The Killing Joke

As I mentioned before we went camping at Whitlock's Bay by Gettysburg, SD over Memorial weekend. We didn't set up the tent. The wind was blowint 30 to 45 MPH every day and it didn't get to 60 until Monday. We still had a good time. Went out in my uncle Richard's boat on Sunday for about 5 hours. He caught 2 walleye. No one else caught anything. Other than that, we went from camper to camper, visit with this group, visit with that group. We played some cribbage. We brought the double 12 dominoes along but didn't get them out.
It was nice to see my folks and spend some time with aunts and uncles.
We came back on Monday. Everyone left in a hurry due to the severe storm warnings that were being broadcast that AM. We got going about 10 am and took a different route home. It saved me about 40 miles but I had to use more secondary roads. It would have been a lot longer time-wise but after the first hour or so of being in the middle of nowhere, SD -- I picked up the pace a bit and zipped on home.
We got home at 3pm so we unloaded, unpacked, emptied and cleaned coolers and then went to Pirates of the Carribean At World's End. It was very good and I'll probably go again when Michele takes her nephews to it.

Posted by The Joker at 09:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We went camping at Whitlock's Bay in central South Dakota for Memorial Weekend. It was cold and the wind was blowing at least 30 MPH all three days. We didn't set up the tent. We stayed in my Mom and Dad's camper. Last night I was visiting my uncle Gary. He had the TV on his his camper and someone was flipping through the channels. I don't know what the news story was about or in what context this quote was given because the volume was muted, but they had the quote printed on the screen so it could be read. I thought it was very interesting and was wondering when it was from, as it seems very relevant today. Here it is:

Per the Congressional Record, September 16, 1981:

There is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious beliefs. There is no more powerful ally one can claim in a debate than Jesus Christ, or God, or Allah, or whatever one calls this supreme being. But like any powerful weapon, the use of God's name on one's behalf should be used sparingly. The religious factions that are growing throughout our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom. They are trying to force government leaders into following their position 100 percent. If you disagree with these religious groups on a particular moral issue, they complain, they threaten you with a loss of money or votes or both. I'm frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in 'A,' 'B,' 'C,' and 'D.' Just who do they think they are? And from where do they presume to claim the right to dictate their moral beliefs to me? And I am even more angry as a legislator who must endure the threats of every religious group who thinks it has some God-granted right to control my vote on every roll call in the Senate. I am warning them today: I will fight them every step of the way if they try to dictate their moral convictions to all Americans in the name of 'conservatism.'

--Conservative Arizona senator and 1964 Republican presidential nominee
Barry Goldwater

Posted by The Joker at 11:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The political season is upon us. It gets earlier every election -- kind of like Christmas Marketing.

Jerry Fallwell died today at the age of 73. I felt a little surge of glee when I read that.

The Wall Street Journal reports that teen employment is at an all time low nationwide. It has dropped steadily since 2000. The article state that the jobs teens normally fill are not available to them because adults are taking those jobs -- as second jobs, one of two or three poorly paying jobs, whatever. There is a related article here. I tried to link to the WSJ but they want me to pay for the paper before I can view it online.

I know I'm getting paid less than I was in 2000. Yes, I've changed jobs since then due to a large corporate layoff but I'm very near what are considered a person's prime earning years yet my income has decreased in the last 7 years instead of going up. So what's wrong with this picture?

Does it bother anyone besides me that our current Administration consulted with Enron before rolling out their big energy bill during their first term in office?

What about the government contracts awarded to Chaney's Halliburton to rebuild the infrastructure in Iraq (after we blew it up)-- even though they haven't paid their taxes for a few years. I'd like to remind you that the contracts were awarded to them from "closed bids" (as in not public) due to "national security". Does anyone find it odd that Haliburton is now moving their headquarters to Dubai ? -- (No more taxes)

Gas prices are at an all time high, about 3.30 per gallon here in the Sioux Empire. That's almost as high as it is in California. I'm sure we've all asked why, oh why, do gas prices go up at least 50 cents once it gets warm out and then only drop 25 cents when it cools off. We're told it's because there's a larger demand in the summer and we don't have the refining capacity to keep up. OK. Sure. You bet. There hasn't been a new refinery built in this country since 1976 because apparently no one wants to live by one, yet we have John Morrells right in the middle of town. Go figure. So, we have one of those neat economic issues, a small supply and a large demand, right? I dunno. It seems odd to me that by not having enough gas to meet the country's demand, the oil companies have been pulling in Billion dollar record breaking profits. Exxon Mobil is #2 on the Fortune 500 list with 39.5 Billion (with a B) in profits. PROFITS -- as in after expenses. They were #1, and I'm sure they will be again, since right now Wal-Mart is #1 but once we buy gas to get to work, we won't be able to afford to buy anything else, not even discount items from that shit-hole, Wal-Mart. So why now? Why have the oil companies suddenly realized that they have this country by the short and culies? I mean, they know we have to get to work, right? They know we have to buy gas even if it is JUST to get to work. So why have prices gone up an average of $0.25 per year since 2002? Could it be because the president, vice-president, commerce secretary and national security adviser all have strong ties to the oil industry?

Lets go back to this chart for a moment. Notice the blue line. That line indicates what gas prices were equal to in 2005 cents. That means that in 1980 and 1981, gas was $2.99 per gallon if you were using dollars earned in 2005 to buy it. If you look at the actual pump price for those years, you'll see $1.296. I'm going to quit bitching about gas prices now because if you look at that chart another way, you'll see that a) gas was already this high once, and b) every dollar I have, every dollar I earn is worth less than half of what it was worth in 1980.

Like I said, the political season is upon us. I know a lot of people out there are thinking "It's time for a change" meaning "Let's put a Democrat/black man/woman in the White House". There are others out there that are going to vote a straight party ticket no mater what (and you're the dipshits that piss me off worse than people who don't vote at all).

It IS time for a change. It's time for people to wake the fuck up and really look at who we're putting in charge. We should NOT put someone in the White House to show how open minded and socially superior we are. We should not put someone in the White House because we're Left and they're Right and they've fucked it all up for 8 years so now it's our turn. We should not put someone in the White House because they go to a church we like and want to pass laws that make us feel all warm and fuzzy about trying to force our morality on others. It does not matter what sex, race, religion or political party our next President belongs to. They need to be there for the job, not for themselves and their own interests.

It's our job to really look at the candidates. I don't mean watch them on TV. I mean really look at them. Who donates to their campaign? What private sector entities do they have ties to? Which lobyists and special interest groups did they write bills for? Vote on bills for? Go to the Caymans with? We need to truely scrutinize the candidates. We need to look beyond the mud slinging and media sensationalism that will occur. It's time for us to change.

Don't forget to register to vote.

Oh.. did I mention that Jerry Fallwell died? HA!

Posted by The Joker at 01:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)