Don't Be Fooled

"That government is best which governs least."
Last week, a motorcycle-jacket wearing Sarah Palin stole the quote from Thomas Jefferson, using it to rev-up a crowd of desperate, angry, mislead people. The GOP is fighting to gain political traction across the country, using all their old scare tactics, and adding some new ones to their resume as well. Even before the insurance-friendly, watered-down health care bill survived the House/Senate gauntlet, Republicans were already touring the "real" parts of America, crying for all of the big spending to stop. Never mind the Republican's deregulation-caused economic crash that left us drowning in debt. Never mind the 10-year wars we've been funding (I mean fighting) thanks to the GOP (by the way, did we ever get the guy who attacked us?.) Never mind that during the Bush administration, GOP lawmaker's yearly spending agenda trended upward, reaching record highs in Congress ($35.6 billion in the House and $32.7 billion in the Senate). What is worse, is that almost NONE of the GOP's spending increases went to services for citizens - they went to corporate welfare and defense. Meanwhile, the Obama administration's increases in spending, though imperative, have all been aimed at improving citizens lives (education, social services, etc.)
Don't be fooled. Republicans will spend. They will spend more than Dems, and they will not spend any money on YOU the citizen.
To stop the spending now would be national suicide, since Democrats spend money on people, instead of businesses. Republicans like to say that "more money for business means more money circulating, which means more money for everyone!" This is a lie. Trickle-down economics is a hoax, and while the rich get richer, the poor break their backs, fooled into thinking that if they just try harder, they will eventually win. Sad...

Society Has Left Me (No) Behind

I have a lot of free time at work these days: I took the Winter term off from school, and the hotel is so slow right now that I'm surprised that the old place is still up and running. Anyhow, during one of my many "silently-reflective" moments, I began to sort-out the big question of why I don't seem to have a place in this modern society, specifically regarding dating & relationships.
At first, I thought, "I'm just not out there enough!", but then I realized that by "out", I must mean the bar, which is immediately depressing. Maybe I don't go to the right bars, but they all seem to be sad places where alcohol helps people forget about their miserable lives. I discarded the nightclub-absence idea, and pressed on. Within seconds, I had another thought: "Maybe I'm just not attractive enough!" This is the question that sparked my epiphany:
I don't fit into the dog-eat-dog competition of the dating pool, not because I am lacking in tools, but because I have an entirely different agenda.
My outlook on women was created partly by watching my parents interact, and partly by watching people my age interact. What I saw from my parents was entirely different from what I saw happening in the "real world". My parents never fought, they were never suspicious or jealous, and they never seemed to be unfulfilled.
My peers (boys & girls alike) cycled through one rocky, drama-filled relationship after another, the whole time feeling either jealous, hurt, angry, or sad, with the occasional sliver of excitement stuck in there. (By relationship, I mean what we all mean these days: "Playing Married"-living together, sleeping together, combining finances, the whole nine yards.)
Unlike many people today, I have no interest in pursuing a relationship based solely on looks. No one really admits that they got together with someone because of looks, but have you noticed how many people HATE their exes? If someone does something completely unexpected and horrible, the fact that you are surprised means that you probably didn't know him/her well enough, because if you did, you would've expected as much. I mean, you can't really get to know someone within a month, but by today's standards, that is plenty of time. Someone like me, who truly waits to make any move until he has real feelings about the PERSON (not the body), is left in the dust, because girls are so used to being pursued immediately.
Also, another point: How is someone like me (my beauty is inside more than out, I assume) supposed to stand a chance, when we have no time to show off our attractive personalities? It sounds so stupid even writing it, because NO one operates that way anymore. Girls who get enough of me to like me always want to be friends, because they instantly throw me into the friend bin when I don't hit on them during our first meeting. I don't hit on them upon meeting them, because I don't know them yet, but I give the wrong impression because the rules apply to me too, whether or not I'm playing the same game.
POINT-
The fact that American society has evolved into the divorce capital of the world (50% of 1st marriages end in divorce) doesn't seem to be alarming anyone, and getting to know and love a potential mate (not a potential fuck) has become about as common as winning the lottery for me. I've never won the lottery, but I have been in love once, and it was awful to be treated the same as all of the other dudes, who weren't in love at all (although I can't blame her, because she was only playing the game as she knew it.) I give up. The planet is way overpopulated, so breeding is less of a personal goal, and I'm sick of feeling like I'm not good enough. I am, you just don't know me yet.

& Rave

With all of the political double-talk these days, sometimes significant national problems are overlooked.
For example, what is the deal with our Food & Drug Administration? They really must be outed for their consistent dropping of the proverbial ball. America's airwaves are FULL of ads for boner pills, fat burners, muscle-building powders, ugly-eliminators, energy drinks, birth control, ass-pluggers, etc. You name it, and they are ready to fill you to the brim TODAY.
Products like these are always changing, because companies are constantly inventing new chemicals and compounds, to "help" us with our problems. New chemicals mean new side effects, and as we all know, the side effects from products like these are often serious. Thank God for the F&D Administration, right?
Wrong!--While the advertisement's announcer is assuring you that this crap is the greatest invention under the sun, the small print always reads:
"These statements have not been evaluated/approved by the FDA."

WHAT!? WHY?!
What the fuck? What in the hell is going on over there? These products look like they are definitely either FOOD or DRUGS, so why aren't you evaluating them? Isn't that your entire job? What the fuck are you evaluating? Food? We've been around for tens of thousands of years, and I'm pretty sure that we have all the food knowledge we need: If it's edible, eat it. If not, don't.
How many Thalidomide nightmares need to happen before the FDA does some work?

Rant

When did everyone become an expert on everything? When was the last time you heard someone on TV say "I don't have the knowledge or credentials to speculate on this issue..."? Baseless, unintelligent arguments on TV have swallowed educated debate, to the point where we (as a country) have no idea who is or isn't full of complete shit. Actually, forget that. Everyone is full of complete shit. There are no political, environmental, or economical discussions worth watching, reading about, or attending anymore at all. Period.
"News" has become a scripted, rehearsed drama, and the idiots are buying every falsity and conspiracy theory thrown their way. Which wouldn't bother me, except for the fact that MY government, in the last decade, has ruthlessly widened the gap between upper and lower class citizens, while the public wastes their time & energy on lie-fueled outrage. Outrage is fine, and can be very productive, but politicians trap the masses by steering their outrage away from true injustices.
The capitalist ideal is a PYRAMID SCHEME, and it's so obvious to me that I can't believe it's still regarded so highly in this country. Business is an unforgiving machine, but people aren't. That's why it is so clear to me, that if several MILLION tax paying citizens can't afford healthcare (and don't tell me that they are choosing not get it, because I work full time), it is our job as a country to insure them.
FUCK MONEY AND FUCK BUSINESS, PEOPLE ARE DYING WITHOUT HEALTHCARE. Are the insurance companies going to be "hurt" by doing this? Well, they will be able to eat, and get medical care when they need it, so the answer is NO. Who cares if it costs a lot? Not the GOP. Don't give me any bullshit about less govt spending, because when the GOP is in office, they spend like Democrats and tax like Republicans, which leaves everyone but the richest 5% high & dry. The funniest part of this whole fiasco is hearring the GOP claim to "care about healthcare". NO YOU DON'T, YOU CARE ABOUT MONEY. Any ONE of those fuckers could insure HALF of the uninsured right now, out of their own deep pocket, but instead, they ignore America's pleas, and continue to profit, without remorse.

Review: Grails "Doomsdayer's Holiday"

The album's cover photo is fitting for this dark, gloomy, multi-spacial effort:
The demon-headed woman riding a ghostly pig-like creature predicts haunting gothic torment, while the beautiful female body under the mask admits some tender musical finesse. The tracks feel less like songs, and more like seperately dark atmospheres, each one a mysterious venture.
Grails does a good job setting the dismal scene on the first few tracks, where they churn out some hard-riffing doom metal jamming, but after a few tracks, the metal gives way to smarter, more thought out music. "Reincarnation Blues" is the album's most evolved track, with fragile middle-eastern twang drowning in nasty guitar grind that pounds enough to paralyze the victim, only to relent at the point of suffocation.
Overall, the record is worth listening to. At times, you want to watch whatever movie they seem to be soundtracking, but no such movie exists. The music is unique, interesting, and perfectly melancholy, although smoewhat boring at times.

Out of 10 Huzaah's, I give Grails' "Doomsdayer's Holiday"
6.5 Huzaah's!