It's not over.

I'm tired, physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted.  I am safe but I am so bloody fucking tired.  I want to escape to a place where I can rest, and recharge, somewhere safe from the worries that plague me daily.   However, that's not possible, physically, mentally, or financially.

I'm stuck.  The depression and anxiety have taken their toll.  Even though the oncologist is quite happy with my renal cell carcinoma prognosis, it too has left me exhausted.

There is so much darkness in the world surrounding me, hatred and ignorance.  The angry orange shit gibbon with his penchant for Russian cock, Russian whore piss, and the complacent, complicit orange cocksuckers that is the GOP these days have left me hating what my country has become.  America is facing a moral and probably mortal wounding.  It saddens me.  It sickens and disgusts me.  This is not the United States of America that I used to love.  This is a dystopian cyberpunk nightmare.

Brown children in cages, the LGBTQ+ community under attack, the rich getting richer and the poor getting fucked.  This is the GODDAMN 21st century!  This is not how we're supposed to be.

I can only hope that we can come to our senses in November and begin the process of trying to fix this absolute fucking shit storm.

I am fucking exhausted, but I remain safe.
Peace, Love and Harmony to all of us.

I just washed my...

Big white dog, (why, yes.  His name is Elvis.  How did you know?), and I can't do a thing with him.

Thirteen down, one hundred and twenty-five to go.

Wasteland Monday, feeling much like a piñata on seis de Mayo.  Seven p.m. wasteland time zone or four balls Zulu.  Wait, I've already done that story.   Monday evening and I'm without a buffer to fall back on at midnight.  Yep, par for the course.   Whoda thunk it?

I suppose I could tune into the Republican National Convention Sideshow and start following the live Tweets from the Twitterverse.  On second thought, I would just as soon have a sharp pointy stick jammed into my as...eye.  Eye, yeah that's it.  I would rather be stabbed in the eye than sit through that circus.  Nothing said by the clown brigade could convince me to follow the pachyderms. 

 

The RNC in an obvious attempt to stir patriotism with convention delegates labeled the elevators inside the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland after the Colors of the National Ensign. 

I'm not sure they thought this through completely.  The "White" elevators for Republican conventioneers might just be a little, um, I don't know, FUCKING WRONG.  

Either no one caught it, or no one cared enough to change it.  Says a lot about the whole mentality of the repubs doesn't it? 

This message brought to you by the Chump Trump and Bohica (Bend Over, Here It Comes Again) Pence, who either didn't catch it or didn't care about the New Campaign logo.

It ain't much, it's all I've got for today.  
Blink...blink...blink.
Thanks.   Fourteen down, one hundred and twenty-four to go.  

See you tomorrow, probably.

Go Home Tweetyboid, you're drunk.

Ten down, one hundred and twenty-eight to go.

Wow!  What a concept.  The dashboard for the Ramble shows something I haven't seen in a while.  A number in the Scheduled row.  Albeit, it's only one, but a number nonetheless.  I'm not scrambling to get something ready for midnight.   By the looks of it that number will be two with about eight hours to spare.  Whoda thunk it?  I wonder how long it will be before the slacker dood returns.

So, you guys um, like stuff?

Twitter tells me I might like stuff too.  Based on my following Hillary Clinton the little bird says that I might like to follow Donald J. Trump and Marco Rubio?

DAFUQ?  I think the little bird has been in the fermented bird seed again, or eating those "special" seeds it finds on the ground, clean your shit better, no one wants a seed to pop in your face.  I'm not entirely certain the algorithms worked the way the should on this one.   I get entirely too much narcissistic, bombastic, misogynistic, racist, hate filled demagoguery as it is.   I don't think there is enough vodka or acid in the Kool-Aid to make me take that step.  Damages my calm.

Sanity is relative.  At least I'm not blowing bubbles with my spit or "Some gibbering old fool sitting all alone drooling on his shirt.  Some senile old fart playing in the dirt." Lou Reed, Beginning of a Great Adventure.  (Thanks Lou). 

One way or another it should be over by November.  With a bit of luck, (touch wood, not that I'm superstitious or anything), my stress, anxiety and depressions triggers will lessen.  Should it go the other way?  Does anyone out of the country have a spare bed I can bum while I play expatriate.  I have all of my shots, I'm kinda handy for a laugh or two, and am mostly house-broken; mostly that is.

Thanks for sitting in.  Eleven down, one hundred and twenty-seven to go.

See you tomorrow.

Heavy heart.

After the near disasters of close calls last week and only 14 to go before I hit that magic six-month mark, I thought I could get a couple of entries ready and get a jump start on next week.  Then I slacked off completely on Friday.  Yesterday, I mostly slacked off, only writing one short paragraph, which on Sunday I promptly deleted.

Today, Sunday, June 11th, 2016.  Outraged and saddened I published a short entry.  I have nothing left to post at Midnight.  Nothing, save this.  I don't feel like trying to be funny, or thoughtful, or poignant.  I don't feel like posting an angry, railing diatribe.  I feel nothing but a great sadness today. 

This may very well be the end of the Ramble.  

 ...Peace...

Not Qualified?

I hear it from both sides of the political isle and from every point between.  Including the numbskulls who have no clue,all  harping on the "Qualifications to be President."  There are a lot of numbskulls, idiots and Trumpeteers here in the wasteland.

Really? Did I miss something in high school?  Actually, now that I think about it, it would have been junior high.  Yes, I'm that old. I went to a Jr. high and not a middle school.  Although I transferred to a different school system between the 8th and 9th grades.  With the transfer, 9th grade was a part of the high school.  One room school house, 12 miles to school and back every day. up hill both ways.  Yada, yada, blah, blah, blah...

I digress.  Anyone surprised?  Thought not.

Article II

Section 1

 "No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States."

Amendment XXII

Section 1 

"No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term."

Granted, I'm not a Constitutional expert, but aren't those the only real qualifications?  Hellsbells, even I meet those requirements.  No, I don't want the gig.  Don't ask.  I'll make my own Shermanesque declaration.

  "I will not accept if nominated 
and will not serve if elected."

William Tecumseh Sherman 

 
Sure, we want the leader of the free world to be smarter than a box of rocks, a lot less racist, misogynistic, hate filled and more capable than an angry orange bully troll.  Someone who can deal with everything she'll have to without throwing a narcissistic, egomaniacal hissy fit, crying about how small his hands are and how 'well endowed" he might be. 

Any similarities to persons real or fictional is purely intentional.

As always, thanks.

See you tomorrow.

Brace! Brace! Brace!!!

The bugler is rehearsing "Taps" and the fat lady is warming up her vocal chords.  No entry yesterday.  That means I'm only 6 days in front of this one posting and 12 days ahead of making it until June. Though with Memorial day and a birthday in those 12 days I might 'legitimately' be able to skate through those.  Not that I need a reason to slack off.

Well, the GOP Clown car has spit out everything but the angry, dangerous, orange clown.  People, wake the fuck up.  This is not what we're about.  He is not 'for' you, the middle and lower classes, women, people of color, veterans, active duty military.  If you're not a rich, white man he is not for you.  He is NOT for America.  Period. Full Stop.  Period.  Drumpf is in this only for himself, to feed his narcissism and his ego.  He only wants to make Trump great again.  He doesn't give one rat's ass, flying fuck for us.  Elect this fool and we'll be paying for it, financially, socially, economically and in global relations for a century or more.

Yes, it is your vote, and yes, I still very much care how you choose to exercise it.  There are too many family members, friends, persons of ALL races, colors and creed that I care about, here and world wide.  There is too much at stake, now, and for the future.

It still isn't much. but it was the best I had for today.  We're still clearing the trees, barely.

When this thing finally gives up flying we may not know whether I crashed and burned due to pilot error, augured in and buying the farm in a CFIT, (Controlled Flight Into Terrain) incident, or if this blog was not airworthy and unsafe for flight operations.

As always, thanks.

See you on Monday.  Peace.

Give me your hungry.

So, Friday here in the wasteland.  Friday and I haven't written one of these since Monday.  I think I may have found out where the padded buffer zone disappeared to.  Not much doubt there, though.  There are/were still 3 weeks of entries waiting  in the wings.  Just how many will be ready in 3 weeks of wasteland time is anyone's guess.

As I mentioned yesterday, this part of the wasteland held it's primary election.  I couldn't do it, I wasn't able to fight down the bile at the very thought of voting for Cruz.  I couldn't bring myself to ask for a Republican ballot.  So, I groped the Bern.

I'm still avoiding the whole news and politics thing that "Damages my calm." (Reference),  Evidently, Drumpf and Clinton won here, and the chat-bot Rubio has packed it in.   That leaves 3 in the clown car.  I'd like to say that it is your vote and I don't care how you use it, so long as you USE IT.  I'd like to be able to say it, but I can't.  I do very much care who you vote for.  I care for my friends and family who will be marginalized, persecuted and demonized because of who they are, the color of their skin, their genders and gender identification, their sexual preferences, their religion or lack thereof.  I care about who you choose to send to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.  I care for all of us and all who will be marginalized, persecuted and demonized because of who they are, the color of their skin, their genders and gender identification, their sexual preferences, their religion.  This fucked up GOP scares me.  I don't want to be part of that America.  I don't want to be part of the hate.

"Give me your hungry, your tired, your poor I'll piss on 'em
that's what the Statue of Bigotry says
Your poor huddled masses, let's club 'em to death
and get it over with and just dump 'em on the boulevard."

Lou Reed, 'Dirty Blvd.'  

Thanks for your time.  Peace.

See you tomorrow, maybe.

A Piece of PI?

Today is Pi day.  That means tomorrow is Priday, Primary Election day here in the wastelands.  I'm still undecided on how my vote will be cast.  In November, I know regardless of the office they seek, from the top down or the bottom up I will not be voting for any of the GOP candidates.  Period, Full Stop, Period.  However, tomorrow is another story entirely.  In an attempt to derail the hate I am still considering a strategic vote against the Toxic Orange troll with the angry, funky-assed hair.  This in itself presents a dilemma.  That would mean voting for the only other person who may have a chance to win the primary here.  As much as I want the Drumpf to go away I find the idea of voting for the Texas zealot to be morally, ethically, philosophically and socially repugnant.  Just thinking about it makes me throw up in my mouth.

My first choice would have been O'Malley.  Number 2 is The Bern with Hillary coming in a distant third.  One Kennedy would have been enough, one Bush was enough, one Clinton was enough, one Obama is enough.  Of the other two examples that come to mind the Adams boys are really ancient history and the Roosevelts were ideologically different.  I don't like dynasties.  Dynastic succession, monarchy, dictatorships are all just different words for the same thing.  That's not what we're about.

We need to abolish the flawed two-party system.  And this insane primary election thing.  The early voting states influence the votes of the rest of us.  If my candidate of choice can't show well enough early, I don't get a chance to vote for them here.  It's broken, it doesn't work anymore.  If I'm still writing these in November you may hear me bitch about the Electoral College as well.

I've said it for years, and much to the dismay of my Constitution loving friends.  I think we need to be a Parliamentary Democracy, but that will never fly in my lifetime.  Automatic voter registration, easier voting, better scheduling, Saturday voting, Maybe 30 days?  Let's throw in No Confidence votes and easier recall elections.

Politicians need to remember who they work for.  From your local dog catcher all the way up through the ranks to POTUS.  These elected officials are EMPLOYEES, our employees.  If I don't do my job my boss can hand me the pink slip and you can almost bet that it won't take two, four or six years to escort my ass to the door.

Aiiiit.  My rant's over, this time.  I'm still four weeks timey-wimey, wibbly-wobbly in front or behind you.  I can never keep that straight.  At any rate, this one is done and loaded.  The Hockey thing happens tonight, I might get motivated enough to do another while the game is on.

As always, Siyabonga dudes.

See you tomorrow.

Saddened, Frightened and Sickened.

I sit here just hours before the last GOP presidential debate of 2015. Will I tune in for the spectacle? No, probably not. It's frozen-rubber-disk sports thingy night. Aside that fact there is absolutely nothing, not-a-thing, nada, zilch, el zippo that any one of these clowns delusional and possibly psychotic, sociopaths and wannabe despots can say that would make me surrender my precious vote to them.

Yesterday at a rally for the aspiring Führer and amid shouts of sieg heil a #blacklivesmatter protester was roughed up and forcibly removed, one orange toupee supporter even shouting;
"Light the motherfucker on fire."

I don't want to be part of this America. This America saddens me. This America frightens me. This America sickens me. This America needs to be ground into dust and scattered to the wind.

Merriam-Webster just announced its word of the year isn't a word, but a suffix instead; -ism. When did we become so afraid? Why is the color of a person's skin, their religion, their gender identification or sexual orientation so terrifying? Why are everyone except white men still considered second-class?

To all the persons of the Americas and of the World who are oppressed, discriminated against and persecuted by members of my Caucasian race, I am sorry. I know I am privileged, I'm a white middle-aged male. That privilege makes me a racist, but I try so very hard, every single day to overcome that, to understand, and not to succumb to the ignorance, bigotry and hate.

So, before an angry Murican yells;

"IF YOU DON'T LIKE MY COUNTRY YOU CAN GET THE FUCK OUT!"

Let me enlighten the angry Murican's a little. Much of my ancestral lines were in this country before it became a country. At least three branches of the family tree were here before it had been discovered by the white Europeans. Do not tell me it's not my country.      

It's not much, but I am an ally and I will do what I can.

Thanks for sticking around, It's dinner time, I need a cup of coffee, and if I still indulged, a cigarette or two.  Peace.

See you tomorrow.

A better day.

Well, rather a benign day here in the wastelands.  Big, white dog, (it's still Elvis), let me sleep.  I only switched between the bed and the couch twice...each way.   No weird, saddening, depressing dreams and I'm relatively pain free.

The frozen-rubber-disk sports thingy is happening tonight.  Hopefully, the Blues can stop the runaway train.  They've lost 8 of the last 12.   I know, still moot, still ancient history and you still don't care.

"As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1." Godwin's law, Mike Godwin.  Does this apply to conversations concerning Donald Trump?  George Stephanopoulos recently asked Trump whether the candidate was bothered by the increasing number of comparisons to Hitler, to which Trump responded, "No."

This man is dangerous.  His followers often present themselves as does Trump, rabid and frightened dogs.   Barking at non-existent threats.  Stiff legged and threatening to life in the twenty-first century.  Hateful, bigoted, racist, misogynistic, terrified mongrels, pissing on everything in the attempt to mark territory.   

Granted, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is still vying in a vain attempt to garner the GOP nomination.  However, in response to the  announcement that as president, Trump would ban all Muslims entry into the USA, Graham stated in an interview wiith CNN; 

“I don’t know who you are and why you like this guy,” he said, adding that perhaps Trump fans are drawn to him because he appears strong and has a record as a successful businessman and because of that, “He’s going to take all of the problems of the world and put them in a box and make your life better. That’s what he’s selling.”

“Here’s what you’re buying,” he went on. “He’s a race-baiting, xenophobic religious bigot. He doesn’t represent my party. He doesn’t represent the values that the men and women who wear the uniform are fighting for.”

“He’s the ISIL Man of the Year,” said Graham. “The enemy will use that rhetoric against us” to recruit members into radical Islamic extremism.

To “win this war” against extremists, Graham said, the U.S. and the west must persuade young Muslims to reject radicalism, not punish millions of people for their faith.

“And do you know how you make America great again?” he concluded. “You tell Donald Trump to go to hell.”   From David Ferguson.


It might not be an issue, in February when you are reading this, he may have imploded, exploded, or may no longer be a factor. (Touch wood; not that I'm superstitious or anything).   Just in case though, think very long, and very hard about supporting him.  Tell the Trump to go to hell.  His America is not our America.

As always thanks.

See you tomorrow.

Let's talk turkey...

Politically, I describe myself as a radical, militant, middle of the road independent. Yes, I do tend to lean a bit toward fiscal conservatism, however, the current crop of talking GOP heads leave me wondering. None of the GOP candidates have made any impression with me other than a "are you fucking kidding me", reaction.

Let's talk issues. Both parties need to suck it up and admit to their constituents, that they are accepting 50% of the blame for everything wrong with the U.S. Each party can also accept 50% of the credit for the little that is currently right.

Let's quit blaming the other guys. Let's move away from the wings, Left and Right and get our shit together.

Education, Jobs, Defense, Economy, and not necessarily in that order.

It's that time again.

For the next sixteen and a half months we are going to be bombarded with political bullshit...rhetoric as the race to become the next President of the United States of America heats up.

The extremes of the right and the left will be trying to sway our votes. The season of mudslinging, dirty tricks and fear mongering is upon us. Talking heads, sound bytes and candidates sucking up for votes.

Take your time, do your research, don't blindly follow one party or the other. There are other alternatives and should enough of us voice our displeasure with the status quo things will change. There are choices aside from the demopublicans and the republicrats.

Throw the bums out, all of them. Vote against any incumbant. Vote Libertarian, Constitution, Reform, Green, Socialist or cartoon character. Vote for anyone other than the members of the "Good ole Boy's clubs).