92.1

Sanford, Maine is a small city close to me here in Acton. It has had a radio station transmitting at 92.1 on the dial for quite a few years. It has gone through more than a few changes; call letters, formats and owners over the 47 years I have been listening. But it is still there because of the impressive height of the tower that sits on a hill called Mt. Hope, overlooking the old mill town.

The big ass tower up on Mt. Hope, uh,Mount Rialto used to rock our socks off.  The disc jockeys spun every tune by hand.  Hard Rock, Jazz, Blues, Alternative and once in awhile even some cutting edge Country.  I remember a Merle Haggard set once.  Along with the opening line, "We don't smoke marijuana in Muskogee", while in the background the disc jockey sucked in hard on the mic, and in almost a whisper, "Sissssssss, ah that's some good stuff man."  

Immediately came the sound of lungs coughing as they expanded past their red line and drowned out the first few lines of the song. They might not be smoking marijuana in Muskogee, but apparently they did smoke marijuana up on Mt. Rialto.

Every night was a theme night.  Blues on Mondays I think.  Jazz owned Sunday mornings.  Alternative, mixed with Pop which mixed with AC/DC and Black Sabbath most daylight hours.  Tie a Yellow Ribbon around Ozzie while Steely Dan waits his turn.  Never knew what to expect. It was great.

The last DJ, Ken Ridley - R.I.P.

The radio at the bike shop was locked on the Mount; we didn't move it. I think it was around 1994 when a Massachusetts concern bought the station and began feeding music to Mount Rialto from somewhere deep in the Commonwealth. 92.1 is still pumping out music as an "oldies" station that has someone knowledgeable programming it. But 92.1 is just another spot on the radio dial broadcasting pre-programmed music without the fun that happens between songs when manic jocks lose their shit and go verbally postal. That was always half the fun of listening to live programming, the chance to hear someone say something outrageous that would twist the panties of any older generation who happened to be within earshot.

This gradual transformation and eventual extinction of the solo radio station pumping out tunes one song at a time at 10,000 watts is almost complete now. I thought we had hit rock bottom when the radio stations were bought up by tone deaf venture capitalists. Almost over night spinning platters were replaced by pre-programmed tapes punched up at corporate headquarters 200 miles away and 50 stations began playing the same songs at the same time.

As it turned out, rock bottom was still years away.

Now all our music is stored, cataloged, and broadcast out of the memory banks of millions of computers sprinkled around the planet through internet cables hanging on poles or buried in the ground. Radio waves now days are mostly reserved for talk radio that often spend their time spewing hate and discontent. There are some older all music stations hanging in there, but the heart of music radio has been torn out and now exists on the Internet. I-tunes, Sirius, Spotify and other music purveyors charge a per song fee or monthly fees to hear the music we used to listen to for free.

It may sound as if I am complaining. It may seem I am not happy about how the Past let me down with the Present it left me. There is no reason to complain, but plenty of reason for at least a moment or two to be nostalgically sad. I grew up on music pumped out of honking big radios filled with rectifier tubes that grew hot and glowed as music worked past the static to make us smile until we were out of range and had to fiddle with a dial to find a new station. I don't miss those days now so much as I appreciate they were there setting the stage for what would come into my life 60 years later. 

Later Gator ............................................

__________________________

Naturally or not, I am picking Merle Haggard's "Okie From Muskogee" 

( Orig - 2/7/2012 )

Will Sanity Prevail?

Now that I have participated in many election cycles over the years, I would think I would be immune to the campaign rhetoric that does its best to scare me into voting a certain way. Both the Democrats and the Republicans do it. Only the Republicans will probably definitely utilize baseless fears supported by bald face lies and then  will predictably not live up to any promises they make to the 90% of the country that really needs their help the most. 

With the Democrats there is at least a snowball chance more of us will benefit, as has been the case in the two years since Biden was elected. The Democrats are the most likely of the two parties to work in bipartisan ways. The GOP only wants bipartisanship if they can dictate all the rules. They have become the party of no program, no sense of direction, the party that only knows how to say no. Their goal is to disrupt and control. Nothing else, contrary to their claims otherwise.

I know, I know, the Right would have us believe the world started falling apart once Biden and his evil cabal of socialist pinko commie pedophile liberals stole control of this country from the only God fearing patriots in the country, the GOP. 

They know for certain if God is on your side, the other side must be wrong. It matters not that many on the Left go to church also. God is a selfish god, a Caucasian god and an American god who only likes white people because they are most likely the people to have deep pockets.

The Wingers blame Inflation and high gas prices on Biden. They still insist that he stole the election. Yet, many of them contend the Jan. 6 traitors were but overzealous tourists. It matters little that they are all either, knowingly lying through their teeth or are so stupid they actually believe their leaders' lies.

The Right's consistent and conscious movement away from using truth in their messaging has done what it came there to do; convince a sizable number of citizens that their lies beat any facts that may be used in rebuttal. Alternate Facts and Unfacts rule, Honest Facts drool. 

In the meantime, the Left still seems to be in a daze. They are not focusing well. The Roe decision is an important motivator, but not as high on the list as bread and butter issues like inflation, immigration, gas prices. Yes, these issues are not any one person or organization's fault. But the Right has succeeded in convincing their minions and now some others, that Joe Biden and his democrats are the sole reason it costs $120 bucks to fill up that pickup with the duallies and the bull balls hanging from the hitch. No, the Left seems to have no answer for this campaign of hateful lies gushing out of the dankest, lowest sewers of the Right. It is hard to debate the truth of something when one side only pushes lies. 

Whatever.

The media is no help either. They help feed the fires by allowing blatant lies to fester and go mainstream through local advertising and by just regurgitating the falsehoods on the evening news like they have some weight. They don't care. They toss us polls that hint that one party or the other is overtaking or being overtaken by the other party. The fact that polls have become wildly unreliable in forecasting the finishes in recent years, again, they just don't care. Stirring the pot  of Anxiety is what it is all about. They want to create the accidents we all have to look at no matter that we shouldn't. Controversy based on hate and discontent sells and who cares if that controversy is based on lies? Lining the pockets of the oligarchs who own the medium is the first priority.

With just over a week to election day, there are not going to be many minds changed at this point. I gave up trying to change minds six years ago. I rant and rave against the stupidity of the sanctioned falsehoods fostered by the Right and then vote against them wherever there is a box to check off.

No matter how it turns out, on November 8th I guarantee when a Right Winger loses, claims of cheating will follow. They have allowed their pitiful excuses of leaders to poison their reality and twist it into some bizarre notion that suddenly Democrats are incapable of winning without cheating; even though most cases of recent voter fraud have come from the Right. 

The only light at the end of the tunnel I think is the prospect for a huge early mid term turnout. If this is what happens, historically this favors the Left. Keep your fingers crossed.

Fuck the Right. Hope that sanity prevails ..............................

___________________________

Tom Petty provided the tune for today's post pick. "I won't back down" pretty much sums up my attitude about any cooperation I may be inclined to offer the Right. A reminder of sorts that they have given this country nothing but lip service for over 40 years.

Skate Park Punks

 I woke up this morning hard. No gentle transition, but a rude awakening as if I was finally giving up a fight and would rather face the day than try to recapture the night. It had been a fitful sleep. But then fitful sleep has become more the rule than the exception in recent years.

I don't often remember dreams after a night of tossing, turning, getting up, laying down, repeat. Last night was an exception.

I was some kind of BMX coach of a group of punks in their mid teens. Not sure why BMX, but it was cycling related and at least that made some sense. 

When I found them at the skate park in Somewhere, USA, they were all hanging out behind the big ramp passing a joint and smoking cigarettes. I recognized one from my bike shop. I had caught him stealing awhile back and kicked his sorry ass out of my store.

When these teen age losers saw me they did not even blink. They kept sucking on the joint and smoking their cigarettes and as if on cue, they all grinned at me. I grinned back. They flipped me off. I flipped back.

Scene shifted to this group of losers and myself at a BMX race. There was also a Freestyle competition going on inside the BMX track. My boys were kicking serious ass in both competitions. A coach or authority figure appeared and accused us of cheating. I flipped him off.

When the events were over and my team and I were tail gating at the van, another authority figure shows up and tells us we are all banned from that event in the foreseeable future. All of us flipped him off.

Somewhere the dream shifted gears and I was attempting to talk one of my punks out of quitting the team. He was the fastest of anyone he had faced in every race he had been in. Trouble at home he said. I replied that all of you losers have troubles at home. Quitting the team won't fix that. I went on to try to convince him to stay, but at some point I was looking at his back as he walked away with one hand flipping me and the team off.

Another scene shift and I notice a blackhead pimple on my shoulder. On automatic like I was thirteen again, I squeezed that sucker to clean out the pore. Instead of the predicted blackhead popping up, a small worm oozed out of the now much larger hole. I didn't hesitate. I grabbed it and yanked with steady pressure like I had been here before and done that before. Slowly I was able to get that worm out in one piece. It looked to be six inches long or so.

That was the end of my fitful sleep of last night. Suddenly I was awake wondering just what the Hell was that?

Keep it tween the ditches ..................................

_________________________

When I saw Roy Orbison's song, " In Dreams" on the list Google came up with, I remembered David Lynch's movie, "Blue Velvet" and punched it up. The song was highlighted in the movie as it was lip synced by one of the main lunatics righteously played by Dean Stockwell; making it one of the creepiest scenes in cinema. Lynch did have a way of creating creepy.

Unfacts

                

Unfacts are defined in the online dictionary of Merriam-Webster as;

: a deliberate falsehood made to pass as fact (as for partisan or propagandistic purpose)

Why the use of this word has not caught on, especially now, is beyond me. It is a more accurate description of the kind of lies masquerading as truth being pushed by, well, almost everyone it seems. It beats "Alternate Facts" hands down. There is no equivocation that might lend the term even the smallest amount of dishonest interpretation. The word "unfact" is clear, concise and accurate when trying to be polite while calling out a liar. It has been in existence since at least 1895.

Calling someone out as a liar often leads to heated verbal exchanges becoming exchanges of blows, bullets, and/or rocks. Liar is a trigger word that liars particularly take offense at. Much chest thumping and other buffoonish behavior can result when a liar actually is called a liar. To avoid the violent responses as much as possible, we have come up with many different words that mean liar. They all are less likely to create the fury that being called a liar does. I do not know why. A liar is a liar and they should be no more offended than when hearing themselves called fibbers, prevaricators, or perjurers. To call someone a liar to their face seems to be the worst only surpassed by adding my favorite adjective and calling them a Fucking Liar.  

All in all, there is really no nice way to call someone a liar. And as a rule it is always safer to call someone a liar from the safety of a computer screen based miles away from the targeted liar. It has been my personal experience that liars seem to be the most indignant when called out and the most likely to behave unpredictably.

A lie is the verbal equivalent of stealing. Both are dishonest and despicable actions that can cause much pain and anguish long after the initial offense. The effects can last for years, yet, our human culture does not seem able to live without lying, cheating and stealing. Dishonesty has a place in our culture whether we want to admit it or not. We will often get huffy when the lie affects us personally; yet often we will ignore the same effect in others over our lies. 

Nowhere is the use of the Unfact more prevalent or obvious than inside America's Politics. Both the Right and the Left are experienced and often overly enthusiastic users of the unfact. And sadly, the Right seems to have given up on facts altogether and are now relying on the unfact to fit their needs in filling the heads of their minions with exactly the kind of fear that will drive their agenda the best. They are the masters.

While it appears the Right has more bald faced lies floating around than the Left does, the Left is still more than capable and eager to push unfacts when they feel the urge. And I seriously think that many on the Left are jealous of just how good the Right has become at spreading false information and accusations. An example of the Left's effort to match the Right when it comes to lying is this image Meme that passed through my Facebook page a few days ago.

It pretends to be a bullet list of GOP goals for the future. It is a fake, but a much slicker lie than what the GOP usually comes up with. The usual lies from the Right are on the surface bald face lies. They don't even try to hide them anymore. Regardless it is wrong no matter who came up with the lie and was doubly wrong to be allowed any oxygen at all. 

I have no right to call out people who spread meme's containing false information, uh, lies on social media platforms. I have missed a few. I am more careful now about what I do share online in the way of facts. This meme to the right for instance; I caught before I posted. It offers up talking points that have been bounced around on the Right for years. But in this configuration pretending to be official GOP policy, it is a lie no matter that some would consider it only misleading. In my opinion, misleading is lying and sometimes even worse than a straight out lie. It should not have been allowed to be posted.

I think all of us who spend time on Facebook or any other social media site need to be more concerned and cautious about spreading fiction versus being used to spread lies that in the end do none of us any good.

A world based on lies seems like it already has one foot in the grave.

Later ......................................

__________________________

Musical choice today is "Lies" by JJ Cale, an artist whose life was music. Much of his time was spent in the production booth, not in front of a mic. But he still managed to publish over 30 albums in his lifetime, all the while doing everything he could do to limit his exposure in the limelight.

Convincing vs Insisting

The meme to the right passed through my Facebook feed this morning. It seems a straight forward declaration of believing what I want as long as no one insists on me believing as they do. ......... Okay, Fine. Sounds wonderful. Tolerance with a clear line defined where the tolerance stops.

I punched up a like icon and moved on.

Obviously since I am writing about this morning encounter on Facebook, the meme bothered me in some way. And it did bother me.

Humans often allow themselves to believe other people condemning their personal beliefs is some kind of egregious assault on their right to believe as they want. In fact it is only showing disrespect and in the scheme of things carries no weight whatsoever. 

I notice it more in meme's that are obviously generated by the Wingers of the  Right. But that does not mean meme's coming from Libtards don't often leave the same impression. I don't notice the winger meme's more I guess because well,  I am a commie pinko LGTBQ lovin tree hugging loser Libtard from the woods up here in Maine.

Regardless, inferring that someone insisting a change in mindset somehow magically will force another someone to comply is bullshit. No one can tell us what to think unless we let them; even if they try to do so through physical intimidation or legislation.

Our thoughts and beliefs are the only tangible things we truly own. That they may be based on fables, lies, or just something we came up with on our own, they are ours and no one can take them away even if we agree to it. As long as the belief lives between the ears, no agreement and no outward public display carries any weight. We believe what we believe until we don't. 

Okay fine.

It is also okay to insist that others believe as we do. If we do go down the insistence road however, we should not get our panties in a bunch when there is serious resistance to our insistence afterwards. Insisting someone change doesn't work as well as convincing them to change. And it is probably a good idea to start with convincing before insisting. But I will say some good ole foot stompin righteous insistence can result in some satisfaction no matter how poorly deserved it may be.

And that's what crossed my mind this AM while I sipped my first coffee.

Later ......................................

BTW - I did check this over I thought before I originally posted. Apparently I was lost in a moment of deluded grandeur. I have harshly edited now and hopefully it actually makes the point I came here to make. .......... OOPS.

____________________________

Damn, I pick some stupid shit to write about and then cannot think of a tune to go with it. ..........

Well, I ran across a Bob Dylan song that immediately brought back a memory of a disappointment in love from my past. It was probably the only time so far in my life, my heart was truly broken. Took me some time to get over it, maybe a month or so. ........ No, I lie.

During that month of wasted anguish, I bet I listened to this song 100 times. It was our song; the song after we turned that final corner and she went away...... "Don't think twice, its alright".

What does it have to do with the post? Well, I can see a connection. Maybe you will too.

Universe of Black Holes

The Internet is a universe of Black Holes, each of which is comprised of an infinite number of Rabbit Holes. No matter where I turn, there is another door waiting for me. Posted on the doors of these Rabbit Holes are come hither messages meant to seduce me by promising idyllic experiences up to and including sexual climaxes. I could live to be 300 years old and I bet I would have only tasted a small fraction of the choices floating out there in the Internet Ether. I have wasted much time and money falling down one Rabbit Hole or another. 

It has been a wonderful, illuminating and educational ride. Often though, it turns ugly and becomes filled with mindless moments akin to what we used to call Day Dreaming back in the day; only now we let the Internet create the Day Dreams for us. The epitome of laziness and sloth.

Nothing represents the good, the bad, the useless and the useful on the Internet better than the countless social media sites. There are sites which cover everything under this Sun. There are other sites that cover the doings and interests of Puckerville, Maine with its 3000 full time residents right up to covering the cities of millions like New York City. There are sites dedicated to chainsaws. weird maps, how to make the best clam chowder, and what makes the best whiskey sour.  Political sites, Conspiracy sites, Bible Thumping sites, and liposuction review sites all help pollute the inter web with enough meaningless blather to support the sites worth visiting, though no one ever does. But if you need them,, they are there waiting.

Upon reflection and honest review, I have to admit that at least 90% of my time on the Internet is wasted, being mostly idle interactions with others around the globe of the same mind set. We really don't have any sensible reason to be online, yet here we are trading "Yo Momma" insults and other salutations. The conversations are nothing but jibber jabber, but occasionally, once in awhile, and sometimes, I exchange niceties with someone who is on or close to the same page as I. 

My latest Rabbit Hole is one I fell down the first time back around 2006. Since then I have tripped back into YouTube countless times. In the last couple of years though I have incrementally ventured deeper into the YouTube jungle. Watching the occasional music video has turned into punching up five hour playlists and letting them sooth my mind and allow me some time away from the often self inflicted pain of catching up on the current madness swirling around me outside the woods of Acton, Maine. At this moment I am listening to one playlist of the YouTube series, "Whiskey Blues". It claims to be almost 12 hours of the Blues. I am just shy of two hours in and I guess I will have to believe them. In addition to this list , there are many more "Whiskey Blues" lists to pick from. 

Yeah, I am deeply embedded, lost, and floundering around in a musical version of Heaven. 

Blues music for me is wonderful music to write by. And its odd, or maybe not. My words often are put down to that basic 4 / 4 beat the blues relies on most days. 

    Yeah its weird

    Yeah its odd.

    But that's what the Blues does for me.

    What will be the next, 

    the next Rabbit Hole to find me? 

Keep it 'tween the ditches  .................................

___________________________

I won't punish you with the list. I already linked the list of the lists above. But I will leave you with this fine rendition of "Chocolate Jesus" by Beth Hart & Joe Bonamassa. And it is a rule. You must turn it up to wow. If not, then go back to your polka music or Guy Lombardo.

Gay Romance

I found a blog written by a writer who appears to carry some weight in the E-publishing world.  Her sidebar highlights her previous accomplishments, and her blog was just awarded some prestigious award as one of the best five resources for wannabe writers like me.

Her blog is full of suggestions, hints and generally upbeat rah rah rah propaganda about how anyone can write and write well.

She re-printed an article by an author who teaches creative writing at the college level. He is known for his romance novels and Hallmark Channel type mysteries.  His favorite style is the novella.

I was more interested in the information than checking out what he wrote.  It was not until I was ready to leave the blog that I noticed he wrote Gay romance novels.

"Hmmm", I thought ..... No really, that is what I thought,  "Hmmm."

Since I look at Life through the eyes of an avowed knuckle draggin male chauvinist pig, I rarely concern myself with the inner workings of the Gay culture.  I root for them and whenever possible vote for them to have the same rights as I do.  Other than that, I go my way, they go theirs.

The idea that there is actually a market for Gay romance novels never crossed my mind.  The notion did not disgust me.  It did not even cause me to titter, guffaw, or scowl.  What I realized is, there is so much under the Sun I am not aware of, I could live to be 200 years old and not be cognizant of everything worthy of knowing,  Or not knowing ....... whatever.

The various social groups, gender groups, racial groups, church groups, and political groups all have a public face that is all most of us outside that group ever see, or care to see. What goes on inside the group goes unnoticed for the most part. A glimpse inside often confuses or causes discomfort to someone peeking in. Most folks just blow it off. Some don't and become obsessed to the point of unhealthy fanaticism.

The fervent dedication many Evangelicals use to try to destroy the hard won normalcy of the LGTBQ communities boggles my mind. I guess they cannot or will not ever enjoy a moment when their panties are not in a bunch over something that is not their business. They cannot help themselves. Their futile silliness at trying to control the uncontrollable used to make me laugh. .................

Now it doesn't make me laugh. It makes me angry and reinforces why I hate organized religions.

 

Keep it 'tween the ditches................

___________________________

I sought Google's help in finding some music that might fit with this post. I typed in  "Anti Gay Music". What came up I could not, will not use.  

Instead, I typed in "Music About Acceptance".  The tune, "The Power of Two", by The Indigo Girls came up. I have always enjoyed their music. Their sexual identity was never an issue for me.This tune celebrates the power of a loving relationship without any gender baggage. If the Gay hating Christians didn't know beforehand, they would like this song. It is chock full of the good messages in Christianity with none of the hate. 

( First draft - 2/9/15 )

America the Beautiful

I just finished watching the most recent session of the January 6 Committee from two days ago. Damn compelling television that beautifully and succinctly created a strong, almost unbreakable case for placing the blame for that day of Treason totally on Trump's shoulders.

I am guessing few minions of the Winger kind watched the two hours of evidence being piled sky high against their champion. And That's okay. I long ago gave up caring what they think. What I saw this evening was a wonderful illustration of how our country can work for everyone if it puts its mind to it. ....... Damned if watching this didn't restore some of my lost faith in my country. Maybe we can survive the idiots who would tear us down.

At the end of the wrap party, they put forth a resolution that indicates their work is not done, just done for now. They resolved to subpoena Trump. 

Watching the committee members offer up evidence of Trump's culpability in such damning ways, well, it was just awesome is all. ............. Just awesome.

It ain't even close to over yet. Stay Tuned.

_______________________

On another note kinda, sorta related to what I saw on MSNBC this evening is regarding an odd book I found earlier today among the shelves that hold the many history, geography, economic and math books my father and I had collected over the years. It is an odd little red book published in 1925 that contains without comment or instruction:

~ The Declaration of Independence

~ The United States Constitution (with all amendments up to that year) 

~ The Constitution of New Jersey

Inside is a certificate that points to this being a textbook for a specific course in civics or social studies issued at a junior high in New Jersey. I have no clue how it ended up in our book collection, but I thought it was a wonderful snap shot of what education in the 1920's expected of its junior high students. 

The certificate is signed off by local mucky mucks of the South Orange and Maplewood school district in New Jersey; with a seal punched conspicuously into the page noting officially that Katherine R??? was successful in her efforts to learn about these important documents.

I have have re-read the Declaration of Independence. I will get into the Constitution tomorrow. With just the Declaration read, I am reminded that these great documents form the foundation our system of government is based on. To not at least have a general knowledge of their content is probably one of the reasons we are in such dire straits today. Too many people call themselves patriots, yet many have no clue how to really be one.

It has been years since I just sat down and read them. I am surprised at my reaction given my somewhat jaundiced view of late regarding America and its citizenry.  Watching the January 6 committee actually utilize parts of these documents to address the egregious and treasonous actions of one man trying to destroy our system of government was the best recap of the civics I learned in school as a kid. 

I sit here humbled and sad about my recent lapse in belief in my country.

Okay, Okay, got kind of sappy there, but that's what today's experiences did to me.

Keep it 'tween the ditches .............................................

______________________

There are apparently more rock songs about America than there are stars in the sky. I had no idea there were so many patriotic Rockers and Pop idols out there. Cool. It just made zeroing in on a song for the post a bit harder to accomplish. I settled on what I consider the song that should replace our current anthem. And no one does this tune justice like Ray Charles does. Here is "America the Beautiful", as only Ray could sing it.

Bernie Marcus

If there are still any questions out there as to which side of the aisle I hail from, let me be clear. I am Liberally leaning but in my opinion not over the top liberally leaning. I used to nest closer to the Middle, and was more likely to cross party lines to vote if I liked the Republican running. As I pointed out yesterday, that all changed when Susan Collins failed to keep the one promise she made when first elected. 

Even though I am not a supporter of term limits, Collins ran in 1997 as a term limit champion and promised to serve only two terms. That was not why I voted for her and today, I ask myself regularly, "What the Hell was I thinking?"

I expected Sen. Collins to live up to her promise. She got two votes out of me and that was the last time I crossed party lines. I seriously regret voting for her. She is nothing but another GOP shit stain that has been polluting the US Senate for far too long. She has no back bone, but then that seems to be a requirement if one wants to get elected as a Republican.

Stop. I need to take a breath here. Senator Collins is not the reason I sat down today to write. ............

Bernie Marcus, the 90 year old co-founder of Home Depot is once again in the cross hairs of the whiny Left leaning social media. Some Liberals on the Left are attempting to resurrect the 2019  boycott of Home Depot (#BoycottHomeDepot ); originally because Bernie backed Trump in 2020 with sizable donations some claim, exceeded $7 million dollars.

The new claim: Home Depot donated money to Herschel Walker. According to Home Depot, they do not financially back or publicly support any candidate. It is a company policy established when Bernie Marcus was running the company. The image to the left is a statement in response to the 2016 boycott of Home Depot.

I have been known to boycott businesses but it is not something I jump on every chance I get. Boycotting Home Depot because a man who stopped working there 20 years ago is a Trump supporter does not serve any Liberal cause; it is just being mean spirited and cruel like the Right Winging GOP. Instead, I want to see the hand wringers of the Left stand up, call out the Wingers when they lie and passionately defend their Liberal positions. Boycotting Home Depot is just being stupid and giving the Right exactly the kind of response they want.

I did some poking around in the backwaters of Google and found out some things about Bernie.

He grew up poor in Newark, NJ as a first generation American whose Jewish parents immigrated from Russia in the early 1900s. He co-founded Home Depot with Arthur Blank in 1979. He is filthy rich. He is also quite the philanthropist, having given away over $2 Billion to a variety of charities over the years. He may be a staunch Republican who gave Trump $7 million bucks, but nowhere have I been able to find a photograph of him with Trump. All of the images I have seen are pasted together collages.His estimated worth now is over $6 billion dollars and he claims he will be giving most of it away before he passes.

He stepped down as CEO of  Home Depot in 2002. I assume he still owns a large chunk of Home Depot stock. Boycotting Home Depot does not punish Bernie. He has more money than God and will continue to live sucking down soup out of silver spoons. The only people who might suffer if the boycott grows again are the folks working there and the peripheral businesses that depend on Home Depot for much or maybe even all of their livelihood. 

What is also interesting is the nation's #1 provider of mutual funds, Vanguard Mutual Funds, owns the largest chunk of Home Depot Stock (9%). How many Liberals do you think have some kind of economic tie to Vanguard through either direct investment in Vanguard or through pensions funds. 

Bernie did not back down or make apologies for donating to Trump's re-election campaign. But in one of his interviews at that time he did prove how much of True Blue Republican he was when he fell back on a classic Winger victim hood trope that he was not being allowed a freedom he should be able to enjoy anytime he wants:

"It saddens me that our country has come to this, where I, as a private citizen, cannot express my feelings."

Ferchrisakes, cry me a river why don't you? Why is it Right Wingers twist political discourse that does not favor them or their take as being a personal attack on their rights as private citizens? No one was stopping him nor any other Winger from "expressing" their freedoms. They were responding to his acts of freedom with their own acts of freedoms, misguided though they were. Damn, some Wingers have seriously thin skin.

No one hides their victim hood better than a Right Winger and nobody wears their victim hood on their sleeves better than righteously indignant Republicans, especially a Bible Thumpin Republican. The Left can and often falls into the same trap, but there is more of a willingness of other Liberals to call them out. The Republicans are so blinded by loyalty that hope of them finding the back bone to call out one of their own is very rare; Rep. Liz Cheney currently being one of those rare exceptions.

What a goofy country we live in.

Boycotts created to help win elections do not seem to work as well as boycotts started to affect change in the practices of business in the private sector. In the political world boycotts can and often do backfire. Democrats can make better use of their time by standing up and getting in the face of Republicans with pertinent complaints along with their solutions. In the end, the best way to beat the Republicans is to win the election. 

See ya .......................................

______________________________

I wasted more time choosing music for this post than I should have. I must have tasted 15 or more videos. 

I gave up. I made lunch and then ate it as Maggie looked on with envious eyes. As I handed a piece of my sandwich to her, I remembered my daughter had scored some tickets for an upcoming Ani Difranco show. I knew now who I should look to for an appropriate tune to go with elections and politics. I feel she is currently the most political of the singers currently out there.

I had to ease into her music back in the day when she hated men; or so I thought. I kept ripping copies of my kid's Difranco CD collection. The first thing I had to respect was her excellent musical craft. She was the whole package, but her messages were often more uncomfortable than my man brain wanted to face............... In the end it was all good. I became a hard core fan back in the 90s and this previously unheard by me tune, "Do or Die" from Ani combines all that I like about her. ....... It is excellent no matter what volume you play it at.

Reviewing Ani's music was a great time and I know I will be pleased to see her in a month or so. Besides, I will be with my kid and her man. It could be a terrible concert and I would still be happy.

 

Trains of Thought

I was mindlessly sitting on my two bucket bench this morning waiting for Maggie to stop dicking around and complete her morning constitutional. I had just finished the roach I sparked up earlier when a thought finally crossed my mind I considered following up on.

It is election season and maybe it is time to break my promise to not post any more overtly rabid political posts. After all, if there is a time and place for political commentary, it is on one side or the other of an election.

Next, I considered what to write about that could successfully make political points that were not super charged with overzealous vitriol. That has been a problem for me over the last twenty years when the last Republican I have ever voted for proved their promises did not mean shit, squat, or even bup-kis. 

My days of crossing party lines ended then and my anger has only gotten stronger with each year since. The GOP has proven in recent years they only care about power and have no intention in governing for anyone other than the rich and the financial interests that are continually trying to strangle the last vestiges of Democratic governance from our lives.. And yeah, I know the Democrats are often guilty of a party first, citizens second mentality also, but at least they will occasionally create legislation that has a snowball's chance of helping us unwashed masses and not just the self serving lobbyists and privileged few who hide behind gated walls of brick and expensive lawyers.

Next I considered how to find something I had never thought of that would paint a picture of the GOP as it has changed since the traitor Ronald Reagan polluted our body politic with his mealy mouthed kind veneer while he and his cronies gave away America to the folks with deep pockets.

......... Hmm.

I came across the image to the right. It had been posted on Facebook on a Right wing leaning page called, "Opposing Views". I knew of the harsh conservative politics of the poster and was surprised this list actually read like a new version of the GOP Platform going forward. But I also knew she often was clueless about her own party's flaws, often laying them on the Left, pinko commie Liberals. .... 

Whatever.

I did some poking around on the Internet and found an article, "From Lincoln to Trump: The long evolution of the Republican Party". The article is a concise and well written history of the GOP from an obvious liberal slant. I really did not find any fault with it other than its portrayal of Barry Goldwater. But that has nothing to do with my interest today.

The article relied heavily on the ideas and concepts of Heather Cox Richardson, a well respected liberal leaning expert on US history and politics. She points to a split in the Republican Party that occurred during the New Deal of the 1930's. That was the beginning of "Movement Conservatism". It's conservative supporters pushed for a more restrictive governing style that favored business and religion over the needs and will of the average citizens. She goes on to explain it took over forty years for "Movement Conservatism" to find the light when Ronald Reagan was elected. 

Now it has morphed into the even newer, meaner, and self serving organization run by the fringes of the party and not the old guard. It took about 90 years to completely shed the founding principles of the original Party of Lincoln and become what is essentially an autocratic movement to turn this country into a private for profit venture that aims to reward the financial and ideological interests of the few over the many. Ms. Richardson wrote:

"Its (GOP) only guiding principle right now is that of the Movement Conservatives, the idea that the government must do absolutely nothing except protect business, support a strong military, and protect Christianity."

She seems to have hit the nail on the head here. The "Movement Conservatives" have dropped any illusion they are in Washington to govern. Many of them admit to only being in DC to regain and hold onto power as they systematically attempt to turn the USA into a banana republic that subscribes to their twisted take on Reality.

The Republican Platform above, details what kind of minion they want on board. The main method they want members to use is sadly but an unspoken rule, but because of its wanton use has to be Party policy, it has been a hard and fast rule for at least the last four election cycles. It should read something like:

"Lying for the Good of the Republican Party is not only okay, the party feels that lying works better than telling the Truth."   

Keep it 'tween the ditches ..............................................

__________________________________

"American Idiot" by Green Day seems it might fit well with this post. Released in 2004, it pointed to that period's emerging realities and predicted our current political reality. It sucks that it has been so right for so long.

This song is best turned up to WOW!

Dear God

Billy and I swapped comments on Facebook this morning about religious crap. I had posted that I could not understand why we humans wasted so much time and energy arguing over the existence of God. As an Agnostic, I just cannot say either way. Billy is a believer of a chaos kind of explanation; we just happened.

Okay fine. We stated our feelings and that should have been the end of it.

Billy then commented that he lived in the middle of a bunch of Thumpers down in Texas. That fired up some of the cylinders still working in my brain. I reflected that I had once read that the once invincible Puritan stronghold, New England, now had fewer churches than any other region in the country.

Always in search of something to write about, I quickly googled, "Which state is the least religious". It turns out that I was right. The citizens of New Hampshire and Massachusetts claiming high religiosity are tied at 33% each, with Maine and Vermont coming in close behind at 34% each. The 4 states with the highest percentage of religiosity are Alabama and Mississippi at 77% , followed by Tennessee at 73% and Louisiana at 71%.

The article from the "World Atlas" site speculated that the high level of secularism in New England may be a residual effect left us by the Puritans. The Puritans were many things, rigid in their beliefs, unforgiving of blasphemous behavior and the notion of secular was never on their radar. They did however, support literacy by creating public schools long before we became a country. They felt that people needed to be able to read the Bible in order to lead them into a life long relationship with God. 

I am guessing here, but did their efforts to teach people to read and write lay the foundation of their failure over time? I think it may have. It certainly could partially explain why today's Evangelicals are so anti-education. Teach someone to read and they will often find something other than God to direct their lives.

I stopped posting the silly church billboards because too many of them were fake. The above collage may contain fake messages, but their messages certainly point to a truth that the Evangelical segment of America look at education without restriction with jaundiced eyes. And time has proven that Evangelical Christianity in America is generally not a friend of secular education as the bill boards point out.

I long for the day in America when all religion is practiced quietly and personally and not worn on the shirt sleeves of so many fanatics. It seems counter intuitive that while Christianity as a whole is losing parishioners at the highest rate ever, the growth of Christian Nationalism has exploded. 

We should never want to stamp out religious faith, for religious freedom is an important and integral part of our culture. But what we should be doing is keeping it from  becoming the law of our land. Theocracies never prosper for the many. They always end up only serving the few.

Later ..........................................

______________________

Music for this post is from an Indie band from the 1980's, XTC. Here is "Dear God". This song twisted Christian panties coast to coast. Death threats followed which only ensured this tune becoming their most popular song. Righteously indignant Christians are their own worst enemies. .......... I just don't get it.

My favorite lyric:

“The Father, The Son and the Holy Ghost/ Is just somebody’s unholy hoax“

An Update of Sorts

I will often have an itch to write, but have nothing to say. Anyone who has read my drivel on a regular basis knows I am not lying. I will, as I have this morning, just start writing and let that first thought dictate the result. No direction, no salient point. Just write for writing's sake.

I make no apologies, though I used to. 

When I created the "BoZone", I had no plan, reason or rhyme. I had heard of blogs and thought I might try it. That was eighteen years ago on Tuesday, December 2, 2004. Since then I have penned over 2000 posts, publishing over 1500 of them. As of today, this moment,  519,132 people have visited my blog; 8000 of whom left comments. And after all that time, I still sit down most days without anything in mind to write about.

I have never given those statistics much thought. The level of traffic has ebbed and flowed. I have paid almost no attention. If I had monetized this blog, I might be more aware of how many people visit per day, per week, per who gives a fuck.

I have flirted with discontinuing the BoZone at different times in the past 18 years. I would anguish up different reasons to not continue. In the end, the prospect of returning to writing in spiral notebooks with handwriting even I sometimes have trouble decoding; well, that always brought me back to my blog. Writing in my blog was so much easier and it offered me a wonderful place to cache all the thoughts I considered worth saving, even if the folks out the in the blogosphere thought differently.

Once again I have successfully screwed the pooch and placed out there in the Internet ether more useless and wasted bytes of nonsense that will have no impact on anything of substance. Just some more Crum flapping his lips trying to not influence anyone, but just a shout out that says, .......... 

"Hey, I am still here and this is what I think today."

Keep it 'tween the ditches ...........................................

_______________________________

Yeah, what music would go with this post? ..................... Let's go random as that is where the above post came from anyway.

The song, "96 Tears", was recorded by " ? & the Mysterians " in 1966. It has always been my contention that their band name is the best band name in history. "Question Mark" was their lead singer. All of them were sons of migrant farm workers living in northern Michigan. "96 Tears" was their one hit wonder and it was a doozy. The song is #210 on Rolling Stone's 2004 list of the 500 greatest Rock songs of all time. We used to rock out hard to this tune at Teen clubs and dances coast to coast. 

BTW - The collage at the top is my fault. I came across that image of the Beatles and remembered it from my teen days. I think it was associated with the movie, "Help". Anyway, I always liked it and I wanted to do something that indicated what might be on these boys' minds. Everyone knows what is always on boys' minds.

Us & Them

My initiating comment earlier this morning in response to the Meme at the right:

"With what the Republican owned state legislatures are doing, yes, Republicans and their ugly Fringes are definitely a threat to Democracy."

What follows is the brief exchange posted on the Right Wing dominated page, "Opposing Views" on Facebook. 

Tom replied:

"Yet another democRAT gaslighting, but who is living proof of the dumbing down of America."  

 My reply:

“Tom. If I had known you were watching, I would never have contemplated testing your obviously more powerful intellect. You shame me sir with your biting wit and clever use of capital letters. Touche. When you retire to your double-wide tonight, I do hope you will think kindly of me and remember my true regret for having crossed you. When next we meet, I will hope that you might be more understanding of a member of the insignificant majority. If not, I will understand of course. Dealing with the dregs of society is never ending trouble and toil. If only there was some way we, the insignificant many, could elevate ourselves to your level; we might also understand as you obviously do, what living with our heads up our ass is like. I hear it is quite comfortable once one gets used to it.”

 "Opposing Views" was created on the pretense of attempting to bridge the deep divides between the Right and Left with serious discussion without the meaningless hyperbole of "Yo Momma" rhetoric. It is a typical back and forth that illustrates just how the lofty goal of civilized discussion was quickly laid low as tempers flared and mindless insults became the rule.

I have really tried to deescalate my use of inflammatory rhetoric. I have succeeded for the most part, but as you can see, while I didn't use mindless words meant to enrage, I did do my best to slam this asshole hard, hoping my comment sailed over his assumed superior intellect.

I get that from my mother. She was so very good at insulting without overtly appearing to do so. When she was on her game, it was an awesome example of intellectual ownership. I can only flounder around attempting to emulate her. She was the Queen of the unsaid insult. I am only a pretender.

Later Gators ...........................................

____________________

I sometimes feel I have created a monster with my insistence on including a musical choice with each post. There have been times that finding the music I want to include takes longer than writing the actual post. But what the Hell it is what I decided, so today I will need some more time ............... ( the dots indicate the passing of time) ...............................

I did not have to even think of using Google, Youtube etc. The song today is "For What it's Worth", by Buffalo Springfield. I think it was released on their first album in 1966 when they called themselves "The" Buffalo Springfield. 

This tune became a rock anthem for the freak flag flying anti-everything demonstrations of the late 1960s and early 1970s. It brings back many memories; good and bad. But of more importance, it seems even more relevant today. 

The Perfect Hard Boiled Egg

After reading Jim's post on Facebook this morning about his recent experience cooking hard boiled eggs, I decided to let Google lead me to the best way to cook them. I typed in, 

"The perfect way to hard boil eggs"

My answer appeared in 0.59 seconds and there were 214,000,000 results. Hmm........

I decided the response time was impressive and the result count, while not astronomical, indicated this issue is one with many opinions that when discussed will result in possibly heated debate. Hard core kitchen folk can be unwavering about cooking anything.

Of course when compared to googling "Trump", there is no comparison. That took Google  0.85 seconds to respond with 843,000,000 results. If Donald gets wind of the fact that his name only drummed up a paltry 843,000,000 results, I am sure he will try to strong arm and shame Google into bumping the count to over a billion just like he has done with his financial wealth claims and election tallies. Nothing makes a man feel better about himself than lying about the size of anything he has on his person or the number of votes he knows he really deserved in an election. 

This is to be expected. The planet is more interested in the stupid, the inane, and useless information like the madness that swirls around Trump than they are about such serious, life changing stuff like cooking the perfect hard boiled egg. Having finally purged Trump from front and center in my mind, creating the perfect hard boiled egg has more value to me than reading about a wannabe despot who cheats at golf.

So, of the 214,000,000 million hits, the first page is supposed to have the best answers. The number one response claims to be the best, but I don't know. Seems to me that with hard boiled eggs, it might be possible to create the perfect hard boiled egg a number of ways. But the one thing the good recipes all call for is cooling the eggs thoroughly before trying to peel them. 

But then a new questions arises. What is the best way to peel an egg? 

Okay okay, I have definitely dropped down a rabbit hole here. A hole made up of silly questions with millions of answers. When I googled how to peel an egg ................... in 0.46 seconds I had 43,400,000 results that brought me back to .......... Yeah, that's right, how to hard boil an egg.

Help, I am trapped in an ovum and egged into a many egg layered horror house that is an endless loop with no set solution, just a multitude of opinions that may be right, with some more right-er than others. 

All this playing on Google reminds me of when I first found Google before they were the 800 pound gorilla they became. I was fascinated by how fast and how many results I could find regarding the wackiest minutia. I was reminded of my time trying to read the whole World Book Encyclopedia as kid after my parents purchased it when I was seven or eight. I got to "M" before my interest finally petered out. But over the ensuing years I often would pull a volume down open it up to anywhere and begin reading. I learned a lot doing that. I have done the same with Google.

And finally, because my head aches from reading so many different takes on boiling an egg, I offer up my wife's surefire method to cook that elusive perfect hard boiled egg. Not sure what the baking powder does. I assume it is just more of her VooDoo Magic.

Keep it 'tween the ditches ..........................................

_________________________

The first three tunes I checked out tunes with "eggs" playing some part in the song, well, they all were excellent in a range of differing ways.

The first one was "Egg Man", by The Beastie Boys. I am not much of a fan of Rap / Hip Hop. But some I like. Of all the earlier Rap I listened to,  I liked the Beastie Boys and Ice-T the most.

Next up was a fine Benny Goodman tune, "Egg Head". His clarinet playing still gives me the chills.

And finally, of all of them, by far the best one is "Eggs and Sausage", by Tom Waits. His lyrics, his voice, and his piano playing; Hell, the whole package. There is a reason Tom is Legend. This song took me back to those late nights spent in the pursuit of hedonistic pleasures in college. When the night had played itself out and I was headed back to the barn, I always felt an obligation, a pull on the steering wheel that would invariably deposit me into the parking lots of all night eateries that existed in Flashing Neon Greasy Glitterness on my scattered routes home. ......... Yeah, Tom catches the feeling of so many inebriated people sharing some time filling their pie holes before they went their separate ways to lay their heads down for the night.

___________________________

Image at top - "Humpty Dumpty did not fall", by Richard Gerhard

Come Together

I was putting clean dishes away and rockin out to YouTube music videos on the kitchen TV. All the while I kept asking myself why I did not punch up these endless playlists more often when dealing with kitchen drudgery? No, really. I have known and used the YouTube music video channel more than a few times, but not very often in the kitchen.

 …….. Hmm 

I’d pursue some answers here, but my reason for writing today is not YouTube and its total immersion into my lifestyle. No, today’s post was kicked into gear when the Beatles tune, “Come Together” punched its way out of those awesome two inch speakers on the flat screen. 

Of course it brought me back, took me back without much trouble to days long ago when my sixth grade friends and I would argue incessantly over who was better; the Rolling Stones or the Beatles? 

The heated discussions at lunch, on the walks home and during recess always took place along gender lines. The girls absolutely loved the Beatles. The guys, because they did not want to seem unmanly, picked the Rolling Stones. 

Beatles = Chick music; Rolling Stones = Dude music ……

 Being a guy, I was all about the Stones, the Who, all the Brit groups who snarled and pounded out their horny melodies at insane decibels promising desperate pubescent boys, some shagging would visit them in their futures. Those bands knew what horny teen boys wanted; they wanted sex.

 Chicks, well the chicks didn’t seem to understand horny, or so I thought when I was that age. They expressed feelings of love, stolen kisses behind barns, and holding hands as they and their main squeeze walked home from school. It was only later I was informed that teen girls also harbored lustful thoughts and they knew full well what boys wanted. They wanted sex.

 So at the time both the Stones and the Beatles were making their names here in the States, it was about sex for both. Sex sold better back in the day; better I think than it does today. It seems that no matter what is going on on this planet Sex is wrapped into it somewhere. After all, sex is one of the three legs that support the triad of Human desires, food, fornication and fighting.

I did not think much of the Beatles until "Revolver" came out in 1965. And then it was a slow conversion for me to come to realize that the Beatles wrote some of the most amazing music ever. They ranked right up there with Bob Dylan.

 All this went through my mind as I listened to “Come Together”. Then a lyric I have always felt was a perfect lyric popped up:

“He say, "one and one and one is three"

“Got to be good looking 'cause he's so hard to see”

I won’t launch into the meanings of this song or any other song. Anal retentive audiophiles all over the world have analyzed Beatle music to death. I just feel this song was penned by a musical genius who was taken from us by the very insanity he wrote songs about. Its message to many of us is still relevant and timely today given the overheated climate of our culture and our planet still finds itself in.

Because I never properly grieved over John Lennon’s death when he was shot, I certainly do now. We lost a great artist when he was gunned down. And I guess I need to give the Beatles their due. If not for them, would I have ever heard the Stones, the Who, Led Zeppelin? Okay okay, yeah I probably would have. But to deny the impact the Beatles had on my musical life at such an early age would be blasphemous. The Beatles were Rock Gods then and they still are.

Later ..................................

_______________________

The song today is of course, "Come Together", written by John Lennon and performed by the Beatles.