A mandate to destroy.

The Senate GOP plans a war against the EPA. This means, of course, a war on America. Climate change is real, and if we don't protect our environment starting today we're all in big trouble. But the Republicans see the profits of the already super rich as more important than the future of our country. Amazing to think that the people who will suffer most from the actions of these right-wing morons are the same people that gleefully put them into office. I would like to think that Americans are strong, intelligent people who care about their country, their children, and their fellow citizens. The recent elections have proven me wrong.

Satan at the wheel.

This is how the media supports morons. If you didn't know who George Bush was you would find this picture appealing. I guess that's why Huffington Post is hoping for. But this is a photo of a pseudo-cowboy, war criminal, mass murderer. This is a snapshot of spoiled Yankee scion of a wealthy family who has known nothing but privilege all his life. He has committed many crimes, including insider trading, and never been punished. Even now while he is responsible for the deaths of thousands of young Americans and countless men, women and children in Iraq, the press has totally given him a pass and agreed to forget all the homes he has destroyed all the crippled, blind, and mentally damaged innocents whose lives he has a ruined. So instead of showing him as the monster he is, they choose this sunny, flattering, almost heroic shot. We are already living in 1984.

Where's my jock-o-lantern?

I'm glad October is over. Now I no longer have to hear so many people mispronounce the very simple word Halloween. Hallow is pronounced just like shallow, fallow, and callow. Candles are not made of tollow but tallow. So why do so many people insist on saying Holloween or Hahloween? Don't complicate it next year. It's Halloween.

Misogynist misnomer.

One of the most hilariously inaccurate terms today is Gentlemen’s Club. This flattering designation is used for the seedy venues where horny men, rarely gentlemen, go to see strippers and pole dancers bare it all. While most men sneak out alone many "gentlemen" often go in groups of giggling goons to drink, gawk, and cheer on unfortunate young women, often with children,  who have sadly found stripping for these boors pays more than eight hours of hard labor. Being juvenile and pathetic these gentlemen will often pay additional money to enjoy the salacious satisfaction of a lap dance in which he convinces himself the woman actually likes him while she has to be careful not to vomit from revulsion on said lap.

Stop the music.

One of today's  popular myths is that everyone wants to have all their waking moments scored with music, generally the lowest form of pop. Ergo everywhere you from the local Starbucks to most medical offices and, most recently, every TD bank, you are forced to listen to mediocre tunes sung by mostly untalented singers. If this myth is true then why does Amtrak have quiet cars and why are they always full of passengers of all ages eager to avoid any kind of chatter, music, or other distracting noises? The answer is that the music industry has created a false belief about America's desire for constant music, so they can sell crappy songs and costly sound systems, and rake in monthly rentals from millions of restaurants, stores, and any other indoor or outdoor venue. Fortunately for them most Americans are sheep who do not bleat when they are being herded in any direction. I suspect that if any chain installed a quiet section, as Amtrak has quiet cars, they would be very popular and lay to rest the modern delusion that everyone wants their life filled with noise.

INTERMISSION

Unless  a Luddite like me can figure out how to do this on the road, there will be a break in my whining and complaIning, possibly as long as a month. The bad news is that I hate to not communicate with all the loyal followers of my blog. The good news is there not that many people to disappoint. The other bad news is that in the next few weeks there are sure to be hundreds of irritating people and events and I will have no way to vent my frustration. By the way, don't you hate it when people use photos of themselves in articles, book covers, publicity, anywhere at all and they haven't looked that way in years, plus they accessorize the photo with some kind of item that betrays the damn thing anyway. Hmm. I always marvel at the nerve of people like that.

They sure know how to spoil a vacation.

Our newest lost of freedom seems to be that you can't go on vacation without letting your bank know your entire itinerary, even though it's none of their fucking business. I called CitiBank today to make sure they don't freeze my card while I'm on vacation as they have done in the past. I felt that assuring them I would be traveling was enough. Apparently not. They suggested they can't provide me with any protection unless I tell them where I'm going. Since I don't know, I can't tell them and I wouldn't if I could. We Americans are too easily cowed by the information bullies who insist they have to know things that are really none of their concern. So while I'm traveling in the near future, I expect to have some hotelier or waiter tell that my credit card has been frozen because CitiBank is far more paranoid than I am.