Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Daddy on the Edge of the End of Bliss

I knew someone, years back, that wouldn't watch Braveheart. Too much violence. There were a whole host of movies - great movies, epic films, that were never to be viewed in her presence... because people got hurt in them. It upset her tender sensibilities to be exposed to such brutality, so she chose the path of blissful ignorance; the art of happily willful unknowing.

Barbara Bush, former first lady, said of her sons impending war in Iraq; "But why should we hear about body bags and deaths, and how many, what day it's gonna happen, and how many this or that or what do you suppose? Or, I mean, it's not relevant. So, why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?"

Again, blissful ignorance. If I don't know about it, or if I refuse to allow my mind to acknowledge it's reality, it's very presence in my universe - then, on some level, in some bizarre rationalization, it's not really happening. Not in a real, concrete way that I have to deal with, anyway.

How convenient.

Oops; there I go, throwing rocks in my glass yurt. Don't get me wrong - there are some things that Daddy is happy to be blissfully ignorant about. I love sausages, but do not ever need to watch them being made. I know that I was born, and therefore my parents must have engaged, at least once, in some activity that brought that whole event into being, but I do not EVER need to imagine what such an event might have entailed. Never. Ever.

Ever.

I also understand how sometimes this world makes you want to just stick your head in the sand. You figure that, even if the whole damn planet is going to hellinahandbasket, you'll just concern yourself with your little place in the universe - your little corner of the sky. Daddy was thinking that way for a while. Daddy was seriously thinking of going off the grid - unplugging - just dropping out of society, leaving the rest of the world to it's own devices.

For whatever reason though, I can't quite let go; can't bring myself to make that break with society. We're all here...for something. Whatever the reason for our existence, I have to believe that the end goal is to make things better. We are all in this together. All of us; each and every human who breathes air on the planet - we are all connected. When we help each other out, we help ourselves. When we lift each other up, we each are lifted as well.

Conversely, when we do harm, it benefits no one. When we destroy, we destroy ourselves in kind. And when we turn a blind eye, we practically invite the same to be done to us one day.

The following video is not easy to watch. This is why it needs to be watched. It is not, as they say, for the faint of heart. But then, neither is being a real, contributing member of the Human Race. Violence exists. Brutality exists. To put our heads in the sand and deny their existence is to give our tacit acceptance, and that is simply no longer acceptable. Please watch;




I'll Be There,

Daddy

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Transgender Day of Remembrance - 2011





November 20th, 2011 marks the 13th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance. For those that are not familiar, this is the day when people worldwide take a moment to remember their transgendered brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, husbands and wives, lovers and friends whose lives have been suddenly terminated through acts of violence.

Watch;




The following was not written by me. It was written by a transgendered person who needs to be heard; who needs to be acknowledged. A person who is not wrong, but is instead all too right. Please...read on;


clamavi ad te
Written by little light


"Nearly half of living trans people–surviving trans people–have attempted suicide.
Nearly half of those of us who did not succeed in killing ourselves have tried.
Nearly a tenth of us will be murdered. Nearly half of us will be raped. Most of us will experience violence from loved ones and almost all of us will be denied homes and jobs. This is not hyperbole. These are the numbers as the world currently stands. But the most devastating one, as far as I am concerned, is that first one. Nearly half of the living have tried not to be. That is: let’s leave behind all the nearly. More than half of us have tried to end our own lives and many of us have succeeded. We are a heartbroken people.

This is not arbitrary. This is not a mistake. This is not for no reason. This is because we live in a world that has systematically forced into us the falsehood that we are unworthy of the basic consideration of humanity. This is because we–and we are a beautiful people, a powerful people, a beloved and phenomenal people–have been fed falsehood after falsehood until we were convinced that we were the problem, and not the campaign, from the institution on down to the individual, to erase, denigrate, break, and murder us. This is the failure state of the communities we live in: our families, our religious communities, our political leaders, our movements, our governments, our cultures. This is us–trans people–as a people–being forced to carry the weight of an entire world’s failure.
If we are so desperate to escape this world–if we see no other alternative, or worse, loathe ourselves so very much–it is because our communities have failed us. They can do better. We can do better. We deserve better. We are not so full of self-hate because something is wrong with us. We do not do such terrible violence to ourselves because that is what we deserve. We do not abdicate the belief in our own inherent dignity and worth lightly or easily. It is torn out of us, little by little, in daily, tiny murders. And every time we cringe and scrape and apologize for breathing, for taking up space, for speaking, for loving, every time we ask for forgiveness just for being what we are, every time we internalize story after story about how we are dead to our loved ones, ask to be brutalized, need to expect that what we are will merit every door closed in our faces, we are participating little by little in our own suicides.

I am no longer interested in sweet words about this. We convince ourselves we are the problem because we are taught to do so, and we are all taught this, minute by minute, even those of us who mostly don’t believe it. We are reminded every hour how low and vile we are despite our best efforts. If you have for an instant believed that you are unworthy of love, that you are wrong, that you are anything less than a person, it is very simply because your community has failed you.
When you have been told you are less than human–less than sacred–less than beautiful–your community has failed you. When you believe it, it is because your community has failed you. I do not intend to mince words.

If you are out there believing that you are less than other people–that you are unworthy–that those who love you are settling, or tolerating, or deserve your apology–that those you love are not lucky to have your love–your community has failed you. Your family has failed you. Your faith, if you have one, has failed you. Your leaders have failed you. If you or the people around you are using words that make you feel like a thing; if you are frightened to have basic bodily functions in public; if you talk about yourself like a disease, not a person; if you see nothing ahead in your old age but the bleakness of despair, isolation, and abuse; if your youth is a never ending desperation to get out and away to somewhere you cannot trust exists; if you are quietly taking your bag out from under the seat another has taken from you and moving on instead of asserting yourself; if you are telling yourself it is excusable for other people, even loved ones, not to afford you the basic respect of your own name; if you are believing this is the best you can do, they have let you down.
You deserve better. Because you are not the problem. You are not broken. You are not worthless. You are not a problem and you are not a mistake.

We talk a lot about principles and rights, but I am not talking about rights and don’t want to. Rights are the purview of politics and I don’t want to talk politics. I don’t want to talk analysis or discourse or theory.
I want to talk morals. It is a moral issue that our community is full of despair and self-hatred and self-disgust. It is not a matter of rights. It is not a matter of laws or votes or commandments. It is a moral issue. It is a theological issue. It is an issue of fundamental, basic human-ness. And I think sometimes we, as a community, especially those of us so proud to be radicals, forget that sometimes we rush ahead of the community, the culture, the people to whom we are connected, and want to talk about our rights before we talk about what we deserve and why we deserve it. We want to talk about protecting our own before we give each other reason to believe we are worth protecting. We want to jump in with both feet and spread the word about what we ought to have in society without convincing our people that we are worthy of not just full participation in society, civil or social, but of love. Of beauty. Of truth. Of basic humanity. Of self-respect.

This is not about self-esteem. This is not about self-help. This is a moral issue. This is an issue of the basic liturgy of human interaction–because it is our daily rituals that define the four corners of the world and the arches of the sky, it is our stories that tell us how to recognize our own faces, and we have been denied our place in the human liturgy for far too long and it is long past time to erupt up from the landscape that conceals us and demand, not just our rights, but the basic essential core of worth and decency that makes us people and therefore worthy of rights in the first place. We have been denied this and we have been told we are the problem. Those of us who are political, like me, hear often about ourselves as a cause. Those of us who are academic, like me, hear often about ourselves as a concept. But we have gotten ahead of ourselves because too many of us–leave alone everyone else, us!–have not heard about ourselves as people. We have been excluded from our own landscape of story and ritual. We have been ejected from our own moral universe. We have been torn from our own regard. And we are killing ourselves by degrees because of it. At eight years old I put a kitchen knife to my chest and pushed, and it was only a miracle that caused me to falter and fail. That eight year old child was not the problem. I was not the problem. A world that taught me that I had no place in it, that taught me to look away from my own holy truth and afford myself not even a scrap of the respect I agreed all other people merited, that taught me that nothing done to me could be wrong because my own moral universe did not include me–that world was and is the problem.

If for a moment in your life you have spent a breath or a thought hating yourself, looking on yourself with disgust and contempt, it is because people have let you down, and those people were wrong. You deserve not to submit to them. You were never the problem. If for a moment you thought your family, your friends, your lovers, needed to compromise to love you, thought they could do better and have a real person instead, it is because your community has let you down, from the top to the bottom.
If our leaders cannot tell us this–if we as leaders cannot tell each other this–we are fundamentally and profoundly abdicating our responsibility to our people, who are crying out for justice. If you run a church or a support group or a political faction or a newsletter or a website. If you speak to our people in public, if you guide young people or those just discovering themselves, if you are entrusted with the responsibility to guide any of us, and you do not make it clear that we are whole, we are real, we are worthy, we are beautiful? You are letting us down and you can do better. You can do better than letting that lie go unchallenged. Our people are hungry for the truth. We are starving. If you deny them that food, if you feed them garbage instead, it is on you.
This is not politics, or theory. It is a moral issue. We are under the arch of the same sky, and yet we are denied the sight of it, leave alone the hope that we might be virtuous enough to share in holding it up.

We are not the problem. We are not broken. We are not dirty. Wrong is not our name. We are not wrong. It is long past time to recognize that though we may lose much from truth-telling, when it all burns away, everything that is left is true.
Do not trust me because some great Word is in me. Trust yourself and the Word in you. Trust that you are brim-full of truth. Trust that there is a mighty and lie-less core within you that from birth has told you that you are full of what is good, and trust that the fact you cannot hear it ringing out over your landscape is because it has been buried by other people in a landfill of falsehood.
The fact that you can doubt the truth within yourself is because your community has let you down. And we can do better. We deserve better. We are better than that. We are not wrong.

I do not intend to mince words. Whatever there is in you that tells you that you are not worth loving, not worth living, not worth fighting for: burn it. Burn it down and dig for the truth underneath. Dig down through the ashes of all those lies until you hit bedrock and then, pushing off from it, rise up. We walk in places much too dark and terrible to deny ourselves this. In a world that sanctions and blockades our sources of spiritual nourishment, we carry too much already to weaken ourselves by collaborating with this enforced and unjust impoverishment. We deserve to rise up, and, even if only in ourselves, nurture revolution.

We are real people, beautiful people, and we deserve families, communities, movements, and cultures that honor us. I think we can have them. I believe we can make them. We are part of this human family, worthy, complete, pure, and mighty. And we ought to be able to say this out loud and to ourselves until we know that it is true.

Welcome to church. "








God Bless and Amen,

Daddy

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Daddy on the Edge of Celluloid Heroes










It's the movies that have really been running things in America ever since they were invented. They show you what to do, how to do it, when to do it, how to feel about it, and how to look how you feel about it.




~Andy Warhol


In the film "Grand Canyon", Steve Martin says to Kevin Kline; “That’s part of your problem, you haven’t seen enough movies. All of life’s riddles are answered in the movies.”

True Dat.

They say that those who don't remember the past are doomed to repeat it. As we watch the world teeter over the third rail of a worldwide Depression, Daddy can't help but agree with that statement as well. But this post is not about history...this post is about the movies.

When reality gets to be too much, we seek solace in darkened theaters, where we watch the larger than life perform larger than life feats. Everything is just...better in the movies. They do things better, they definitely say things better...maybe if life were scripted, had multiple re-takes and a multi-million dollar budget, it would be better too.

But maybe movie heroes aren't larger than life; maybe, instead, it's that life has somehow gotten smaller. I don't know about you, but lately Daddy has felt more than a little restricted and constricted by a hamfisted system that stirs fears about inflation, stagflation, deflation, while all the while Wall Street fat cats demand de-regulation. Tiny people having tiny arguments about tiny things, while Rome burns. That's sad. That's small.

Somehow though, we can manage to leave all that puny pettiness at the theater lobby doors. When we see our better angels take shape on the screen, and say the words and do the deeds that inspire us to be better people, we don't sneer at them and mutter "Damned Socialist". Was Mr. Smith a Socialist? Was Rocky Balboa? Did Neo and Trinity stand with the 99%? Damned skippy.

Need a break from the idiocy spewing from the word-holes of our elected officials? Here; cleanse your palate. Watch this -



(Y'know, I've watched that clip about ten times while writing this post, and it still gets to me...every time.)

Daddy had many, many cinematic role models in his life, from Pale Rider to Han Solo, Batman to Braveheart, Superman to Schindler - the movies led by example, showing their audiences what true potential realized could look like.

I know, I know...it's make believe...fiction. People aren't really like that...things aren't realllly like that. It's just fantasy.

And yet, Oskar Schindler - real life hero. William Wallace - flesh and blood, just like you and I. Maybe that's a part of it as well - maybe movies don't just show us what we could be - sometimes they remind us of what our ancestors were capable of, what superhuman feats they accomplished to get us where we are today.


As I said, I've had many movie heroes, but honestly - Charlie Chaplin was never one of them.

Until now.

Over seventy years ago, Chaplin made a film called "The Great Dictator", in which he gave one of the greatest speeches I have ever heard. Special thanks to The Lakey Sisters, who uploaded this video to their YouTube channel, and I assume are responsible for editing the amazing visuals and music (song - Window by the Album Leaf). It's a speech that, seven decades later, is as relevant as when it was first heard...maybe even more so.

Today, thousands of Americans are moving their money out of major financial institutions as a protest of the current system and an insistence for real, formative change. Today, throngs of American citizens still stand strong in Zucotti Park as the 99%, and have inspired similar actions throughout the country...and the world. Tonight is Guy Fawkes night. Say what you will about Guy Fawkes - vilify him as a terrorist who tried to destroy a King; celebrate him as a freedom fighter trying to take down a corrupt government - either way you look at it, it's been 406 years since the Gunpowder Plot, and we're still talking about the dude today.

Daddy is dedicating this vid to the 99%, and to everyone who attempts, in any way, to be larger than life.





The Kingdom of God is within us. Our Better Angels are waiting.

Time to be Larger Than Life,

Daddy

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Daddy on the Edge of "Like"


Okay, this will have to be a quick post. Daddy has decreed that the bedrooms of Daddy's daughters have reached Defcon 2 in terms of their complete disorganization and just plain mess, and therefore must be thoroughly sorted and sterilized. This means, of course, that the act of "helping them", my sudden damsels in distress, will take up most of my day, but I wanted to say something before I go, and that is this;

The new facebook is not the Devil.

Here are a few possible candidates for the devil;



Any of these guys - you want to tell me they got triple 6's etched in their skulls, I'm with you. I don't trust any of 'em - especially the big, dopey one (and the purple dinosaur creeps me out, too.)

But there's one guy that's been getting a lot of heat lately, and I think we really need to state for the record that he, in fact, is not the Devil.




This is Mark Zuckerberg, the big brain behind Facebook. Facebook is that social networking site that, since it's inception, has been completely free to it's users. It is that internet hub that has reconnected countless multitudes of people, made daily personal contact with friends easier than ever, and allowed even a forgetful social misfit like Daddy to "remember" everyone's birthday. When a child went missing recently in our area, it was through Facebook that we put the word out and received updates and the news that he had been found. When natural disasters strike in other parts of the country, or the world, it is through Facebook that I communicate with my friends and loved ones, ensuring that they are okay. Two years ago, when Daddy hisself was lying in a hospital bed, warm wishes, thoughts and prayers came to me through my Facebook feed, and it did my heart a world of good.

Speaking of doing good, while it's easy to vilify this kid for (gasp!) trying to make his product better, let's take a quick look at what else he's done lately.




That was last year. Here's a little something that he's done recently;



Yeah, okay but....he's messing with my feed!! I can't find my recent stories! I'm going to Google Plus!"

I've heard stuff like that from a lot of my friends lately. Admittedly, I was a little put off when I first saw the changes; it's like someone rearranged the furniture in your house while you were sleeping, and now you're running into everything. But, after you wake up, find your coffee maker and have your morning joe, you might start to look around your redesigned digs and realized that the new way has a lot going for it. Daddy recently took on the new role of "early adopter", something that I am usually severely averse to - but I was curious. So I grabbed the developers app for the new Facebook profile page and dove into the future.

And the future looks cool.




That's the new Facebook Timeline. It takes some getting used to, but Daddy thinks it's pretty awesome.

Change...is inevitable. In most of our lives, we want change - we're always looking for the next, the better, the more advanced...and that is as it should be. The more we learn, the more we grow...the more we grow, the more we change. And that's...okay.

I started this talking about daughters, so I'll end in a similar vein. Here's another Daddy on the Edge with his daughter. The video made Daddy cry a little, and that too, is a change...for the better.



See you on Facebook,

Daddy

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Daddy on the Edge of a Venti Bold idea


If you know anything about Daddy, you know that Daddy has a strong, mildly unnatural, almost romantic bond with his Starbucks coffee. It puts the Ying in my Yang, it is the jen nais to my se quoi. It had me at "Hello"...my Starbucks...completes me.

I didn't know much from Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks; I probably knew as much about him as Snoop Dogg knows about his weed dealer - the man puts out good product, aight? As long as I get my daily fix, everybody's happy - I don't need to know from the corporate infrastructure.

Turns out though, this Howard Schultz is a pretty impressive guy. Not because of his coffee company, as huge as that is. So, what makes him so impressive? This...


August 15, 2011

Dear Fellow Concerned Americans:

Our country is better than this.

Over the last few weeks and months, our national elected officials from both parties have failed to lead. They have chosen to put partisan and ideological purity over the well-being of the people. They have undermined the full faith and credit of the United States. They have stirred up fears about our economic prospects without doing anything to truly address those fears. They have spent a resource even more precious than the dollar: our collective confidence in each other, in the future, and in our ability to solve problems together.

As leaders in business, we have watched all this unfold, first with frustration and then with dismay. Like so many of our employees and customers, we are gravely concerned about the current situation. Today, with both humility and urgency, we propose to do something about it.

First, we aim to push our elected leaders to face the nation's long-term fiscal challenges with civility, honesty, and a willingness to sacrifice their own re-election. This means not kicking the can anymore. It means reaching a deal on debt, revenue, and spending long before the deadline arrives this fall. It means considering all options, from entitlement programs to taxes.

This is what so many common-sense Americans want. That is why we today pledge to withhold any further campaign contributions to the President and all members of Congress until a fair, bipartisan deal is reached that sets our nation on stronger long-term fiscal footing. And we invite leaders of businesses – indeed, all concerned Americans – to join us in this pledge.

We also believe in leading by positive example. And we believe that while the long-term fiscal challenge is serious, even more painful to millions of Americans today is the immediate crisis of jobs. Tens of millions are unemployed and underemployed. Right now our economy is frozen in a cycle of fear and uncertainty. Companies are afraid to hire. Consumers are afraid to spend. Banks are afraid to lend. Record levels of cash are piling up in corporate treasuries, idling. That cash is not being used to expand operations, train new workers, underwrite new ventures, or spark innovation.

The only way to break this cycle of fear is to break it. The only way to get the country’s economic circulatory system flowing again is to start pumping lifeblood through it. That is why we today issue a second pledge. Our companies are going to hire. We are going to accelerate growth, employment, and investment in jobs.

We do this because we want to set in motion an upward spiral of confidence. We are not waiting for government to create an incentive program or a stimulus. We are not waiting for economic indicators to tell us it’s safe to act. We are hiring more people now. We invite leaders of businesses across the country to join us in this pledge as well – and to bring their stakeholders into the effort. Confidence is contagious. The best thing we can do now is to spread it.

This is a time for citizenship, not partisanship. It is a time for action. We don't pretend that our two pledges are quick fixes. We just believe that in this moment of great uncertainty, the government needs discipline, the people need jobs – and leaders need to lead.

Our country is better than this. Let’s get things moving now.

Respectfully,

Howard Schultz

Take the Pledge

Clicking on the "TAKE THE PLEDGE" button will take you to the Facebook page of "Upward Spiral 2011", a platform the Schultz has created for action inspired by the letter. As of this blog post, there have been 209 pledges to withhold campaign contributions and 43 pledges to hire. This is how it's done, people. When the game is rigged, refuse to play...and take your money off the table.

Take the Pledge. Be part of the solution. And order me a Venti.

Daddy

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Daddy on the Edge of Rediscovering Daddy



Daddy forgets a lot of things.


Birthdays, where I left tools, whether or not I closed the garage door before I left the house (and then I have to drive back and check - it's been closed...every time), but lately, I managed to forget something pretty frigging major -

I forgot who I was.

The reason behind this amnesia was the last house I worked on. It's been called The Pit, My Little Crack house, Casa del Fakakte - It was The House That Ate My Soul. What started out as "a little paint and cleanup" turned into a major re-build, and every day there was more and more found that needed to be rebuilt. As the job grew, it got hungrier...and angrier...at me. First it came for my optimism. I always try to see the glass as half full as opposed to half empty. The House took my glass and shattered it on it's crumbling rubble foundation. Then it came for my physical strength, my self esteem and my sanity. It filled my every day and invaded my dreams on a regular basis.

I became a machine - working 7 days a week, sometimes 12 hours a day, dealing with new, ridiculous, often ludicrous circumstances on an almost daily basis. Work was all there was. Work. Deadline. Code. The Domino Effect of lining up all the different trades in order so that they can all get their work done. Over the last three months, waking up at 3am to a brain that was already thinking at eight miles a minute was a nightly occurrence. Wake up at 3am, assess how fast my heart was beating, followed by focused breathing and prayer to slow it down, then toss, turn, drift in and out of semi-sleep, focus on breathing some more, and then give up and get up at about 5:30. This was my every day.

And it sucked. Boy oh boy, did it suck.


You know those times on Star Trek, where the shit has hit the fan so bad during battle that they divert all available power to the shields? The only thing they don't take power from is life support. That's how the job was - divert every part of yourself to the job, stopping only long enough to feed yourself, sleep and hose yourself off on occasion. Every day, bit by bit, things start to slide. The things that make you "You", fall by the wayside. Writing this blog, spending time with my family, volunteer work, performing on stage, my physical health - all of those things took a back seat. Now, you can do that for a couple of weeks, maybe even a couple of months without too much damage. But this was months, and months...and months - and that can fuck with who you are on a basic level.

It's basically done now - ironically, I'm now at the "paint and cleanup" stage - and not a moment too soon. This job has had a detrimental effect on me, and I need to heal - spiritually, mentally and physically. This is a part of that healing - writing this blog. "Daddy on the Edge" was one of the casualties of this job, and I am trying to breathe life back into it slowly. I want to thank all of you who have kept reading - especially those of you who I don't know personally. ;)


I also want to thank those of you who read my alter ego's work in the Nyack-Piermont Patch. If you are unfamiliar, this is the place where Daddy lets his parental, less acerbic, G-rated prose roam free. If you haven't already, you can check out my latest article here.



Another part of Daddy that had nearly been lost forever was the performing side. Regular readers of this blog will remember back in April, I devoted a week of this blog to "Haywire", an original web series created by Scott Klein. Klein took the "Best Suspense Feature" award in 2009 at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival for his feature film, "Cry" and has brought that same sense of suspense to Haywire. Daddy managed to snag a regular role on the series, and it was one of the few things that kept me sane over the past year. Web series episodes are generally about ten minutes in length. You can watch nearly the entire first season of Haywire (previews included) in less than an hour and a half, and it's definitely worth watching. You can view the series on Koldcast TV by clicking here or, for those having technical trouble with Koldcast, you can view Haywire's YouTube channel here.

These are a few of my favorite things. These are a few of the things that make Daddy, "Daddy". Daddy wants to stick around here for a long, long time and that's where y'all can really help me out. It has been determined that I need a new line of work. If you like any or all of the links above, sharing them, "liking" them, tweeting, favoriting, commenting, hitting the "Google Plus One", forwarding them - doing anything that you can do to help spread the word and popularity of these projects might actually enable me to make some real money off these gigs and quit my day job. And that, my friends, would be a lifesaver.

Thanks for being a part of my world,

Daddy


Sunday, August 14, 2011

Daddy on the Edge of The Future



Okay, maybe not the definitive future, but one possible future...a brighter day, if you will. A better tomorrow, if you'll allow. Kyle Reese said, "The future is not yet set". John Connor sent a message to his mother saying that, "There is no fate but what we make."
Am I quoting the Terminator films? Hell, yes. Daddy is a time travel junkie and those lines soothe me like the warm hum of a Flux Capacitor when you hit 88 miles per hour.

But I digress. My point is that the future as it stands right now looks like a cross between morose and downright terrifying. Lately, I have watched my government representatives just completely and utterly trash everything good about our country in some ridiculous, childish attempt to please all of the people all of the time. And they all say, they ALL SAY, THEY ALL F*CKING SAY that they're doing the will of the American People. Well folks, that is a pile of bullshit and you know it. The American People didn't want our countries credit rating slashed, anymore than we want our own personal credit ratings messed with. The American People don't want you to gut Social Security and Medicare - we want everyone to pay their fair share. And please, please, PLEASE don't tell me that the mega rich are "job creators" and therefore should continue to get tax breaks. These millionaires have had these tax breaks in place since, what - 2003??? Based on your "job creator" mantra, unemployment should be at about 2%, what with all these rich folks getting to keep all that tax revenue for all those years and doing all that hiring. But that's not what's happening, is it? Seriously, Washington - how fucking stupid do you think we are? Tax breaks made things WORSE, not better. Highest prosperity in my lifetime has been in the Reagan and Clinton years, when tax rates were at their HIGHEST for the wealthiest Americans. I don't know what makes me want to throw up more - that you really think we're stupid enough to believe that nonsense, or that it seems like y'all are starting to believe it as well.


By and large, it would appear that our elected officials are more than willing to throw this country under the bus for money, or approval, or to have everyone like them. The US Government, with a few exceptions, has turned into the cast of High School Musical. (and yes - Eric Cantor is Sharpay).

That's not the movie I want to see. And I'm really not grooving too much on the President's portrayal of Gandhi, either. I'm sorry, but Obama the Peacemaker, Obama as King Solomon, Obama as the Great Uniter just ain't working out...for the majority of Americans, anyway. It's working out great for the Republicans, since they hold their breath until he gives them everything that they want and then he thanks them for "reaching across the aisle in the spirit of bipartisanship". Nope, not the movie I wanted to see, and not the role I wanted to see him in. Y'know how I'd love to see our current President? A little something like this;




That's the shit. The verse even works referencing the Republicans. But that ain't gonna happen; I wish it would, but it won't. Our current President is just too cool to lose his shit - it seems to be easier to just give the country away to the Koch Brothers. So, the Tea Party still runs the asylum, the debt ceiling gets held hostage, and the people who put the batshit in batshit crazy are all fighting to be the Republicans main squeeze in the 2012's.

Well, Daddy is sick and tired of it. Frankly, I've got enough to deal with without having to worry about Standard and Poors ratings or the fact that a potential Presidential nominee can work a corn dog like Jenna Jameson. So, rather than wait around seeing how this low budget Greek tragedy is gonna play itself out, Daddy is going to attempt to influence the outcome. Life Coach and motivational speaker Tony Robbins says that everything is a cause set in motion. Getting up and going to work is a cause set in motion. Not getting up and going to work is a cause set in
motion. Everything you do or don't do can have a great influence over your life and the lives of those around you. He also says that thoughts become words, words become deeds, and deeds become results, but you have to see it through.

So, I've been having this thought lately, and after putting it through the Google, it seems like others are having it as well, so it's already got some energy behind it. I, and others like me, remember when we used to have people in charge that could actually have balls AND make sense at the same time. Like this guy;




Yeah, that's the stuff. Now, check out this guy;




Wow. That guy just gave me...hmmm, what's the word? Oh, yeah....

HOPE.

Business as usual just ain't gonna cut it anymore, my friends. That's why Daddy is changing his party affiliation to Independent and is ready to throw his support 100% behind this ticket, as soon as they agree to make it a reality;





It's time...for some real Change.

Let's do this, guys.

Keep Hope Alive,

Daddy

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Daddy on the Edge of Countdown


Daddy loves me some Keith Olbermann.

I don't know what happened at MSNBC; I don't care. Olbermann has a new home on CurrentTV - here's his take on the whole marriage thang;










Welcome back, Keith.

Daddy

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Daddy on the Edge of Weddings, Equality and "Evolving"


This past Friday, history was made. This past Friday, Republicans and Democrats came together and voted "YES" on same sex marriage in New York. The lead up to this was something to behold. On one hand, Republican Senator Roy MacDonald said,

"You get to the point where you evolve in your life where everything isn't black and white, good and bad, and you try to do the right thing," McDonald, 64, told reporters.

"You might not like that. You might be very cynical about that. Well, fuck it, I don't care what you think. I'm trying to do the right thing.

"I'm tired of Republican-Democrat politics. They can take the job and shove it. I come from a blue-collar background. I'm trying to do the right thing, and that's where I'm going with this."


Wow. Just...Fucking...Wow. Watching a Republican come around to that way of thinking, and say something like that so openly, so honestly - well, it makes Daddy a little less jaded.

Than we had this;

At a White House briefing, Press Secretary Jay Carney stressed that the president had been nothing but consistent in saying that his position was "evolving" on the topic.

"What I know is what his position was during the campaign and what it is now," Carney said. "He’s been very clear about it. He was very clear in the campaign. He’s very clear about the fact that his position is evolving. I don’t have anything to add to that."

Wow. Just...Fucking...Wow. Evolving? Really, Mr. President? That's such an incredibly "un-Progressive" way of putting it.

In this same article, it says that Obama believes that gay marriage is an issue best addressed by the states. Well I gotta tell you, the states have been doing a bang up job of it so far. Here's a map of how the states feel about gay marriage, civil unions and domestic partnerships;




Laws regarding same-sex partnerships in the United States

Same-sex marriage1

Unions granting rights similar to marriage1,2

Legislation granting limited/enumerated rights1

Same-sex marriages performed elsewhere recognized1

No specific prohibition or recognition of same-sex marriages or unions

Statute bans same-sex marriage

Constitution bans same-sex marriage

Constitution bans same-sex marriage and some or all other kinds of same-sex unions


1May include recent laws or court decisions which have created legal recognition of same-sex relationships, but which have not entered into effect yet.
2Same-sex marriage laws in California are complicated, please see the article on same-sex marriage in California.


Looking at this map, I think I may slap the next person who uses the phrase, "Separate but Equal". Separate? No Doubt. Equal? No Chance. And how could there be real equality? I mean, look at what people have said about gay marriage;


(This is a direct re-print of an article written by Eric Zorn for The Chicago Tribune - Check it;)



MARRIAGE ISSUE JUST AS PLAIN AS BLACK AND WHITE

By Eric Zorn

Statement No. 1: Same-sex marriage must be forbidden, said the Republican senator from Wisconsin, "simply because natural instinct revolts at it as wrong."

Statement No. 2. An organization opposed to gay marriage claimed legalizing them would result in "a degraded and ignoble population incapable of moral and intellectual development," and rested this belief on the "natural superiority with which God (has) ennobled heterosexuals."

Statement No. 3. "I believe that the tendency to classify all persons who oppose gay marriage as 'prejudiced' is in itself a prejudice," grumped a noted psychologist. "Nothing of any significance is gained by such a marriage."

Statement No. 4. A U.S. representative from Georgia declared that allowing gay marriages "necessarily involves (the) degradation" of conventional marriage, an institution that "deserves admiration rather than execration."

Statement No. 5. "The next step will be that gays and lesbians will demand a law allowing them, without restraint, to . . . have free and unrestrained social intercourse with your unmarried sons and daughters," warned a Kentucky congressman. "It is bound to come to that. There is no disguising the fact. And the sooner the alarm is given and the people take heed, the better it will be for our civilization."

Statement No. 6. "When people of the same sex marry, they cannot possibly have any progeny," wrote an appeals judge in a Missouri case. "And such a fact sufficiently justifies those laws which forbid their marriages."

Statement No 7. Same-sex marriages are "abominable," according to Virginia law. If allowed, they would "pollute" America.

Statement No 8. In denying the appeal of a same-sex couple that had tried unsuccessfully to marry, a Georgia court wrote that such unions are "not only unnatural, but . . . always productive of deplorable results," such as increased effeminate behavior in the population. "They are productive of evil, and evil only, without any corresponding good . . . (in accordance with) the God of nature."

Statement No. 9. A gay marriage ban is not discriminatory, reasoned a Republican congressman from Illinois, because it "applies equally to men and women."

Statement No. 10. Attorneys for the state of Tennessee argued that such unions should be illegal because they are "distasteful to our people and unfit to produce the human race. . . ." The state supreme court agreed, declaring gay marriages would be "a calamity full of the saddest and gloomiest portent to the generations that are to come after us."

Statement No. 11. Lawyers for California insisted that a ban on same-sex marriage is necessary to prevent "traditional marriage from being contaminated by the recognition of relationships that are physically and mentally inferior. . . . (and entered into by) the dregs of society."

Statement No. 12. "The law concerning marriages is to be construed and understood in relation to those persons only to whom that law relates," thundered a Virginia judge in response to a challenge to that state's non-recognition of same-sex unions. "And not," he continued, "to a class of persons clearly not within the idea of the legislature when contemplating the subject of marriage."

To sum up: Legal recognition of such marriages would offend tradition, God, the sensibilities of the majority and the natural order while threatening conventional marriage, children and the future of our
civilization.

The quotes are culled from a Boston University Law Review article and a brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, though I did take the minor liberty of changing the subject of the strangled rage, fear and righteous indignation.

Everywhere I quoted the speakers referring to same-sex marriage, homosexuality and heterosexuality, they were actually referring to interracial marriage and their views of black people, white people and the proper interaction thereof. And yes, that includes statement No. 6, which in original form articulated the old white supremacist belief that offspring of whites and blacks were--like mules that result when horses mate with donkeys--sterile.

The quotes date from 1823 to 1964 and, though the sentiments look hatefully ridiculous to us in 1996, they had sufficient appeal and staying power that 15 states still criminalized black-white marriage until the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously overturned those laws in the appropriately named 1967 case, Loving vs. Virginia.

Those whose unaltered words today resemble statements 1 through 12 above, take note. The stench is familiar. The future is listening.

I guess it's a good thing that certain states "evolved" before others; otherwise, the President's parents wouldn't have been able to get married.



That was candidate Obama who said, "My job as President is going to be to make sure that the legal rights that have consequences on a day to day basis for loving, same sex couples - that those rights are recognized and enforced by my White House and my Justice Department". Those rights have not been recognized to the degree that they should, Sir. Half measures do not work. More needs to be done. More always needs to be done.

While I agree that you have gone further than most Administrations, the fact still remains that a very large portion of Americans are legally treated as second class citizens, because of nothing more than who their brain chemistry tells them to be attracted to, and their courage to not hide that part of themselves from a hating, self-important, incredibly self-righteous faction of fellow Americans.

There will always be those citizens demanding that we continue to discriminate against the LGBT community. They are fashioned from the same material that went to war over the right to keep slaves, felt completely justified denying women and blacks the vote, and saw themselves as chosen by God to keep blacks and whites from taking the vows of marriage. They are the simple minds, the spoiled children of this country - and it's high time we stopped catering to their every whim.

Liberty and Justice For ALL, Mr. President. Time to start living the message.

And, if all that wasn't enough, here's the Golden Girls.





Be Proud,

Daddy

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Daddy on the Edge of Pride and Prejudice

Daddy has been working on a big ass blog post that summarizes the news and views of today's Republican Party - the working title is "Daddy on the Edge of the Republican Caca" and I should have that for you shortly.

In the meantime though, i had to put this out there; in researching Republicans and the darndest things they say, I came across this little gem. At first, I honestly thought they were joking, but it's all too real how they feel. Here it is - the latest, greatest Republican Talking Point:



The White Man is being Oppressed.


Don't believe that they're saying this? Here ya go - from CNN:

• A recent Public Religion Research Institute poll found 44% of Americans surveyed identify discrimination against whites as being just as big as bigotry aimed at blacks and other minorities. The poll found 61% of those identifying with the Tea Party held that view, as did 56% of Republicans and 57% of white evangelicals.

You can read the whole story here.

It makes me wonder if the whites who think they're being oppressed (Rush Limbaugh among them), have a clear understanding of exactly what the word oppressed really means. Here's a little lesson of oppression, good people of WhiteTopia - tell me if any of this rings true for you -


White people are not federally protected from workplace discrimination in the private sector. In other words, you can be fired just for being White.

White people are not allowed to give blood. White blood is suspect and cannot be trusted.

White people cannot adopt in most states. If a White couple were to adopt a child, it would increase the likelihood that said child would become maladjusted. White people have poor judgment and are bad role models.

White People's children cannot go to certain schools. Catholic schools will deny a child entry if the parents are White. Being White is a sin in the eyes of the church.

White people can't live in certain communities. The Fair Housing Act lends no protection to Whites when purchasing, renting, or leasing a home. Landlords can deny you a place to live, or make you pay more because you are White.

White people cannot marry in most states. This affects the following areas of your life - Social Security benefits, veterans' benefits, health insurance, Medicaid, hospital visitation, estate taxes, retirement savings, pensions, family leave, and immigration law.

White people cannot be Scout Leaders. I know; why the heck would you want to? But there it is. White people are a bad influence on...tying knots, I guess.

White people cannot serve in the military as White. You can serve, and die for your country, but if you admit that you are White, we will boot you out. Maybe we'll kill you.



Now, you have to know that if any of this were true, the entirety of FOX News, the KKK and the Koch Brothers would have waged war. Things like this don't happen to The White Man.

But they happen to gays, lesbians and the transgendered very day.

Daddy comes from a long history of WASP's - my family has been a part of this country since the 1600's and, although there are plenty of tough times, I could never, ever say that we have been oppressed - that we have been so actively denied the rights and privileges afforded to every American, simply because of who and what we are. The idea that this nonsense is being injected into the public debate is ludicrous, and it has no place in serious, adult discussion.

But, as I said, there are people in this country that are being discriminated against on a daily basis. I'm going to their Pride celebration shortly. For those not in the know, from Wiki -

"LGBT pride or gay pride is the concept that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people should be proud of their sexual orientation and gender identity. The movement has three main premises: that people should be proud of their sexual orientation and gender identity, that diversity is a gift, and that sexual orientation and gender identity are inherent and cannot be intentionally altered."

In a world that tells them they should be ashamed, they stand proud. In a world that tells them to change and be normal, they stand as God made them, being true to their Maker and themselves. In a world that tells them that they are less than, they stand up and show that, not only are they not "less than"...



They're Fabulous.




Happy Pride Y'all,

Daddy





Monday, May 30, 2011

Daddy on the Edge of Memorial Day

Happy Decoration Day.

From Wiki -


The first known observance of Memorial Day was in Charleston, South Carolina in 1865; freedmen (freed enslaved Africans) celebrated at the Washington Race Course, today the location of Hampton Park, and each year thereafter. African Americans founded Decoration Day, now referred to as Memorial Day, at the graveyard of 257 Union soldiers and labeled the gravesite "Martyrs of the Race Course" on May 1, 1865.

Daddy was gonna rant right about here. I was going to go off on how we've reduced war and the remembrance of such to a sale on big screen tv's and a backyard hibachi. I was going to spew venom on the whole military industrial complex, who seem reallly good at getting us into armed conflicts, but then forget to properly up-armor the soldiers that they have just deployed. I was going to tear our government a new one for decades of tearing down the US education system and domestic manufacturing base, while simultaneously building up the whole business of Worldwide War Profiteering, seemingly doing so intentionally to ensure a steady supply of new recruits who see enlisting in the military as their only possible career choice.

I was going to do all that, and then I started reading the words of individuals much more well versed than I, and it humbled me. If you want to know War, read the words of the men and women that have been there - those who know war because they have seen it, and felt it - because their blood has spilled on foreign soil where they watched their comrades fall.


The greatest tribute we can give to the spirits of the fallen, this day and every day, is to try with all our might not to add to their number. We must work to wage peace with the same intensity that we now wage war. For their sacrifice, we owe them nothing less.


Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.

~Dwight D. Eisenhower






My Chemical Romance - The Ghost Of You by Warner-Music



Remember,



Daddy

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Daddy on the Edge of Haywire - Episode Seven - The Usual Suspects

Spoiler Alert - I am Keyser Söze.

Okay, I'm not - but I am a performer in this, the most current episode of Haywire. Major kudos to all the amazing cast and crew that froze their parts off to make this episode happen and a special shout out to John Lenihan, director, writer and featured performer in this installment. Thanks for bringing me on board, Captain - looks like it's gonna be a helluva ride. :)

Watch it now - Haywire, Episode 7 - The Usual Suspects...


Friday, April 29, 2011

Daddy on the Edge of Haywire - The Sixth Sense


No, we don't see dead people...or do we?

Today's installment of Haywire is Episode 6, "Grace Under Pressure", and it is one freaky episode. Here we see more paths crossing, more story lines colliding and more weird shit unfolding.

But people seem to enjoy weird shit - I found out today that Haywire got over 10,000 views yesterday on Koldcast TV! That is frigging huge and it is at least partly due to you, Daddy's amazing family of readers. Thank you for your support - I hope it's ongoing and I hope you tell everyone you've ever met about the show (and you could tell them about Daddy on the Edge as well - I mean, it wouldn't kill ya to do that too, right? You were already talking to them about Haywire - it's not like I asked you to call them back or anything) AND....

I hope you're going to watch tomorrow night, at the stroke of midnight (okay, you can watch it anytime after that as well, but it sounds cooler to say "at the stroke of midnight"), when Haywire, Episode 7 - The Usual Suspects premiers featuring Daddy hisself (and a whole bunch of wicked-talented people). And since you've been such wonderful readers this week, I feel I can share with you a secret about this episode - something that everyone else will have to wait until tomorrow midnight to find out, but I'm gonna tell you now...

I play an asshole. A big, pompous asshole.

I know; it's a total stretch, right? So, you've got that to look forward to. But in the meantime, check out all the freakiness of Haywire, Episode 6 - Grace Under Pressure...


Thursday, April 28, 2011

Daddy on the Edge of Cinco de Haywire

You're watching. And that's Awesome. :)


While my statistical measuring applications don't tell me everything, they do tell me that you're coming back to this site, and that you're watching the show - I don't know exactly who you all are, but I want to personally thank you for taking the time to check out Haywire. I hope that you're finding it as entertaining as Daddy does, and that you'll continue to watch, even after I've stopped talking about it as much as I have been ('cause you know I have to go back to yelling about Republicans sooner or later - that's just my thang, after all).

Anyway, you're gonna love today's episode - paths are starting to cross in Monroe and favorite characters of mine (Nikki and Willie, played by Rebecca Nyahay and Michael Edan respectively) get up close and personal. So, enough of my blabbering for today - please enjoy Haywire, Episode Five - Duct Tape and Demons...