As I have mentioned on my blog previously (see here), I was a victim of backstabbing by a college arm of the Democratic Party.  I don’t know the exact reasons, but judging from the little bit I do know, I have always felt that I was targeted for my refusal to blindly submit to the party.  For God’s sake, as far as Dems go, I’m Team Kucinich all the way.  (Btdubs, the only way I’d vote for Ron Paul is if it were a Kucinich-Paul [or, sigh, even Paul-Kucinich] ticket.)

I have never really meshed up with the Democrats on a lot of issues.  I could enumerate them at length here, but if you’ve been reading my blog, then you’re really well aware of my political beliefs.  (Although perhaps I should post an “in a nutshell” list.  Maybe another day.)  Given that I held a position that was a clusterfuck, did a great deal of work, cleaning up messes, and putting out fires for the president of the organization, and also doubled to tripled membership, I thought I was a shoe-in for the position of president.  As it turned out, there was a drawn out, concerted effort to oust me and destroy any of my credibility whatsoever within that group.  The position went to another woman (one whose political positions and opinions were not terribly well known before she was handed the position) and I essentially washed my hands of the organization.

For the past year and a half, I’ve just always dismissed that incident as something that one particularly scummy friend and several scummy acquaintances had cooked up together; I always chalked up to a one-time thing, and used it as a learning opportunity to realize that I wasn’t cut out for major party politics.  Politically, I began to map out my own path, really think about how I felt on various issues, read more, etc., before deciding to slap on some Docs and let loose with some feminist rage within the Libertarian Party.

However, this all changed within the past few days.  A friend of mine (whom I’ve referenced before) was running the LGBT group on campus.  He, for a lot of reasons, recently broke with the DNC.  His reasons for this break are irrelevant.  He remained a dedicated LGBT activist; as a gay man, it’s not shocking that he would still be active in the community and in its activism circles.  The problem is that he was beginning to criticize the God-King’s Administration.

I think we see where this is going.

The problem with the major party system is that there is such a huge fear that someone who has rejected it might actually make some headway.  No, scratch that.  Democrats in my state (Pennsylvania) worked to keep Carl Romanelli (Green) off the ballot during the 2006 Senatorial race.  (Mr. Romanelli was later fined $80,000 to reimburse Democrats who had challenged petitions. Or, if you’re third party, you know the real reason he was fined: because he had the fucking audacity to run for public office.  What an asshole!)  They claimed he would siphon votes from Bob Casey Jr. and would be a huge threat to the Democratic Party ticket.  Given that third party candidates rarely, if ever, get enough of the vote to actually make a difference in an election (and there has been speculation as to whether third party voters would even bother voting in elections that were limited to only Democratic and Republican candidates), it seems to me that there is one logical conclusion.

Really?  Do I need to spell it out for you?

Okay, fine: the obvious conclusion is that major parties simply want to throw anyone off the ballot as a means of asserting their own power and maintaining the status quo.

Now, I’m guessing you can probably see the connections here between state and national level politics, and the political bullshit that goes on in a student group at a third rate state university.  These various individuals who want to make their big splash in politics after they complete their worthless Political Science degrees look at college not only as a place where many of us learned to take wicked bong rips, or do kegstands, or the miracle of Plan B, but also as their first introduction to making alliances, building your following, and squashing dissidence the first time it rears its ugly head.

And you wonder why libertarians hate the system and hate the state so much.  Neither of the major parties care about your rights or your freedoms, and if you can’t see that, the you probably wonder why libertarians are such confrontational assholes.  If given the choice, I’d much rather be the confrontational asshole who tries to promote an alternate perspective over allowing former friends and “colleagues” the ability to use non-partisan organizations as thinly veiled shills for major party politics.

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Here is my response to him and to anyone who thinks I should regard the hate crime legislation as wonderful:

Well gee, that’s certainly consolation for when someone beats me (or [name removed] or any other LGBT person I know) to death. I’m so happy that they’ll get another year in jail as opposed to me being able to concealed carry into another state and spatter homophobe brains down the street.

I’m just assuming that’s how I should feel given that federal interstate concealed carry reciprocity was stripped from the bill. Gobama! He’s doing great things for the gays!

It also doesn’t actually force the cops to take your assault or murder seriously, as was the case with Erica Keel right in North Philly in 2007. Gee, I’m so glad that Micheal Nutter didn’t have to get rid of any ineffective homophobic police officers and I’m even happier that I get to pay an extra 2% in sales tax every time I buy something in this godawful, Detroit-light, second class city.

Oh yippee for a pointless, pretty much ineffective piece of legislation that makes all the queers feel like Obama cares so much and hasn’t turned his back on one of the largest demographics that turned out for him last November. I’ll gladly vote third party or not vote at all instead of support this garbage.

To the assholes who screwed me out of the president position with College Democrats, thank you! I’m clearly not cut out to place a cookie on the floor every week and praise Barack Obama, who provides us with great symbolism of friendship of nations of the USS…err, USA instead of delivering a nuanced critique that really looks at the issues with various pieces of legislation.

Hope change my fucking ass. It’s two sides of the same fucking coin. You know what might help gays more? Fostering an environment that actually encourages cops to be honest. Weeding out bad cops right away. Encouraging people with bachelors degrees in less conventional subjects (i.e., African-American studies, Women’s Studies, Anthro, etc.) to join law enforcement…and also making an environment that would encourage those people to seek out law enforcement careers. Headhunt people who are less inclined to pull “respect mah authoritah” bullshit. Take the crimes seriously in the first fucking place and stop giving cops special privileges for their line of work.

And before I forget: Seriously, neo-cons? When you find this post, keep your railing about how the niggers and the faggots and the bitches and the spics are fucking you over with their special privileges while ignoring how many the “boys in blue” get handed to them on a regular basis to yourself. You guys have no leg to stand on with this shit. That garbage encourages a mentality and fosters an environment in which cops think they can do no wrong because, well, they rarely get punished (unless it’s for actually doing their jobs. Funny how the only ones who actually get penalized are the ones who actually seem like honest, decent human beings who think they’re doing good).

And notice, I’m not even touching DADT or the DOMA or the fact that these policies would apply to universal health care. But what do I care? Obama threw us a bone. Oh yippee. Hope and change, my friends. Hope and change.

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This is, of course, all under the guise of restoring her autonomy to her. This, certainly, could have nothing to do with the state essentially getting all butthurt about Polanski’s flight, and is all about restoring law and order!

Isn’t it ironic?

Also in “omg, are you living under a rock news”: Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize despite his authorizing his own troop surge in Afghanistan. It’s because, as I’ve sarcastically noted before, Bush was an asshole, but Obama has reasons for continuing Bush’s war-mongering, civil liberties disrespecting, homophobic, oppressive policies.

It’s like a no smoking sign on your cigarette break, my friends.

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That’s scary to me. I mean, that’s seriously, downright, 100% scary to me.

I’d hate to tell you, but our economy, the war in Afghanistan (and elsewhere), LGBT rights, health care, taxes, your ability to use your fancy pants degree that probably hasn’t taught you an ounce of critical thinking, and the possibility of a Rick Santorum presidency are all issues that impact you a hell of a lot more than the wacky antics of a brash, marginally talented rapper.

Guys, though there are a lot of similarities, this shit is not being orchestrated by Aaron Sorkin. Don’t delude yourself into thinking that everything is all going to work out in the end and Santos will come along to keep fighting the good fight. We could be fucking ourselves harder every day.

But it’s cool, because clearly Obama maintaining his image as the only president hipper than Clinton is far more important than actually not fucking up. Obama continues to live up to the criticism that he is style over sustenance, and that is why you should be scared.

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1. Let’s start with the depressing: Afghanistan General Stanley McCrystal sees no indication of an al-Qaeda presence in Afghanistan.  So, could we maybe, GTFO or is killing brown people too much fun?
2. Sheldon Richman of the Foundation for Economic Education discusses some of the problems with raising tariffs on cheap Chinese tires.  I liked this quick synopsis a little bit better than Reason’s.
3. Here is some information about why Philadelphia is broke.  Most of the commenters are fucking brain donors, so don’t bother reading.  Note, there are no confirmed cop firings in that article.
4. Can Rihanna even remember the World Trade Center collapse?
5. In neato news: the New York Times does a small writeup on bento boxes.  Despite the fact that it makes me sound like a Wapanese asshole, I fucking love the things.  They are so cute!
6. In fucking “duh” news: Rob Miller isn’t the only one who has raised $1M for his congressional bid.
7. Abortion is a medical procedure, therefore, I expect it to be covered under my health care plan.  Instead, Obama is not going to cover it, presumably because pro-lifers don’t want their tax money going towards abortion.  Too bad that morality doesn’t extend to elective procedures like surgical starvation, which I’m assuming will be covered.
8. Apparently, Tila Tequila was assaulted, allegedly by her boyfriend.  I won’t be following the story too closely, because I’m sure the interwebz have been buzzing with “she was asking for it”esque statements because she’s Tila Tequila.
9. In much less irritating news: enjoy this short blurb from Chow.com about the “lobster boom.”
10. In “at least it involves a cockface getting pummeled news”: Main Line Animal Rescue (based out of DC), will be donating 5 bags of dog food to a DC based animal shelter for every time Michael Vick is tackled during the Eagles’ October 26th game.
11. It’s getting chilly out, so have my favorite knitting tutorial site.
12. If you’re wondering why I don’t support the whole Tea Party thing, CNN can hand you a ton of reasons.
13. In a similar vein to link #11, it’s getting chilly out, which means it is almost my favorite season ever: PUMPKIN SEASON!  SHAZZAM!

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I went from 28 to 27 teeth on Thursday.  I, as a pale and pasty faced Drunkenatheist, made it to Penn oral surgery at 10 and was back in an exam room by 10:10.  Right away, the oral surgery students started to run a big shpiel about nitrous.  A minute in, my mouth said “yes, definitely,” while my eyes screeched “OH GOD NOW PLEASE I CAN’T BE AWARE OF THE WORLD WHILE THIS IS HAPPENING.”

For the first time in my life, I learned just how high nitrous gets you.  A few minutes in, I gave a stoned sounding “frankly, you guys can do whatever you want to me right now” to the three oral surgery students in the room.  They lolled.  I lolled.  It was a lollertastic time.  My tooth was out within 15 minutes, and aside from a brief yelp of pain, I felt nothing.  For the record, as soon as I yelped, they stopped immediately and gave me a fourth shot of Novocaine.  I was surprised that the whole procedure was so quick, and right as I was floating along on marshmallow clouds with jelly bean dreams, riding out the high after the tooth was just forcibly ripped from my body, I unfortunately remembered the worst part of crackers: your high ends as soon as you stop inhaling the nitrous.  Damnit.  I completely forgot that it wouldn’t be like my surgery for my wisdom teeth and I’d be back to normal as I walked out to the waiting room.

Unfortunately, my nerves got the best of me, and I can’t remember the names of my oral surgeon or the students who were on anesthesia rotation.  I can tell you that nitrous through Penn’s student dental clinic will only set you back $30 (just in case you happen to Google and come across my accounts of Penn’s dental clinic).

I left University City around 11 with one less tooth, gauze jammed in the mouth and looking all palsied.  (Which was great when I ran into a friend on the El.  Hey, JB?  My bad, didn’t mean to seem like a cock, I was just not too chipper at that second.)  Libertarian Boyfriend used my droopy smile to his advantage and went out of his way to make me laugh so we could see my best Mary Jo impression.

Oh yes, I went for the reference so played out that it’s vintage.

Like I said before, I’m very happy with the care I’ve received at Penn Dental thus far.  I have a normal appointment lined up for the 23rd and will need to get a filling fixed before then.  (Hopefully I can get into the emergency clinic before then; if not, I’ll just have to deal.)

But you know what makes me happiest about it all?  The fact that I was able to get in right away.  Yeah, it really sucked when I was sobbing at 5 am from the pain of my broken and abscessed tooth, but knowing that I just had to hold out for a couple more days made it a little easier to deal with.  Well, that and the half bottle of Three Olives and the old script of pain killers, at least.  I can’t imagine what I would have done if I had to wait longer.  Well, actually, yeah I can: I would have – quite literally – had Libertarian Boyfriend drive me to Camden to spend $60 on coke so we could get my tooth & the surrounding areas good and numb, then take a pair of needlenose pliers to the loose part.

I don’t think anyone should go broke because they get sick, and I think that health care does fall under the category of a basic human right, which is exactly why I don’t think anyone should have to extract their own teeth.  I’m the last person to tell you that health insurance companies are awesome, but I don’t think that government control should necessarily be viewed as better than our current system.

And I know that I’m very lucky, because although we are far from rich (thx, economy!), we are much better off than most people.  At the same time, I’m poor enough to know that stifling taxes aren’t going to help anyone, and certainly not the poor.

Oh well, enough about politics. For now, I’m just counting done until I can truly eat crunchy, munchy foods.  My head is filling with dreams of tortilla chips, crunchy tacos, popcorn, and caramel!

Yum!

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On September 8th, 2009, I watched President Obama give his speech. Some kids got a note from their parents and got to do fun stuff instead. I was very jealous. I listened to him talk about school and how it was the first day of school (although it wasn’t) and other boring stuff for FIFTEEN MINUTES! To a kid that’s a looong time in school.

The rest of the account is worth reading, as it is pretty amusing. For the record, I personally think the whole thing was pretty fucking dopey, especially in light of my last post. Also, I’m pretty annoyed by the idea that completing a high school education, no matter how worthless and unchallenging it may be, is some sort of marker of your human worthiness. Seriously? If we lose our marbles enough to not homeschool, then our kids will always know that dropping out of high school is an option. The way I see it, if they have legitimate reasons for not wanting to stay there – i.e., severe bullying, not being challenged, they find a talent that doesn’t require a full high school education, they get accepted to an art or drama program, or for a million other legit reasons – then they don’t have to stay.

I mean, hell, I dropped out instead of repeating senior year and I got into the same state university that also accepted many who did well in high school. Dropping out of high school isn’t necessarily a death sentence. It also bothers me a bit that many drop-outs didn’t have a choice in the matter, yet Obama reframed it into some patriotic nonsense. Because I’m totally sure that when you’re 16 and putting food on your table is more important than finishing up with a worthless diploma, it feels really good to suddenly have “unpatriotic” hanging over your head. It certainly makes a lot more sense to risk getting fined two weeks’ worth of wages or losing your job because you get caught cutting school rather than just dropping out. The great irony, of course, is that these are the same kids most at risk for having their patriotism challenged by military recruiters just a few years later. I’m guessing that even the Commander-in-Chief doesn’t view military enlistment as synonymous with levels of patriotism.

But what do I know, right? It’s not as if classism is apparent with many Democrats, even when they proclaim to know what’s always best for poor people. We’re a minority that is easy to judge, because our condition must have occurred due to laziness or some other moral failing. It couldn’t be because of a crappy economy, some shitty luck, or other bad life circumstances.

It’s one of the many things that bothers me about the socialized health care debate. I don’t need to know how things work in other countries; I know how horribly incompetent and ineffective other state and federal run agencies are. Just take a look at the post office, the PA Liquor Control Board/state stores, or the DMV. (Seriously, do I need a link to the DMV?) All three of the agencies are enough to make my fuckin’ head explode for various reasons, and I really don’t want my health care in the hands of the same idiots.

Yet Democrats expect me to be happy with the same courteous, competent, and quick service I receive with these agencies. And if I don’t support it, then I hate poor people and love insurance companies. Because, hell, if I don’t want a public option, then I must sweat the same insurance companies that have forced me into six month long fights over bills that weren’t mine or payments Aetna was supposed to have made.

Right, because there is no middle ground. Because no one would ever say “I don’t want a public option and I think that health insurance companies are soulless entities that will fuck you over in a heartbeat if it means they can save $5.” I mean, come on people, these are the same companies that won’t pay for my birth control even though it saves them more money than covering my pregnancy. Do you really think I’m going to be a fan of them?

It must all come back to the idea that I’m a fucking idiot because I didn’t finish high school. Thank you, President Obama, for helping to solidify stereotypes, further encourage classism, and put a Dubya-esque “stay in school….or the terrorists win” twist on saying no to milk and drinking your drugs.

Thanks for being the change we all hoped to see! You’re so different from your predecessor!

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I wonder if they might change some of the lyrics around to reflect 2009?

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1. To kick things off, go visit Lauren at Oh Dear Lauren.com, a collection of open letters she’s written to various individuals, entities, random objects, and body parts.
2. Arkansas Fire Chief Don Payne launches into a long overdue tirade about police abuse of power while fighting multiple traffic tickets in court.  The police response?  Shooting him in the ass.
3. Blah blah blah dude who has no problem eating meat gets a bug up his ass when he is served whale in Japan.  Oy, whiners like him are enough to make me want to go vegan again.
4. Vice writer Thomas Morton complains about the extreme nature in which writers love to discuss Detroit.  Though I’m not fond of the (accurate, IMO) comparisons between Philly & Detroit, I do enjoy that neither city gets articles focusing on regular people just doing their thing.  It’s either gotta be about drugs and abject poverty or some hipster sustainable green collaborative hopeful change led by college educated yuppies.
5. As someone who is technically homeless, I understand why some people view Brianna Karp’s story as problematic.  Initially, I did as well, until I read her introduction and something about it just resonated with me.  No, she might not look or act like the guys panhandling on the Delaware Ave median, but she understands why “omg! just, like, get, like, a j-o-b” is dismissive, problematic, and makes you look like a fucking idiot.
6. Cops fuck up and kill a Georgia man during a drug bust.  The man was a preacher, which is naturally becoming the focus of the story.  Personally, I don’t care if he had a brick of smack shoved up his ass, if I saw a team of cops who frankly looked like carjackers, I wouldn’t be clamoring to stop.
7. In shocking news: I agree with something Katherine Mangu-Ward has written regarding Teh Grate Gmail Outage 2009!
8. Courtesy of The Tax Foundation’s blog: Is Twix Candy? Don’t answer that question without first reading.
9. In “other blogs that amuse me” news: check out 11points.com, a blog of Top 11 (not 10!) lists.
10. I think that Lew Rockwell got too excitable by the Union-hating language in the first line of this little diddy of retardation; it’s the only valid explanation for his linking it: John Zmirak blames the rising cost of college tuition on the lack of COLLEGIATE LEVEL remedial classes and other gibberish.  I guess the concept that some people weren’t meant for college is just inconceivable.
11. Speaking of people who weren’t meant for college: this fucking winner thinks it’s a great idea to “help a guy with his baby seat” when his car is running in the middle of Center City.  What’s even worse is that the Phila. SVU CAPTAIN has apparently never heard of that little known serial killer….TED BUNDY, who, despite Cpt. Darby’s claims to the contrary, used pretty similar methods when kidnapping women.
12. But you know what?  I can excuse her idiocy, because at least she can chalk it up to ingrained female politeness (and maybe she will tap into her feminist fury in the future).  But this fucking idiot thought it was a great idea to stop his bike to watch a flash mob get out of control. Shockingly, he wound up getting assaulted by the out of control mob.
13. We’ll wrap up with some oh-so-encouraging news: Capmark distress may signal bank failures topping 100.  But I thought stimulus funds were ‘sposed to fix ev’rything?

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1. I’m opening with a must read for anyone arguing that libertarianism and feminism are mutually exclusive.  Libertarian Feminism: Can This Marriage be Saved? I’m not finished reading it yet, but the link was provided by one of the authors and I am really digging it so far.
2. Inspired by my stupid idea that vanilla vodka + hours of Wii sports would somehow be fun, I bring you Wii injury.com.  I imagine I will wind up there within the next month or two.
3. In shameless promotion news: my comments on Young Americans For Liberty have made their rounds, and it appears that they’ve caused (at least) a small stir.  Considering some of the feedback I’m receiving (like, hi, I totally got a private email from…well, we’ll just say someone pretty well-known & influential in LP circles), I’d say I done good.
4. On that thread, I was also handed a link to the Ladies of Liberty Alliance.  While I think the name is a little “meh,” I love concept.  Hell, call it “turd in a box,” for all I care, as long as it serves the same purpose.  I pretty much always support efforts to organize women in non-female dominated circles, and love anything that helps train women to be leaders. (Don’t you just hate the kind of typos that alter the meaning of an entire sentence?)
5. In non-libertarian news: so, what was that about wasting resources?  Thanks to women like Maureen Picozzi, hundreds of thousands of misogynists can continue to feel vindicated when they blabber about false rape charges.  Cause certainly, rape is the only crime involving false charges.
6. Halloween II brought in $17.4 million this weekend.  Even though I’m going to bury my face into Libertarian Boyfriend’s shoulder the entire time, I must see this!
7. In wtf news: the poor French are dealing with exploding iPhones.  I know someone who will be so amused by that.
8. In completely unpredictably news: Douchebag extraordinaire Joe Francis has been accused of assaulting a woman.  Hey, media, quit making him relevant, plz?
9. In “duh” news: If you don’t want people to know your address, you probably shouldn’t post it on Facebook, Twitter, or any other social networking site.  Cause, well, some people are going to use that to break into your home, for starters.
10. iPhone has a “find my iPhone” setting.  People like to steal iPhones.  Do you not see where I’m going with this?
11. Reasons why I love Bitch: this point/counter-point about Meghan McCain.  While there are definitely things I like about Ms. McCain, she also supports some deplorable shit, and I think that gets lost a lot of the time.
12. Similarly to the Cow Days episode of South Park (which always makes me fucking cry because the cows. are. drawn. so. fucking. cute.), 28 Swiss cows & bulls threw themselves off a cliff in the Alps.  I guess these ones weren’t aware they could just use guns.
13. And to wrap things up, here is a critique on the Olbermann “omg, like, why should anyone distrust the government?  Obama of Nazareth is in office, which means everything is like, perfect!” attitude.

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