Proof that Sarah Palin and Reince Priebus are Lunatics

We now have official proof that Sarah Palin and, for good measure, Republican party chairman Reince Priebus are totally, utterly, completely bonkers. Menace-to-society level nuts. President Obama gets his long-form birth certificate from Hawaii (which, by the way, Hawaii is clearly so totally over the mainland freaks at this point) and releases it and says we don't have time for mainstream fools like Donald Trump to stoke the fires of fringe fools like the birthers and here we go, thank you, let's all have a nice day.

And then Sarah Palin, twit(terer) extraordinaire, and Reince Priebus say that OBAMA is using the birth certificate to distract the country from its real problems? That Obama is?!?!?

They are crazy. Why do any of you people take them seriously? Why??

The only thing I can take seriously about the Republican party and/or right-wing evangelicals at this point is that they willingly put violent warmonger George W. Bush and his murderous crew in the White House to go kill and torture tens of thousands of innocent people to protect their bullshit Texas oil money. You people in the United States need to stop bitching about gasoline prices at the pump and start bitching about the cost of gasoline, in blood and lies.

April Days

Normally around this time of year, I find myself noting that, as usual, April sucks. Then I bring T.S. Eliot into it for good literary measure. This year, my distinct lack of bloggage has also meant a distinct lack of complaining about April. This brings to mind a couple of questions:

1. Was this April any better than your (and by that I mean "my") typical April?
2. What is up with my distinct lack of bloggage?

Tough questions, those. Let's start with April. I guess it was better than a lot of Aprils in that it Didn't Suck. But, like all my other 2011 days, it has just gone by far too fast! In a blur! And I totally don't have time to enjoy and/or contemplate my days right now. I hate that I don't have that time. I'm big on the enjoying and contemplating.

Of course, it has been a very springy spring of an April, and I still hate spring, with all its unsettled manic-depressive weather careening back and forth between cold and not cold. But I haven't really had time to contemplate that, either.

It is perhaps this not-having-time-to-think thing that is behind my distinct lack of bloggage, to answer question #2. They say that no man can serve two masters, but I feel like I'm serving three. Unfortunately, I can't really explain all the details for public interwebs consumption, but let's just say that I'm working full-time while also working on another project in my spare time while also having a fair amount of time taken up by another ongoing project. It makes me seriously, deeply, intensely want to have ONE full-time gig and to have that one full-time gig be my creative writing pursuits. Alas and alack.

I'm pretty sure that's what's behind the restless unsettledness. Bring on summer - it's better for my mind. Spring irritates me. Then I can at least hope for some summery life contemplation.

My Thoughts as Aries Turns to Taurus

Lately I have become more and more interested in going to Nepal. Obviously, as any traveler would, I have had a desire to visit Nepal for a while, but lately I have been making rough plans, seeking out more information, etc.

Today I watched this, and thought again about how ridiculously easy my life is and how ridiculously easy are the lives of pretty much everyone I know reading this blog.


Government, rather than blowing up people and "protecting" our oil interests, should be focused on protecting humans around the world - yes, the entire world - by creating visions of peaceful, sustainable development in all corporate endeavors.

Government, and the citizens who accept their government's rhetoric, let alone the crap rhetoric that comes from talking cable heads, should be ashamed of themselves for creating false us/them dichotomies and inventing excuses to unleash violence in the world. Governments and corporations should both have an eye toward peaceful prosperity. Corporations should be taxed, and they should not be allowed to exploit people. And any citizen, "business" owner, or other enslaver who so much as negligently benefits from another human's enslavement (in domestic work or other trafficking) should be prosecuted. That means you, southeast Asia "pleasure tours." And you and you and you, corporations in Dubai/Abu Dhabi. And you, seedy nightlife all over the U.S. and other countries.

Sometimes I marvel that our world considers itself civilized at all.

Donald Trump Pulling a McCain

Oh, Donald Trump. Why? Why why why? Why couldn't you just stay cool and awesome so I could like you and support you as an edgy, interesting, splashy candidate for presidency/celebrity/random attention-grabbing? You got SOOOO many points a few years back when you totally schooled Wolf Blitzer about the George W. Bush murderous wars and lies. Donald, when I watched you in that interview, I was so mightily impressed I didn't think I would ever have to go back from liking you. You looked Wolfy in the face as he sat there yammering about how Bush et. al. thought there were WMDs and you said, "Come on. I don't believe that. And I don't think you believe that. You're a smart young man. You know as well as I did that Bush lied." You did what none in the U.S. media would do: speak truth to power.

But now? First, you go on Piers Morgan jabbering about China being our "enemy," like our straight up legit enemy, and not in some quasi-meta-economic way but seriously. You're wrong Donald. And by the way? We don't want another president who's out looking for enemies in the world instead of trying to make friends. Then, this week, you decide to join the birthers? The birthers? Of all people! Please tell me this is a joke. Please tell me you're doing this to attract all the crazy right-wing fringe to yourself so you can stop worrying about the Palin-Beck-Gingrich-sometimes-Huckabee wackiness and just get Romney or Giuliani or someone maybe a little bit sane to actually get the nomination.

I'm worried it's not a joke. I'm worried you have been poisioned by the same batshit-making poision they gave to John McCain sometime between his (actual) maverick days and the time when he started massively psychotic behavior like defending Bush's Iraq policies. I know that the Republican powers that be have some way of making you edgy, interesting ones lose your minds when you flirt with power in that party. Why? Why couldn't you have just stayed cool? Is this your penance for having spoken the Bush truth to Wolf?

As if it's not bad enough that our government is squaring off like my 9-year-old students and we could really use a little Millard, now we have to be disappointed by you, too.

Shame on you, The Donald.

You were so close to being awesome. Now you're just one of them.

Zeitgeist Obsoyo

OK, so, having been in Korea for the past three months I have managed to remain blissfully unaware of a few things longer than some of you people stateside would remain unaware of them. Not things that actually matter in the world (see, e.g., Egypt, Libya, Japan, tsunamis, radiation) or other things that matter in my world (see, e.g., the Oscars) but, you know, a few things that just fly under my overseas radar. Like a bestselling book called Heaven Is For Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back. I heard a little about it a few weeks ago and it didn't really register, but now I have learned a bit more. It has come to my attention that many, many, many of you are taking seriously a)the story about seeing heaven - "for real" b)of a 4-year-old boy c)written with his father d)who is a pastor e)and, just for good measure, has the last name "Burpo."

Please cite your reasons for lending any credibility whatsoever to any of the above.

I'm waiting.