I had the pleasure of spending the entire day on Saturday with Malachy McCourt. He was in town as part of his campaign for Governor of New York. It was a fascinating day. We started off campaigning at Rochester's Public Market. It was cold, windy & rainy and this 70-something-year-old man was there talking to people for 4 freakin hours. He was awesome. In the meantime, the wife of The War Criminal was in town and all the media covered that. We called all the TV stations and the local corporate rag - all of them gave us the yada, yada, yada and blew Malachy off.

The corporate party gubernatorial candidates fart and news crews go running - towards them. Here's a guy, spending his own money, barnstorming the state by car, standing in the rain to talk to people...to actually talk to them, not just shake their hand for a photo op, and the media ignores him. TV stations won't include him in debates.

It's pretty simple...you get on the line, you get in the debates and on TV. Most people have no freakin idea what it's like to run for office - especially as a non-bought candidate. There are a million more hoops you have to jump through. For me, it brings nothing but contempt for those in the media and any individuals who don't recognize the work it takes.

Anyway, after a break, he and his running-mate, who was also in town (Alison Duncan), performed for a ridiculously small group of people in a fundraiser that didn't break even. There were a few reasons for the low turnout - despite the press releases, only one publication would put the gig on it's calendar; even though hundreds of postcards were sent out to local Greens, none of them came; various progressives were sent personal e-invitations, but they couldn't be bothered.

And it's too bad because they missed a pretty good show. Listen to this guy talk and you'll vote for him, too. I've touted Vin Scelsa's radio show Idiot's Delight before. Well, Malachy was on a few weeks ago. You can listen to it here. (streamed)

Hell, throw the campaign a few bucks. You can do it via the campaign website.

Oh yeah, and he's the voice of both guys in the Guiness commercials - brilliant!

Technorati Tags: Guinness, Malachy McCourt, Green Party, elections

Damn.

Technorati Tags: michael j fox, rush limbaugh, parkinson disease

World's Worst Job:

George Lopez's Ass Double!

Technorati Tags: george lopez, ass double, celebrity nudity

I just have a few quick political hits:

*Yowsa, Keith Olbermann! his commentary on GOP fearmongering was without question the most pointed attack on The War Criminal that I've seen on TV. Sure, it was 100% right, but I'm just not used to seeing that on TV.

*Whoa, Barack Obama! I'm not coming out for or against a run for the Presidency for the dude, but maybe we should let him actually accomplish something first. Someone asked me if I thought BO was going to run in 2008. When I gave the response I just said here, he pointed out that our current Liar-in-Chief didn't accomplish much before he won...and look how well that's been going.

*I had the chance of spending some "quality time" with a bunch of politicians tonight. Mostly folks running for state level office. The level of discourse created such a mind-sucking vacuum, I'm thankful I got out of there with a few ridges left on my brain. I didn't hear anything tonight that would have convinced me to vote for any of those jokers.

*In upcoming races I get to vote in on Nov 7th, there's the Green candidates whom I'll vote for, but then I have some other offices I have to vote for. I gotta tell you, I almost want to rip my eyes out rather than vote for any of them. If there is ANY third-party candidate in these races, I'm going with him/her...I don't care if they're in the (now defunct) Right to Life Party.

Technorati Tags: obama, olbermann, green party, elections

Our local corporate rag does it once again. All year the editorial board has complained that there needs to be more reform in state government. So it's time for their endorsements for November 7th. (you are voting, right?)

Yep, you guessed it. They endorsed every incumbent but one...and the one they didn't, they went with another political hack.

Readers also pointed out that while we had conducted long-running campaigns for Albany reform, we wound up every two years endorsing mainly the same people. We had to get off of that merry-go-round. Citing inadequate challengers wasn't good enough anymore.

Some might argue that we're again going around in circles by endorsing candidates. We disagree. While there is still much work to be done to achieve systemic change in Albany, enough steps in the right direction have been made to warrant us getting off the sidelines. Link here

Huh?

Technorati Tags: Rochester, corporate media, politics, endorsements

I don't know if I'll be able to convey the appropriate feelings with this post, but I'll give it a shot...

My rent-paying job is doing overnights at an agency that helps emotionally disturbed teenagers. I work in one of the residential buildings. That's where I do most of my blogging and other web mischief. So I was at work last night, minding my own business and all of a sudden the door bell rings... I look out the window and there's this old dude wandering around. So I answer the door and this guy - he's 81 years old - is lost...really lost. He's not even near his house. He set out for Walmart a long-ass time ago and ended up here at 2:30am.

So we call his son-in-law to come get him and while we're waiting...well, first the guy wets himself. I take him inside (which I'm really not supposed to do) to use the bathroom. When he's finished we're waiting for the SIL...he's telling me about his church - how he's a Deacon in it and he'll have to use this as a story when he speaks, etc. But then all of a sudden the conversation goes political. (I swear, I was being a good boy, minding my own business)

He starts telling me how he has been helping The War Criminal with some problems with Social Security and that he is also in correspondence with Oliver North of all people about the immigration problem. He then starts on how our country's getting overrun with Mexicans and that they all need psychiatric help.

Now all the while I'm just nodding and doing the "uh-huh" thing. I mean, this guy just got lost from Walmart, for all I know he's been corresponding about Mexicans with the credit card people whose offers he gets in the mail. And dude's not really saying all this in a mean-spirited way, but it really seemed like he just took stuff he read, saw on TV, etc and just spewed it back at me.

Both he & his family were grateful for the help we gave him and they left, but the overriding thing about this was a feeling of pathos. The guy was really feeling sorry for himself as he was recognizing that his not being able to find his way home and loss of bladder control were signs that he was nearing the end. That there was a lot left he wanted to accomplish and that he wanted to remain vital. That's what really struck me throughout this whole thing.

I wish it had one of those "so now I'm gonna live every day like it was my last" kind of effects, but it didn't. Maybe it'll be just another brick in the wall.

[Wow...that's 2 bad song references in one week. I better watch it]

Technorati Tags: aging, senility, oliver north, immigration, mexicans

Move along...there's nothing to see here. Just testing out a little Technorati technology.

Test...test...testicles.

I live in an apartment - always have. I just don't have the attention span to be a home owner, but I already digress...

I would rather have everyone in my building hear me and whomever having hot monkey sex than hearing the bad music that most people use to cover up them having hot monkey sex. Seriously. I'd rather have my neighbors saying something like, "Damn, Whitee sure was getting down last night" as opposed to, "Jesus, two hours of Wham...what the fuck was that all about?"

And while I'm sorta in the sexuality area...could someone please tell me when did KY get so ubiquitous? I mean lube is fine...I'm pro-lube...but all of a sudden there's commercials on TV for KY and I saw it available at a gas station/convenience store the other day. Talk about an impulse buy.

Hmmm...let's see...twenty bucks on number 3, a pack of gum, maybe some jerky...oh...and I think I may be getting reamed tonight...throw in this KY.

I'm not judging...I think it's fine if you're getting your sexual aids from the same place that sells Slurpees...it's just a bit surreal.

I can't even imagine what the abstinence-nazis must be thinking. Their heads must be ready to explode. Arrrrgh!!! I can't even get gas without having it shoved in my face! Must...not...lubricate...

Despite what some misguided people think...I'm not all that smart. There are a number of examples that can show that...but in the wonderful world of blogging there's not as much time to think things through...time that I usually need for responses to percolate in my head. So it's taken me a couple of days to process the responses I got from the post from a few days ago.

So to the references by my commentors about "reality"...

Reality is what you make it. I know that sounds like a car ad or a hippie bumper sticker, but it really is true. People, governments, corporations, continue to do the same things over and over again - and even with some initial success or feeling of safety, they don't work. And when someone suggests something different or something that has actually worked, if it's not derided, it's deluted to ineffectualness in the name of compromise. This is the case in terms of foreign policy, domestic policies, regulation of corporations, even by individuals and the choices they make and the attitudes they have.

Sparky, if you go around not trusting everyone, assuming everyone is evil, know what? That's how they're going to act. Now I don't think I could prance around sticking flowers in cops guns, but I sure could sit & negotiate with terrorists. Will it be a quick solution? No. Would I go in with complete trust? No. But I recognize that what we're doing now to "combat" terrorism is making it worse. For anyone in power to not acknowledge that is putting everyone in a whole lot of trouble. We're creating more problems, what we're doing is not working and the scumbags running things are trying to solve this by taking what we're doing wrong and doing it more.

I'm not denying that the world is a dangerous place...but making it more dangerous isn't going help. It never, ever has. Whatever temporary respite aggression has caused, it always been followed by more carnage and suffering. There are win, win scenarios out there. This philosophy can also be applied to domestic issues. I wrote this a while back, but Whitee Saves the World is a decent example. I haven't dusted it off for a while so I may go back and revise, but the general idea is still the same in my head - there doesn't have to be winners AND losers.

But the world doesn't work that way...

No shit. Because we've set it up that way. It's been instilled in our heads from the time we're babies, and by who? The people who have all the power already. What do you expect them to say? Give peace a chance? Doubt it. I am of the opinion that most of what goes on in the world isn't human nature. I don't believe that people are born to hate. You know what? There's some crazy motherfuckers out there, but by blowing up innocent people, screwing up the environment and screwing over everyone around you isn't going to make things better.

I will reiterate...I'm not naive...I just do not accept things the way they are.

I can't even say this is "spanking my own" as I've never been an Arianna Huffington fan...I remember when she was married to some rich guy in California and went off on all the things I believe in...and now she's doing the opposite and no one's called her on any of it. She's the female Dick Morris. (wonder whose toes she's sucked)

Musically, I've always liked Jill Sobule. I have most of her stuff - I like her music. So this doesn't sit well with me.

The focus of the facist resistance should be on the common folk...the masses...etc. But this example of Dutchess Huffington (whose name is tellingly ironic) jet setting folk singers...combined with Dylan's commercialization...and it really only leaves punkish music left to stem the tide...and most of that is crap. Oh...and the ubiquitous Bono who started boring me some time in the mid 90's...

I sure wish Debbie Gibson would come out with a protest song. Only in my dreams.

The reason's not important, but in the past week or so I've been cruising through a lot of blogs. And there are a few generalizations I've been able to come up with:

*People really tend to run out of stuff to say. Even the sex bloggers.
*Speaking of the sex bloggers...the ones who don't have sexuality incorporated into what they do for a living tend to get "outted" and stop blogging.
*There sure a lot of shut-ins with health problems. I'm just sayin.
*Those Asian teenagers sure like to blog...and about nothing.

I also kept coming across (!) a bunch of blogs done by...uh...let's just call them, right-wingers. Looking at their sites, it got me wondering...

I wonder what their idea of a perfect world is? I'm talking about utopia here. Is it that everyone is in constant economic competition with each other and that there is a perpetual world war going on? I just don't get it...what is it that these people want? Why are they so afraid of people who aren't just like them...do they really want these people to just disappear? Are they really experiencing bliss as they orgasm to Bill O'Reiley? I like to ask people what color the sky is in their world, but I wonder if these guys even HAVE a sky in their world.

This is a sad story...

I'm working on setting up a fundraiser for a state-wide political candidate. It's going to be a one-man show as the candidate has a background in entertainment (which is a topic for another time). So we need a theater-type venue. Someone found a community theater that was willing to rent out their space. We had a handshake agreement so far as we needed to dot a few i's on the contract still. But (to my mistake) we did start publicizing it a little bit.

Then, out of nowhere, the theater pulled out. I was told that if our candidate says anytyhing that could upset a politician (which he would) they could lose their government funding at the local, state & federal levels.

Well gosh...nothing like self-imposed censorship. Maybe they shouldn't let minorities or women in...that may offend a politician. We found a new place that actually is going to end up being better than the original, but this whole thing has given me that oogy feeling. We're not even talking about controversial subject matter. Just damn sad.

UPDATE: Here is their response: Protecting the interest and the reputation of the work that we do isn't sad - It's a HAPPY thing. (their emphasis) Uh....wow...embrace your bending over for Da Man!!!

I'm no doctor. I don't even play one on TV. But I may have come up with a way to do something healthy that I can actually enjoy.

I keep reading how to get those cherished antioxidants, that blueberries are the way to go. Well, that's fine. I'm down with blueberries, but I can't just sit there and eat handfuls of them - and being the terminal bachelor that I am, I always end up having to throw some out because I can't get through them in time (which is about to happen with the basil I just bought).

Then I stumbled upon this:



Blueberry Wine...Brilliant! If the antioxidants in the blueberries can cancel the effect the alcohol has on my liver, life is gonna get good. Hey, I'm just looking to break even here.

Men are just dumbasses. I like to say that it can't be helped, it makes it no one's fault...much nicer that way.

I just started reading Helen of Troy: Goddess, Princess, Whore. Not bad for a history book. The writing is pretty accessible. So far a readable-kinda thing. The author is some chick named Bettany Hughes. Never heard of her, but I will say, she's pretty hot:



So I do the Google thing. She has her own website...it would appear that she may have a publicist or some kind of image consultant. I may be wrong...cynically wrong. But then I saw this webpage. Uhhhhhhh...ew. (It may be creepy, but it's work-safe) I guess even history geeks gotta have something to spank to. Go to town, boys.

I'm really dreading this upcoming election. Talk about having to hold your nose! I may go into the booth holding something else...no, not my junk...my lunch.

It's really depressing. People who should know better are getting all excited about such mediocrity that it's sad. Well, let Dr. Wet Blanket point something out...

When the Dems have been in power things weren't all that great either. Better than when Republicans are in? Yes. But that's still not enough to get me tingly. Dems are still tied to corporations, they won't enact universal health care, they'll blame the minority R's for not doing what they should.

And there's a growing number of R's who have seen the writing on the wall, have bailed and are now running as D's. It will dull the so-called victory.

That being said...I'm pretty down with this. I hope Pelosi & Co have the stones to do this. It would be a start anyway.

Wow. I didn't realize that it'd been a week since I last posted. I really haven't had much to say lately, but that hasn't stopped me before...

The Mark Foley stuff is...I'm not quite sure what to say about it. Look, Dude's messed up. Yeah, I know, that's a "duh" statement, but there are a ton of people who are messed up. Throw him in the hole and move on. I will say, if you want to look at what's wrong with politics (and maybe human nature in general) it's the people around this loser that's scary. The coverning up, the deciding to warn Republican pages but not Democrat pages about Foley, the continuing support of Foley by other sceebs. These are the things that have me shaking my head.

We all know that the Republican "leadership" could have made this guy not run for reelection last time and cite "spending more time with family" or whatever. Then they could have gotten him a job in the private sector that would have set him for life. He could have just gone away years ago. But those in charge decided not to do that. That's pretty freakin creepy.

If you made me get all hot and bothered about anything here, I guess it would be the equating this to a gay issue. It really isn't. And I have kind of a problem with the peodophile angle too. I know, legally Foley was trying to go down Statutory Lane...but then I guess it's my overall ambivilance with the concept of statutory rape in general.

Hold on, Sparky! I'm not going NAMBLA on you. I'm just saying that statutory rape laws make the assumption that you don't become a sexual being until your 18th (or 17th or 16th) birthday. To me, the Foley thing was pure sexual harassment...which is illegal as well.

[Tangent Alert]

OK, let's stay with this sexuality angle for a sec...I had some lame pseudonews show on the other day and they had this story where they "researched" why high school girls were so freakin mean. If you sit for a minute and really give it some thought, it's not that hard to understand. We bombard our children with images and concepts of sexuality and consumerism and when it retards their sense of being, we can't figure out why they're so narcissistic.

Get ready for this seemingly piece of inconsistency...I think our kids should be exposed to more sexuality...but in better quality. No, I don't mean give them porn...sort of. If our kids were raised with a sense of what their sexuality was really about - if there wasn't a sense of shame or commercialism around it - they'd make better decisions...and probably not be such freakin assholes.

Think about it...are our kids allowed (better yet, encouraged) to explore their sexuality in a safe, healthy way? If you said yes, I'd like to know where your commune is.

I am NOT blaming the kids who Foley...uh...harassed...but what I am saying is that if these kids did not grow up in such a sexually retarded culture they would have turned the guy in for being a dickhead as opposed to a "sexual predator". And I'm NOT coming close to saying what Matt Drudge is saying. Foley's not a victim here.