TOAST AND WELFARE CUTS

Obama will sign the restoration of full funding for air traffic controllers.  The Sequester is being repealed, one line item at a time.

Airport delays inconvenience non-poor white people so FAA funding is the first budget to be restored.

Remember Five Easy Pieces?

Youtube clip here.

Let's divide the Federal Budget into two categories:

1) Social programs, and

2) Everything else.

Right-wingers, which these days includes the entire Republican Party, hate spending on Social Programs, especially those that benefit poor and non-white people.

Republicans want to reduce social programs for these folks to zero.

But the Democrats resist cutting social programs in any obvious way...  just as:

The diner doesn't have sides of toast on the lunch menu.

So the Dems and Repubs get together and pull a Jack Nicholson.

They do a Sequester on all spending which is like Jack ordering the Chicken Salad Sandwich on toast.

Jack holds one thing at a time until there's nothing left but the toast.

Dem/Rebubs gradually restore the budgets of everything but the social programs.

In the end it's the same result: targeted cuts to social programs, piece of toast.

In summary:

Sequester = Chicken Salad on Toast,

Social program cuts = Toast.

They think they're being slick.

----- o -----

NOT SMART, NOT LIKEABLE

Seems like everyone but me thinks that Barack Obama, whatever else, is a smart guy.

-He's Harvard Law, Review Editor;

-He wrote two best selling books;

-He's a professor of constitutional law,

-Blah blah.

I contend that he's not very smart at all.

Please, someone, tell me one interesting thing Barry has ever said. 

Who can forget Bill Clinton's convention performance as "Explainer in Chief." Isn't that Barry's job?

Putting current events into greater historical context is a prime function of any president.  I think of fireside chats.

Obama can't explain anything except that:

In negotiations, neither side can expect to get 100%.

Well, duh. What he doesn't explain is his willingness to give away 99%.

Plus, conclusive proof that Obama is a dumbshit was his preposterous assertion, his guiding principle, that:

Congressional Republicans are good-faith negotiating partners who will put common sense and the welfare of the nation ahead of partisan interests.

Skipping through the woods, everything a big bad wolf could want.

Say "Grandma," I see this guy's face.

Don't pull back the covers, please.

And as for likeability. I don't like mass murder, torture, or imperial aggression.

I don't like the trashing of Magna Carta, Common Law, and the Bill of Rights.

And I don't like malefactors of great wealth, who seem to be Barry's best friends.

So I don't like Barry. Not at all.

----- o -----

HECTOR'S BODY

A great thing about my classical Jesuit high school education is that while avowing Roman Catholic ideology we mostly studied the pagan roots (classical Greece and Rome) of European culture.

First year Latin (Sweet) was taught using "basic sentences." The first basic sentence was Vestis virum facit. Clothes make the man.

I think number 2 was, Manus manum lavat. One hand washes the other.

Neither of which was uttered by Christ.

We were taught that some of the most basic European concepts and values were demonstrated in the Iliad and Odyssey of Homer.

So I was highly disturbed by Barack Obama's treatment of Osama Bin Laden's corpse.  Why?

Because Zeus finds it offensive.

Wikipedia synopsizes the final book (chapter) of the Iliad thusly:

(24) Dismayed by Achilles' continued abuse of Hector's body, Zeus decides that it must be returned to Priam. Led by Hermes, Priam takes a wagon out of Troy, across the plains, and enters the Greek camp unnoticed. He grasps Achilles by the knees and begs to have his son's body. Achilles is moved to tears, and the two lament their losses in the war. After a meal, Priam carries Hector's body back into Troy. Hector is buried, and the city mourns.

So, the final event of European "sacred scripture" is Greek hero Achilles returning the corpse of his mortal enemy, Hector, to Hector's people. This was Zeus' decision.

Failing to return Osama Bin Laden's body, for what his people would determine to be fitting disposition, is an offense against Zeus.

The Jesuits made it very clear: it's not wise to offend Zeus.

What if some victims of Maggie Thatcher's economic thuggery had managed to steal her corpse, and then announced that her body had been buried at sea?

Enormous outrage, no?

----- o -----

DING DONG

What percentage of Americans know that since the death of Maggie Thacher,

Ding Dong the Witch is Dead

has been the the best-selling song in England?

The BBC has had to censor its play.

And huge protests are expected today in Trafalgar Square. Security will be tight for the funeral.

The US press doesn't say much about this public disrespect. Such disrespect for the recently deceased, taboo  in most English-speaking countries, is reserved for the vilest of human beings.

The common wisdom being pushed is that Margaret Thacher was a great leader, just like Ronald Reagan.

Another political death barely mentioned has been the death of the Jesse Jackson brand.

I'm old enough to remember this Jesse Jackson.

Jesse Sr. went on to make a living advocating for black aspirations but accomplishing almost nothing except to establish the right of corrupt black officials to hide in posh hospitals just like white corrupt officials.

His namesake offspring was given a Chicago congressional seat for life and he stole a bunch of money to buy bling.

Then he claimed mental illness. Mayo Clinic, the most expensive hospital in the region, said he had a kind of depression with a weird Latin name which translates roughly:

"Sad because caught red handed."

He was not too bummed out to run for reelection in the midst of all this because, "Heck, the constituents don't care."

To say that JJ Junior disrespected the legacy of Martin Luther King is trite.

Somewhat more subtle is Barack Obama's concerted disrespect for MLK. It's almost like Khrushchev's de-Stalinization.

 

First, Obama accepts a Nobel Prize and says King's pacifism was "well intentioned, but stupid."

Then he somehow approves the abominable MLK monument in DC, which is all about artistic gesture and seems dedicated to the notion that a black man can wear a business suit.

Heck, even if you like the gesture, even if you like the stern, unsympathetic, pose, the face looks nothing like MLK.

Oprah, Jesse, Jesse Jr., Barack demonstrate a basic premise of the civil rights movement: that blacks are equal to whites. What painful irony!

Like, what's the difference between Junior ripping off his black constituents, and Strom Thurmond's long term affair with a black women?

Save your breath, Jesse.

----- o -----

RUTGERS: RECRUITING FRAUD?

According to the New York Times this morning, Rutgers officials had known for some time about the abusive, assaultive, homophobic behavior of now-disgraced basketball coach Mike Rice.

Coach Rice's behavior constituted an ongoing defect in the Rutgers basketball program. We know this because school officials took steps to correct it.

Have Rutgers basketball recruiters been selling a defective product?

Simple question: during the last recruiting season, was this program defect revealed to prospective recruits?

Before committing to a college basketball program, it seems you'd want to know if it was run by a homophobic, psycho-bully.

Important: in cases where the prospective recruits were minors, was this program defect revealed to the parents?

If this crucial defect was not revealed, the recruits and/or their parents should have a cause of action against the university.

 

Will Barchi be signing those checks?

Or will it be New Jersey's top bully?

----- o -----

SORRY, LORI

Obama sees his only accomplishment, Obamacare, coming apart at the seems. The year 2014 will show significantly increased costs and decreased services.

The rapacious healthcare-for-profit industry will report record profits.

Unless the economy picks up, Barry might have to start a war to divert attention away from the Obamacare debacle.

He knows that his presidency has failed.

He knows he'll be as big a joke as George W. Bush.

He's already thinking of post-presidential career options.

Knowing he'll be a B-list celebrity, more of a curiosity, like Todd Bridges and Tonya Harding, he's thinking of becoming a beauty-contest judge.

He knows what he likes and he's not afraid to say so, and let the chips fall.

He's bold enough to make the tough decisions, like telling Minnesota Attorney General, Lori Swanson, that she just not as beautiful as Kamala Harris.

Most men would be afraid to jump into such waters. Barry is fearless.

By the way, how about that Jodi Arias?

When justice has prevailed, they can correspond from their prison cells. They'll compare/contrast her emotions while stabbing her boyfriend, with Barry's exhilaration watching drone-strike videos.

Come on, you know she's hot.

----- o -----

ASSAULT A GAY: OK?

I'm walking down the street and someone throws a four-pound object at me while screaming, "You fucking faggot!"

That would be a hate crime.  Correct?

The damage the thrown object did to me would determine whether it's a felony or misdemeanor, but it's definitely a hate crime.

Numerous such acts recorded on videotape have been widely viewed, but law enforcement has done nothing.

The perp is a college basketball coach. The victims are student-athletes at a public university.

After the tapes became public some people (who turned out to be morally unfit for their jobs) were fired. The coach was fired, along with his boss and his assistant.

The guy in charge of the whole mess still has his job and claims ignorance.

 

Apparently, one requirement for a high salary is the willingness to claim ignorance.  Heck, Jeff Skilling couldn't find his ass with both hands (he claimed), but he made millions.

Is it punishment to lose a job for which you were not qualified (due to hatred of gay people or lack of moral fiber, or because of "ignorance") in the first place?

When some low level guy commits a crime he goes to jail AND he loses his job.

There has been zero outcry about the lack of law enforcement in this case.

Are they waiting for someone to die?

Meanwhile, even deadweight hacks such as Bill Nelson are tripping over themselves to not be the last American politician to endorse same-sex marriage (or, the less sexualized "marriage equality").

So, gay marriage? OK!

Prosecute anti-gay hate crimes? HELL NO!

To show an inkling of how offensive coach Rice's words were, Rutgers should:

1) Fire their admittedly ignorant president.

2) Shut down their intercollegiate basketball program indefinitely.

3) Divert money from basketball to programs that make Rutgers a model gay-friendly institution.

For me, gay safety comes before gay marriage, and before basketball.

"But, come on, shut down a basketball program?" they'll say. "It would only hurt the kids. "

And the welfare of the kids is Rutgers' highest priority. Right?

----- o -----

BARRY'S SEXISM BROKEN DOWN

I guess President Catfood bowed to pressure and apologized, but many commenters still fail to see the evil of his calling Kamala Harris the "country's best looking Attorney General."

The meta-message is "We men (who vote with our gonads) find her attractive."

This could be proven untrue if Barack O'Simpson says similar things in similar circumstances about good-looking men.

If Barack frequently compliments the good-looks of men and women equally, then the behavior is simply inappropriate.  If the comments are about women only, it's sexist.

The comment makes Ms Harris a "female AG," as opposed to a regular(?) Attorney General.

For instance, I doubt he'd refer to zombie fascist Alan Simpson as "one hot resurrected corpse." He loves him more like a brother.

They'll probably say, "Bro," while high-fiving after Baree Antoinette signs the Social Security cuts.

Hey, the average American house cat eats pretty well!

Bronco Bomber's meta-meta message sounds like a vicious attack (I thought she supported him) on Kamala, insinuating that her political career was significantly helped along by her, uh, friendship with Willie Brown.

(As if Barry Bendover didn't do some pretty nasty things while slumming with slumlords.)

If this was a deliberate attack, it means she must have done things as Attorney General of California that have pissed off Deputy Barry Fife, who still can't find a banker to arrest.

To this I say, "Hooray for Kamala!"

You go, girl!  I mean...

You go, Madame Attorney General!

----- o -----

BARCHI, PERNETTI MUST GO!

What kind of moral shithole is Rutgers University?

After they killed Tyler Clementi for being gay, you'd think they'd cool it on the overt anti-gay slurs.

In any decent organization, any superior who calls a subordinate:

A Fucking Fairy,

and/or

A Fucking Faggot

is fired on the spot.

If those words are accompanied by physical assault, the police are called and the perp is arrested for a hate crime.

Not at Rutgers. Not if he's a basketball coach.  At Rutgers the assaultive homophobe is rehired!

Rutgers appears to be a hostile environment for gay people.

Who's in charge here?

Rutgers' so-called president is this guy, Robert L. Barchi.

And the Athletic Director, Tim Pernetti. That's Tim on the right, with his homophobic, abusive buddy, Mike Rice, on the left.

They finally fired coach Rice, only after  videos of Rice, attacking players and calling them:

Fucking Fairies,

and

Fucking Faggots,

became public.

But for those videos, this ultra-homophobe would still be earning $700,000 per year, and still calling kids:

Fucking Fairies,

and

Fucking Faggots.

Rutgers' little secret.

That's what kind of moral shithole Rutgers University is.

----- o -----

WHALE FAIL BAIL NAIL JAIL

Last week daytime Cable viewers were treated to a pair of contrasting high-stakes interrogations.

On CSPAN we saw Carl Levin questioning JPMorgan Chase execs about their false public reporting of  huge trading losses.

Senator Levin even had an email authored by this poor JPM-executive lady urging an underling to "tweak" the figures to be reported.

But, as with most such hearings, the witnesses were allowed to dance around the questions.

Not so, over on HLN, where prosecutor Juan Martinez was stunning us all with his harsh, forceful, unrelenting cross examinations in the  Jodi Arias' trial.

I'm not the only viewer who'd like to see Juan Martinez question Jamie Dimon under oath.

FDR told the nation that Wall Street misdeeds were committed by "malefactors of great wealth."

Obama calls them "some folks who acted irresponsibly."

Or, just, "golfing partners."

----- o -----

WEDDING BELL BLUES

Among my contemporaries the gays are much less enthused than the straights about marriage equality.

Gay people my age had to work out our relationships without benefit of government approval. Heck, mostly without parental approval!

I am particularly leery of the pro-LGBT bandwagon so many are now jumping on.

Is it really a liberal victory? Does it make up for our leaders' failure (from a liberal POV) to do anything else?

White household net worth is still 20 times greater than black household net worth.  Hooray for Barry and Dems everywhere!

World population is unsustainable, let alone growth. Barry and Nancy are silent.

The unconscionable accumulation of wealth by the powerful anticipates a major population die-back, which the rich want to avoid.  It's the world-economy version of the Rapture. Barry and Nancy certainly don't want to be left behind.

Barry won't even use the word "unemployment." It's always, "folks still looking for work."

But heck, if gay folk want the benefits of being a married couple in 2013 USA, let 'em.

If gay folk want to join the US military, sure, they have the right.

Great PR, doesn't cost anybody anything.

Once I dreamt this newspaper fragment:

White Star lines announced today that it's captains are now authorized to perform weddings-at-sea for same-sex couples.  The first such ceremonies are scheduled for the upcoming maiden voyage of the "unsinkable" ...

Bon voyage.

----- o -----

 

NUDES SUE

I used to feel an impulse to think-through various public controversies as they arose.

More and more I tend to ignore.

I thought I'd be able to ignore SF's stupid nudist thing.

Then this SF Weekly header:

It's gonna cost us money!

Why doesn't the city just crack down?  How large is the pro-nudist constituency?

Vagueness sells newspapers.  It's like, "Nudism: Good of Bad?"  But there are two completely separate issues:

1) The impact on the viewer of seeing a nude person; and,

2) The involuntary sharing of butt-juices and other crotch debris.

Obviously, number 1 is discussable. If the only impact of public nudity were visual not a lot of SF'ns would care.

Number 2 is intolerable.

No, you do not have the right to wipe your ass on my upholstery.

No, please don't turn every public transit seat into a toilet seat.

No, I don't want you leaking on my new pumps!

Go SFPD! Go City Attorney!

----- o -----

A GLOBAL FORCE FOR GOOD, FOR GOOD

Some of us taxpayer/TV viewers are dismayed by the US Navy's advertising campaign, which emphasizes the slogan:

I was thinking it's kind of blasphemous to say that one's military is a force for good since etymologically "good" and "god" are interchangeable.

A country's military is tasked with protecting its own country and its own country's interests.

To equate one's country's interests with "the good" is a prime example of what sociologists call ethnocentrism. Psychologists call it personality disorder.

It reassures us that God is on our side.

Utterly stupid.

Then I considered the ambiguity of the term "for good."  In our vernacular, "for good," could be an answer the the question:

"How long will you be staying?"

"For good," the US Navy replies, "for good!"

Heck, sicko Hitler envisioned only a thousand-year Reich.

BTW: The above mushroom cloud picture purports to be of the August 9, Nagasaki bomb. Speaking of our Jesuit pope--the Jesuit Order was at one time in charge of Nagasaki, they were the civil authority. Didn't much help in the long run.

----- o -----

UPDATE: CLOSET MUSIC

This updates a previous post.

With mere days to go before the concert(s), the personal homepage of guest conductor Martin Seggelke now includes the words "Lesbian/Gay."

Previously it had referred to the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band as the "San Francisco Freedom Band."

This comes after more than a month of effort.

~Feb 1. I notice the discrepancy and notify Dr Seggelke through the "contact" facility on his website.  No response.

A reasonable response might have been:

Dear Willie,

Thank you for pointing out the discrepancy. I have already corrected my website.  I hope to see you at the concert.

Best regards,

Martin

But nooooooooooooooo!

Feb 5. I sent an email to band president Julie Williamson containing the same information.  No Response.

Feb 6.  I sent another email to Professor Seggelke, this time through his SFSU email account.  No response.

~Feb 10. Sent "tip." To SFSU student newspaper.  No response.

Feb 20. Emailed "letter to the editor" to Bay Area Reporter, which was published approximately one week later.

Mar 10. I post "A Little Closet Music."

Mar 11. Received an email from a BAR reader who is band member, saying that Seggelke is a good guy. This is the first communication on this issue I've received from anyone. We exchange emails.

Mar 14.  I notice that Seggelke has corrected his website.

Today, March 15, is the first of two performances.

Sheesh!

So, why were the words "Lesbian/Gay" omitted in the first place?

What caused the change to be made, finally?

I'll never know.  They aren't talking to me.

I'm the bad guy.

----- o -----

RACHEL SUCKS WALTER'S DEAD DICK

It had to happen sooner or later.

Good old Rachel Maddow has put career ahead of truth.

Two days ago, in a piece on gun control, she discussed how Lee Harvey Oswald obtained the Mannlicher Carcano that he used to kill President Kennedy.

As if that were historical fact.

Only problem is, Lee Harvey Oswald never fired a shot at, let alone killed, JFK.

The unanimous decision of US media to go along with the lone nut theory put forward by J. Edgar Hoover, was and remains a major disgrace.

So much so that to this day no journalist is allowed an audience on American TV unless they shut up about the biggest missed story in US history.

LBJ told Uncle Walter that World War Three would start if the press tried to uncover the truth.

So Uncle Walter parroted the lie.  And every journalist since, who wants to be considered "serious," has repeated the lie.

The American people, according to polling, realize that the Warren Commission Report was a lie, around 80%, including surviving members of the Kennedy family and members of the Warren Commission itself.

Rachel was sliding downhill by trying to defend Obama's anything-but-progressive policies. By declaring "Oswald did it," she has publicly joined forces with the bad guys.

Naive to have imagined otherwise.

So, you can be a cute, boyish, energetic, out Lesbian, and still suck.

----- o -----

Pope Odessa II (or III or IV)

What is it with the Roman Catholic Church and the Nazis?

The last Pope fought in Hitler's army.  The new guy supported  the Argentine military junta's dirty war against its own people.

The new guy's Italian name also evokes the Axis.  And Argentina was a favored retirement  site for Nazi war criminals.

Why can't the church escape the taint?

As I've said many times, the Church's child molester enabling, as bad as it is, pales in comparison to the Church's history of collaboration with totalitarian regimes...

Beginning, of course, with the true founder of the RCC: Emperor Constantine.

----- o -----

A LITTLE CLOSET MUSIC

Next Friday, March 15, the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band plays a concert consisting entirely of Symphony #1, Lord of the Rings, by Johan Meij.

The concert will be guest-conducted by Martin Seggelke, a music teacher at SF State.

Professor Seggelke's impressive resume shows a dedication to wind band music.  He looks like a guy who could whip a band into shape.

Seggelke is one of three conductors trying-out to be the band's permanent conductor/artistic director.

It appears that Dr Seggelke doesn't really want the job. On his personal website, his list of upcoming events refers to the band as "San Francisco Freedom Band":

I emailed Dr Seggelke as well as the band's president to alert them to the mis-naming, and received no response. 

The most likely explanation, or suspicion, is the Martin Seggelke doesn't want the words  "Lesbian/Gay" on his website.

Since the bands main mission is "visibility," Seggelke's reluctance to use the words "Lesbian/Gay" disqualifies him out-of-hand.

The need for a new conductor has been known for almost a year and a half, and will continue with two more try-out guest-conductors.

My conclusion: Seggelke is not seriously being considered for the permanent conductor position.

This has the feel of a corporate-like due diligence charade.

Another weird, closet-y kind of thing involves SFLGFB's first chair flutist of eighteen years, Ruth Keys.

In my first conversation with Ruth I said something about "clueless straight people," and Ruth let me know right away that she was married--to a man.

She must have seen a look on my face, so she assured me: "I play with lots of groups, but the gay band is my true home." Eye to eye, sincerity oozed.

However, in her Bio on the SF Sinfonietta website, the closest she comes to mentioning her "true home" is:

Ms. Keys regularly plays with a number of Bay Area music organizations...

The SF Sinfonietta is also performing this weekend. Ruth will be playing a flute piece composed by her husband.

The Symphony #1, which the Lesbian/Gay band will be performing at Herchurch on Friday has no connection to the music used in the Lord of the Rings movies.  The symphony was written years before the movies came out.

Meij's symphony is just wind band music, supposedly suggested by the pop-fantasy book series.

Parents might want to listen to youtube to see if it's something the kids could sit through. (Note: the following clip is just the first of six or so movements.

 

 

My take on the music: hopefully they'll play a Sousa march encore to wake everybody up for the drive home.

----- o -----

EQUAL PROTECTION

Finally, common ground for liberals and conservatives:

   Quality shotguns in every household.

Obamacrats have no desire to promote collective security, which requires reduced income inequality.

They agree with the NRA that privately owned firearms are one modality of personal protection, necessary until the police can arrive.

The couch their timidity as support for the Second Amendment.

Vice-President Biden says two shotguns should be enough for a household.

The problem, from a liberal-egalitarian perspective, is that quality shotguns cost money, shooting lessons and ammunition cost money.

Many poor people can't afford the protection that two shotguns provide.

So, liberals should support a Federal program of tax breaks and outright grants to assure that even the poorest household has the same ability to protect itself as does Joe Biden's.

And, the NRA would object that the program shouldn't be restricted to shotguns, but will agree that it's a good first step.

A chicken in every pot is socialism. Two shotguns in every parlor, that's 'merican.

----- o -----

BIG LEAGUE MIRACLE

Time:  Near future.

Place: ATT Park, Giants' Press Room

Manager Bruce Bochy at the dais. Room jammed with reporters and cameras.

BOCHY: Thanks for coming.  Today we brought up a great young pitcher from double-A, Johnny Doe. He's got a live arm, and we need his live arm.

Young Johnny Doe moves to the microphone.

JOHNNY:  Thank you, sir.  I feel privileged to have a shot at the Major Leagues right out of high school. It's an amazing challenge.

There's a pause then Johnny continues:

JOHNNY: Please take note:  I am Gay. Completely, 100% Gay.

The silence shows how unexpected this was, then the reporters recover and start shouting question.

Tim Lincecum steps to the dais and leans into the microphone.

LINCECUM: Anyone have a problem with Johnny... you got a problem with me!

Tim hugs Johnny Doe and takes a place next to him, facing the reporters.

Angel Pagan moves to the microphone. He seems particularly intense.

PAGAN:  If anyone... anyone! has a problem with Johnny Doe, you got a problem with me!

And so it goes, through the entire Giants roster, the short speech, the embrace, then standing shoulder-to-shoulder.

Finally, after twenty-three repetitions, some pro-forma, some glowering, Bruce Bochy, returns to the microphone.

BOCHY:  Thanks for coming, we won't be taking any questions.

----- o -----

PIMPING THE LGBT BRAND

Now that the U.S. Military welcomes openly gay and lesbian recruits, professional sports remains the leading proponent of gay-exclusion.

There are more than 750 men employed as players by Major League Baseball.

There are zero (0.00%) openly gay players in Major League Baseball.

The only possible explanation for this amazing statistic is that Major League Baseball has and maintains a hostile work environment for openly Gay players.

Yet, the San Francisco Lesbian and Gay Freedom Band performs at Giants' LGBT Night promotions. A video on their website shows a pep contingent playing in the stands on a previous Gay Night

Another SF Giants LGBT Night is coming up May 29. Purchasers of special tickets will receive the knit cap pictured below.

What could the gay band's participation signify but approval for the status quo in MLB?

According to the Giants' website, a portion of the special event ticket price will be donated to LGBT non-profits.

So questions for Julie Williamson, president of the San Francisco Lesbian and Gay Freedom Band, include:

1) Will the Gay Band (SFLGFB) participate in the Giants LGBT Night on May 29?

2) How much money has SFLGFB received from the Giants in the past?

3) How much does SFLGFB expect to receive from the May 29 proceeds?

4) Why else would a gay band perform for such a blatantly homophobic organization?

Consider the positive effect of Gay pro athletes and their supportive straight teammates coming out.

What if it became fashionable for athletes to protect gay kids from bullying?

What if...

-----o-----