I grew up reading comic books wanting to be a superhero. Comics taught me that those who speak the truth are heroes, all the rest are liars.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Minnesota Cow Tipping

The Minnesota GOP still doesn't get it.
Even after adjourning without balancing the budget, the GOP are still talking about cuts to services to pay for the tax cuts they gave to the wealthy at the start of the session....Give me a break! Is it too much to say...EVERYONE should share the pain of economic downturn and the cost of fixing government? And oh yeah, that shared cost should be equally distributed among us all not just the poorest!

Long ago the GOP traded reasonableness and the ability to negotiate in exchange for a far right ideology serving only special interest and corporations. While many feel the Minnesota GOP have lost their way if you call them on it, they react like children, no, not by smashing things or holding their breaths til blue, but by making everybody else as miserable as possible to get their own way...can you say government shut down?

Just like their WA.DC. counterparts, the MN GOP will tell you to not expect anything from government but then corporations and the wealthy deserve their help:

"The U.S. Supreme Court has deemed corporations are persons. It may have to give the same status to renters. That would help Speaker Zellers remember the $180 million increase in net taxes on renters he and his caucus have voted for by cutting the renters' credit."

The poorest among us is to sustain the government cuts by decrease funding and services...it's like taking your rich uncle to a steak house while telling grandma she can have a can of dog food....These are not nice people!

Their plan from the start was to cut taxes for the wealthy, privatize everything, cut services, but spend and grow government for social issues that they approve of like marriage amendments and voter ids.... and their formula besides being flawed, can't work when the burden is continued upon the wallets of the working poor.

T-Paw (yawn) announced something
....the most boring white candidate announced this week...yawn..oh sorry having trouble staying awake for this one...Ex MN Governor Tim Pawlenty announced his candidacy (yawn...oh so tired) for President. Sorry I missed the announcement because there was so much more important things going on (chose any) the dog needed working, I had a fingernail that needed clipping, the rapture needed rescheduling.

Bachmann announces she might announce
What I wouldn't give for Batcrap Bachmann to go back to where she came from.. forever: “Oh, goodness, being born in Iowa gives every advantage — every advantage a girl would want to have,” Ms. Bachmann said. “There is no downside to being born in Iowa.”

Is it just me or does Iowa seem like a waiting room for hell...so eloquent put by Claude R. Porter..."Iowa will go Democratic when Hell goes Methodist," So naturally, they get first dibs on who the next viable Democratic President candidate will be...talk about broken processes, but I knew that by what happen to Mr. Dean.

Have a nice extended weekend!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Michele 'Ms. PotatoHead' Bachmann Vells

I like my potatoes fully loaded...butter, bacon bits, sour cream, chives, salt, pepper, even a little cheese...such is the things that dreams are made of...Minnesota's own favorite wack case, world teabagger queen and soon 'to decide' Presidential candidate...Rep. Michele 'Ms. PotatoHead' Bachmann is velling about the federal government (yes again...sigh) proposal to limit the use of potatoes in school lunches. "Where in the Constitution does it say the fed. government should regulate potatoes in school lunches?" she tweets. "It doesn’t."

She's right it doesn't...nor does it limit setting standards/safety/health in any of the following industries: education, medical, construction, flight, agriculture, manufacturing...but that doesn't make regulation wrong, immoral, against the government or more importantly against the public good. It's done all the time for the good of all.

In this case...our kids are fat...they got that way for a variety of reasons from the sedate life styles of TV, vidoe games and online social networking to poor food choices. According to the U.S. National Survey of Children's Health, the obesity rate among children grew from 14.8 percent in 2003 to 16.4 percent in 2007 with estimates now being as high at 25% ! Replacing potatoes with vegetables won't help the potato industry, but it will cut down on unnecessary starches in school lunches by setting a better menu replacement.

"The proposed change is part of a push to make school meals healthier, with more nutrient-rich vegetables and fewer French fries. Under the USDA proposal, school cafeterias would have to limit starchy vegetables such as potatoes, corn, peas and lima beans to a total of one cup per week for lunch."


The National Potato Council has started a "Tell USDA to Keep Potatoes in Schools!" campaign. The Council calls the spud affordable and "kid pleasing," adding "familiar shapes make lunchtime fun." Hmm, that may be so, but when did fun and pleasing become the benchmark for school lunches? If that was the case we would include candy cigarettes for dessert!

Besides, where does it say in the constitution that government shouldn't make school lunches more balanced and healthy? Here's a lesson for the newly animated talking Michele 'Ms. Potatohead' Bachmann...Elected officials should look out for the interest of our children's health over the potato lobbyist.





And yes I know it doesn't say that in the constitution either, whatyathink I got mash potatoes for brains?



Holy Modal Rounders...




Wednesday, May 11, 2011

In Minnesota Every Day Is Friday the 13th

My youngest child was born on a Friday the 13th. I wanted to name her Erie but it was vetoed by my hubby... so she ended up being named Raven (which still suited the Friday the 13th mystic)...but she really doesn't... Raven is a shiny light of sweet, sweet goodness with a heart of gold. Needless to say...with her birth, no Friday the 13ths has a bad connotation for me....in fact I think of them as rather lucky because of her.


But if you use the darker, more sinister meaning as a guide, then every day in Minnesota has turned into a Friday the 13th. Templar Knights aren't being hunted down and killed (yet)...but it is indeed dark days in Minnesota. With only ten days left in the regular session, the GOP house/senate has yet to pass on to Governor Dayton a balanced budget. Instead the GOP representatives spend their time working on breaking every last one of their campaign promises. Last year most the GOP ran on...

Creating jobs...Jobs created so far...ZERO


No spending without the money... but social issues like anti-marriage amendments and voter IDs are exempt to their spending freeze.


Balance the budget...hasn't happen and in fact, they cut taxes at the start of the session on corporations and the wealthiest among us while advocating to eliminate health care for the poorest (got to pay for those tax cuts somehow?!).


Less Government...the GOP are willing to cut state funding for education, health care and jobs, but want to pay for more Government in our private lives by dictating a women's reproductive rights, telling us we can't marry someone we love, and instituting unnecessary voter IDs. They are supporting and promoting costly amendments that will hamper job creation while expanding the role and cost of government into our lives.

The GOP spend their time in session debating global warming, introducing bills to have speeding infractions not show on their records, why CO2 emissions aren't bad and cutting services for women and children.

This week, one Republicans discussion was a bill regarding the lights on restored antique emergency vehicles such as fire trucks used in parades. Representative Hilstrom said it best when she stated "we are 12 days away from adjournment and we are talking about the emergency lights on antique vehicles. Members it is time to get to the work of balancing the budget."

The time to work on the budget was all session long but instead, they were busy breaking every last campaign promise made last year...spending state money and using state resources to expanded Government into our private lives with ZERO job growth. If they were waiting for an omen to get to work on a budget ...well Friday the 13th has arrived in Minnesota!


Have a great weekend...stay dry..

Friday, May 06, 2011

More Billionaire Bonanzas For The Fortunate Few Not Going Broke

I'm usually not so forgetful but for the life of me...I can't remember what exactly President Obama did to win the Nobel peace prize other than replace Bush Jr. While that alone could have accounted for it, the fact remains that commander and chief Obama has hit the trifecta of war...not to mention kicking in doors and killing bad guys without due process...

Has the prize ever been rescinded? Should be. Really they should just kick in his door and take it with out any trial, hearing, due process...just saying...Democracy isn't just for special occasions when we feel like it, it's unconditionally for all occasions. That's the only way it will work.

IS America Trickling Down?
In these very hard economic times profits at largest 500 corporations grew by 81% in 2010. So much for Obama's plan to destroy capitalism...Did your income grow 81% in 2010? Did it even keep up with inflation and rising gas prices? Still that won't stop Obama from farting more rainbow catch phases like 'yes we can' 'change' 'hope' or my personal favorite 'let's be clear'. Times up, words are meaningless, the proof is in the pudding and Obama hasn't even been inside the kitchen let alone mixing!

The administration is touting how great the unemployment figure released today was...just edging up from 8.8 to 9 %...wtf?! There are 13.7 million unemployed Americans looking for work...and countless others who have given up. There's nothing remotely positive about the figures released today no matter how the politicos and media spin it...America needs JOBs now.

And about those that are fortunate enough to have jobs...after adjusting for inflation, pay for production and non-supervisory workers (80 percent of the private workforce) is 9% lower than it was in 1973.


Our nation can no longer afford to ignore the suffering of the unemployed who so desperately want to get back to productive work. Nor can we afford to indulge our leaders’ penchant for delay and political posturing, which comes at the expense of millions of working American families who are hurting. What we need now are bold approaches to economic recovery that will produce jobs. -Mark Ayers

Americans are going broke at a staggering pace. 1.41 million Americans filed for personal bankruptcy in 2009 - a 32 percent increase over 2008. In 2010 it was a 41% increase...all the while corporations and the top 3% are lining their pockets with obscene profits.

Don't settle for the fairy tales being spun... Are you personally better off? Is your family members, neighbors, friends better off? Where's the jobs?

We're number 1!
I'm number 384, beaten out by names spawned from the twilight series...scary isn't it. Those same folks naming kids after vampires and werewolves are also deciding if you get reproduction rights, voter ID, and to marry whomever you want....even more scary.

Monday, May 02, 2011

Oh Look More Bright Shiny Objects Instead of JOBS!

I answered the call that Howard Dean put out...'take back your country'...and with 'stars in my eyes' I jumped into the frying pan hoping to 'make a difference'. But these days, I'm more than a little frustrated...right now my head feels like it will explode given the mindless, doodling crap that passes for news stories, important human interests, and political legislation...

Dead but terrorism is still here:
I got a record amount of emails and twitters last night telling me Bin Laden was dead...mostly celebratory in nature...but a small of degree of introspect by some...

First: Wouldn't our closure have been more complete if Osama Bin Laden had been brought back and put on trial. It would show the world that our justice system still works regardless of his attempts to destroy our form of government. Some small part of me feels he died on his terms instead of ours. And yes I've been told it would have cause too much of US targeting...but then again...democracy is messy...either we support it or we don't...exceptions mean we don't.

Second: Does any targeted assassination approved by the President legitimize this reckless act under law? What does this bode for the future? Will we see more international targeting? Is that why Kadafi's youngest son and 3 grandchildren's are dead by US NATO lead... bombs? Maybe we need to redefine the word terror by not looking in the mirror.

Bigger issues on our plates:
Obama addresses the really big imaginary issue brought forward by a handful of tin-foil pyramid hat wearing conspiracy wingnuts leaders like Minnesota's Michele Bachmann, comb over king Donald Trump and talking fat head Russ Limbaugh...

Thank goodness we cleared that up so we can go back to really important issues like America's failing economy, creating jobs, addressing why we're at war...oops...guess there's more really big imaginary issues. What's next...his kindergarten report cards, affidavits from childhood teachers, maybe we can interrogate any babysitters...sigh... DON'T FEED THE TROLLS!

While American born Obama keeps dancing to a recovery tune from non-tax paying corporations posting record (and obscene) profits, the US economy continues to sing the blues while shedding jobs like a long hair calico cat in August. Add in new unemployment figures that show the worse economy since after last xmas layoffs...well thing can't get much worse...unless... It's the fact that our economic growth slowed from an annual rate of 3.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010 to 1.8 percent in the first quarter of 2011.

Mayday!:
ExxonMobile
earnings of $10.7 billion in the first quarter are up 69%...Of course they are up, we've been paying for it at the pumps and give away of billions in oil incentives and no US taxes...It's good to be kings. Naturally, the industry cites their 'good fortune' as being good for our economy...how is being a parasite sucking away the wealth from America's middle class and providing no return...a good thing?

The fact that unemployment claims jumped 25,000 during the spring hiring season is a very bad omen for the future of jobs. This is the biggest jump since the Christmas season layoffs in January. Hello, Mr. Obama, and all the rest of the politico fools, time to create some jobs besides flipping burgers at McDonalds! Create JOBS!...who gives a fig about a balanced budget when we need jobs...make jobs! Balancing the budget won't feed us when we're starving.

The End
Guess I need to stop now...you know when Ms. Batcrap Bachmann is listed on TIME's top 100 most influential people in the world list...it's time to evaluate if there's a reason to continuing to bang your head against the establishment's wall. Really, maybe they deserve what the reap...but then that small voice inside me says...but do we?