9.29.2009

AIN'T NO RACISM...

I listen to a lot of talk radio. Okay, not a lot...but at least 20 minutes of Glenn Beck in the mornings, (depending on how late I am) and a good 15-30 minutes of Rush Limbaugh on my lunch break.

This is my daily routine. Craaaaaazy, I know...but part of me thrives on the idea that if someone is talking about politics, even if I 100% disagree with them, I'll listen in. Plus, I feel like this is my peek inside the world of "the other side." You'd be amazed at how quickly you'd become paranoid, angry, and afraid listening to talk radio. It's easy to get caught up in what they're ranting and raving and warning you about...and I almost feel sad for the people that listen to all 3 hours of this programing, every single day, and worse still...take it to heart.

I guarantee you a lot of the people who listen to talk radio do not think it's entertainment. For them, they're getting the truth. The real news that the (cue pounding drums) LIBERAL MEDIA doesn't want you to know.

I watch The Daily Show and Colbert every single night, but not once do I go, "Right on man! You start a revolution, a march on Washington, and I'll be there to take this country back!" They're entertainers. They're comedians. And Glenn Beck backs away from criticism all the time by pointing out, "I'm just a talk show host...an entertainer..." all while declaring that his listeners and viewers be vigil. Keep an eye on ACORN. Put pressure on Van Jones. These Czars are bad news. This President is friends with Marxists. Communists. He, himself is racist who has a deep seeded hatred for the White man!!!

It'd be funny, if it wasn't taken as some sort of gospel.

So anyway, I'm listening the other morning, and it's a fill-in host. I guess Glenn saw his shadow that morning and held up in his Panic Room counting all of his gold coins. (He constantly sucks off Gold Line because as we all know, the dollar is just a mere couple of months away from being completely worthless...and nothing is more valuable in a Mad Max-type wasteland than gold fucking coins that you bought off the internet.)

And this guy who's filling in for Glenn plays this new Republican talking point of, "Gee, I guess ANYONE who criticizes the President is racist now, eh?"

First off, no one, and I mean no one is saying that anyone who criticizes the President is 100% automatically racist. It's a bullshit argument that has gotten more and more popular because it simply wipes away every cry of racism in one quick swoop.

And secondly, are these idiots really trying to act like there isn't a huge upswing in people hating Obama simply because he's black?

The way people are up in arms over the whole ACORN scandal, you'd think they were selling white people's babies on the street corner. All these Senators suddenly want investigations? And to remove their funding? Meanwhile Blackwater, Halliburton, and countless other organizations are just roaming free?!

Right, they weren't caught on camera giving advice to a white girl and her "pimp." Carry on, then...

(and don't get me wrong, I'm not losing any sleep over ACORN being busted and losing these connections. It's just catching the smallest fish ever. And I wish these people who claim to be soooooo interested in "rooting out corruption" would go after some of these companies who are in the business of killing and torturing people.)

But whatever...back to this dumbass talk radio guy's point...

"I guess you can't criticize Obama anymore without being called a racist?!"

No, but specific things can be highlighted to prove that racism still exists in this country, and plenty of those on the Right are using it to their advantage.

Case in point, here's Limbaugh's show-prep, (you can seriously know exactly what Rush is going to talk about on his radio show by peeking at Drudge Report an hour before the show starts) Matt Drudge offering up not one, but two BOLD, ALL-CAPS HEADLINES showing violent black kids.

This one ran a couple weeks ago.
drudge 2

This one (as of writing this) is currently the headline on his website today.
drudge 1

See what he does there? The first example was on a school bus outside of St. Louis. I dunno if you have ever ridden a school bus before, but kids get beaten up all the damn time. I must have witnessed it a handful of times myself growing up.

But see, this was a bus of mostly black kids, beating up on a white boy. This is a NATIONAL story. This needs to go at the top of the page at once! GIANT LETTERS NEED TO MAKE SURE PEOPLE KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THIS COUNTRY!!!

(Sad truth...Limbaugh discussed the story on the air and Neo-Nazis marched cause he claimed it was a "hate crime.")

The second example was of a after-school beating that took place between rival gangs in Chicago. It's a tragic story. One student was beaten to death and the lack of sympathy shown in the video (police released it, hoping someone could ID the suspects) depresses me more than anything else. How far have we fallen as a society, that a boy lying dead in the street, killed in front of your eyes doesn't make you realize that this is wrong...that this isn't a way to live...

But you know what? That story happened days ago.

Huffington Post had a story on it back on September 27th.

But not Drudge. Not the source of all things Conservative-leaning. No, he waits until today. Days later. A day after it's announced that Obama is going to personally try and get Chicago the Olympics in 2016. Then, he's able to tie it all together.

BLACK THUGS FROM CHICAGO KILL PEOPLE IN THE STREET! HEY, ISN'T OBAMA FROM CHICAGO?! HMMMMMMM...

And if you're thinking, "Gee, Travis...that's kind of a stretch, no?" ask yourself this...

Why wait days later? Why put the story up as the main story in the first place? All day long. Nothing else is going on? Is the story that important?! Outside of Chicago, who does this story truly effect? And really, is Chicago that much more violent than LA or Atlanta or Moscow or Mexico City or plenty of other cities that held the Olympics?

It's just another example of subtle racism and how it's used against this President on a daily basis.

9.26.2009

MICHAEL MOORE ON CNN

Michael Moore gets a lot of flak for being "radical." A Left's version of Glenn Beck, if you will. But as these lengthy clips of him on CNN show, the man really doesn't have radical, extreme ideas at all. And I love how absurd Wolf Blitzer's questions come across in this interview...he literally asks Moore if he's a Socialist.

Sigh.



GLENN BECK REFUSES TO EXPLAIN "WHITE CULTURE."



Hey Glenn, maybe instead of us asking ourselves "tough, tough questions," you could try and answer simple, simple ones. I mean, all she did was ask you to explain your own words. Your own phrase. That's not a "trap." It's giving you the opportunity to prove that you're not a wacky racist...and you failed.

9.21.2009

WHAT RACISM?!

A lot of Conservatives are pushing back against this sudden idea that perhaps some of the insane, batshit hatred of Obama miiiiight have something to do with the color of his skin.

And I feel for them. Really.

What's the world coming to where you can't simply disagree with the President of the United States by calmly calling him a secret Muslim, or suggest that he was born in Kenya, or that he single-handedly founded ACORN and will be forever connected to any scandal they're ever involved in for the rest of time, or that he's a Socialist, Marxist, Hitler, Stalin, a voodoo witch doctor, wants to kill grandma, pals around with terrorists, and wants to destroy America...without people thinking it's all because he's black?!

So imagine my shock when I woke up this morning and found out that some vandals up at Penguin Park, (the park my mother would take us to on a weekly basis as children...the park Lex adores and I have so many found memories of) spray-painted SWASTIKAS and lots of FUCK OBAMA all over the playground equipment.

Grrrrrr. Why must facts continue to have a liberal bias?

9.18.2009

ALL OF YOU TEABAGGERS, PLEASE SIGN AND DATE THIS.

(taken from Daily Kos)

I, ________________________, do solemnly swear to uphold the principles of a socialism-free society and heretofore pledge my word that I shall strictly adhere to the following:

I will complain about the destruction of 1st Amendment Rights in this country, while I am duly being allowed to exercise my 1st Amendment Rights.

I will complain about the destruction of my 2nd Amendment Rights in this country, while I am duly being allowed to exercise my 2nd Amendment rights by legally but brazenly brandishing unconcealed firearms in public.

I will foreswear the time-honored principles of fairness, decency, and respect by screaming unintelligible platitudes regarding tyranny, Nazi-ism, and socialism at public town halls. Also.

I pledge to eliminate all government intervention in my life. I will abstain from the use of and participation in any socialist goods and services including but not limited to the following:

•Social Security

•Medicare/Medicaid

•State Children’s Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP)

•Police, Fire, and Emergency Services

•US Postal Service

•Roads and Highways

•Air Travel (regulated by the socialist FAA)

•The US Railway System

•Public Subways and Metro Systems

•Public Bus and Lightrail Systems

•Rest Areas on Highways

•Sidewalks

•All Government-Funded Local/State Projects (e.g., see Iowa 2009 federal senate appropriations)

•Public Water and Sewer Services (goodbye socialist toilet, shower, dishwasher, kitchen sink, outdoor hose!)

•Public and State Universities and Colleges

•Public Primary and Secondary Schools

•Sesame Street

•Publicly Funded Anti-Drug Use Education for Children

•Public Museums

•Libraries

•Public Parks and Beaches

•State and National Parks

•Public Zoos

•Unemployment Insurance

•Municipal Garbage and Recycling Services

•Treatment at Any Hospital or Clinic That Ever Received Funding From Local, State or Federal Government (pretty much all of them)

•Medical Services and Medications That Were Created or Derived From Any Government Grant or Research Funding (again, pretty much all of them)

•Socialist Byproducts of Government Investment Such as Duct Tape and Velcro (Nazi-NASA Inventions)

•Use of the Internets, email, and networked computers, as the DoD's ARPANET was the basis for subsequent computer networking

•Foodstuffs, Meats, Produce and Crops That Were Grown With, Fed With, Raised With or That Contain Inputs From Crops Grown With Government Subsidies

•Clothing Made from Crops (e.g. cotton) That Were Grown With or That Contain Inputs From Government Subsidies
If a veteran of the government-run socialist US military, I will forego my VA benefits and insist on paying for my own medical care

I will not tour socialist government buildings like the Capitol in Washington, D.C.

I pledge to never take myself, my family, or my children on a tour of the following types of socialist locations, including but not limited to:

•Smithsonian Museums such as the Air and Space Museum or Museum of American History

•The socialist Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson Monuments

•The government-operated Statue of Liberty

•The Grand Canyon

•The socialist World War II and Vietnam Veterans Memorials

•The government-run socialist-propaganda location known as Arlington National Cemetery

•All other public-funded socialist sites, whether it be in my state or in Washington, DC

I will urge my Member of Congress and Senators to forego their government salary and government-provided healthcare.

I will oppose and condemn the government-funded and therefore socialist military of the United States of America.

I will boycott the products of socialist defense contractors such as GE, Lockheed-Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, Raytheon, Humana, FedEx, General Motors, Honeywell, and hundreds of others that are paid by our socialist government to produce goods for our socialist army.

I will protest socialist security departments such as the Pentagon, FBI, CIA, Department of Homeland Security, TSA, Department of Justice and their socialist employees.

Upon reaching eligible retirement age, I will tear up my socialist Social Security checks.

Upon reaching age 65, I will forego Medicare and pay for my own private health insurance until I die.

SWORN ON A BIBLE AND SIGNED THIS DAY OF __________ IN THE YEAR ___.

_____________ _________________________
Signed Printed Name/Town and State

9.14.2009

HOW FAR WE'VE GOTTEN OFF TRACK

Watch this video of this old man who was brave enough to walk through the crowds protesting over the weekend holding a sign above his head that read PUBLIC OPTION NOW!

You'd think, based on his reactions and the fact that he had to have cops escort his every move, that the sign read, "I WANT TO KILL YOUR BABY."



These people are foaming at the mouth angry. This shit is only going to get worse over the next 3 1/2 years. Nothing Obama does or doesn't do will calm them down. They're out of their fucking minds and on the verge of doing something very, very stupid.

God help us all.

9.12.2009

PHOTOS FROM TODAY'S 9/12 TEA PARTY IN WASHINGTON

Keep in mind, these are the followers of Glenn Beck's "9/12 Project." The idea is to "Unite us in the spirit of how we felt on 9/12." Which of course fits in nicely with how Beck constantly refers to Obama as a Marxist, Socialist, and Racist.

So you can imagine the UNITY that was fucking flowing out on the streets of Washington today. Bask in the glory...if you dare...

(images from mar is sea Y's Flickr account)


Oh Hilter mustache...is there anything you can't make adorable?


Having trouble reading what that says? Here, this might help...


I mean, can you feeeeeeeel the unity yet?


My favorite thing about this sign is how the guy blacked-out the s's in "asshole." Cause showing Obama and Hitler being BFF's is classy, but the word asshole makes it obscene!!!


Worst. Acronym. Ever.


These fuckers realize that the economy has been shit for a lot longer than seven months...right?!


I dunno how she did it, but she managed to put EXACTLY what I was thinking on the morning of 9/12 up on her poster. Amazing.


How...do...you even...compromise...with...these kind...of people?!

Folks, these were taken from one single Flickr account. I imagine I'll be posting a lot more about this soon. It's just eye-opening to see these people gather up and think that people are going to take them seriously.

9.11.2009

KATAMARI FOREVER



Holy crap, I can't believe I almost forgot about this game coming out later this month. I was so focused on The Beatles: Rock Band (and for good reason, it's insanely beautiful) that Katamari totally slipped my mind.

Luckily, the PSN put up a demo last night to remind me of how much I adore this wacky, adorable video game.

9.07.2009

GOOD THING REPUBLICANS WERE UP IN ARMS ABOUT OBAMA'S SPEECH TO SCHOOL CHILDREN...

Cause it's a Communist Manifesto if I've ever read one...

Hello everyone - how's everybody doing today? I'm here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we've got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I'm glad you all could join us today.

I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it's your first day in a new school, so it's understandable if you're a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you're in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could've stayed in bed just a little longer this morning.

I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn't have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday - at 4:30 in the morning.

Now I wasn't too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I'd fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I'd complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster."

So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I'm here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I'm here because I want to talk with you about your education and what's expected of all of you in this new school year.

Now I've given a lot of speeches about education. And I've talked a lot about responsibility.

I've talked about your teachers' responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn.

I've talked about your parents' responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don't spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox.

I've talked a lot about your government's responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren't working where students aren't getting the opportunities they deserve.

But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world - and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.

And that's what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.

Every single one of you has something you're good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That's the opportunity an education can provide.

Maybe you could be a good writer - maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper - but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor - maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine - but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.

And no matter what you want to do with your life - I guarantee that you'll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You're going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can't drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You've got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.

And this isn't just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you're learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.

You'll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You'll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You'll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.

We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don't do that - if you quit on school - you're not just quitting on yourself, you're quitting on your country.

Now I know it's not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.

I get it. I know what that's like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn't always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn't fit in.

So I wasn't always as focused as I should have been. I did some things I'm not proud of, and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.

But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams. My wife, our First Lady Michelle Obama, has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn't have much. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.

Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don't have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there's not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don't feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren't right.

But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life - what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you've got going on at home - that's no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That's no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That's no excuse for not trying.

Where you are right now doesn't have to determine where you'll end up. No one's written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.

That's what young people like you are doing every day, all across America.

Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn't speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University, and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez.

I'm thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who's fought brain cancer since he was three. He's endured all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer - hundreds of extra hours - to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind, and he's headed to college this fall.

And then there's Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods, she managed to get a job at a local health center; start a program to keep young people out of gangs; and she's on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.

Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren't any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same.

That's why today, I'm calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education - and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book.

Maybe you'll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you'll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you'll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, I hope you'll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don't feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.

Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.

I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work -- that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you're not going to be any of those things.

But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won't love every subject you study. You won't click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won't necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.

That's OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who've had the most failures. JK Rowling's first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

These people succeeded because they understand that you can't let your failures define you - you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn't mean you're a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn't mean you're stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.

No one's born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work. You're not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don't hit every note the first time you sing a song. You've got to practice. It's the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it's good enough to hand in.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn't a sign of weakness, it's a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don't know something, and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust - a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor - and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.

And even when you're struggling, even when you're discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you - don't ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.

The story of America isn't about people who quit when things got tough. It's about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.

It's the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.

So today, I want to ask you, what's your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?

Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I'm working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you've got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don't let us down - don't let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.

9.04.2009

THE ROAD: FILM CLIPS

Who knows how long these will last, but there are 5 film clips from the upcoming adaptation of The Road online right now.

I must say, this is at the top of my list of movies I need to see...even if I know how exhausting and depressing it's going to be.



(this is one of my favorite scenes in the book...but I was surprised the clip went on as long as it did...beware of spoilers if you haven't read the book)




(I've read the book and...I still almost got tears in my eyes watching this scene...just putting you in the frame of mind of "What would you do for the ones you loved most?" For those of you who haven't read the book, the people in the house are cannibals, the skinny bastards in the basement are their "food.")


(one of the few moments in the book where you let your guard down...and feel like things are okay.)

AL FRANKEN TALKING TO HEATH CARE TEA BAGGERS

I think a lot of people thought that Al Franken was going to become a Senator and be just a comedic dumbass...but as this clip shows, he's willing to talk about specifics and not talk down to people. I'm a pretty big Franken fan, but this clip even impressed me...