Sunday, December 12, 2010

Daddy on the Edge of "Slacktivism"

Not plane, nor bird, nor even frog,
It's just little old me...UnderDog.



A few weeks ago, everyone on FaceBook was urged to change their profile pictures to cartoon characters. This was somehow going to fight child abuse.

Shortly after I gave in to peer pressure and changed my pic to Sweet Polly Purebread's main squeeze, a new FaceBook thang started circulating telling us that we had been duped, and that this seemingly innocent posting of animated childhood memories was instead a ploy of pedophiles so that children on FaceBook would accept their friend requests.

Turns out that neither story was
exactly true, which I had kind of assumed. I'm not going to get into that - you can read it yourself on Snopes.com if you want the whole history. What I found much more interesting was, in their discussing of this FaceBook hoopla, they brought up some bit of 21st century Newspeak that I was not privvy to -

"Slacktivism"

They referred to slacktivism as "the idea that one can participate in effecting meaningful societal change by doing nothing."

Here's an expanded definition, also from Snopes.com;

Slacktivism

We can't claim credit for having coined this term, nor do we know its actual origin, but we love it nonetheless. Slacktivism is the search for the ultimate feel-good that derives from having come to society's rescue without actually getting one's hands dirty, volunteering any of one's time, or opening one's wallet. It's slacktivism that prompts us to forward appeals for business cards on behalf of a dying child intent upon having his name recorded in the Guinness World Book of Records or exhortations to others to continue circulating a particular e-mail because some big company has supposedly promised that every forward will generate monies for the care of a languishing tot. Likewise, it's slacktivism that prompts us to want to join a boycott of designated gas companies or eschew buying gasoline on a particular day rather than reduce our personal consumption of fossil fuels by driving less and taking the bus more often. Slacktivism comes in many forms, but its defining characteristic is its central theme of doing good with little or no effort on the part of the person inspired to participate, through the mechanisms of forwarding, exhorting, collecting, or e-signing.



Why do we do it? 'Cause it feels good...and it's easy. Yeah...so's masturbation. But in the end, like masturbation, it really only serves to make that one person feel good, and it certainly doesn't effect lasting societal change (well,
your masturbation might - far be it for me to assume to know the potential awesomeness of your personal orgasms, but I know mine aren't doing anything to benefit UNICEF.)

It's easy to click "Like" - too easy, so Daddy has decided not to do that anymore. I have a friend who goes to an animal shelter to play with the dogs - I think that's awesome. Sure, he had to leave FaceBook to do it, but he has fun, the dogs have fun and I would bet money that playing with lonely pups is more satisfying than
"clicking Like if you think Michael Vick's pitbulls should get a vacation in Cancun!"


Personally, Daddy buys hats. Not being a major sports fan, I don't feel the need to have any team logo splattered across my forehead. Instead, I look for causes I can get behind and I buy their hats. Anyone who's known me for the past few years will recognize this cap to the right. This is part of how I contribute to the Make It Right Foundation, which has been building new, energy efficient, flood resistant houses in New Orleans Lower Ninth Ward. Lucky for them, I beat the heck out of my hats, so I always need more.

Here's what my hats built;





This is just a small sampling of the homes that have been constructed. These homes weren't built with a click of the mouse; they were built with action; they were built with contribution - and, in my case, they were built...with a hat. If you'd like to help the good work of the Make It Right Foundation, please click on the link to the right. Check out their merchandise and maybe buy yourself something pretty. And hey, if you can't find anything you like for yourself, you could always get Daddy a present. Tis the season, after all. :)

I leave you with a final quote from Snopes. This is how the writer summed up the cartoon character story, and Daddy couldn't have said it better hisself.

"Real problems don't disappear as a consequence of acts of slacktivism; they're fought through the mechanism of donation of time and/or money. The character one needs display to the world is not that of a cartoon, but of a benefactor."

~Barbara "character reference" Mikkelson


Go buy me a hat,

Daddy

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Daddy on the Edge Of Year Two

Welcome to the first day of Daddy on the Edge - Year Two!

(Huzzah, huzzah! General Merriment Ensues!)

Yes, today is the anniversary of this blog, and I've been taking the morning to reflect on year one of Daddy's run here in the blogosphorium. I can take solace in the fact that, unlike so many of our elected representatives, I kept my initial promises to the reader - here's what I wrote a year ago;

"What might you expect to find here? Yeah...I'm kinda wondering that myself. Random insights? Probably. Inspirational messages? Possibly - if we're lucky. An eclectic potpourri of whatever the hell happens to be on my mind at any given time of the day or night and then gets spewed across the screen before I can think about it enough to stop myself? Oh yeah...there's gonna be plenty of that."

I think I've done a damned good job in keeping to that. Lesson to politicians - Only make the promises you know you can keep. If it serves no other benefit than that you don't open your mouths as often, then it will still be a win.

So, what's in store for year two? More of the same, I would think. I can't seem to stop myself from blabbing my innermost thoughts into the digital ether, and enough of you seem to like it, so I'll just keep babbling, and hope that you'll politely tell me to shut the heck up when you've heard enough.

I'm also going to try to point out the success stories of people that are trying to make a real difference in this world. People that you may not have heard of, but who need to be known and spoken about hopefully on a par with the amount of times that Lindsay Lohan or Carrot Top or the name of any contestant on "Big Brother" comes up in the daily conversation. Here's the first guy- I have a hard time believing that this guy is real;




Here's another example of what can happen when you don't wait for congressional approval or a government mandate or any of that other..nonsense...



What one of the women in this video said grabbed me, and it will more than likely be the driving theme of Daddy on the Edge, Year 2 -

Who is the government to define progress for us when that progress does not reach everyone?

The government has shown us what it is largely about - tax cuts for the uber wealthy, tax giveaways for major corporations, rewards for shipping jobs overseas where labor is cheap - there's a lot of talk from the Hill about fighting for the American People. Well, it's pretty easy to see exactly which American People they're fighting for, and it ain't us. Waiting for a government that's "just not that into us" to change our world for the better cannot be the answer. Fighting over the talking points that right and left wing media insist we banter about is not the answer either - that is simply a diversion and makes us part of the problem. To be part of the solution, we need to follow the example of the people in these videos, and help ourselves... help those of us that need help the most. That is Daddy's Christmas wish; that each of us can do more to be part of the solution and less to be part of the problem.

That is Daddy's
Christmas wish. Since Daddy lives in an interfaith household, Daddy gets a Hanukkah wish as well, and that wish is this;

Have Fun With It.

It took me the better part of forty six years to realize this - Life on the planet works easier when you don't take it so seriously. Maybe you have to reach middle age to figure that out, because at this stage of the game, I have almost completely stopped caring about what other people think, and that has been a magnificently freeing experience. You feel lighter without others expectations of who you are weighing down on your psyche. "Yourself" is a fun person if you let them be...so be "Yourself".

I will leave you with this final video. I have asked Christopher Walken to illustrate the concept of this last paragraph, and he has graciously agreed (okay, so that's BS, but it fits, so roll with it, k?). So, without further ado, I give you Christopher Walken;




Thanks for walking the Edge with me,

Daddy

Monday, December 6, 2010

Daddy on the Edge of 2012

We know the theory - the Aztec calendar runs out when you get to the year 2012. Why? End of the World. Doomsday.





Scary shit, huh? The good news is, that's only one possible future. You and I, we're like Scrooge, staring at the visage of our own tombstone, begging, pleading - "Are these the shadows of things that must be, or are they the shadows of things that MIGHT be?" We know the answer - Scrooge changed his ways, his course, and his destiny. That future doomsday is real, and it is coming, but not in the way they portray it in Hollywood. The real end of the world looks a little something like this;



Don't think it could happen? Well, it can, and it will, unless we take drastic action. We need to stop this, and it starts now. Now, what I'm going to ask of you will sound strange, but I truly believe that this plan will work better than any other plan to defeat Palin in 2012. Ready? Here it is;

Buy stuff. Buy A Lot of Stuff.

"It's the Economy, Stupid". Remember that line? Clinton trashed Bush One with that line, and don't think that Palin won't run with it. We've waited long enough for the Dems in power to make things better (and they were so bad at running for office that they didn't even have the sense to brag over the things that they did do right) - we need to turn this economy around ourselves. And we need to do it now.

My wife is gonna be looking at this and wondering if she should call the guys in the white coats for me, because if Daddy, Frugality Miser extraordinaire is calling for a (gasp!) shopping spree, then surely Daddy must have completely lost his mind. Maybe I am a little off, but that's nothing compared to the full fledged maniac that Daddy would become under a Palin Administration. So please, for my sanity and the world's, buy things this Holiday season - as many domestically made, locally sold items as you can possibly afford to. Also, if it's not too much trouble, buying a house right now would really do a lot of good for the President's re-election campaign. If you can't buy a house, maybe you could help someone from having their home foreclosed upon. Could you buy a car? Daddy would, of course, love it if you bought a Prius, but seriously - any car would do! Can you give someone a job? Even part time? Please - whatever you can do to help make this economy better means the world...literally.

Much of America is on this Anyone But Obama kick. It's unfair, it's undeserved (because he's actually gotten a lot of really good work done), but it's there and you can't change some people's minds, no matter how persuasive your argument. The only thing that will bring people around is if things get better - on the basic level - if them and their's got a job, and a home, three squares and all the comforts.

We can do this. We need to do this because obviously, the folks with the real money just can't be bothered to help make things better. They're all about getting their tax breaks extended because they need that money so badly (and by the way, the next time you see someone that obviously makes more than $250k a year, throw 'em some pocket change, willya? Mitch McConnell tells me that they're realllly struggling.) So screw them. I know that if you and I really knuckle down here, we can spend like we did in the roaring '90's and turn this ship around.

So, what do ya say? Fired Up?? Ready to Go?? Let's Do This!


Buy me something pretty,

Daddy

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

The Transgender Day of Remembrance

This is what it's like, to be a girl...who's a boy. To be a boy...who's a girl. To be both...and neither.





Do you think you could do it? Wake up every morning and pretend to be something you're not? Or walk out into the world, bravely being the person you know you are inside, while all the while, in every moment of every day, having to remember that much of society views you as something less, as something wrong, as something that they don't like. And sometimes, as something that they hate.



Beautiful people in these pictures...



Many happy, most smiling, eyes full of life and promise...






It reminds me of the pages of my yearbook....




But there are a couple of differences...between these pictures and the ones in my yearbook...




All of these people are transgendered...


All of these people...



are dead.






When you look at the transgendered as some random abnormality in society, I suppose that, in some people's minds, that makes them second class citizens, and somehow easier to justify killing. But looking at this condition as rare would be a tragic mistake. The medical community estimates that 1 in every 2000 people is transgendered. This number is incorrect. Further research suggests that the prevalence might be as high as 1 in 500 people.


How many Facebook friends do you have? 1,000? Odds are that at least two of them are trans. And somewhere, someone thinks that two of your friends deserve to die because of that.


Transphobia kills.


Sometimes, it's not even transphobia, but just the idea that
something might be "not quite right".

In Mississippi, a twelve year old girl was beaten up by her peers because she had a “boy’s” name, while a high school football player from the same state was thrown off his team for wearing pink cleats to celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The mother of a 5 year old boy gained national attention after she encountered transphobia from her community for letting her son dress as a female Scooby Doo character for Halloween.


This is how it starts. All too often, it ends in death.





This is in memory of those who died, simply for being their true selves.


Rest well, brave hearts.






Everyone dies but not everyone lives. Live your life in a way that makes you happy and proud. It takes courage to push yourself to places that you have never been before... to test your limits... to break through barriers. And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom
.

~Anais Nin




Sunday, November 14, 2010

Daddy on the Edge of Acceptance

A friend of mine posted a link to a youtube vid today. Check it;



I laughed; it was amusing - and it reminded me of almost the exact same scene in the 1984 Tom Hanks film, "Bachelor Party". We see these types of ads often, as I pointed out with the vid I posted in response to my friends -




That was Karen Dior. Karen Dior (February 14, 1967 – August 25, 2004) was an American transgender adult film performer, director, singer. She was best known as a pioneer in popularizing adult films involving transsexual people.

Born Geoffrey Gann, Geoffrey Karen Dior performed in approximately 120 adult films, before transitioning into mainstream film and television roles which included guest appearances on the television series Xena: Warrior Princess, Head Over Heels and Veronica's Closet.

I had seen that ad years ago and knew my friend would appreciate it - it had that same "putting one over on the guy" vibe as the first vid, and everyone always gets a a good chuckle out of that, right?


As I was leaving the YouTube site, I noticed that someone had left a comment about the video -

Chloe Prince said, "Yet another advertisement aimed at dehumanizing Transgendered people to sell advertisement time for TV. Sad.

This is Chloe Prince. Chloe is a male to female transsexual who has a condition called Klinefelter's Syndrome. Essentially, that means that, while most males have XY chromosomes and women XX, people with Klinefelter's have at least two X chromosomes and at least one Y. Chloe spent the first 33 years of her life as a male, and then transitioned into her new life as a woman. She and her family were featured in an ABC Primetime Special called Family Secrets. You can view the special in it's entirety and read all about Chloe at her site - Pink Thoughts (you can click her picture to get there as well).

So anyway, her comment got me thinking (because Daddy has this nasty habit of second guessing and over-analyzing every minute aspect of his life on a daily basis) - Daddy is an advocate of transgender rights - was I giving some sort of tacit approval to treating the transgendered community as a joke? She said the ad aimed at dehumanizing - now, I don't know if dehumanizing is the correct word for it, but it does seem to foster the continuation of the invisible freak show tent that we still allow to envelope the trans community.


Daddy has never been an advocate of "Transploitation", whether it's Jerry Springer or "There's Something About Miriam" a reality show which featured six men wooing a 21 year old model, waiting, of course, until the last episode to reveal that she was actually... a transsexual! (Rimshot! Fooled by the old hidden ball trick! Welcome to the Freak Show.)

But this didn't seem like that - this was a humorous twist on commitment, it wasn't meant to be serious or realistic, it was...funny?

It's a tough one to figure out, and right about now I feel like I've written myself into a corner. Because that first ad was funny. And honestly, I don't think it's wrong to laugh when something is funny. The thing that we have to realize, I think, is that the character we laugh at on the television screen is not an accurate reflection of real life people. Case in point (from Ted Cornelius over at ugo.com)-


"Blaine and Antoine - hosts of "Men on Film", which eventually spawned into "Men on Art," "Men on Vacation" and naturally, "Men on Men". Portrayed by David Alan Grier and Damon Wayans, respectively, the two extremely femme gay men would base reviews solely on, um, topics that stereotypical gay men would be looking for (but funny - look, we said this idea probably wouldn't fly these days!). However, what usually got the crowd howling were Blaine and 'Toine's review system of "snaps" - two snaps up was good, but when you land the "two snaps, a twist and a kiss - can't touch this" rating, you were solid gold!"

These guys were funny. And though some folks may have cringed at their over the top portrayal of gay men, Daddy never once got the impression that all gay men (or all black men, for that matter) acted like this. So that's it, then. Separate the performance from the real life. Got it. Easy Peasy. Done and Done.

Except.....(Damn! Daddy had nearly written himself back out of the corner, parlayed his way out of this social conundrum, but Daddy doesn't let Daddy get off that easily.) Advertising shapes our attitudes - it's what makes us think that smoking is sexy, or that reeking of Axe will have women chasing you in droves, or that getting a frontal lobotomy for a Klondike Bar seems like a fair trade. Advertising shows us the "everyman" and wants us to identify in some way with that person, making the separation between fact and fiction blurry once again. Add to that the advent of reality tv, where the character actually is the person (edited for content, of course), and the line is further blurred.

Add to that political distortion for the purposes of swaying an electorate into an irrational way of thinking, and it all goes to Hell in a hand basket. Does any sane, rational person truly believe that if you allow two people of the same sex to marry, that that will open the door for people that want to marry a chair? Do sane, rational people in moments of clarity really believe that a male to female transsexual would go through years of therapy, more years of hormone treatments, electrolysis, facial reconstructive surgery, genital electrolysis, tracheal shaves and finally sexual reassignment surgery - that they would go through all of that just so that they could walk into the ladies room and listen to you tinkle in the next stall? These are the types of arguments that are heard lately. And they're pathetic.

In my opinion, the whole reason that we're having such a hard time with Don't Ask-Don't Tell, ENDA and any other LGBT anti discrimination law is because legislation and acceptance must go hand in hand for real, lasting progress to be made. And when the body politic doesn't want progress, they inspire fear in the people, because they know that fear and acceptance do not mix. Without acceptance, legislation does not happen and the status quo prevails. In the end though, the body politic can go fuck itself. When acceptance becomes widespread, when enough hearts and minds put aside their fear and see that there was never anything to be afraid of, then the people will write the laws, if any such laws are still needed. And the more the transgendered community becomes accepted, the less en vogue will that particular humor be with advertisers. And the Karen Diors, the Miriam Riveras and the Chloe Princes of the world may finally get a chance to relax...and be themselves.

Acceptance is not something that can be legislated. Rights can be legislated; acceptance cannot. Acceptance happens one person, one gesture, one heartbeat at a time and, when it does, it is usually not with huge fanfare, but with simple acts. Quiet humanity. Tacit Approval. And it can make you cry.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Daddy on the Edge of a Radical Notion

Ya gotta love the world we live in.


Sharon Angle, batshit crazy wicked witch of the West, nearly made it to the capitol. Christine O'Donnell, who I think still believes that there are mice with human brains running around (and that they are hellbent on taking over the world) - people were nearly ready to put her..in charge of stuff. Really...Important...Stuff.


This guy actually did win. This is Blake Farenthold, Congressman Elect to the 27th District of Texas. Blake is a conservative radio talk show host. He's kin to Sissy Farenthold, has a boat called "The Lollipop", plans on repealing "ObamaCare" and - oh yeah - he likes Duckies. (And I'm pretty sure the blonde was photo-shopped. I mean really; are we supposed to believe that these two are together? Her...with him? For Free?)

The Tea Party has made the impossible possible, the improbable probable and the unelectable, in some cases, totally electable. When I was 14, I told my mother that, if I ever ran for President, I would do it on my own terms - no suit and tie for me - I would get elected wearing my jeans and denim jacket (which had an American Flag patch above the right breast pocket). She was quick to inform me that I would not win - that no one would vote for someone dressed in such a fashion. I guess she was right; nothing says "vote for me" like duckie pajamas.


So, in this Bizarro world that we find ourselves living in, where Tea Baggers want to abolish the Department of Education, Social Security, Medicare and any part of the law or Constitution that they don't like, it would seem that no idea, no matter how "out there", is necessarily off the table. So at last, the stars have aligned, and the time has come for Daddy to unveil his own platform.


It's Radical Notion Time.


Here are some of my thoughts on how to fix thangs, in no particular order;


Iraq - We broke it. Getting rid of Saddam? Good. Leaving major cities with only a couple of hours of electricity a day? Bad. Very Bad. I don't care who you are - you don't blast a country back to the stone age and then walk away. Here's what I want to do about Iraq - US Manufactured Solar panels shipped to Iraq, where we pay Iraqi contractors to install them. The US gets work, the Iraqi's get work, and the people of Iraq get their power back so they can get back online and blog about how totally awesome we are. Win/Win/Win.

(UPDATE!! Holy Crap! They're actually doing this one! - Check it;


Say what you will about the occupation of Iraq— you can’t fault the US Army for neglecting to equip the country with renewable energy. In the northwest section of Baghdad alone, US forces are conducting nearly two dozen solar projects in an attempt to alleviate Iraq’s electricity crisis.

Baghdad’s Amariyah clinic, for example, recently received a $165,000 solar installation. Previously, the clinic received only 12 hours of electricity each day, and many vaccines were spoiled. While the clinic now has enough power only for the essentials, Amariyah’s solar installation will save $2 million over 25 years.

The US military has also purchased over 1,000 bulletproof solar-powered streetlights for the city, and is planning similar installations in Fallouja and Ramadi.

All in all, US forces will spent a cool $6 million on solar projects in northwest Baghdad.

Daddy does the Happy Dance! It works! It can happen! So let's do More!! Moving on...)


Pakistan - Y'know why they're hiding Bin Laden - because he buys
them nice things. We could buy them nice things, too. Things like flood relief, things like improved housing to negate the need for flood relief. Here's what we do - we make Brad Pitt and Sean Penn "Ambassadors of Disaster" (okay, admittedly, that title's a little too "Apollo Creed" - perhaps "The Relief Chiefs"?) Seriously - after Hurricane Katrina, when the US government was ready to basically bulldoze the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Brad Pitt got architects, green building experts and a whole lot of concerned citizens together and created "The Make It Right Foundation" which is building flood resistant homes in the once underwater Lower Ninth. They can do the same thing in Pakistan. Why bring Sean Penn? "Cause he's frigging Sean Penn, that's why! Just look at the guy - he's born to do this shit! Hell, get Tim Robbins and Edward Norton as well, if you can. Oh, and we supply all the building materials. So again, manufacturing jobs for the US, we look like a million bucks for doing the humanitarian work that the billionaire cave-dweller Bin Laden won't do, and a dry and happy Pakistani populace! Win/Win/Win.


Tax Cuts - We've been fighting two wars for most of this century. In the past, that has meant rationing, sacrifice, doing without. In the Bush Administration, it meant tax rebates and shopping (which led to the credit bubble and obscene deficits and...blah, blah, blah - I know, I know - blame the black guy.
What-the fuck-Ever.) Here's the deal - Obama wants to let the Bush Tax Cuts expire and return tax rates to what we had during the Clinton Era (and, if you'll recall, people did pretty damned all right for themselves during the Clinton Era). Bottom Line - top taxes on ordinary income will jump from 35% to 39.6%. In the year 2000, that rate applied to anyone making $288,350 and above. President Obama also wants to modestly raise the taxes on capital gains and dividends, both to 20%. Republicans cry bloody tears over this, and they bemoan the tax and spend liberals, harkening back to the Republican heydays of the Reagan Administration. All was well then...all was right with the world under the fiscally conservative Ronald Reagan hisself -

Newsflash - taxes were higher under Reagan. Capital gains were never taxed at anything less than 20%, and dividends at no less than 28%.

So here's my tax plan - put your money where your mouth is. If you're a Democrat, you pay the Clinton tax rates. If you're a Reagan loving Republican, you pay the much higher Reagan tax rates. If you're an Independent, you take the average between the two or pick a party - your choice. So, with this plan, the majority of Americans still get a lower tax rate, the Republicans can re-live the Reagan years (and bring down the deficit that they created by now paying a much higher tax rate than the rest of us) and Daddy can have a really good laugh over the whole thing. Win/Win/Win. :)

Abortion - Ooooh, didn't think Daddy would go there so soon in the campaign, hmmm? Go big or go home - that's what Daddy says. Seriously - Abortion is an awful thing, like war. Like war, it is sometimes a necessary thing and usually, hopefully, the last of all possible options. Anyone who speaks out against abortion should speak out in favor of birth control - loudly. But also, I would hope that every person who has
ever spoken out against a woman's right to choose has also adopted an unwanted child. Because the sanctity of life is happening outside the womb as well, y'know. Those kids languishing in bad foster care or growing old in orphanages - their lives are precious, too. And I'm sure they'd love it if you'd put down your picket signs and put your money where your mouth is. Those kids need you. You can give a lonely child a family, you can live as a shining example to others, and the woman who is dying inside about the decision she has to make about her body and her future can come to her own peace without you up in her face. Win/Win/Fucking Win.

This is getting long, so here are some quick ones -


Energy - Five cent tax on every gallon of gas sold in the US to finance the retrofitting of every government building in the US with solar panels. Panels manufactured by Americans, installed by Americans, for the benefit of all Americans. If you have a 20 gallon tank, that's a dollar. A dollar a week to get your country off foreign oil. Win.


Subsidies - We still subsidize Wool growers. Y'know why? World War One uniforms were made out of wool and we didn't want to run out. We've been subsidizing them ever since. We also still subsidize mohair farmers. Y'know why? (Wait for it...) In case we ran out wool. Yes, for those same World War One uniforms. In a Daddy administration, that stops. And, as I mentioned in a previous post, if you're Big Tobacco, we're taking away your allowance as well.


Lobbyists - Lobbyists are a cancer. They make a mockery of the political system, auctioning government off to the highest bidders. But, as there is no cure for this cancer, the least we can do is profit from it. New Rule - If you are a lobbyist, to gain access to the House or Senate, you must pay a cover charge of $25,000. If you leave for any reason and need to come back in, that will be another $25,000. Bathroom break? $25k. Sneak out for a smoke? $25k. Where does that money go? Social Security, mother fuckers. 'Cause you're not gonna run out when it's time for me to get my share. And while we're on the subject...


Cancer - Cure it. (Like I said, go Big...) It's a worldwide problem, so it should be a worldwide solution. The problem isn't that we can't cure it - the problem is that everyone trying to cure it wants to be the one who cured cancer - every pharmaceutical company wants to be the company to develop the cure - and that's never gonna happen. This takes global brainpower, global funding, and global resources - everyone working together, sharing the knowledge and sharing the rewards. I vote that we put up the Real Estate - that we have the World Cancer Research Center located right here in the US and invite all of the brilliant minds in this field of study to come, gather, and find the cure. And then we move on to AIDS.


This is a sampling of the crazy ideas that go through Daddy's head on a daily basis. It is an optimistic view, no doubt. If anything, it is a knee jerk reaction to the mentally stunted "Party of No". And, as recent events will show, I'm not the only one thinking this way. The budget proposals put forth by the Simpson/Bowles bipartisan deficit commission make Daddy's musings look positively tame by comparison. But any way you slice it, the writing is on the wall - doing the same thing and hoping for a different result is the definition of insanity, and in this case, is the path to plutarchy. I don't know about you, but this idea that “There are no rich, there are no middle class, there is no poor…We all either work for rich people or sell stuff to rich people.”
(Rand Paul, Ladies and Gentlemen) seems to me to be a load of horseshit (Because what he's essentially saying with that statement is that you're either rich or a slave to the rich. Wow; thanks for electing this guy, Kentucky). This same Rand Paul was right when he said, "We're here to take our country back" but I would contend that we need to take it back from the uber rich, not from those alleged "socialists" that are doing nothing more than attempting to provide Liberty, and Justice, For ALL.


Track Six on the Daddy on the Edge Revolution Soundtrack. This song was my survival tool during the last of the Bush years, and it's still relevant today. Crank it.




What Better Time Than Now,


Daddy

Monday, November 8, 2010

Daddy on the Edge of the Same Old Song and Dance

I saw this in the news;

" The president unveiled an austere federal budget that calls for elimination of 115 long-established programs, significant reductions in defense and most domestic outlays and only slight increases for the administration's top priorities.

The administration's new budget is designed to advance the president's agenda within the modest bounds permitted by tough new spending caps, while still meeting the deficit reduction targets. Yet the funding shifts and program curtailments it proposes are certain to provoke bitter struggles among affected interest groups and their allies in Congress. Liberal Democrats already are accusing the president of failing to honor his campaign promises to reverse the effects of years of Republican rule and reinvigorate social spending."


There. He's doing it. Happy now? This is what we need, right? This is what the Tea Party and the Republicans in Congress have been screaming for, isn't it? Cutting social programs, tough new spending caps, deficit reduction targets - surely, this is the answer. Surely, this plan will lead us into a better, brighter future.


The only problem is, this isn't the future. This is the past.



The quote at the top of this page was from 1995, describing then President Clinton's new budget. A lot of what was happening then is happening now, to be sure - a democratic president pushing health care reform, a midterm election that resulted in a whole lot of Republicans feeling all full of themselves (the term "uppity" comes to mind) and, so hellbent was this uppity new Republican Congress on showing President Clinton who was boss, that they shut down the government as a last ditch effort to "get this liberal spending under control".

Clinton got re-elected. Guess that whole "Show 'em who's boss" thang didn't work out that well for the Repubs, did it?

You'd think that these people would remember that, especially if you were there while it was happening. Y'know who was there? John Boehner. Y'know what he was doing? Handing out checks from the tobacco lobby to members of the House. Check it;






Why would he do such a thing? Simple - in a rare act of intelligence and rationality, the House was going to vote in favor of ending government subsidies to tobacco growers...and Big Tobacco was having none of that...





The irony is totally ludicrous - these same people that want to repeal the Health Care Bill (call it ObamaCare at your own peril - I'm throwing banana cream pies in the faces of people that utter such tired rhetoric) - these same people are responsible for subsidizing tobacco growers to the tune of $944,104,224 since 1995. 1995 - that same year John Boehner acted as big tobacco's ATM machine, dispensing commission checks to members of Congress on the floor of the House - to vote against cutting the tobacco subsidies. Since then, we've paid almost one billion dollars to Joe Camel and the Marlboro Man. But Health Care is Bad? Welcome to the Republican Bizarro World.

Daddy's not going to preach about the evils of smoking; having smoked for over 30 years, that too would be ironic. Besides, the facts are already well documented -

Over 4000 chemical compounds are created by burning a cigarette, many of which are toxic and/or carcinogenic. Carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrogen cyanide and ammonia are all present in cigarette smoke. Forty-three known carcinogens are in mainstream smoke, sidestream smoke, or both.

Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body and diminishes a person’s overall health. Millions of Americans have health problems caused by smoking.

Smoking is a leading cause of cancer and death from cancer. It causes cancers of the lung, esophagus, larynx, mouth, throat, kidney, bladder, pancreas, stomach, and cervix, as well as acute myeloid leukemia.

Smoking also causes heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chronic bronchitis and emphysema, hip fractures, and cataracts. Smokers are at higher risk of developing pneumonia and other airway infections.

A pregnant smoker is at higher risk of having her baby born too early and with an abnormally low birth weight. A woman who smokes during or after pregnancy increases her infant’s risk of death from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Men who smoke are at greater risk of erectile dysfunction.

Cigarette smoking and exposure to tobacco smoke cause an estimated 438,000 premature deaths each year in the United States. Of these premature deaths, about 40 percent are from cancer, 35 percent are from heart disease and stroke, and 25 percent are from lung disease. Smoking is the leading cause of premature, preventable death in this country.



This is a no-brainer (so even Michelle Bachmann will get it) - subsidizing tobacco is wrong, it's deadly and it's stupid. And, if you're serious about cutting the deficit, it should be first on the list. Easy Peasy.

You wanna fix the budget, Uppity Republicans of 2010? Start there. End the subsidies for Big Tobacco. And this time...finish the damn job.


Do It,

Daddy