Warren Zevon famously sang lyrics to the effect of "bring lawyers, guns and money," Several individuals in the news today had too much or too little of the above.
I am, as are all good liberals, a believer in some type of gun control and not a fan of the wild west mentality. I understand that guns can be necessary to protect oneself and family, but I worry that they are so easy to get and to use that any idiot can (and often does) use them when anyone or anything makes them mad or gets in their way. The most obvious illustration of this is the trial we just went through with Richard Poplawski. Some people have too damn many guns and a state of mind that makes that fact very dangerous to the rest of us. Just today I read an article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11194/1160036-59.stm about a gentleman Mr. Fromholz who shot another man over a television. He killed someone's husband/partner/father/brother over a damn television. Mr. Fromholz actually left the bar, retrieved his gun and then came back in to shoot the victim. Mr. Fromholz evidently had some type of major issue if he felt the need to exercise his second amendment right by shooting someone over something so inane. So, what do we as a society do to keep the weapons out of the hands of individuals like Poplawski and Fromholz? I think better screeening, education and taking a step back from the wild west mentality.
Now from the guns portion of our show to the stripper portion. On June 30, 2011, two young brothers died tragically in a fire at their apartment in North Versailles. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11194/1160107-100.stm A babysitter was blamed for leaving the two young boys home alone. Unfortunately it turns out that, just like in a deadly fire several years ago in Pittsburgh, there was no babysitter. Even though the mother in this case, Kiaira Pollard, pretended to call the babysitter when she arrived on the scene. It turns out that Ms. Pollard works evenings as a stripper and routinely left her two young boys home alone while she worked. While her duplicity at the scene of the incident is not very defendable, this case is the perfect illustration of why we as a society need affordable, available daycare/childcare for women who work, even for women who work non-traditional jobs. She had to make a living somehow. Rather than pass a Caylee's law, maybe we should make daycare affordable and available. Or help women like Ms. Pollard find better jobs where they can safely leave their children while they work. I'm not excusing Ms. Pollard, but I feel that this happens a lot more than most people realize, or want to realize.
Nightline did a story a few days ago regarding the "christian" clinic that Michelle Bachmann's husband runs that has a "cure the homos" program. Mr. Bachmann has also evidently referred to gays as barbarians that need to be educated and disciplined. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/12/whats-going-on-at-the-bachmann-clinic/#more-167117
You know what, to crib a phrase from Lady Gaga, I was born this way and I'm not a barbarian that needs to be educated and disciplined (I should point out that he was talkng about GAY KIDS!! when he made this comment.) For those who are enamored of the so-called "populist tea-party movement, this is what is being pushed by one of their leading so-called Christian candidates and her husband. All I have to say is that the queers better get out of the bars and to the polling places come time to vote for President. Because even if Ms. Bachmann is a long shot, you can best believe there are a lot of people who feel the same way about our community, and this way of thinking might find its way into the mainstream GOP message. In fact, I would bet on it.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
Why liberals love "Big Government."
The conservative philosophy is that government should stay out of the way and let free enterprise basically have free rein. The conservatives allege that the business community will look out for our best interests in a paternalistic "pat on the head" kind of way.
However, this philosophy has been proven time and time again to be bad for the public. A recent article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette stated that businesses are balking on voluntary nutrional guidelines that would encourage food makers to reduce salt, added sugars and fats in foods targeted toward children. If their products did not meet certain standards, the foodmakers who follow the guidelines would refrain from advertising them to children. Some heavy hitters in the media as well as the chamber of commerce are using scare tactics such as job loss to back the government off. Nevermind that the childhood obesity rate in this country --one in three kids is obese or overweight -- is, well, obscene. Big business would rather reel in their lucrative audience and their money rather than do the right thing to curb childhood obesity. So is this really how we want our country to be run? By big corporations whose only regard is for the bottom line?
I guess this article outraged me because businesses won't, in my opinion, do the right thing when it comes time to choose health or safety over their bottom line. They will choose the bottom line every time because their business is to make money for themselves and their shareholders.
However, this philosophy has been proven time and time again to be bad for the public. A recent article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette stated that businesses are balking on voluntary nutrional guidelines that would encourage food makers to reduce salt, added sugars and fats in foods targeted toward children. If their products did not meet certain standards, the foodmakers who follow the guidelines would refrain from advertising them to children. Some heavy hitters in the media as well as the chamber of commerce are using scare tactics such as job loss to back the government off. Nevermind that the childhood obesity rate in this country --one in three kids is obese or overweight -- is, well, obscene. Big business would rather reel in their lucrative audience and their money rather than do the right thing to curb childhood obesity. So is this really how we want our country to be run? By big corporations whose only regard is for the bottom line?
I guess this article outraged me because businesses won't, in my opinion, do the right thing when it comes time to choose health or safety over their bottom line. They will choose the bottom line every time because their business is to make money for themselves and their shareholders.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Misbehaving as a trend
There's been some discussion lately among Sue and I as well as Facebook and CNN.com regarding bad ass kids. Sue told me that she was in a coffee house this morning where a woman allowed her toddler son to run around the small shop unattended and that he almost made it out the door several times but fortunately was stopped by other customers from getting outside. This shop is on a busy road. While the mother/guardian chatted with a friend this went on for quite some time. Sue also reported that a couple of five year-old girls danced around in a circle in the same coffee shop at the same time the toddler was running amok. The problem is that when we don't discipline our small children and let them run around and disrupt other's quiet/peaceful enjoyment of restaurants, coffee shops, etc. etc. we are teaching them that they don't have to respect others and can do whatever they want.
I'm not a parent on purpose and I realize that being a parent is difficult but parents need to set rules for their kids and make them obey them. The logical progression of this was behavior I witnessed last night at the concert I attended. I went to see a musician named Bill Callahan who sings epic songs in storyteller fashion that are meant to be listened to very carefully. The concert was sponsored by the Warhol museum and was held outside at the Carnegie Museum of Art in the sculpture garden. It was a lovely venue and a lovely summer night. I had been waiting to see Mr. Callahan ever since a show I was supposed to see got rained out in one of our monster storms we had a year or so ago. The concert was not free -- it cost $15.00 to get in.
At some point after the show started, some yinzerettes arrived behind me and began to chatter quite loudly about their banal lives. This went on for some length of time until the guy sitting near me got up and evidently asked them to keep it down. I say evidently because I didn't hear him when he spoke with them so he appeared to do so in a way that did not embarass them. They were quiet for a few song cycles and at some point when the unknown guy and his group began to cheer loudly during the encore, the yinzerettes piped up and told him he was being too loud. When he said to them words to the effect of "Really, you had to go there" one of them called him a "fucking asshole." After the show ended I thanked him, but so did quite a few other people. He, rightly so, made the comment he could have used some back up. And he was right. These little nitwits were bothering more than this gentlemen, his two friends and me. Maybe one or two of us should have gone with him, or gone to security to get them removed. We all paid to hear the show, not them. And that's the same problem with out of control kids. They bother everyone but no one has the courage to complain. Thus the bad behavior get reinforced and when they get into their twenties -- which I suspect was the age of the yinzerettes -- the entitlement and the bad behavior continues because they have learned the lesson that they can behave in public however they want without consequences.
I have been to countless shows in Pittsburgh where some one or some ones have talked through a concert. And I, to my credit, have confronted more than a few. But what I really want to know is who pays good money to attend a concert and not even listen to it? To engage in continuous chatter when you could do that for free or at least the same cost in one of Pittsburgh's many fine bars? That way you could win and I could win by not having you talk at my show.
The concert, by the way, was fantastic and worth the wait. His new album is called "Apocalypse" and from the sound of the songs he played, is fantastic. I don't have it yet but it's on the list.
I'm not a parent on purpose and I realize that being a parent is difficult but parents need to set rules for their kids and make them obey them. The logical progression of this was behavior I witnessed last night at the concert I attended. I went to see a musician named Bill Callahan who sings epic songs in storyteller fashion that are meant to be listened to very carefully. The concert was sponsored by the Warhol museum and was held outside at the Carnegie Museum of Art in the sculpture garden. It was a lovely venue and a lovely summer night. I had been waiting to see Mr. Callahan ever since a show I was supposed to see got rained out in one of our monster storms we had a year or so ago. The concert was not free -- it cost $15.00 to get in.
At some point after the show started, some yinzerettes arrived behind me and began to chatter quite loudly about their banal lives. This went on for some length of time until the guy sitting near me got up and evidently asked them to keep it down. I say evidently because I didn't hear him when he spoke with them so he appeared to do so in a way that did not embarass them. They were quiet for a few song cycles and at some point when the unknown guy and his group began to cheer loudly during the encore, the yinzerettes piped up and told him he was being too loud. When he said to them words to the effect of "Really, you had to go there" one of them called him a "fucking asshole." After the show ended I thanked him, but so did quite a few other people. He, rightly so, made the comment he could have used some back up. And he was right. These little nitwits were bothering more than this gentlemen, his two friends and me. Maybe one or two of us should have gone with him, or gone to security to get them removed. We all paid to hear the show, not them. And that's the same problem with out of control kids. They bother everyone but no one has the courage to complain. Thus the bad behavior get reinforced and when they get into their twenties -- which I suspect was the age of the yinzerettes -- the entitlement and the bad behavior continues because they have learned the lesson that they can behave in public however they want without consequences.
I have been to countless shows in Pittsburgh where some one or some ones have talked through a concert. And I, to my credit, have confronted more than a few. But what I really want to know is who pays good money to attend a concert and not even listen to it? To engage in continuous chatter when you could do that for free or at least the same cost in one of Pittsburgh's many fine bars? That way you could win and I could win by not having you talk at my show.
The concert, by the way, was fantastic and worth the wait. His new album is called "Apocalypse" and from the sound of the songs he played, is fantastic. I don't have it yet but it's on the list.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
We're a gentle angry people
The above is a title to a Unitarian Universalist hymn that the Northside church sings frequently. It's an appropriate theme for me this week. This past spring in April, a neighbor's dog - a Great Dane -- jumped up against our fence and engaged one of our dogs, injuring him. I spoke with her and attempted to get her to rectify the situaiton because we had a $700 plus vet bill because this happened on a Saturday night so we had to take him to the emergency vet. Well, she basically called me a liar and refused to do anything - she didn't even want to promise me that she would not let her dog run loose. So I called Animal Contol. We had our hearing on Wednesday, July 6, 2011 and even though she lied, I testified, my partner Sue, testified and we had a video showing her dog running loose. The judge found her guility and ordered her to pay restitution. Hopefully we/Sue will see her money. This neighbor acted like she could push me around and do whatever she wanted. I warned her, I tried to work it out but she didn't want to play ball. I was proud of myself for stepping up for myself and for Sue.
After the hearing which was surpirsingly quick, we were out of there by 930, Sue and I went to Pamela's in Millvale. We had a nice breakfast, but afterward we went down the street to Attic Records. I have lived in Pittsburgh for seventeen years and have heard about Attic, but have never been in there. Can you imagine? Man, what a place! It has so much stuff in it it is overwhelming! Along one wall of the store there were records stacked several feet deep down an entire ailse. There were CDs of every type of music imaginable both new and used, vinyl of every type, photos of bands from the 1950 and 1960s and oldies music playing in the background. We didn't stay very long, but I bought two Bruce Springsteen CDs and defintely want to go back and explore it some more. I find it funny that vinyl, or albums as I still refer to them, are making a comeback. When I was a kid up through college, vinyl was all we had, then came cassettes and then CDs and now vinyl is back. I resisted the temptation to buy a record that day ... but you never know what I might do when I make a return visit. (Oh wait, there's that poverty van down by the river problem...hmmm.)
Just read where a Catholic bishop in New York state referred to advocates for Gay marriage as North Korean leaders and some conservative columnist chimed in that gay marriage advocates were like Bull Connor the infamous racist from Alabama. Can you imagine the warped thinking behind those declarations? And from the Catholic church which routinely protected pedophiles in their midst and from right wing Republicans who cheered on and helped stir up folks like Mr. Connor. (And the ever ongoing rewriting of Ameircan history by right-wing conservatives.)
On a lighter note, Sue and I went to the Toonseum in Pittsburgh to hear a lecture of religion and comic books. The lecture was pretty good, I'm still thinking about it. The display was about Batman, Spiderman, Superman, Wonder Woman and various other super heroes. I loved Batman as a kid, the concept of someone stepping up for the powerless and abused. I had Batman and Robin dolls as a kid but they were mauled by my brother's dog, Herman. Herman also amputated the legs of Johnny and Jane West, western themed toys. Herman had no regard for super heroes. Or the wild west.
Casey Anthony confirmed our worst fears about society. You can kill someone (or be a party to it or have knowledge of it) and get away with it. Pretty chilling isn't it?
After the hearing which was surpirsingly quick, we were out of there by 930, Sue and I went to Pamela's in Millvale. We had a nice breakfast, but afterward we went down the street to Attic Records. I have lived in Pittsburgh for seventeen years and have heard about Attic, but have never been in there. Can you imagine? Man, what a place! It has so much stuff in it it is overwhelming! Along one wall of the store there were records stacked several feet deep down an entire ailse. There were CDs of every type of music imaginable both new and used, vinyl of every type, photos of bands from the 1950 and 1960s and oldies music playing in the background. We didn't stay very long, but I bought two Bruce Springsteen CDs and defintely want to go back and explore it some more. I find it funny that vinyl, or albums as I still refer to them, are making a comeback. When I was a kid up through college, vinyl was all we had, then came cassettes and then CDs and now vinyl is back. I resisted the temptation to buy a record that day ... but you never know what I might do when I make a return visit. (Oh wait, there's that poverty van down by the river problem...hmmm.)
Just read where a Catholic bishop in New York state referred to advocates for Gay marriage as North Korean leaders and some conservative columnist chimed in that gay marriage advocates were like Bull Connor the infamous racist from Alabama. Can you imagine the warped thinking behind those declarations? And from the Catholic church which routinely protected pedophiles in their midst and from right wing Republicans who cheered on and helped stir up folks like Mr. Connor. (And the ever ongoing rewriting of Ameircan history by right-wing conservatives.)
On a lighter note, Sue and I went to the Toonseum in Pittsburgh to hear a lecture of religion and comic books. The lecture was pretty good, I'm still thinking about it. The display was about Batman, Spiderman, Superman, Wonder Woman and various other super heroes. I loved Batman as a kid, the concept of someone stepping up for the powerless and abused. I had Batman and Robin dolls as a kid but they were mauled by my brother's dog, Herman. Herman also amputated the legs of Johnny and Jane West, western themed toys. Herman had no regard for super heroes. Or the wild west.
Casey Anthony confirmed our worst fears about society. You can kill someone (or be a party to it or have knowledge of it) and get away with it. Pretty chilling isn't it?
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