Studio8 - Uniting the Arts

I'm sick and tired of him... again! This President of ours is gagging me, threatening my well-being and millions of other citizens.

Listening... well, trying to listen, to Dubya today and his insistence on this frigging Iraq war of his once again has thrown me over the top. And what happens hours after his plead - New York and their subway system may have a threat of a terrorist attack! Whoa!! I'm sorry, but I see this as yet another way "to watch out for those terrorists... they're gonna get ya'!!"

The real terror America is undergoing is not some radical jihadists, not some half-crazed idiot youths blowing themselves up and hundreds of fellow Muslims, as much as it is this constant barrage of shit spewing from this administration.

We, the citizens of this country, are under terrorist attacks by BushCo. Look at what he has done to our economy. Look at his tax breaks for wealthy Republicans. Look at his response towards the people of New Orleans. Look at how he has stopped all monies to the evacuees from the hurricanes. Look at his standing in the world community. Look at his track record towards our environment. Look at how he refuses to raise the minimum wage for thousands of poor people. Look at how he has failed to find Osama Bin Laden. Look at how he has lied into our faces for his own benefit and that of his supporters. Look at how he deftly gets more and more support for control of this country.

I wouldn't be surprised at all, if this man's madness isn't curtailed, that the United States of America would be under martial law before the next Presidential elections, thereby assuring his continued assault upon our country.

It is hard for me to say that I do not trust anything this President has to say anymore than I trust a radical terrorist.

Our country is under assault by Bush-style terror: our economy, illegal aliens crossing our borders daily putting unrealistic burdens upon the Border Patrol and Immigration, the outsourcing of jobs, the borrowing of over one billion dollars a month from other countries (what is the collateral being used?), the Conservative takeover of Public Broadcasting to suit their agenda, destroying environmental laws that have cleaned our air and our water, the rising tide of poverty in the country... the list goes on and on... just read the 'alternative news' sources. how much more does George and Company want and why?

America is drugged. This is not a joke. What the pharmaceutical companies haven't prescribed and let loose upon the streets of America, the scourge and terror of meth has substituted our longing to turn off the pain. The poppy fields of Afghanistan are pumping out heroin (which was stopped by the Taliban!) most of which comes to our shores. The 'War on Drugs' is another in a series of fool-hearty con's that has been pulled over America's sleeping eyes.

It is we, the American public, that is as much at fault, as it is our President is to blame, for what has happened to this country of ours. The administration is a terrorist. Our ignorance and stupidity are terrorists. We fear nothing but fear itself... manifested by our 'successful' t.v. shows that reinforce our fears. Even our youth is afraid of love... they sing and jam, hip and hop, two-step and polka to songs of sex... and sex alone. Love is not important. Love is a sham. Love is a scam. Fewer and fewer people know love. But we sure as shit know all there is to know about sex. We haven't had enough llove and are receiving less and less... even our friggin' government cannot give love - it's in the way of the war on terror, the assault on the economy, the indifference towards education, the war on the environment, the war on poor folks, the war on the working class.

Son-of-a-bitch! What is it going to take for America to wake up from it's stupor and see what the hell is going on? It is not waking up to a 2,000 year old dead Jesus. It's not waking up to a Conservative agenda. It's not waking up smelling the Liberal rose. It's not more drugs and more sex. It's not more video games. It's not more and more debt and loss.

What America has to realize is that we are in need of HELP! Other countries see it. Other countries have offered - Britain and their tons of MRE's that were incinerated by the FDA, the thousand of gallons of pear juice from Israel that went to waste because of our FDA fears of being poisoned or some such nonsense... the aid offered by Cuba for medical assistance, the cheap gas and oil offered by Chavez of Venezuela... the list goes on with that too.

But in all our 'pride' we are dying inside... killing ourselves in that false pride. Pride is one of man's sins and it is happening right now... here in this country that is so fucking divided that we can't see if we will ever stand together again.... because of our confusion and stupor.

If we, the people of the United States of America, don't/can't see that we are drowning in our own shit, if we don't wake up and collectively yell... scream out to the world "HELP US!! We're FUCKED UP and need HELP" we ain't ever gonna get it.


[enough]

(False) pride goeth before a downfall. Or overextension. Or greed.....

But perhaps there is more strength and resiliency to this place than you suggest. One consequence of our ever more homogenized corporate-based culture is the disconnect it brings between nature and the box we're told to occupy, with its fabricated yardsticks of "progress". Sometimes the "box" works us to death, isolates us from a much bigger picture.

But I see faint stirrings.... there are people working on grass-roots solutions to things like emergency-preparedness. More people seem ready to call the President on his bullshit when they see it. More high-ranking military officers are criticizing this "War President's" policy of interminable, fruitless war.

I agree with much of what you're saying. Whatever happened to, "speak softly and carry a big stick"? Now it is more like, "bellow like a drunken frat boy and beat the crap out of people." I agree that working together with the world community doesn't make you "weak". Asking the mega-wealthy to pay a higher percentage in taxes to stop our massive red-ink hemmorhage won't destroy the economy.

My first suggestion? Quit watching Bush's speeches. I did almost a year ago. I figure I have better things to do with my time. Bush proved to me quite some time ago that he is highly untrustworthy, and as such, for me to listen to any more of his buzz-word nonsense is pointless.

Good rant, Cecil! Tell it!

Hell ya!
Great post Cec! Bravo! Yere talkin my language! I think you've known my sentiments for a long time. We are indeed a hijacked nation. Indeed yes, there is always a renewed terrorist attack when Bushco is down. Yep, quite a pattern. Quite a glaring pattern these days. Is it glaring enough yet? People seem to be falling for it. What was that story about the boy who cried wolf too many times? Is there an footnote about what happens when the boy himself is the wolf?

Delay is indicted. Rove in court today may be indicted. These are top henchmen, along with rummy and cheney. After all these years of this administration's crimes, the sluggish realization of the danger we are in comes sadly, as in Katrina, too late.

Will other countries have to come to our aid and save us from this lying rot-infested bunch of mama's boys because we the people simply cannot/will not wake up and save ourselves?

Keep ranting Cec.
It ain't right. It hasn't been right since the beginning of Bush's regime taking us over. We all know it. We just don't want to know it. Too bad. Because when you get hit individually with the fallout, like many of us have, you're really fucked. You can't earn enough money to keep up like you used to be able to, you become a slave working constantly and never having enough evenso to make ends meet, and they got ya. Immobilize the masses via poverty. Believe me, i'm living it. But for the most part, they are blaming poverty on Katrina, as if it never existed, or never was on the rise before those hurricanes. They amped up the poverty ball's roll the minute they stole the office of commander in chief. Hello!

It ain't fun down here either, neck deep in poverty's quicksand. It's humiliating, frustrating, tiring and extremely lonely.
Nobody needs or wants you when you're down and out in America.
This I have learned without a doubt. We still judge poverty, even though it's been manipulated to wildly increase in the last 6 years, by our "illustrious leaders", because they know that things like poverty will never be admitted in the richest country in the world. Why it's downright unpatriotic to be poor in America. What's wrong with me? Why am I poor? It's my fault, I'm a loser. It must be my lack of faith in God right?
Yeah right.

But I'm not giving up. I refuse. It will probably kill me, all this stress to just survive I'm under, along with millions of others, too busy to protest because putting dinner on the table for your kids tugs hardest on your gut.

Stress is what cancer feeds on. And I'm a cancer survivor of 6 years so far, but for 3 years i've had no health insurance and going to the doctor for me, is out. I have no idea what's going on inside my body. Health care hah. That's a luxury for a few in the good ol USA. Never mind the throwaways crowding the streets at night, looking for a dry corner to sleep in, and food that hasn't been expired for too long to eat.
This is Bushist America! God's chosen, confirmed by a drunk dunked in a river we've polluted!
Wheeeeeeee! Ain't we great?
H

Thx, mnaz and Hes'...

Yesterdays a.m. speech by Bush further reinforced his desire to continue on in Iraq despite public opinion, Yesterday p.m. we're hit with the news that the NY subway systems may be under terrorist attack. This a.m. news reports that the Dept of Fatherland Security dismisses the NY attack. This p.m. news now reports that the Washington Monument area has been evacuated.

BushCo is going to get their way, come Hell or high water, it appears to me. I wonder how the polls are rating our Fuhrer now? Knowing his support group, I imagine it's climbing (again) because of the misleads we're hearing.

Add on to this calamity, apparently the majority of our troops in Iraq feel "it's better to fight the terrorists on their ground on not on ours." I heard the same thing when I was in the service during the Viet Nam war - 'better to fight communism there than the U.S."

I cannot imagine a plane load or ship load of terrorists coming over here and bringing their idiocy to our shores.... that is what the Fatherland Security is supposed to do - watch out for radicals. Now if you're talking about rads that are already here - again, that is what the Fatherland Security should be cataloging and watching. Four years and our gov't should have its act together, at least enough to prevent any terrorist activity here.

Too fucking much!

Well, it sounds like the military is still in lock-step with the propaganda machine, most of it anyway, and that is a depressing thought. But I can't help but wonder if many of our troops simply tell themselves that to help them get through the nightmare....

"fight the terrorists on their ground and not ours"....

Yeah. fight the terrorists that we create with our own (ongoing) actions.

Indeed, I say drop the burdens of this corrupt corporate government and anything remotely attached to it. NOW!
Take your money out of the banks! One "glitch" and you'll lose it! It ain't safe to keep your money in the banks anymore. WAKE UP!
Cash in your stocks if you have any. Buy gold if you can.
Sell your house for whatever profit you can get now because you won't be able to pay the mortgage soon. That's a given.
Share with family and friends whatever you can to keep them from federal services, from hunger and homelessness, because federal humanitarian services are just bait for ownership of the people by the government.
Become active with Moveon.org. Sign the petitions. It's easy.
Walk as much as you can.
Turn down the heat as much as you can, but not to save energy as much as to put this government out of business. Take back some power.
Write letters to the news media and don't hold back. I've been doing this every day for the past several YEARS!!!!!!!
Without more of us doing this, they just call us crazy because we're a minority voice.
MAKE IT A MAJORITY! MAKE IT HUGE NUMBERS OF PROTEST. ADD YOUR VOICE!

Save us, by saving yourselves!
This is not radicalism I am suggesting, merely preservation of the good for us all.
For God's sakes, keep aware and keep ranting to everyone, everywhere......Be a real patriot! Stick up for your country, don't give it away!
Remind the Christians that Jesus cared for the poor and sick most of all!
COME ON!
"Get back, get back, get back to when we once belonged......"
Please!
H

rant on thursdays
stream on sundays
ying on thursdays
yang on sundays
a fine balance
Hester I have met my enemy and he is me
I wish I had the luxury of blaming my woes on someone else

Now you know how Red Emma felt in 1917, watching the madness unfold. Homeless at the end of her life, depending on the kindness of friends. She never lost her joy to be alive.

Here's to Emma!
And I'll be damned if I'll lose my joy of being alive too. Wherever I go, I can sing a song and forget about this other reality I happen to live in. Today at the homeless shelter while I was herding the folks through their chores, I started singin King of the Road, for no reason, I mean, it sorta sang itself outta me. I tell you after the first few lines their was a small chorus, and by the end of the song we were all singin together at the top of our lungs.
KING O DA ROAD! Indeed a real "side by side" bunch we were this morning.....heh.

Mr. Stilltrucking sir, no matter how harsh I may sound about our country going down, it doesn't mean that I don't have joy.
Nor does it mean that i've no softness left.
More caution yes. Too much caution, probably, but i'm workin on it, sore heart and all.

It was a blast today, singin with the homeless. The happiness we all felt was so intense. Brief, but intense.

H

Hester I was ticked at cecil, I was thinking about K&D's post about tell me something I don't know. That bit about cancer and being stressed got me worried about you.

I just woke up from a dream about Cecil. He was here in my crib walking through the mess, the dirty dishes in my sink, the crud in my tub. I was naked. they used to tell me that when you have a dream about in which you appear naked it is about your death. SO anyway I was upset with him because I felt he had upset you. Emma Goldman a hero of mine even more than Golda Meir. She loved this country so much. She tried to save it. I think about those lonely souls who saw what was on the end of America's fork.

This is more a time of Sunday streams than rants if you ask me. We know what the situation is.

I just can not understand how you can be so unhappy near that River and that Ocean. I spend a lot of time trying to help my sister I suppose that is my altruism. I was going to a silent vigil on thursday afternoons but I stopped. It was a good feeling. I am sick as a dog hester. Black moods, reminds me of tripping that bit of me that the acid could not touch, that me that observed and knew that what was happening to me was a drug. So I snarl and snap at Cecil and know that it is got dam sugar giving me these night mares and black moods.

take care of your self, and thank you for the music.

I always thought dreams of being nude were indicative of a rebirth, not death.....

But watch the sugar Still, and do what you can to make yourself healthier. I should talk. Heh. No wait, I talk too god damned much!


I just want you and everyone here to know that however mad I may sound, or depressed about things, I am stronger than that and stocked with a natural tendency to see joy, even when it's grim paradox is more the tangible.

I'm listening to the radio and they are playing one of my fave tunes, gentle on my mind. Perfect for writing this note to you Still.

Yes, living on the coast is nice. But it used to be nicer when I was able to bring in more stability in my life, I felt less alone, less down and out. When I had more, I could help more....
Feeling the desertion I feel is hard, I never believed it was really true, that your own family, your friends, would just desert you when you are down. It's a hard pill to swallow. A swollen open eye realization. It's a hard cruel world man, and we make it that way. Greed. The negative judgment of those that are having a hard time in this society, even though it's not their fault. It's sad.

Working at the shelter today again. We are finding jolliness together there and it's making me feel good to be a part of spreading that there. It makes me forget that I have 5 dollars to my name until next thursday. It makes me forget about the reality I'm stuck in right now, for a minute anyways..........

Take care my friend.
H