Michael Kindt's Blog, page 507

So I wrote another article for the CaglePost

I already posted it here on Tumblr, but you can take a look at it if you want, here. Facebook like it, even.

As you know—or maybe don't—writing a weekly column is all new to me, but it's fun. The comments are quite hilarious, especially on the first column. Political people are so very passionate, both liberal and conservative. My editor told me I could go in and comment, too—"Defend my work."

Now why would I want to do that? Hahaha. NEVER.

I was trying to be as straight and normal in this one as I could. It's not really my style, but I thought I'd try my hand at it. To keep at it, though, I'm going to have to be myself, and, OMG, will THAT be fun!

Anyway. Just thinking out loud here as usual.

Shaming, noun.

Where you have an unfavorable opinion of someone who enjoys reveling in victimhood. See whiner.

Extrapolation: Unfortunately, real shaming does exist, for example in "slut-shaming", criticizing a sexually active woman to get her to stop, be like your mother, and fit in a box. Shaming, however, has been co-opted by the therapy/legal drug industry, who consider all doubt or criticism of "ailments" as attacks or "shaming". For example, if a person can't stop eating sandwiches and you say, "Hey, maybe you shouldn't eat so many sandwiches," they scream—"SHAMING!"—pay their therapist, and eat another sandwich. They're sick, you see, and you're a fucking asshole.

In honor of Rinderpest, the scourge of cattle, being eradicated,...

In honor of Rinderpest, the scourge of cattle, being eradicated, I offer you this: a book I wrote, signed by me using a real, live pen. I will also include a card in which I will write something witty or amusing. Ten bucks, free shipping.

(Rinderpest, by the way, means "cattle plague" in German, and is only the second disease ever wiped from the ass of the Earth with the big wad of toilet paper known as medical science. Not as popular or "cool" as its big brother Smallpox, Rinderpest has nevertheless been a major bitch, causing widespread starvation and speeding the downfall of the Roman Empire.)

So celebrate by getting a really weird, funny, creepy, and sad book that has nothing to do with cattle, but plenty to do with sheep.

This has been a public service announcement from a drunk guy in South Dakota. Thank you.

sources: rinderpest, ebay

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion"*

*Unless that religion prays, then it's cool.

The National Day of Prayer (NDOP) was enacted by Congress in 1952, back in the ridiculous Wally and Beaver days, and is supposed to be a time "when we turn to God in prayer and meditation."

In a gesture of kneeling and puckering to the Religious Right, Obama has supported the Day and his administration is even working to keep it around. In April, a challenge by the Freedom From Religion Foundation was unanimously dismissed by a federal appellate court. The FFRF will continue to fight against the law, but I'm not sure how far they can get in an era where we pick and choose the parts of the Constitution we like.

The NDOP happens on the first Thursday in May and is, as far as I can tell after a quick look at numerous random newspapers, a time of government-endorsed religious and right wing rallies.

The NDOP event held on Capitol Hill this year featured only prominent Republicans and Christian evangelicals. There wasn't a Buddhist in sight. Speakers included Republican Senator Elizabeth Dole, Focus on the Family's James Dobson, and the unfortunately monikered Dave Butts, president of Harvest Prayer Ministries. Wisdom was beseeched for the unwise Obama administration, assistance asked in returning prayer to schools, and forgiveness sought for the murders of all those unborn children, none of which were ever alive and all of which were simply the personal and private decisions of free American women controlling their own bodies.

The religious, specifically Christian, and right wing rallies inspired and endorsed by the NDOP were truly a nationwide phenomenon. Oregon alone, for example, had over 40 events.

In small town Baldwin, Alabama, the NDOP event speaker said that America can't remain a great and free country if it continues to move away from Christian principles, even though this is not a Christian country and has never utilized a single Christian principle in any of its imperialistic, corporatist, or plutocratic pursuits.

Locally, our event's keynote speaker was Penna Dexter, an ultra-conservative evangelical radio "personality" who said in 2010 that a gay teen was partly responsible for his own shooting death because his choice to live openly was a form of bullying to "normal", heterosexual kids. At the event, she even claimed that the greatest threat facing our nation was the Dreaded Homosexual Agenda, which, apparently, has replaced the Dreaded Homosexual Itinerary and the Dreaded Homosexual To-Do List.

Even a couple of our mayoral candidates were in attendance and, bizarrely, stood to be recognized. Personally, I thought they should've had paper bags over their heads, but, then, they are politicians. Like Obama, they, too, were making a gesture of kneeling and puckering to the Religious Right.

But why? Why was this person here spreading hate in my community? Oh, yeah—because Congress has made a law respecting the establishment of religion.

This month, Texas governor and Republican Rick Perry declared yet another day of prayer, to be held on August 6th. Since he's just a governor and not a Congress, his day doesn't get capitalized. He has to violate the Constitution on a more national scope to get his crime capitalized, which is probably why he's considering a run for the White House.

So everybody get ready to put your hands together in a very specific way yet again. It's time to ask the Christian god for some very specific things, determined, primarily, by Republican talking points.

With all the kneeling and puckering we do in this country, you'd think we'd be swimming in manna and not just mammon. Someone up there must be ignoring us.

Amen for that.

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Please keep in mind that when you get "followed" by "somebody" that supposedly has adult content, you don't need to "revalidate your credentials". Someone is trying to steal the username and password to your Tumblr account.

Just a friendly alert from someone who gives a shit.

California wants to prohibit the sale or rental of violent video games to anyone under 18, but federal judges have declared that the law violates First Amendment free speech rights.

The issue went all the way to the Supreme Court and today (a few minutes ago, in fact) the law was killed. California, or anyone for that matter, can't ban the sale/rental of video games because of content.

It isn't the government's job to raise your kids.

This is a good sign for Free Speech, I think, so YAY!!

Woke up at 2:54 am, well-rested.

Checked internet, saw I lost out on a bid for some vintage pencils on Ebay. Located some more vintage pencils on Ebay, placed bid.

Peed.

Made tea and lit a pipe. Read yesterday's paper, which I hadn't read.

Did dishes and started some bread. My new baguette pan gives me wood.

Put all my plants out where there will be sun. Gazed at my little juniper, which I am going to bonsai, or, as they say in China, pen tsai. I am unsettled on a style. I know I won't use a traditional bonsai style because I am opposed to any and all traditions. I reflect on how this little juniper will occupy the remainder of my life if I don't kill it. Currently, it lives in a large coffee cup.

Feed my kitty and notice a glass under my table, which, on hands and knees, I retrieve. Taking it to the sink, I feel something crawling on my hand. It's a giant spider. Well, maybe it was a regular spider, but it was crawling on my hand, therefore it was fucking GIANT. I fling it outside into grayness of extremely early morning.

Back to the computer where I make two facebook posts, then go to Tumblr where I think about cars for all the world to see.

My fridge is full of beer. I think I'll get drunk today.

Like, how many fucking cars ARE there???

Just by looking at adverstising, I can tell that cars are over-produced. Here in my little region of a 100,000 people or so there's pages and pages and pages of ads for cars in the paper, both new and used.

Nationally, I would say car commercials are the most common type. Every few minutes there's a car commercial on. A really stupid one, by the way, selling you everything but a CAR.

Since there are clearly more cars than car buyers, you'd think the price would go down, but instead it constantly goes up. Of course, we know that "free enterprise" and/or the "market economy" is a myth in the U.S., especially as oil prices fall and gas prices climb, but you'd think the prices of cars would go down a little—you know, just to maintain appearances that this is a capitalist country…

It's so bizarre to me that people go into debt, for years at a time, just for a car. The fact that they have been convinced that this is how you get a car is what actually sets the price, not the "supply and demand" myth.

I wonder what happens to the millions of cars that don't sell?

hey, you used to follow a girls blog that went by the name of "ninjaforlove" do you still follow her? does she still use tumblr? do you know her name? i know it's weird, but It's absolutely imperative that I find this girl again.

Yes, yes, and yes. How imperative for her is it that you find her again? I'm guessing probably not very.

mayberedbird replied to your post: I love the library here. Oh, and some people are fucking...

mayberedbird replied to your post: I love the library here. Oh, and some people are fucking dicks.

really? I love to just hang out at the library. it's safe, peaceful and filled with food for my soul. Even if I'm not there to borrow books I enjoy just being there. Is that loitering?

NO SUCH THING AS LOITERING AT A LIBRARY!

:)