(I’ll bet this guy would agree with me…)

I was originally going to post the following as a comment on this post in the Fresno Beehive, but it got too long, so decided to sound off here in my private corner.

Mother Earth dying…

Um. Not really.

She goes through cooling and warming trends over the millenia, and what’s happening now is no different than what has been happening for millions of years.

When there weren’t as many people on the rock with all their huge cities and instant communications, these sorts of things weren’t globally noticed. But now we know instantly when there’s tidal surge on the other side of the world. This stuff happens.

Then Algore finishes “inventing the internet”, and decides to invent a new emotional global crisis as well. And gets awards he doesn’t deserve for something that isn’t accurate, when other people who have contributed far more to humankind (especially in peace AND entertainment) than he has are ignored.

And then people run around screaming “the sky is falling, the sky is falling”, and see portents of doom in natural climate changes. Because Algore ghost wrote a book and made a movie.

Mother Earth is not dying. She’s just doing what she does. She’s moving air and water and earth all over herself as she always has, in response to lunar and solar influence. Because those heavenly bodies move in cycles as well.

The puny humans crawling all over the earth just have to learn to deal with it. Adapt. That’s what we did to get where we are. But suddenly, now, we think we can halt the inevitable, and natural, shift of climate, and keep the climate right where we want it to stay.

And THAT is a bad idea, one… because it wouldn’t be healthy for “mother earth” to do that, and two… because it won’t work anyway. (I’m not saying that gives us leave to toss our styrofoam cups in the ocean. Don’t get me wrong.) We’re better off making efforts to find ways to adapt to what HAS happened and IS happening, and finding ways to reduce our petroleum dependence for fuel. Petroleum has many other uses that can’t be ignored, but when we have viable alternatives for fuel, why are we not using them where it makes sense?

The earth will not die. Various species might; and if people don’t figure out how to live efficiently, the human species might, but the earth… it will still be here (provided we don’t blow it up because of the inability for world leaders to get their heads out of their collective asses and realize THE PEOPLE don’t give a shit about global dominance… we just want to be able to feed our kids, and enjoy our lives).

Earth will still be here, moving air and water and dirt all over itself.

Mother Earth is not dying. But people are. Let’s focus on the people, hey?

(For the record, I do not see the planet as a female entity. It’s a planet. A rock in space with stuff on it. The whole “she” thing is just a response to the title of the Beehive post.)

Addendum:

Thanks for the link to that, Steve.

And where, oh where, is MY Charlton Heston?
Sigh.

Letterman is a douche bag. Or, at least, he’s a moron that doesn’t preview the jokes prepared by douchebag writers. He’s consistently crotchety, cranky, rude, crass, and not at all respectful toward women. But he doesn’t need to lose his job over it.

Sarah Palin needs to learn to be ABOVE this kind of inflammatory nonsense. A simple, “I am disappointed that such a well-known funny man would so recklessly risk being identified as finding statutory rape and abuse of a teen as a source of comedy. It is not funny, nor is open misogyny.” would suffice.

And that should be that.

But instead, we have calls for his being fired.

That’s like insisting that a private citizen who donated to the Prop 8 campaign be fired from his job because of his personal moral beliefs. Just because someone believes and supports something others don’t agree with does NOT mean they should lose a job over it unless it is directly interfering with that person’s ability to perform job duties.

David Letterman is sometimes amusing, sometimes not. I don’t find it funny when a person disparages a woman for being a woman. Sarah Palin is not everyone’s favorite political figure. There are folks who didn’t vote for McCain simply because they didn’t like HER, even though they were ok with him. So America has already shown its preference.

This is what makes her an easy target for hack writers who can’t find anything better to make jokes about. So what if she was in New York? Why call attention to it? Because you need attention to make a showing against a competing network late night talk show that’s got new and interesting things going on. It’s just a cheap shot.

That’s ALL late night talk show jokes are about. They’re cheap shots. Some are just classier about it than others.

So let’s treat it like that’s what it is. Express disappointment. Boycott advertisers if you wish. I unknowingly boycott 99% of those advertisers because I’m jobless, can’t pay my bills as they are, and have no money to not support them with ANYway. I have far bigger things to worry about than David Letterman behaving rudely.

Don’t say the man should be fired. Just let him be the same crass-tastic jerk he’s always been on television.

And leave Sarah Palin out of the news. For heaven’s sake. Let the woman go see a ball game with her family if she wants! If she starts running for office again… then she’s fair game, and knows that’s the price you pay for being in the public eye. Until then, let her quietly be the middle class governor of Alaska who is NOT our current vice president.

Alaskans might care about her antics in New York, but really… the rest of us don’t. And she’s not funny. Her young daughters are not funny. And no, she does NOT look like a slutty stewardess, no matter how much you might LIKE her to be one in your fantasies.

Which brings me to another point. I could write pages and pages on the way women who have run for political office are portrayed. Chicks on all sides of the political spectrum are portrayed alternately as cold-hearted, bitchy, and sexless, or brainless, slutty and irrelevant; none of which ANY of the women who have made it to ANY political office are. There is no happy medium for a woman. If you prove efficient and determined, you’re a calculating bitch. Yet if you show you have a heart and feelings, you’re too emotional. If you exhibit a sense of personal style and grooming, you’re slutty or trying too hard, or calling undue attention to your femininity when you should be paying attention to the issues at hand. But if you don’t make an attempt at being attractive, then you’re not a real woman, and you’re clearly too cold and heartless to be a good person.

You can’t win, ladies. And you have to be FAR stronger than any man to soldier on.

And God forbid you have a family. If you do, expect them to be dragged into the muck right along with you.

No, the only woman who stands a chance in the world of governance is a woman who HAS demonstrated that she has a heart, but has clearly sacrificed all for her public alone, and no longer has personal impediments to distract her from caring for the public and the job at hand. She must have been human, but have moved on to a saintly aloofness. She must be visibly touched, but remain untouchable. Jibes at her personal life or her past must be utterly beyond her concern, while she is only openly concerned about others, and their plight. And it ALL has to be utterly honest and genuine. The public can smell insincerity from across the globe.

The woman who would be a public servant must truly sacrifice herself entirely in service to the public. No man ever has to sacrifice as much to hold office as a woman does. And I honestly think THIS is why we still have not had a woman president. No woman can be both sexless and sexy, cold and warm-hearted, innocent and beyond reproach, yet knowledgeable and savvy all at once. If she is appreciated for her femininity, she is not completely respected as a leader. If she is respected as a leader, she is not completely appreciated as a woman. Our society demands that women be either one or the other entirely, and still can not handle the fact that many (most) women have the innate capacity for all of these things combined.

I’m not saying it’s right. I’m just saying that’s the way it is, even in our so-called modern and enlightened society.

I’m talking about Sarah Palin.

PLEASE, media, STOP TALKING ABOUT HER.

The more you vilify this woman, the more you prove the points I’m about to make.

1. She really is a lot more respresentative of the average American than anyone wants to admit. You think HER faux pas about Africa and being able to see Russia from her front door are bad? Do you KNOW how much the average American knows about national geography, let ALONE world geography? Do you? Leave her alone about this.

2. The clothes. Who the fuck CARES what was spent on making her look like someone the American public would pay attention to? It has been proven OVER and over again that the general public, the sheeple, will stare with rapt attention at people wearing ‘brands’, people who are considered “stylish”. Do you imagine that Hillary was wearing Wal Mart when she was campaigning? And to take it another step… does anyone question where male candidates got their natty, well-tailored suits and shiny shoes? Why do we CARE what the woman was wearing? And why do we CARE that the rest of her family was made to be presentable, not only to the nation, but to the world, as people who MIGHT be hanging out around the White House, and the seat of our government? Let it go. Leave the clothes alone. They didn’t win. She’s not keeping the clothes. The Republicans have to pay for them and donate them to charity. It’s a non-issue.

3. SO… who’s exhibiting a serious case of sour grapes? “We lost. TURN ON THE WOMAN!” This would never be tolerated from liberals, no matter HOW much of a harpy or horror the liberal female candidate was.

4. Why is it that conservative women are portrayed one of two ways in the media? The first way… what? She’s hot? Then she has no brain, she’s vacuous, and doesn’t make her own decisions. She follows blindly along whatever the men are saying, and boy doesn’t that make her a terribly misguided person. OR… She’s smart? She is focused, and wants to stand for her beliefs, and she does NOT follow blindly along? Well… then… she’s just a harpy, a bitch, a worthless excuse for a woman. You can’t portray a liberal woman this way, but by cracky, if it’s a conservative woman, she’s a free target. You can talk about her sex appeal. You can talk about her conservative behavior, you can alternately praise or skewer her choice of wardrobe. But heaven forbid anyone should actually look at her objectively and realize she is where she is because people somewhere approved and responded to her, her ideals, her politics, and her integrity. But… nope. Can’t admit that. We’ve watched it happen over and over. A conservative woman in a position of responsibility has to be 100 times more fireproof and bulletproof than any liberal woman in a position of responsibility.

I wonder if that’s because conservative women actually DO value appearance, and openly admit it… while there are many liberal women who probably also value it, but would never publicly admit it, because that would be admitting to some difference in the general perception people have of women vs. men.

I just wonder.

Anyway… all I can say is I’m sick, tired, utterly EXHAUSTED by the sniping.

I may or may not agree with everything Sarah Palin believes and represents, but there ARE a lot of things about her that I DO identify with.

She’s a mom. She’s strong-willed, and despite what the media would have you believe, she’s also strong-minded. She DOES represent a lot of people around the country. Obama won by a landslide of electoral college votes, but the popular vote was a closer thing. She’s likes to shoot things.

So let’s leave it alone. It’s done. It’s over. And SHAME on the Republican “leaks” that are telling tales. The lost. They’re sore. And they’re taking it out on the person that was on their side. It’s just like the child that resents mommy when they don’t get their way.

Real mature, Republicans. REAL mature.

Address this now.

Clearly.

MORE concisely than this, and this.

Without evasion.

Or lose me forever.

I need to know more than the fact that you “take responsibility”. I need to know how this could have happened… and if it has happened before, how I will know it will not happen again. After all… a president that allows people like that to represent him in the past COULD make a similar mistake as president. I don’t want appointees in ANY capacity that could perpetuate this kind of disgusting crap.

I’m a reasonable person. Reason with me. Don’t disappoint me.

Should I be scared?

In class today…

The marine said:

“Elections are like buying a puppy at the pet store… When you go to look at them, they’re all jumping around in the window… ‘Pick me! Pick me!’ “

The navy guy replied:

“Yeah, and it doesn’t matter which one you take home… it pees on your floor.”

for thinking Ron Paul is the best choice we have for president, regardless of party. A few have even said things to make me reconsider that choice…

then I read shit like THIS
Clergy to be used to quell dissent

(link forwarded to me by a friend)

A brief quote from that article:

So government orders to abandon homes, turn over guns, leave livestock behind, or whatever would come to the minds of various officials during an “emergency,” would be easier for people to accept, the report indicated.

The report said one of the biggest tools the clergy members would use would be the Bible itself, specifically Romans 13, where Tuberville said the Bible states “the government’s established by the Lord, you know. And, that’s what we believe in the Christian faith. That’s what’s stated in the Scripture.”

Civil rights advocates have raised questions about the idea of using clergy in such a fashion, noting the balance clergy would have to maintain when asked to do what the government wants under color of their status as a religious leader.

A blogger for the Christian education site, Chalcedon noted that the training has been going on in secret for over a year already.

“The clergy are being advised to use Romans 13 to encourage parishioners to submit to the sudden and massive expansion of government control that takes place during martial law,” the writer said.

Read the whole thing. A little scary, no?

And do you think there’s still justice and equality in this nation? Really?

Is there?

Read these and see if you still think so.

Woman arrested for not watering her lawn.
Then read the comments.

So, granny needs to be carted off to jail for not watering her lawn? Ok, so technically she broke the law… let’s prosecute to the full extent yah?

Don’t get your dander up, keep reading here…

RHE man gets jail time for property fixes

Quotes from the article (that seems to have mysteriously disappeared from the news site):

He did not get permits or undo changes before deadline. He will appeal six-month sentence.
He built a fence, a retaining wall, a patio and a few concrete columns to decorate his driveway, and now Francisco Linares is going to jail for it.

Linares had been given six months to get final permits for the offending structures or remove them as part of a plea agreement reached in January, when he pleaded no contest to five misdemeanor counts of violating the Rolling Hills Estates building code.

…
The 51-year-old bought the nearly 1-acre property in the 4600 block of Palos Verdes Drive North in 1998. After tearing down an adobe house on the site and building a 3,000-square-foot French-style home, he began landscaping.

When Linares asked the city to repair the white three-railed fence behind his house, he was told it was on his property and his responsibility. So he replaced the termite-infested planks. Then the city reversed itself and said Linares had illegally built the fence on city property.

…
At the sentencing, Hamar said his client was a good Christian man who has never committed a crime and who worked diligently – 142 hours – to try to resolve the issues with the city.

And the only reason he was not able to complete the stipulations of the plea agreement, he said, was because of the city’s confusing building codes and negligence in rendering a decision on his permit applications.

“We established that he did everything that was humanly possible to comply. And the un-rebutted evidence is that (the city) hasn’t ruled on the permits,” Hamar said. “To … do something as harsh as put a good man in jail for six months, you got to look at the impact on society. What will society gain if you put this man in jail?”

The comments on the article, however, remain.

So… again, TECHNICALLY breaking laws… but nothing the man is doing is hurting ANYbody. He doesn’t even have the freedom to improve his own property. Yeah. Six months in jail for that.

Oh, but here’s some justice and equality for you:

Nicole Richie quickly sprung from jail

By DAISY NGUYEN, Associated Press Writer
Aug 24, 2007
LOS ANGELES – Nicole Richie was released from jail Thursday after serving 82 minutes of a four-day sentence for driving under the influence of drugs.

Or how about this?

Lohan gets 1 day in jail on DUI plea

By SANDY COHEN, AP Entertainment Writer
Thu Aug 23, 11:30 PM ET
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – Lindsay Lohan reached a plea deal Thursday on misdemeanor drunken driving and cocaine charges that calls for her to spend one day in jail, serve 10 days of community service and complete a drug treatment program.

Lohan was charged earlier in the day with seven misdemeanors stemming from two drunken-driving arrests in the last four months. More serious felony drug charges were not filed, prosecutors said, because tests showed there wasn’t enough cocaine on her to warrant them.

Attorney Blair Berk (who also represented Mel Gibson in his drunken-driving case) entered pleas on Lohan’s behalf: she pleaded guilty to two counts of being under the influence of cocaine; no contest to two counts of driving with a blood-alcohol level above .08 percent and one count of reckless driving. Two counts of driving under the influence were dropped.

The judge sentenced Lohan to 96 hours in jail, the mandatory minimum for a second drunken-driving offense. Lohan was given credit for 24 hours already served, and she elected to complete 10 days of community service instead of 48 hours behind bars — an option available to all two-time DUI offenders. She still must serve the balance of her sentence — 24 hours — in city or county jail, Meyers said.

A trip to jail for not watering your lawn… 6 months in jail because the city can’t make up its damned mind. Not endangering anybody, but sorry… it’s the LAW…

Except hey… get drunk, take drugs, get in a car, endanger anybody who is unfortunate enough to cross your path… and you get… less than 24 hours in jail?

Well, ok, if you’re a spoiled Hollywood starlet.

If I pulled that shit they’d leave me in there for MONTHS.

What we NEED is a return to the values of common sense and decency. Common sense and decency would dictate that a little old lady probably doesn’t need to go to jail for not watering her lawn, and some other way could be found to resolve that situation. Common sense and decency tell us that a man who only wanted to improve his own property also does not need to go to jail… instead… dialogue and an effort toward efficiency might solve this problem.

Common sense and decency are SCREAMING at us that these confused, misguided, and vacuous wastes of air, water, and space need to have their butts spanked and should be required to do REAL honest work (not the fake ‘reality tv’ kind, or the prancing around in front of a camera kind). Somehow, somewhere, somebody needs to teach these darlings some self-restraint and responsibility… but they aren’t going to learn that by not having to abide by the LAW…

No, the only people who have to abide by the LAW are people who already do what they can to get by, and are just trying to live a decent life.

People who have no regard for anyone but themselves… well… apparently they’re above the LAW.

So… I see things like this, read about this stuff… and then I ask myself… “Where is America’s role model for common sense and decency? Where is America’s role model for logic, and Constitutional Rights?”

Uh, yeah.

His name is Ron Paul. And he’s the only REAL choice. Not slick. Not packaged.

Just a man trying to do what’s right for AMERICA… not himself and interests that pay him.

because I think he’s, well, interesting.

An article.