The Misanthrope – Miscellaneous Musings

We are closer to the ants than to the butterflies. Very few people can endure much leisure.
Gerald Brenan (1894 - 1987),writer and novelist

Holiday Weekend. What a nice holiday weekend. I spent two days imitating a southern hound dog while in Palm Springs. I fell asleep in the sun, I dozed in the shade, I took forty winks on a raft and sawed Zs on the chaise lounge. I can tell you without a doubt that I would never get bored living that life everyday.

Saturday Morning. I walked to the coffee shop, picked up newspapers, took them back to the house, and read them in the backyard before I exerted myself to put lotion on and rest upon the raft.

Reading. Besides the newspapers that reported W had a few regrets, (while the citizens of the country of have a lot because of him), and Cheney addressing a military academy still carry on about terrorists, but doing nothing about it except spying on its citizens and attacking a country that had nothing to do with terror against this country (meanwhile, Bid Laden is planning his summer vacation), I started and just about finished “Everyman” by Philip Roth and it is very good as are most of Roth’s books.

Playwriting. A colleague, who is a very talented playwright, got me started on 10-minute plays. I took a four-week course with her and wrote my first play. I used the Toner Mishap for inspiration and wrote the play on the Urinal Selection post penned by B2. It was nicely received by the class, Neil Simon and David Mamet don’t have to worry, but I had fun. The instructor sent out a notice for a five-minute playwriting contest, which I plan to enter. Jack’s post over at Random Thoughts was my inspiration for my short play with his post on a new multifunctional toilet that provides a gentle spray of water up your tush. I am not a big fan of bathroom humor, but these things just write themselves. We have a reading of our 10-minute play by actors next Saturday. I’ll let you know how it goes next week.

Forever Young – In My Mind

May your wishes all come true,
May you always do for others
And let others do for you.
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung,
May you stay forever young
Bob Dylan (singer/song writer), lyrics to “Forever Young”

It’s amazing to me that Bob Dylan is 65 today. Not that I knew him personally when he was younger, but all my rock idols are truly elderly now. Paul Simon in an interview mentioned that Paul McCartney, who turns 64 June 18th, called him up and sang “When I’m Sixty-Four.”

Now at his advanced age, when Dylan sings “One More Cup of Coffee” it takes on a completely different meaning.

There is nothing wrong that they are older, except that it makes me older. I used to be cool driving around playing the Stones, Dylan or the Kinks (at least I thought I was), now it’s a sure sign of old age. It’s akin to when someone was listening to Dean Martin or Frank Sinatra when I was a kid. Now I like Martin and Sinatra too.

I don’t like this getting old stuff, but what choice do I have?

On The Mark -- Maybe "Somebody" Read My Post

I was so angry with how the Democrats conducted themselves last weekend regarding the desire to impeach Bush, that I wrote a post stating (it's still on this page) that they'd already lost the elections. In addition I dashed it off to several senators and representatives of Congress.

Today I see that John Conyers, the Democrat from Michigan who was leading the charge, has now written an editorial for the Washington Post titled, "No Rush to Impeachment." Here are two paragraphs from the editorial:

"So, rather than seeking impeachment, I have chosen to propose comprehensive oversight of these alleged abuses. The oversight I have suggested would be performed by a select committee made up equally of Democrats and Republicans and chosen by the House speaker and the minority leader.

"The committee's job would be to obtain answers -- finally. At the end of the process, if -- and only if -- the select committee, acting on a bipartisan basis, finds evidence of potentially impeachable offenses, it would forward that information to the Judiciary Committee. This threshold of bipartisanship is appropriate, I believe, when dealing with an issue of this magnitude."

The Misanthrope – Miscellaneous Musings

It’s outrageous to line your pockets off the misery of the poor.
Outrageous, the crimes some human beings must endure.
It’s outrageous a man like me stands here and complains.
Paul Simon, Singer/song writer “Outrageous,” from the "Surprise" CD

Living with War. Neil Young’s new CD is terrific. Young shows what a talented veteran musician with a conscience can do. Every song has an important message and a recrimination of the Decider-in-Chief.

My favorite song on the CD is “The Restless Consumer.” As On the Mark said, this is a new generation’s “Ohio,” a song Young wrote about the National Guard killing four students at Kent State.

This is probably not fair, but I’m going ask it and state it anyway. What the hell took him so long? I’m convinced if John Lennon were alive this CD would have been done by him three years ago. Nonetheless, we have it now and it’s certainly worth getting. I highly recommend it.

Surprise. Paul Simon’s new CD “Surprise” is also very good. My favorite song is “Outrageous” (see quote above for sample lyrics). My sentimental favorite is "Father and Daughter."

I’m gonna watch you shine, gonna watch grow.
Gonna paint a sign so you’ll always know
As long as one and one is two
There could never be a father who loved his daughter more than I love you.

This CD is also a winner.



Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers.

God bless our brave billionaires.

I don't yet know who this "mishap productions" guy is, but she (he?) makes some interesting points.

Truth in Advertising

Are you legal, decent, honest, truthful?
Anonymous, Slogan for the British Advertising Standards Authority

These photos came in an e-mail from Mother Misanthrope. I think they all speak for themselves:

On The Mark -- Dems Lost Mid-Term Elections: Not a Prediction; Already Accomplished

The Dems came out swinging this weekend, finally taking the initiative.

And they've already lost. They lost the mid-term elections. They lost the 2008 presidential election.

For some silly reason, they seem to be focusing their messages to their core voters. They already have their vote. They should be focusing their attention on the so-called undecideds, but even more important, on the tens of millions of people who might actually get off their butts this time and cast a vote.

I don't need focus groups or polls to tell me that this critical group, the ones who will make the difference about what color Congress will be next year, doesn't want to hear about revenge, about subpoena power, about impeachment.

If they're finally going to get off their butts and cast a vote, that means they care about the future, not the past.

Talk from powerful democratic leaders such as "He (Bush) is going to have to answer some questions," is like, well, suicide.

Sure this rhetoric makes the core dem voters feel good. But it's for another time and another place.

When asked about subpoena power and impeachment, the dems should state unequivocally that it's not on the agenda, but getting America back on track and cleaning up the mess the Republicans have made, is. Then they should state exactly how they're going to do it.

As Shakespeare said: revenge is best served cold.

The Misanthrope – Miscellaneous Musings

A sadder and a wiser man,
He rose the morrow morn.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 - 1834), poet

The Party’s Over. Damn that week went by fast. I so enjoyed doing nothing. I read a few newspapers, napped a lot, renewed my passport, didn’t go to the dentist or the DMV (why ruin a good vacation), read a little, but not enough to finish even half a book. Went to a play reading that was written by a friend, the reading, which was acted out and the play were both very good. I watched a few baseball games and a basketball games. Generally, I would wake up have my cereal, read the sports page, and go back to bed. I also went on a couple of hikes estimated total mileage for both hikes 12-14 miles. My legs are still a bit sore.

Life Shattering. All these many, many years I have lived under the impression that I was a Libra. Now, my mother sends me some information that states otherwise. Because, I was so shocked, I had someone else run the data and again it comes back that I’m a Scorpio. This means that I have to adjust all my traits to fit the appropriate sign. It’s no wonder my relationships don’t last, I have been consorting with the wrong astrological signs*.

Neil Young. I was disappointed last Tuesday because I was under the impression that Neil Young’s new CD was coming out, I was looking forward to listening to it while on vacation. Alas, I will have to wait for Amazon to deliver it and then play it commuting to work.

Driving Me Nuts. Speaking of commuting, I spent $60 to fill up my Nissan Maxima. Holly cow, that hurts. When that gas pump finally stopped and I saw the price, my hair resembled Don King’s. It used to be that I played the Lotto for riches, I guess now I play to afford gas for the next year. I am ready (actually I’ve been ready for years) to impeach President Decider, but I will have to settle for Young’s song because it won’t happen with a Republican majority.


*I don't really base anything on my astrological signs, I use it for entertainment purposes only.

Justice Served

Jails and prisons are designed to break human beings, to convert the population into specimens in a zoo—obedient to our keepers, but dangerous to each other.
Angela Davis, civil rights activist, educator, and writer

I am very pleased that Zacarias Moussaoui did not get the death penalty, not because I am against the death penalty in most cases, but because he had little to nothing to do with 9/11 and, most importantly, he wanted the death penalty.

Living in a cage will be far more punishing than allowing him to escape into nothing believing he will be honored as a martyr. He is a sleazy dirt bag that deserves the abuse he will receive in prison, even if it's only mental abuse from having to live with himself the rest of his natural days. Hell, we should secretly send him off to our torture camps in Cuba and throughout Europe for all I care about him.

The Decider-in-chief expressed disappointment at the verdict because he wanted a scapegoat he could point to that was executed for 9/11 because the White House gang has failed miserably in its war against terrorism.

News Items

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
[and work cheaply with no benefits]
Emma Lazarus (1849 - 1887), poet

Illegal immigrants. I watched the news yesterday of the peaceful demonstrations and was a bit surprised to hear several of the protestors say they have rights. As illegal immigrants, they don’t have the rights of U.S. citizens. However, the blind eye politicians have turned to allow workers who are willing to toil for less has now come home to haunt them. Republicans who chant about a free market have allowed the market place to be skewed with cheap labor to keep wages artificially low, have once again be caught cheating to fill their pockets with gold.

A free market is the Republican mantra, but they allowed the market place to keep artificially low wages by allowing businesses to exploit cheap labor. Then they try to scare us with threats of high-priced fruits and other goods. Let the prices rise and then you’ll see a truly free market place as those items will no longer be purchased. Maybe then, some of the lands used for farming will be saved from more housing tracts and thus no longer helping the big corporate farms to consolidate even more power.

This country has been helping major businesses and the rich at the expense of the poor and now the tab is coming due. I see no choice but to create a plan that allows workers to become citizens. After such an amnesty program, it would then make sense to either tighten labor laws by going after businesses, not the workers.

Political News. Having written Toner Mishap for a year, I really delved into the political news and I discovered that both parties are truly similar, except W who is so ignorant and self-serving that his gang will be off the charts in historical context as the worse president this country has ever appointed and then elected. He is a nightmare.

Also, making my skin crawl is Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. He truly blows with the fat cat wind. He’ll offer a plan and then when its rejected by the White House or corporate influencers, he will change his mind.

Thus after a year of daily blogging that ended last October, and trying to keep up the blog now, I have far less enthusiasm for writing about the political nonsense that serves to do nothing except obscure the fact nothing gets done in Washington, unless it puts money into the pockets of corporate barons. So I will just write as the mood strikes.