R.I.P Dale Cassiday

Dale was the husband of the forever drama teacher at Brown County High School, Janice Cassiday. He was a fixture in the ciommunity and ever present at High School and Civic theater productions. He was a sweet guy and a great father and husband and a good friend, and he will be missed.

Tiny House is working

Well one bit of good news is that in addition to being comfy and easy to clean my tiny house used about as little electricity as a house can use, at least according to Duke Energy. Not sure why I should trust Duke Energy, but my bill appears to be about 1/2 of the average household bill. Let's hear it for Tiny Houses!

Idiocy at an All-Time High

Today was bound to be a real bitch considering the activities of the Right lately, i.e. Teabaggery and associated activities.

But the censorship of the President addressing schoolchildren and exhorting them to stay in school, not give up, and to better themselves and their country by doing so is the final straw.

In particular because this now hits as close to home as health care, but the villains aren't faceless insurance companies, distant representatives and untouchable fascist demagogues on Fox News and radio, but local administrators and elected officials (the school board) who either out of cowardice or venality censored the speech in our schools.

Sometimes a person in position of authority has to take a stand and make the right decision even though it may be unpopular with a segment or even the majority of the population. The right decision here was to air the speech for students and let them hear the message of perseverance and the importance of education.

But here in Monroe County, the best you could get was a passing of the buck, an outright lie, and cowardly censorship which catered to the extremists in the community (although admittedly there are plenty of these extremists and they are plenty loud).

This is a shameful day for America, but it should also serve us all as a wake up call; we can't sit by idly and let the hate-filled, psychotic right dictate school policy.

The school board positions are usually run as apolitical positions but that is nonsense; Sarah Palin got her start on the school board, after all. It actually serves as a stepping stone for people on all sides of the aisle.

We must, as private citizens, in the next election cycle, take the election of school board officials more seriously, get more information out, and prevent the nut-jobs from taking over the schools.

6-Story Tall Douche-bag Sighted Over Bloomington

Teabaggers Gets They Bitch-Asses Whupped in Bloomington Town Hall Meeting

800 or so people packed Bloomington High School North auditorium in Bloomington, Indiana last night for a Town Hall meeting conducted by Representative Baron Hill of Indiana's 9th Congressional District.

The Teabaggers were loud, but, by at least a third, the minority in the house. Dann Denny of the HT erroneously reports "thunderous applause" from both sides but really the only truly thunderous ovations came from the left.

I got there about 10 minutes late, just in time to see about 10-15 'Baggers storm out after Hill made a dumb remark about how it was "his meeting" and he "made the rules" in response to a journalism student who couldn't videotape. He qualified the statement by saying he didn't want a "Youtube hatchet-job," which is a perfectly good reason, but why make such a stupid statement in the first place? It's NOT his meeting, it belongs to the 9th Congressional District. (These last bits of information were relayed to me as the meeting ended by my friend Steve who saw this exchange)

The 'Baggers stormed out muttering but seemed mostly pleased to be getting out. One guy made a remark about having "better things to do" and either he or another guy added "getting drunk."

Well it WAS after 6, to their credit.

I was being stripped of my own camera at that time and sodomized by an ACORN volunteer/Congressional page for Hill at that time, so missed that little bit of action. No, not really. I kept my camera.

Inside, the tone was mostly civil and Hill kept a pretty good handle on things. But he obviously has his reasons for having a chip on his shoulder. The anti-reform people kept asking the same questions over and over. In particular "can we keep our current coverage?" He kept saying yes. At one point he said "You'll just have to trust me," which is never something you want to hear coming out of a politician's mouth, but it's hard to blame him for getting tired of people not listening.

There was a guy who said he had PTSD from being robbed (at gunpoint, I think) and was now $9,000 in debt.

Why is it whenever there is a microphone handy someone has to chronicle their mental illnesses? Or volunteer what medications they take?

The most compelling stories were two from (possibly) opposing viewpoints. One woman told of her parents having to divorce so her mother could get the care she needed without her father going bankrupt. She was very sincere and did seem traumatized by this, but her closing statement of "go ahead and boo me because I've already felt the pain" shut up the detractors pretty good. Personally, though an avid monogamist and general fan of marriage, I think a marriage is only as good as the feelings and intentions of the married couple, and that conversely, a lifelong and deep commitment between two people is more important than a piece of paper or government approval, so her statements about a family being "ripped apart" fell a little flat for me.

Jim DeWeese is a guy from my high school who now works as a prosthetics manufacturer. He and I have traded a few remarks over Facebook and he has some very legitimate concerns, not the least of which is that Tom Daschle is a whore for Anthem now and Jim hates Anthem/Wellpoint for very good reasons. More on that in future posts as I want to include some of Jim's writings to me and discus some things with him further.

The 'Baggers kept a'booin' and the Healthers kept a cheerin' for a while. Around 7 p.m., the scheduled ending time, I went to the hall and took my camera back from my new lover the ACORN volunteer/Hill page and waited for angry outbursts from the disappointed wing-nuts leaving. But mostly it was just muttering and head shaking, nothing really worth filming.

Outside, people were exchanging a few shouts and jeers at one another, and the Teabagger Airforce was gassing up near the football field. I saw this 60-odd foot hot-air balloon a few weeks ago over Ellettsville and it scared the shit out of me, as it is shaped like a bald eagle. It came over some trees low and backlit by the sun and I seriously thought the aliens had arrived or some scary shit was going down, then it came more clearly into view and I was immediately struck by the utter hypocrisy of the thing.

I did a little research; hot-air balloons run about $20,000, $30,000 to $40,000 if they are custom or special models, which this thing certainly is.

I hollered over at the pilots and ground crew and asked them how much one of those things costs.

"Do you want to buy it or do you want to take a ride?" asked Air Marshall Teabaggery in response.

"I might take a ride in it sometime, but right now I just want to know how much one costs," I replied.

"God Bless America," he says, after a pause.

"$30,000?" I yell back. "40?" Nothin.' Free balloon, I guess. Obviously, the hypocrisy is not lost on the numb nuts pilot that if he can afford a $30,000 toy he probably doesn't have much to bitch about on the financial front. Ah, well. No surprise here: Teabagger hypocrisy stands six-stories tall. Up, up and away, baby!

Baron Hill Town Hall meeting Wednesday September 2 at Bloomington High School North

This should be good. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. and the paper has advised getting there early. The North H.S. space holds about 1000 people. Sure to be lots of Teabaggers in attendance, but hopefully, given that this is MOSTLY a semi-sane town, there will be lots of good people there too. Yours Truly will be there with an abundance of media equipment, looking all the world like a Vietnam era war correspondent. Come out and rock the house for a public option.

MLK Story from Truthout

http://www.truthout.org/083009R?n

St. Louis is a really cool town

I dug it.

Tres chic cosmo-metropolitan goodness vibes; perfect weather, better company.

Land of Several Street Dances

Coming soon to a street near you in Bloomington, the third and final street dance of the summer! Scott Kellog has graciously restarted the grand Bloomington tradition of street dances, though they do not too closely resemble the street dances of the '80s and '90s
Probably because it isn't the '80s and '90s anymore. Eric Indiana, a.k.a. Eric White and now Eric Spears was the architect of fun, free punk rock in the streets of B-ton through the last couple decades of the 20th Century. Eric's interest was in the Scene, which no longer exists due to the fragmentation of said scene in the late '90s... due to a lot of things, including an increase in professionalism among many of the musicians, lots of new blood coming in that didn't feel beholden to the old guard, but probably also simply due to the fact that change happens, taste in music happens, people grow old, yadda yadda yadda.

So Scott's street dances have featured quite a different array of bands than you would have seen 20 years ago. There really has been only one punk rock band thus far, the ever-inspiring Coke Dares, but there has been a great response from the community (even during the dismal rain of the second dance) and a number of great performances.
Coyoba is a young band featured in the third, upcoming street dance and even if dub reggae isn't your thing, this krewe will move even the hardest of hearts. Seriously; they are that fuckin' good.
The bash will be in front of Max's Pizza, which is great for several reasons: you can buy the kids some bread sticks or pizza, you can buy yourself a beer, you can use the restrooms, and you can soak up some air conditioning should that become necessary. All in all, a grand return of a great Bloomington tradition, updated, and done extremely well.

The street dances have also been co-sponsored by the very cool B.E.A.D. (Bloomington Entertainment and Arts District) and the much beleaguered, stumbling on its last legs, lost and soon to be dead Bloomington Area Arts Council (BAAC). More on the imminent demise of the BAAC in future entries.
Date and time: October 2nd, 7th Street in front of Max's Pizza

Lineup:

Creatrix, Splinter, and Coyoba

In the wake of Ted's death...

I have avoided perusing the online comment sections of articles and whatnot as I don't really want to lose my mind over the idiocies of right-wing posters who think Chappaquiddick is the whole of his legacy. What is the point? The reactions from those folks are predictable and cruel and will only make me more angry.

So the only real issue is that on top of his nearly 5 decades of public service a lasting memorial- REAL health care reform which includes a public option- is created. Let the nattering nabobs of negativity stew in their mildewed oats.

Thanks, Teddy.

Where have all the motherfucking flowers gone?

Don't really care, just wanted to use that in a title.

How does Ted K.'s death affect the vote on healthcare?

Given that the Dems will have to go it alone, one less vote in the Senate is a real pain in the ass.

Kennedy, aware of his limited time or at least his inability to be part of the process, recently asked for an interim appointment in leiu of the special voting session currently required by Commonwealth of Massachusetts law.

In light of his death, it probably makes more sense to delay the health care vote and hold the election for senator. The time frame for electing a new senator has been stated as 5-6 months. Can the vote be delayed that long?

In any event the Birthers, Teabaggers and other miscreants opposed to health care reform will howl. Changing or circumventing the law to appoint a Dem senator will be seen as a foul, and probably in fact would be a foul. Delaying the health care vote will certainly be seen as a foul, but is justifiable in many ways.

However, if the 60th vote is not there, that only means the vote is not filibuster-proof. That just means it will be a harder victory, but victory is not unattainable. Our elected reps are going to have to earn their pay.

About that title

I have discovered over the years that I learn more on my own than in a class... or do I?

"It's pronounced..."

We've all heard that once or twice in our lives. I went through school up until college an avid reader and bullshitter. It didn't work in college. The specificity of topics and the quality of work demanded made half-assing it no longer an option.

So out into the real world I went after a few years of half-assed attempts at college.

Back part-time and then full -time years later, older than most students by 10 years and fairly motivated to succeed I walked away after 3.5 years with an undergraduate degree. A couple years later went back for most of a graduate degree.

Looking back now, my choices were not great. Not terrible, but not great. Not great in that I did not choose either an undergraduate degree (Geography) or a graduate degree (Criminal Justice) that led to an immediate career path, though I have worked in the criminal justice field for almost a decade now and anticipate continuing to do so for another decade.

Not terrible, in that my degrees have served me in my work to some extent or another since I have earned them/mostly earned them, and continue to do do, and my second college lives did teach me how to learn in a more focused and disciplined fashion.

Learning, as they say, is a lifelong activity. Ultimately, all learning is done within the individuals brain case... but it does help to have a good guide. Maybe the biggest benefit of structured education is ultimately emerging from that experience with the ability to be your own guide.

Here's to Autodidacticism.

R.I.P. Ted Kennedy

Well what can you say about this party animal? An incredible loss for the country, even though many people in the country are too stupid to realize it.

He served the people of Massachusetts and his country for half a century or so. Health care was one of his longstanding issues. Let's continue to fight for the public option.

Drudgery

Motherfuck me and the horse I rode in on I am tired today. I have 2.5 minutes before the rest of the day becomes a sprint to the temporary Nirvana of the waking life that comes when the whistle blows. What can anybody do with a $1000 car? No matter. Not like you can do without one. I was intensely jealous of some bicyclists I saw this morning but it's not like I can haul myy ass 9 miles to my kid's house, pack her up, get her to school and get to work on a bike. Well, maybe I could, and get to work sweating out the last three days work of food and booze. Fuck this health shit! -Sigh_ Poor me! Poor, poor me! Off to St. Louis this weekend with my loverly lady! Poor me! Over educated in the richest country in the world! Poor me! One more cup of coffee for the road and I'm ready to rock! Poor me!

Learning the Hard Way

To do list:



Get a new car. A VW of some kind, you sick fuck.

Build a Gypsy caravan.

March on Washington to demand a Public Option for health care reform.

Get certified as an EMT. Join the Red Cross.

Start a radio blog. Isn't that just an endless stream of verbal bullshit on the Internet? Sounds good.

Remind C___ I won't be there for my volunteer shift on Friday as I will be out of town. Call I____ or S___ about that outdoor gig.

Apply for income based repayment.

File taxes.

Change the order of the last two things.

Pick up prescription.

Drink more water.

Drink less beer.

Work on tiny house.