The Hideous Terminology of "The Fallen"

They're terminal, I agree, but they didn't 'fall', they were killed. Under the 'reign' of this president, when we are told (on September 11, 2001) that the only way we, as true Americans can show our 'patriotism' is to go out and shop, I believe that in our everyday lives we've lost sight of the fact that these soldiers didn't "fall", they were sent to their deaths for a stake in the Middle East oil. They were killed, and the use of hideous euphemisms like 'fallen' only serves to denigrate what's been done to them.
Now on NPR this morning, as a true sign of how far from grace that corporation has 'fallen' and sunk into the mud of political conformity, they recommend buying rock, pop and hip-hop records from the Armed Forces label, "For the Fallen". Again, I urge Americans to remember that these soldiers did not 'fall'; they weren't hiking and stumbled off a trail; they weren't bicycling and hit a pebble; they weren't skateboarding and lost it, they were yanked from their families, sent to war, were blown up, shot and died. No amount of calling it fallen, or shopping in the name of patriotism, or ignoring the harm that this president's term in office has done to our so-called quest for peace or our country's world-wide reputation, can change this. The young, old and middle-aged people in this country need to band together and reject being labeled unpatriotic because we either don't agree with our governmental policies or want to spend our entire lives with only shopping for a pasttime. If this means rejecting the new politically correct messages of NPR, then so be it. Your board needs to know that calling it a "bureau" in L.A. and a "bureau" in Washington, D.C. is laughable, and no longer legitimizes your reporting. And the existence of a presence on each coast does NOT make your corporation centrist. You are still, obviously a corporation, and I mean that as a pejorative term.

Open Letter to Bob Dylan

I know; we all have to navigate to where the money is, but I recently got your DVD, "Live at the Newport Film Festival; The Other Side of the Mirror", as a Christmas gift from my son, and had an urge to listen to more of your current stuff, especially the DJ program on satellite. Sadly for me, as I have a limited fixed income (read Social Security here; we were born in the same year) I am one of the many who can't convince myself that cable TV and satellite radio, as tempting as they appear, are more important than food, clothing, medicine and/or gasoline. Which got me thinking about how, at this point in your life, rather than being a voice that occasionally points up the ludicrous and inequitable in our society, your contemporary works have become available only to the 'much richer than I' crowd. I can see the irony in this, how about you?

Seasons Greetings to all!

Contrary to the hideous undercurrents now swirling in popular culture against "Political Correctness", I really like the "Seasons Greetings" stuff and the "Happy Holidays" stuff. I think it's much kinder to include people, even us agnostics, in the holiday color, lights and cheer. It's a lot easier on my psyche to make myself be cheerful, than it is to let myself sink into the abyss of, "Another year and I still don't have enough friends or money".
So whatever your persuasion at the Winter Solstice, hope this coming year is your best year ever. Happy Everything, that's going to be my motto this season. And bring on the bowl games, I'm anxious to see Ohio State get stomped into a bowl of mashed buckeyes. (My rabbit ears are up) Heh heh.

The FCC Sucks

They used to be inefficient and undermanned. That may still be true, but now they've been corrupted by the corporate and K-Street crowd as well. This latest ruling, loosening the media ownership rules, a play straight from the Neo-Cons book, is astounding. Just in my lifetime (1941 - ) they've gone from being "Guardians of the Airwaves" to selling them to the highest bidder. And when the Dems were in power after that doddering Reagon, they did nothing to reverse the trend. Decided that stations did NOT have to provide "Equal Access" was Reagon's claim to fame and gift to his rich friends in the broadcast industry.
My first interaction with the FCC was way back in 1977. I had a neighbor with a ham radio that was so powerful that it came in on my toaster every morning, and took over my television at night. I got to listen to his too salty language and neanderthal opinions on everything. When I finally got desperate and tried to contact them, I got a six month run-a-round. When I complained about that, I was told that they had "one agent, for the entire Midwest," and I would just have to wait my turn. A year later, I moved. No one had re-contacted me or him either....and my very first, calm complaint to the neighbor netted me some foul-mouthed threats and an ice-picked tire.
I have thrown in the towel on this administration. Although, as profitable as the Clinton years were for me personally, Bill did pass the law saying we had to pay income tax on our unemployment. What the hell kind of thinking was that??? Just give us less money, it makes no sense to me at all to give it to us and then take it back. At least they have yet to tax my $25 per month food stamps. That's next, I guess.

Almost all the Christmas cards are in the mail...

Sure they are. If you believe that I've got a bridge to sell you. So, to all my family, "Your card is in the mail."
And speaking of selling, I bought something on Ebay last week, and it was easy. Never tried it before, because I was a sissy, but it was simple, and I didn't have to use PayDevil. I didn't realize that if you left them a top bid amount, they would not use it unless they had to. I just made a bid, entered my top bid, and since no one else bid on it.....I got it for the original bid. Cool!
Now, what can I put up for sale????

Stand back everyone, I'm Dutch

First Blog! Here I go, stepping off the cliff.