The Disease of Fox News

Everyone knows Fox News is anything but ‘fair and balanced’. They haven’t used that slogan for ages because even they knew it wasn’t true. Now they wrap themselves up in their plastic patriotism and go deeper in on their concept of ‘traditional’ values. They angrily shout that America is great and everything else is bad. Anyone who dares to question them or their president shall be labeled ‘enemy’ and will be dispatched as such. They filter out the inconvenient truths and leave only the sweet distilled lies. They offer only half the story and call it journalism. For that there should be an asterisk mark by the News in Fox News.

I am in the unfortunate position where I am exposed to the channel on a daily basis and I can’t simply turn it off, as much as I wish I could. I have noticed things about Fox News and much of this isn’t new to anyone I know. I just feel the need to join in with the others to share these observations.

First, there is no news on Fox News. It appears they have an endless schedule of opinion shows where the host lays out the bones of the story and then shares their opinion and then brings on a live guest who shares that same opinion. No differing viewpoints. No unique angles. Just what they think and that’s it. Any opposing statements are offered in pre-recorded snips from other sources. They don’t dare have two live guests who would conflict with one another.

The majority of their coverage these days is trump. It seems every show is all about trump and the hurdles he faces each day. They get pro-trump guests to further spin the lies and fabrications of the administration and then trash any dissenting voice they can. They bend over backwards and back again to rationalize the president’s foolish remarks and baffling behavior. Today, as a point, a re-election official was on claiming there really were 12,000 in attendance at the trump rally in Tulsa. I have seen pictures from the rally and based on that and the fact that the venue only has 19000 capacity, there is no way there were 12000 people there. The fire dept. in Tulsa stated that there were less that 6200 people there, and since I see no reason why the fire department would need to lie, I’ll go with their number because that is also what looks factual. I’d say the trump campaign thug needs to learn math. 12000 people in a 19000 capacity venue would mean that more than half the auditorium would have been full. That place was barely half full with huge block of seats empty and not many people walking around. Of course, Fox News goes silent. They also failed to report that 6 trump staffers tested positive for Covid-19 ahead of the rally. No face masks. No social distancing. They also said protesters scared trumpists away, but I fail to see how 120 peaceful protests could scare away so many of the kind of people who would go to a trump rally.

When Fox isn’t reporting on trump or bashing the civil unrest currently going on, they have shows where the host will just talk about things with the intent to anger viewers. One pundit went on about not being able to get liquor on an airline flight. He went on and on about it, yelling and getting upset. Clearly in a bid to rile up the viewers. The ‘news’ shows spread the lies and the opinion shows cement them and anger up the viewers. These two kinds of programs on Fox culminate in an angry person filled with a lot of bad information. Fox also makes sure they are the only source because they go after their rivals at CNN and MS-NBC calling them ‘fake news’ and constantly claimng they lie when the reality is that a fact checking poll proved that CNN and MS-NBC are more truthful than Fox. Fox was proven ot be untruthful nearly half the time with either misleading half-truths or flat out lies, or simply the omission of some information. And when they aren’t doing any of this, they’re showing funny animal videos. What journalism school did these people graduate from?

Fox News clearly carefully crafts and structures their information for their viewers in a very specific way and because of that Fox News isn’t news. Journalists are intended to be impartial and hold no sway over the news they report. CNN and MS-NBC, so far as I’ve seen, simply report the news as it happens with no spin or agenda. They have their opinion shows but usually they will have live guests from both sides of the argument in order to have a thoughtful debate on their topic. Fox has an agenda. It is widely known trump watches Fox. He speaks on the phone with Sean Hannity. Fox knows that their reporting has sometimes influenced public policy and I am sure that power is hard for them to resist, but that is not the function of a journalist. You don’t express your opinions with the intent to affect change in a world leader’s decisions in order to suit your own ends. You can if you want, but don’t call it news and don’t call yourself a journalist.

Fox News has now become more a propaganda machine for the GOP and it seems each day they become emboldened by trrump. Even when he denounces them in his tweets they still vie for his favor, almost begging him for him to love them again. I think it proves that not only has trump failed to make America “great again” but he can’t even improve Fox News.

The Case For Higher Minimum Wage

I have reached my breaking point. I have seen so many memes on Facebook in obvious opposition to the recent hikes in the minimum wages in New York and California. They pretty much all believe that with the higher minimum wage prices will skyrocket and we’ll be paying $65 for a Big Mac at McDonald’s. Then there are the comments from people who seem convinced that people are just lazy and don’t want to work hard to make a living. Apparently not wanting to work three jobs to make rent is lazy.

They tell tales of how when they were young they pulled themselves up by their boot straps and pressed their noses to the grindstone and never complained about it. Of course back when they were young it was a different economy. There once was a day in this country a single full time salary could support a family of four. Now you need to have at least two sources of income and even then you only barely cover the expenses. Love your tales of youthful adventures, but unless you’re living it now, you don’t really know and your experience amounts to diddily dick today. The cost of living has gone up. That’s a fact. College is more expensive. Just living is more expensive and wages for the lower and middle class haven’t budged since the seventies. The economy, much like time, waits for no man. What you did in your twenties to get by wouldn’t cut the mustard today and that’s a fact.

Here’s a real fact: A higher minimum wage is a good thing for the economy. More people will have more money in their paychecks, and these are the people who actually spend their money. When the 1% make money, they shut it away in their investments and off shore accounts where it builds interest and earns them money they don’t have to work for and that they don’t pay taxes on. When people who work at Target get their money, they spend it on bills and food and other things they may want or need for themselves or their families, should have them. They inject more money into the overall economy and this stimulates businesses and that stimulation brings about profits for said businesses. Someone may go to Target today and spend just twenty bucks on a few things, but with more money in their bank account, they will spend two, three or maybe four times as much. That Target could stand to make $100 more per customer every day and they’re already operating at a profit. They will be making even  more money, which will be more than enough to cover those higher wages without raising prices.

The economy is like the human body and money is the blood. It needs to move and get around to keep the body healthy. If there’s bad circulation, the limbs die off and they have to be amputated, and that’s what is happening now. The 1% are choking this economy because they want all their money and the thought of allowing anyone else to have any scares them. We as a species need to realize that we are all in this together. We have to start at least considering the other guys because it’s the other guys out there that make our society. Your neighbors. Your coworkers. They all play a part and if they don’t do well, then you don’t do well. When you build a building you start with the foundation. A secure and strong base makes a sturdy structure.When the middle is strong, it’s even more sturdy, but adding to the top does nothing but actually make it more likely that it will topple over. A higher minimum wage sounds scary and disastrous, but the reality is it will actually benefit everyone. Think about all the Wal-Mart workers on welfare and food stamps now who will be able to get off those programs because they will be able to afford to feed their families on their own. Millions of tax dollars freed up. If this economy has been able to survive epic raises for executives, it can weather a little raise for the working man.

They’re the ones who open those stores every day. They’re the ones who make it possible for those corporations to make those record profits. And before you dismiss all minimum wage workers as student and kids, be aware that majority of people working minimum wage jobs now are over thirty and many of them are single parents. Maybe you think they failed at life and deserve this miserable existence. Maybe some have failed, but is the penalty for failure to live by the skin of your teeth? To suffer and struggle until you just have a heart attack and die? We should be looking for ways to help those who need it, not to punish them. We enjoy a standard of living unheard of in most of the world. We should not only appreciate that, but try and share in that good fortune. I’m not saying you have to hand over your money to them, but let’s try and find ways to make it possible for them to get a little ahead and be able to enjoy their lives as much as you enjoy yours. Who can enjoy their life working three jobs? I mean, who are you to deny them that? I’m no financial expert so I’m just calling it like I see it. The principles are rock solid and I have heard a lot of all of this from experts in the economic field. I leave with this advice:  Try and think beyond your own scope and realize that everything is affected by everything else, even if you can’t see it right away. You leave ripples in this ocean and they touch other ripples and not wanting to work your life away is not laziness. There’s more to life than working. If you believe in that, then so does someone else.

Another Shooting. Seriously!?

So, another school shooting. Another ten dead. Another ten lost souls to add to the growing list. Meanwhile our Congress people sit on their cushioned seats in their high security building. A million miles away from the battle field that those young students and teachers were forced into. They didn’t enlist. They didn’t volunteer for this fight. They were plunged into it by the machinations of a highly disturbed psychopath.

Is this our new reality? Is this something we simply have to live with now? A teacher who penned an open letter brought up a good point. That the innocent victims must face a madman with a gun because our politicians are too scared to stand up to pro-gun lobbyists.

How many more more lives need to be lost before people get it? Your right to own a gun is NOT more important than someone’s right to live their life. How can anyone know all the facts about what’s going on and still think there’s nothing wrong? How can you bark on about how important your gun is to you when so many people are dying for no reason at all? No one is looking to take your precious guns away. We are just trying to take steps to keep guns out of the hands of people who have mental issues. Any responsible gun owner would agree that safety is incredibly important.

I read a comment from someone in an article that referred to guns as tools. A gun is NOT a tool. A hammer is a tool. A screwdriver is a tool. A drill is a tool. All three of those things can be used to hurt or kill someone but their main function is to build. Guns have only one purpose. They are built only to kill. You don’t drive nails into wood with a gun. You don’t tighten a screw with a gun. The only gun that is a tool is a nail gun. Guns are weapons and the only thing you can do with them is kill. It baffles me that so many people refuse this truth. Is your gun so precious? Is it more important than a human life? If you lose a gun, you can buy another. If you lose your life, that’s it. I’d say this country needs to embrace the fact that life is more valuable than guns. The amendment that grants the right to own a gun, as outdated and misinterpreted as that amendment may be, does not override the right to simply live. We are all afforded the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. If your happiness requires a gun, then you should go and seek serious help.

The equations seems so simple to me. So many mass shootings by emotionally disturbed people. So many dead. It comes to a point where we all must say that the right of gun ownership is no longer worth it. The NRA would have you believe a good guy with a gun can stop a bad guy with a gun, but the reality is that when anyone is holding a loaded gun, they are neither a good guy nor a bad guy. They’re just someone with a loaded gun, capable of killing just the same. Don’t argue that you’re a ‘responsible gun owner’ who objects to new gun legislation. A truly responsible gun owner would know that any common sense precautions that can be taken, should be taken. From the looks of things now, it looks to me like this country is devolving into Pandora, from the Borderlands games. In case you are unfamiliar, Pandora is a lawless, wild west-esque landscape where everyone’s got a gun and survival is a daily struggle. A world where people shoot and kill each other over seemingly nothing. (btw, there was a story about a New Jersey priest who threatened an 8 year old boy with a musket simply because the boy was planning on rooting for a football team that the priest did not like. Let that sink in.) This is the world we’re leaving to our children. How did that happen? For decades I kept hearing people warning us about granting future generations a terrible world, and here it is. It’s happening! How bad does it have to get until people finally start taking this seriously? It won’t be easy to change gears now, but it’ll be worth it down the line. I’m not sure now whether to keep fighting against  this wave of hysteric violence or give in and join the band. Maybe we should all just give up, arm ourselves and accept the fact that we are now living  in an active war zone. I for one, am sick of this. We are the laughing stock of the world. We have the highest rates of gun violence and incarceration in the world. The worst test scores. The highest inequality, both social and financial.  If you want to swaddle yourself up in the flag and keep saying this is the greatest country on Earth, go right ahead. I would think if you’re so proud of this country, you’d want to take action to preserve it and truly make it as wonderful as we claim it to be. Make it a place where it is safe to raise a family. A place where people of diverse backgrounds can live together in peace and happiness. It sounds like some hippy day dream, but when you think about it, is it all that bad? No. It’s not. To paraphrase a song lyric, “What’s so wrong with peace, love and understanding?”

Religion V. Law

Kim Davis, Sarah Palin, and Mike Hukabee, for starters, this is for you. I’m so sick of hearing about this KY clerk case every damn day when it all is so clear to even the most dim witted of people. WARNING: this post may contain questionable language. I am very angry.

First! and maybe I should use all caps at  this point to really make the point. THIS IS NOT A CHRISTIAN NATION!!!!!! IT IS IN THE CONSTITUTION THAT THIS COUNTRY SHALL NOT HOLD ANY RELIGION IN HIGHER REGARD THAN ANOTHER. THERE IS NO NATIONAL RELIGION. THIS IS A LAND OF LAWS. YOU IDIOTS IN GOVERNMENT SHOULD KNOW THIS ALREADY. HAVING TO REMIND YOU AGAIN AND AGAIN IS BECOMING SO VERY TIRESOME. AS YOU ARE AN ELECTED OFFICIAL, YOU ARE A PUBLIC SERVANT. THAT MEANS YOU SERVE THE PUBLIC AS DESCRIBED BY THE LAW. ALL OF THE PUBLIC. YOU DON’T GET TO PICK AND CHOOSE WHO YOU DEAL WITH. YOU DON’T GET TO BE SELECTIVE WITH YOUR DUTY BASED ON ANY RELIGIOUS OR MORAL BELIEF. YOU ARE A PUBLIC SERVANT. YOU HAVE NO RELIGION OTHER THAN THE LAW OF THIS COUNTRY. YOU HAVE NO GOD OTHER THAN THE CONSTITUTION. IF  YOU HAVE A MORAL ISSUE WITH  YOUR DUTIES, YOU OUGHT TO RESIGN AND FIND A LINE OF WORK THAT WON’T CONFLICT WITH YOUR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. IF YOU CAN’T GRASP THAT SIMPLE CONCEPT, THEN SHUT THE FUCK UP BECAUSE YOU ARE OBVIOUSLY LACKING A BRAIN.

SECOND, KIM DAVIS WAS  NOT JAILED FOR BEING CHRISTIAN. SHE WAS JAILED FOR OBSTRUCTING THE LAW.  SHE CAN BE A BIBLE THUMPING BITCH ALL SHE WANTS ON HER OWN TIME, BUT AS AN ELECTED OFFICIAL, SHE SERVES THE PUBLIC AND HER PERSONAL ISSUES ARE IMMATERIAL. SHE COULDN’T HACK IT, SO INSTEAD OF DOING THE RIGHT THING WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN EITHER TO DO HER JOB, HAVE SOMEONE ELSE DO IT, OR JUST RESIGN, SHE CHOSE TO BREAK THE LAW. SHE IS NOW IN JAIL FOR THAT. REPUBLICANS HAVE PRAISED HER, YET I AM AMAZED THAT THEY ARE SO SUPPORTIVE OF SOMEONE WHO HAS BROKEN THE LAW OF THE CONSTITUTION AS THEY ARE ALWAYS SPOUTING OFF ABOUT HOW MUCH THEY LOVE SAID CONSTITUTION. AGAIN, CAN’T PICK AND CHOOSE. YOU FOLLOW ONE PART OF IT, YOU FOLLOW ALL OF IT OR GO HOME. LET’S ALSO NOT FORGET THAT KIM DAVIS HERSELF IS NO SAINT. ADULTERY, DIVORCE, CHILDREN OUT OF WEDLOCK. THIS BITCH, BY BIBLICAL LAW, SHOULD BE STONED TO DEATH. LET’S ALSO FIND A WAY TO GAUGE ‘RELIGIOUS CONVICTION’. THIS C*&^ HAS ONLY BEEN CHRISTIAN FOR A FEW YEARS. WHO THE FUCK DOES SHE THINK SHE IS TO PASS JUDGEMENT ON ANYONE?  UNTIL THEY FIND A WAY TO PROVE HOW DEVOUT YOU ARE, THIS RELIGIOUS LIBERTY ARGUMENT NEEDS TO BE PUT TO BED. CHRISTIANS OF THE WORLD, YOU ARE NOT BEING PERSECUTED. YOUR VIEWS ARE SIMPLY DYING AWAY BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE OPENING THEIR EYES AND HEARTS AND SEE THAT THIS DIVISION IS POINTLESS. TRUE CHRISTIANS ACCEPT AND LOVE ALL. THEY DON’T POINT FINGERS, INFRINGE ON RIGHTS OR FIGHT AGAINST OTHERS LIKE YOU DO.  JESUS  HIMSELF AIDED THE POOR AND SICK. HE OPENED HIS LOVE TO ALL. HE NEVER SPOKE AGAINST ANYONE. UNTIL YOU DO ANY OF THAT, YOU ARE NOT A CHRISTIAN OF ANY PEDIGREE. YOU JUST USE YOUR BELIEFS TO SPREAD YOUR HATE AND IGNORANCE. DON’T PRETEND LIKE ITS ANYTHING OTHER THAN THAT. IF YOU STILL FEEL LIKE YOU’RE BEING PERSECUTED, THEN ALL I CAN SAY IS THINK ABOUT THAT FEELING AND REALIZE ALL THE PEOPLE YOU’VE BEEN PUSHING AGAINST FOR SO LONG HAVE FELT THAT VERY FEELING LONG BEFORE YOU DID. THIS IS WHAT YOU HAVE PUSHED ONTO SO MANY OTHERS OVER THE DECADES. DOESN’T FEEL SO GOOD, DOES IT? WELL, FUCK YOU BECAUSE THIS IS ALL YOUR DOING. YOU BROUGHT THIS ON YOURSELVES. YOU COULD HAVE FOLLOWED THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS. TO LIVE AND LET LIVE AND TO REJOICE IN THE LOVE OF ALL MAN, BUT YOU INSTEAD CHOSE TO USE YOUR BELIEFS AS AN EXCUSE TO MARGINALIZE OTHERS AND CONTROL THE GOVERNMENT. YOU LET PEOPLE LIKE PALIN AND HUCKABEE REIGN OVER YOU. YOU THINK THEY BELIEVE LIKE YOU BUT THEY DON’T. THEY JUST SEE THIS AS A WAY TO CONTROL YOU AND SO FAR, THEY’VE BEEN RIGHT. YOU DO JUST AS THEY SAY. YOU HATE WHO THEY TELL YOU TO HATE. YOU DISCRIMINATE AGAINST THOSE THEY TELL YOU AS WELL. DO YOU THINK THEY ARE ANY AUTHORITIES ON CHRISTIANITY? THEY’RE MORONS!  LOOK AT WHO THEY’RE THROWING IN WITH. THEY SAY KIM DAVIS IS SOME KIND OF MODERN DAY ROSA PARKS. NOT EVEN CLOSE. SHE’S SOME SICK FLIP SIDE OF THE WHOLE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT. SHE’S SOMEONE WHO WOULD HAVE FORCED ROSA TO THE  BACK OF THE BUS.

As you can tell, I’m pissed about all of this. Every day these people just dig deeper into their ignorance and swaddle themselves in it like it was as comfy blanket. I don’t care if you approve or accept the concept of same sex marriage, but you have to know that it is now the law of the land. If you have a moral objection, fine, but it shouldn’t keep you from doing your job. In the private sector, it’s fine. That’s your private business if you want to be an asshole, but if you are a public servant, that’s different. You are sworn in to hold up and defend the rights of all Americans. Not just the ones you find morally acceptable. These religious liberty laws have opened a very ugly door in this nation that we must close. Religious beliefs are  private and should have no bearing on the business of government, on any level. To conclude, Kim Davis is NOT a hero of any kind. She is exactly what is wrong today with the conservative party in this country. She is not a beacon to be followed but a useless relic to be tossed aside. She herself is guilty of many Biblical sins that in those days would have her seen dead, but despite those, she feels she is still righteous enough to stand in judgment of others. This is the kind of hypocritical, backwards thinking that has infected our government for far too long, and pundits like Palin and Huckabee and Trump are just fanning the flames to earn themselves more time in the press, which in itself is disgusting, because they think they’re getting their face in the paper but what they are really doing is chipping away at our people and creating more hate and evil. I won’t even say I hate Kim Davis. That wouldn’t  be the Christian thing to do. Jesus would forgive her. I won’t, but I will pray that while she is incarcerated, the light of wisdom and mercy will shine upon her and she will see the error of her ways. I hope that she will see how she has hurt her fellow man and set upon a path to heal that hurt. I also hope that right now she’s ‘married’ to a big prison dyke named Steamshovel.

Cecil Vs. Hunters

I have always hated the ‘sport’ of trophy hunting, but to hear the justification of this ‘sport’ from the murderer of Cecil the lion, I saw it in a new light. He actually described the activity as something he loved to do. He loved to go and kill innocent, exotic animals and nail their corpses up to his wall. He didn’t just enjoy it; he loved it. He loved to kill. I’m sure he doesn’t see it as killing since it’s animals, but it is killing and it has been observed that while we see trouble in that behavior in children, in adults we seem to label it a ‘sport’ and look the other way. I’d like to remind all that it is still just as troubling, maybe more so. A grown man actually loves to hunt down animals and kill them for nothing more than the bragging rights. This one in particular actually lured the lion from its safe zone and then didn’t just shoot it dead; he wounded it, it bled for about two days and then he finally put the beast out of its misery only to behead and skin it. I saw the picture of his acquisition. He was smiling and so proud. What a piece of human garbage.

Sadly, he is not the only hunter out there gunning for some of the most rare and endangered species out there. There are thousands of these psychos running around with their guns. Yes, you Assholes. You are psychos. Just because you’re not killing humans doesn’t mean you’re not still killing. You enjoy killing. You get off on it and you need it to make yourselves feel something that tickles that sick, unspeakable place in your backwards brains.

I’m not one of those people who believe that God is punishing us for anything we are currently doing in the world, but if I were, I’d think he wasn’t punishing us for gay marriage or abortion or anything like that. I would think he’s punishing us for the way we’ve been treating this planet and its inhabitants. When I was in school and we were studying the book of Genesis in the Bible (You know, that book all the Christians say they’ve read but really haven’t) it describes  our role on this planet as the caregivers. We were supposed to tend the garden over here. Our duty was to farm the land and help it grow and to protect the animals that live here. Instead we pollute the planet with toxic chemicals, rip the resources out of the Earth no matter the pollution it causes and these hunters are out there conducting a genocide of creatures that are unable to defend themselves. God didn’t want us killing, chopping up and displaying his animals for our egos. We have failed in our responsibility to this planet and if we were being punished for anything, that would be it.

Now, I’m not a vegetarian. I’m a meat eater. I admit that, so I don’t really account for the use of cows, pigs, birds and fish for food. Other animals eat meat in the wild. They kill for food. That is the food chain and it’s all  natural. God made carnivores. He knows some of us are going to eat others, but I don’t eat anything more exotic than a duck or turkey. Besides my thing is about the more exotic and complex animals in the world. Lions, elephants, rhinos, etc. Cows will never go extinct. We breed enough of those. It’s the animals out in the wild who need our help, and I think they deserve our help. I’ll say it now. I proudly value animal lives over  human lives. There are some people out there outraged that there’s so much upset over Cecil but no one is making a stink over Planned Parenthood. I say screw the humans. Honestly, there are plenty of us. In fact, I think we should legalize the hunting of humans in order to thin our numbers some. We could use a few years of zero population growth. Besides, planned parenthood. Doesn’t that sound like a good thing? Shouldn’t people plan their families, or do you want your kids to go out there unarmed with any education and get themselves pregnant before High School? Besides, in the case of abortions, that is a situation where the mother is choosing to end a pregnancy. There is no baby. It’s not even really a life form at that point. Hunting on the other hand is a creature being hunted down and taken without consent or notice. Cecil’s cubs were expecting to wake up and find him there with the pride in the morning. His death was not a choice but an tragic event perpetrated by greedy assholes who thought just because they had money, they could do whatever they wanted.  I digress. The point is, it is our duty as a life form to protect other life forms. We shouldn’t be killing for the sake of sport. In nature, killing is only for preserving your own life. It’s not about trophies or whatever prestige they bring. Why are humans so destructive? Why do they love to kill so much? What do they get out of it? Why can’t they be enriched with positive actions? Hunt down some poachers. Save a life. Do something to make the world stronger. I guess that’s not as much fun. It seems humans always prefer whatever is easiest. We love to kill because it’s easier to do than protect. We love tabloids because we love to hear horrible things about famous people. We always take the low road and wallow in the worst of everything. All wild animals should be protected from all forms of hunters, even if it’s being done in the name of conservation. I think if the animal population gets bigger, that means the humans pack up and go somewhere to give them the room they need. They were here first. We’re the invaders and every animal has the right to life and to live that life. I say we have a global ban on guns. Every country on Earth. No guns on Earth, so if you’re going to hunt or kill, you have to do it with your bare hands. Most people who use guns are cowards, which is why they are using the gun in the first place.

Minimum Wage Rise A Good Move For Economy And If You Can’t See That, You’re An Idiot.

Sorry to be so blunt, but frankly, I have seen so many people posting complaints about raising the minimum wage. They offer up glib, simplistic arguments against it which only show how ignorant they are about the situation. If you’re going to go public with these rants, do your fuckin’ research first.

To start with. that majority of the folks working minimum wage level jobs are NOT teenagers. A lot of workers in the service and retail industries are over 30 and many are parents or single parents. Yes, there are a lot of young teens working the grill at Burger King, but maybe you should look up from your phone once in a while after ordering your burger and you’ll see a lot of the employees behind the counter are well past college age. Why has life deposited them in this place? Did they ‘fail at life’ as so many would assume? Maybe. Or maybe they had circumstances that put them in a less than ideal place and they had no choice but to take this menial job in order to get by. Who are you to judge them? There is dignity in all work. If you think they are so beneath you, maybe you should just go home and make your own Whopper at home.

These are human beings who are just trying to make it through life, the same as you and me. Maybe you went to college and you did everything right and now you have a great job with benefits and raises and an assigned parking spot. Good on you. Life, however, doesn’t always work out so well for everyone. There are bumps in the road, either from outside forces we have no control over or from our own mistakes. Should people be punished just because they didn’t live as well as you? Is it right that they must be brushed aside and denied the chance to raise themselves up? I’m sure many of them are pursuing outside education, or would if they could afford it. With wages as they are, there is no way anyone could afford to live AND attend school. Tuition for school, even community college, has never been higher. Even working at full time; which with these jobs is extremely rare, they would have no hope of being able to cover those expenses.

A lot of these workers need to draw on benefits such as food stamps and welfare in addition to their hourly wage, which adds to the tax burden on the public. If the minimum wage were raised, they wouldn’t need those to get by. Corporations who fight against the minimum wage hike are really saying ‘we don’t want to pay more for our employees, but it’s okay if our customers do’, and as long as they are drawing benefits from the government as they are now, that’s exactly what you’re doing. Don’t you think Wal-Mart and McDonald’s, whose CEOs and executives make insane salaries, can find some extra money to add to the employees pay checks? When one guy in a corporation makes over 100 times what all the workers make, there’s clearly room in the budget.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/mcdonalds-old-ceo-to-get-3-million-for-consulting-1425419984 (A little article if you want to read about how an old CEO gets a sweet deal even though he’s getting fired for doing a bad job. Happens all the time, right?)

The fact is CEO salaries have been rising steadily while worker pay has stayed stagnate. This is bad for our economy. I’m no economist, but I see it as this: The economy is a human body and money is the blood. The blood must flow in order for the body to be healthy. It should shoot through the veins fast and free. The problem these days is the blood isn’t flowing like it should. It’s collecting. Rich folks get their money and they hold onto it. They may invest here and there, but for the most part, they lock it up for a rainy day that ironically their money hoarding is going to bring on. With more money in the hands of the middle and lower class, the blood will flow again. They spend their money. They buy groceries and pay bills and purchase homes and cars. etc.  That’s just facts there. They will spend the money, drive the blood and the whole economy will feel the benefits of that. If the billionaires and millionaires continue to hoard the money as they are, this economy is heading for a major heart attack.

Will prices go up with a higher minimum wage? Probably, but not because of any real reason. Studies have already been conducted and they have shown a higher minimum wage would have little to no effect on pricing. If they do go up, it’s only because the corporate slugs on top want to make sure they keep getting those record salaries. There really would be no practical reason for prices to go up. If you’re a small business that can’t afford to pay the higher wage, well, I hate to say it,  but that’s how the market works. If you can’t afford to stay in business, you’re out of business. Capitalism is not a forgiving system, and it can be harsh, but keeping these workers down in this financial black hole they will never escape is harsher. The jobs will be there. As the economy grows, and it will, the jobs will come. It does seem odd that higher wages would bring about more jobs, but when you walk through the process, it really does make sense. More money in the system being spent, companies will make more profits and expand and therefore more jobs. That’s about as simple as I can put it. Maybe the big boys won’t be making record profits, but they’ll still be doing very well. Honestly though, I think the cuts to pay for the hike in worker pay should come out of those executive salaries. They can spare a couple million, especially if it means they get to stay in business. Those workers are the reason they have a job that pays them so well. What if all of Wal-Marts employees wised up and saw their power and didn’t go into work one day? Those suits aren’t going to work the register. They aren’t going to stock the shelves. The fact is those lowly workers who make nothing are the ones who open those stores and collect the money for their greedy masters. They’re the ones who get up every day, work their fingers to the bone for a non-existant wage, deal with rude, ungrateful people and then are forced to smile and claim they are so grateful for working for such a ‘wonderful’ company. ‘It’s a job’ some will say, and that’s the exact logic that’s killing us. Just having a job isn’t enough. That job must be able to help the person to improve their life. What good is working if you have no hope of ever digging yourself out? It’s an endless and pointless cycle that will only lead to an early grave and leave your family with crippling debt which they will never be able to pay off, because they’ll be in the exact same situation. It feels almost like someone devised the whole system to ensure a constant supply of service workers. A system that locks a group down with little to no hope of ever getting to anything better. That is NOT the American way. This is a land of opportunity and everyone deserves a shot. Even if you think they failed at life. The thing about failing is you should be able to choose to get back up and keep fighting for that better life. Just remember, you don’t know what the future holds and you may be on the other side of this fight someday. What drives me nuts about people against a higher minimum wage is how they are really fighting against themselves and they don’t even realize it. To better illustrate this point, check out this article.

CEO Pay Continues to Rise as Typical Workers Are Paid Less

Think about how much the CEOs make versus what the workers make and then ask yourself, how much does one person need to live? I mean, really do they need all that money? If most CEOs took a 50 percent cut, they would still be doing better than most of the country.

The greed in this country is absolutely disgusting, as it causes our people to feed off one another like vultures. This needs to stop or else our way of life is going to go from the endangered list  to extinct.

Another Thing…

I also wanted to touch on the rash of government employees refusing to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples based on religious beliefs. This needs to be punished. If you’re a private sector employee or business owner, fine. Be a hateful monster all you like. It’s your American right, but if you work for the government on any level; city, state, or federal, you have no religious beliefs. You are a civil servant and you work for the community and  you must do your job by the letter of the law when you’re on the taxpayer’s dime. Whatever your religious convictions may be, they are yours on your own time. These religious freedom laws must not apply to city, state or federal employees based on the whole separation of church and state. The government has no religious allegiance, and as such neither do its employees. If you don’t like it, quit. There are people out there who will do the job. In fact, if there’s anyone out there who knows of an opening, let me know. I could use a job right now myself.

Still?

Okay, so, it’s been a week since a major civil rights victory and the GOP and their supporters are still whining about it and I don’t think that it’s going to end. Ever. I was hoping that once marriage equality became the law of the land, it would silence the haters. I was hoping they would set their weapons down and accept defeat. RIGHT! Instead we still have the nutjobs like Huckabee and, well, basically all Republicans, telling us all how God is going to strike us all dead for redefining the  marriage that he established back in Bible days.

Oh my God. Where to start? I’ll try and take this all point by point and I will attempt to be as brief as I can. First, God did NOT create marriage. Marriage is an invention of human beings. It was originally a transaction that exchanged goods form one person to another, the woman being considered property btw. In fact, marriage for the most part was more about money and property than love for a very very long time, so in that case marriage has already been redefined. A lot.

Secondly, This was not a redefinition of marriage. Marriage is still marriage. The only thing different is that two people of mixed or same genders can be joined legally. That’s it. There are no new rules or exceptions. Marriage has been expanded to include more people. Your current marriage is intact and there is no threat to it, at least, not from the outside. If there’s any threat to your marriage it’s coming from you or your spouse. Deal with that first and then come bitch at me.

Third, why are people putting God into this? We are not having a religious debate. We are not talking about churches or faith. This is legal conversation about the legal status of marriage. This move does not affect churches directly. All that is being said is two men or two women can apply and receive a marriage license. That is in issue of law, not religion. You can hold onto your prejudice and hatred all you want, but that is your PERSONAL belief and will not shape the legal process or deny others their due civil rights. If you have a problem with gay marriage, too bad. I have problems with lots of things other people do and believe, but I don’t make a federal case of it because I understand the difference between opinion and fact. We all have to share this land and we all will live our lives differently. What one person does with their life is their business and there is no reason why my personal beliefs should impede their happiness. You are not right. That is what I say to all you Christians out there. It had to be said. I’ll say it again. You are not right. No one is right when it comes to religion. No one religion is right. Just because you believe it doesn’t make it true for anyone else. The only thing that is true whether you believe it or not is science, and science is provable. You can back science up with evidence.

Fourth, the marriage of two people is no one’s business but the two people getting married. You third parties have no dog in this fight. Walk away. Other people do not need to live their lives by your standards. Jack and Brian getting married has zero effect of your life. I saw that some woman put a video of herself crying and railing against marriage equality (God, when you hear those words, how can you fight that?) and I just wonder, why is she getting so worked up over something that she has no business even complaining about? How are you affected, crazy lady? If you think you’re so righteous and on the path to Heaven, then good for you. Go on and get that golden throne. Leave everyone else alone. We’re all dealing with our own journeys. We don’t need you screaming at us. But, in case you or someone you know reads this, re-read that Bible of yours. Particularly the parts that outline how women are nothing more than cattle. The passages that instruct women to submit completely to their husbands. Is that how you’ve lived your life? Are you clear on all of that? Did you do the Christian thing and give yourself body, soul and mind to your husband? Do you place him above  yourself in all things? Are you his slave? That’s what the Bible insists upon you. If you haven’t complied, we’ll be seeing you downstairs.

All I can say is if you’re living your life by the words of men who lived millions of years ago, you have some major issues to work out in your own head. Men wrote the bible. Mortal men with agendas who knew they could manipulate the masses by using their words. The Bible has been translated and changed countless times over the centuries. Who knows how corrupted it was back when most of the people were illiterate and only the elite and clergy could read. They knew what they were doing. They held all the cards. Essentially, whatever they said the people would believe and you think they didn’t take full advantage of that? They say the Pope is the holiest man on Earth? They believe it. They say it’s okay to kill Pagans? They believe it. It was a golden age for ignorance and fear based faith. Eons later, it’s still alive and well. It’s like people don’t want to get smarter. They prefer to be just part of the shivering herd waiting to be told where to go by their faceless leader. I don’t know why I even bother writing things like this. This ignorance will never leave us. People just wrap themselves up in what they believe and should you challenge these core beliefs of theirs, they will fight back at you with everything they’ve got, because in order to admit they were wrong means they have to reevaluate every aspect of their life and they just aren’t ready to walk in that light.

Wow. Kind of ran off the road there for a second. My final point, which is just an observation to pin next to all this. I feel the GOP is going to be chewing on this gay marriage bone because they need  the wedge issue. Now that it’s legal, they just lost a plank in their platform. They lost an issue which they were able to use to stir up fear and hate and score some votes. They are certainly not going to just give it up, although they really have no choice. They lost and there’s nothing they can do about it. They’re just going to have to find something else to hate.

At Last

The war is over and as the dust settles, justice stands as the victor. As many have heard, The Supreme Court came back on the gay marriage issue with a close ‘Yes’ and now it is the law of the land. I wasn’t sure if I was being punked when I read the news, but when I saw that it was for real, I felt good in a strange new way. It was like a weight off the world. No more protests. No more debates. It’s over. It’s done. Right?

Well, yes and no. It is over in the actual sense, but the struggle continues with the nutcase Right Wing. They, true to form, do not take defeat graciously. Factions are vowing to disregard the court’s ruling while I’ve heard rumors of trying to impeach the justices who voted for gay marriage, or as it is known now, marriage.

Still we hear the echoed complaints about how it’s a sin and it’s inexcusable how SCOTUS dares to redefine marriage. We hear how it’s an attack on Christianity and on religion in general.

I don’t even know where to begin correcting all of this misinformation. First, marriage has NOT been redefined. Marriage is still marriage. Nothing has changed. There are just more people out there who can get married. And if you want to talk about the definition of marriage, it’s been redefined many times over they years before this. The marriage process is different today than it was centuries earlier. Marriage has already been altered. It’s a little late to bitch about it now. In fact, if you want to go back to the original meaning of marriage, you’re going to have to cut out the premarital sex, make sure you’ve got enough money to buy your bride and we should get to putting those who are divorced to death.

Secondly, I hear so much about religion in this. This topic is not a religious one. We weren’t fighting for the church’s approval. We were fighting for legal recognition. Marriage is not a religious institution. God didn’t create it. Marriage is an invention of man. Animals don’t get married. Only humans do, and Christians don’t hold the market on marriage either. Every culture and religion in the world has a marriage ceremony. To all Christians: Please shut up and stop acting like marriage was all your idea. It really wasn’t. It never was. I’d also like to ask all those Repub haters out there who have been divorced or engaged in premarital sex to also shut up. Once you committed those sins, from your favorite book, you lost any right to speak on this subject. And please, Sarah Palin, Shut the f**k up! Deal with your knocked up daughter. Is she married? If not, are you going to stone her to death like a good Christian? If not, you’re a hypocrite.

I’d also like to point out all those couples who said they’d get a divorce if marriage equality became the law. Keep on those folks. Get that divorce. Teach us gays a lesson. Ouch. And that reverend who said he’d set himself on fire if gay marriage passed. I don’t see those flames going up. Come on, man! A promise is a promise. Flame on!

The Battle For Equality

It comes down to this. All the uphill battles. All the failures. All the victories. Now the Supreme Court is deciding on the issue of same sex marriage. I feel a little less passionate about this issue now, only because based on the direction we’ve been going, marriage equality seems assured at some point. It’s only a matter of time. However, the hate groups still make my blood boil all the same and they are out in force now. It’s their last stand to vindicate their self righteousness. I have tried to veer away from their words just for the sake of my own peace of mind, but I read a recent article about the words of Josh Duggar. This guy is one of the 19 kids on that train wreck of a reality spectacle ’19 kids and counting’. He’s also the head A$$hole in charge of one of the leading gay hate groups in America.  He was out there on Capital Hill spouting off about he and his fellow ‘Christians’ are the victims now. Was he really trying to get people to feel sorry for the plight of the modern ‘Christian’? You guys have  been gaming the system in your favor since day one and now that you find yourselves on the minority side, you’re panicking and this is how you react. You know that your views are not popular and you’re in the thralls of your last death gasp as you try to hold onto whatever control you once had, but it’s over. Now they cry discrimination. They cry religious freedom. Your religious views are your private business and no one is punishing you for having them. You can believe whatever you want, but you can’t dictate the lives of others based on your beliefs. What you believe, may not be what others believe and just as your views are valid, so are theirs. No one is right in the realm of faith or religion. It is just what you believe.
This particular quote caught my eye. From Josh Duggar:
“Right now in America there is an agenda to silence people of faith, those who hold a dissenting opinion,” Duggar told CBN. “That’s not what America was founded on. America was founded on respect, tolerance, and really not discriminating against people based on their religious convictions.”

Really? So, what exactly are you doing? In case you can’t afford a dictionary with all that reality show money, it’s called ‘discrimination’. I can’ believe
this lesson has been so hard to learn for so many, but to repeat for the bazillionth time, discrimination on any grounds is WRONG! It’s wrong to discriminate against
a person’s race, gender, sexual orientation, religion or nationality. It’s wrong across the board. It’s indefensible, but here are the ‘Christian’ hate lords doing
their damnest to defend it; because apparently discrimination is okay, as long as it’s not against them. They’re fine with it so long as they’re the ones discriminating.
Not that they’re being discriminated against in the first place. Not being allowed to judge and persecute people is not discrimination. You have a right to your opinion and
your religious beliefs, but so does everyone else and there is nothing saying that you ever have to agree with anyone. You don’t have to like it, but you can’t
infringe on their civil rights due to your own beliefs.
I think we can expect these nut jobs to stick around for a while longer. The Religious Right is like a cornered animal now that they see that their beliefs and their
vision for this country are falling into the minority when they used to enjoy a majority rule. They see that they are loosing their grip on this country and are shifting
into panic mode. They will do and say whatever they have to preserve this imaginary utopia they have built up in their minds. Even the younger generation of their ranks
are waking up and realizing that there is no reason to hate or marginalize anyone, for any reason.
I’m just sick and tired of these jerks crying foul when the game isn’t going their way. You guys have ruled the roost for centuries, but you could not have expected
to stay on top forever. You had to see that your ideals would one day become antiquated and despised by a new generation. Your time has come. Now be good and lay down and die already.
BTW, think on this. The Pilgrims came here to escape religious persecution, but once they got here, they did nothing but persecute. They targeted women, people of different faiths, The Native Americans.
They stole, killed and lied to take this land and build it into the country we see today. Please don’t forget that. God didn’t give us this land in a big box with a pink ribbon. It was taken by violence.
Spare us all your holier than thou bull$hit, please! And Josh Duggar, you are an idiot. A world class, A-1 idiot. I hate to reduce this to name calling, but some people just
so deserve it and you are one of them. If you hate a certain group of people, say so. Don’t duck behind your Bible and claim that you are acting in interest of any higher purpose. You shame real Christians who actually understand the teachings of Jesus and put them into practice every day. At the end of the day you should look back and try to name one thing you did in that day that was truly Christian. If you’re honest with yourself, I think you will find your self wanting, but then I doubt that you would be honest with even yourself.