AL FRANKEN -- the funniest man in the senate...

We have the magic number, 60 democrats in the white house. Two, Kennedy and, another, Bell, I think... are too sick to be counted on. That is not right. If a Senator is too sick to vote, they should get the hell out. I do not care what their name is, their use as a tool of the people is over when it is over, and they have to humbly accept that.

I love the Kennedy's of course, though I certainly do not romanticize them at all. Their Money came from being Gangsters, and their Dad didn't get to run for president, because he supported the Nazi's... something they had in commen with the Bushes. They have done wonderful political work and I do not want to be negative about people who I respect, and wish only the best... But, this is serious shit. Politics. We have suffered under the neo-cons and have to pass climate change legislator NOW... WE ARE MOVING INTO THE LEVEL OF GREENHOUSE EFFECT THAT CAUSES STORMS, ETC... AND WE need that legislation more than we need the name Kennedy on an empty seat in the senate.

Time to show up for critical votes on Health Care and Climate Change, or move on... Do not bring down the changes Obama hopes to put through just to be in the damn senate. That is selfish. It is not like you need the money,, guys...

An Invite To Vlog To The President.. give it a shot...

Scott --

As an active and committed member of our movement, I want to let you know first about a great opportunity to personally ask President Obama a question on health care reform.

This Wednesday, the President will be answering health care reform questions during an online town hall. Last week, he recorded a short video explaining the town hall and asking people like you to submit a question.

To ask your health care question, simply record a 20-30 second video and post it to YouTube as a reply to the President's video.

Watch the President's video and get started today.

Don't know how to post a video response to the President's YouTube video? It's quick and easy -- click here for a short video tutorial.

In his video, the President said, "real change doesn't come from Washington; it comes from the American people." You're one of the millions of Americans in our movement who have demonstrated just how true that is -- thank you.

Don't miss this opportunity to pose your health care reform question directly to President Obama. Watch his video and submit a video response today:

http://my.barackobama.com/onlinetownhall

Thank you,

Mitch

Mitch Stewart
Director
Organizing for America

Check out all of my blogs by googling my name, John Scott Ridgway

Soldiers Pulling Out Of Iraq's Cities...

I saw a picture today on the BBC site, with a line of soldiers outlined on an horizon, marching as if toward home.

We are at a very tricky point in Iraq. If the extremists decide to come back in and fight the Police and Iraqi military after our troops pull out. the USA will be forced to possibly make an unpopular decision.

I want the war to end. I sympathisize with the security concerns that make the ending of this conflict so complicated that years are involved. We have to leave behind in the country a seed of Democracy. Saddam Gone. Democracy declared. The battle line drawn between the extremist jihadists and the forces of the free. I do salute the soldiers for fighting this hard, horrible battle. They are the front line. Between us and the masses of folk who would reduce our lives to their particular religous vision.

I am sympathetic to anyone who is oppressed, at war, etc... However, the Taliban and their influence is the fucking enemy to people like me, and the people I love. Oppressing women. Period. Nothing else I have to say about that religous delusion. Add to that stoning adultererr's, killing Christians, etc... Taking the women out of school is a sin against humanity itself. This is pure and simple prejudice, and however institutionalized and sanitized it is in some countries (like saudi arabia, where women cannot have drivers licenses, passports, fly on their own... the system is built to enslave, and indeed, a many servants have found themselves enslaved in such system -- remember, there is more slavery now than ever before in the history of the planet... if you do not see it all over the place, that is simply because you are not looking. People run around making opinions about Paris Hilton, instead of going after slave masters.

I mean, have you ever heard of a charity that free's slaves? You would think the black community in Chicago would be involved in such an endeavor, but they tend to think they have enough on their hands representing their communities, and with everything so ultimatly out of control in certain ways, they have to choose their battles carefully because war can break out anywhere.

The allied forces in the Middle East are the predecessors of the wars to come. Iran and Syria and other countries who are not under Russia, america or China's nuclear net, are going to be scrambling for the bomb. Lot of countries already have it, and they will not stop until they have one. One of the countries they consider their worst enemy, Israel, has nukes... so there is no way that they can go against the most demonized government in the area, unless they can fight nuke-fire with fire...

I like to think the USA could lead the world in reducing nuclear bombs, and offering help to countries who wish to use nuclear power, as long as they then sign a treaty allowing inspections, etc. Why not? They are going to get bombs if they want them bad enough, and pretending otherwise is foolish. I hope I am wrong, but I doubt that very much.... We need to go in now and do everything we can to settle this peacefully. If we continue to fly in,like Israel did with Syria, and blow up their nuclear facilities, we are inevitably going to miss one. All it takes is One Bomb, mind you, to bring nightmares to life.

How does one start a movement that transcends religous and political differences, and peacefully applies a few universal principle? I think of the soldiers like this to some degree. The principles may be written in blood at first, but freedom is something that we breath here in the usa like air, and we notice it almost as much... take it away, like happened to me when I went to jail, and you realize just what is meaningful in this world. Being Free is more important than being alive to.

Soldiers have fought for this creed on american soil for as long as humans have existed. Native Americans fought one another, enslaved one another. Europeans kept serfs and treated them like slaves. African tribes sold each other. The middle east is filled with endentured servents, the eastern block overflowing with enslaved prostitutes, children being exploited almost anywhere the law has short arms or is just plain old corrupt. These are wars that we expect the police force to deal with, and they don't.

Why cannot a people's movement be started that supports worldwide activists who call out theses industries, expose them, and try to get the attention of law enforcement officials? People would donate money to buy children and others out of slavery. I dream of being a millionaire and hiring a small army of mercenaries, killing our way through the organized crime behind the slavery, and setting the women and children free to heal in some mountain retreat.

Soldiers and activists, activists and soldiers. What we really are is the infantry -- as in how the Romans used the term, which meant sending out the youngest soldiers first into battle so they would get killed and not them. We still send our young out first to die.

I am proud of soldiers. Have quite a few in my famalies history, stretching back over a thousand years of blood. I respect the sacrifice, know what they are going through is much worse than I could ever imagine. I see their names on the tv on Sunday Mornings, the weeks' dead, as George Stephanapolous looks all serious. Some are too young to have lived much of a life at all. Others old enough to leave a life half lived behind.

I wonder at such times, if George Bush, in lying about nuclear bombs and al queda connections in Iraq, didn't cause all these deaths for no good reason at all? I remember than how much I despised Saddam Hussein and the Taliban, even before america declared them the enemy. And I wanted to see their movements stopped. I could see how dangerous religous extremists would be with nuclear bombs. God could tell them to do something that no sane man would. They want to be martyred, you see, so it is win/win to them if they kill us and die. Like playing a video game where whoever you kill goes to hell, while your fallen rise to heaven into a horizon filled with 72 virgins spread eagle, their labias looking all pink and juicy... dripping into small pools at their feet as they await their Martyr.

In times of war, no matter what our Mullah's or ministers mumble, God takes the side of widows and orphans, and soldiers on all sides, forced to go into a war where the enemy could be anywhere, anytime. How appalling. Can you imagine living in a place where at any moment, an enemy could be lurking, driving by, watching you from a window as they plan their next attack on you and yours? The very ground at your feet could betray you and just fuckig explode.

I was raised on a library in Garrett, Indiana, and heavily influenced by a series of elementary level biographies about Great Men; Lincoln, Washington, etc.. a lot of them were soldiers. I played soldier like anyone. Loved the John Wayne movies...

Then I saw the Vietnam war as a huge mistake. We were the colonialists. Most would argue that the history comes down to this -- we not only fought on the wrong side, we created it ourselves. I lost a lot of faith in the judgement of the armed forces, as well as the politicians, during those years. This one war stopped the USA from wanting to send troops anywhere -- Bosnia's Ethnic Cleansing -- the mass murder and land grab that stains their culture -- finally got Clinton to act. We saved lives. The situation was horrifying.

This was a noble cause. Not some Big Brother machine that was out to take my mind and body for the usages of theMilitary Industrial Complex; just an army sent out across the planet to stop mass murder. Had we not opened our two front war, I would have liked to see our soldiers in Darfur. Years ago. Why not?

Iraq, however we got there, is where we are... the pile of shit George Bush left behind has to be cleaned up. Obama has to make sure that the citizens of Iraq are not left livingin war zones when we leave. If the peace is that tentative, then our pledges to remove troops from Iraq should be changed. Period. It is that simple. Just say, to the american people, this is the only way we can guarantee the safety of the civilians.

Probably will not come to that. Our soldiers will pull out, mostly, and spend their time training new troops to maintain the lines of order that they have left behind in the hands of the fledging Iraqi Police Force, Army, etc...

Others will go where we should have went, after al queda, in Afganistan.

I want to see our soldiers stop the spread of this mental virus. Someone has to do confront the kind of warped minds that blow up a statue of Buddha on a mountain because it offends their religous sensibilities... bans music, keeps women our of schools, etc...

I am proud of the soldiers who removed Saddam Hussein. The people of that country have been given a gift that they will understand as the years pass and the wounds heal. There will be a day when their history books will tell about the Americans who saved their country from a dictator. Afganistan will one day tell their children about how the americans fought of the Taliban, so their country could remain a democracy. This is their revolution. Their chance change for the better. Seize that fucking day.

Why not? Today they were all out celebrating that the American soldiers leaving their city.

I follow the war. Try to imagine what the soldiers are going through, research what the stat's say about how their minds have been effected -- especially after the Stop Gapping started to unravel otherwise sane soldiers.

What are our soldiers symbolically representing as they slouch into Bethelhem? In a way, they are the secular soldiers stopping religous fanaticism. The Taliban originally got a toe hold in Afganistan and other countries, because they offered Law where there was none. They were willing to give up freedoms to get security. First things first, I understand. No one should have to make such choices, and no one can be blamed for doing whatever they could to stop the lawlesnes that was erroding their countries.

Our soldiers give them an option, now. They may hate us a bit, because we brought Hell's Own Fire when we attacked them; later they will benefit from our efforts, whether they acknowledge our footnote in their story.

TO BE CONTINUED....

.. yet writing about the world of war is difficult for me. What else can I add to the endless chatter about these wars?

Some 131,000 US troops remain in Iraq, including 12 combat brigades, and the total is not expected to drop below 128,000 until after the Iraqi national election next January.

'Now is the time'

Iraqi soldiers paraded through Baghdad's streets on Monday in vehicles decorated with flowers and Iraqi flags, while patriotic songs were played through loudspeakers at checkpoints.

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JUSTICE AND THEN PEACE... FOR THE DRUG WAR

This week congress is looking at decriminalizing pot on a federal level. How far we have come. The states have been leading the way on this issue for a long time.

Now that medical marijuana is making a state and federal battle ground on which makes the dems look unenlightened, they are surprisingly coming out and getting all sane.

The Democrats are supposed to be the party that acts beyond their religious beliefs, into the often secular heart of politics. Pot is one of the most damned things on the planet. Classes given all across the country demonize the drug. Nothing could be said of the sort about drinking, which makes up for fifteen percent of the deaths in some countries. Even though the bible talks about drunks quite a bit, but the only reference I've ever heard about drugs comes from some nutty preacher who said any mention of a 'wizard' in the bible meant someone who used drugs. This guy said this like it was some huge, horrible revelation, instead of some stupid thing he pulled out of his Harry Potter hating ass.

People in america want pot legalized because they see the benefits far outweigh any possible consequences. Taxing the stuff would balanced budgets, and if it is going to be used anyways, the government needs to step in and say, okay, this is the will of the people, so let's do the best we can with the situation. Incarceration is no solution. If pot bars were on corners, instead of drinking bars, the cops would have a lot less to worry about. You do not hear about pot crazed cops beating up bartenders.

In fact, driving on pot is nothing compared to driving on drink. I know. I drove cab in the real world, where a lot of drunks and druggies were behind the wheels. The pot heads were the drivers that everyone wanted. My first boss gave us all weed in the morning, when we stopped back during the day. He swore that stoned drivers did not get into accidents, just the drunk ones.

Anyways, this is not the best of worlds, obviously. I no longer drive stoned, though I would be hypocrite to say it caused me no problems, though they were few. It was fun driving around all buzzed up. I did not smoke until years into the experience by the way. By then I knew the city like the back of my hand, and was a very good, well paid cab driver. So the weed, when I started smoking it, was more a matter of a way to be nice to everyone. I enjoyed listening to music, cruising around the city, meeting people. It was fun. I was in on the pulse of the city, so to speak.

I saw a lot of curious and wonderful sights, hundreds of sunrises over the lake, the city sleepy at night and lit just for me with strings of lights down lake michigan twinkling in the snow. Like driving in a series of gorgous paintings, to me especially, who was always taking pictures, drawing, writing, trying to capture what was going on around me, make stories that showed some sense to what I was seeing on the street -- underlying rules and meanings that belied the often ugly sites and criminals... etc.

Now, fundamentally, we have a chance in America to kind of grow up on this issue. Push past our prejudices and accept that if we want a free country, with less crime, and an easy source of taxes to help our economy (plus less 25k a year prison sentences for users), etc... and all we need to do is say what we all know is the common sense answer --- PROHIBITION HAS NOT WORKED. IT IS TIME TO QUIT victimizing people for being individuals. Not to mention, again, the common sense answer that pot is better than drink for society, our bodies, our minds, our law enforcement officials, etc...

So, hey, barney Frank... Good Job.

This from the Stop The Drug War Site that really keeps you on top of what you damn well should be on top of. Fight for your fucking rights, man. And the rights of others.

Marijuana: Barney Frank Introduces Federal Decriminalization Bill

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from Drug War Chronicle, Issue #591, 6/26/09

In a press release last Friday, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) announced he has introduced a bill that would decriminalize the possession and not-for-profit transfer of small amounts of marijuana. It was the second marijuana bill of the week for Frank, who a couple of days earlier introduced the Medical Marijuana Protection Act.

Barney Frank

Titled the Personal Use of Marijuana By Responsible Adults Act of 2009 (H.R. 2943), the bill would remove federal criminal penalties for the possession of less than 100 grams (about 3.5 ounces) and for the not-for-profit transfer of up to one ounce. The bill would not change marijuana's status as a Schedule I controlled substance, would not change federal laws banning the growing, sale, and import and export of marijuana, and would not undo state laws prohibiting marijuana.

"I think John Stuart Mill had it right in the 1850s," said Congressman Frank, "when he argued that individuals should have the right to do what they want in private, so long as they don't hurt anyone else. It's a matter of personal liberty. Moreover, our courts are already stressed and our prisons are overcrowded. We don't need to spend our scarce resources prosecuting people who are doing no harm to others."

"Congressman Frank's bill represents a major step toward sanity in federal marijuana policy," said Marijuana Policy Projectdirector of government relations Aaron Houston. "The decades-long federal war on marijuana protects no one and in fact has ruined countless lives. Most Americans do not believe that simple possession of a small amount of marijuana should be a criminal matter, and it's time Congress listened to the voters."

As of the middle of this week, the bill had five cosponsors: Reps. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Ron Paul (R-TX), Jared Polis (D-CO), and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA). The bill has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee. No word yet on any hearings.

Ten states have already decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana. Those states are California, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, and Oregon. In an eleventh, Alaska, the possession of up to an ounce in one's home is not just decriminalized, it's legal.

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OLD MICHAEL JACKSON STORY....

I wrote this story a few years ago, and read it at the big star cafe, to some of the nicest laughter. Usually when someone dies, I ignore the event, or if I feel like someone needs to speak a little truth to power, then I deconstruct the wonderous personality that the press is trying to feed the public. Since Jackson was as much a victim as a victimizer, in some ways, I feel sorry for him... this is after hating him for years, and kind of working through that. So, take this story with a grain of salt... but, in your prayers, today would be a good one to remember his victims, as well... the doctors who have kept him all drugged up for years will probably end up with the same legal problems as Elvis, and once more fame will be shown to be a false church. Oh, well....

Massah Jack-off-yourson Wows Cops By Blowing LLama

Massah jackoffyourson allegedly staved off a child molestation accusation in 1990 with a $2 million payment to the son of an employee at his Neverland Ranch, according to a television report, which went on to say he also paid out another fifty three dollars to the family of a neighborhood pig, who refuses to be identified because he is afraid he will be labeled, quote, 'another one of massah jackoffyourson's washed up, ex-celebrity, rubba bubbas... like one of them corey's.'

The television news magazine, Grapevine on JPC, which reported the payment in a segment to be broadcast Friday night, did not disclose its source of information, though it is suspected they merely went to a jackoffyourson fan sight and checked out the section where the kids took polls on things like, "Did you enjoy massah jackoffyourson's mouth on your anus?"

The poll was taken by over three hundred children, and seemingly not one was into anal ligulas.In the segment, a retired Santa Barbara County Sheriff, said his office investigated Jackson in 1993 in connection with one boy's claim and came upon the second accusation. The ex sheriff spit repeatedly on the ground as emphasis of his disgust as he told reporters, "Yea, we knew he was a chicken chaser from way back, just couldn't get none of the parents to let them kids talk, not after getting to be millionaire's all sudden and signing away their rights. These are poor people who he victimizes, ones he can actually impress with all his fancy surgeries and highly advanced oral sex techniques on llama's and chimps. You think he can sing? You should see how he blows llama! You gotta respect something like that a little, but the kids? Now, if I had arrested him, I'd of shoved his sick, pus dripping ass out of my squad car when I was doing about ninety, and then turned around and run him over a couple times, then shot the hell out of whatever was left for trying to flee from a police officer.

"The first boy reportedly was paid $15 million to $20 million by massah Jackoffyourson to avoid what the jaskoffyourson's attorney's claim was an 'allegation' that would damage massah jackoffyourson's career even if proven untrue. Which is of course just another lie from their putrid lips, because, as all people not on the jaskoffyourson's payroll will now admit, it could only be good for massah jackoffyourson's career to just once be proven not guilty of molesting children, which is of course, impossible....Reporters laughed in the beak of jackoffyourson's press agent when the talking parrot dressed in leather chaps told them, "Massah Jackoffyourson denies, ark . . . ever harming any child. . . . and is… Rubba, let's all do shots and play rubba... ark, cracker... is currently fighting charges he molested a boy in 2003. He says he can, lie and buy his way out … ark... he owes me a lot of crackers... ark... for shitting in his mouth, like he demands... ark, crackers."Jackoffyourson is reported to have stated repeatedly that he was going to, quote, 'bitch slap that damn charge,' though his attorney has tried to explain to jackoffyourson that this is impossible, his efforts to get jackoffyourson to understand the nature of the rule of law was purely in vain. “He’s obviously… ark… a lot dummer than me, a goddamn parrot… ark… do shot! Rubba!!! Crackers….�

His attorney, the Scum Sucker, as his closest call him, went on to say, "My theory is, he thinks these kids are baby llamas. Arck... doesn't matter to me though, win or lose, I get paid a fucking barrel of money!!!! I'll say or do anything!!! Hell, if I hadn't shirked legal responsibility for all of my kids, ..ark... he could rubba them for this kind of money!! Ark!"The retired sheriff interviewed on the newsmagazine, Grapevine’s JPC, told reporters, `We always believed there were eight to 10 other children out there.'' ``

The sheriff also said that the employee's son did not file charges and didn't want to testify, saying, " He was afraid his friends would think he was a homosexual, or even worse -- a pig fucker or a llama blower or a chimp eater outer, or a parrot but lickerm or ... Well, quite frankly the kid went on and on -- two officers vomited half way through... Let me tell you, buddy, it is just pitiful what that freak does to those animals. He has leather costumes for those damn llamas... hell, the pigs, too. One pig he dresses up like Elvis all the time, even has a black pompadour he pastes on it’s head. He claims that he has captured Elvis's soul in the pig, by some ritual he made up with peanut butter and banana sandwiches -- which were indeed the king's favorite, so we are also investigating the possibility that the king lives, and may have, god forbid, been sodomized."

The retired sheriff has previously discussed the boy's claim, but said he wasn't sure until the GRAPVINE report that massah Jackoffyourson had paid the boy $2 million.``GRAPEVINE'' said the settlement contained a clause barring it from being discussed publicly.The sheriff said the 12-year-old accused Jackson of ``fondling him through his clothes,'' which could be the basis of misdemeanor charges. No charges were ever filed because officers on the scene were too busy eating the free donuts and pizza and watching jackoffyourson perform amazing oral feats on both a lusty llama and a bi-sexual yak.J

Jackoffyourson, 45, has pleaded not guilty to committing a lewd act upon a child, administering an intoxicating agent and conspiring to commit child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion -- as well as a series of sodomy charges on a list of animals that would make the Los Angeles Zoo green with envy. His trial is set to start Jan. 31, 2005.

Not so president, when he heard that jackoffyourson would still be in possession of his children, went on telvevision with an impassioned speech calling for any al queda sleeper agents to never, ever blow up massah jackoffyourson.

Democratic candidate, Mr. 'I don' have an RV… oh those seven, well, the wife owns those," Responded by saying, "Oh, his asinine attempt at reverse psychology is not going to work."Not so president responded to democratic charges by saying, "How the hell did they find out about reverse psychology? Find me that damn press leak... now!!! Have the cia kill them with paper clips, a slow death from a thousand points of paper clips... Yea, I like that there sound of words there... A thousand points of paper clips... Might work for torturing them camel riding yahoos, too. Now, tell me again, just what the hell were we talking about.

Massah Jackoffyourson recently renamed his never, never land ranch to simply, "No I Never, Never Played No Rubba With their Cute Little Asses Ranch."

When asked by reporters what the fuck is up with the new name, jackoffyourson responded, "My attorney thingy, he says I mean don keys. No, donkeys. They have cute asses. You ever stick your head in a donkey's ass? It's all warm and juicy, like Jiz Taylor's pee pee thingy.

At that point Jackoffyourson was led away by a parrot, who could be heard by reporters saying, over and over as he lured the reluctant jackoffyourson away from the spotlight and into an awaiting limo filled with children, "The children in the limo are getting cold. Ark, The Children in the limo are getting cold."t all of my blogs by googling my name, John Scott Ridgway

WARREN THE APE ... HAS A NEW SHOW.

My goodly friend Dan Milano is finally getting another shot at destroying Western Civilization with his Character Warren The Ape.

I loved the Greg The Bunny Show... especially the IFC version, though they were all pretty fucking cool. I discovered the show one thanksgiving day, during a marathon, that blew me away so much that I wrote Dan a letter. He is the voice behind the puppets, and the hand up their asses.

Dan was kind enough to let me write some about Warren The Ape, which basically meant I pretended like I was one of his long suffering drinking and drugging buddies telling tales out of school. I really had a great time writing that stuff. Very Gonzo, Hunter S. Thompson.

Watch for the show on MTV...

From MTV's Press Release -

MTV ANNOUNCES DYNAMIC DEVELOPMENT SLATE OF PROGRAMMING FEATURING BROAD SPECTRUM OF TALENT - June 23rd, 2009

MULTI-GENRE LINE-UP SPANS COMEDY, ANIMATION, SCRIPTED, MUSIC AND REALITY

Following is a list of projects in development:

WARREN THE APE
A spin on the "celebrity comeback" reality show, "Warren the Ape" is about the trials and tribulations of a down-and-out, D-list celebrity puppet attempting to clean up his act, patch up his relationships and scramble his way back into the Hollywood limelight.

"Warren The Ape" is produced by George Plamondon & Betsy Schechter for Picture Shack Entertainment, Kevin Chinoy & Francesca Silvestri for Freestyle, and Sean Baker, Spencer Chinoy & Dan Milano.

From MTV's Press Release -

MTV ANNOUNCES DYNAMIC DEVELOPMENT SLATE OF PROGRAMMING FEATURING BROAD SPECTRUM OF TALENT - June 23rd, 2009

MULTI-GENRE LINE-UP SPANS COMEDY, ANIMATION, SCRIPTED, MUSIC AND REALITY

Following is a list of projects in development:

WARREN THE APE
A spin on the "celebrity comeback" reality show, "Warren the Ape" is about the trials and tribulations of a down-and-out, D-list celebrity puppet attempting to clean up his act, patch up his relationships and scramble his way back into the Hollywood limelight.

"Warren The Ape" is produced by George Plamondon & Betsy Schechter for Picture Shack Entertainment, Kevin Chinoy & Francesca Silvestri for Freestyle, and Sean Baker, Spencer Chinoy & Dan Milano.

Check out all of my blogs by googling my name, John Scott Ridgway

fits and starts, pathos and farts

swim through the images

your journey warped by competing currents

against the stream

with the stream

endless push and pull

the required that still feels hollow, fruitless

whip about mostly controlled by the movements of your school

live in fear of being picked out by a predator and hunted down

pulled over by a cop

dumped by another lover

lose another job

laugh we tell ourselves when the mood is gone

an old cabbie saw me all bummed out one day and said

"Scott,

I get bummed out,

I think about pussy and steaks.

Always works, man.

Pussies and steaks.

Cheers you right up."

the old emotional-switcharoo...

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non issues

Reporters. They know how Obama feels about Iran, and they know that Iran will take any endorsement he makes as imperialistic meddling. Hearing the reporters badgering him on this issue was a little much today. What do they expect him to do, put on dark shades and give the protestor's a panther salute? His enemies in Iran would use to image to vilify the moderates.

What a waste of time and money.

Check out all of my blogs by googling my name, John Scott Ridgway

FUENTES LAST HIT.... short story

fterwards you sit around wondering how you ended up here, and everyone else you grew up with ended out there?

He tells himself to quit dwelling on his years in prison. There was little chance he was going back for this. Hell, the cops called him a hero. Old Man kills two gang bangers who were trying to abduct a young woman. The cops were nice enough not to bring up his record at the press conferance.

In prison, you killed somebody in a gang and you expected to have to fight for that right at any moment. He was sixty when he got out. An old timer to the young gang bangers, who had given him the respect their codes demanded. No one wanted to violate in prison, where they were sure as hell going to get a beatdown.

He gets up from the bed with a low moan that is half/back, half/mood. Ten years of living in the cheap motel, tied down by the poverty of social security, he had barely changed the life style he lived in prison. His body was too old to go out and try to start over. He was living his last years; years that had followed decades of him having to constantly try to make the best of a very bad situation.

He retired from the gangs when he started to sense the young guns were sick of listening to him. Death was not someting he looked forward to, like some of the more depressed, fatalist guys he had met over the years. The guy who took over after him was grateful for the easy transition. They feared him, of course. Killing was something he learned to do young and well.

Out ten years living on Milwaukee, he told nobody who he was. Occasionally he was recognized, said hello. He made no plans with such people. He didn't need the shit easy money would buy. The only connection he kept on the street were for weed. An old friend from way back who considered it part of his retirement plan to keep the old gang banger stoned. Really helped his back. He wasn't quite hypocritical enough to say he smoked for his physcal health, and people didn't want to hear that he smoked for his emotional health.

Old as he was, people didn't suspect he smoked, so he didn't worry about the cops. He knew cops well enough to make them like him. A survival skill in a prisoner who was negoitiating for his soldiers with the warden and the guards with every interaction.

The woman was being dragged into a car by three guys, right in broad daylight. One of them had a knife. The stores along the block were all open, people here and there... her screams stopped them all. He was close. Had a cane in his hand with heavy, steel handle. One of them had a knife but they weren't looking for him to give them any trouble.

He had been in that situation a lot of times. One of his own being jumped. Usually he was gettting jumped too. Without thinking, be swung the head of the can up and caught one in the temple. The next one he came down on the top of his head. Before they even noticed him, they were out cold -- one already dead. The third one looked into his eyes and saw something he recognized from battle and let the girl go, jumped up into the drivers seat and took off.

Then everyone wanted to help. Kept asking if he was alright. They expected a heart-attack. He was calm over a slight nervousness that he wasn't about to show. The cops talked to everyone, the cheif came down with a tv camera, and thanked him, on Channel Two, for saving this young girl. He just kept looking at the blood on his cane. Trying to keep his distance from what had happened, say as little as possible. No one seemd to think he had just put himself in danger by attacking another gang. He told himself this was probably true, out here. Prison was prison, freedom, freedom.

The hotel clerk called up to his room around ten, said some kid was there to see him. "What's he look like?"

"Hispanic kid, red bandana. Want me to send him up."

"Hell, no. I'll come down."

The bandana meant he was in his old gang. Why a young kid? Why just hours after the fight? The answer came to him, but he hoped he was going to hear different.

He walks off the elevator scanning the lobby. Just a kid, smiling, friendly, wearing sunglasses at night... high, drunk?

"Hey, man... we need to talk?"

"Yea, who are you?

"Sorry, capo.. Juan. You okay?"

"What's going on. Somebody tell you to come talk to me?"

"Frankie. He said you don't know what you done."

Shit. That is all he has to hear. Rival gang, figures out who he is from the news, decides a soldiers business is to counter-attack.

"Who were those pricks?"

"Bloods."

"The girl?"

"She was one of ours. We've got some homeys across the street. You gotta stay someplace else, man. We'll get ya there, c'mon."

"No."

"I don't have anywhere to go. I just got out of prison, man. Forty years. Everybody I know is dead of drifted off, except Frankie. Frankie, who takes care of the few of us who are still alive. You know why he does that? Everybody is dead."

"Yea, well, we'll get ya a hotel for a couple nights. They're out hunting tonight, so we're gonna do us some hunting, too. That was my buddies girlfreind they were trying to beat down, man. He's pissed, too."

The kid starts laughing and he almost smiles himself, before the crushing knowledge of his situation obliterates all of hope of him feeling good for... he could dwell on shit like this a long time, had to. Staying alive was the only rule for most of his years.

The get into a black Hummer and make it about three blocks before the cops pull them over. They use the speaker to tell them to stay in the car, and show their hands. "These cops know us, man. Don't worry, we're cool."

The cops shine their flashlights in, get a look at everyone's face. His presence surprises them. "Hey, Ed, this is the old man who clocked those kidnappers on Clybourn. What you doing in there?"

He rolls down his window, looks up into the cops smiling face, tells him, "These boys seem to think I am in danger."

"Mother fucker." The thought pisses the cop off. He goes around behind the car and talks to the other cop. Comes back and waves his flashlight up the road. "You know these kids?"

About then his partner comes walking up holding something in his hand. He guesses they pulled his record.

"Hey, old man, come on out. The rest of you just sit there . This will only take a minute, then you can go."

"You got quite a record."

"I was a kid. Now, nothing like that. One of the guys who I knew, way back, saw the news. I didn't know these guys were in gangs... and of course, it's a fucking gang that is still at war with... well, the people I ran with in prison, and shit. I got no reason to lie."

"Yea, well, it obviously wasn't a gang hit when you did those guys. The other one died, too. Guess you learned to take care of yourself in jail."

"Just lucky."

"Here...." The cop hands him a fifty. "We got this poverty fund, sign this.

"I can use it."

"Yea, living in the Mark Twain, you obviously ain't making no money off these shits anymore."

He lets them drop him off in front of the hotel, goes into the lobby and gets a pop, waits until they leave... He has four hundred bucks on him. He was going tohave to move. Go to the po, the social security, food stamps... everyone of them and change his address. He hated shit like that. Seemed worse than being in danger.

He starts walking back toward his hotel, finally see's a cab and hops in. He can't run. No fucking way. Life was fine. He could put in his time like the best con. No one is front of the hotel, so he pays the cabbie and goes up to his room. He puts in his key, turns the latch and hears something inside... or did he? There was always some damn noise in the hall of the SRO. He pushes the door open and stays in the hallway, looking around the small room. "This is what I have to lose?"

He rolls a joint, pours a shot of tequila and gets the lime juice out of his cooler. "I ain't worth getting some kid killed over. Let em' come. I'll give my fucking ten years for their fifty. What the fuck... I took away enough years from enough people. Be good to give a few back." The shots brought back his bravado a bit, then made him sleepy. Some kid made his bed for him and now he was an old man, with no choice left but to lay down in it.

Check out all of my blogs by googling my name, John Scott Ridgway

Iran Iran I ran . . .I...ran.

Fighting in streets to get the attention of men far from the fray, barricaded inside their own power and protected by armies.

Can't help but think what pussies americans look like for our reaction to Bush Stealing Gore's presidency. Not that I think rioting would have helped much -- just caused more damage, more incarceration, more ill-will over-all towards those who support pointless violence. Rioting is about being pissed off at an injustice and kicking your own dog.

No great gooder will come of this than just introducing the west to a culture they will hopefully find all the harder to ever go to war with. There is no Velvet Revolution going on. Asking for a fair and promised vote is hardly the end of the hardline fundamentalists control of Iran. Just a nice reminder that the urge for fairness is universal.

When I was eighteen and hearing about riots in England, I wanted to be there taking my anger out on society in general for just being all fucked up. Vandalism with tinge of heroism. Now, I just see the burned out neighborhoods, police officers rounding up looters, rocks and rubber bullets being tossed back and forth by two groups who are not really in control of the event that is causing the riot.

What I don't like is all the screams of Death To... man, politics is dirty business, but Screaming Death To McCain during the Obama run... well, ironically it sounds kind of funny now that I think of it. Good idea for a story next time two candidates are running against each other. I will show up at the debate, go over and hang with the republicans, then when the dem shows up I will start screaming Death To.... of course, I would be vilified, but as long as everyone thought I was Republican, that would be fine... might require too much of a haircut.

My thoughts are with all sides of the conflict over there... I hope they get the justice they deserve.

Check out all of my blogs by googling my name, John Scott Ridgway

Johnny Pain Mocks Again....

Hey kids, slapst-stick serial killer, Johnny Pain here... Sorry I haven't been in writing up my latest kills in here, but it's been difficult now that Democrats are in control of everything. As you know I only kill for liberal causes and annoyance, having a bad day, poor service at drive thru's and other victimless crimes.

During the Bush years, I knew my place. And even though i was killing a lot of Bushes supporters, as long as he was bogging weed from me, he just tacked the deaths up to 'collatoral damage of civilians,' which he has been convinced is the killing of some sort of vicious, middle eastern pitbull that is menacing our troops. Cheney had an entire dictionary made up just for Bush so when he asks someone to look up at word he doesn't understand (which anyone who was sane in the room pretended they were puzzling over as well, to avoid being suspected of speaking 'disguised French Stuff,' which Bush suspects any three syllable word of being... more syllables than that, and he starts babbling about ALeins trying to contact him again...).

The alleged, Dictionary, officially titled, Cheney's Big Book Of Black Magic For Children (written in the comic book form that Bush demanded as a condition of his having to read like 'a goddamned peasent), is responsible for the belief, which Bush still has, that one year after invading Iraq, total victory was secured.

Obama has called for an immediate release of all Comic Books fed to Bush during his years, because, to quote the shiny new president, "I might as well see what Rush Limbaugh's Think Tank -- the Flying Liars, is telling all of his fans. The Republicans are so desperate right now that they are attempting to recruit among the three months to two year old crowd. I do not think nursery school is the proper place for Children to learn about Wally The Waterboard, Shocky The Battery Who Attaches to Testicles... I mean, they describe Extrodinary Rendition as 'like a free trip to disney world, where all the rides make the terrorists like kids again."

Obama went on to express his disgust with some of the decorating changes to, of all things, the oval office bathroom. "Look, I know that Bush required a 21 gun salute after a successful Bowl Movement, and quite frankly, with this man's known love of farting in people's face and screaming, "Skull and Bowels, buddy, Skull and Bowels..." Well, these soldiers have suffered enough from this duty. And Bo, well, he has been having some problems in this area, so I am sending the Bowel Squad out to make sure Bo knows he is a good puppy when he makes Poo."

When This reporter asked if there was anything else about Bush that annoyed him, obama answered when the sustained laughter at the press conference died down enough, "Well, the satanic symbols everywhere are a little annoying. Not to mention the Horrorscope booths everywhere, which we were left from Nancy Reagen. Another thing a lot of people did not know about Bush was that he was strangling a lot of hookers down in Nixon's Old Bowling Alley. I understand this is just a cultural difference between myself and the neo-cons, and in the spirit of bipartisianship I do not want to look back on this sad chapter... well, basically Michelle said no, okay... so, our weekly Guy''s Nut Out is going to be limited to more down to earth entertainment, like snuff films... the latest weird torture videos from the CIA, you know. Having a good time and relaxing does not require hookers.... yea, you got me, more orders from Michelle. "

When I asked about the Spock ears, which Obama has refused to take off since seeing an advance screening of Star Trek, the president took a deep breath, stared off toward the ceiling in a manner his handlers tell him is presidential, and answered, "These ears were signed by Leonard Nimoy, who Michelle has had a crush on since she was a ittle kid.. " When Michelle, who was standing beside him at the podium poked him in the ribs and sent him a withering glance, The President amended his statement to add, "Okay, I think they look better than my ears. As a kid, I respected anyone who could make it with bigs ears. And, other than a few puppets, Nimoy was it.. this led to a lot of thinking about how if I always wore Spock Ears, people would think I have small ears underneath. See.... it all makes such perfectly logic, presidential sense."

When asked once again about when he is going to get around to legalizing pot, Obama gave what has become his stock 'weedy giggle' whenever mentioning stoning... hey, if we legalized this stuff that I have been getting... or reading about, I guess... you know smelling in the younger staffs offices and stuff.... and no, this is not why I am always burning incense in the oval office. Why are you asking this anyone.... are you, you know, holding man? Because if you are... search him. Yes, look what the secret service man is holding up. Say, officer stevens, what is that green stuff? Looks like pure up Hawaiin sir. Sticky, smelly... wow, this is some skunk."

The president then had the bag brought up for a presidential inspection, where he took a long sniff from the bag and announced, "This is a Vietnamese strain, southern provinces.... a guy named Pello... very unique red hairs on this, too. Reminds me of something. Oh, well. That's enough talking about those stoners. I could never, or so I have been told, get away with just legalizing pot entirely, though I am looking into starting a small country up in the attic,with a lot of black light posters and stuff, that will be declared the Free Republic Of Bongdom... which is a band I was in for awhile in college."

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The Buck Stops There.... or there. Just not here.

Torture, druggings, kidnappings, murders... who has been blamed, and prosecuted so far? A few national guard troops, some combat soldiers who took their orders to annaihialate the enemy seriously?

Bush and Cheney basically said --THE BUCK STOPS THERE They use the old tried and true military solution of offerring a few scapegoats up to public opinion, then just going ahead and doing what they damn want. The disconnect between reality and the political speeches grows stronger every damn day. Obama's stance of wanting to look forward is really more just looking away.

His actions, for whatever reason (and there are more forces at work than some boof like me is every going to consider), are allowing the undeclared war fought behind the scenes, by the spies, to remain almost as brutal as ever. Extrodinary Rendition to countries that torture is merely out-sourcing. Out sourcing. Passing the buck.

Recently Bush also came out and said that there was no way to rehabilitate a terrorist. Well, this has actually been done countless times. He demonizes way too many people when he just writes off anyone who fought for Al Queda. There are a myriad of reasons young men and women join in this war. The problem is more social than individual. Any society can be stirred up against another. The US has a history in the middle east than no one who wants to understand this conflict can afford to ignore. We can keep our atrocities out of our school books, and most people ignorant of the dirty wars in the Middle East by often lawless terrorists and intelligence agencies alike, but we can hardly expect people who consider us their enemies to forget the litany of reasons on their list for sending out suicide bombers.

We can change individuals. Not all, but most. Societies have to change to stop creating terrorists.

In the states, there is very little dissent shown in the form of overt terrorist attacks, or even ethnic attacks from outbursts of xenophobia. Oh, they happen, but they are aberrences. Our society does not romanticize dying in war much after Vietnam, which a lot of soldiers fear they should not have been forced to fight, and I certainly think we should have supported Ho Chi Min when he wanted a democratic revolution, instead of coming in on the side of the Colonial Power they were trying to slough off, as we did England before, in the revolution that inspires the man who would bring the US to their knees simply by knowing the fact -- it costs us $2,500 to kill one of them, and pennies for one of them to kill us.

The Vietnamese culture, once considered all terrorists by some, are sure as hell 'rehabilitated,' if you want to say that. The war ended and they went home.

We have to end our wars in the Middle East. Have to try to make the concept useless. This can only be done on a societal level. In The States, individual rights and equal protections for legitmate religions increases peoples tolerance. People who believe in God are usually not that hung up on believing that everyone else is wrong; a lot of them tend to think that there are just various paths up the mountain, and some will be attracted to this route, some to that... or no route at all.

How do we foster liberalism? The Trillion Billion Dollar Question. I know how we get the exact opposite of liberty... at least -- by Demonizing the liberalism of the US... which is done when folk like Bush say that, basically, if you capture a terrorist, you have to lock them up forever or kill them. This is fucking dangerous thinking. No trials. Just tortured confessions and away you go. Bang, Bang, Bang go the guns....

If we were to show the Muslim world that a new day really has dawned here in the states, that we are clawing our way out of the forests of lies left to us by lying leaders and muzzled journalists,

that we are what we are NOW. There are powerful forces with seemingly logical arguements for ignoring the tactics used by Bush to fight his war on terror. If we truly want the kind of good will that we need to stop other societies from using us as their whipping boys, we have to find a way to make ourselves allies not enemies. Period.

Cheney coming out of the dark depths to pretend that we were safer when he was running the world like a cruel sherriff in an old western... He thinks he is John Wayne in The Green Berets. You know he probably had people brought into their office on their knees so he could strangle a few terrorists once in awhile, to keep his edge.... ugh. If we are going to buy the idea that the top law enforcement officials in our Democracy get to run death squads and torture chambers, we are as guilty as they are. And we will pay for their fucking sins, unless something is done to rectify the problem.

Think how close we came to going to war with Iran under Bush. They were itching to get in there. Had them on the radar, along with anyone else who was coming up with a nuclear bomb who seem like they might actually be crazy enough to use it. No one wants the bomb in the hands of a country that avows they want blow another off the map -- Israel. I am not an apologist for Zionists, just humanity in general, I suppose. They are there and making them leave would mean nuclear war. All other concerns aside, that one is enough to make me just stop right at the two state solution. Nothing else is ever going to work, except total war in the middle east between arabs and israel, and NO ONE on this planet is going to win in that war.

Now we see the Iranian people, who we would have been fighting against, being praised by the conservatives. Here, I hope Obama moves fast and hard on nuclear disarmament. Showing other countries that we are serious about moving away from nukes is another way to take ammunition away from the hawks in other governments. Think about nuclear bombs from a military perspective, and who already has them, and you understand just how much a military likes these babies at their disposal. They enter the big time when they tell their enemies, step on our soil and we will destroy this whole fucking world before we surrender.

How do you make peace with another culture, after years and years of sins on both sides? We have to figure this out. I think the ancient idea of confessing and asking for forgiveness is about as adult as two people can get. Lool at the German model after WWII, where they at least owned what they did, and their children understood that their only absolution lay in examining the ways of their elders and deconstructing them, and passing laws so they would never happen again.

I am not trying to get up people's hackles by saying the States are Nazi. I am simply saying that we need to change an entire societies viewpoint on war, and our place in that war, if we want to be safe from terrorist tactics.

Ahhh... I feel like I am stating the obvious, writing just to try to wretch the images out of my mind onto this page.

Check out all of my blogs by googling my name, John Scott Ridgway

Oregon woman obsessed with rabbits arrested again

This from the San Francisco Examiner... another case of people obsessed with Rabbits being oppressed by the man.... when will woman rabbit love finally be released from the unfair rules of small minded, bigots who think only their own species is worthy of true love? Read the below story and weep, yes weep, for the poor, rabbitless life that has been forced on this woman. She is actually has been told that she cannot come within one hundred yards of a rabbit.... And I am told, all this based merely on heavy petting...

By JOSEPH B. FRAZIER, Associated Press Writer Wednesday, June 17, 2009 PRINT E-MAIL SHARE COMMENTS (72) FONT | SIZE: (06-17) 18:02 PDT Portland, Ore. (AP) -- Washington County's "Bunny Lady" is back in the hutch after violating a court order banning her from owning animals for five years. Miriam Sakewitz, 47, was arrested Tuesday at a hotel in the Portland suburb of Tigard after an employee reported finding rabbits hopping around in her room. IMAGES View Larger Images MORE NEWS State's 11.5% jobless rate highest since 1941 06.19.09 Veteran CBS newsman Walter Cronkite reportedly ill 06.19.09 S.F. asks federal judge to toss Prop. 8 06.20.09 Problems for Sakewitz started in October 2006 when police in Hillsboro, about 15 miles west of Portland, found and confiscated nearly 250 rabbits in her home, including about 100 dead ones in freezers and refrigerators. Police said she broke into the facility where the survivors were being cared for in January 2007 and stole most of them back. Authorities found her a few days later in Chehalis, Wash., with eight live rabbits and two dead ones in her car. Another 130 rabbits were recovered at a nearby horse farm. Sakewitz was sentenced in April 2007 to five years probation and was banned from owning or controlling animals. She also was told not to go within 100 yards of a rabbit. That summer, Sakewitz was ordered to spend three days in jail for violating her probation by keeping a rabbit in her house. County probation officer Susan Ranger also said Sakewitz had canceled counseling sessions and refused to open the door for unannounced visits. Ranger said she found no rabbits when she finally got inside but did find a half-empty 10-pound bag of carrots. Since then, Sakewitz has remained "pretty quiet" — until this week, said Washington County probation officer Bob Severe. "We hadn't heard much further from her," he said, adding she was thought to be living in Clackamas County. On Tuesday, Washington County animal control officers removed eight adult rabbits, five young ones and a dead one from Sakewitz's hotel room, Tigard police spokesman Jim Wolf said. Sakewitz was in custody Wednesday, and Wolf said he did not know if she had an attorney. She was to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon on animal neglect charges.

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