Moonsnugglegjstone’s Weblog

I’ve gotten into the habit of reading the Sunday NYT the next day or during the week after.  So, I’m days behind and $5 short. 

I’m not complaining.  It’s due to my living in an area of NY that doesn’t have sunday bus service and I am a little lazy about walking the mile and a half to the nearest store that carries it.  Therefore I have to wait until monday to get, and then, read the sunday paper.  I haven’t missed out on most of the national news, being the NPR nerd that I am. 

The parts of the NYTs that I enjoy, the reason for the, pretty regular, purchases, are the essays and articles that don’t come up in news commentary.  The essays are interesting and the commentaries catch me yelling expletives at the writers, the same way I’ve been known to do to the radio.  Yes, that is how geeky I am. 

I know they can’t hear me, but they can get me going.  It helps to keep me going, arguing with the radio and the sunday paper.  Some articles are informative and humorous.  I really enjoy the chuckles. 

There has been talk, on the radio and in the news, that the printed page is under dire straits.  They are under attack due to budget restraints that have suddenly come up.  And the new media is being blamed.  It’s true people are reading online more and more; and some people expect news for free, but what kind of news.  Had the printed media been smart, they would have had people subscribe in the first place, then there would be no talk of should we charge people online for subscriptions.  They did this to themselve.  They have convienced themselves that people won’t pay for news, but they will, they do.  The blog-esphire is made up of essays, not news.  This is commentary on news read from… THE NEWS PAPERS.  The printed word, on paper, is were most of us get our information.  Some see it as a soon to be old world way of doing things, but tangible information is very much a must.  You can transfer paper information to the fibers and pulses, but they can be wiped out with a strock as easily as paper can be put to the flame.  One source is not superior to the other, but combined they can enrich all. 

Would I pay for an online subscription to NYTs, possibly (but I prefer buying the paper).  It’s not free now, although people have convinced themselves that it is.  People who pay for internet access at home, and people who have smart phones or ipods and get their information from their hand-held devices are paying for it, even if there are some of us who go to internet cafes or hotspots.  We pay when we get online, or to support the cafes by purchasing an item [so we aren't rude and just coming in to spend hours online and leave; that doesn't help the cafe stay open]. 

It is a very strange American idea that postulate as if we deserve something for nothing.  Just because you exist doesn’t mean you are entitled to consume someone elses hard work without giving something in return.  In this economy, and this society, we barter our goods, be what they may [handmade wears, writings, crafts, food, etc].  We assist each other by this give and take.  Do you work for free?  Why would you expect someone else to? 

So, while I read the Sunday NYTs after sunday, I know it’s there the next day waiting for me.  I hope to soon stop being lazy, get some exercise on sunday mornings and read my sunday paper on the appointed day.  I pay for my purchases, because I know the rewarding feeling one gets from being payed for a job well done, as best one can. 

To the hypocrites out there (those who profess anti-establishment and down with “whatever”) who have decided to not stop and see that this is what we have, and it is the way people put food on the table, I give a big raspberry.  When they come up with a way that the millions of people in this country, and on this planet, can exist without financial means [even if it's the small portion in a big bucket going to the one percent, it's better than nothing] they better advertise and push for that like their lives depended on it, if that is what they truely believe in.

What the..?

Is there some type of other dimensional world thing going on? My questioning comes from the news I have heard for weeks, I can still hardly believe what I have been hearing. The r. party are rewording and reassembling history and facts, and creating fiction; and on top of that are posturing as if they: a.) had no hand in the present social and-or economic situation of the nation; and b.) that they “suddenly” care about the financial state of the nation’s future… If they really cared they would have truly stellar plans on fixing our situations, instead of touting down the d. party’s attempts to try something..

The r. party had a heavy hand to play in the deregulating of the corporate and financial systems (along with those in the d. party that followed their lead). One of their main creeds is the aspect of “no big government”, and to keep private business out or the reach of oversight from said “big government”… Now they see that regulations and oversight “are” necessary so that innocent people, who earned their hard won gains, aren’t duped out of their life savings due to the greed of other’s (who would consider themselves citizens of the r. party, no less).

Some r. party citizenry would like to share the blame with the d. party by stating the fact that the housing situation was one of the dominoes, and that if it wasn’t for the financial institutions of fannie mae and freddy mac-blah, blah, blah.. I will give them the fact that people in the d. party played a roll, due to their ideal that all the citizenry should have the “American Dream” of owning their own home, etc. What exactly was wrong in that..? The wickedness came when “others” got in on it, because they saw the financial gains to be had, should certain aspects be deregulated and many hands diversifying a home owner portfolio when that never should have happened… Had things been done the old fashioned way, home loans would have remained between banks and homeowners (there by being easier to manage and calculate lose and expenditures, etc.).. Once the curtain fell from those institutions the true face of things were overly exposed and the r. party had/have no explanation or solution for the present situations. Pointing fingers and trying to deflect responsibility won’t help or change what they have done themselves.

The r. party didn’t stop to state to the citizenry or the media their concerns for the debt of future generations when they openly gave the bush administration a blank check and free ride to “do as he and his administration pleased” to finance a false war (and then not apologize for it, but shrug it off as “oh well, we’re there now, so now we have to finish what we started…).. They weren’t concerned as they gave the ok for military expenses kept off the books. They weren’t concerned when the bush administration asked for 700 billion dollars in bank bailouts (without oversights). {YES IT WAS THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION WHO DID THAT ONE!} The r. party would have the citizenry believe that the obama administration is the one “covering their backsides”, because they didn’t have oversight stipulations attached to the bailouts, but that’s just not true to reality [they weren‘t fully informed until after the obama administration took office; and they couldn‘t do anything about the lack of oversight until after they got into office, which was a little too late because the banks already had the “free“ money, and the obama administration couldn‘t do anything about it because the ball was already put in motion and couldn‘t be reeled back..]. The sad thing is that they will keep touting their lies until they make the citizenry believe it to be true (and there are far too many who will follow even in the wake of the reality that the r. parties statements are fallacious.).

It’s interesting that the r. party would suddenly make a stink about spending, and taxing, when they spent more in the past 8+ years (but we aren’t suppose to pay attention to that fact, are we) than any other party in the same amount of time (should you put the cost of the false invasion on the books). They are touting down the idea of investing in education/building schools, saying that doesn’t help with economic stimulation. Are they dense? Building schools creates contracting jobs, which puts contractors to work. Built schools need teachers, cafeteria workers, custodians, etc… Investing in college education means more minds working to create small businesses. I could go on, but I wouldn’t want to make it seem as though I know anything about these things… I’m not a politician. Could the r. party really explain to me how tax breaks for stingy-self postulating-tax dodging, etc. uber-wealthy was/is a good thing for the economy..? I would really love to know how that “no trickle anywhere” policy actually helps the nation/citizenry.

It’s sad that this country’s citizenry have been programmed to have short attention spans and selective amnesia. If we would follow the example of the Europeans (those intelligent socialists..;>), we wouldn’t need education revamped/reinvested in (it would have been a matter of normal function that all of the citizenry were educated well enough to compete in the global market, and those that desired higher education could just go and not have to mortgage their future over to trying to better themselves; if they could afford to go at all..). And the reason, I am convinced, that the r. party doesn’t want to invest in the citizenries education, is because an informed citizenry would demand true democracy. You can’t pull the wool over the eyes of a people who read, follow, and make intelligent realizations (based on fact) for long, unless they so chose it..

It’s interesting that the r. party is touting down the d. parties attempts (any good attempt is better than doing nothing and then waiting to see what happens, all on its own…; didn’t that happen in the 1930s; didn’t any of the people in the r. party read up on that?) to try to fix what they think can help.. They haven’t offered an alternate solution. I hear rumors that they had/have brought proposals, but where are they? Why haven’t they been posted in the New York Times or some other publication with a compare and contrast to what the d. party is proposing?

It’s one thing to argue, it’s another to have information and a plan to back up your debates. If the r. party has a plan for fiscal and job creation reestablishments let the citizenry here about “that” continuously, instead of negative bulling and the r. parties hope for the worse (so that they can seem like some sort of savior in future. .)

[I would just like to make a comment on the ridiculous and obviously raciest thing the r. party did with regard to President Obama’s first inauguration speech to the nation. They are ridiculous! Posting their own brown skinned person {obviously to make it seem that they were open to having a counter/r. party version of Obama} to be their puppet made me sick to my stomach. I knew what they were doing when I heard who they chose to make the speech, and I knew the reason why. Any body with any type of intelligence knows why. The fact that that person allowed himself to be used in such a way or would volunteer to do that was sickening in and of itself.. It was more racist than those racist news paper cartoons. The r. party really seems to believe that the citizenry just wanted to make a statement and put a black man in office because he’s black/brown. That was not the reason for most and not the only reason for the rest of us, but they don’t care to know or hear about that. That was another disgusting move and they should be ashamed. (By the way, the guy was really weak in his arguments and he gave no actual alternative solutions for progress.)]

***These thoughts are from a lay-person. I read and tend to think for myself, when I can. I tried to go to college, but the debt aspect was too much and the cutting into financial aid from the government only gives so much to a certain number allotted into institutions of higher learning. So, I try not to waist my mind, but self-educate as best I can. I am not a member of any party, but I try to listen to both sides if they are speaking with honest insight and actually have something to say/motivate people to do.

Lay-people think and are intelligent, also, we just don’t have a piece of paper saying it. [The sad thing is that I have met and lived with people (who had the honor and privilege to go to college), and I found a number of them not so bright, but they will be the ones with that piece of paper saying that they supposedly are a member of the intelligentsia..] The way these things work makes you really wonder.. What the..?

Republicans redefined…

So, the republican party is starting to try to reestablish themselves as “for the people” and the “working-class”… They are going against the Obama administration with a postulating stance of: we will only do what you want if there are strict stipulations of tax breaks/incentives for the working-class, etc.

Has everyone become an instant amnesiac? Are they seriously trying to make it seem that they had nothing to do with the relaxation of oversight in business and government since the Regan administration? Are they really expecting the people to believe that they are for the working-class when they have systematically been stuffing their back pockets with the pork-barrel windfalls they have amassed by being for the corporate-industrial-complex?

Now, I really understand their desire to dumb-down Americans; because a non-intellectual mass of citizenry will forget the past and fall in line like a number of sheep and bow down to those who turn the wording around to benefit themselves… Has anyone re-read “Animal Farm” lately?

It just amazes me how quickly they have put on this hat. They are suddenly “Joe the Plummer” flag wavers, and they are going to see what waving that flag gets them in the next election. I just hope that people realize the posing that is going on. It’s ridiculous how they are changing things around [without truely changing their agenda].  They have had over 8 years of political control, you explain to me why they weren’t for Joe-the-Plummer, until now.

It was the Democrats who have been blowing the horn for the people since the 60s [at least]. The desire for social reform, for the sake of the citizenry, has been at the forefront of the Democratic party for years. Yet, when they were touting the rhetoric of being for the people the Republican party shouted them down as trying to socialize government [they were doing that a lot during the presidential campaign].

It’s just interesting that the Republican party is against socialized government and social reform for the people who need it [working class and poor]. However, they will turn a blind eye when they/those who support them use the institutions set up by the Democratic party, for their own gain. If you’re against a social program you shouldn’t use it, right?

Then, there is the fact that these people, who [now] have their hands out “begging” for money, are the very ones who don’t/didn’t want money given to programs to benefit the citizenry. Does anyone else see the contradiction in all this except me? Am I the only one who finds this to be really fucked up?

How long will the people allow their blinders to remain in place, and choose not to reevaluate the past of our government? When will they open their eyes in order to see where/what the political parties have done/ tried to do in their favor?

In response to H. London

I disagree with most of what Mr. London said- about the need for Guantanamo and or a similar prison, because he left out critical opinions in his radio statement. He was a little too one-sided and he was far too exuberant in his chastising of one aspect of the situation.

Mr. London disagrees with the decision to close Guantanamo. His argument was the fact that prisoners who have been let go, have turned up on the battlefield against American forces. He argued that he’s for letting those who are innocent go (provided that they can prove their innocence completely; which is nearly impossible…), but that those who are seen as threats should be kept in some type of prison industrial complex.

This is all understood [and I don‘t disagree with keeping the guilty behind bars; it‘s the situation that has me at odds with Mr. London], but what Mr. London failed to mention is that a number of those prisoners who were let go, and are anti-western, were created.

He stopped short in giving the reason behind this mass increase of anti-sentiment toward American forces. Our military has been torturing them for a number of years. Our military has been coercively interrogating children, who are now grown men/women, ever since the “War on Terror” was declared. What did they expect?

Would anyone have “warm cozy” feeling about a group of people who have been stressing them physically, mentally and emotionally over any period of time, let alone years?  Would anyone feel compassion for a group of people who showed none towards them? What reaction would be normal to that situation?

They have systematically created the very people they have said these prisoner are, with the use of coercive interrogation. Some of the current prisoners could have been in the wrong café at the wrong time, but we won’t ever know that (we weren’t there). They could have just said: “fuck America”… and nothing more, and subsequently been arrested for showing “any” signs of western dislike…

How will we know that their offense was harmless…? Some were taken at a young age and kept in confinement, and abused repeatedly at the whim of someone trying to prove how big their cocks are…

Had it been done in a none cowboy/vigilante/gong-ho way we wouldn’t have to face these prospects. Had the bush administration not lied(!)- the base wouldn’t have been filled with (some) innocent people who were subsequently made into anti-western militants, because of being tortured (by westerners).

They have systematically created the “enemy” to give themselves meaning.

Ok, I will admit it I am an adult who, sometimes, behaves as a child would.  It mostly bares out when I am feeling overwhelmed/extremely emotional (before/during/sometimes,after my period).   Hormones reconnect all with their inner child.  Maybe we need that, because in the great big scheme of things we often continue this path along grade-school behavior long after we become nestalgic about that time, which never felt as good during, those trials, as after.  You can not truely see the light at the end of the tunnel until you are looking over your shoulder back down that long tunnel of darkness… 

It was snowing this morning when I woke up and…  I had a hissy fit.  There is no other way of stating it.  Life was fucked and “the snow” was being a “fucking asshole”…  As if snow could think and plot against me.  In the grand scheme of existance, for one moment I thought the snow was a vindictive bitch (and I had done nothing to deserve this treatment; I hadn’t by the way).

Luckily for me the snow slowed and it now done, for the moment.  After I came back out from under the covers the day was better.  It only took about two hours and the snow looked majestic…  Once I didn’t feel the need to really be somewhere I could go there.  Which is odd.  I guess it’s apart of that “letting go” aspect of all the “self help” talk out there. 

All I know is that, even though it’s a slight bitch to get through, once you are in a small cafe with good food and a beautiful picture window view of a small river and farm land coverd in white and trees coated in powder, all seems ok with the world in a moment.  It’s interesting to go from whiney kid to wise woman in a day.  There are truely more moments/life times in a day than time allows you to realize.

So, I’m going to sip my coffee, munch on my food, browse the paper and online, and then read a good history book.  I’ve been through a whole gammet of emotions today, I think I’ll take a break.

OK, so I had to do it…  I had to read the “Twilight” series by Stephanie Meyer.  It had to be done, just to see what all the hype over the movie was about.  The books had been out for at least two years, at least the first two.  It was just another “teen book” to me, at first. 

So, I borrowed the first one, and read it the weekend everyone else was going to see the movie.  From what I heard about the movie, opting to read the book was the better of the two ideas.  The movie, apparently, could have been better if the editor didn’t suck baboon’s ass…  I don’t believe I will be seeing the movie.  I may go to the sequel (“New Moon”).  The second book had me…  I fell in love with Jacob Black.  (That character is just lovely.)  Vampires get way too much preference, only because the way they take you is so sexual and sensuous (biting the neck; penetrating the flesh, etc)…  But werewolves are better, because they are so comfortingly fuzzy.  I do have a personal preference.  Being a werewolf takes a lot more strength (your body literally deforms and reforms, painfully; that’s some serious gumption to survive that on a continuous bases)…  Vampires just aren’t as dedicated to being so hardy…  Like I said I have my own personal preference.

I digress…  I read all four books within two weeks…  This surprised me- seeing as how it has been taking me nearly a month to read “Bridge of Sighs” by Russo.  Then I realized why I got through it so quickly-in the words of a co-worker- “it’s like eating cotton candy”…  And it was.  It was complete junk food for my brain; and yet, she was able to pull me into the story in every book.  I wanted to know what happened to these characters.  I wanted to know what was next, and was surprised by what did come next.  Some of those turns were just like-”what was she thinking?”…  Then, after a nights sleep, you got it and it some how made since.

I do have this to say for Mrs. Meyers, in a world full of books and t.v. shows full of teenage sex, she held her own by advocating for no sex before marriage.  The main characters had ample opportunities to cross the line, but when you have a nearly 100 year old vampire with morals, what’s a teenage girl to do but be content with masturbation until she says “i do”…?

The down side to the main female character- though Bella is sarcastic, feisty, smart and pretty-she lacks drive for a higher education…  ["You don't even know what she would major in if she did go to college."-as pointed out to me by a co-worker.]  Her whole existence revolves around “Edward”, her vampire.  This fact is even eluded to in the third book when Bella’s mother comments on the fact that Bella subconsciously adjusts her body to be in alignment with Edward’s…  We are just suppose to take this as a set form of how love molds people who are “soul mates”.  We aren’t even suppose to question the complete forgiveness that Bella bestows on Edward (and the Cullens) after having her heart ripped out and going into a deep depression; of which only Jacob Black could pull her out of…

I enjoyed the positive ending of most of the books- although my heart broke to bits for Jacob Black in “New Moon” and the books after- for the most part.  The ending of the last book was disappointing; very anti-climactic.  Happy-ever-after never felt so unearned as it did with that ending… 

So, that was two weeks of four 600-700+ page books of fluff…

I felt like I was coming off of some kind of high- like a sugar rush or something- I was looking for my next fix… 

I hope to read more substantial novels in the near future just as quickly- and review them, also.  I have a feeling I need some vegetables, meat and potatoes after this junk-food binge. 

I’m finishing “Bridge of Sighs” by Russo.

Well,

I have to say that the numbed feeling of being in a dream will only disappate once President Barack Obama is in…  I didn’t watch any news and I didn’t want to know anything, ’til the next day.  The anxiety coming from the left and the right was too much.  I didn’t give up “hope” though.  We needed this. 

The only things that are frustrating are the facts that many people expect “magic”…  He has a whole 8 years of shit [literally] to clean up after this administration.  If you people really want magic you better send him all the positive thoughts and energy that would be needed to part those red seas…  I heard someone on the radio say that that is exactly what they expect from him, “no pressure”…  I know we all have expectations of him, but he is only a man [albeit a good man];  it’s bad enough the “religious right” want to paint him as satan [i could go off on a rant about that one], but we don’t need to give him super-human abilities.  This will take some time.  I believe he can do it, but he will need our help as well as the people he choses for his administration.  I hope everyone remembers to back him should he decide to run in 4 years, because he needs the 8 years to clean up a royal fuck to america that has now come to a head…  It was bound to come and bit them in the ass, it’s just too bad we innocent bystanders have to pay for the golden parachutes of those who look down on us otherwise [and who would not even try to do the same for us...]…

Anyway, the good thing is we have a compatent president.  The bad new is that their are so many people who will scrutanize his every move…  He, as is the case for most accomplished people of color, will have to work three times as hard as those who have been in power, just to barely measure up…  The triple standard is so fucking annoying as well as frustrating, but I am sure he has been aware of that all his life. 

We all have something to be ”thankful for” even in ”these trying times”…  I just wish the news would stop for a while with their omnious soundbites.  We know about the economy.  We are trying to keep moving forward despite all that and hope for better as soon as possible, but it’s hard to think positive when every 15 minutes they keep putting it in the collective subconscious that we must “fear”…  I hope one day they will focus on the positive as an equal with the negative they enjoy so much.  We get snipets of the positive, while they go on an on about what isn’t going right…  I will never understand that…

No people aren’t more interested in the negative, they have created that ideal all on their own.  I don’t care what studies they do; of course people are curious and can’t not look at a car wreck, but they’d be just as interested if positive things were talked about every 15 minutes…  It would be something to look forward to…  

+Listening to the radio show “Performance Place” the featured artist mentioned her inspiration for her new album ["Seen"], which was a program called “Women of Hope”.  The artist is Morley [you can find her, and her music, at www.myspace.com/morleymusic]. 

+As a quick review of what I heard:  She has a very soulful voice, which also has a message in the lyrics she sings.    I’d never heard her before, and will be getting that inspiring and enjoyable cd.

+The issue I am having with myself, about the above artist, is that I enjoyed her music before seeing what she looked like; and now that I have seen what she looks like, I had to think about whether or not I would support her.  I decided that I would support the music.  I have this thing about “model pretty”/”socially equatable ideas of beatuful”…  Basicly a chick who always gets what she wants because she is seen as “beautiful”; even if she doesn’t agree with that, life is a great deal easier for her because of how she looks… 

+The causes she has allied herself with are very inspiring;  it’s just disconcerting that its attached to the “Angelina Jolie Effect”- attractive woman as a face of a real human cause…  Are these causes Prada and Coach products?  Have we as a people really become so shallow and disconnected that now ”models”/”model like” celebrities are needed to catch our attention/the attention of certain portions of the population? 

+Ms. Morley is not the only singer I have heard first and then seen, and been disappointed that that person didn’t look like they sound…  I’m just exhausted by one idea of good looking being shoved down my throat and most of them looking plastic- thereby making anyone who resembles them seem as plastic as they…  It’s not Ms. Morley’s fault it’s just a circumstantial situation that rubs me the wrong way.

+I know that some may think this is an ugly girl’s vent or cross to bare, but not so.  I am not ugly.  I am cute.  And I am very ok with that.  It’s just that I would like to see real people as the face of things; especially things that matter or should matter to the masses. 

+”… when you are feeling helpless, help someone…”- Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

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