Michael Psycho's Word Pollution

LET’S KEEP ASKING THE QUESTIONS, UNTIL WE GET THE ANSWERS.

2012-01-01T00:00:00.000-08:00

It’s time for a shift in the function of the American collective conscience, and that time is now.

Small segments of the population are starting to speak out here and there re: the steady control and exploitation by the ever-shrinking members of the ruling class inflicted upon the increasingly underpowered lower class. It’s encouraging, but not nearly enough to change the attitude of the people who are negatively targeted in this situation.

The working people of America need to somehow tear down the wall of financially motivated political doctrine that is gripping the entire United States like a prison of the conscience. Public policy needs to be created and implemented in the interest of the public at large and not the select group of individuals who are making a comfortable living out of politics, nor to the benefit of the corporate commanded money-grubbing power hungry political machine.

The challenge lies in the matter of communication methods. In today’s national psyche, we are facing, from the middle class on below, a syndrome in which half of the population are too afraid for various reasons to question authority and economic disparity, and the other half whom have conditioned themselves to believe that their opinion or input would make no difference and energy and time would be better spent on the survival of the self.

No matter who is elected to office in this or any other year, the fact remains that representation is for all of the people, not just for those who have won the election with the majority vote. We, the People, need to keep a fire under our elected officials, federal, state, and local, asserting our voice and our presence.

There needs to be a paradigm shift in the way that the American people drive and influence the policies of its government. The hired guns in the form of corporate and special interest funded campaign lobbyists need to be replaced by a surge of the public voice. Democrat as well as Republican special interests have well paid and well funded influence all over the halls of Congress, and none of this activity is remotely beneficial to the stability, safety or general welfare of the majority of the American people who are not in the controlling interest.

Face reality. Most of us are not in the same rigid ideology as those on the TV network political talk shows or the campaign rallies. Most of us want pretty basic things in our lives: security, privacy, safety, opportunity, and the most politically abused condition of liberty. Some of the conditions that guarantee these things require legislative oversight and some are better off without it. With practice, and as long as sensible process and consensus override mob rule, the people in the streets can eventually figure out the logical paths much more efficiently and fairly than the pundits in front of the cameras and the cash hustlers under the Capitol dome.

It’s not a pretty picture ahead for the typical American worker if people just ignore the warning signs. The middle class will become targeted increasingly by the controlling interests to get soaked in the pocketbook. Food prices will continue to rise, everyday necessary expenses will get more expensive, and revenue will be raised for the government coffers by extorting more tax money from the have-nots while the haves get to pay less thanks to their influence and control of the government. Jobs will continue to disappear and move into other countries. The perpetrators of these exploitations against working people will undertake these actions simply because they can. If the targets of their avarice decline to protest, or just continue to buy and consume as usual, then there’s no reason for the abuses to cease.

In the coming years, as the ruling class interests become increasingly desperate and clueless in dealing with deteriorating socioeconomic conditions, an iron hand approach to controlling the general population will become a more attractive option. Now is the time for the working class to begin to become aware of this not too distant future possibility, and work out a counteractive strategy to fight any such attempt to neutralize organized proletarian unity and efforts to intercommunicate dissent against various types of authority.

Under the conditions of today, the lower income majority of Americans are experiencing a condition of taxation without representation, while paradoxically, the higher income minority gets to enjoy the outrageous privilege of representation without taxation. This situation alone, of disproportionate revenue responsibility against benefit of governmental response, can be seen as a suitable enough reason to encourage and organize working class revolution.

The few of us who have been speaking out in an effort to get the American psyche adjusted to a new path need to continue and also extend the conversation. There needs to be an eventual refinement of the communication method in order to generate a wave of dialogue as opposed to simply a one-way message attempt. Speeches can be nice but only rarely do they instigate true mass action.

At this point in time, the current populace of economically disenfranchised Americans do not even need an organized effort to change the policies in Washington DC, their state capitols, or even their local government. They just need to get into the practice of speaking out their opinions and talking amongst each other about what is wrong and what can be better.

When it comes down to it at the end, the most legible strategy is this: every one of us needs to do what we can. Whether it’s simply ideas or direct action, many people can make a difference on just about every level of American society. Working people don’t need to just sit idly by, feeling helpless and allowing the ambitious few to dictate the conditions and future of the everyday lives of the rest of us.

Resolve to the goal that if you can’t get up and do something, at least start to communicate to those in your area of the world who are closest to you. Help those close to you who need assistance as much as you can. Most people aren’t evil or stupid; most of them in this country, however, are, for lack of a better term, asleep. It’s time to sound the alarm and wake some folks up.

DON’T WORRY. DIE HAPPY.

2011-12-04T00:00:00.000-08:00

Really and truly, death is nothing to be scared of. Plus, it’s not going to be a hassle to any real degree. Once it happens, it’s not like any activities that were interrupted at the time are going to matter anymore.

Oh sure, sometimes, like a lot of other folks out there, there’s been places in time where I’ve wished that I was dead. The option is always there for self-termination (and as for any of those folks who think that it’s inappropriate to say that someone committed suicide or killed themselves, oh, fuck all those people, because in reality there’s no right or wrong way to describe the final act anyway). In consideration to family and friends who have chosen that particular route of self-induced death, I hold no resentment or even disagreement with their choice. I hold the firm opinion that the individual in question is the only party with the right to choose such an undertaking.

The philosophy that I’ve taken as I get older is along these lines: Y’see, if you really feel suicidal, then the safest and most painless method is to keep living, because life will kill you in a very efficient manner eventually. Still, I would be inclined to suppose that for many of us, in a world where very few of us can realize anything close to true personal happiness, security and fulfillment in life, most of us can see death as an mystery cloaked in our last unrepressed glimmer of optimism, which we will welcome like a ride home from an old friend rolling up to meet us at the curb in the middle of a strange and dangerous neighborhood. In contemplation of all that the trials and tests of life in this existence which confront us every day for nearly the entire duration of the short time that we spend in this plane, how can we ever reason that the next phase of the journey can be any worse?

SO, YOU’VE OCCUPIED THE PARK. HOW DO YOU OCCUPY THE CONVERSATION?

2011-11-06T00:00:00.000-07:00

Co-ordination was not so good
But everyone did just what they could
Unarmed with inexperience
We had to use our common sense
- From Rats, performed by Subhumans, lyrics by Dick Lucas

So. People gathered in parks and plazas, marched, ranted, raved, rioted in a couple of municipalities, maybe even engaged in some sort of meaningful dialogue with each other. That’s nice.

The tough question that I must ask to anyone who will be willing to at least try to answer is this. Has the majority of the American middle, working and poverty classes come to realize that they need to somehow assimilate themselves into the political and socioeconomic conversation of the nation, which has been shut out to them for practically the entire stretch of American history?

So far, the answer I’ve been getting from simple extended periods of observation since the start of what’s been now referred to in many circles as the “Occupy Movement” is: Fuck. No.

Don’t count me in that equation, as the sentiments and awareness surrounding the Occupy Wall Street protest equals preaching to the choir when drifting in my direction. I’ve been writing about this stuff as well as talking about these sorts of subjects to anyone who’ll listen, both online and in the real life, and it’s been that way for years now.

However, since I happen to be one of those working class Americans that the self-appointed and reputedly leaderless faces and voices of the Occupy Movement claim to be fighting so hard for, please allow me the moment to educate for whoever has eyes to read a bit of hard truth about the so-called Average American.

Most people who could be labeled as “Average Americans” are barely even paying attention to national, much less international, current affairs anymore. Their topics of discussion in the workplace, bar, holiday dinner, front porch etc. usually deal with such heady subjects as the reality show they saw on TV last night or the raccoon that attacked their dog in the back yard or the big game last night or Scarlett Johansson’s boobs. (Come to think of it, those subjects I just mentioned as examples are the only relevant current events, at least in their minds.) Sometimes the subject turns to the latest round of layoffs or a neighbor walking away from their mortgage and getting foreclosed or somebody’s son getting killed by an IED in Afghanistan, but there is never any real wonderment about why these things happen, and these types of incidents are usually shrugged off as uncontrollable circumstances of everyday life. “Coping” is more often than not confused with “submission”.

Add, or even mix in, to the aforementioned segment the American citizens who have been seduced by the system to the point where they’re pretty much nothing but tools for the corprocratic wing of the American Dream Fabrication Machine, who have a couple of credit cards and a tract house with a huge mortgage and think that somehow they are inextricably linked to those at the top of the oligarchic foodchain. These are the people who are genuinely convinced that a more unfettered free market and less taxation and regulation for business interests will magically revitalize the economy and all of its current woes. They genuinely believe the pundits who dismiss any sort of dissent of the sort spurred on by the Occupy Wall Street protests as socialist propaganda or (perish the thought!) class warfare. In short, any criticism of the imbalance of wealth and political power in this country translates in their heads as unpatriotic national heresy.

These are only some examples of the types of folks who have not been reached by the message of the Occupy Movement, and it will be an uphill battle to try to motivate them into any reasonable dialogue in terms of contemplating the wealth gap and its subsequent economic injustices and unfairness among the workers and impoverished of 21st Century American society.

Also, I would not be too optimistic in terms of garnering any significant show of support from most or even any of our elected officials. Politicians have what seems like a genetically inherent talent at playing before the news cameras. If their role is not to be the usual preordained spokesperson for the corporate-friendly right, then they are going to carefully mince out a condescending statement about how they understand the frustration of the Occupy Movement’s participants, and covertly hope that it all blows over so that they can go back to being the same type of business jocking sluts as they usually are. None of these politicians are going to change their attitudes, policies or legislative strategies by one iota. That is, unless there is an ideological tsunami of dissent generated among the currently silent (or actually, for the most part, authority, society and media silenced) majority of the American public.

The true challenge, however, is in how to get through to the so-called ninety nine percent.

The United States Census for 2010 counts the current population at 308,745,538. Times one percent, that’s an unscientific estimate of about 3,087,455 Americans out there who are sharing the blame for the general fuckedupedness of our unbalanced distribution of wealth. That can be a significant number in terms of financial as well as media and cultural control. Many of these few million are, quite predictably, in various social positions that wield considerable influence and power. They can, and do, with glaring regularity, control the flow of information, jack up the price of food and other vital goods and services, and restrict the opportunity, health and general welfare and even the free communication and expression of dissent against the status quo.

Any true outreach effort will need to have a fairly equal amount of people at what’s been described as the 99 per cent level who are not only just passionate, but able to communicate and interact with others around them to the point that the discussion spreads as far as the next ninety eight people from each originator’s own personal space.

Is it perhaps becoming clear now that this type of sea change in the American psyche is going to take much more than just hanging out in a park in relatively small groups and talking amongst ourselves?

Hopefully it does, because after leaving those parks and plazas all over the country, and returning to your homes, workplaces, campuses and neighborhoods, you must try to get those people next to you in your everyday lives to realize that a lot of what is accepted as part of just another day getting screwed, abused and enslaved by the system of the privileged few does not have to be taken as acceptable, in any way shape or form, whatsoever.

Otherwise, without any real affect in that area, these protests just become a footnote in American history, and a curious political anomaly for scholars and sociologists. That would be a goddamned dirty shame.

IT’S THE RETENTION OF ASSETS, STUPID.

2011-10-02T00:00:00.000-07:00

The American moneyed and ruling class won’t admit that there is a poverty problem in the U.S., even if the situation gets to the point that millions are sleeping on the street and subsisting on gruel and sop, and at that point they’ll be holed up in their gated community and mansion fortresses, ignoring and dismissing the issue entirely.

In the postwar years of the American economy, ‘round the 1950s to at least the mid ‘60s, the poverty rate decreased and things were a bit different from nowadays in terms of general opportunity and financial security. Folks could find jobs in many sectors for a living wage. Many could easily afford a down payment on a decent home from simply saving their money over time, and housing expenses were routinely around or just over twenty five percent of the average salary. If that wasn’t the case, entry level service jobs, attainable without a college degree or in many cases a high school diploma, were available as a means to pay the rent and survive. Rich folks didn’t quite get so concerned about taxes and such, because they realized that revenue was paying for infrastructure improvements that helped to make them even more money, and besides, they had already tried to overthrow the U.S. government in the 1930’s and failed.

Quality household products such as furniture and electric appliances were not only becoming increasingly affordable, many were American made and could be bought on non-predatory store payment plans as well. People had much more opportunity to save and many could depend upon some sort of company pension to supplement their Social Security upon retirement. Gains in civil rights increased though they did not perfect economic diversity in terms of equal opportunity and overall standard of living for racial and ethnic minorities. For those who were truly indigent, the Kennedy and Johnson administrations began to push for programs such as Food Stamps and the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964.

Forward to the Debtor States of America of the 21st century. The average American household carries about $10,000 in credit card debt. One out of six Americans are living in poverty, with a staggering number one paycheck away from homelessness. It’s only getting worse as the years, or even months, move along.

So how does the right side of the political aisle respond to this increasing problem? By employing a mind-boggling level of denial, such as the Heritage Foundation’s report, based upon circa 2005 data and charmingly titled “Air Conditioning, Cable TV, and an Xbox: What Is Poverty in the United States Today?”. I’d suppose that a more truthful title, “Hey, Fuck All You Liberals, Nobody’s Poor in the United States”, wasn’t as scholarly sounding.

Let's take a peek at this, erm, enlightening and educational research.

Ferinstance. Did you know that you are not poor if you have “amenities” like “a refrigerator, an oven and stove, a microwave, and a coffee maker…” and/or “ air conditioning, a clothes washer, a clothes dryer, ceiling fans, and a cordless phone...”? Somma them thar po' folks even have, according to the Heritage study's interpretation of the Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) index, some kind of convoluted combination of "two color televisions, cable or satellite TV, a DVD player, and a VCR..."!

Gee whiz. Let’s just close down the government and call it a day! Everybody’s fancy and everybody’s fine! Your body’s fancy and so is mine! It truly is a beautiful day in the neighborhood!

What’s missing from this sunny Mister Rogers-based outlook is the fact that, unlike generations past, more and more people may have some basic household gizmos in their abode, regardless of income level, but on an ever increasing trend, those doodads will end up tossed out on the street by the landlord after eviction or sold in an auction for delinquent payment on a storage bin. Of course, you don’t count stuff like air conditioning, ceiling fans or clothes washers and dryers, because those will stay in the apartment that residents will be kicked out of.

People might be able to pick up certain “amenities” on an increasingly cheaper basis than the past, or get them as part of living in lower income apartments, but the fact remains that the income necessary to maintain day-to-day survival is becoming increasingly scarce. Add to this the fact that things like food, utilities and health care are on a constant increase in cost, and the Heritage Foundation’s bullshit-in-a-pretty-wrapped-package study contains far less relevance. This relevance is further diluted when you consider the fact that unemployment and poverty is much higher in non-white population segments,and in such racial and ethnic groups, recovery and sustainability is even more difficult.

The ways to reverse this trend of increasing poverty are not simple and are not cheap. It’s going to require more government intervention and regulation as well as fiscal stimulus, only this time, instead of funding Wall Street fat cats and banks, we need a return to the days of the New Deal and the Great Society, while analyzing and learning from the mistakes made by social programs of the past. And to get that funding, yup, there’s going to have to be an end to many tax breaks for the wealthy as well as an increase in taxation for the top percentile of income earners overall. In other words, the folks who will be financially hurt in their lifestyles by increased taxation the least will need to sacrifice the most.

Are the rich folks at the top of the economic ladder going to fight this type of government effort hook line and sinker? Sure they are, but fuck ‘em, they got theirs. Those who “have not” presently outnumber those who "have", and somehow the have-nots need to organize and fight for a better life. This means fighting for stuff like a living wage, affordable and available health care, and adequate aid for times when the ability to find and hold gainful employment just isn’t there. People in the lower rungs of the economic ladder want a temporary, not permanent means of assistance when needed, and a hand up, not a handout, despite whatever any conservative radio talk show host or oligarchy apologist mouthpiece will try to say.

Remember, voting is free, and besides, it doesn’t matter who wins an election. That person elected to public office is sworn to represent all of the people, and if they do not listen to all of the people, or act in deference to “insure domestic Tranquility” and “promote the general Welfare”, then We the People have the right, nay the responsibility, to get together with our situational peers and demand a better way of doing things.

Don’t just trudge around through your day expecting the ruling class to make it all better for you. They will be satisfied to see you quickly rot and die, because they will be safely tucked away in their luxurious cocoons and will not have to witness you, and as a matter of fact, they feel that they have the right to use you and destroy your body and your life in order to achieve their ongoing personal gain. True democracy is a process of correction. It’s high time that America’s working people rise up and correct the irresponsible tactics of today’s leaders and begin to truly fight for a better world for each and every citizen, regardless of whether or not your apartment has air conditioning or you were able to put milk on your breakfast cereal this morning.

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE WORKPLACE. LESS BRAINS, MORE LIPS.

2011-09-04T00:00:00.000-07:00

Hey, American Worker, if you really suck at your job abilities but have the God-given talent to be an all-star sycophant, the Establishment Media has some great news for you!

According to CareerBuilder, an employment website that makes money off of, well, employers, a survey of 2662 hiring managers found out that seventy one percent of ‘em would forsake potential hires who could actually walk and chew gum at the same time, instead hiring those perceived as being high in a trait known generally as emotional intelligence, or EI as it’s known for short to them fancy psychology type folk. Emotional intelligence has been under a marked degree of unrelenting criticism in that particular neck of the scientific woods, namely in regards as to whether or not EI can be an actual measurement of intelligence. It’s a relatively new concept, where the term "emotional intelligence" didn’t show up until the mid 1960s and models concerning EI didn’t begin to come forth until around the mid 1980s.

Generally, EI in any positive light can be seen as the ability in a person to admit and adapt to his or her own mistakes, cooperate with others, and manage emotions in order to be productive and meet various sorts of goals in various areas of life.

I would dare to surmise that the HR respondents to the survey, as well as the executives and managers of most companies and their respective departments, don’t see these abilities in quite that pragmatic of a view. In actuality, they are seeing the term “emotional intelligence” in the exact same light as a more traditional workplace trait known as “kissing ass”. In other words, those holding the power to hire and fire, and the corresponding paycheck purse strings attached, are becoming increasingly prone to foregoing actual talent and ability. Instead, they seek the type of workers who can’t produce or function worth shit, yet move along in the day to day operations with a big stupid grin on their faces, going through the motions and playing right along with any old fucked up policy that the boss hands down to them.

This trend actually makes plenty of sense. The unemployment rate is currently so high in most of the country, and a lot of people are practically killing themselves and each other to find and hold a job, any job. Employers in many sectors are now able to make potential job prospects not only jump through flaming hoops, but then lick the shoes of the hiring manager in gratitude for the opportunity to jump through said hoops. Top this off with the fact that those in the upper levels of companies, thanks to ever growing severance and bonus packages, feel mobile enough to move on from one job to the next. Under these circumstances, the tendency to favor shiny-happy apple polishing over actual skills can become potentially epidemic in proportion. After all, if the current ass-kisser turns out to be an incompetent fuckup, there’s always the next prospect to come through the door, in an endless supply. Sooner or later they figure that they’ll get it right, and if they don’t, that’s just an excuse for the leaders themselves to skedaddle to a greener pasture.

So, if you are out of work or looking to get out of the shitty job that you already have, keep in mind that your cognitive skill set now means absolutely nothing to a potential employer, and when going to any of the interviews held by the companies at which CareerBuilder employers are surveyed, don’t forget the knee pads.

THE U.S. ECONOMY. FUBAR AND FORGET IT.

2011-08-07T00:00:00.000-07:00

"It's the people's business -- the election is in their hands. If they turn their backs to the fire and get scorched in the rear, they'll find they've got to sit on the blisters." - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, 1864

Face reality. If you are not holding assets in the neighborhood of a billion dollars or more, the special interest whores inside the Beltway do. Not. Give. A fuck. About you. Your future chances of receiving anything resembling today’s Medicare, as well as your Social Security, is rapidly becoming set with odds of close to infinity-to-one. Be thankful, Pilgrim! Your noble sacrifice is helping to keep the Department of Defense solvent through the worst of economic times! Well, maybe not the veterans’ benefits. Those painful (and mediocre) defense budget cuts that need to be worked out as part of the latest debt ceiling deal will have to be taken SOMEwhere.

The already laughable phrase “job killing taxes”, at this point in our history and economic condition, is about as sensible as saying “teeth staining toothpaste”. The overwhelming majority of American businesses, especially the larger corporations, are not engaging in job growth now, and they are not going to do so in the foreseeable future, or probably well beyond that time. The game plan is clearly to continue to send jobs overseas on the cheap and explore technological innovations in order to do the same amount of work with less actual American workers in the building. Anybody left in the nation’s labor force still able to find work will be expected to be the taxpaying fund of the government, and they are not going to get jack shit in return for that revenue.

Ultimately, our elected officials will just let things run along as business as usual. Today's politicians, most not even close to a progressive ideology, are too weak-spined to truly take on the various corporate interests that are skating along in today’s economy with nary a cent of their profits going into the national revenue. For some reason, the job title and prestige accompanying it, or something or other, precludes most politicians from putting their so-called public service career on the line and representing the interests of working people, the poor, children and the elderly. Those rare few whom are truly walking the talk of progressive policy and do have the luxury of the backup of their local constituencies receive no support from their fellow representatives when they actually try to create legislative change, because their elected peers are too timid to confront the local loudmouths at home, regardless of whether said loudmouths represent the true will of the citizen majority, let alone the truth of any particular matter.

If the right wing of the political spectrum gains an advantage in the White House in 2012, let alone the houses of Congress, 2013 could turn out to be a year when anarchy in our society becomes a fact of life. There will be blood on the streets.

Personally I don’t condone such a violent possibility, but that’s what I see on the radar at this point. No one will have a monopoly on the bloodshed. It will be anarchists on the far left directly rioting in the cities and extremist domestic terror cells on the right plotting out one fucked up operation or another in the suburbs and rural regions.

The ruling class, holed up in nice secure gated communities and well-guarded mansions and the like, won’t care. If anything, such a situation would be exploited to clamp down on the lower income classes and their respective neighborhoods, and encourage the funding and resuscitation of such dubious government projects as COINTELPRO and a massive steroidal pumping up of the USA PATRIOT Act.

It might be a good time, now more than ever to take all of this newfangled technological innovation in communication and try to effectively spread the message that it’s not about anything close to lower-class entitlement abuse that’s sending the nation’s economy down the toilet. It’s the interests and cliques at the top of the nation’s capitalist caste system treating the remaining majority, from the middle class on down, like a toilet and trying to shit on each and every one of us for the collective gain of the richest one percent that is beating the working people of the United States down into increasing impotence in terms of overall political influence.

Get out on the streets, start talking about the world around you, and complain if you want to, because at this point, we’ve earned the privilege to do just that. Please leave the guns and bombs behind. If you want to really fuck up the program, it’s called non- violent resistance. Learn all about what that means, start organizing, and make it a reality soon. No bullet or explosive will match the damage of a national people's show of force to the targets that deserve to get hurt. Sooner or later, folks out in the working world need to figure out that the controlling hierarchy is leaving the majority of the American populace not only unnecessarily divided over various pointless dogmas, but also over and over again luring in the electorate to get used and abused, tasted and wasted, time after time.

PERHAPS WE NEED MORE AMERICAN CITIZENS TO STAND IN FRONT OF OUR TROOPS.

2011-07-03T00:00:00.000-07:00

I had caught a phrase recently that for some reason was disturbing to read:

“If you can’t stand behind our troops, then feel free to stand in front of them.”

Really? What exactly do they mean when they utter this slogan?

Do they mean, like the guy who stood in front of the tank in Tiananmen Square?

Or perhaps the folks who stood in front of British troops in front of the Old State House in Boston back in 1770?

Are they maybe hoping that things would go down like the students who stood in front of Ohio National Guard troops at Kent State two hundred years after the Boston Massacre?

Is that what it gets down to?

So, I’m curious. Tell me, based upon that saying, what would happen if I, as an unarmed American citizen, walked up in front of one or even some of our soldiers and said, “I think that you are in two illegal wars that have been fought way too long, and if our government isn’t careful, you will be in a third before long. The troops need to come home and stop being used as expendable pawns of the chickenhawks and pseudo-patriots influencing this nation’s leadership.”

Or, what if I simply stood in front of them, saying nothing?

Enough with the rhetorical sayings. Let’s continue the conversation right now. What’s going to happen?

Should I look forward to a hail of bullets coming to my head, or at least a rifle butt in my face?

I’m not sure who thinks that it’s OK for a nation’s military to shoot at unarmed citizens, especially those who are engaged in peaceful protest, or even just engaging in freedom of speech or otherwise freedom of assembly or expression, but they’re not with the type of mindset that I want making any pertinent decisions re: this country’s foreign policy, or anything to do with its domestic policy for that matter. A nation in which we would live in fear of the iron hand of a military-backed regime is not the kind of place where I want to live. In such a drastic situation, I would be more than ready to place myself in front of the troops. At least my place in history would be secured, and future generations could hopefully learn about what happens when militant pseudo-patriotism runs amok and destroys any semblance of the true principles of democracy and human rights.

A lot of folks out there would tell me that we are already under the control of the military-industrial complex, but I’ve never really been the type to give up that easily on these United States. Still others live under the dogmatic phrase, “My country, right or wrong.” I’m more along the lines of, “My country right, and when I feel that it’s wrong, damn straight I’ll complain about it.”

Am I an enemy of the Constitution? No. Are people who assemble and express their dissent in peaceful gathering enemies of the Constitution? Of course not. So if anyone gets in front of the troops to exercise their Constitutional rights, isn’t that exactly what the troops' military ancestors and comrades have sacrificed so many of their lives for? I could only hope to literally stand in front of the troops if it only meant ending the disrespect of so many young people who represent the future generations of our nation, and preventing them from being spent like poker chips in situations better suited to the whims of isolated selfish interests of the rich and powerful than those in the interest of defending the true safety and liberty of a nation’s people.

I have a quiz for you.

Go take a look at an American flag flying on a pole out there somewhere, and as you’re standing there checking it out, ask yourself the following question:

Yours, mine or ours?

And yes, this quiz has only one correct answer. After all, the nation represented by that flag isn't the Divided States of America.

Perhaps, instead of suggesting how to be patriotic, we should be asking ourselves about what true patriotism means instead.

CHEVRON IS TRYING TO MINDFUCK US ALL INTO SUBMISSION. DO YOU AGREE?

2011-06-05T00:00:00.000-07:00

No, it’s not your imagination, Pilgrim.

Chevron really is trying to get into your head and control your mind, yea, possess the very essence of your soul.

And I’m not talking about the cute cartoon cars, either, although one can argue that those lil' suckers are Big Oil's version of Joe Camel.

I’m talking about the wickedly insidious mass manipulation tactic that Chevron likes to call its “We Agree” ad campaign.

There’s no escape. If you watch any TV channel with commercial breaks, there they are. Thinking that PBS may be an exception? Nah. You will see the entire spots, same as the ones they show on paid TV, right before and/or after the programs on your local public broadcaster. Open up any of the largest daily newspapers. Oh, look, there’s a print variation on the TV ad, facing page bottom. Turn the page, and gee, there’s another half page ad in the exact same position on the bottom right of the page! And yet again, one more time, a THIRD half page ad, same place, same size, same “Can’t we all get along” brainwashing attempt. Don’t bother going online, there’s no escape. Click through ads on practically every major web site, and especially the web versions of the newspapers taking all of that Chevron ad cash.

Every televised ad has the same premise. On the right side of the screen, a “real person” who is genuine folk, outside of the sphere of Big Oil influence (or at least that’s what you, the viewer, are being persuaded to presume). On the left side of the screen, some paid executive or employee or something-or-other for Chevron. Each party simultaneously states his or her case from his or her side of the TV screen. Hey, Right Side Common Person is concerned with the environment. Well, hey, Left Screen Company Person sez that Chevron is developing clean energy alternatives. (Then they’re allegedly turning around and patenting them, then shelving said technology or using it in limited quantity to lower competition and keep costs high.) Big oil is making lots of profit, Right Side Common Person declares, and is concerned about that too? Well, hey, here’s a big multi-billion dollar figure to throw at ya from Left Screen Company Person to show how much that Chevron is putting back into the businesses that they buy stuff from! (Of course, that’s called “operating costs” and does nothing to explain why Chevron and the other Big Oil conglomerates think that it’s perfectly cool to pull in and accumulate billions in tax-break-facilitated profits from jacked up gas prices due to rampant speculation.) But, we need safe energy alternatives right away, squeals Right Side Common Person? Left Screen Company Person counterpoints, well, hey, Chevron’s pulling natural gas out of Australia that, like, can provide fuel to lots of people and shit! (And who cares about that silly tree hugger talk about fracking? Natural gas is totally safe to use! Just ask all those folks in San Bruno, California! Besides, just because drinking water becomes flammable, that doesn’t guarantee that people will die from it. Just don’t drink so much.)

Chevron wants you to recognize and respect their existence in your world, John and Jane Q. Public, and goddammit, they are going to make sure that you are seeing and hearing it from every corner of the planet Earth’s media that you pass through.

One who chooses not to keep up with current events, or simply is too busy with the necessities of everyday life to contemplate them, may not be wondering why Chevron is so concerned with their PR image, or care for that matter. Fair enough. After all, it may or may not be very important to note that this whole “We Agree” ad blitz was conceived largely due to the $19 billion dollar fine given to Chevron (thanks to acquired subsidiary Texaco) by the Ecuadoran court system for fucking up Amazon rainforest resources. The suits outta San Ramon are real nervous that this could somehow spill into the American consumer spotlight somehow, and they want to make sure that their share of your hard earned dough continues to get into their bank accounts via your filling the ol’ jalopy’s gas tank using their extortion-level-priced pumps at the local Chevron station.

Look at it another way. There’s no telling that Chevron’s sins of the soil could manifest itself in the American justice system sooner or later, especially if people take a good hard look at the company’s track record in the U.S.A. alone. As a matter of fact, since Chevron has no assets in Ecuador, it could likely be decided by an American court to go after Chevron’s money in this country after all, in order to satisfy the Ecuadoran judgment. We could well be witnessing the most widespread and expensive attempted proactive jury tampering attempt in world history.

THE LABOR MOVEMENT. IT’S NOT JUST FOR UNIONS ANYMORE.

2011-05-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

A lot of American workers nowadays seem to be afraid and/or mistrustful of organized labor, and that’s a damn shame. Many members of today’s workforce seem to take for granted the fact that the eight-hour day, forty-hour week, minimum wage and almost all of what can be considered employee benefits were established by the direct action and political efforts of labor and trade unions. In this writer’s opinion, I’d be willing to bet the farm that if the current lobbying work of business-related special interests is any indication, and if somehow said effort succeeds, those aforementioned accomplishments, which were quite literally earned through the bloodshed of our ancestors, will begin to gradually fade away and eventually disappear.

The corporate element of politics, with its accompanying infiltration of all levels of government, is making what seems like a full frontal assault upon the conditions and security of American workers regardless of whether said workers are organized or not. The robber barons of today, through their campaign funding of elected lapdogs in high and influential positions, are making a most dogged effort to turn back the clock to the “Good Ole Guilded” days of Jay Gould and Henry Clay Frick, which amounts to an ultimate goal to cultivate a cheap and easily manipulated workforce that will be willing to work for future pennies on the current wage dollar out of sheer desperation to survive.

Today’s organized labor needs to restructure and redefine its purpose and principle. Instead of a basic philosophy of solidarity in insulated pockets for the sake of self-protection and preservation, unions need to see themselves as the elite special strike force in the battle for workers’ rights, and in the name of every worker, not just those who are union members. Along with a concerted effort to network and unite with each other, unions should develop a focus on the big picture, in regards to broad outreach aimed at those who are not only fortunate enough to organize, but who, as a result of various circumstances, can’t or won’t join or form unions on their own.

Union membership has dwindled down to a mere 12% of the national work force. Imagine if you could only get even half of that “outside” 88 percent informed (and if successful, probably pissed off) enough to join in on the fun of organized assembly and protest. A situation where the true majority of working people are speaking out and asking questions can become a world in which we’d be talking about a credible threat to the “one percent” wealthy interests that are funding the maintenance of the current status quo.

It is time for the workers of the United States, all of us, with and without union membership, to start to think about how to defend our collective health and well being, not just for ourselves but for future generations as well. To ensure a promising start, we need to begin to talk amongst ourselves openly and fearlessly about who and what is trying to make our jobs as well as our lives, yea our very value as human beings, less significant, and what we can do to stop the efforts of such parties in their tracks. The corporate and moneyed interests may have the assets (for now), but as a force, we have the sheer human numbers.

The last time that I checked, the First Amendment had not been repealed (at least not yet), and the people of this nation still have the right to peacefully assemble on the streets and air grievances. The streets of the U.S.A. can be ours if necessary, as long as we simply go out and occupy them. We live along them, we paved them, we drive goods down them, and we worked and fought in the wars they instigated throughout our nation’s history to earn our rights to occupy them. Let’s take true control of them if we have to, and keep them.

THOSE FICKLE WASHINGTON BULLETS.

2011-04-03T00:00:00.000-07:00

When it comes right down to it, the United States of America, in its government’s foreign policy just as in its popular culture, is a country that for the most part never really knows what the fuck it wants. Like the fads that are rapidly rotated through American media, the definition of what qualifies for the nation’s international alliance as well as aid to other nations seems to change directions with the wind, seemingly day by day.

Today is no different than the past for U.S. foreign policy, or at least for its more aggressive tendencies. It would be an amusing and thought provoking work of satire as a novel or film, but unfortunately it’s all too real, and not quite as entertaining or escapist if one contemplates the circumstances with any considerable level of thought. Here are the citizens of a number of nations, chiefly in the Middle East and Africa, whom are trying to overthrow rule of force and institute rule of law, which is allegedly the type of dissent that the U.S.A. enjoys seeing when it happens anywhere outside of its borders.

However, for various underlying nefarious reasons, Uncle Sam simply can’t seem to view dissent against certain regimes on an equal level to others. They arbitrarily criticize, selectively and somewhat covertly infiltrate and attack, then toss the ball to NATO (and let’s face it, the letters should more appropriately be capitalized nAto) to make things look like as much of an allied multinational effort as possible. Long before the recent controversial actions in Libya, the United States, its government, and that government’s various leaders have made incredibly Machiavellian moves on the world stage, from the darkly tragicomic (Bay of Pigs) to the downright reprehensible (the 1973 Chilean coup d'état). This type of political behavior needs to be relegated to the same historical garbage heap as slavery and Native American genocide.

There needs to be an approach of balance, where the American government makes the message clear. On one end of the scale, sovereignty needs to be respected as well as recognized for all nations, whether on the U.S.A.’s border or on the other side of the planet. On the other end of the scale, it must also be established that the expression of dissent is an essential human right, and any world government that does not respect this inherent human right will not be seen in a favorable light, with America's objections acted upon as change in interaction with said offenders, political, economic and otherwise, and carried out in a clear, humanitarian and uncompromising manner. Measures need to employ common sense and make no arbitrary exception. Efforts to address perceived abuses need to be carried out across the board based on clear and realistic principles of liberty and equality and not on selfish interests, most especially of the mere financial kind.

America doesn’t need to make friends with the whole rest of the world. It just needs to make it clear that the nation is going to make an effort to be good neighbors, minding to its own business and not being a volatile imperialist nuisance to everybody else in this neighborhood called Earth. In return it should expect the same from the world's neighbors, but as life teaches us by the time most of us become adults, all we can do is live in the example of how we expect to be treated by others. It’s only fair. It’s what America’s message and contribution to the world should be all about.

SACRAMENTO – PRESCRIPTIONS FOR A SICK CITY, PARTS ONE AND TWO.

2011-03-06T00:00:00.000-08:00

Sacramento’s alleged civic leaders, as usual, are failing to come up with any kind of constructive ideas aimed at revitalizing general growth and improvement for the quality of life in our city.

Since a lot of people seem to sit around complaining a lot about what they perceive as the city’s shortcomings without any kind of suggestion as to improve things, I feel compelled to offer some thoughts of my own. It’s inevitable that some folks will not pay attention to what I have to say, or will vehemently disagree with my opinions, or simply look down their nose at me.

Well, fuck ‘em.

Regardless, I’m going to offer my two cents anyway. Ready? Here we go.

HOW TO DEAL WITH THE KINGS LEAVING TOWN.

I’m not really trying to pretend that I care either way if the Kings leave Sacramento or not, but gee, so many people with barely any real life whatsoever seem to be scared and disturbed by the prospect of the team pulling up stakes. It’s heart wrenching to witness. I’d better try to help.

This team has pretty much been a gypsy band for practically the entire total span of its existence. Back in the 1920’s, when the now-Kings were started up as a semi-pro company sponsored team, they were the Rochester Seagrams, which is appropriate because they’ve been stumbling across the U.S.A. from town to town in a drunken stupor ever since.

That’s the big problem here. They’re nobody’s team. They landed in Sacramento pretty much as a bargaining chip for part of a land rezoning scheme, and once the Natomas prairie was properly exploited, they were sold to a buncha out of town rich kids who washed down Carl’s Jr. burgers with a 24 year old bottle of French Bordeaux while a ballot measure was pushed (and voted down) to build them a new arena.

It’s time to start over, and I mean over.

First of all, let’s actually hope that the Kings get the fuck out of town. Once that’s done, the biggest mistake would be to try to get some other failing pro sports franchise to relocate to Sacramento. So that’s where the New Orleans Hornets come in.

Currently, the NBA owns the Hornets because the previous owners couldn’t get their shit together and had to sell the team to the league. They’re not faring too badly this season, with a decent home record, but they’re a disaster as a franchise, and therefore as a business.

Here's my suggestion. I put forth that Sacramento should push for a plan which sounds like something bordering on insanity, but hear me out. If anyone in this city with the money and ability is truly interested in keeping NBA ball in the area, here’s what should be done.

Approach the league and propose two things:

1. Dissolve the New Orleans Hornets franchise, and
2. Grant Sacramento the right to a brand new expansion team.

If this sounds rather pointless and illogical to some, let me explain my reasoning. On one level, we can have a team that is clearly made and grown in Sacramento, not some beat up jalopy that’s gotten into wrecks in other parts of the country. The new team’s local residents, and therefore potential new fans, can get involved in the naming and team colors and anything else that the new owners and anyone who is interested can think of and create a general good feeling of knowing that they are supporters of a truly hometown team from the beginning. I could care less about this type of stuff myself, but what the hell, I can see how it could be fun to go see a game occasionally or, who knows, maybe even riot with a rabid mob downtown after winning a league championship someday.

On another level, I also feel that starting from scratch could work out well in the long run. There would be the added benefit of an expansion draft where experienced players can be picked from other teams around the league. (It didn’t fare too badly for the Charlotte Bobcats, and by the way, the Bobcats picked Gerald Wallace off the Kings, who in turn became the Bobcats’ first All-Star, then was recently traded for three players and two draft picks.) Sure, expansion teams tend to suck for a while, but at least we’d have a true home team, and I’m thinking that the odds of a future NBA championship, as well as any (slim) chance of a new arena in the foreseeable future soon, would be much more closer to reality than the FUBAR franchise currently stinking up the Sacramento area.

There. I made a suggestion about the plight of the future of pro sports in this city. Now, here’s what I feel is a much more important one…

MAKE SACRAMENTO VIBRANT AS A CREATIVE CITY, NOT A PASSIVE ONE.

One of the oldest and most popular complaints about Sacramento is that its only saving grace is being conveniently located between the Bay Area and the Tahoe/Reno region. And we have never tried to use this as a serious selling point because… why?

Sacramento is the perfect area for the creative mind exactly because it is not an excessively problematic (and therefore not overly distracting) large metropolitan area, and to fortify that atmosphere, the median quality of life is actually quite enjoyable, especially compared to other parts of the country, or the world for that matter. Businesses (at the startup level and also those that are established and successful) which are seeking a new home would be stupid to overlook Sacramento as a potential base of operations. It will be a sad future for those of us still living here if this city becomes a stagnant pool of government jobs, with the mere alternative of retail and service work rounding out the employment picture and not much else. Various technical, professional and even manufacturing outfits could thrive here and some businesses of these types already are taking advantage of the area, though not nearly as much as should be.

By all means, this city’s leaders and shapers need to do everything possible to develop the “walkable workable neighborhood” concept. I consider myself very lucky to be working and living within a variety of available goods and services, not to mention decent restaurant and entertainment options and such, without needing to use an automobile or even a bicycle in most cases. I feel like part of a dying breed, and that is, quite frankly, a goddamned shame. An urban environment of that level should be pursued and developed into the norm, not written off as merely an anomaly that is perceived to be long extinct.

Most importantly, Sacramento needs to stop trying to be like other cities, or to be more accurate, avoid the tendency to beg, borrow and steal from the socio-cultural elements of other places. San Francisco did not copy Boston and Los Angeles did not rip off New York just like Boston did not co-opt London nor did New York schlep off in Amsterdam’s footsteps. All of these great cities have their own stories and shaped their own unique personalities and destinies.

People don’t flock to these places because they are reminded of someplace else, or there’s a really cool sports team in town, or there’s a bar with paid employees in mermaid costumes swimming around in a tank and winking at you as you drink. They move there and live there and love it in these cities because it makes them feel alive, somewhat accomplished and mostly satisfied, even hopeful, if not even entirely successful. There’s opportunity and energy and most importantly, a genuine heart to each city.

Sacramentans, ask yourselves: what is here that is unique and of superior quality and value, that we can celebrate as ours? It is all around us already, and has been all along. We just need to learn to recognize it.

There are so many wonderful people and places in and near Sacramento. I’m not going to play favorites at this moment by naming any of them specifically. I can tell you that, even for a deranged loner and part time hermit, I do feel fortunate to be living in this city. There are qualities here that aren’t the same, much less exist at all, in many other places out there. Sacramentans, for the most part, should feel somewhat thankful on a general level that they somehow ended up settling here, regardless of reason or circumstance.

If you want Sacramento to be a great place to live, make sure that it becomes a meaningful and enjoyable experience for the most part to live here. To do this, we have to be a city chiefly of thinkers and doers, and encourage the passive perpetually unsatisfied full time spectators, conformist clones and confused complainers to get in the game or step back.

If we do this, we will only attract like-minded people to want to be a part of the action.

And we can do it with or without a bunch of millionaires tossing a rubber ball through a hoop somewhere in town for 40 days a year.

That’s how the best and brightest of the cities of history grow and succeed. So let’s finally grow up and build an original city together.

CLASS WARFARE? COOL! SIGN ME UP!

2011-01-01T00:00:00.000-08:00

"There’s class warfare, all right. But it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning." –Warren Buffett, New York Times Magazine November 2006

It’s a seemingly never ending effort for the plutocratic ruling class to control production, drive down wages and beat down and homogenize the labor force in the United States of America as well as the rest of the world.

We’re currently in a state of class warfare, all right. Unfortunately, the lower rung of the economic ladder, which also happens to be the majority of the working population, is fighting like 1939 Poland and/or behaving like 1940 Vichy France.

Yeah, a lot of you out there were pretty buzzed right after the Obama election, huh? Me too. Admittedly, I was a bit of a Johnny-Come-Lately but eventually the guy got to me, just like he did for millions of other progressively minded pissed off voters at the time, from all ages, ethnicity, and social stratification. I went to the polls and copped my hit, and we were LOADed that Tuesday night, aw shit, the whole three months afterward!

It was one Hell of a headache once the buzz started to wear off, eh?

Any of us who go out and actually work for a living, especially for someone else, have obviously learned a rather potent lesson about hope and change. Namely, that hope and change won’t make any difference in the election of an individual to public office, but rather that a populace united in hope must demand change, regardless of the political representation of the time.

It’s not the elected official who is going to improve the quality of life for the bottom eighty percent of the population which, by the way, has only about seven percent of the nation’s total financial wealth. It’s going to have to be an uprising of one form or another by that very majority. Furthermore, it seems that four out of five of us need to try to get to know each other a little bit better and figure out how we can work as a team in order to level the playing field against the remaining twenty percent. If the latest machinations of the Establishment Media and Corporate America against free speech, Internet content neutrality and the like are any indication, most of those “one out of five” are already forming a battle line aimed at suppressing our voices and abilities to question authority, access alternative information sources and express dissent.

In order to engage in anything resembling true class warfare, or a resurgence of working class activism at the least, there will need to be a sort of remedial education necessary in regard to the hell raising working class movements of the old times. A good way to look at the general strategy is like this: direct action is live action. While online social networking and similar technological methods are helpful on an organizational level, the most effective weapon of change is direct live dialogue. It’s time to stop staring at the screen and walk outside to start talking about the world around us, as well as what to do about our lives and our current challenges, face to face. A line of communication from person to person, one person at a time, can work wonders.

We are all living beings, and not robots under the remote control of a ruling class. No matter how hard that the moneyed oligarchs try to get us to believe they are our overlords, we need to keep letting each other know that our only support in overcoming this attempted clampdown is from each other. Whatever it takes, be it something along the lines of mass labor disruption, collective product boycotts, or just plain old fashioned nonviolent protest and resistance, the sense of common need among us needs to be recognized and acted upon, and soon.

I’m calling out to you. It’s time to get out there and start talking amongst us. What do we really want, and how are we going to get it done?

I’m in. All in. Talented terrors of the American working class, unite to fight.

Let’s go to war.

DEAR RICH PEOPLE OF AMERICA: TIME TO KICK DOWN.

2010-12-05T00:00:00.000-08:00

AN OPEN APPEAL TO THE INCOMING AND RETURNING MEMBERS OF BOTH HOUSES OF CONGRESS:

Dearest Esteemed Representatives and Senators,

Get a fucking clue.

Yeah, sure, a lot of folks out there think I’m wasting my time to be trying to tell you this, but I’ll try anyway.

In these times of spiraling unemployment, rapidly exported living wage jobs and increasingly hard times for homeowners and working class families, any amount of economic relief helps greatly.

On the other hand, people in this country who are earning over a quarter of a million dollars annually do not need to worry about where their next meal is coming from, much less maintaining a roof over their heads.

Anyway, I've heard that you need to do something about the federal budget deficit.

Oh, cry me a river.

The decision is simple here. Tax hikes for the rich, tax breaks for the poor. The rich are not suffering from the slings and arrows of the past two years. Working families and people living just above the poverty line and lower are.

Back in the colonial days, the Crown was accused of “taxation without representation”. Nowadays, all of you are obviously whores for the corporate and otherwise wealthy interests. You accept the price, and do the act, in the secondary definition of Webster’s, “to corrupt by lewd intercourse”, that is, political intercourse is lewdly corrupted. No one in the working class should expect that to change soon. If only in the interest of fairness, less representation should be accompanied by less taxation.

So, I implore you to do the right thing, and give the tax breaks, for once, to the citizens of this nation who really need it. In other words, drop the partisan rhetoric, grow some pubic hair, and just do it.

The people who are truly keeping our country in working order are watching. Don’t let them down. Perhaps you need to learn a lesson about what happens when the rich minority is mollycoddled too much and the workers of the nation are scorned and taken for granted.

AND NOW, AN OPEN APPEAL TO THE WORKERS OF AMERICA:

I’m ready to organize. I’ll never mourn.

Workers of America, feel free to organize with me anytime. Don’t say you were never invited.

XTRANORMAL. I'M BORED ALREADY. (DIRECTOR'S CUT.)

2010-11-17T20:08:00.000-08:00

CALIFORNIA. AHEAD OF THE LEARNING CURVE.

2010-11-14T00:00:00.000-08:00

I never thought that I would ever declare the following sentiment, at least with any marked degree of seriousness.

Thank God that I’m a Californian.

As a matter of fact, thank God that I’m in Sacramento, in Midtown, and what the Hell, since I’m in a generous moment of spiritual gratitude, thank God that I’m on the block I live on.

We told not one, but two former CEOs (one who was trying to buy the state governor’s office, and another who was trying to brainwash us that she was somehow going to represent anyone resembling real persons and not corporations in the United States Senate),through a majority of the vote, to fuck off. We also came out relatively unscathed (with no real change in our House of Representative members) in a year when Fux News was highly successful in selling high fructose Kool-Aid to the mass electorate of so-called Flyover America, the effect of which has now populated our Congress as well as Senate with a whole shitload of village idiots and snake oil salesmen who somehow bamboozled their local populace into thinking that their out of state big business fueled campaign contributions are going to somehow translate into representation by and for “the people”. While I agree that “the people” have spoken, if translated from Politicalese into plain English, the phrase emanated would be somewhat along the lines of, “Send you to Washington D.C. in exchange for sole ownership of the Brooklyn Bridge? Sure thing partner! Can’t beat that deal with a stick!”

Having already seen similar exercises in ballot box stupidity in previous decades, I don’t feel that sad or pessimistic about the results this time, although, as I’ve mentioned previously, being in the particular (truly golden) state in which I currently reside greatly softens the blow. If anything, my first impulse toward these unfortunates is somewhat a feeling of pity in their effort to try to placate their general frustration toward the powers that be, whether real or perceived, about things like chronic unemployment, shrinking payrolls and opportunities for business growth, a general discouragement of realizing what can be described generally as the American Dream, and the like.

They’re not necessarily unjust or incorrect in their sentiments nowadays. They just need to learn how to think it through when determining who is actually going to represent them, and also who is going to do so by fighting for what’s really going to help them attain a better life for all Americans, and in turn, build a better, stronger and more prosperous and secure nation all around.

But instead, too many of them teamed up with bunches of corporate-fascist whores who, among other stupid reasons, are pissed off because a black guy got elected President. However, there's no crying over spilt milk. The damage has been done and like a strange course of natural disaster we must tolerate the damages and casualties to a certain degree.

I feel that it is just a matter of self-education by trial and error. People will figure out that they fucked up and the next two years should be fun to watch, that is, if you are a big fan of gridlock and partisan bickering as comedy. One interesting byproduct of November 2010 is the fact that many of the so called Blue Dog Democrats, those elected representatives who are donkeys of the moderate to conservative persuasion, lost numbers dearly in their respective re-election attempts. Thus, the new Democratic minority in the House is now lean, mean, shamelessly progressive, labor friendly and hopefully willing to provide some obstructionist payback when need be.

This new attitude remains to be seen, of course, seeing as there are already mumbles in the lame duck Congress about compromise and all that shit. If anything, I envision a House full of proposed bargain deals for the gazillionaires whose contibutions had won a seat for many a 2011 freshman in the House chambers, fulla tax breaks on top of the extended Dubya-era kind, with all kinds of relaxations on those inconvenient environmental and safety regulations and the like. What the Hell, they may well introduce a “Minimum Wage and Eight Hour Day Elimination Blowout” and “Social Security Sundown Extravaganza” to boot.

Hopefully the still Democrat-controlled Senate and White House can know when to say “You are out of your fuckin’ minds!” and fight back when needed, but I suppose that will be a wait-and-see situation, at least for now. Either way, it seems that we will have a lot of hooting and hollering and arguing in Washington D.C. for the next two years, and in my humble prediction, a whole lot of nothing actually being accomplished. What will the people who comprise the American voting public learn after this next Congressional term? If past election trends are any indication, not a whole Hell of a lot. They’ll just scamper along with the next Pied Piper who shows up with an appealing melody.

God help us all.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY. WEEK. MONTH. WHATEVER.

2010-10-02T11:34:00.001-07:00

Where's that bee and where's that honey?
Where's my God and where's my money
Unreal values, crass distortion
Unwed mothers need abortion
Kind of brings to mind ol' young King Tut (He did it now)
Tried to make it real — compared to what?!

- Eugene McDaniels, "Compared To What"

HEY, YA LAZY BUM, GET OFF YER ASS AND GET ONE FIFTH OF A JOB.

2010-09-05T00:00:00.000-07:00

I’ve got to admit it. Considering that today’s job hunt for unemployed Americans currently resembles something akin to playing hockey with a bladeless stick, I have felt very thankful and lucky to be able to hold gainful employment for a living wage through this entire recent period of economic recession. Well, if I had my druthers, I’d call it a depression, but that’s not the current chic term amongst the in-crowd so I’ll roll with it.

Somehow, I don’t feel that fortunate or even accomplished. Like the old saying goes, there but for the grace, yadda, yadda, yadda. There are plenty of qualified individuals out there, many of them way more educated and able than myself, who could do my job as well or better. And as a matter of fact, with all of the layoffs and buyouts and attrition-related elimination of positions at my current place of employment, I would be more than willing to see as many new hires as possible joining alongside me in my department right around now.

Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen and there’s really nothing I can do to change or control that. As a matter of fact, I’m sure that there is a massive amount of thought and energy being utilized right now to make sure that I am sent out the door, under a security guard’s escort and carrying a box of my personal possessions, as soon as they can possibly pull it off.

According to certain general estimates, there are five people vying for each employment position available in America as of today. This estimate, of course, ignores among other things what types of jobs are out there for hire as well as the specific qualifications of the job seekers. It’s just the cold literal statistic, which means that applicants out there are likely to be seeing competition in the form of hundreds, or even thousands, of fellow job seekers knocking at the door of any particular employer who is hiring at the unskilled entry level.

Between the end of 2007 and end of 2009, private industry got rid of 8 and a half million jobs. There is a slow restoration pattern, as jobs are slowly being created once again. Unfortunately, it’s something akin to an inadequate transfusion after a huge loss of blood. It might keep the economy alive, but not anywhere near decent health.

And meanwhile, a certain element of pundits, politicians, and other devoted groupies of capitalism are proclaiming to anyone who will listen that things just, wal, ain’t as bad as they seem. As a matter of fact, if unemployment insurance benefits in this country weren’t extended for so many months to a lot of jobless people, well, they wouldn’t be so inclined to sit back and slack off on that UI assistance windfall! Oh, sure, there’s nothing that makes people less motivated to achieve than suddenly having their income cut by nearly in half or so of their former job’s paycheck! Well, maybe a gun in their backs, perhaps.

We need to face reality. It’s the 21st century global economy and in this world, people can’t just choose between being a butcher, a baker or a candlestick maker in order to put a roof on their heads and food on their tables. For the majority of us working stiffs, we are currently at the mercy of megalomaniac business interests. To argue over how, why or whether the machine has been allowed to spin so wildly out of control is too close to mulling over moot points for consideration.

If the plague of “Middle America” voter sympathy to the current crop of right-wing extremist propaganda is any indication, the politicians are going to increasingly pander to the corporate and otherwise moneyed interests by expanding tax breaks and loosening environmental and labor regulations and the like. People, it would seem, are simply out of constructive ideas. At the very least, those who do have anything resembling practical strategies are either ignored or simply lack an effective means of publicity.

And don’t expect the corporate conglomerates to be feeling any sympathy to the domestic workforce very soon. Look at it this way: any current American job that does not require putting your hands on something (except manufacturing), or having direct in-person contact with other people is ripe for sending overseas. Companies like India’s Infosys are living large off of the backs of the past, present and future members of America’s unemployment lines.

There are any number of optional tactics to consider in regard to remedies that struggling working people, whether employed or not, can take in this day and age. I can’t say that I have any miracle cure to suggest, but what the hell, I can at least try to examine some possibilities here.

One option could be for as many of the presently corporate employed workers as possible to quit their respective companies and venture into their own independent occupation. But as I had suggested earlier, this plan would have little if any basis in today’s reality. This would take a marked degree of risk and sacrifice, and few would likely take either at this point in time. (I would begrudgingly include myself in that refusal.)

Another option would be to organize and take steps en masse to address grievances and concerns, standing in unity against those who are in control of most of the labor and commerce. Again, this involves risk and sacrifice as well, but approaches much closer to a possibility of some degree of success. It all depends upon the willingness of the people in our labor force to cooperate and support each other. Those days of organized mass dissent and protest, in the eyes of many, are long gone.

And then again, those of us who aren’t wealthy or won’t be getting rich soon can simply cease to spend money as quickly, and, better yet, also cease to spend ourselves into debt.

While it is most unrealistic for many of today’s American consumers to completely boycott goods that are manufactured overseas, it is entirely possible to slow down the profits from the sale of said goods. Those shoes, chairs, computers and such can probably last in good condition for a lot longer time than many folks would like to freely admit. Plus, there are fashion styles that transcend eras. A steady level of economic compromise, taken by a fairly large number of citizens in this country, can go a long way to hit and hurt the profit line of large corporations. Of course, anything that can be substituted with domestic and especially locally produced goods and services can be the most viable option of all.

It’s already in place at a noted level nowadays. People are spending less, and with a little luck, this trend will continue for quite some time. It simply could not happen to a nicer free market economy…heh.

JUST WHERE DID THEY GET THAT "RESTORING HONOR" MANTRA ANYWAY? OH, YEAH...

2010-08-28T09:34:00.000-07:00

In case anybody's wondering about why Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin et al were so goshdarned worked up about "restoring America's honor" at the rally held on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 2010 (and sadly, on the anniversary of MLK's "I Have A Dream" speech), a simple Google search ought to give you some answers.

Click Here, Pilgrim

THEIR COUNTRY RIGHT OR WRONG, EXCEPT WHEN THEY DISAGREE WITH ITS COURT DECISIONS.

2010-08-08T00:00:00.000-07:00

Yessiree, if there were only one thing left that I would ever love about the U.S. of A., it would certainly be the document created to be the supreme law of the land.

The United States Constitution may have a somewhat chequered past with various parties in its interpretation and implementation, but it’s that very fluctuation and ongoing evolving dialogue about its meaning and significance which makes it so enduring and useful over the decades of our country’s history.

Even during the term of one President or another who I have absolutely despised sitting behind the desk in the Oval Office, my faith in the wisdom and basic principles of justice which the Constitution puts forth has helped me to cope with the disagreeable times and also has ensured my sense of hope in the future of our nation.

In a very similar way that two people develop a loving and trusting relationship toward each other, I feel that in order for me to love the Constitution, I need to accept the whole of the document. I also need to be able to work out and rationalize the controversies, real or perceived faults, and such.

That’s why I can’t seem to help but be both perplexed and amused with the number of folks who had seemingly fallen asleep during the part of their junior high school civics class when their respective teachers started to go over the points regarding the three branches of government as designed by the United States Constitution. This relative ignorance seems to be particularly showing in these people when they find a decision at the Federal judicial level to be disagreeable to their personal opinion or moral principles.

Oh sure, there’s some decisions which have made it all the way up to the Supreme Court (and these matters of contention usually do) which I have found, throughout history, to be what I would personally condemn as reprehensible. A few examples that I can come up with are:

-Scott v. Sandford , 60 U.S. 393 (1857). Now that, I don’t think that was a highlight in American civil rights history, but rather a lowlight, ya know whut I’m sayin?

-Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896). IMHO, this was a particularly suckass move by the SCOTUS.

-Then there’s Lochner v. New York, 198 U.S. 45 (1905), which wasn’t exactly a cause for celebration on the part of the nation’s working class.

Then again, I feel like there were brighter spots for me to contemplate, like:

-Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954). For some reason, 1954 seemed to be a year when the Supremes started to get it right in general.

-Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965). Married couples are entitled to a right to privacy in how they conduct their boudoir activities. Fancy that.

-And on a sorta related note, there’s Loving v.Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967). “Racial Integrity”, eh, Virginia? Nice try. But no, not really, not even close. “Racial Intolerance Act of 1924”, retrospectively, is probably a more accurate term for what I feel this particular Supreme Court decision had flushed down the toilet of history.

The point I’m trying to make: regardless of the acts of our various branches of government, there has never been any need for me to throw the baby out with the bathwater and dismiss the role of an entire branch of the Fed just because I disagree with its decision. So next time I hear someone start rambling on about “activist judges” and how he or she moans about how the vote of the people has been dismissed by a court decision, or some stupid shit like that, I’ll just be hopeful that someday, people who talk like that will someday stumble across a copy of the U.S. Constitution, read it a bit more carefully (or, Hell, for many of them it would seem, actually bother to read it for once), and finally get a clue.

FREEDOM'S JUST THEIR OTHER WORD FOR "DON'T ASK ME FOR SHIT".

2010-07-04T00:00:00.000-07:00

Long ago, in a punk scene far, far away, I was up on stages singing a song about the citizens of a land known as Reagan Country. It had a chorus stating the following:

New Patriotism
What the fuck is that?
People with their flags in one hand, wallets in the other.

New Patriotism. It’s baaaack.

Greedy ass selfish fuckers who don’t seem to understand the meaning of the words “We the people” are sucking up most of the air in their immediate area lately, producing massive amounts of rhetorical pollution disguised as love of country.

As for the Neo-New Patriots’ current mouthpieces du jour, I don’t question their patriotism. The least patriotic thing for somebody to do is to question the patriotism of a fellow citizen, although the Neo-New Patriots tend to do that on quite a regular basis. I do, however, question the personal definition behind their constant buzzwords of “freedom” and “liberty”.

The definition of “freedom” espoused by these folks has nothing to do with anyone else’s freedom, and all about solely their own. Instead of “Don’t Tread On Me”, perhaps the slogan of their rally flags should simply read “Me, Myself and I”. Their vision of “freedom” and “liberty” are defined by principles such as the “freedom” to keep women from making choices with their own bodies, and the “liberty” to avoid paying taxes once they become rich enough, while everyone else in the lower income brackets cough up the loot to pay the nation’s bills.

In other words, to be free to run the rest of our lives and tell us what we can and cannot do. It’s not really about freedom and liberty. It’s a sick combination of lust for power coupled with a dismissal of personal responsibility for those who attain that power.

As far as I’m concerned, we are only as free as we all agree to be. People in this country have a reasonable right to live free, pursue opportunity, and strive to make this land a better and better place to live in everyday. This involves cooperation, understanding and tolerance, and not just getting together as (somewhat remotely) like-minded individuals to bitch about what triggers our prejudices and insecurities.

While certain folks out there are wasting their time whining about the state of the nation, I’ll be truly appreciating my freedom and liberty as an American by communicating positively to my fellow citizens, and treating them with equality and respect. That’s what it’s all about, and perhaps someday, these empty rhetoric junkies, or at least their descendants, may finally get a clue.

THE ARIZONA IMMIGRATION CRISIS. REALLY. I'M HERE TO HELP.

2010-06-20T09:55:00.001-07:00

As anyone who has known me long enough knows about me, I'm always here to help. In that spirit, I'd like to step in and offer an alternative to the current Arizona law that's causing so much division in our country right now.

Simply place a poster of the photo which I have helpfully linked below on a scale which will cover the border fence with Mexico completely from top to bottom, and post multiple images all the way across, from the TJ border all the way east as far as it stretches. I guarantee to anyone who cares that no one, and I mean nobody will want to trek northward once they get a load of this.

Click Here, Pilgrim

And here are a couple of helpful examples of how we can utilize my idea:

UPDATE (6/20/10, 3:30PM PST): Y'know, after some reflection, it really does seem to appear as if I am making a sexist, "lookist" attack against the Governor of Arizona, and I would never want to be perceived as engaging in such behavior, because it would probably have me branded as, well, a Republican or something or other, and I would never want to go out like that.

SO, in the interest of gender equality, I would like to resubmit my simulated rendering in a revised form (below), using the additional image of a second (male) party in order to even things out. Of course, not only is this gentleman well known throughout the Southwest, he is also up to his testicles in the Arizona controversy as well. Personally, I feel that his additional presence will make the border fence ten times as frightening.

There. I fixed it. Now let's get back to arguing about health care.

WWTDD, JANUARY JONES TEAM UP TO PROMOTE NEW MP SONG

2010-06-13T10:18:00.000-07:00

Click Here, Pilgrim

GUESS THE DEVIL AIN'T GOT WORK FOR ME, 'CAUSE MY HANDS AIN'T BEEN IDLE.

2010-06-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

Lately, I’ve been experiencing a general feeling of (Dare I say it?) domestic security to some degree. At least it’s the highest level I could possibly hope to achieve nowadays. So what the Hell, I’ll take it.

After about four months, I’ve been settling into my latest Midtown lair quite nicely, thank you. Although the new digs are quite a bit older than where I was living previously, the new carpet, paint, linoleum and ceiling fans in every room seem to make up for it. Plus, I've noticed how some seemingly insignificant things make a huge difference, such as being able to walk through your place in a circular layout, having windows on both sides to circulate the air, or even just having a nice high and shady set of steps to sit on and watch the clouds roll by, with treetops filling out the scenery. Guess I’m easily satisfied. Or something.

Other than that, I’ve also been staying busy with music and shit like that, when I’m not overworking brain cells for a paycheck. I have added the following swell tunes to my online streaming music page:

EMOTIONAL BAGGAGE CHECK (which I have also YouTubed)
GET SOME HEIGHT
SEVERANCE
WALK OF SHAME
YESUR1

So head on over to michaelpsycho.com and stream and download to your hearts content. Don’t worry. I’ll make more. And of course, I have updated my lyrics page with each and every one of those swell melodies because I know that you are just itching to sing along.

A WORD ABOUT THE SONG WALK OF SHAME:

Yes, I know. As everybody knows, I’m a notoriously slutty guy, so people are wondering who the song Walk Of Shame is based on.

Well, in the interest of preventing community discord, I will come clean with you dear readers right now.

Walk Of Shame was inspired by… a Folgers Coffee commercial.

No really.

(Ed. note: This video feed was yanked literally hours after I posted it, yet beforehand, has been available for embedding for months. Coincidence? Final straw? Who knows? Anyway, here's the only other video link I found. Peculiar. A corporation being scared to let people see a TV commercial online?)

In the TV ad, a charmingly Aryan father and daughter meet in the kitchen and, as Daddy hands his apparently way-past-teenhood offspring a nice freshly brewed cuppa, he chides her for coming in way late last night. She teasingly replies that it doesn’t matter because she’s “not sixteen anymore” (but apparently adulthood doesn’t stop her from still living with the folks). He reiterates, “Still, it was late.” She replies that he “won’t have to worry about that anymore” and takes her hand out from behind her big’ ol’ honkin’ mug of corporate java to show the pops her newly acquired engagement ring. After a cockle warming embrace, Daddy tells his little girl that “Todd” is a lucky guy and that’s what he told “Todd” when they “talked” last week.

Anyway, here’s how I had imagined the commercial had continued, right after the actual spot came to a close onscreen. My additional script is in italics.

DAD: Todd’s a lucky man.

(DAUGHTER giggles)

DAD: That’s what I told him when we talked last week.

(DAUGHTER gives a bewildered look)

DAD: And then I said, “You’re lucky I don’t put the barrel of this 30 ought six in your mouth right now, and pull the trigger you perverted sumbitch! If you’re gonna be fucking my daughter and dumping her off at 3 in the morning, you best at least buy her a ring! My little girl is NOT taking any more walks of shame into MY home, you hear?”

And anyway, a song was born.

And on a sorta related note, this month of June 2010 marks the 20th anniversary of the release of my only slab of vinyl ever created, Think. Originally I was going to use this particular blog entry to tell the big sorry story about the record’s recording, production, critical reaction and subsequent destruction of most of its original 1000 copy run, but after some reflection, it really doesn’t matter to me. Frankly, I don’t really give a shit about Think anymore, and don’t even own a copy with a cover myself (just a handwritten red label test pressing.) By all means, have fun putting it up on Ebay and/or bidding on it. As for myself, I’m looking at today’s date on the calendar, and not yesterday’s.

THE “TEA PARTY MOVEMENT” IS A FRIEND TO WORKING PEOPLE, JUST LIKE MCDONALD'S IS A FRIEND TO CATTLE.

2010-05-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

As a descendant of one of the alleged participants in the actual Boston Tea Party that happened way on back in 1773, I find that whenever I’m taking in news accounts of the modern day pseudo-brownshirt rallies which are trying to borrow upon the name of the original historic event, I can feel the bile rise up in my guts from the aggravation of being forced to witness the sodomizing of the memory and symbolism of one of our nation’s most fabled acts of direct protest action.

I refuse to go along with referring to these ignorant republidupes and their Nuremburg rallies-cum-Sunday picnics as a “Tea Party Movement”. It was at one time amusing to call them by their original self-styled nickname of “teabaggers” since just about everything that they believe is truly nuts in the head, but that joke got dull after a while. Nowadays, I like to call it the TP movement because “TP” is a popular slang term for toilet paper, and most of the people involved in these rallies are assholes.

I also refuse to give any serious comparison between the historic activities of the original Sons of Liberty and this modern day traveling hate speech festival that was initiated and spurned on by a handful of opportunistically frustrated, miserable, insecure and attention starved Caucasian right wingers who, in an earlier age, would quite probably be opening and emptying sugar containers over the heads of black youths attempting to get served at a segregated lunch counter. Truly, on Breed’s Hill back in 1775, these limp dicks would have been the Redcoats angrily bayoneting my ancestor’s corpse into complete lack of recognition and then tossing him into a pauper’s grave solely for purposes of humiliation.

However, this is a different age, and today these same closet fascists make mind-bogglingly lame attempts to patronize civil rights accomplishments of the past, as well as the notable people responsible for said accomplishments, in order to somehow provide some shred of rationale that said past struggles mirror their own current campaign to force America to give in to their self-centered demands. Said demands seem to be mostly concerning less government and the complete repeal of all regulation, for the sole purpose of encouraging rampant uncontrollable capitalism. This selfish me-first platform is considered within the collective mind of the TP movement’s leadership to be equal in significance to the Freedom Marchers and Gandhi’s hunger strikes. To realistically attempt to describe the TP movement as having any sort of ideological parallel to civil rights activism would be like describing Hitler as having been compassionate.

Ah, but listen to the well-paid mouthpieces for this allegedly leaderless and grassroots movement as they try to present an image as a phenomenon organized by and supported by the working people. Goll-ee, it must be true, since a consulting firm named Russo, Marsh, and Associates made $857,122 in 2009 simply by trying to convince people that the TP movement was a proletarian wet dream!

The true working people of this nation, those of us who represent a diverse populace of many racial, spiritual and cultural demographics, need to be sure to dismiss, discredit and undermine this pathetic TP movement, and most importantly, we must be sure to unceasingly proclaim the fact that this wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing of an evil, questionably funded experiment in corporate mass manipulation does not represent American ideals, the interest of the nation’s working people, or anything which would protect and maintain the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness of those Americans who not only keep the country in motion, but live its finest ideals as well. Those of us who realize that we are all in this nation together will persevere and outlast this band of dimwit schoolyard bullies of the political arena, just as we always have.

Our backlash does not have to involve organized rallies, or even online social networking. We just need to do it the old fashioned way, and open up the dialogue during the course of our everyday lives. Let them gather and scream and rant and wave their ignorantly constructed signs and freshly-store-bought Gadsden flags in their little pointless rallies as much as they want. Americans like us, from all corners and walks of life will work it out in the end, and time and the will of the people will eventually wear out the TP movement of today, just like it has done for insidious greedy self-centered hatemongers time after time again. That’s one of the many beautiful things about this country and living in it: i.e., more often than not, common sense tends to win the battle sooner or later.

LOVE IT ALL, AND DISMISS WHAT YOU MUST. YES, YOU CAN DO BOTH.

2010-04-04T00:01:00.000-07:00

Just love it all.

Yes, I know that concept can be difficult to grasp sometimes, but to truly love it all will provide a personal advantage if one wants to survive in this world.

Existence in its purest form is a positive and creative force and therefore, a source of inspiration and wonder. In the worst of times, to find what I like to call the “inner ambivalence” inside of oneself can be a true lifesaver. Everybody has this inside them, but few, it seems, know how to find and apply the inner ambivalence properly.

When this conflicting feeling is tapped, allowing the basic uncertainty of direction and emotion to go unhampered, the best of the human mental process will tend to overcome the worst. In other words, when there’s no hope to be found, there’s no longer anything to lose, so you might as well enjoy whatever you can.

To have this kind of attitude does not mean that you have to be satisfied and complimentary of everything you experience. Quite the opposite, actually. If you are honest with yourself re: what disgusts you and more importantly, who is responsible for said causes of disgust, then you can take note of who as well as what to avoid. This will greatly contribute to your potential to lead a stable and productive life.

So whatever you do, don’t let anyone or anything drag you down, drain you, or try to control you. Concurrently, be sure to just love it all conditionally. If this aforementioned premise does not seem clear or sensible at first, just think it out for a while. You'll figure out what I mean. If not, life is sure to teach it to you eventually.

CORPORATE INTERESTS: NAIL THEM DOWN BEFORE THEY SCREW YOU.

2010-03-07T10:52:00.000-08:00

Education. Health care. Shelter. Food.

People need all four of the abovementioned, in adequate and available levels, in order to function and thrive in today’s society. The availability of all four can define the overall quality of life for an entire nation. More and more every day, all of these are being increasingly controlled, limited and priced to the inconvenience of anyone below the upper middle class.

Just like that old saying about how nature abhors a vacuum, in similar fashion capitalism hates to see anything free. Name practically any old thing, and if it is part of the world and existing in it, the chances are close to even odds that some enterprising pig has at least tried to put a price tag on it. When it’s not an outright sale of goods, it’s some sort of service or other designed to either provide something that could be free or (allegedly) improves upon the quality of what would be otherwise unnecessary to pay for.

In this atmosphere of corporate access to the campaign coffers of politicians, what is needed now more than ever is a grassroots groundswell of demand for regulation designed to protect the majority of this nation who do all of the actual work which results in the profit of the privileged few. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth from the corridors of the affected interests, of course. What simply has to happen, when this inevitable tantrum occurs, is for our elected officials to work up their collective spine and reply something upon the lines of “Shut up.” These objectors need to be treated with the same amount of attention given to those who want looser rules on pollution controls, food safety inspections and product safety: in other words, by paying no heed whatsoever to their concerns.

Cost is always a big talking point, or to put it more adequately, a wrench in the gears for the robber barons and their well paid mouthpieces lobbying the pro-corporate anti-regulatory agenda in the nation’s and states’ governments. As anybody who handles their personal finances wisely has learned, however, when one thing is needed, expenses can usually be shifted from one area to another. That said, seeing as Uncle Sam’s discretionary spending on defense is akin to your blue collar dad taking a drunken romp to the casino and whorehouse every weekend, anyone with half a brain functioning can see that the money can be made available in some part of the annual budget somehow and somewhere.

Unfortunately, the decades old complaint, “We can put a man to the moon, but…” still applies to our society today. I would be so bold as to say to those who have any sort of influence or affect on our way of life in this nation the following:

We can put a man on the moon, AND we can make sure that adequate and affordable education, health care, shelter and food is available to all Americans.

I can say that, we can do that, that’s my belief, and I’m sticking to it. Your turn.

MAYBE I DON’T WANT TO BELONG. MAYBE I DON’T WANT TO GET ALONG.

2009-12-03T21:04:00.000-08:00

Y’know, folks, like the rest of you out there, I tend to have my cycles of good times and bad times. Additionally, as far as my own personal life is concerned, I lead a somewhat lonely existence. I just can’t seem to give up and follow the crowd, and see no sense in unthinkingly slogging along from morning to night and feigning some sort of smug satisfaction out of a day-to-day existence, which, upon genuine evaluation, amounts to nothing more than a banal interaction with pointless hedonism and mindless entertainment.

I get ostracized by a considerable number of the populace for refusing to play along with all of this jive. Sure, it brings me down and makes me feel unfairly isolated sometimes.

But whenever that happens, all I need to do is remember that the reason things can be so miserable in my life is due to the fact that Satan is pissed off at me because I refuse to suck his dick, and suddenly, I feel perfectly okay, and realize that I’m on the side of what’s truly good.

And I am aware that most of you out there do swallow his load quite frequently, and even let him buttfuck you real hard with no grease from time to time. But nope, not me. Hell, I wouldn’t even let him buy me a drink. I simply do not swing that way. Alternately, I know that not everyone is falling for the shit. Like me, some people are not impressed with this world of cheesy materialism and fake friendships. Unfortunately, the sad truth is that we of the truly righteous stuff tend to be pretty spread out across the globe from each other.

For those of you who can see where I’m coming from and feel the same anguish and disconnection that I do on an ongoing basis, I just want to say a few things. Firstly, that I love you all very much, and secondly, to keep up the ways of critical thinking and kicking the conformist mentality to the curb. And lastly, I hope that as many of us as possible can meet and recognize each other in the near future and give this world the attitude adjustment it so desperately needs.

Hope to see you soon.

LOVESEAT DUMPERS OF THE WORLD, UNITE AND TAKE OVER

2009-11-29T15:29:00.000-08:00

Dear Nice People Who Dumped The Loveseat,

That was very nice of you. I realize that the thing is pretty worn out, but I'm from the world of punk culture, as well as a deranged loner, so it fits my personality perfectly.

For all intents and purposes, it is worn but not torn (sorta like one of my leather jackets that I own and love, and sitting in it feels the same way). It has a large hole beneath (on its floor area), but I don't anticipate to have Martha Stewart or anyone turning it upside down and criticizing its imperfection.

I have performed a thorough examination, as well as a decent fumigation, cleaning, and EPA-approved toxic substance testing, and have determined this piece of well used furniture to now be odor, critter and disease free. Hopefully no crimes which involve nothing above recreational controlled substance abuse have been committed on this loveseat, and besides a rumpled up tissue, I have found nothing in the nature of hypodermic needles, used condoms, etc. within its crevices.

So once again, thank you very much for the discarded furniture which apparently you couldn't even give away on Craigslist, let alone get Sally's Army or Goody's to take as a donation. I appreciate this accidental late birthday present immensely. Now all I need to do is rearrange the stuff in my cramped lil' living room and I'm rockin'.

Grazie,
MP

THE PERSISTENT QUESTION

2009-11-26T17:43:00.000-08:00

Today, I realized that I have a persistent question running through my head of late.

The question keeps repeating, "What am I doing here?"

And the answer keeps echoing, "I don't know."

I hate when that happens.

And by the way, wiseass, as far as if I belong here or not, define "belong".

ONLINE PERSONALS. WELL, THAT WAS AN EXERCISE IN FUTILITY.

2009-11-09T00:01:00.000-08:00

Something that makes me feel wanted in this world is the fact that a lot of people ask me for advice and/or facts about various subjects, in subjects as varied as computers, relationships, showbiz, politics and all kindsa shit. I appreciate when people consult me like that, as it makes me feel not only flattered but also needed, in a sort of Frank Capra movie-like, traditionally hokey kind of way.

Of course, I rely on the honest advice of others as well. Lately, I’ve been starting to feel like my antisocial tendencies have been pulling me overboard. Especially in the area of my relationships with women, or should I say, lack thereof.

I don’t drink so going out to bars is usually not the best Plan A. Coffeehouses are an occasional option for me but I’ve always found it absurd to just walk up to a woman and strike up a conversation anyway. The odds are good that they’re already in some sort of a relationship. Also, a lot of my female friends are always either joking or complaining about how stupid they think guys like that are.

So, encouraged by the advice of a couple of my friends, I took the plunge and did something that I had previously pledged to myself never to do again: I posted online personal ads.

About a decade back, I had placed an ad online and got a reply from someone with whom I had actually ended up dating over a short period of time. Things were fine at first but then became sour pretty quickly. In retrospect, it was a bad idea to get together in the first place. She lived a lot further away than I had “required” in my ad and I decided to accept it. Problem Number One. Problem Number Two was that we simply had nothing in common, and as a result, the chemistry was just never there.

Ah, well, guess I can try one more time, and this time stick to my guns as far as what I wanted in a potential match.

I chose two sites: Yahoo Personals, because I was already set up as a member on Yahoo and it was free to place and look at ads, and eHarmony because it was linked through my cable provider and, as luck would have it, eHarmony was having a promotion where I could place an ad and, in eHarmony-speak, “communicate” with potential matches for free for a short period of time.

On Yahoo, I wrote a profile that laid it on the line as far as my preferences and requirements were concerned. Yes, it was pretty long and read more like an essay, but at least I was trying to be as upfront and honest as possible.

Here is the text of my Yahoo profile:

"I'm not a bad guy, and like people, but really don't do the social thing very well. I pretty much work, mess with recording my own music, read and fight insomnia. It's been advised that I need to get out more often. No, I don't have a therapist.

I like Midtown (where I live) and I'm looking for somebody nice in the neighborhood to hang out with for coffee and to discuss stuff like sociocultural manipulation of the world's population, so if you're into cultural studies, media criticism and the like, you've got someone here who can probably keep up with you.

Nope, I don't drive or own a car, mostly because I don't have to. I live and work in Midtown, and can get everything I need right around here. Ideally you are in the same situation and we can be backward auto-free Luddites together. Otherwise, thanks for reading this far. Bye.

I'm much more comfortable in a larger city, having been born and raised in one. I like to hop the light rail to the Amtrak to SF. You perhaps like to do that as well, if you've lived in Midtown for some time. That's a good example of something we can maybe do together in time.

I'm highly literate and worldly for an uneducated heathen and future dead peasant. I'm probably further to the left than you are, but that minority who go further or majority who aren't Dittoheads or Palin clones are always quite welcome. I don't drink, don't smoke, and don't take part in any 12 step or other program whatsoever. Also not involved in any organized religion, though interested in philosophical, metaphysical and sociopolitical stuff without going all New Agey. Musically, I like anything from punk to Motown to garage to Tom Waits to Ofra Haza to the Clash to yougetthepictureIhope. For movies, if it's playing at the Tower or Crest you might see me in line buying a ticket. I'm figuring that out of the 3 or 4 women who possibly exist on the planet who would be compatible with me, one may possibly live in Midtown. My gut feeling tells me that I am wrong, but I figure that I might as well try just one more time.

I'm not going to go into too much detail about what I expect from you. I like confidence, self-assurance, and a woman with a good, smart sense of humor who isn't afraid of a dose of sarcasm. Do you think that George Carlin was funny? Good, me too. I'm in average-to-pretty-good physical shape and health for my age, so yes, I expect you to be in that zone as well. Hair length, dress, etc. are things that I'm pretty open minded about, especially since I'm bald and casual, but I'm attracted to shapely women regardless of size, style or age. You need to understand that I'm like an English bulldog: I might not look like I'm happy all the time but that doesn't mean I'm in a bad mood. I will be open with my feelings and in return, you will be as well.

I don't have any children, and don't want them. For freak's sakes, I'm 47 years old! Also, if you have children, they are grown up and independent (out of Mom's home with actual jobs), and not thugs. No exceptions.

Oh, and not engaging in a criminal lifestyle at any level is a must. (That includes, of course, trying to scam poor vulnerable geezers like myself through online personals.)

And a special word about Midtown. In Sacramento, the definition of Midtown's borders are sort of a matter of contention, but after 25 years as a resident of Sacramento, I define them as thus: east of 16th Street, south of G Street, north of T Street and west of the freeway overpass by 29th Street. If you are not living in or near that area please don't bother to respond to my ad.

Gimme a click if you're intrigued. Thanks."

My experience with eHarmony was a different world, to say the least. They put you through a grueling interrogation that surpasses the Scientology Personality Test in terms of nosy anal retentiveness. Interestingly, my results were sort of accurate. As an example, the evaluation stated that I have no problem being alone for long periods of time, and see that situation as a creative advantage. True dat. Hmmm, perhaps these test results may be giving me a chance to meet someone compatible after all.

Nah brah.

My stay on eHarmony lasted about one day, probably less than 24 hours. I was admittedly surprised to find seven “matches” in my email the morning after I had signed up. The matches were not even close to anyone I would be compatible with, and most of them seemed to be the types who would cross the street if they saw me walking up in the opposite direction. Plus, of course, they were all out of the ‘hood.

Here was my kiss off letter to eHarmony that was requested by them as “Feedback”:

"This was a horrible experience. My matches have nothing in common with me and most of them have children (I do not have or want them, and am looking for someone without them as well).

Also, your geographic distance is too far for my preference (minimum of 30 miles from my home). Midtown Sacramento is very densely populated, as are the areas directly bordering the neighborhood. I would want to meet someone within five miles of home at best. Women from the 'burbs tend not to share my interests, so they are a waste of my time to communicate with.

In short, I find this site to be completely useless. Perhaps you should concentrate your resources more on expanding your compatibility options and less on psychological games in order to gain and retain customers. Thanks."

The Yahoo experience was much longer but just as futile. True, I was almost brutally honest in my profile. Nevertheless, I was clear and lucid enough to get some sort of reasonable response.

Of course that didn’t happen. The only women who contacted me (that is, if all of them really were women) ran the gamut from Textbook Russian Scams to Downright Fuckin’ Scary. Okay, there was one seemingly remote possibility who looked really pretty, listed herself as “Artistic / Musical / Writer” and gave me a brief hello, but she was in South Carolina and apparently didn’t even read my profile. And even then, she was a Christian who attended services, so perhaps she was a well-written Textbook Russian Scam. Bzzzt. Thanks for playing.

(And on a side note, if you see a personal from a woman that says, among other things, the direct quote “…I always say that I'm looking for someone who will enhance my life, and not take anything away…” you know what you’re dealing with. I must have seen that little adage about sixteen times.)

Today, I deleted my Yahoo Personals profile. No, I will not try Craigslist next. Stupidly, I did respond to an ad there that looked promising and should have known better. No reply, of course. Oh well, sometimes harsh reality needs to be considered and admitted.

That’s it. I’m through.

I’ve got to face facts. I’m destined to be alone for the rest of my life.

There are worse things to be confronted with as a permanent condition. I could have missing limbs, or maybe a long-term painful terminal illness. I could have fucked up real good and been incarcerated to live out my remaining years in a day-to-day lifestyle somewhat resembling that of Edmond Burke.

Or worse yet, I could have ended up in a miserable relationship just because I did not want to be alone. That would be infinite times worse than simply being by myself.

No, I need to man up and face the truth. I’m just not a match for anyone. I’m too antisocial and isolated, and yeah maybe I am just too old (and on top of that, perceived by women as lame) to “deserve” to be with anyone.

I could rationalize, reason, analyze and excuse myself into oblivion, but nothing is going to change the reality of the situation. I can’t change. Not even for sex. A lot of guys can bullshit to maintain a sex life, and a lot of women knowingly just go along with it for various reasons, but I can’t play that game.

Besides, I’ve gone through enough periods of my adult life where I’ve been celibate for years on end (I’m on a pretty good stretch right now). That’s just the way it’s been. I can’t really change anything about that. It’s not because I lack interest in these things, actually it’s quite the opposite. There are not really any other activities that keep my interest as much when the opportunity is there. However, as easily as I could list “sex” in the “Hobbies” section of a questionnaire, really, going without it isn’t so bad.

So why fight it? In a fitting coincidence, as I’m typing this, Saint Jonathan, the Patron Saint of Modern Love, just got on my stereo with some words of wisdom:

Well I won't pretend I like a girl if I really don't
And act like she's great when she makes me feel appalled
All I want is a girl that I care about
Or I want nothing at all.

Well I don't want just a girl to fool around with
Well I don't want just a girl to ball
What I want is a girl that I care about
Or I want nothing at all.

Well I don't want some cocaine sniffing triumph in the bar
Well I don't want a triumph in the car
I don't want to make a rich girl crawl
What I want is a girl that I care about
Or I want no one at all.

Good enough for me.

HI! MY NAME IS IDGAF YAAS! I'M ON FACEBOOK! COME ON OVER AND HANG OUT.

2009-10-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

Okay, they got me.

If you know me, or at least have been reading this blog for some time, you know that generally, I have a deep contempt for social networking sites. Personally, I find them to be downright boneheaded and generally wrong on so many levels.

I've managed to avoid much of a presence on MySpace.

I do believe that I now hold the record for most consecutive days with no followers on Twitter.

However, then I got a phone call from my good friend and co-conspirator, who let me know that I simply HAD to get on FUCKin' Facebook. Well, not in so many words. Actually, maybe yeah, now that I think about it, that is how he said it.

Anyway. I tracked down a few of my good friends who go back with me to close to a quarter century ago, and decided, fuck it, I'm going to be somewhat active on Facebook. Not that I prefer it over the other two aforementioned sites. On the contrary. To me, Facebook sucks just as bad. It doesn't load pages very well, the chat functions totally blow (and crash my browser more times than not), and, with no offense to my friends who think otherwise, I got sick of playing the games-that-really-aren't-games (eg "Mafia Wars") after about two days, if that long.

Still, I've settled into a role I like to call "Annoying Leftist Newsfeed Guy", since a lot of the publications that I read online anyway are available on Facebook and easy to link to my page.

Another thing which annoys me about Facebook is how they try to force everybody to use their legal birth name. I don't have any problem with my birth name, and anybody can easily find that online, along with my date of birth and birthplace, on the "Biography" section of my last.fm profile. It's just that, not only do a lot more people whom I'd want to find me know me as Michael Psycho, there's approximately umpteen hundred million Michael Warrens all over the planet, with God knows how many in Sacramento alone.

SO I tried using Michael Psycho. Facebook wasn't having it. Previously, I had complained about not being able to use the name, and got handed this line of horseshit via email:

Hi,

Facebook does not allow people to sign up with certain names that may be fake or associated with fake accounts. While we realize this verification method may prevent some people with legitimate names from initially registering, we feel this policy is currently the best method to prevent against malicious and fake accounts on the site.

We can help you sign up for an account, but we will need additional information. Please reply to this email with a scanned image or digital picture of a government-issued photo ID (e.g., driver's license) in order to confirm the accuracy of your name. Also, make sure you black out any personal information that is not needed to verify your identity (e.g., social security number). Keep in mind that we will permanently delete your ID from our servers once your name has been verified.

We apologize for the inconvenience, but you will be unable to sign up until you provide us with a scanned image of a government-issued ID. Please include all of our previous correspondence in your response so that we can refer to your original inquiry.

Thanks in advance for understanding this security policy,

Ursula
User Operations
Facebook

Ursula, I cordially invite you and the rest of the User Operations team at Facebook to fuck off. You are not the government, and I am not trying to use a credit card to purchase goods and services. If I am otherwise using Facebook in the manner which it is meant to be used, you have no business in Hell to be demanding that I use my birth name.

I was going to give up altogether, when suddenly inspiration struck and I decided to give it another go. I reactivated my account but instead of Michael Psycho, or Michael Warren, I came up with a brand new handle.

That name was... Idgaf Yaas.

Okay. I'll write that one more time.

Idgaf Yaas.

The name is an acronym, and it is intended to be a tribute to the nice folks who rejected "Michael Psycho" as my name on Facebook. It stands for:

I Don't Give A Fuck. You Assholes All Suck.

Facebook accepted the name.

So, dear friends, as of right now, Facebook is the place where you will find it easiest to reach me online. It is my online hangout, my street corner, my stoop. I'm positive that, if you are staring at a computer screen right now, you probably already have a Facebook page. So, especially to the readers of this blog, I invite you to come on by and make a friend request. Don't be shy. Although I like my tight knit lil' circle of seven or eight pals I've got since I joined a couple of weeks ago, you are always welcome. Just to make it easy on you, I've provided a link below. I look forward to seeing you. At least until Facebook kicks me out.

Click Here, Pilgrim
(Yes. I know. The link is dead. Read the update below.)

Update(1/30/10): So much for trying to be more social. This evening, I deactivated the account, so Idgaf Yaas is no longer a threat to the shivering denizens of Facebook any longer.

I simply got tired of the whole shebang. I had been thinking about walking away from this shit for a while now when something very interesting occurred today.

I was walking back from taking the trash to my dumpster when somebody seemingly familiar passed me in the courtyard of my apartment complex. I said hello, this person returned the greeting, and walked on by. There was no indication that either of us really recognized each other as any sort of acquaintance. When I noticed that a card for a local city council candidate was placed on my door, I put two and two together.

This was one of the folks who I didn't know personally, somebody I'd never met in my life, who had added me as a friend on Facebook! Rather then having my feelings hurt, I found the experience to be a rather, ahem, teachable moment. That's when I decided it was about high time to bring this noble personal social experiment to an end.

While it was nice to have tracked down a few folks from the past, ultimately, Facebook activity just seems like a tremendous waste of time. Time is pretty much the most valuable thing I have left nowadays. Also, I've increasingly grown to accept a basic belief that social activity is way overrated.

So to all of the true dear old friends that I ran into on Facebook, thanks for bringing back fond memories and I'm glad to see that we are all surviving and well. As for the rest of you:

THESE TWO LINKS GO TOGETHER LIKE PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY.

2009-10-25T00:00:00.000-07:00

On the Black Hole Media Co. blog, there is a brief description of a BHMC research project underway which, with any luck, will be completed by the time that I qualify for Medicare:

Click Here, Pilgrim

I realize that the basic point of this project, of course, is a little hard to describe to a lot of folks without sounding all Unabombery and shit. So, as a way of providing a contemporary example of the type of stuff I've been witnessing that inspired me to begin this project, please check out the link below to this recent article from Mother Jones:

Click Here, Pilgrim

BLACK HOLE MEDIA CO. WEBSITE IS BACK UP AND ROLLING. SORT OF.

2009-10-18T11:22:00.000-07:00

Go get that Bookmarks tab warmed up, Pilgrim.

Black Hole Media Co., my sometimes collective, usually lone-wolf-run media terrorist cooperative, is back on them Interwebs at its old address: blackholemediaco.com.

There won't be much there for a while, but don't worry, I'll work on it. You can help too if you want. If you have issues as serious as I do with the Establishment Media, and can express yourself clearly and intelligently, and can pass our screening, go ahead and email the BHMC headquarters. Your help doesn't even have to have anything to do with the site. As long as it's legal and makes sense, hit us up. We're into a little of this and a little of that, so try it, we might like it. (BIG FAT NOTE: Do NOT use this email link to try to contact me personally for any other reason than Black Hole Media Co. business. I will not respond and odds are good that anything sent otherwise will be deleted. I know it's hard as Hell to get ahold of me and I do that on purpose. I've been making myself a smidge more accessible online and I'll be discussing that in a week or two).

EXTRA SPECIAL NOTE:

Black Hole Media Co., in all of its various weird incarnations, has been in operation since 1984. No, it hasn't just been me. I've had a lot of help, and I'm grateful to everyone who has gotten involved at one level or another. Over the years, BHMC has been involved in music and video production, performance art, renegade flyering, consultation, networking, corporate surveillance, ridicule of public figures and a whole lot of other stuff which, though essentially legal, probably shouldn't be discussed right now.

That said, in the time around and since Black Hole Media Co. last had a Web presence (around 2000 or 2001), there have been a spate of sites popping up with interesting variations of our name. Here, for the purpose of clarity, allow me to point out those sites which have no association with Black Hole Media Co. whatsoever, and, to be sporting, I will provide a link as well.

This software company is not Black Hole Media Co. and has no association with BHMC whatsoever.

Neither does this site. Not BHMC related, never was, never will be.

BHMC has released records (and cassettes) under the Black Hole imprint, but has nothing to do whatsoever with Black Hole Recordings.

BHMC also has nothing to do with the band from Italy, The Black Hole Company.

And lastly, BHMC is not associated with Adbusters, but apparently they took a liking to the BHMC logo. (I'm sure that they have a convenient backstory of its symbolism ready. Don't worry, Adbusters, your efforts are still cool in my book).

That's probably enough examples for now (until some more people try to co-opt). I'm fine with it, since Black Hole Media Co. is going to outlive all of these folks. And besides, you know what they say about imitation being...

A JURY OF YOUR PEERS. YOUR PISSED OFF, WEATHER BEATEN PEERS.

2009-10-17T00:00:00.000-07:00

So, I was called for jury duty, which was, to my best recollection, my fifth time since moving to California. Before you start to fret about some poor defendant being stuck with me as one of the panel of twelve, be comforted with the fact that, in the spirit of the "One Day, One Trial" policy here in Sacramento County, I was not chosen and was dismissed at the end. In retrospect, I'm sure glad that I was not picked, as I paid a karmic surplus merely in my attempt to make it to the fuckin' courthouse in time.

I received my summons about 3 or 4 weeks ago, and I wasn't worried about how I was going to get to court on time. I like walking and was planning to give myself an ample head start (as long as I gave myself over 45 minutes from where I live in Midtown it would have been fine).

And then, Mother Nature decided to conspire with RT to give me a little character building personal challenge.

The weather, as it turned out, greeted me that morning with 45 mile per hour gusts and a shitload of rainfall. Resigned to having to take the light rail into downtown, I headed over to the 23rd and R station at about 7:20 or so, figuring that, since the trains run 15 minutes apart at the most, I'd have plenty of time to get to where I had to go.

Wrong.

Giving me one more reason to rue the lameness that is Sacramento Regional Transit, the ticket machine would not take any of my dollar bills. Moving across the tracks to the other machine, I noticed that other people were having the exact same problem. Although I probably should have felt some sort of humbling empathy in seeing my fellow members of humanity feeling my pain, I was none too happy to know that there was a FUBAR situation developing here at the RT station, as the 7:25 train pulled up.

I no longer have a cell phone, since I decided that I hardly speak to anybody anymore and it was a waste of money. I could have used the pay phone at the station, but when I've called the court in the past, just for general information, I've been put on hold and sent to Automated Menu Hell. My choice at this point was to either get forced into contesting a ticket for having no proof of fare or getting a bench warrant issued for failure to report for jury service. Even worse, I may have had to report back the following day. Nah. Not going to happen.

I'd like to share with you at this time a little personal issue that I have. If it's one thing that I don't like in this life, it's when I don't have an answer to something, and don't know if what I'm about to do will have consequences or will turn out okay. Sure, I have to deal with that kind of shit on almost a daily basis anyway, and usually things will turn out alright, but I would still rather have answers and information before I choose to do something.

In that mental state, and knowing that it was approaching 7:30, I knew that I had to do something to address the situation. I chose to start a panicked walk-mixed-with-jog down Q, then 22nd Street, then Capitol Avenue, then through a corner of Capitol Park and down L Street, turning to take 10th Street north and cutting across Wino Park, whoops I mean Cesar Chavez Plaza, and booking through I Street. Unfortunately, I overshot the street for the Superior Court building, turning and traveling on 8th, and was disoriented enough to ask some young lady on a phone outside of the Sacramento County Sheriff's doorway for directions back over to what turned out to be the entrance a block away at 9th and G.

I made it in the line outside of the courthouse door at the 8 AM deadline on the dot. Somebody up there likes me, or at least gave me the common sense not to be hitting the potato chips too hard nowadays.

By now, completely looking like a drowned rat, I waited in the long line at the Jury Assembly Room and checked in with my now-soaked summons, then took a seat in the hall. I sort of envied other folks who were using their laptops and taking advantage of the free Wi-Fi that the Court had generously provided for prospective jurors. And then again, I was glad that I had decided against bringing my laptop with me, considering the circumstances that had unexpectedly occured.

I neglected to mention earlier that I'd brought in a briefcase full of notebooks, reading material and other stuff, and had to lug that along under my coat for the little foot race I took through the storm. I chose to take along a copy of a book called The Price of Dissent, Bud and Ruth Schultz's fantastic collection of oral histories of people who have experienced repression and persecution from Uncle Sam because of their personal beliefs and expressed opinions, and pretty much nothing else. I'm reviewing one of the accounts for a project which I may or may not complete within the next few years. There was also, admittedly, a passing thought about how sorta fucked up it would look to be reading that particular book. That only encouraged me even more.

As the process of beginning to call out names for that day's cases began, a woman sitting next to me looked up from her book and remarked, "Have you ever read that short story, The Lottery?" I replied, "Yes, a long time ago", while racking my brains to try to remember what that one was about. She continued, "They announce people's names and then they get executed. It sort of feels like that," with a smile. I may have agreed with her under normal circumstances if the worst part of the morning had not already been past me.

Eventually, my name was called and I headed upstairs to a courtroom. When I got there, the hall was already filling up, and a friendly young woman had motioned over to me to let me know that there was a seat open right next to her. I thanked her and sat my still-pretty-soaked ass down. She mentioned that there seemed to be a lot of people in this jury pool, and I had replied that I had used the stairs because my last name was at the end of the alphabet and by the time I was called, the elevators were already crowded with people waiting in queue. We briefly spoke about the weather outside, and I couldn't help but notice that she seemed just a wee bit agitated and nervous.

The deputy acting as bailiff came out of the courtroom briefly and gave us some pointers on what to expect and how to behave in the courtroom.(For instance, no food because crinkling wrappers will piss off the court reporter.) He then requested that we separate the four pages of our carbon copied voir dire questionnaire in order to make his job easier when he takes them from each juror as they get called to sit in the jury box. Everybody dutifully proceeded to pull their sheets apart. I found it kind of odd that my neighbor to the right, who had helped me to get a seat earlier, did not even pull out the questionnaire. It was no longer a mystery about two minutes later when the bailiff re-emerged, motioned to her and kept the door open as she entered the courtroom.

Great. I'm not even inside the courtroom and I've already carried on a conversation with the defendant. Oh well. We didn't discuss the trial, unless she's being charged with illegal cloud seeding or something, so I guess it was still cool. It still felt kind of fucked up, though.

The clerk then came out and announced eighteen names of people who would be the first to sit in the jury box (12 prospective jurors and six alternates), and then the rest of us filed into the gallery. The judge got things started and gave us the particulars on the trial that we were being considered for, along with the usual admonitions (eg don't discuss the trial details with anyone, etc.). I won't bother to tell you at this point what the charges were because, although legally I can speak about it now, the trial is still pending for all I know. All I can say at this point is that I have a family history in regards to the same offense, and probably would have been sent back to the jury room anyway.

After the initial questioning of the first group of potential jurors, the judge called for the afternoon break, which turned out to be two hours. Luckily I was prepared and had plenty of music to listen to and stuff to read and work on. The drag was that the weather sucked and I was still pretty damp, so I didn't feel like stepping outside. I settled for going up to the cafeteria and a lunch of coffee and cupcakes. I sat in the area near the jury lounge, listened to my usual repertoire of freeform eclectic audio mixture on shuffle play, and did some people watching for most of the time.

One thing about jury duty: it's sort of like the DMV. It's the Great Equalizer when it comes to making everyone get together in one public place, regardless of race, birthplace, occupation or education. There's business suits, baggy pants and hoodies, burkhas, cowboy hats, turbans, leather biker gear and hemp clothing. It almost seems like there should be a hope that these occasional perceived obligations of civil responsibility have a side benefit of reminding its participants that we have numerous differences, too many to even bother counting, and we should always consider that fact when acting out our lives in this world.

After the break, it was back to Final Jeopardy, and the panel was questioned about the usual: if anyone had been convicted of offenses relative to the trial, and of they had been victims under similar circumstances to the allegations that they would possibly be deliberating upon. After the judge excused initial people from the panel, the empty seats were filled and the new arrivals were reviewed on the same questions.

Then it was time for the respective attorneys to have their fun with their peremptory challenges, with the prosecutor and defense taking turns kicking out panelists at whim. This process can go on for a very long time, depending on the size of the jury pool and how anal the attorneys are. Typically, the defense tends to get a little happier with the challenges, and it was no different this time around. However, after one more break and a relatively short time, the two parties magically agreed and twelve jurors were picked along with two alternates. Us stragglers were then dismissed, and we made our way back to the jury room.

One other deportee and myself were smart enough to hit the stairs right away, and we ended up at the front of the line as our remaining fellow rejects filed in and lined up to be dismissed. When I got to the window to turn in my badge, the question I got was: "But, were you excused"? The answer I wanted to give was: "Look, lady, I hauled ass by foot here from 23rd and R because the ticket machine didn't take my money and I practially ran here in a downpour to get here on time, then I spent eight hours trapped here in soaking clothes and was not picked for a jury. You really need to let me the fuck go, and we can try this again in a year or so, aight?" But, I simply replied "Yes," and requested an RT pass. I kind of felt like giving myself a break for the trip back.

That, of course, was not going to happen without even more bullshit. The light rail train headed back toward my homestead was delayed by at least 45 minutes, and I stood out there along with a flock of mostly government workers wondering if it would ever show up at all. Finally, I got my waterlogged carcass home. The next day, my thigh and calf muscles felt like I had rode the American River trail up to Folsom and back from Discovery Park, thanks to my impromptu morning workout.

I respect the American justice system and for all of the citizens of our country to have a right to a fair and speedy trial with a jury of peers. I just wish that it was at least a little easier for me to get through it. It's not the Superior Court I felt inconvenienced from, but definitely RT and its continuing dedication to making its customer service become suckier by the day, every day. Perhaps the Jury Comissioner's office can mail an optional postcard that folks can send back to request an advance RT ticket to be mailed before the reporting date, just to ensure that things run as smoothly as possible. I have a feeling that, if it was anyone else in my situation that day, a lot of others would have just thrown up their hands in the air, said "Fuck it", and tried to avoid even showing up at all. Now that wouldn't help anybody.

CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED, ON LSD.

2009-10-15T20:44:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm definitely going to have to score a copy of this. Mr. Crumb, of all people, has illustrated the Book of Genesis. I would like to answer a question put forth in one the comments posted for the article in Forward.com (linked below).

"Is God perhaps a latent Mr. Natural?"

Upon initial glances, I would tend to think so, though I would also agree with the same commenter that God has a nicer head of hair (natch).

Click Here, Pilgrim

HOSANNAH! THE COVENANT IS SEALED! SELAH.

2009-10-09T00:00:00.003-07:00

Greetings, In The Name Of He Who Is Arisen,

Per your urgent request, I have received the token of our holy embrace and have placed it on display at a station of honor in the highest domain of my studio apartment. Your most precious trophy of athletic achievement is now among other significant objects of which I am fortunate enough to have been given the opportunity to save from other politically dangerous areas of the world. I recall only the fondest memories of the noble overseas Christian warriors who have presented me with the privileged duty to acquire all of these curios, at least until I had to change the PIN number on my debit card. I have forgiven them, as my covenant with the Lord dictates that I do so.

I am steadfastly praying, and I know you are as well, for the eventual consummation of our newfound alliance as soldiers of the battle for souls. It is simply one of many blessed events to occur that I had somehow been called by the powerful inner voice of the Heavenly Father to be browsing Ebay at such a miraculously perfect time.

I’m also delighted that you may be able someday to meet my heretofore-unknown long lost sister, Irinya Milošević Perrier O’Brien Gomez Psychodopoulos, who only recently had tracked me down and contacted me through Ancestry.com. She is marrying a lucky young fellow believer of my acquaintance, and while she is trying to get a visa to enter the U.S. from Belgium, I will be helping to open her new electronics store by accepting various packages shipped through UPS and FedEx and will be storing the items in my apartment, that is, the ones that I will not be forwarding, at her request, to her current retail outlet location in Abuja, Nigeria.

I am in passionate prayer daily to ask for God’s mercy upon the state of your treacherous situation, and assure you that I beseech the skillful hand of the Almighty Lord to touch the very essence of your existence, guiding you towards the way of the ultimate assumption of ecstatic glory, glory, glory in the highest until you reach the sacred realm of the Holy Spirit.

Sincerely,

Your Brother In Christian Intercourse,
MP

AT LEAST IT'S BEEN CONFIRMED: THE CELL NUMBER IS REAL.

2009-10-06T22:02:00.000-07:00

Wow. Looks like Mary Manson really got its thong bunched up into its hemorrhoids over the latest stunt by the folks over at Buddyhead.

Letter above courtesy of Buddyhead, from the latest gossip page. Link below. Apologies for use without permission, nothing personal, just wanted to dress up the post a little. I'll take this opportunity to highly recommend the sort-of-weekly Buddyhead Gossip for all you crazy kids out there, as it's good for building critical thinking towards the entertainment world in growing minds.

At least I'm confident that Travis Keller won't be calling a fuckin' lawyer on me. As for Mary, on the other hand, I'm not so sure.

Click Here, Pilgrim

HOLY SHIT. SOMETHING ON THE NEW SNL MADE ME LAUGH.

2009-10-04T22:44:00.000-07:00

I was actually watching a new episode of Saturday Night Live for once. Finally got to see that Gaga lady that all those kids are crazy about nowadays.

But besides that, the sketches were sorta so-so, until this came on.

GREAT NEWS FOR EVERYBODY WHO HATES ME.

2009-10-03T02:48:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've been feeling like shit.

Not physically. As a matter of fact, it seems like I feel stronger and on top of that, I'm getting sick far less often than in my twenties. In my mental state, it's been another story.

It's like my mind is trying to make its way through the middle of a tornado. There's really not much of a better way that I can describe it. The strange thing is that I seem to be doing things okay on the job and in my own creative efforts here and there. Something just hasn't seemed right lately.

Having an overly heavy workload doesn't help, and at this point there's nothing much that I can do about it. Plus, it looks like the inevitable ax is going to fall someday sooner or later anyway. I've been involved in this pattern before, where the staffing gets cut down to the bone, and even though the service levels suffer, eventually the work gets outsourced and the folks who've stuck around to keep things going are out of there.

It would be nice to feel like I can see options beyond my present gig, but I can't. Sure, I have plenty of practical skills to carry with me, and a lot of those skills were picked up on the present job that I'm holding. The shitty economy doesn't help, either. The last thing that I'd be looking forward to would be to re-assess my skill set for the same type of work at another corporation. One positive possibility is that I'll get a higher paying job, which would be close to even odds at this point since I don't make diddly squat based on my current expectations and duties.

I've been squirreling away a few bucks here and there, and have been building a fairly decent sized rainy day fund (which currently would get me through about three years of rainy days, even though that took 15 years to accomplish). That ability to still get a little bit ahead with each paycheck is keeping me in place. If and when it starts to get closer to paycheck-to-paycheck finances, it will be a bit easier to just pack up and hit the road.

There's one weird thing that's going on in my head, though. Like I mentioned earlier, I feel like I'm in great physical shape, but have had thoughts that I'm going to die soon. Real soon. Not like I have any objections to that happening; there's really nothing holding me here. I am completely and realistically one person, with no remaining family or close personal ties whatsoever. That's the price that you pay when you can't keep your mouth shut and can't deal with society or won’t put up with anybody's shit. I paid for it, and now I'm living its results.

Suicide, on the other hand, is not something that I am even remotely capable of doing anymore. I came to the conclusion a while back that if I ever feel suicidal, the most effective method would be to keep living, because life will kill me eventually. My only brother wasn't quite as keen to that idea, and decided to give in to his ongoing urge to shoot himself at the age of 31. It feels sort of strange to be 15 years older than a sibling who was 8 years older than myself, and yet remembering somebody who ran circles around me in terms of intellect even at my current age.

Medication is out of the question, as I don't want any drugs in me anymore, period. I don't even take aspirin unless I'm in nearly excruciating pain. For a lot of folks in my situation, knocking back a few drinks would provide at least a temporary diversion, but I know well enough by now that alcohol is just going to lead down a path which will be even worse than the one I'm experiencing now. And therapy has been nothing but a failure in the past for me, so I wouldn't expect it to change now.

Yeah, I'm feeling pretty fucked nowadays. Anybody reading this right now who hates my guts for one reason or another (and don't worry, I know that you're out there) should be utterly stokely stoked to know about my present condition.

And I want all of you of that persuasion to know something right here, right now.

I am going to eventually snap out of this funk and come back stronger, better prepared, and ready to make you look like a bunch of complete and utter idiots more than ever.

I always do.

And as a matter of fact, just typing this and publishing it has made me feel a whole lot better.

Oh, and fuck you.

G.P.O. AND THE PTV CREW SHOULD BE MAKING THE MONNNEY NOW! WHAT'S UP WITH THAT?

2009-09-29T18:28:00.000-07:00

Y'know, Genesis P-Orridge and the folks in Psychic TV have been rollin' around the backwaters long enough to deserve to have a song suddenly gain contemporary relevance, all retro like and shit. So what's the deal here? Why aren't I hearing more of their song Roman P being played nowadays? I mean, if I'm going to have a tune forced upon me in news soundtracks and at hip mall stores and wherever, at least let it be something that I already have on my player that I don't mind hearing involuntarily! C'mon, Establishment Media, get with the program!

Oh well. What the fuck ever happened to viral marketing anyway? Okay. I'll see if I can get the ball rolling.

Click Here, Pilgrim

THIS IS NOT THE BEST TWIN SOUP LINK ON THE BLOG. THIS IS THE TRIBUTE.

2009-09-27T00:01:00.000-07:00

Today marks a very special anniversary observance here at Michael Psycho's Word Pollution, Pilgrim. No, it is not the anniversary of the blog itself. (Hell, I can't even remember when that was. I just know that it was sometime in 2001, and if it wasn't for that lame "Blogger 2.0" changeover and if the three years of posts weren't lost forever, I could tell you.)

One year ago today, the most controversial (and most visited and Google searched) post in this lil' ol' weblog's history made its debut. I almost got up to a dozen page hits for that one alone. Ahem, yeahrite, that's all, really. You do believe me, doncha? Heh.

In retrospect, I really don't see what the big deal was about. So the Campbell twins of twinsoup.com fame were picked as Playboy Cyber Girls back in 2002? So what? Why be so secretive about it? It's not like some dudebro (or probably in this case, it would be dudebros) had leaked nekkid pics of the twins online. It was a photo shoot for fuckin' Playboy, ferchrissakes!

No, all you need to understand is this. What really motivated me to post what I wrote (and what I linked) in the first place is the fact that nobody wants to discuss it. (Well, maybe a couple of people who posted comments on Heckasac). I have no animosity toward the Campbell sisters; it just happens to be a relevant part of their story and SOMEbody needed to report it.

Now, on the other hand, it has come to my attention that some fellow blogospherean had linked to my blog post which, in turn, links the naughty photo of the Campbells. Said party was contacted by one or both of the twins (well, there is a pic in Sacramento Magazine of one of them holding a mouse, and the other a keyboard, so it coulda happened...) and was persuaded to remove the link to my, erm, exposé. (Be not embarrassed, brave soul. You made the effort, and I salute you).

On the other hand, I'm not impressed, intimidated or swayed by fame, power or authority, attorney assisted or otherwise, when it comes to freedom of speech and the distribution of information, and would like to make it clear, right here, right now, that the day that I will remove any blog post from this blog is the day that they pry my cold, dead hand off the mouse, and probably while I'm signed in and updating, because you sure as Hell aren't getting my password.

I would like to add one more thing. I have made a slight improvement to the original post. Instead of the link to the bootleg photo site, I fixed it to go straight to the photo of the Campbells which is featured on playboy.com. After all, accuracy is a fundamental of journalism.

That said, the link to the post with the original link is below. Although there is a warning on the original item, I will also warn you here, beforehand, that the following link is definitely not safe for work, or minors, or certain members of the clergy, or people who prefer unshaven pubic hair in their softcore pornography.

Click Here, Pilgrim

GOOGLE SEARCHES CAN PULL UP THE DURNDEST THINGS.

2009-09-23T00:00:00.000-07:00

So, a few days ago, I was doing some routine bullshit maintenance on my site.

I like to take a look at my stats to see generally where people are visiting from, how they find me and such. Something that kinda interests me concerns the search terms that people use.

During my latest check, I saw the following listed as one of the searches:

when he ejaculates real soon

What. The. Fuck?

When I Googled that exact phrase, here is what resulted:

The lyric page to my song, "What A Man'll Do", placed third in the search results.

Hey, they say music heals, and if I can help couples resolve their premature ejaculation issues, I'm more than happy to assist.

WHAT'S IN A NAME? DONCHA START ME TALKIN'.

2009-09-19T00:01:00.000-07:00

For the sake of posterity, if nothing else, I’d like to share a charming tale with you, Pilgrim.

It’s the story of where and how I came up with the name that has become my pseudonym for nearly three decades.

In the days of my more carefree youth, I used to go to this club back in Boston called the 1270. It was located on Boylston Street (named after its address number) not a far hop and skip away from Fenway Park, and across the street from FM rock station WBCN. I was introduced to the place by a friend and became a semi-regular there for quite a while until I got married, and even afterward I can recall dropping in with my then bride a couple of times. It was one of Boston’s most now-legendary gay clubs, but attracted weird young outsider artist types (raising hand) and (trendy at the time) professed asexuals and just plain confused or unsure youngin's (raising my hand again, yeah I'll admit it, at least I thought about it a little for a while back then, but I got over it and back to full breeder status pretty quickly) and BU coeds with out of state boyfriends looking for a nice safe environment, all showing up for the cheap drink prices, the oozing stench of casual but neat alt-hipsterism, and, more importantly, its selective (and rumored to be intentional) laxity towards carding the underage, especially on Wednesdays when the crowd was most mixed.

It was the week of Halloween 1981. I was on Urban Camping Expedition One, having been evicted from what was my parents' place for trying to kick out some fuckups who in turn, fucked up the apartment to the point that the fire department condemned it. My mother was in the hospital dying of cirrhosis, my father was on his umpteenth stay in the Salvation Army detox, and I had just spent the night in a city jail a few nights before thanks to my former friends’ redecorating job. My brother, who used to be the radical left wing lunatic of the family, was paradoxically now the most normal, well adjusted one, pursuing his fanatic and never ending deconstruction of James Joyce 3000 miles away in grad school at UC Berkeley.

I was sleeping in the park, the subway, and, for one of those nights, in a dumpy flop hotel near the Combat Zone. At least I had a job, and more importantly, still enjoyed drinking, so the mid-autumn New England chill didn’t bother me at night so much as it could have.

I dropped by the “12” that night, and of course, there were plenty of patrons in costume. Not only did I get my 18-year-old ass in the door without getting carded, they were also nice enough to disregard my seriously dirty and disheveled appearance. What counts here is that I was let in.

The 1270, if anything, was a unique night spot. There were three levels and a roof deck. The basement had a pub like setup, complete with jukebox, pinball, a grill menu and occasionally a transvestite (or maybe TS) pianist singing show tunes. On this particular night she was singing:

I'm as corny as Kansas in August,
I'm as normal as blueberry pie.
No more a smart little girl with no heart,
I have found me a wonderful guy!

The ground level was more of a dance club setting, where the set could segue from, say, “Tainted Love” to “Holiday In Cambodia” to “Dreaming” to “Safe European Home” without anyone so much as blinking an eye and dancing right through them all. I didn’t get up to the upper floor or the rooftop much,if at all, and usually just stuck to the lower areas.

It was in the middle of the ground level dance floor, sort of early in the evening, that a monumental event in my life had occurred.

Sipping on my second or third Black Russian, I was in a circle with my friend from high school and a few folks I had not met yet. People began to introduce themselves each in turns, and I had noticed that some of them were using what can best be described as punk or otherwise underground tragically hip pseudonyms. “Hi, I’m Pogo.” “Hi, I’m Lily White (a toss to the DKs’ “Kill The Poor”)”.

My mind began to turn it into a game, like when I’d be in various drama classes and we’d play call-out “Telephone” like games to improve our improvisational skills and whatnot. Actually, I can’t recall exactly why the fuck we did those. Anyway, it was my turn, and I reached out and shook hands, trying to act as natural as possible:

“Hi, I’m Michael Psycho. How’s it goin'?”

And with that, a name was planted upon me for time immemorial. It wasn’t some well thought out scheme, it wasn’t conceived by a band manager, and it wasn’t brought to me in a dream by some angel with a fuckin’ flaming sword on a bronze tablet. It was spur of the moment, I decided after the fact that I liked it, and I have used it ever since.

I did, however, attach meaning to the name with time. Contrary to what most people may assume, it has nothing to do with the popular use of the slang term “psycho” to denote a crazy, violent or otherwise unstable person. My personal interpretation of my last name Psycho goes straight to its root, to suggest my preoccupation with matters of the mind or, as all of you romantic and metaphysical chic types out there might put it, the workings of the creative soul. Coincidentally, according to certain ancient legends, the Archangel Michael is considered a psychopomp, guiding the souls of the dead to the Great Beyond.

In time, my name has graced flyers, zine articles, and music releases, among a bunch of other stuff (and of course, a site address). Sure, folks have used variations and reverse applications of the name since then, among them being pro wrestlers, video game characters, radio personalities, and at least a couple of other musicians, one of them being a self-styled Satanic rapper who has the most interesting variation I’ve seen yet.

I’m not worried. I’ve lived with this name for so long that I’m completely confident that it (and I) will outlive anyone who tries to co-opt it in any form whatsoever. I’ve survived way too much bullshit to be convinced otherwise. But the thing that sets me out from the rest isn’t how I chose my last name. What closes the case for me is how my first name was chosen.

In late September of 1962, my brother came home from parochial school to a mild dispute between my folks. My dad wanted to name me after his late father, Albert. My mom, in the later stages of carrying me inside her, wasn’t having it, and insisted that they come up with a better name.

Enter my brother. The archaic Catholic semi-holiday of Michaelmas (September 29) was happening, and religion class that day was all about the Archangel Michael, and how cool he was for kicking Satan’s ass straight to Hell and a whole bunch of other superhero type stunts. He was not to be swayed. If this was to be a little brother, Michael was his name, and he wasn’t having it any other way. My parents, impressed by little Jackie’s rhetorical delivery, and from a kid only eight years old at that, were easily sold.

Later on, shortly after I had picked up my adopted last name, I was on a phone call with my brother and mentioned what I had done. He heartily approved of the name change, remarking that Michael was “the crazy angel” who “stood up to the old guard” when it tried to take everything selfishly for itself. Thus, the guy who gave me my first name condoned my choice of a last one. I can live with that.

So you see, Pilgrim? For me, it’s not just a stage name. It’s nothing short of who I am. No one can take that away from me.

IMPORTANT LIKE ANNOUNCEMENT RE: MY ONLINE MUSIC REPOSITORY.

2009-09-16T11:40:00.000-07:00

I received a comment or two through the grapevine concerning the dogchokin' motherlode of free MP3s of my music that I posted online a while back as part of my main Internet headquarters, michaelpsycho.com.

Seems that some folks weren't able to access my complete list of songs, due to my 1997 style embedded frame. (Sorry, I'm into retro web design. It's a kind of fetish-y thing I have.) Seems that they couldn't make the side scroll bar for the song page inside the frame go down, and for all they knew, I've only written about 4 or 5 songs, and they all start with numbers or "A".

Anyway, long story short, I just decided to trash that shit and redesign the page to a leaner, meaner look, and you should be able to scroll directly down the page with no problem. Link is below.

Click Here, Pilgrim

And while we're on the subject, a lot of folks apparently have been able to use the former page layout, because there's been downloads pulled from all over the world. Not a huge amount, but enough to make me scratch my head and think to myself, "Where the Hell are these people coming from, and how do they know about me?" Special recognition goes to the handful of web surfers who each went in on one calculated raid over the past few months and pulled out every single one of them MP3s. Either you like me, or you like free music, and I can respect either sentiment. Thank you for the recognition, and I would champagne toast you if I still drank.

And while we're still on the subject, I'll be gradually adding more fucked up cover versions of some of my favorite tunes by other artists on my Cover Killers project page over at dmusic.com. Click Here. Pilgrim

LOOKS LIKE THE TEABAGGERS WEREN'T AS MUCH OF AN IN-CROWD AS THEY ANTICIPATED.

2009-09-15T07:53:00.000-07:00

Note to Michelle Malkin:

Next time you want to relay information about crowd estimates at your beloved teabagger rallies, don't rely on tweets. Click Here, Pilgrim

And an added note: Republicans sort of have a history of bullshitting through photography. Click Here, Pilgrim

Update: Michelle, Michelle, Michelle. Getting pretty itchy with the "Post" trigger nowadays, aren't we? You really need to give yourself a two or three hour cooling off period, IMHO. Now you've even got Andrew Sullivan calling you on your shit. Click Here, Pilgrim.

FUNNIEST. GOOGLE NEWS HEADLINE LINK. EVER.

2009-09-13T19:54:00.000-07:00

I have linked the article in question below. And before I publish this particular post, I would like to let anyone who is reading know something.

I Will Not Submit My Screenplay, Or CD, Or Rant About The Evils Of Technology And The Disaster Caused By The Industrial Revolution, Or Even A Link To My Blog, To Anyone Ever. Never. On The Other Hand, I Have Been Spammed For A Free Review CD, And Lived To Regret It, And Now Have Learned To Delete Such Emails. Also, I Have Never Seen Any Films With Screenplays Written By Josh Olson, And Have Never Even Heard Of Him, But His Arrogance Is Very Amusing Nonetheless.

Click Here, Pilgrim

A TRIBUTE TO THE DAYS WHEN PEOPLE REALLY DIDN'T MOURN, AND REALLY DID ORGANIZE.

2009-09-12T09:35:00.001-07:00

So, I wanted to do something constructive with my forced vacation day (long story, convoluted situation, maybe we'll discuss it in front of a spinoccoli sometime).

Some folks pull weeds or do their laundry or sit in a fetal position on the recliner, tears streaming down their eyes in a blank, overly fatigued mental state while obliviously hearing Regis and Kelly blab to each other in the background.

I tend to, heh, think outside the box in these situations, and to show my appreciation for my one day of extra rest because a week or even two days in a row just ain't gonna happen, ever, I bumrushed a recording of the IWW Songbook classic, We Have Fed You All A Thousand Years. The next night, after putting in yet more overtime so's I can keep caught up on all of that rest I'm supposed to be getting, I culled together some old school labor footage. I'm proud to proclaim that this work is 100 percent public domain. So check. It. Out.

NOTE: If you find this particular rendition to be annoying, you may perhaps instead appreciate the version by the late great Utah Phillips. Here's a link to an audio file on last.fm: Click Here, Pilgrim

CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY: TRAILERS

2009-09-06T11:55:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling pretty sick and tired nowadays (well, that's been the story for a while, but this time it's actually physical and mental). Here are a couple of trailers for Michael Moore's new documentary, Capitalism: A Love Story. The film opens October 2, so I figure that, if I keel over from my underpaid overworked corporate white/blue collar IT sweatshop job, at least there will be something interesting posted for a while. Now excuse me while I sit like a lump of dead flesh and bones, mentally fatigued as all fuck and pretending that I'm giving my brain enough rest before going back for another round of abuse. Have A Nice Day.

PEEKSKILL: IT WAS 60 YEARS AGO TODAY, AND THE RACISTS SHOULD STILL BE DEFAMED.

2009-09-04T00:01:00.000-07:00

Please study the above photo, dear Pilgrim. I scanned it from the most excellent Paul Robeson, a biography by Martin Bauml Duberman. It shows Robeson, the legendary athlete, singer, actor and activist performing at a concert just outside of a little town called Peekskill, New York, back in 1949.

Please be so kind as to study that photograph for a moment. Go ahead and click it and expand it if you like. I’ll wait.

OK, good. Let’s discuss this photo now.

People are surrounding Robeson up on that stage for a reason. They were protecting him from getting injured, or even possibly killed. A sniper nest (two men with high-powered rifles) was discovered by security forces and flushed out at a hill overlooking the concert. So obviously, this was not your typical outdoor music festival.

Paul Robeson was an influential African-American who spoke out against racism, poverty, and the exploitation of labor, along with other kinds of injustice. I consider him to be one of the bravest American citizens in history, who lived a life dedicated to the defense of human equality and dignity, regardless of any threat to his own life, career or well being.

He had performed at Peekskill previously, but things were going to be different this time for certain significant reasons. He had not only testified to the House Un-American Activities Committee against making Communists register as foreign agents, he had also been quoted as saying at the World Peace Conference in Paris, in an Associated Press dispatch, “it is unthinkable that American Negroes will go to war in behalf of those who have oppressed us for generations... against a country which in one generation has raised our people to the full dignity of mankind.”

Robeson never said those words at the Paris conference. No one fact checked them either. When the remarks were carried in the media, they were perceived by many to be anti-American, and local newspaper The Peekskill Evening Star fanned the flames of sentiment against Robeson, encouraging protests at the concert site.

Apparently, many of the Evening Star’s readers were either actual or wannabe Klansmen, as the protests featured a burning cross and lynched effigies of Robeson. VFW and American Legion members, in tandem with a loose group of boneheads, threw rocks at concertgoers and beat them with baseball bats, effectively shutting down the first attempt at a concert, planned for August 27. Looks like somebody forgot all about the First Amendment and the right to freely assemble.

The concert was postponed to September 4, and this time the concert itself went off without any incidents of violence. However, it was the transit for performers and audience in and out of the concert that was a different story altogether.

Robeson was literally tucked into the rear floor of a car to be shuttled out, which must have been quite a feat since the man was the size of your average modern day NFL offensive tackle. People were dragged out of vehicles and attacked, and those who weren’t had windows taken out from rocks and other objects courtesy of what must have seemed like a miles-long gauntlet of racist rioters. If you were black, you were serenaded with screams of the n-word; if you were a white concertgoer, you were labeled as a “white n-word”. Pete Seeger, who also performed that day, had so many rocks tossed into the car which he, Woody Guthrie and others were riding in, that he built a chimney at his cabin to remind people of the riots.

The police did nothing as far as even trying to stop the riots. Some of the cops even joined the anti-Robeson crowd and assisted them in beating those exiting the concert site. The Westchester County District Attorney, George M. Fanelli, later congratulated the police for doing “a magnificent job”.

Learn all you can about the Peekskill Riots, and take all that you will learn into serious consideration when witnessing certain events that are occurring today. Next time you see a town hall meeting on health care reform, or one of those lame ass right wing teabagger rallies, with all of these Angry White Men and Angry White Women out of the Dittohead Textbook a-yellin’ and a-screamin’, remember that those guys and gals engaging in such behavior are the cultural descendants of the white, male, xenophobic rock throwers and bat wielders at Peekskill in 1949, who not only beat people like Eugene Bullard, an African American WWI aviator for France who was awarded the Croix de Guerre, but were the same people who had also attacked people who were white, simply because they supported racial equality for those who were not.

Times may have changed since the Peekskill Riots, but nothing has been entirely eliminated. That environment of ignorant, stupid hate has simply been tamed, and driven down to a social sublevel of relative impotence. Unfortunately, in recent times with the election of our nation’s first African-American President, the symptoms of the disease called racism are starting to re-appear. We need to never let up our guard when it comes to keeping that sort of mentality from ever re-entering our national psyche. That’s why, sooner or later, Americans of tolerance are going to need to step up and counter attack the re-emerging actions of the intolerant. In the same way that we should feel about the Holocaust, we must be determined that the Peekskill Riots never happen again.

"[W]e can make clear what peaceful coexistence means. It means living in peace and friendship with another kind of society--a fully integrated society where the people control their destinies, where poverty and illiteracy have been eliminated, and where new kinds of human beings develop in the framework of a new level of social living."
-Paul Robeson, Paul Robeson Speaks, p. 338

PFIZER APPRECIATION POST

2009-09-02T15:59:00.001-07:00

To celebrate Pfizer’s record-breaking achievement (the largest criminal fine ever – way to go, Pfizer), I decided to call an assortment of all-star musicians for a little jam session at this week’s undisclosed location housing the Black Hole Media Co. Mobile Unit . Behold the one take wonder that was a popular live tune for the three or four times when I actually played it. I wrote this lil' number some years back after reading reports about how Pfizer would discharge cyanide into the river by their plant in Groton, Connecticut. Here is “Pfizer”, presented to you, dear Pilgrim, with a special lyrical aid, in case you’re inspired to sing along.

MY SASSY, EDGY, ZANY NEW T-SHIRT DESIGN.

2009-08-29T21:16:00.000-07:00

Since, supposedly, the US Government ordered the "Black Sites" closed, this would qualify as retro fashion.

Wonder if J.C. Penney would be interested in an exclusive distribution deal?

Peruse and purchase other fine items at my humble little CafePress site. My aim is to have something to offend everyone eventually.

Click Here, Pilgrim

REVEALED: THE THREE UNWRITTEN RULES OF SACRAMENTO.

2009-08-21T18:03:00.000-07:00

To celebrate my 25th year of residence in this quaint little valley that has been my home, I’ve decided to present you, dear Pilgrim, with what I have thus dubbed The Three Unwritten Rules Of Sacramento. And of course, since they are previously unwritten, naturally, I’m going to completely blow it and write them down for your reading pleasure today.

Shall we proceed? Let’s start with The First Unwritten Rule…

1. SACRAMENTO IS A SMALL TOWN DISGUISED AS A BIG CITY.

When I first moved here in ’84, Sacramento was definitely in fetal civic form. No light rail, no NBA team, and cable TV was barely laid out with like, six local TV channels to choose from for most households. I won’t even start to kvetch about the (lack of) choices for pizza. Paradoxically, if you were an aficionado of punk and hardcore bands (I was) there was rarely a dull moment in that department. There were quite a few decent bands coming through town back then.

Yup, things have definitely grown here and not just the population. Fact remains, though, that Sacramento, for all intents and purposes, is currently a small town disguised as a big city, and will be in foreseeable decades to come.

That’s nothing to be embarrassed about. As a matter of fact it’s one of the benefits of living here. It’s got a larger city’s population, but has a decent small town level of livability in lots of areas. Overall, I think that Midtown is one of the best neighborhoods in the country, nay the world, to live in. Even though I like to keep to myself nowadays, I know that there is a lot of interesting, vital and (most importantly) homegrown cultural activity here at present. If we give this place a chance to develop its own personality, we will only improve in quality, and instead of making the mistake of trying to mimic other, larger metropolitan areas we will be one of those great cities on our own.

Oh, shit. Did I just say that over the whole Internet? Oh, uh, like I was saying, Sacramento, like, sucks, man. It’s a cowtown fulla empty foreclosed houses and home invasions and shit. Don’t move here, man, you’ll hate it. Don’t even read anymore, it’s only gonna get worse with what I’m describing.

Are they gone? Good. Carrying on to our Second Unwritten Rule.

2. SACRAMENTO IS A MAGNET. IF YOU TRY TO LEAVE FOR GOOD, SOMEDAY, YOU’LL BE BACK.

I’m not just talking about coming home to visit the family for the holidays, or the Unabomber or whatever. If you become a resident for any considerable length of time, what will happen is inevitable. No matter how hard you try to relocate out of here, you will be dragged back into the city limits by a heretofore unseen and indescribable force. It’s happened to too many others I’ve known, and yes, myself as well. Quite some time ago I’ve thrown my hands in the air and said, “Fuck it! I’m down by cosmic law here for life! Might as well make the best of it.” Hey, there are many worse places you could be stuck in. Just throw a dart at a map of… well, I’m trying to keep a somewhat positive vibe going here so I’ll let that one go.

Concluding with The Third Unwritten Rule:

3. SACRAMENTO IS A CITY OF SOCIAL CIRCLES, AND YOU WILL BE IN ONE, WHETHER YOU WANT TO BE OR NOT.

You could be the most housebound hermit in history, and yet in this city, you will be corralled into one sort of social circle or another. It’s not quite like the cliques you encounter in other places; no, in Sacramento, one tends to move interchangeably from scene to scene with relatively little effort. A person’s race, creed, political party, gender preference, etc.? None of that stuff has anything to do with it, and furthermore, no individual trait can do anything to interfere with this strange invisible matrix of group affiliation. Yet, each circle is distinct, though quite arbitrary in its makeup and purpose.

You may show up at a party thrown by your friend in the music scene and somebody you know from the art gallery scene shows up. Then you’ll go to a Second Saturday event and somebody you hang out with regularly at a local watering hole or from your AA Chapter shows up, and of course they know the artist you’ve showed up to support and when you all go out to Lyon’s later that night, who the Hell do you run into but the music scene folks whose party you went to previously and lo and behold! No introductions necessary all around. Everybody standing in the circle in the parking lot knows at least one other person through somebody or other.

It’s devoid of any Rule 1 (small town/big city) argument; what is in motion here is some weird Olympic Ring-like interlocking of urban culture. There’s nothing wrong with this picture whatsoever, and as a matter of fact, quite of few folks have used this social phenomenon to their advantage at one time or another. Sure, there's occasional friction between certain circles, but even then there's still the mingling for commercial or sexual purposes or illicit criminal activity or mayoral advisor appointments or whatnot.

I’ve not only learned to love these rules, I’ve grown to appreciate their existence. They are a constant amongst the ups and downs and all of the kooky changes which I’ve experienced in my quarter century in Sacramento. We may have periods of bad government and urban planning, and efforts to encourage conspicuous consumption as a substitute for true development of community character, but The Three Unwritten Rules are what produce the genuine quality of life and the best things that happen to this city,

So there you have it, Sacramentan. Keep these three rules close to your heart and nothing will stop you here. Sacramento is a city where you have the space to get things done, you will have the support and friendship that you need, and you can have the opportunity to break out of here for something bigger, if that’s what you so desire. Just remember, you’ll be back. Trust me on this one.

LISKULA COHEN APPRECIATION POST

2009-08-19T18:40:00.000-07:00

Liskula Cohen is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life.

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE NEVER HEARD OF BLACK FLAG.

2009-08-09T19:15:00.000-07:00

Ah, memories.

HEY, RUSH LIMBAUGH. PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN GLASS HOUSES...

2009-08-07T07:49:00.000-07:00

So, in response to Rush Limbaugh's latest idiotic accusation (comparing the logo for Obama's health care proposal to a swastika), I'm going to do something I've been wanting to put up on this blog for quite some time now.

Behold the following illustrated examples:

Here is the logo for Rush's radio network, Excellence In Broadcasting:

Now, here is the same logo with some slight modifications (by detraction, i.e., erasing in all of the right places):

Any questions?

A TEMPTING CAREER CHOICE IN THESE TROUBLED TIMES: CULT LEADER!

2009-08-05T21:50:00.000-07:00

Y'know, besides bartenders and undertakers, cult leaders probably have one of the most recession-proof careers around. I mean, think about it: desperate, distressed (and therefore vulnerable) people only increase in numbers during periods of economic adversity.

After viewing this video, I'm seriously thinking about shopping around for real estate, most likely in the vicinity of Southwest Oregon.

HEY LIFETIME NETWORK! HAVE I GOT A STORY IDEA FOR YOU!

2009-08-04T07:57:00.000-07:00

If this particular incident, and the events building up to it, is not going to be snapped up in Hollyweird and turned into a feature film somehow...

Click Here, Pilgrim

TMZ POSTERS. GIVIN' THE LOOOOVE TO GOOD DAY SACRAMENTO.

2009-07-30T21:03:00.000-07:00

So, I had missed the Joan Rivers "F-Bomb" episode of Good Day Sacramento (musta gone to work already?), but caught it on CNN tonight, with the, ahem, comedienne providing further comments on the incident. So, I nosed around on the Internet frontier for some more info, and of course, the trough for media pigs everywhere, TMZ, had a story posted right after the whole sorry spectacle aired. Out of the comments, looks like Joan Rivers took the brunt of the bruising (I got sorta bored reading "old bitch" and "old hag" so many times- please, people, invest in a good ol' fashioned thesaurus sometime, 'kay?).

But the comments on Mark S. Allen (who, naturally, triggered the Rivers meltdown) and, occasionally, the rest of the Good Day staff were at least a bit more interesting, to put it mildly.

I thought that comment 50 was intriguing.

"Mark S Allen is the sort of unchanging, incompetent juvenile delinquent that the degenerate subculture in media loves, since it allows them to greatly lower their standards and ethics and hence pay less, reduce the expectations of the audience and "dumb them down" all around. That is exactly the same subculture that put George Bush in government and put two missiles into the towers after rigging them and WTC Building 7 with the thermite. "

So, the Stinking Shadow Conspiracy is responsible for the election of Dubya, the 9/11 setup, and Mark S. Allen's career. No, haven't caught that one on Disinformation recently.

Commenter number 62, apparently, can't decide whether to hate Rivers or the show more:

For that dumb as s reporter ( the woman ) to keep repeating I didnt expect her to go there at all.. GIMME a break. Joan Rivers has a mouth to make sailors blush.. You have to always watch what you say with that old batalax(sic). She can dish it out in heaps but when someone dishes to her she gets all freaked out.. She's 100 years old what do you expect from a foul mouth old hag.

Comment number 64 (which is posted by the same username as number 50) really was the work of someone who was feeling the bile rise up the throat, and decided to come back for an encore:

The skank reporter in the middle is a stale suburban polyester politically correct bag of bleach. Everything except baby kittens offends people like that. The most appropriate thing to do for Sacramento is to BURN THAT TELEVISION STUDIO TO THE GROUND, OR, change the channel, or of course, the best option is to STOP WATCHING TELEVISION YOU MORONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

(Gentle word of advice: When holding down the exclamation key to emphasize how wild and crazy a ranter you are to the world, remember to take your right finger off of the "!" key first, and then let go of the shift, then that pesky lil' "1" isn't hanging at the end and you don't look even lamer than you have just demonstrated).

You can always tell who is posting from a "real city", or at least wants to be, as evidenced by poster number 306:

Rivers was on their rinky-dink little local show as a GUEST, and the awkward, effeminate nobody from the two-bit "Good Day Sacramento" program (or is that a podcast from someone's garage) thought he would take a cheap shot for some publicity. Talk about riding someone else's coattails, eh, Johnny Nobody?

His ass should be canned ASAP because you do NOT treat guests like that on a television show and then expect others to appear in the future. It would be no loss whatsoever to any celebrity or author to skip appearing on a program in a impoverished podunk town full of gang members and foreclosed homes like Sacramento.

I'm surprised that comment 393 didn't pop up earlier...

Wow, that loser from Sacramento looks like he's had even more plastic surgery than Joan! Of course he looks like he's about twenty or thirty years older than her, plus he has no real career, so I guess he's had lots more time to get it all in.

But 394? Now that was just wrong...

Maybe this guy took Joan's child molester joke about Michael Jackson personally. He sure has a really creepy vibe about him.

I just couldn't do more than skim most of these 571 points of light. But before I go rinse my eyeballs from my exposure to TMZ, I need to share something important with you.

You see, I am the cause of all of the controversy.

What happened is this: the F-bomb uttered on live TV the other day followed me here from Boston.

A detailed account is found on page 142 of From Rage To Reason, by Janet Langhart Cohen, the former host of the WCVB Channel 5 1970's morning talk show, Good Day! (uh, huhhh... yeah trippy huh?) Lauren Hutton, then a very hot supermodel, was asked about the keys to her success, and her reply was, "I fucked around". Well, at least she was a little more creative than Joan. (And by the way, this book is overall a pretty decent read.)

SACRAMENTO REGIONAL TRANSIT. JUST GIVE UP, AND SHUT IT DOWN.

2009-07-28T21:32:00.000-07:00

We have heard a lot of hoo-hah over the recent years about how Sacramento needs to become a world class destination city, like, say, New York or Boston or our nearby neighbor San Francisco.

All three of these cities tend to have something in common. They all have extensive and conveniently scheduled public transportation systems. Believe it or not, some folks who earn a living wage don't even own a vehicle in those cities, out of choice! They just use the bus or train like it's a perfectly normal thing to do, to work, and go shopping, or even go out at night to clubs and the movies and whatnot. Every day, for like, practically their entire lives! Weird, huh?

Take S.F., for example. As recently as January, I could literally step outside of my hotel at Van Ness and Geary and board a Muni bus to Ocean Beach or towards Union Square or the Ferry Building and transfer to basically wherever I wanted for one low fare. At three in the fuckin' morning if I wanted to.

On the other hand, here in Sacramento, we have a transit system which, frankly, is complete shit, and will be for what seems like decades to come. We have buses that run sparingly throughout the day, with the central artery of the system being a whopping two light rail lines. The cost to ride on Regional Transit has become increasingly jacked up, with transfers now non-existent and fares among the highest in the nation. Now the career politicians who are sitting on RT's board are considering a halt to light rail service after 9 PM.

I say, only half in jest, just shut the whole damn system down and stop embarrassing yourselves, Regional Transit. Of course I'm not serious, but guess what. I was considering a trip on the 67 bus recently to shop but at the last minute I decided to dust off the ol' Specialized and rode to a location closer to home. I may have been able to save three or four bucks total (with discounting of the extortion which passes for RT fare nowadays) had I rode the bus instead. God, it felt good to get on a bike for once. Thanks, RT!

In reality, a public transportation system shouldn't been seen as a luxury by the leaders of this city, but an investment in the future. We're only gonna get more populous eventually, and the best way to meet that inevitable part of our future is to develop a mass transit system comparable to the cities we claim to striving to emulate. I'm someone who has spent his whole life riding public transit (being taken to Grandma's in JP on the Orange Line at six months old... oh, never mind) and can tell you that, yes, the convenience of getting where you want or need to go without a hassle or waste of time makes a huge difference in the quality of city life.

In the case of Sacramento's situation, however, I'm figuring that if they manage to get Light Rail running slightly past Natomas Marketplace by 2032 (when I turn 70), it will be nothing short of a miracle. And that, my friends, is nothing short of pathetic.

IT'S A FREE COUNTRY, AND IF GOOGLE WANTS TO BE STUPID, THAT'S THEIR RIGHT.

2009-07-26T09:40:00.000-07:00

So, my site michaelpsycho.com was removed from the almighty Google index. Curiously, the pages within the site are still listed but not the main page. Strangely, this happened just days after I signed up for a Google Alert on my name, which was (supposed) to send me alerts whenever something about "Michael Psycho" comes up on their search engine.

I sent an email politely asking why my main site page was removed. Here's the bullshit automated answer that I got from Google:

From: help@google.com
Subject: Re: [#476796004] Why was my site removed?

Thank you for writing to Google. If you have a question or suggestion
about our products, please visit http://www.google.com/support/. There,
you'll find links to our Help Centers, which offer answers to our most
frequently asked questions. Due to a high volume of email, we currently
respond only to messages submitted through specific forms in these Help
Centers.

Regards,
The Google Team

No you don't. Stop lying, Google. You just send some generic "go check out our terms" link in response. I've read your response to the same question I'm asking on the Help Centers and that's all you do in response.

Oh well. Fuck 'em. Hey, what can I do, they're a private business. It would create a tremendous amount of publicity and discussion to just lawyer up and sue them, but I don't want my name in the paper anyway. If they restore the listing, great, but I'm not holding my breath.

Google, of course, won't go into any details as to why the site was removed.

If Google had removed it at somebody's request, I doubt it, but only because

a.) Google supposedly doesn't do that, and

b.) I don't think that anyone could be that much of a pussy.

And then again, I'd be flattered if they did, because it means that they fear me and can only do juvenile shit like that to try and discourage me, which will never happen. The only way that you will discourage me is to kill me. I'm not going away, Google listing or no Google listing, so deal with it.

The consolation in all of this is that, thanks to Google's ban, this blog is now listed first on a search for "Michael Psycho", and lately the blog is what's been pissing certain people off. So, in that respect, thanks, Google! I can't wait to not hear the bullshit reason why you shut down this blog as the next step! After all, they own blogger.com and it would be too easy. If anything, I've learned a valuable lesson about what happens when a corporation gets too powerful and can, in effect, do whatever the fuck it wants without any recourse.

(Update 7/26/09: How nice of the folks in Mountain View. As of 1345 hours PST, the site is back up in the search engine listing! Either Google listened to a squeaky wheel right quick, or I really am a raving paranoid. Perhaps a little of both. If this was simply a mistake on the part of Google, I sincerely appreciate the effort to correct it. It would actually restore some faith in the integrity of people again.)

THIS YOUTUBE THING ON THE INTERNETS IS KINDA ADDICTING.

2009-07-17T20:05:00.000-07:00

Just forthafugguvit, I put up a video for my song "War" on YouTube. Some of you may have seen the previous version on Download.com. Don't worry, I re-edited it and cut out the dork with the top hat reading the piece of paper, so IMHO, it's a much more enjoyable clip.

DEEP THOUGHTS ABOUT PRIVACY, WHILST SITTING ON THE TURLET.

2009-07-11T19:32:00.000-07:00

There is hearing, and there is listening.

People can hear, but they choose to listen.

Within reasonable confines and levels, a person within his or her own environment has a right to privacy in communication and information.

When people make extraordinary efforts to breach this boundary established by the right to privacy, an inexcusably egregious violation has occurred. This violation, when discovered, should be exemplified as the epitome of evil behavior and the violators should be prosecuted if the offense is damaging to the subject of the eavesdropping and the offenders should be denigrated to the point of absolute humiliation.

Click Here, Pilgrim

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: THE GLORIOUS MESS THAT WAS INDUCORE.

2009-07-03T15:56:00.000-07:00

My former associate in Inducore, Schizm Murphy, has been bugging me for the past year to put a video clip from the, ahem, good old days on You Tube for about the past year or so. Every other email he's been sending me has been something like, "So? When's Inducore going up on You Tube? Huh? Huh? When?"

Okey doke, Mr. Murphy, you've finally gotten your wish. This is a clip of Inducore from 1987 or so in somebody's house in the 'burbs of Sacramento, with the legendary Joey Lucifer (RIP) behind the camera. Joey had a camera for a spell and had also taped the early version of Dead Sam Club at the time. Though Inducore was pretty much toast at this point, it was decided to tape some tunes just for posterity's sake.

So here, in gloriously off-tracked audio on badly damaged twenty two year old VHS tape, is the one and only Inducore. (Mr. Murphy claims to subscribe to my blog, so I'm not even going to email to let him know it's up.)

By the way, who was the skinny douchebag in the "Bob" Dobbs shirt? I remember seeing him back in the time, but the name escapes me...

THE OBLIGATORY MICHAEL JACKSON POST

2009-06-25T21:56:00.000-07:00

Despite what my previous blog posts may suggest to some folks, I've never hated Michael Jackson. But I'm not going to jump on the bandwagon of those who, upon the minute of the announcement of his death, were suddenly declaring themselves devoted fans.

I saw the kid perform with his brothers on The Ed Sullivan Show when I was just 7 years old (1969), and from that point on, I just wanted to sing and dance. The dancing part was soon replaced by guitar playing, and later on, folks like the Clash, Dead Boys and Ramones made me decide what kind of music that I wanted to play.

Around the same time as the Jackson 5's Sullivan appearance, I had read a Classics Illustrated version of Victor Hugo's The Man Who Laughs.

Michael Jackson, by my estimation, grew up into the Gwynplaine of our time. His remaining fans, the ones who stuck with him through all of the embarrassment and ridicule, are now a personification of Homo, Gwynplaine's faithful companion wolf, staring mournfully over the railing and instinctively acknowledging his drowning, sight unseen.

THE MYSTERY OF "MAKE ME OVER AGAIN" BY THE ROGUE SHOW. SOLVED 37 YEARS LATER.

2009-06-16T21:52:00.000-07:00

Back when I was a lil' brat we had a local store just three or four blocks away from my childhood home called the Melrose Drug Center. It was sort of a proto-Walgreens for the area, which sold, besides drugs, candy and the usual fare, kinda weird knickknacks and novelties and closeout books with the front cover torn off (I scored a copy of Patti Smith's Babel there as a young burgeoning punker kid) and really cheap records and tapes.

One day, at the age of 10, I had a slightly fat pocket (for 1972 dollars at least, and for being a kid back then) from birthday money and blew a whole dollar on a "mystery box" of sixteen 45 RPM singles. This was an interesting collection. There was a single from Welcome Back Kotter's Marcia Strassman (who played Mrs. Kotter) of a tune called "The Flower Children", a Roy Orbison number, "Breaking Up Is Breaking My Heart", and a sorta creepy sounding release from 1969 by a now-obscure act called Coventry, the sides of which were entitled "Let Me Off At The Next Town" and "Around The Corner There's A Man (He's My Friend)"(mmmm...okayyy).

The one single that truly kept my interest, however, was a sorta mysterious looking record by a band called The Rogue Show. It was a song titled "Make Me Over Again", released on the Paula Records label, with a label that looked like it was typeset with a retail kit from Woolworth's (and influenced the cover design of my 1990 Think album). The song was a pretty catchy lil' garagey number, and apparently it was a promo copy, as "Make Me Over Again" was on both sides, totally identical to each other.

I played the shit out of this single through my pre-and early teen years, but it ended up in one of my "lost" vinyl collections. Still, I had always wondered about who the Hell the Rogue Show was, and their history. As recently as a few years ago, there was absolutely nothing that I could find about these guys.

Of course, this is now 2009, and as we all know nowadays, you can find just about everything online if you search for it long enough (and know how to use Google). Finally, after 37 years, the mystery is solved, at least somewhat.

So here, for your viewing and listening pleasure, is the Rogue Show from 1971 with "Make Me Over Again". (And as an added bonus, after viewing, check out this blog where a collector posts a pic of the label and the Rogue Show's drummer posts some memories and facts about the group. It's actually pretty interesting stuff. Click Here, Pilgrim

(Update - 6/20/09) I received this link to yet another site in which someone had posted the news that Rogue Show drummer Ellis Starkey, whom I had mentioned earlier, had died on June 1, just a few weeks after I posted this. Strange timing, and sad to hear nonetheless. Well, my condolences to the friends and family of Mr. Starkey, and here are some more extensive memories of the Rogue Show (and his band previous to them, the Back Alley) which he had submitted for garagehangover.com. Click Here, Pilgrim

(Yet One More Update - 6/20/09) Further adding to the weird coincidence surrounding this record: apparently, the day after I posted about the Rogue Show, somebody put the exact same record on Ebay. Here's a chance to reclaim a relic of my childhood. But, ninety nine bucks? I'll settle for the memories for now. If I could, I'd offer to trade up two copies of Think, but alas, I don't have that record anymore either.

NOW MY TWITTER PAGE IS EVEN MORE OBNOXIOUS.

2009-06-14T20:05:00.001-07:00

So, I've updated my Twitter message (and by message, I mean lonely ol' solitary message).

Already I've had to 86 a a few fuckers who have "followed" me because they're selling shit. When I say "don't fuckin' follow me", I mean it. If you're just following me because you know me, apologies, but I'm on a mission G. Don't take it personally if I nuke you.

But feel free to read it nonetheless: Click Here, Pilgrim

MESSAGE FROM "MAINSTREAM AMERICA" TO LETTERMAN, THE PALINS ET AL: SHUT THE FUCK UP. NOW.

2009-06-12T19:01:00.000-07:00

Two things are clear after all of this David Letterman vs. Sarah Palin hullabaloo.

First of all, David Letterman was very irresponsible with the joke in question.

What he should have said was,

"...during the seventh inning, her daughter was knocked up by the Yankees bat boy."

We wouldn't be having this conversation today.

And the second thing that this tempest in a teapot points out is that, quite obviously, Sarah Palin thinks that the American proletariat are a bunch of gullible idiots. Todd Palin reinforced that sentiment by saying: "...these sexually-perverted comments are outside the acceptance of mainstream America."

Well, I don't watch Letterman much nowadays, since, as a member of so-called Mainstream America, I have to get up early just like most of my fellow Mainstream Americans and tend to be dozed off by 11 PM (when Letterman airs in Sacramento). However, anyone who has watched his show, oh, at least once or twice or so, can figure out that David Letterman's opening monologue has always been about this corny ol' Midwestern dude making these kooky borderline off-color jokes and like wow, dude, you just don't expect a dude that looks like that to say those things, maaaan!

Unless, of course, you've been watching him for years and years, just like, y'know, most of Mainstream America who can still keep their eyes open at that time of night.

Sarah Palin can make as many "statutory rape joke" accusations as she wants, but Mainstream America quite easily figured out that the joke was about the Palin daughter who fucked her boyfriend out of wedlock and under the age of 18, and Mainstream America also realizes that the joke's object was the Palin daughter whose Baby Daddy walked from the shotgun wedding, so, nice try but uh-uh, it's not going over.

And besides, as any of us in TV-watching Mainstream America knows, A-Rod seems to prefer older, powerful famous women, like Madonna and ladies of that type. If anything, he would have tried to scam on Governor Palin, not any of her daughters.

Enough is enough. Mr. Letterman, Governor Palin and family, assorted commentators, associates, bloggers et al:

On behalf of Mainstream America, I respectfully request that all of you shut the fuck up about this incident. Right now. No more apologies, no more accusations of perversion, no more extended analysis. We're already sick of hearing about this shit.

As a way of walking my talk, I will promise to never address the subject again. Trust me, it will be too easy.

MR. CARRADINE, THEY HARDLY KNEW YE.

2009-06-05T19:30:00.000-07:00

Usually, when the deaths of famous people are covered in the media, I'll tend to react with a typical mixture of disinterest and detachment. No matter how much the dearly departed in question accomplished, in almost all cases, I simply could not give a shit.

When I saw the morning news crawl concerning the death of David Carradine, it was a different story. It's been a while since I've felt this sorry to hear of the passing of someone whom I didn't know personally , although in a sort of indirect way, I feel like I did know this guy.

I remember when Kung Fu was on the air back when I was a kid, and like a lot of my generation growing up back then, I was sorta sucked up into the martial arts fad of the time. I even watched the latter day revival Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, which was on the air in the 1990s, well into the era that Carradine's abilities as an actor were considered by many to be (falsely) a punchline to a joke of mediocrity.

I was pretty much over Tarantino's films by the time that the Kill Bill movies were made, but Carradine certainly deserved the revived recognition. My personal admiration of his talent will always be his larger-than-life portrayal of Woody Guthrie in Bound for Glory, which helped to earn a Best Picture nomination for the 1976 Oscars. I consider it to be the best Depression-era film since The Grapes of Wrath, and a big reason for that opinion is because I feel that Carradine completely wraps himself around his role of Guthrie, transforming into a character straight out of one of those Steinbeck novels.

I've also never been ashamed to admit that I was impressed with, and actually went out and purchased, Carradine's Tai Chi and Chi Kung instructional videos. Carradine technically took the lead in these videos but the real expert was a gentleman by the name of Arnold Tayam, an instructor with over 30 years of experience. These tapes triggered my interest in both forms and I expanded my knowledge of them on my own, moving my interest past these tapes. I do a mix of Chi Kung and Tai Chi stretches and motions every morning before my weights, and I am convinced that it has kept me from transmorphing into a pear shaped stiff limbed hunchback, as is the case for many cubicle-trapped proles at my age. I feel that I will be eternally grateful to Mr. Carradine for this positive change in my lifestyle.

I am going to refrain from any commentary on the circumstances regarding Carradine's death. I will leave the discussion of certain speculated causes to folks like Larry King and Rush the Donut Worshiper.

I consider David Carradine to be a True Original and, personally in my life, an inspiring figure who seemed to do some things in his chosen career that he didn't quite want to do, but got to live some great life in between. By all eyewitness accounts, he was a rare mix of integrity, wisdom and joie de vivre who was liked and respected by so many that got to know him and work with him. The man deserved a much better closing scene to the later years of his life. Dammit, I want to hammer out a re-write and to re-shoot an updated ending, pronto.

HEY, THE CRIME RATE DROPPED! GREAT JOB, KJ! HA, PSYCH.

2009-06-01T21:46:00.001-07:00

Hey kids, remember when Kevin Johnson's campaign and his supporters were harping on about the city of Sacramento's skyrocketing crime rate, and how electing KJ for mayor was gonna fix all that up and make public safety real copacetic and shit?

Well, whaddaya know! Less than half a year into Johnson's term, the FBI has just released statistics showing that violent crime actually dropped in Sacramento!

In 2008.

In Heather Fargo's last year in office.

Excuse me. I can't type right now because I'm having trouble controlling my laughter.

Read the story yourself. Click Here, Pilgrim

NEWS FLASH! IT'S OKAY TO SWEAR ON SACBEE.COM (AT LEAST FOR NOW).

2009-05-30T21:55:00.000-07:00

Apparently, somebody at sacbee.com thought that it was a great idea to turn off the offensive words filter in the comments section of its articles, as evidenced by this, um, enlightening exchange of "opinions". (I have dutifully provided a screenshot above, just in case they realize that they fucked up and pull the comments in question. Click on image to enlarge.) Get on there and cuss it up while you still can, people! Yay, First Amendment!

MICHAEL PHELPS. NOW, THAT YOUNG MAN KNOWS HOW TO PARTY.

2009-05-25T10:55:00.001-07:00

Michael. FUCK-in'. Phelps.

Sisqó needs to get this fella into one of his videos.

Britain's News of the World, which is, of course, a pillar of journalistic integrity and accuracy, wasn't happy enough with being the paper that broke the infamous photos of Phelps nailing the bong like a champ. So, in its latest hard-hitting investigative reporting piece on Phelps, it interviews a young Latina lap dancer who claims to have been carrying on a freelance service agreement outside of the normal strip club business model. Now, that's what I call "thinking outside of the box"!

On one hand, Phelps' lifestyle choices make it easy for tabloids to make him look like a fool. On the other hand, I don't quite understand why Rupert Murdoch's pride and joy of print media has such a hard-on against Phelps. A quick search of the site produces a series of observations of his personal life which almost have a personal grudge feel to it. I mean, c'mon, didn't one of you Brits win a silver in swimming at Beijing? Quit hatin'.

Personally, I don't really give a shit about Phelps, the Olympics or swimming, but partying-wise, I can't help but think to myself, "Damn! There goes me at 23!" Therefore, I don't see what the big fuss is about, but maybe you'll have a different opinion, or just get off on tabloid shit. Go ahead and read it yourself if you like. Just be sure to read (or do) something that's actually educational and informative afterwards to make up for the brain cells you'll be losing from reading that shit.

KWOD 106.5 R.I.P.

2009-05-22T07:40:00.000-07:00

Looks like KWOD 106.5 is officially heading off to the airwaves of the beyond. It's going bye-bye and being replaced by a '90s format, called "the Buzz" (don't know the new call letters, but a Google search pulled up about eight stations with that nickname on the first page).

You know that no one saw this coming. Right? Oh yeah, I did sorta.
Click Here, Pilgrim

I'M TWITTING. OR TWEETING. WHATEVER THOSE CRAZY KIDS CALL IT NOWADAYS.

2009-05-16T10:17:00.000-07:00

God help you, I'm on Twitter finally.

The official Twitter address. Accept no substitutes.

http://twitter.com/michaelpsycho

I'm aspiring to be the anti-Ashton and want to keep no followers (and no followees) forever. So don't fuckin' follow me. Hey, just because I have goals and you don't, stop hatin'.

HEIL JP MORGAN CHASE! AT LEAST THAT'S WHAT THEY WANT YOU TO SAY.

2009-04-29T18:57:00.000-07:00

Those of us who watch commercial television stations in California have been bombarded with an excruciatingly annoying spot for Chase Bank, as in JP Morgan Chase & Co., who bought out the failed Washington Mutual, and gosh darn it, they want all of us in the Golden State to know that, over and over and over ad nauseam.

As a shitty cover version of John Lennon's Instant Karma plays in the background , genetically pleasing examples of humankind float effortlessly through their perfect lives, with the Chase logo replacing the very sun in the sky. (And as for those of you thinking I'm a Peter Murphy basher, fuck you, I was probably listening to Bauhaus when you were still considering Men At Work to be the greatest band, like ever man.) On a side by side comparison, any of Leni Riefenstahl's documentaries during Hitler's reign had less fascist-aesthetic overtones than this commercial.

But hey, when Uncle Sam hands you 25 bil, you've got to spend it on something, right?

Don't feel left out just because you're living outside of the West Coast where WaMu got played like Poland by Chase. I'm posting the commercial on my blog so that I can, uh, share the love, yeah that's it.

Enjoy the propaganda.

HEY, YAHOO! IT WAS ONLY A JOKE.

2009-04-23T21:04:00.001-07:00

You know, it's kind of hard to believe that michaelpsycho.com is already turning a year old. It seems like just yesterday that I shuttered my long-obsolete and useless Geocities location and finally got up on my own two feet.

When I removed all of my shit from the Geocities site, besides a link to my new home on the Web, I left a brief parting shot:

I moved. There's nothing here. It's a brave new world. Geocities can shut down now.

Little did I ever think that, in just under a year, Yahoo would pay heed to my advice. Geocities is finally going up to that Wayback Machine in the sky.

I could easily join the chorus of voices that are already putting in one last dig at Geocities, but I won't because, for starters it gave me the opportunity to experiment early on with what would work and what wouldn't in establishing my own Web presence, and second of all, most of those people are assholes and I don't want to be lumped in with them.

Here is the Washington Post's account of the decline and fall of Geocities (Which somehow kept its unique visitor count above 10 million even towards the end). Click Here, Pilgrim.

WE HAVE A NEW WINNA!

2009-04-13T20:33:00.000-07:00

Damn! Fifty one bucks? If I had one hundred copies of this, I'd have doubled my investment at that price!

Thanks, "ampnoise records" (and eBay bidder "h***h") for making my day. Hopefully you got that much, and have fun spending it (and I'm guessing perhaps on more records).

By the way, you are correct that it is the one poppy and cracky copy of Think which I personally still own on vinyl, that I used to create the MP3s on my website's music page. However, that was a test pressing, with a generic red Sharpie scribbled label. Hmmm, only five of those were pressed. Wonder how much I can get for that puppy? Nah, can't part with that one...

EXCLUSIVE! NORTH KOREAN ROCKET LAUNCH VIDEO!

2009-04-04T19:58:00.000-07:00

SACRAMENTO BEE, YOU TOOK APRIL FOOL'S DAY WAY TOO FAR.

2009-04-01T07:43:00.000-07:00

I'm just as much into April Fool's Day pranks as the next fella, but Sac Bee, this is ridiculous. Sorry to bust you like this, but come on, who is ever going to believe this is true? People in this city would never think that the mayor would be this stupid.

For those of you who would like to read the "story" in question, Click Here, Pilgrim

SO. YOU'RE PISSED OFF AT OBAMA? PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH.

2009-03-21T15:28:00.000-07:00

So, you're all flustered up over the President's "Special Olympics" gaffe on the Tonight Show?

Well, Pilgrim, here's an opportunity to walk your talk. Click below to pledge to stop using the "r-word".

You know what they're talking about by "the r-word". Most of you who folks are getting all hot in the crotch over Obama's remark are a wee bit on the hypocritical side.

Hey, to a certain degree, I empathize. It's hard to avoid using the "r-word" in its various derogatory forms. When I flip the channel through Fox News or chance upon Rush Limbaugh on the radio, the first thought that comes to my mind is usually, "My God! These motherfuckers are totally..." Well, I'll show an example for the public by avoiding the completion of that statement.

One thing that I would like to personally admit to: I have, in the past, used the word "retarded" in various forms which steer from the degradation of those with intellectual disabilities. I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to anyone who is, or has family or friends who are "special needs" oriented and take offense at my wording, as that was certainly not the intent (or, at the very least, who I was actually trying to offend, anyway). I do remain committed to the belief that there are creative and acceptable ways to use the word "retarded" in this fashion, and have used this method in the past. For some examples from my previous blog posts, Click Here, Pilgrim

CHICAGO! WESLEY'S FANS EVERYWHERE THANK YOU!

2009-03-14T13:33:00.000-07:00

Dear Windy City:

I think that I can safely speak from the gut feeling of Wesley Willis fans everywhere when I say:

Thank you, Chicago.

Renaming the Sears Tower after one of your most notable native sons shows that your fair city truly recognizes greatness. The genius behind "Rock And Roll McDonalds" and "Cut That Mullet" is truly deserving of such an honor.

I'm too choked up to write anymore. I think I need a nap.

ON MR. RUSH LIMBAUGH, AND HIS SAD STRUGGLE WITH HIS ONGOING EXHIBITION OF EMBARASSING ENVY.

2009-03-05T17:51:00.000-08:00

Who's afraid of the Big Fat Rush?

Tra la la, not I.

Rush Limbaugh is too easy for me to poke fun at, and it's just as effortless for me to dismiss his useless bile spewed daily across AM radio airwaves. Of course, I still can recognize his astounding record of accomplishment. Namely, that never has one man misrepresented so much to so many.

It's a sign of desperate times for the Republican Party when its leadership has to bow down like prison punks and backpedal on any criticism of Limbaugh. Thank God I don't have to be co-dependent to a political party, and can call narrow minded bigots like Rush out on his shit with no remorse.

Think it's just talk? After his airing of the, um, parody tune "Barack the Magic Negro" on his show, in my own special way, I suggested that the next logical step would be to simply turn his broadcast into one big ol' fashioned minstrel show.

Limbaugh's defenders, and even some folks who aren't exactly his fans, may try to accuse me of having envious feelings toward Rush as a motivating factor for my attacks. I don't envy Limbaugh at all. I've never been envious of closet Klansmen, and in a strange way, I kind of pity their lack of intelligence, so, nah, no envy in this part of town for Rush.

Oh sure, granted that he has been a very successful talk show host as well as in making lots of money, but that's pretty easy to figure out.

Rush has 14 million listeners, despite the fact that the conservative right has been getting a reception lately like what William Hung would get on Amateur Night at the Apollo. Is this due to the love and loyalty of his listening audience? Oh, Hell, no. This can be explained through the theory of cognitive dissonance, which can basically be described as the type of conflict that people can experience when it's apparent that reality does not quite jibe with belief.

I'm pretty confident in my assumption that, at one point or another, most if not all of these "Dittohead" devotees woke up one morning and had a silent mental revelation along the lines of, "My God! What did I see in this fuckin' idiot?" However, it is completely unlikely that any of these folks will ever admit to that epiphany ever happening, and they will continue to obediently keep their AM radios tuned to Limbaugh, all the while developing a bizarre justification of effort, where the harder they have to work their minds to buy Rush's bullshit, then even more so will they value and accept his useless views.

So that explains the long-lasting popularity. So perhaps I should be envious of all of the money he's making (what, in the neighborhood of between 30 and 35 mil a year)? Hmmm, that's pretty easy to suss out as well.

You see, Pilgrim, Rush, or to be more specific, Limbaugh's pimp, Premiere Radio Networks (which in turn is the bitch of Clear Channel Communications)makes its moolah from the advertising budgets of numerous corporate interests and not-so-small businesses.

Folks working for these marketing machines understand that, if these listeners are stupid enough to be impressed with Limbaugh's bullshit, then they're also ripe for the pickin's of the pocketbook and easy to impress with even the lowest common denominator of sales tactics. The Dittohead's latent-homosexual-like schoolboy-crush level of emotional submission while listening to Rush makes him the perfect target of vulnerability who will part with his disposable income and travel down supermarket and department store aisles dropping items in the cart in a post-suggestive state of robotic innocence.

So, honestly, I don't find anything to envy in the life or achievements of the Village Idiot of Cape Girardeau. But this little rant I'm presenting to you today, dear Pilgrim, isn't about my envy, but that of Mr. Limbaugh.

Limbaugh's unrelenting contempt for the new President isn't just about galvanizing his pack of suckers for the conservative cause, and it's not from some deep seated xenophobia (though he has clearly demonstrated that over the years as well).

No, Rush's diligent campaign to discredit Obama is rooted in plain and simple envy.

But it's not envy of Obama.

No, Limbaugh's true target of green-eyed angst is none other than...

Oprah Winfrey.

Now speaks wisdom. Rush is always harping on about the truth this and the truth that, here's the truth coming at you, just not the redacted truth typical of the mouth of Limbaugh.

Oprah Winfrey is undeniably, nay, unreputedly the most successful television personality in America today. Not that I'm that much of an Oprah fan or anything, but let's examine the facts, shall we?

For starters, Rush seems shallow enough to hate on a fellow entertainer who makes more than him, especially if she happens to be African-American and female.

Oprah earned $275,000,000 during 2008, and earned 260 million bucks the year before. In other words, she earned in two years what Rush will reportedly almost make if he lives until 2015.

A big part of Oprah's superior financial gain is, of course, due to the fact that she is a success due to television, a medium in which, ahem, Rush attempted and failed miserably at. Add this to the fact Oprah is now the recipient of what is pretty much an open door to the White House, while Rush is yesterday's tolerated guest in the Dubya days (after Dubya's popularity ratings began to hover near single digits).

For these reasons alone, it's easy to understand why Rush is probably spending one sleepless night after another, despite an Oxycontin-induced stupor, mumbling, "fuckin' Oprah... FUCK-in' Oprah... why, God, why?"

So, are you feeling me? In reality, Rush doesn't want President Obama to fail. He wants to see Oprah fail vicariously through Obama. Yes, he would be an idiot for thinking that way, but that's my theory and I'm sticking with it.

Hey, Rush, here's an idea: instead of challenging the President to a debate, just pick your fight directly with Oprah. Of course, the only people who would care about such a debate would probably be your respective fan bases, and E! Network.

It's not important, or even relevant in any way, that Rush is feared by a few insecure upper mucky mucks in his own political party. No, the important thing to remember here is that most of America is not afraid of Rush Limbaugh. On top of that, the majority of this country showed up at the polls in November of 2008 and told the Dittoheads exactly where they could stick their leader's rhetoric.

And that, my fellow Americans, is what makes this country great, and gives me hope in the future of America.

WHAT DID SEX MEAN TO HIM?

2009-02-28T20:21:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite songs of my youth, by the now legendary Boston band Human Sexual Response, begs the question, What Does Sex Mean to Me?

My personal answer would be... definitely NOT what it means to this poor bastard.

REPUBLICANS. THEY'D QUEER A FUNERAL.

2009-02-13T19:54:00.000-08:00

My Irish-American Mom had a sort of peculiar phrase she'd use sometimes. If My Dad or brother or I would say something that she felt would have better been kept confidential, or one of us was behaving outrageously or speaking in a interrupting manner (and usually that was me), she had an all encompassing phrase to admonish us:

"You'd queer a funeral!"

In other words, we were speaking or behaving so foolishly, so inconsiderately, that we would have lacked enough conscience and tact to the level of being willing to disrupt a memorial service.

In the Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, an alternate definition of queer reads as follows:

²queer vt (ca. 1812) 1 : to spoil the effect or success of <queer one's plans>
2 : to put or get into an embarrassing or disadvantageous situation

On Friday the 13th of February 2009, the United States Senate was held up on a vote for an economic stimulus package which, at a vote count of 59, needed exactly one vote in order to get passed and sent to President Obama's desk. Like the previous vote in the House of Representatives, the Republicans had their panties in a bunch and united against it.

Every Congressional GOP member voted against the bill and, since they are now an endangered species in politics, they had no effect on passage of the stimulus whatsoever. Three Republican Senators crossed the aisle and voted Yes. Ted Kennedy didn't vote as he is on the DL from brain cancer and Minnesota still can't decide who the fuck they want to send to the Capitol yet.

So, Senator Sherrod Brown, (D-Illinois), who was not going to be in session that evening, even with such a crucial vote on the line, flew into Washington D.C. and dramatically cast the 60th vote, sealing the deal and sending the stimulus package to the President's desk.

I would personally consider Senator Brown's excuse for not having been there in the first place as pretty valid, and maybe even more than Senator Kennedy's reason.

You see, Senator Brown was flying in directly from the memorial service of his mother, who passed away of leukemia the previous week.

Bravo for Mr. Brown. From what I've read, Emily Brown was an activist in her own right who helped elect Mansfield, Ohio's first black mayor and had the 'Emily Brown Young Democrat Award" named in her honor. It would seem that not only would she be proud of her son, but also, if it were possible, she would have instructed him from the Great Beyond to go and vote when his country needed him.

And as for my Mom, naturally, her observation would be, "Those goddamn Republicans! They'd queer a funeral!"

MUST SEE TV. I LAUGHED SO HARD THAT I CRIED.

2009-02-11T21:51:00.000-08:00

The most engaging and hilarious brand of comedy on the tube nowadays is this fantastic reality series on C-Span, though the name escapes me right now. "Congressional Hearings" something or other. Apparently Rachel Maddow is a big fan as well and presents this episode recap.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

IT'S NICE TO HAVE A HERO STORY FOR ONCE. NO, REALLY.

2009-01-24T21:53:00.000-08:00

This country is experiencing a pretty strange phase of feel-goodyness lately. Don't get me wrong, I'm actually digging it.

Of course, the economy is still all fucked up, and nobody can eat peanut butter and we're still at war in a couple of places, but gosh darn it, when something cool happens it sure sticks out like a sore thumb doesn't it?

Consider if you will the near tragedy that was US Airways Flight 1549. After taking off from LaGuardia Airport, a bunch of birds, led by a charismatic cult leader who convinced them that they would commit revolutionary suicide if they flew into a jet engine, ended up disabling the plane. The pilot, Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger III, managed to hard land the plane upright into the Hudson River. Apparently them thar Airbuses can stay afloat for awhile since all 155 passengers and crew were safely retrieved before the plane sank into the frigid waters of the Hudson.

Sullenberger is being hailed just about everywhere as a hero, and rightly so. His first officer on the flight, Jeffrey Skiles, was the one originally piloting the plane, but Captain Sullenberger took over, which turned out for the better because, despite 23 years with US Airways, Skiles had only 35 hours total logged in flying an Airbus A320. The concession to experience at the moment that the plane's engines went dead may well have defined the fate of all involved.

This is one of those stories that almost seemed predestined to happen. Many folks (including myself), believe that stuff happens for a reason. Instead of yet one more tragedy in the air, for once we have prevention of disaster thanks to actual human initiative. Plus, it simply would have been a bummer to have this happen just 5 days before the Obama inaugural. Instead, the outcome of Flight 1549 just added to the positive, celebratory tone.

It just seems like such a bizarre contrast of climate. Eight years ago, fairly soon after a President was sworn in (and following the most dubious election in history), we had a horrible mass murder involving airplanes crashing at the will of people. Now, we have the polar opposite happening with all aboard to live another day, followed by the beginning of an era with a Chief Executive who is promoting a feeling of hope and relief in so many citizens.

It's just a peculiar feeling in the air nowadays. It's like things have turned upside down inside out. I, for one, plan to enjoy it while it's here.

GOODBYE, AND THANK GOD.

2009-01-20T21:55:00.000-08:00

Y'know, for some strange reason, I just can't get sick of watching this video...

NOT-SO-FAKE TALES OF SAN FRANCISCO. PLEASE. JUST FOR ONCE.

2009-01-17T11:34:00.000-08:00

So. I've been hearing a lot of this jibber jabber lately about how Sacramento needs to become a "destination city", or some shit. Well, consider the fact that one of the most desired destination cities in the world, San Francisco, is a relatively short hop up the road. I did, considering that I visit there fairly often (and recently), and I've got some advice for Sacramento as a result of my research. And that advisory sums up as follows:

Find another fuckin' goal, Sacramento.

There's a motley assortment of philistines, village idiots, retired debutramps, and hipster Oompa-Loompas puttering around Sacramento nowadays. All of these fools think that a city's cultural style and substance can be spewed out willy-nilly overnight with a trendy restaurant du jour here and a flashy gimmick event there, sprinkled like pixie dust over a white rice bed of cookie cutter condos and corporate chain retailers. Just let the developers in, let them work their special brand of magic and, voila! After barely a year or two of any work, the online travel sites will be BLOWIN'. UP. With people trying to get a travel package bargain to SACraMENto!

Yeah. Right.

Look. Get something straight. It takes originality and character to create and maintain a great city life, and it's not only something that takes time to develop, it's something that almost defies description, and just is, or isn't.

Sacramento is a great place to live in, and has plenty of quality within its city limits. I'm not going to go into detail or name names, because if you need me to do that, then YOU need to get outside more often and check out what's out there.

We need to concentrate on the livable strengths of our fair city, and improve them. As far as the problems, with crime or whatever, welcome to the big city. Shit like that will need to be dealt with anyway. But as far as overall quality of life goes, please don't keep repeating the mistake of America Live and the like. Just quit. Seriously. And if you like shit like that, just leave.

And stay out. Seriously.

QUOTE OF THE DAY. WEEK. MONTH. YEAR. DECADE. WHATEVER.

2009-01-09T16:48:00.000-08:00

"Of one thing I feel certain: this same technical progress which, in itself, might relieve mankind of a great part of the labor necessary to its subsistence, is the main cause of our present misery. Hence there are those who would in all seriousness forbid the introduction of technical improvements. This is obviously absurd. But can we find a more rational way out of our dilemma?

If we could somehow manage to prevent the purchasing-power of the masses, measured in terms of goods, from sinking below a certain minimum, stoppages in the industrial cycle such as we are experiencing today would be rendered impossible."

-Albert Einstein, 1934

I SUPPOSE THAT WE CAN'T CALL IT THE "PURPLE DUMP" ANYMORE.

2009-01-03T21:29:00.000-08:00

I've lived in about a half dozen different joints in Midtown, but the first one was what was probably not so affectionately referred to as the "Purple Dump".

This otherwise relatively nondescript apartment building was home in the mid 1980s and hoo boy, I couldn't begin to narrate the complete stories of the music played, events that unfolded, and drugs that were consumed in that time. Among other memories was the morning that, following a typical night of LSD, pot and beer consumption, I had woken up after about two or three hours of sleep to walk into my living room and lo and behold, here comes Emilio Estevez being chased by a bunch of various law enforcement vehicles down P Street for the filming of Wisdom, a Brat Pack-era actioner shot in many locales in Sacramento which has been mostly forgotten by the movie-going public at large. And besides, Sacramento was just being used to represent Minnesota anyway. I didn't even realize that they had palm trees in Minnesota.

Anyway, for years and years and years the building had a color resembling a longtime old and stale grape flavored square of Now and Later candy, and thus had in time earned the now legendary nickname of "The Purple Dump". Imagine my surprise when, passing by one day, I had noticed that the owners decided to, erm, spruce things up with a fresh coat of paint. Unfortunately, they decided to use "School Bus Yellow" as their new color scheme.

Why the fuck would you paint ANY dwelling the color of a Yellow Cab, unless it's, say, the Yellow Cab Dispatch Center and Garage? Are you pissed off at the neighbors and want to hurt their eyes every time they come outside of their homes? Is there a study which has proven that crackheads are less likely to rent or loiter around places painted this way?

Yeah, I have a feeling that the "For Rent" sign in front of this joint is going to be posted in the front for quite some time. Oh well, I guess that they can't call it "The Purple Dump" anymore. Perhaps a new nickname like "Ugly Ass Yellow Shithole" can be a suitable replacement.

SATAN: “GO FOR IT SACRAMENTO! GIVE KJ STRONG MAYOR POWERS! NYAHHAHAHAH!”

2008-12-15T00:00:00.000-08:00

NINTH CIRCLE, HELL (Acme News Service) – This morning, Satan announced at his weekly strategy briefing here that he is endorsing the effort of Sacramento, California Mayor Kevin Johnson to give himself more power with a self-produced ballot initiative, which Johnson and his backers have proposed to be put forth in a special election to the city’s voters. The cost for the special election is estimated at 1.2 million dollars.

In expressing his support, Satan said: “That Kevin, he really makes me proud. After convincing all of those ignorant hicks in Sacramento to elect him, and after barely keeping the seat warm at his desk for ten days, he’s pushing for power, and after all, power over people is everything I’m about! That’s my boy! A chip off the ol’ block. Truly in the mold of my previous protégés, like (James Michael ) Curley, (Rudy) Giuliani, and (Kwame) Kilpatrick. I am truly impressed with this fellow. If I didn’t know any better, I’d rack my brains wondering if I’d impregnated his mom and forgot about it later.”

Satan went on to point out his personal opinion that in many ways, Johnson’s vision of Sacramento’s future, along with Johnson’s high-level supporters, are very much united with the CEO of Hell in kindred spirit. “Look. All these people want is a great place to party, where only the most greedy, vulgar, egocentric and materialistic pigs are going to be happy. Anyone with even an ounce of integrity would be completely shat upon or run out of town. What’s not for me to like about this strategy? I say, go for it Sacramento! Give KJ strong mayor powers! Nyahahahah!”

Mayor Johnson had no immediate comment on the endorsement, but in a hastily placed conference call to all of the local media outlets, Johnson spokesperson Steve Maviglio stated, “We are delighted that Satan has honored us with endorsing the Mayor’s efforts in this matter. Of course, the usual naysayers may complain that Satan has no business in giving his opinion since he’s not a local resident. We would point out that Mayor Johnson, as he has stated time and time again, wants to make Sacramento a world class destination city, and if that’s a city that Satan ends up wanting to visit frequently, then all the better.”

MY SONGS! ON MP3S! FOR FREE! COLLECT ALL 129!

2008-11-16T21:00:00.000-08:00

So, yeah, I decided that since the economy is so fucked up and whatnot, that I'd give you, dear music aficionado, a chance to receive free music. Unfortunately, you'll have to settle for my own recorded work, because I can't afford licensing fees for anybody else's music.

In reality, I have been wanting to do this for quite some time now. I used to have all of these tracks available through a site called ACIDplanet, which Sony started up a few years back to promote its recording software.

I never really liked the fact that they made visitors register and join the site just to hear the songs with cuss words and besides, if you didn't notice the opt out check box, you could have been put on Sony's mailing list. And besides, I don't even use Sony Acid software, although their Vegas video editing program is fun to play with. Anyway, Now that I have my own site, it only makes sense to bring 'em all home where they belong.

So, feel free to download to your heart's content. If you have a NON-PROFIT radio program, whether on airwave or online, or a non-profit podcast or the like, you may play any of these tracks royalty-free.

HOWEVER, you may not sell, rent, cover or otherwise use any of these recordings, or songs or lyrics or any portion thereof, for commercial purposes without the express permission of either Black Hole Media Co. and/or myself.

I will be updating these recordings from time to time. What better place to let you know when that happens, than on this blog, RIGHT? After all, a record of site updates is what weblogs were originally created for, lest we forget.

That said, go have at it. Thank you for your appreciation of my favorite hobby. Now, get to downloading, go deaf and spread the word. Click Here, Pilgrim

P.S.- If you decide to stream songs, as opposed to downloading them, make sure that your computer's audio player is set to play .m3u files.

SURPRISE! DUBYA DOESN’T LIKE OBAMA’S NEW BAILOUT PROPOSAL! HOW SHOCKING!

2008-11-08T11:37:00.000-08:00

Looks like our President-elect is wasting no time in going after our nation’s economic woes, as if that’s going to surprise anyone. He’s already met with a fairly large cadre of economic consultants to try and figure out how to address the current recession.

In an equally predictable move, Obama is proposing a “bottom up” stimulus package that would extend unemployment benefits and create job opportunities among other stuff. As usual, his initial descriptions are kinda vague but promising.

And in a just as unsurprising response, Lame Duck Executive Bush released a written statement saying,

Today, we received monthly job report numbers that reflect the difficult challenges confronting our economy. We are in the midst of a global financial crisis, and tight credit markets have made it harder for businesses to borrow the money they need to meet their payrolls, grow, and create new jobs.

The Federal government has taken aggressive and decisive measures to address this situation. It will take time for these measures to have their full impact on an economy in which many Americans are struggling. But in recent days, we have seen some encouraging signs. The market for lending between banks has loosened considerably, and the Federal Reserve’s efforts to stabilize the commercial paper market have provided businesses with an urgently needed source of financing for day-to-day operations.

In the weeks ahead, my Administration will continue working to return our economy to the path of prosperity and growth. I will continue urging Members of Congress to approve free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea, and I look forward to hosting an international financial summit with leaders of both developed and developing nations on November 15.

I understand that Americans remain deeply concerned about the challenges facing our economy, but our economy has overcome great challenges before, and we can be confident that it will do so again.

The Reader’s Digest Condensed version of this statement:

Fuck y’all. Obama’s not President yet, and I still am. I’m going to do what I’ve been doing for the past eight years and ignore working people and pander to businesses. And if that means supporting yet more measures that encourage outsourcing, imported labor and corporate tax breaks, so be it. Deal with it.

It’s actually about a great time to revive the likes of the WPA and CETA. You would think that folks like Mike Huckabee (who made “infrastructure” a buzzword of his campaign) would be stoked to be seeing a chance to create jobs to help rebuild America’s roads, bridges, schools and such. I’m sure that there’s a lot of folks who would reap tremendous rewards from the job experience and/or training, and the nation could benefit greatly from the possible improvements and restorations.

Of course, on the right side of the political street, this would involve private contracting with the special interests whose financial support help elect these pork-lovers-in-denial into office, lowest bidders be damned. That, of course, involves the usual legislative song-and-dance with earmarks and various representatives fighting over who gets how much aid and their district is more needy than anyone else’s and so on.

It’s about time that we have a President who is in touch with America’s economic realities. Even if Obama’s economic policy objectives aren’t met overnight, it’s good to see somebody in office who is trying to put the emphasis on those who need the assistance the most. Let’s hope that the days until January 20, 2009 fly by as soon as possible with as little damage inflicted by the (thankfully) outgoing Administration as possible.

WHAT A GREAT TIME TO BE AMERICAN

2008-11-04T20:01:00.000-08:00

The majority of our nation's voters finally got it right.

What a great year. In June I got to vote for a woman for President, and today I helped to elect the first African-American President in history. It feels like such a great time to be alive, not just living in America.

Even if just for a short time, those of the power hungry and wealth hoarding, who have been trying to choke the life out of those of us who struggle to survive just to make ends meet every day, these people have had their agenda spurned. It is time to rejoice, it is time to feel pride and hope, but more importantly, it is time to keep moving and make the change that President-elect Obama (Gol! That feels so good to type!) has been talking about all of this time happen and keep happening once and for all.

Yeah. It is a great time to be American.

Now all the youth who helped elect this man. Listen up. It's time to stop cheerleading and time to roll up our sleeves and get to work. We won, now the hard part begins. It's time to make the hope accomplishment. You'd better not walk away and forget about it just because the election's over, because that would be no different than becoming apathetic and defeated like if McCain won. Let's do this. As the now legendary statement goes, the whole world is watching. Let's do this.

Oh, sure, it's kind of a bummer that the Republicans won the Sacramento mayoral contest, but on the other hand, it will be fun for this writer to use his blog to rip on "Mayor Cinderella" for four straight years (that is, unless KJ gets recalled or removed from office before then). I have a feeling that a Johnson administration will provide lots of great copy, though not much that Johnson or the stooges that were stupid enough to elect him will find flattering. In hindsight, the Sacramento Bee endorsement is beginning to make sense. They're bound to be selling lots more papers, as well as get more face time in the TV media over this guy. Snicker.

FARGO VS. JOHNSON: WHAT THE HELL, JUST VOTE YOUR CONSCIENCE. I’M PLANNING TO.

2008-10-21T22:56:00.000-07:00

My mom’s side of the family were all Irish-American working class type folk.

My grandfather was a precinct worker for a guy named James Michael Curley, a legendary figure in Boston political history. Curley had a rather broad political career that included serving in Congress, as mayor of Boston (where he is best known in political history), and as Governor of Massachusetts. Curley holds the distinction of having served time while at the beginning of his political career (elected to the Boston Board of Aldermen while in prison) and in his last term as mayor doing five months in the Federal pen for mail fraud. Nevertheless, the working and poor folks loved Curley and he won several elections with their help. My grandfather, by the way, had a pretty decent little job in Boston's public works system thanks to his support of Curley. Ah, good old fashioned patronage.

Which is why I’m not pondering whether or not Kevin Johnson will succumb to the Bradley Effect as much as wondering if he will succeed due to the Curley Effect. No, I’m not comparing Johnson’s various allegations to Curley in magnitude, but the fact remains that despite Johnson’s image problems, a certain element of Sacramento’s populace seems willing to give him a free pass. However, in stark contrast to Curley, Johnson seems to be attracting the upper crust crowd of this city, or at least those who want to be perceived as such.

And that’s a big reason why I’m voting for Heather Fargo.

Frankly, I think that too many people who support Johnson are assholes. They are wealth worshipping, narrow minded, shallow elitist pigs who have some bizarre fantasy of turning Sacramento into Beverly Hills, North Annex with all the fellas driving around their silicone bosomed dates to tacky overpriced establishments designed to make everybody who patronizes them forget about how utterly meaningless their cash chasing material hoarding lives are.

Oh, and a new arena too. Yuh great.

Heather Fargo may not be the flashiest politician in the world, but at least she has enough experience not to fuck up the city the way that someone with all talk and no real ideas would do it, i.e. Johnson. A relevant hypothetical question could be: In the event of a levee break, whom would you rather see under that type of emergency as mayor?

It’s a shame that Steve Cohn, my local City Council member, is still bitter about losing his bid for the primary election that resulted in Fargo’s first term. He has personally embarrassed himself and the people of the district in which I live (and vote) by endorsing Johnson, who has basically installed himself as a sort of Brahmin of my neighborhood, having bought a penthouse on L Street.

It’s pathetic to see someone run for mayor simply because they have a grudge with the city government over their property issues. What’s even sadder is how Johnson’s run was originally spurned on by a guy named Bob Thomas, the former City Manager as well as Angelo Tsakopoulos, a guy who owns a lot of currently unused plot space in the north part of Sacramento. Both of these guys have major grudges against Fargo because she doesn’t share their lust for reckless development for maximum profit, among other particulars.

It just seems that a small handful of major league scumbags have manipulated so many voters in this town into possibly doing a very stupid thing come November 4th. I don’t plan on being one of those dupes. My conscience, as well as my common sense, will remain intact after this election regardless of who ends up winning. Will yours?

P.S. Michael Bloomberg, Charles Barkley, Warren Buffet et al - I have the vote here, not you. Don't try to tell me how to choose if you don't even live here.

HEY MCCAIN CAMPAIGN: IT IS SO TIME TO SHUT YER PIEHOLES ABOUT OBAMA AND ACORN

2008-10-19T22:34:00.000-07:00

Hey, uh, next time you hear these idiots backing McCain start to yammer on about Obama and ACORN's registration fakes, enlighten them to the following article which I have linked for you, and then cordially invite them to go fuck themselves. Click Here, Pilgrim

THE 2008 PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES, FINAL EDITION: SOMEWHERE OUT THERE, JOE THE PLUMBER'S EARS ARE BURNING

2008-10-15T19:42:00.000-07:00

Joe the Plumber may well have lost the election for John McCain after the third and final Presidential debate.

By the time that McCain had mentioned whom he had painted (with a big fat brush) as poor widdle potentially over taxed (if Obama gets elected) small business owner Joe for what seemed like the fourteenth time (and only about ten minutes or less into the debate) it seemed to this viewer that Obama had already won the evening. McCain came off as only representing small business owners who made the most money, with no real recognition of the people who work for said businessmen, or even most small business owners, for that matter.

Obama did well at letting McCain stew in his own juices and look like a politician with no real answers to the economic concerns of those who work to help the company owners and corporate czars make fat profits and performance bonuses, while labor receives less and less reward and security for their toil.

And what sealed the deal for Obama was when he managed to give his take on the McCain campaign's ad nauseum accusations against him in regards to his association with William Ayers and the ACORN voter registration fraud. Obama was able to give detailed and rational statements stifling the subjects of both Ayers and ACORN and made McCain look like a rambling online discussion board troll until Bob Schieffer moved on to the next question.

Later, when the subject was energy issues, McCain put me into a fit of near uncontrollable laughter when he suggested that one idea to fight dependence on foreign oil was to build 45 nuclear plants. Forty. Five. This is unequivocal proof that McCain is completely out of his fuckin’ mind. Hey, can we store all of the spent rods in Arizona? Or even better, put ‘em all in Wasilla, Alaska? I might just go for a policy like that!

And later, when the topic turned to health care, here we go with Joe the Fuckin’ Plumber again! There are millions of us out there who are one layoff or company closure away from losing our health care benefits, if we ever even had them to begin with. Under McCain’s health care proposal, Joe could take away everybody’s health plan, but whoopee! You could write off five thousand bucks on your tax return if you even find, much less can afford your own plan! Oh please.

There are more people out there in America than “Joe the Plumber”, and most of us are doing the actual work. And after tonight, it sure as Hell sounds like I wouldn’t want to be working for him. McCain makes Joe sound like a really selfish un-American asshole. Anybody who, while running a successful business, would shitcan employees simply because his tax bill went up is a real prick in my book.

If anyone who isn’t a millionaire and, having viewed this debate, is still going out and voting for the McCain/Palin ticket, that person is either seriously mentally ill or a complete and blathering idiot. But whom am I kidding? None of the goons who show up at the racetrack rallies and yell “Obama been lyin’!” “Terrorist!” and “Kill him!” are incapable of being too drunk to pay attention by that late in the evening anyway.

That’s why it’s important for those of us who know better to show up for the game and get those ballots turned in. It is crucial not to let the Old Man and the Sleaze, at the bidding of their racist, sexist, homophobic mob of ignorant followers, take control of the nation’s highest office.

TONIGHT, I'M GONNA PARTY LIKE IT'S 1929!

2008-10-13T21:37:00.000-07:00

Oh, sure, the market's back. Look at that record uptick that happened! Nine-bloody-hundred plus points! Everything's gonna be just peachy now, right? See? The bailout really was the right thing to do, right?

Excuse me I need a moment to control my snickering...

Okay, thanks. Yeah, sure, what a comeback eh? America's back in business, baby!

Hey, can I show you something for a moment? Here's the latest one year graph of the Dow Jones through today's miraculous comeback, or bargain run, whatever the Hell it was...

Now let's take a gander at the days of old, or to be specific, the same approximate period of Octobers between 1928 and 1929...

Granted, there is a difference in the general flow, as in, back in '29 there was a vigorous rise and crash, whereas in 2007-08, things are just consistently suckin' more and more from a majestic peak, but note that the perky lil' "comeback" peak kicks in at the end of the period around the same time.

Everything goes in cycles, Pilgrim. I feel that it can be safely assumed that the upcoming 2009 trend will begin to parallel the period going into 1930, but I wouldn't recommend looking at that part unless you feel like getting your early Halloween spook on. Of course, if you're like me and don't really put any money into the stock market, it's merely entertaining. But admittedly, the past couple of weeks will be hard to beat in terms of cheap yuks.

THAT WACKY WALL STREET! HAVEN'T WE SEEN THIS SITCOM BEFORE?

2008-10-09T18:50:00.000-07:00

Here's the story of a fucked up market
That's been going through a very ugly crash
The investors thought that they were in the money
Then banks ran out of cash
So they tried to blackmail Congress for a bailout
Said we're doomed, and headed for a credit crunch
But real soon, things went from bad to worsened
So now we hear whining from the Kudlow Bunch

The Kudlow Bunch
The Kudlow Bunch
They're so lame, it's insane
The Kudlow Bunch

2008 PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE, PART DEUX: HEY, MCCAIN, WHO THE FUCK IS “THAT ONE”?

2008-10-07T20:03:00.000-07:00

Well, this debate was certainly different than the first one in at least a few ways.

From the gate, in the way that both candidates seemed to enter and greet each other, this viewer really got the impression that they both wanted to fuckin’ kill each other, but in a civilized, pre-chess match sort of way.

McCain finally got the much coveted “town hall” style forum that he was constantly whining about Obama having never agreed to in the early stages of the campaign. The format can be sort of interesting, that is, if your bag is watching ninety minutes of a couple of guys taking turns at going for their best Phil Donahue impersonation. McCain apparently feels that this is a folksier environment in order to try and fool Joe Sixpack into thinking that the Senator from Arizona and his political party even remotely give a shit about the working class.

The debate had occasional signs of possibly changing its format from Donahue into Dr. Phil with occasional mild verbal jabs between the two candidates. McCain insinuated that Obama was going to turn us all into the terrorists’ bitches, while Obama at another point accused McCain of picking up sick little kids and punting them out of hospitals like Shane Lechler on 4th and 20 at the Raiders’ three yard line.

In the first debate, Obama kept trying to cut in with “That’s not true” to certain parts of McCain’s statements and this time, he kept trying to ask for response times in a format in which both candidates agreed not to go over too much time, much less give responses. This is obviously not the wisest strategy, as the Senator from Illinois should realize that those of us watching the debate at home are smart enough to realize when McCain is full of shit without any outside help. Trust me, Senator Obama, we know that certain battleground states may be gullible enough to take your opponents statements at face value, but sometimes it’s best to just let him malinger from the reality and then we can talk about it at the water cooler or the bar or wherever.

McCain really bugged the shit out of me when, at one point, when making one more braggadocio about some vague piece of legislation that he wasn't supporting, he referred to Obama as “that one” who did support it.

By the way, my friends, I know you grow a little weary with this back-and-forth. It was an energy bill on the floor of the Senate loaded down with goodies, billions for the oil companies, and it was sponsored by Bush and Cheney.

You know who voted for it? You might never know. That one. You know who voted against it? Me. I have fought time after time against these pork barrel -- these bills that come to the floor and they have all kinds of goodies and all kinds of things in them for everybody and they buy off the votes.

I was so taken back by the terminology that I forgot what the Hell McCain was talking about. Not “this Senator”, not “this man”, not even “this person”, but “that one”. Uh huh, referring to your opponent as a thing, suggesting separation from yourself, with the inconvenient coincidence “that one” happens to be African-American. Yeah. Great form there. Ought to really galvanize the minority vote. For Obama. Oh yeah, I forgot. With the exception of maybe Don King and Marilyn Manson.

INTERESTING SIDE NOTE: If you think that my observation of McCain calling Obama "that one" could be dismissed as left-wing blogosphere overreaction, consider that Keith Olbermann made the same observation right after the debate, literally minutes after I finished writing this post.

CONGRESS PASSES BAILOUT, GETS ON SHORT BUS TO GO HOME

2008-10-03T22:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, you got your bailout.

You bunch of fuckin' crybabies.

Daily, it seems that we, the constituents of our elected representatives, increasingly bear witness to the profound level of political retardation demonstrated by both houses of Congress. After the lower house rejected a completely useless waste of legislation on Monday, the Senate produced a much more bloated piece of shit bill with more more pork inside it than all of the past years' Best in the West Nugget Rib Cook-offs combined.

How does this historic act benefit the working people of America? Let me count the ways.

Yeah, that much.

Oh well, at least we can enjoy the relative peace and quiet from the Chicken Little alarmists finally shutting the fuck up and taking a nap or whatever they ended up suddenly running off to do. It's sort of eerie how, almost immediately after Dubya finished scribbling his signature, most of the doomsayers seemed to leave town immediately, possibly to enjoy what they felt was a well earned early weekend to unwind from all of the arm twirling and table pounding that they've been doing for five straight days.

And now everybody in both the executive and legislative branches get to pat each others backs over how hard they worked to get this monstrosity into law. The House of Representatives, for example, was in session for three whole days (counting the two off for the Jewish holiday)and the Senate had met almost as long! You just know that something taking that much time and effort is going to provide a permanent and lasting solution to all of those possible economic disasters that nobody can seem to agree will happen or not, right? And besides, now lines of credit are once again safe for humanity, and Main Street can drive itself into deep debt once again in an effort to provide an illusion that their families are much more wealthy than they really are.

At this point, let's think about that thar first big ol' stock market crash back in 1929, shall we? After that doozy of a market meltdown, the fact is that credit was actually quite stable and available. In reality, failed banks, disappearing jobs and an increased lack of consumer confidence contributed much more to the economic downturn of the 1930s than a credit crunch or investment failures. But don't tell that to Uncle Sam. He's too busy exchanging champagne bottle showers with his corporate lobbyist pals right now anyway, celebrating what is probably the largest extortion of public funds by private business in world history.

Make no bones about it. 2009 is shaping up to be a pretty fucked year. Batten down the hatches and buy nothing but necessities and what you're forced to replace when absolutely needed. Anybody who thinks that this bailout scam is going to benefit anyone except corporate pimps is going to be in for a pretty rude bitchslap from Inc.berg Slim when he shakes you down for his money, honey.