Category: Politics

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I saw this little jewel on TOWLEROAD a while back

I’ve let this one steep a while since I wasn’t really sure that I wanted to be quite this out there. But I’m thinking aww what the hell?

I’ve gotta file this one under the WTF category…

Friend of Norwegian Mass Murderer Anders Behring Breivik Thought He Was Gay, Closeted

Read more: TOWLEROAD

I have to ask what does this guys sexuality have to do with the fact that he’s on trial for killing 77 people?

This guy has confessed to committing the murders but claims that he did so to protect his beloved homeland and culture.

The piece also comments on the fact that Breivik had a nose job “so he could have a more “Aryan” nose”. So what?

I’m not sure what the attorneys in Norway are trying to prove.

Breivik, had he been the leader of a revolution that won… would be described as a liberator and hero to his people for protecting the purity of Norwegian culture.

However since Breivik was acting alone he’s perceived as a nutcase and murderer. Now it looks as if the Norwegian court is trying to marginalize the crime and his stated reasons for committing it by painting him as a vain, closeted homosexual who acted out.

This suggests to me that perhaps Norwegian society isn’t ready to consider that they may have a larger problem…

They’re hoping that the Breivik case is a “one-off“.  Perhaps it is.

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But what if it’s not?

Lets look at this another way…

What kind of social pressure, cultural change, and abuse does it take for a vain, closeted homosexual to make, plant and detonate a bomb, or pick up a rifle and start shooting people?

The Norwegians had a bit of civil unrest several years ago because one of their cartoonists drew a picture. That picture while protected under Norwegian free speech rights still had to be apologized for. The artist still had to flee his home. The Norwegian government, instead of expelling those who sought to deny the artist his rights made concessions to a radical minority.

The imposition of foreign cultural taboos on a society will inevitably result in unrest. 

Vivid examples include Palastine, and Iran.

The Shah of Iran was deposed at least in part because his policies were too progressive, and  too Western. Apparently the religious infrastructure of the country perceiving a threat to their tradition, power and culture incited a coup. The ruling government then exiled all foreigners, nationalized all the resources and descended into an almost isolationist (from the West except for oil sales) period.

The Palestinians resented in 1947 and do to this day control being imposed on them by the West in the creation of the State of Israel.

I’m not suggesting that Breivik was in any way correct in what he did.

What I’m saying is that perhaps Norway should look more carefully at it’s rising nationalism and the factors that are contributing to it.

Otherwise the next  Breivik will organize an insurgent movement. Such a movement could easily be aimed at focusing Norways’ rising nationalism against the Norwegian government and all people that are perceived as a threat to Norwegian cultural values.

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Where’s MY Obama Money?

American healthcare

Couldn’t help myself.

When President Obama was first elected there was this little lady being interviewed on television, she was talking about all the good things that were going to happen for her since Obama was elected. One of the things she kept talking about was how she was going to get a new cell phone and a better apartment ’cause of Obama Money that would be coming to her.

When she was asked where that money actually came from she said she didn’t care, ’cause it was Obama money and Obama was going to make everything alright for her.

Myself and 300 coworkers layoffs were a direct result of President Obama and Congress having a pissing contest in late 2010 and early 2011.

Clearly BOTH sides forget that they are there to represent the PEOPLE not partisan interests.

Here we are in the election cycle again. The only thing that has changed, especially for people like me is that our unemployment is running out, we’re paying obscene prices for COBRA coverage ($600) a month and despite the media spin… things are improving at a snails pace.

WHERES MY OBAMACARE?

Guess what?

As usual, since I’m an American worker that has scrabbled and climbed to the middle class, contributed to the economy, paid my bills, didn’t use my house as a piggy bank, and have been responsible for myself and my shit.

I’m actually NOT ELIGIBLE for Obamacare… and won’t be until long after I’m destitute, homeless, masturbating under a bridge, and a burden on society. Which will happen a lot sooner than later paying out COBRA.

In general even in my 50s I don’t use $7200 of medical care per year. I’m extremely thankful for this. So why am I paying $600 a month to maintain COBRA? An even more interesting question is why does the Obama system make it illegal to not pay for insurance?

Between prescriptions, the occasional MD, Dentist, and Optometrist visit I’d say that if I were paying cash maybe I’d spend $3500 per year.

This is EXACTLY why so many employed folks CHOOSE to forego insurance. I went without insurance for YEARS… I paid out of pocket for services rendered…

And you know what???

Because it was a simple cash transaction I got pretty steep discounts and the same or better care BECAUSE the insurance companies weren’t involved. During those times… the Doc would say you need an antibiotic and hand me a bag full of physician samples. Great! no pharmacy bill.

I’ve been in an emergency room exactly once in my life. That was because I had a broken bone. I’ve been to urgent care twice. If there’s any way I can see my Doctor, I’ll call him drive to his office and wait. I’d rather have him look at me than some stranger anyway. 

So folks not having insurance are taking a risk but they do that every fucking day just driving on the freeways, especially now!

7 grand in my yearly budget would be a whole lot better than paying for coverage that I’m not fully utilizing. I’d imagine that the average American family could do a lot with 7K per year.

7 grand is 4 months of unemployment. Honestly, I’d rather have the cash.

So tell me again why we’re all paying so much?

OH Yeah! it’s to cover all the people who have no insurance, low incomes, and who regularly clog emergency rooms with non-emergency situations because they KNOW they will be seen by a doctor even if they refuse to pay their bill.

The disparity isn’t stacked in favor of the rich and middle class it’s stacked in favor of the poor.

So now here comes Obamacare <insert imperial fanfare here>. It does nothing for me. Insurance costs won’t be lower. My care will probably be degraded, and I’ll most likely end up paying out of packet to see the Doctor I want to see instead of some non-english speaking supposed doctor with whom I have nothing in common and whose instructions for my care, I can’t understand anyway.

The thing that annoys me probably most… is this wonderful debacle will put the country in even more debt and effectively lower the quality of care for everyone. Because after all mediocrity and socialism walk hand in hand don’t they?

I don’t shop a K-Mart for… well anything. I’ll be damned if I’m going to be forced into a K-Mart situation in health care. “We can do that required brain surgery for $500, but for $1500 we’ll sterilize the instruments.”

The liberal elite can’t understand why the middle class is pissed off!

It’s easier for them to call us selfish, and greedy rather than to take all their supposed intellect and actually understand the position they’re placing us in.

 

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I’ve been thinking about this for a while…

I’m pretty conservative, albeit some of my previous posts may not reflect that.

Strip

I frankly can’t listen to more than about 30 seconds of OutQ on SiriusXM.I’ve also begun to weary of the Ultra Liberal gay “mainstream” media.

As I’ve previously stated It’s rare that I agree with Joe My God, or Dan Savage… As to Perez Hilton… All I can say is NO!

These bloggers don’t reflect the rest of us. By that I mean the GLBT folks who aren’t into all things GAY. 

There are a lot of other folks that live their lives, do their jobs, and build homes with their significant others without being all about entitlement, or the Democratic party.

They’re the people that don’t feel it’s appropriate to submit to the jack-booted tactics that so many of the GLBT brethren use to keep them, and the straight world at large “in line”… which in this case means silent.

I started wondering who speaks for those of folks that choose to live out of the Urban Meccas of so called gay culture, and who don’t like the concept of an entitlement rich society. Or who may not agree with the likes of the HRC or GLAAD.

I’ve decided that perhaps I could be a voice on the more conservative side of the equation.

To that end let me throw the following ideas at you.

The Republican Party is not, by definition SATAN.

Members of the Republican Party are not always capitalist pigs bent on the destruction of the planet.

Religion is not always automatically bad.

Guns are not evil… they are tools, nothing more. The 2nd amendment must be protected, and responsible gun ownership should be encouraged and as simple as putting a credit card on a gun shop counter.

Someone who doesn’t financially support, or who may in fact speak poorly of the HRC,  EQCA, GLAAD or whatever other organization isn’t a traitor to the cause or an “Uncle Tom”

Not all of us can be artists, rock stars, actors, or “wealthy beyond the dreams of avarice”. It’s not a sin to work hard to derive, and enjoy nice cars, homes, or other material goods from that labor.

The wealthy, should not be expected to suffer disproportionate and unfair tax increases that specifically target them.

War is not always wrong… (the current wars notwithstanding)

Ever increasing Taxes are not the answer to all problems.

Expensive Social programs designed exclusively for “The Poor” are inherently unfair.

It’s not a crime or racist to desire securing our country’s borders. (It’s irrelevant that 200 years ago this land was settled by people of X ethnic origin. By that logic the peoples of the Lakota nation should have the Great Plains and Midwest returned to them. Currently, the United States is owned and occupied by its CITIZENS, deal with it!)

A national healthcare system that increases our national debt by trillions of dollars is nothing short of irresponsible. Fighting such a system is, ultimately in the best interest of the nation.Desiring to institute a single national language is NOT racist

President Obama… Is NOT the second coming, nor are he and his programs in the best interest of this country at this time. (President Obama is not however solely responsible for the problems our country faces.)

Environmental protection should be factored into any equation, however Human needs (food, clothing, power) should always be considered first. Carbon credits are nothing more than a method to collect additional taxes and will force corporations to manufacture their goods in unregulated third world nations. This is bad for our national economy and ultimately bad for the world at large.

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Over-React Much???

In an article this morning in the Christian Science Monitor the pundits and wags are already talking about the probability of increased security at theaters.

Uhhh It was ONE fucked up dude…

Statistically speaking ONE does not represent a trend.

While tragic, the Aurora theater shooting was an incident carried out by exactly 1 crazy person. 

This is not a wake up call to increase the level of fear in our country. Unfortunately that is exactly what the media is doing. 

I already don’t go to the movies very often.

Here’s why

1) the expense,

2) the crowds

3) the idiots texting throughout the whole fucking movie

4) the idiots talking throughout the whole movie

5) most of the movies SUCK!

But if you add metal detectors, and prohibitions on what can and cannot be carried into the theater, For example a shopping bag from another store in the mall then a lot of folks are just not going to bother. Really? I’ll have to carry my $200 of jeans out to my car then come back to the movie theater? Nahhh I’m going to get in my car and go home.

I’ll simply wait until the movie in question is available on pay per view or DVD/BlueRay. Lets face it, the time from theater to DVD has gotten ridiculously short.

So I personally have no problem waiting until I can rent a movie for 5 bucks and then every one in the whole house can watch it. I save 13 bucks, can make my own popcorn, have a beer and press pause when I have to take a leak. I like my surround sound system better than the theaters most of the time anyway and I don’t have to wear earplugs because the soundtrack is too loud. Everything is under my control and honestly, I like it better that way anyway.

Of greater concern to me is how we as a people react to these situations.

I agree with metal detectors at airports. The metal detectors at airports were not a result of terrorism… They came about as a reaction to NOT ONE… But Several aircraft Hijackings to Cuba. The metal detectors weren’t about making people FEEL safe… they’re about actually doing something to BE SAFER. 

Today we have to take our shoes off at the airport because ONE stupid moron tried… AND FAILED to light explosives in his shoes.

We are patted down and / or XRAYED, Microwaved, or otherwise imaged to determine if we’re carrying weapons or bombs on airplanes because a couple of morons tried to set off explosives in their underwear. We can’t carry liquids on planes because of the threat that someone might make a bomb out of two liquids.

As any 1st year chemistry student knows, there are elements that are inert until they are mixed with plain simple water. There are a variety of chemicals and elements that in even small quantities can make big booms, or poison gases. These chemicals could be carried on planes in a variety of ways.

The only way to be truly safe on an airplane is to not permit luggage, or carry-on bags of any type. And every single passenger and crew member on the plane would have to be naked. In addition,  there could be no in flight services, no moving about the cabin, no bathrooms, and every passenger would have to be locked into their seat for the duration of the flight.

1342801511 james holmes

Even then, you’re only mostly safe… the plane could be sabotaged, or there could be an act of God that causes the plane to fall out of the sky.

In the wake of the theater shooting, New calls for gun control, restriction of ammunition, and greater security in theaters, are being heard from around the country.

Nidal Hasan

When does it stop? Where do you draw the line?

One could argue that James Holmes and Maj. Nidal Hasan were both involved in the study of brains… By the knee jerk logic of the talking heads… ALL psychology and neuroscience study should be halted because it makes gun toting crazies who shoot into crowds of people.

Are we to have TSA style security in all public places?

Should going to the local shopping mall require a pat down? How about the grocery store?

Will we be required to take our shopping bags out to our cars as we complete each purchase?

Done at Macys, out to the car, back through security Second X-ray of the day, done at Pennys back to the car, back through security 3rd X-ray of the day, and so on.

If that’s what we’re heading for we’ll all be glowing in the dark by the end of the year.

Why didn’t we hear calls for tighter security in the wake of the Brian Stow beating? Oh… yeah the criminal thugs who destroyed Mr. Stow’s life did that with their fists and feet, in a parking lot. I suppose that the only way to prevent something like Brian Stow is to shackle everyone from the time they leave their cars until the time they are returned to their cars.

The point is this…

Being completely safe is an illusion. The only way to be completely safe is to never leave your house, even then safety isn’t guaranteed. So whether you acknowledge it or not we all make choices about the level of personal safety that we’re willing to accept.

Gun control, Draconian Security procedures, and restrictions of our freedoms are not the answer.

We as a people, shouldn’t live in fear. We shouldn’t change our lives because of terrorism, or lone gunmen, or the fear mongering of the talking heads on TV, or of the political candidates.

We as a people, can help to insure greater safety of the society at large by paying attention, by choosing not to ignore odd things.

James Holmes reportedly opened an exit door in the theater and then propped that door open while he went to his car to get the guns and body armor.

All it would have taken is for any one of the people in the theater to close that door. Presumably Holmes purchased a ticket… if he’d forgotten something or needed a medication from his car, he’d have a ticket stub and he could have re-entered the theater via the front door. Holmes needed the dark, he needed stealth and inaction on the part of the theater goers. Someone would have raised an alarm if he’d walked through the main lobby with guns and body armor.

This is not to imply that the victims were at fault. They behaved exactly as predicted and exactly as everyone in America would have. They didn’t get involved. They didn’t ask WTF? 

People who are about to do bad things typically “telegraph” their intentions before they act. If everyone in our society would stop ignoring the odd, the out of place, or the strange, then we’d be a long way toward being safer.

If we instead reported odd behavior or odd situations or asked questions of the person that was acting odd then we’d be in a safer environment all the time.

Criminal activity almost always requires stealth. Asking or having a Policeman ask a suspicious individual what they’re doing may be just enough to stop a crime before it happens.

We text, call, email, Facebook and tweet pretty much 24 / 7 you’d think that with that kind of communication there would be no crime.

But in fact we are so glued to the glow of our smart phones that we’re not only driving distracted…

We’re LIVING distracted.

Consider that, the next time you’re in a restaurant and you notice people texting more than talking.

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Why do we never learn?

I caught an article this morning reporting that the CIA is funneling arms to the Syrian rebels.

Have we learned nothing?

We did the same thing In Afghanistan. Yes, the Russian military got beaten back… in the process we created an enemy that 12 years later we began fighting. 

Frightening isn’t it? Only 12 years after the Russians pulled out of Afghanistan we were there again, this time as combatants. We’ve been there for a decade. 

Weapons1

So here we are AGAIN! 

We, along with Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, are assisting in arming and I’m assuming providing tactical training to the Syrian Rebels…

To what end? 

We claim humanitarian reasons, the fact is many of the Middle Eastern cultures have a vastly different ideas about what humanitarian means.

When are we going to learn that interfering in the internal political affairs of other countries is not in our best interest?

Part of our involvement stems, I’m sure from UN directives.

I’ve noticed that when it comes to UN peace keeping missions it’s the American Military and by extension the American Taxpayer who’s footing the bill.

Yet the very countries where the UN has placed our military in harms way often hate us with a bloodlust that borders on insanity.

I find myself asking again and again, whats in it for us?

Food, oil, gold, silver, aluminum, coal, any raw materials? Uhhh NO!

But there’s a mountain of debt that gets racked up with each little peacekeeping action.

Personally I resent having to pay for the clean up of some despots mess. I might feel differently if I paid $1 a gallon for gas and our military budget was completely covered.

I’ve long thought that our military should be a palms up mercenary force. If the UN wants us to bring peace to an area… Then they or the afflicted country should foot the bill, not the American people.

In the case of Syria… If the Syrian government could pay for our services then I say we send our military in to stop the rebellion. If the Rebels and their supporters can outbid the Syrian government then our military fights on the side of the rebels.

We’d make no judgement about the conflict. We’d take the money do our job and we leave. The smoking ruins and collateral damage would not be our concern. 

If the equation was as simple as the services of the US Military goes to the highest cash bidder, I wonder how many conflicts would end at the diplomatic table before they ever started?

The world wants us to be their Police… Fine. Even cops get paid.