Being On The Wrong Side Of The Generation Gap

Or –  DIE, BOOMERS! DIE!

 

I was born in the 1950s, during the first Eisenhower Administration. I consider myself a part of the Baby Boom – just. How I see us:

The Boomers protested the Viet Nam War, & made it unpopular enough to finally bring it to an end (although not as soon as we wanted). We took up the causes of Civil Rights & Equal Rights, considering them to be both Constitutional & moral matters. We protested the pollution of our Earth & helped bring about new standards for products (such as lead out of gasoline – & paint! – & phosphates out of detergents), & helped bring about the creation of the EPA. Maybe not as celebrated as our parents – The Greatest Generation – who made it through the Great Depression & then saved the world for Democracy, but we did our bit to keep improving our society (The Pretty Darn Good Generation?).

So, I am especially disheartened to be reading (now & for the last few years) how the Boomers need to get off the stage, we’re aging White People (apparently no Blacks born in the Boom?) who all watch Fox News, vote Republican, & care nothing for the generations following ours.

Excuse me? We are still the same people who tried to change the world for the better, who fought for equality for all, who have fought for 50 years to clean up our air/water/soil so it will be able to sustain the generations to follow. Granted, not ALL Boomers are of one mind; look up video of “kids” in the ’60s mad about John Lennon saying the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. They burnt their books, records, jackets, etc. as protest of WHAT HE SAID!!! (as the radio people exhorted) THOSE are the people who grew up to watch Fox News, believe Glenn Beck’s conspiracies, & believe Rush Limbaugh is the arbiter of all things political & social. A fractional minority of a massive generation.

While I’ve gone from “Don’t Trust Anyone Over Thirty” to “Don’t Trust Anyone Under Fifty”, I won’t be told I’m too old to be useful, too old to care, to get off the stage, & I won’t hurry up & die – and you can’t make me. So there.

Now get off my lawn, whippersnapper.

Dear PACs

---

Or, No I Can’t Spare $3.00

THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT DEADLINE OF THE YEAR!!!

No, it isn’t.

THIS IS THE FINAL FILING DEADLINE OF THE YEAR!!!

No, it isn’t.

BOEHNER/McCONNEL/TEA PARTY ARE COMING TO GET YOU!!!

No, they aren’t.

Now some questions for the DNC, DCCC, DSCC, & all the PACs for individual candidates which have been flooding my Inbox for months, no less than one hundred e-mails a day:

Why don’t you know who your constituency is?

Why don’t you realize fear tactics don’t work on us?

Why do you treat us like rubes?

Why do you tell us every day is REALLY! TRULY! THE LAST! MOST IMPORTANT! fundraising deadline, then send more e-mails the next day saying Thanks for stepping up, now we need MORE!

Do you really think I believe all those e-mails are from The President, First Lady, The Vice President, Nancy Pelosi, other politicians, & of course all the celebrities? Really? I can put any name I want in my from line in my e-mail account; that doesn’t mean it’s really from someone else.

How about treating us like the intelligent, thinking, adults we are? How about some ads that reflect what WE are concerned about & what our candidates will do to address those issues? If attack ads are a necessity, how about attacking actual actions/inactions? Remind people of the Govt. shutdown; remind people of all the jobs bills proposed but not even brought to a vote because of Republican obstruction? Want the youth vote? An ad reminding them of who wants to get rid of birth control of all types will do it;  run ads to remind the voters of what’s at stake in this “off year” election, motivate them! Please.

One last thing: I would love to contribute $3.00. I would love to contribute $2,000.00 to every candidate & organization which asks. But, you know what? I can’t. I can’t pay all  my bills right now, I’m having to juggle. Pay the electric & the phone has to wait. Pay the phone or the car insurance (for the car that’s falling apart)? Buy some cheap groceries (I can buy healthy & make a dollar scream!) or buy dad’s BP meds (which he insists he doesn’t need)? A half prescription is doable, but I’d rather not.  This won’t last, it’s just a bad patch, but your letters telling me the country’s going to Hell in a hand basket if I don’t chip in RIGHT NOW! don’t endear your cause to me.

It’s Implotzable

It’s Implotzable
Eric Cantor says good-bye
It’s so implotzable

It’s Implotzable
Ask John Boehner not to cry
It’s just implotzable

Can I see this and not dance a jig of joy
Or want to yell Hot Damn Oh Boy
Split the second
That I will not celebrate
Oh, How Implotzable

Can the lemmings
Keep from rushing to the shore
It’s just implotzable

Since they told Brat
You know we love you more
Oh, how implotzable

And tomorrow
Should the voters change their minds
We’ll have to say forget it
EC sold his very soul
He’ll soon regret it
For his pockets to be lined

It’s just implotzable – implotzable -mmmmmmmm – implotzable

My Experience On A Florida Jury

While watching protests over the verdict in the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman case my own experience as a Fla. juror came to mind. It made me wonder if the jury instructions (delivered in closed court) were such that they COULDN’T find GZ Guilty of anything; such as “You may not consider whether the defendant brought about the situation leading to the death of Mr. Martin”. Last night, news reports somewhat confirmed my suspicion.

My experience, in brief: This was in 1978, I was living in Tampa. When I got the Summons To Appear, I gladly took the time to go to the courthouse to join the jury pool. As it happened, I was picked on the first round of questions/first case.

This was an armed robbery case. 2 Black men; one light skinned, one dark skinned; one with close cropped hair, one with a medium afro; one wearing one set of clothes, the other wearing something completely different. The man on trial was charged with Armed Robbery, he was the one holding the gun. Before being picked for this jury, we each had to affirm we understood we were to determine if he was the one holding the gun. That’s it.

Going by testimony, it was obvious the man had participated, but he was not the one holding the gun. The liquor store owners described a dark man with an afro wearing “whatever”. The defendant was light skinned, no trace of a ‘fro (we knew it was cut for jail so didn’t consider it), & the clothes shown to be the defendant’s were NOT the clothes  of the armed man as described by the owners.

When we were sent to the jury room, all 12 of us mentioned the discrepancies. We asked to have the testimony read back & to see the clothing again. Again, it was obvious the defendant had participated, but it was also obvious the wrong man was charged with Armed Robbery. It made us sick (a few of us literally), but being good little citizens obeying the Judge’s Instructions, we had to find him Not Guilty.

The Judge, both Attorneys, AND the Defendant all looked shocked. Hell, WE looked shocked, but we had to come up with that verdict, according to the law & the instructions.

Going by the outcome of the TM/GZ case, not much has changed in Florida Law in 35 years.

Guns

Or, What If The Students Had Been Armed?

 

This week, gun culture & responsibility have been in the news again (what a shock). Mostly because of the story of a 5 year old boy who accidentally shot his 2 year old sister with the kid sized rifle he was given recently. Mom was at home, but outside when the event occurred. It’s been ruled an accident.

 

Much gnashing of teeth over gun mfgrs. making & marketing “My First Rifle” to small children, & rightly so. Some things don’t belong in the hands of children: guns, alcohol, tobacco products (remember the hoo-ha about Joe Camel being used to sucker the kiddies into the nicotine habit?), drugs, etc. I agree with the outrage, but put the blame squarely on the parents or legal guardians.

 

Why? It’s one thing to teach a child to shoot a gun; in many areas, this is considered clean, wholesome, family fun. Take the kids hunting or to the range for target practice? Go for it. It’s another thing to think the 5 year old has any concept of what “killing” & “dead” are. These are unformed people who still believe wishing will make something so, who have a blurry line between fantasy & reality. Expecting a small child to understand pointing his cute little gun at someone, then pulling the trigger, may cause injury or death (and understanding those concepts) is preposterous.

 

WHY was the gun not locked away in a cabinet where the child couldn’t get to it without supervision? If there wasn’t a place to safely store it, WHY was there no lock on the gun itself? A small child picking up a gun, saying Bang! Bang! while playing Soldier, or Cowboy, or Hunter is common & to be expected – having it be a real gun with real ammo isn’t. This truly was a tragedy waiting to happen. (It also happened in Ak. this week, not getting as much Press coverage).

 

The usual suspects have all declared “This is not the time to discuss gun control or assign blame! These parents are grieving & hurting!” The HELL it isn’t! If a parent had a pot of boiling water on the stove & a toddler pulled it down on herself & suffered burns over most of her body, there would be outrage, charges of neglect, the parents investigated, & the kids probably taken away. Leave an unsecured/unlocked/loaded mini gun out where the child owner can get to it whenever he wants – without supervision – & that’s ok? I don’t think so! These parents should be brought up on charges. Period.

 

The NRA is holding their convention this week, it happens to be here in Houston. Of course speakers have chimed in about loony liberals & just another excuse for Obama to take your guns. Gawd forbid there be anything resembling introspection, or even just thought.

 

Today is the 43rd anniversary of the Kent State Shootings, where the National Guard was sent to keep the peace during an anti-war protest – armed with M1 rifles with fixed bayonets – & instead killed 4 students & injured 9 others.

I was musing on what would have happened if the Kent State students had been armed? Most of the “Establishment” (including our parents) deemed the actions of the Guard “a good thing”, because those kids were getting out of hand & trying to tear down the country. Oh, & were all Communists, too. What if, in that atmosphere, the campus had open carry? What if, the students had fired back? Would gun control have been passed immediately, because the wrong element was getting guns? Would there be any discussion about who could have military grade weapons, about 2nd Amendment Rights, about 2nd Amendment Remedies? I don’t believe there would be.

A Death In The (Civic) Family

This past week, Hurricane Sandy ravaged & savaged a good chunk of the US East Coast. Houses & businesses damaged or destroyed, coastline washed away, power sources knocked out, water supplies contaminated – the whole Hurrican Disaster Scenario.

The difference this time was the utter disinterest ahead of time by so many in the affected areas – after all, there was a big hoo-ha about Irene last year & nothing came of it (although people in Vermont could argue that point). So, a lot of people in the coastal & low lying areas stayed put, thought it would be great fun. Nope.

Power out to over 8 million people, subway & tunnels flooded, gasoline shortages for the few vehicles which could get through the flooded streets & for gas powered generators, entire neighborhoods burned down because fire trucks couldn’t get to the areas, Staten Island & Hoboken still under water, people trapped in their houses, 40 deaths. So, what is the subject of conversation today in the NYC area?

THE NEW YORK CITY MARATHON HAS BEEN CANCELLED!!!

A story in the New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/sports/marathons-cancellation-sure-to-carry-huge-costs.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20121104&_r=0 (may be behind paywall) gives both sides of the argument, although it’s mainly complaining about how much good it would have done for the city & should have proceeded as scheduled. Loss of tax revenue from hotels, restaurants, & other businesses along the route are given as one reason for bemoaning the cancellation; “It would make the City feel good!” is given as another reason to hold the race.

Let’s think this through. When the race was officially cancelled on Friday, a good chunk of the 5 boroughs & surrounding area were still without electricity, no water or questionable water quality, some places still under water. This is where you’re going to host 40,000+ out of towners? Doesn’t seem like a good idea. I realize a lot of these people had already arrived by the Friday afternoon cancellation, but telling everyone to come on & enjoy our half drowned & hurting City seems a bad idea.

As for “making the City feel good!” ? Really? No home, no food, no clean drinking water, some suffered deaths of family members or friends, but they want to go cheer on a bunch of people running through the City? You really think so?

This is so tone-deaf to the actual needs of the citizens, it’s a totally different song. When a close family member dies, the last thing wanted is a boisterous party, esp. if you don’t know how you’ll pay the expenses, pay outstanding bills,raise the kids, etc. Maybe in a month or two after the freshest of grief is passed & the money questions have been answered – not the same week. Granted, if it’s a distant cousin who died, you might not be as loathe to attend a party that week.

This was a death in the civic family, where neighborhoods died & others are barely on life support. Saying to the members of your civic family their pain & fear isn’t reason enough to cancel a party in what’s left of their yards is heartless, & so callous as to question the humanity of all who question the decision.

A Woman Can’t Get Pregnant…

Or, The Lies Our Mothers Told Us & Why Men Believe Them

Women of a certain age will remember being told:

You can’t get pregnant the first time.

You can’t get pregnant if you’re raped.

You can’t get pregnant if it’s that time of the month (euphemizing for the squeamish).

We were told these things by our mothers, to keep us on the straight & narrow (and to prevent us from doing anything oogy in the case of point 3). If a girl got in trouble, it was her own fault – not just for having sex, but for having it multiple times! (see point 1).

This thinking helps (certain) men feel better about themselves, because it means it’s not their fault. Your wife hasn’t conceived? Not your fault men!, she just doesn’t WANT to be pregnant yet. Have a passel of daughters, but no son to carry on the name? HER fault – the female body accepts or rejects the correct sperm.

Never mind conception can happen the first time or the one thousandth, it can happen from consensual sex or rape, it can happen any time of the month (although some “times” ARE more likely than others).

Never mind some couples go broke using IVF treatments to have children – it’s HER body that’s zapping the little swimmers, keeping them from the spawning grounds.

After all, who needs science, who needs facts? We know what our mothers told us & they’d *never* lie to us – would they?

(although, if you’re a female ninja, apparently you can use Vagina Bubbles From Hell against your attacker…   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxwriDF4DOs )

Which Side Of The Fence? Tired of BS Forwards

Another RW Forward On My FaceBook Page

I generally ignore this stuff, but not today. My reply to the person who posted this:

Point 1: Democrats want to ban assault & automatic weapons. Lots of Dems own lots of guns. YES! Really!

Point 2: I call BS on this. Where would anyone get such an idea?

Point 3: No one demands legislated respect, we demand equal rights for all – period.

Point 4: I didn’t think there were any down & out Republicans? They keep voting for the people who will screw over any one who isn’t them, so they must all be rich. The rest, BS.

Point 5: Golly! You mean like when Letterman got the name of the Palin daughter wrong & everyone on the Right was INCENSED! & tried to get him cancelled? Like that?

Point 6: No, we go by the Constitution as written – keep your religion out of our government, government stays out of your religion (you know, the reason religious institutions pay no taxes?)

Point 7: As a rule, when one needs “health care”, there’s no time to go shopping for it, so again BS. Unless you mean Health INSURANCE? Guess what, we shop around, too.

Point 8: No, Dems would forward this too, because we’d all be laughing at AND feeling sorry for the people who are stupid & sheeplike enough to believe it.

Killing All The Right People

Of Guns In America, Sorry News Coverage, & Public Apathy

Way back in 1987, there was an episode of the program “Designing Women”, with the above title. A gay fellow designer asked the Women to design his funeral as he was dying of AIDS (back when it was a definite death sentence). An old friend/customer heard about it & smugly said the disease had one thing going for it, it was killing all the right people (because gay sex is an abomination, sinful, etc.).

A few weeks ago, there was a mass shooting (17) at a bar in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. If I hadn’t read about it from Twitter links, I never would have heard about it. 3 days later, there was another mass shooting (12 dead, 58 wounded) at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. After a few days of non-stop coverage, the title phrase jumped into my head, wondering why no wall to wall coverage about the bar shooting? Did they deserve it, should they have expected it since they were in a bar?

2 days ago, another mass shooting, on a smaller scale (as if that should make a difference)at a Sikh Temple outside of Milwaukee, Wisconsin – 7 dead, 3 injured. Non stop coverage, outrage from some quarters, although readers at Fox Nation considered the story Inspiring – go figure.

Some people said if it had been a Christian Church, there would have been more outrage. I thought back to the Black Christian Churches being bombed & torched back in the ’60s, so no. What about White Churches – that would make a difference in attitude? Remember a few years ago, Dr. Tiller was murdered in his White Christian Church? There was cheering in some quarters, because he provided late term abortions.

Then I got to thinking about the daily gun violence in this country. It was touched on during the Drs. press conference in Milwaukee yesterday, how 3 or more shooting victims a day coming into their Trauma Center is quite common.

Where is the outrage? Why is this not in the news every single day? Are gun fatalities a terrible thing only in certain situations? Do you deserve to die if you’re sitting in a bar, or have brown skin, or perform abortions? I would first think it’s that we’ve become so jaded about gun violence that it takes a mass shooting to shock us back into awareness. Except, there was no huge outcry (or coverage) after that bar shooting.

Is it because too many believe these shootings really ARE killing all the right people?

Of Pussies, Cunts, Bitches, & Hos

Or, If My Genitalia Is So Distasteful, Why Are You Always After It?

A few months ago, Ed Schultz of MSNBC made a comment on his non-MSNBC related radio show insulting a Right leaning radio host. He called her a “Right Wing Slut”. The blogosphere & media went nuts, HOW DARE HE???!!! He was suspended from his tv program for a week, even though he made the comment on his radio show.

The crime? Calling a woman a slut. I’m guessing he meant to say “Fame Whore” or “Media Whore”, which would have earned the same reaction. If he had made the comment about a man, it would have been “understood” & let pass. Call a woman a female related derogatory name & all Hell breaks loose.

It got me wondering once again why it’s ok to use female based pejoratives toward men, but not toward women – why it’s ok to use them at all? Call a man a “pussy” or a group you dislike/disagree with “pussies”, & it’s understood to mean they are cowards, are weak, aren’t MANLY MEN.Therefore, they must be “womanish”.

Excuse me? I’m a woman, I have what’s popularly referred to as a “pussy”/”cunt”/”snatch”/”box”/take your pick. I’m neither weak nor a coward, I’m not mentally defective or irrational (not even on certain days of the month), & find it highly insulting that the genitalia assigned to my gender is used as an insult – to anyone.

That brings me to some other words & phrases which are part of our lingo: He hits/throws like a girl. EEK! The ultimate insult in sports Why? I’ve seen plenty of girls & women out hit & have more accurate aim than many boys & men. Heck, I’m stronger than a lot of the male customers who come here. I’ll carry a 17” CRT monitor in one arm while they’re struggling to walk carrying with both arms. Why? I do it a lot, have built up my arm muscles. Female athletes build the muscles they need for their sports & could easily out-do non-athletic men at that sport. It isn’t a matter of genitals or hormones.

How about “That woman is a cunt”? She’s only labia & clitoris with legs? Quick, call Geraldo! Seriously, how did calling a woman her genitals become an insult? It’s thinking a woman is ONLY her genitals that’s the insult. No penis & testicles? You’re not worthy of living (or even just respect).

Then there’s the recent habit of women (mostly teen girls) calling their friends their Bitches. You hang with female dogs? I think you need a new crew. I’m guessing this comes from Hip Hop culture, where all women are Bitches or Hos. Again, a female is only good for bedding, then get back in the closet until you’re needed again. Oh, yeah – I wanna be a part of that.

Do men subconsciously equate the female genitals with being castrated (totally)? Is that why all the female related insults directed toward their brothers? I honestly have no idea. If it makes them feel any better, I’ve read the genitalia is actually the same, except the female testes are inside (ovaries) & the penis is compacted to the clitoris*. And we do pretty good with our compact versions. 😉

* Similarities At Conception & Birth