. Once there, they are further enslaved by a system which does not--as it did in my day--release them from their service obligation after 2, 4 or 6 years of active duty, but rather keeps them in a loop of continuous service in the "reserves"...sending them back into war zone peril for second, third, fourth and fifth tours.
Unless and until the draft is reinstated, and the burden of sending their progeny into
harm's way is shared equally by all American families--regardless of their economic status--there will never be enough people saying "thank you" on Memorial Day. Defending this nation will be "someone else's job" and, like the maintenance crew which cleans your office bathrooms, will go mainly ignored.
God bless us all, and rest well all those who did not return.
survivors, men and women who served in this country's military sojurns across the globe and across the decades...a salute to their nobility and sacrifice, and to those who were left on the battlefields...
My wife Lisa called her Uncle Al in Albuquerque to thank him for his service...he was a colonel in WWII and Korea in the Army Air Corps and, like my father, survived those conflicts to return to a grateful America rife with parades and waving flags and cheering crowds. She thanked him for his sacrifice for our nation, and remembered her adoptive dad who served in the Pacific on board naval ships during Iwo Jima and Saipan, and mentioned me for my service during Viet Nam. Uncle Al was deeply touched, and then fell very silent. When he was finally able to speak again, he said "nobody thanks us anymore...they don't seem to care anymore..."
Lisa came to me and said she was shocked and troubled by this lack of gratitude. I, however, was
only too aware of this trend. I returned to a nation which spit on me and my comrades in airports,
and looked upon us (especially post-My Lai) as "baby-killers." But then, in the 80's (almost two decades after my service), they staged a massive celebration for us with a parade down Wall Street (we were--mostly--still young enough then to make the route on foot) and crowds and streamers and marching bands. It was gratifying, if late in coming.
There was one great difference between then and now: namely, the demographics of those serving in the military. Viet Nam was the end of the draft and, hence, the end of the era of the citizen soldier. Men of every walk of life and every strata of economic class served together in that, and preceding, conflict. This is no longer the case.
Today, our army, navy and air forces are peopled by "volunteers", a pseudonym for people who--due to their lack of access to economic or educational opportunity--are facing such limited options that they have no choice but to enter the military. Once there, they are further enslaved by a system which does not--as it did in my day--release them from their service obligation after 2, 4 or 6 years of active duty, but rather keeps them in a loop of continuous service in the "reserves"...sending them back into war zone peril for second, third, fourth and fifth tours.
Unless and until the draft is reinstated, and the burden of sending their progeny into
harm's way is shared equally by all American families--regardless of their economic status--there will never be enough people saying "thank you" on Memorial Day. Defending this nation will be "someone else's job" and, like the maintenance crew which cleans your office bathrooms, will go mainly ignored.
God bless us all, and rest well all those who did not return.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Give you a break?....
Where would you like it, Mr. Speaker? Your arm, leg? Your head? Your ass (where I would find your head)?
You accuse House Democrats of politicizing the "war on women", when you and your I-was-a-car-salesman-but-now-I'm-a-Congressman Tea Party morons are clearly and openly and proudly waging that war, right out in the open, and on C-Span to boot????
By all means, you Red State Jackoffs, let's cut more money from cancer and STD screenings for women and poor people of both genders, then lets sit back and watch as the uninsured overrun the already flooded ERs for their medical treatment, and lets watch healthcare costs really skyrocket. Great idea.
I know I'm just another (mostly ignored) voice screaming in the forest, but if there is a woman who
sincerely thinks the Republican Party holds anything but disdain for women, the poor, and yes--
the future of this nation, I wish she would respond to this writing and enlighten me. I am at a loss to see it.
It's bad enough that the poor have had to bear the burden of manning our military in this era of
global deployment, and re-deployment, and re-re-deployment. The sin of poor women
disproportionately mourning the deaths of their sons and daughters lost in this nation's military
follies is bad enough; to ask them to bear this pain while dying of ovarian cancer or
heart disease--maladies made treatable by early detection--is a sin of cardinal proportion.
"May you all rot in hell" is the phrase that comes to mind...but I fear that such karmic justice just
may not be in the cards for the evildoers. In the meantime, they want our poor men and women to
rot here on earth, from corrosive disease.
Oh, if only what went around did, indeed, come around...
You accuse House Democrats of politicizing the "war on women", when you and your I-was-a-car-salesman-but-now-I'm-a-Congressman Tea Party morons are clearly and openly and proudly waging that war, right out in the open, and on C-Span to boot????
By all means, you Red State Jackoffs, let's cut more money from cancer and STD screenings for women and poor people of both genders, then lets sit back and watch as the uninsured overrun the already flooded ERs for their medical treatment, and lets watch healthcare costs really skyrocket. Great idea.
I know I'm just another (mostly ignored) voice screaming in the forest, but if there is a woman who
sincerely thinks the Republican Party holds anything but disdain for women, the poor, and yes--
the future of this nation, I wish she would respond to this writing and enlighten me. I am at a loss to see it.
It's bad enough that the poor have had to bear the burden of manning our military in this era of
global deployment, and re-deployment, and re-re-deployment. The sin of poor women
disproportionately mourning the deaths of their sons and daughters lost in this nation's military
follies is bad enough; to ask them to bear this pain while dying of ovarian cancer or
heart disease--maladies made treatable by early detection--is a sin of cardinal proportion.
"May you all rot in hell" is the phrase that comes to mind...but I fear that such karmic justice just
may not be in the cards for the evildoers. In the meantime, they want our poor men and women to
rot here on earth, from corrosive disease.
Oh, if only what went around did, indeed, come around...
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Slim pickins...
Ted Nugent...that draft-dodging, lousy-guitar-playing, lying (yeah, right..."Journey to the Center of the Mind isn't about drugs!!!"), punk-ass, pussy-faced. drooling idiot is the latest dog-of-war to be
unleashed in the Conservative War of Words against Liberals in general, and President Obama
in particular.
Not that this is the first time he has spewed diarrhea from that stupid slot above that ridiculous
pubic patch he calls a beard, but this time he has delivered a "call to arms" to the plaid-shirt-clad
army of neo-Nazi morons he calls his fans.
"Obama, Hillary Clinton are criminals...ride into that battlefield and chop their heads off..."
This, from a sleazeball scumbag who, when called before the draft board, wore his clothes for over
a month and showed up at the board smelling of feces and urine(how appropriate) so that he would
not get drafted. Criminal?? Nugent, if you ever saw a battlefield you would piss your pants;
but, then again, you would be comfortable with that attire...
If your adoring tribe of Neanderthal, "America-for-the-Americans," gun-toting sycophants
really took your character and past into consideration, they just might tell you to ride
your machine-gun into oblivion, after shoving it up your ass and pulling the trigger.
PS--why is it that every NRA-pin wearing "gun-lover" I have met here in California never
served a frigging day in uniform in their lives?
Ah, screw it...
unleashed in the Conservative War of Words against Liberals in general, and President Obama
in particular.
Not that this is the first time he has spewed diarrhea from that stupid slot above that ridiculous
pubic patch he calls a beard, but this time he has delivered a "call to arms" to the plaid-shirt-clad
army of neo-Nazi morons he calls his fans.
"Obama, Hillary Clinton are criminals...ride into that battlefield and chop their heads off..."
This, from a sleazeball scumbag who, when called before the draft board, wore his clothes for over
a month and showed up at the board smelling of feces and urine(how appropriate) so that he would
not get drafted. Criminal?? Nugent, if you ever saw a battlefield you would piss your pants;
but, then again, you would be comfortable with that attire...
If your adoring tribe of Neanderthal, "America-for-the-Americans," gun-toting sycophants
really took your character and past into consideration, they just might tell you to ride
your machine-gun into oblivion, after shoving it up your ass and pulling the trigger.
PS--why is it that every NRA-pin wearing "gun-lover" I have met here in California never
served a frigging day in uniform in their lives?
Ah, screw it...
Friday, April 13, 2012
To bake, or not to bake...
Unless you've been living under a very large, soundproofed rock, you have been subjected to the barrage of commentary on Ms. Rosen's quick-tounged quip about Mitt Romney's wife not being the ideal person to ask about women in the workforce and their economic/social struggles...
MY GOD! ARE THE REPUBLICANS THIS DESPERATE FOR SOMETHING TO GRIPE ABOUT??
After all the apologies by Rosen and the White House (for a comment which, after all the smoke
clears, is accurate and hardly insulting) the RNC and their cronies continue to bleat and beat their
breasts about how all stay-at-home moms have been insulted by the Democrats...
Which is, of course, pure bullshit...
My mother, along with obviously millions of others (look at the divorce rate in this country and figure it out for yourself) had no choice but to hold down a full-time job and raise a family... Luckily, the household contained an extended family, 4 generations, which helped in the raising of the children....but they all had full-time jobs, too. There are military wives who "stay home" when their husbands are out on a 3rd and 4th tour in war zones, and these women "stay home" (often working at paying jobs simultaneously) not by choice but from necessity. There are countless numbers of single-parent households in the same situation. It has given rise to a lucrative and ever-growing industry in this country--daycare centers, preschools, etc.--which further deplete the parent's resources in the effort to raise their children...
For Romney to need his wife to act as an interpreter of women and their mystical needs is baffling. For him to chose a wife who has lived a life of privilege and luxury for that task is even more perplexing.
For this to be turned into some kind of rallying call to all those Red State women who hold bake sales, make scrap books, and generally live the stay-at-home-soccer-mom life to march in unison behind the Republican Party is the true insult here. Those women have access to their bank balances, and they know how hard they are struggling to put Walmart clothes on the backs of their kids and how many coupons they have to clip to feed their families....
Enough of this crap...from both sides... In fairness (even though the preponderance of asshole statements have come from the Right--Rush Limbaugh included), my Progressive friends are making too much of Foster Frieze's comment about "bulletproof teleprompters" for Obama...
I heard the comment, and it had nothing to do with assassination of the President. It was about the Republicans now focusing their "guns" at Obama and not at each other now that the candidate is chosen...
So let's stick it back in our pants...or where the sun will never shine...and get back to the issues...
MY GOD! ARE THE REPUBLICANS THIS DESPERATE FOR SOMETHING TO GRIPE ABOUT??
After all the apologies by Rosen and the White House (for a comment which, after all the smoke
clears, is accurate and hardly insulting) the RNC and their cronies continue to bleat and beat their
breasts about how all stay-at-home moms have been insulted by the Democrats...
Which is, of course, pure bullshit...
My mother, along with obviously millions of others (look at the divorce rate in this country and figure it out for yourself) had no choice but to hold down a full-time job and raise a family... Luckily, the household contained an extended family, 4 generations, which helped in the raising of the children....but they all had full-time jobs, too. There are military wives who "stay home" when their husbands are out on a 3rd and 4th tour in war zones, and these women "stay home" (often working at paying jobs simultaneously) not by choice but from necessity. There are countless numbers of single-parent households in the same situation. It has given rise to a lucrative and ever-growing industry in this country--daycare centers, preschools, etc.--which further deplete the parent's resources in the effort to raise their children...
For Romney to need his wife to act as an interpreter of women and their mystical needs is baffling. For him to chose a wife who has lived a life of privilege and luxury for that task is even more perplexing.
For this to be turned into some kind of rallying call to all those Red State women who hold bake sales, make scrap books, and generally live the stay-at-home-soccer-mom life to march in unison behind the Republican Party is the true insult here. Those women have access to their bank balances, and they know how hard they are struggling to put Walmart clothes on the backs of their kids and how many coupons they have to clip to feed their families....
Enough of this crap...from both sides... In fairness (even though the preponderance of asshole statements have come from the Right--Rush Limbaugh included), my Progressive friends are making too much of Foster Frieze's comment about "bulletproof teleprompters" for Obama...
I heard the comment, and it had nothing to do with assassination of the President. It was about the Republicans now focusing their "guns" at Obama and not at each other now that the candidate is chosen...
So let's stick it back in our pants...or where the sun will never shine...and get back to the issues...
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Eye in the Sky...
Listening to KNX Radio (yes, the Republicans are right on one thing: the media is an evil influence...) On comes an ad touting the new version of GARMIN...that wonderful little GPS/Direction/Best-Chinese-Restaurant-in-the-current-neighborhood device...
One of the main new features? "It also displays your speed," the announcer joyfully said. Hmmm...
Won't be long now before the same is said about ONSTAR, or any of the other little mamas-little-helper devices on our dashboards or hanging from our visors... Then it's only a matter of time
before Big Brother really becomes Oz, the man behind the curtain, and starts to subcontract
things like speed violation enforcement, outsourcing them to Raytheon and friends...
After all, your subscription to the service means they have your id info, probably your
car's VIN and registration, and a credit card or bank account on file for payment...
It's a short leap to sending that info about you doing 45 in a 35 on Highland to Culver City Police,
and a nice prepaid ticket arriving at your home address...
Let's not forget that info is already being gathered by insurance companies ("Snapshot" being an example) and it plays a large role in your renewal premiums... So, double whammy, your insurance premiums skyrocket...
BUY A MAP, STUDY IT...DO A GOOGLE EARTH SEARCH...then take off for your location.
Screw Garmin...half the time it gives you instructions to make a left at a no-turn intersection anyway.
Just a thought...
One of the main new features? "It also displays your speed," the announcer joyfully said. Hmmm...
Won't be long now before the same is said about ONSTAR, or any of the other little mamas-little-helper devices on our dashboards or hanging from our visors... Then it's only a matter of time
before Big Brother really becomes Oz, the man behind the curtain, and starts to subcontract
things like speed violation enforcement, outsourcing them to Raytheon and friends...
After all, your subscription to the service means they have your id info, probably your
car's VIN and registration, and a credit card or bank account on file for payment...
It's a short leap to sending that info about you doing 45 in a 35 on Highland to Culver City Police,
and a nice prepaid ticket arriving at your home address...
Let's not forget that info is already being gathered by insurance companies ("Snapshot" being an example) and it plays a large role in your renewal premiums... So, double whammy, your insurance premiums skyrocket...
BUY A MAP, STUDY IT...DO A GOOGLE EARTH SEARCH...then take off for your location.
Screw Garmin...half the time it gives you instructions to make a left at a no-turn intersection anyway.
Just a thought...
From my cold dead hands...
Watching the "progressive" cable channel "Current"--a documentary on the guns being used by the Mexican drug cartels which are purchased here in the US...mostly at "gun shows" without any type of background check or documentation...and hearing the comments of the "gun lobby" about not constricting our SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS (which have to do with militias, not individuals) to curtail the murders in Juarez...
I am so sick to death of hearing this "2nd amendment" argument as an excuse for our flooding our streets, and those of neighboring countries, with automatic weapons... Seven dead in Oakland yesterday...five wounded in Mississippi...Thirty-five dead in one swoop in Juarez... "Guns don't kill people, people kill people" is the most lame of all the platitudes mouthed by these John-Wayne-wannabes... The NRA with its nearly-billion-dollar lobbying is the most insidious organization since the SS...
I think it's ironic that the AK-47, the favorite weapon of my friends in the NLF who (luckily) shot at us with bad aim in Nam, is the sweetheart weapon of the NRA right here at home. Thanks to those cretins, we are more likely to be killed here than we were flying over the DMZ... Thanks, guys. Love you, too...
I am so sick to death of hearing this "2nd amendment" argument as an excuse for our flooding our streets, and those of neighboring countries, with automatic weapons... Seven dead in Oakland yesterday...five wounded in Mississippi...Thirty-five dead in one swoop in Juarez... "Guns don't kill people, people kill people" is the most lame of all the platitudes mouthed by these John-Wayne-wannabes... The NRA with its nearly-billion-dollar lobbying is the most insidious organization since the SS...
I think it's ironic that the AK-47, the favorite weapon of my friends in the NLF who (luckily) shot at us with bad aim in Nam, is the sweetheart weapon of the NRA right here at home. Thanks to those cretins, we are more likely to be killed here than we were flying over the DMZ... Thanks, guys. Love you, too...
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