Henry, Caroll and Maria

This country was built by fairly uneducated immigrants who ultimately figured out how to get what they needed despite big business and ugly politics shitting in their face at every turn. How many Americans are aware that the same companies who received government bailout money also currently have executives making daily what the average American grosses in a year? I researched this today and I know it's wrong but I couldn't help but picture a bunch of lonely old men driving their overpriced, undertaxed, foreign cars home to their completely unnecessary, oversized mansions, rolling around in money, while watching videos of starving Americans fight for unemployment benefits so they can attempt to support their families while their houses are being foreclosed on. Elaborate daydream I know, but even if that's not what these whales are doing with the money, what the hell are they doing? I realize The Gospel of Wealth is over a hundred years old now but maybe its time we recycle some paper, reprint Andrew Carnegie's entire essay on the subject and start stapling it to these peoples foreheads. Better yet lets tattoo the short version onto our asses, this way when big business yanks down our pants each day to fuck us from behind, provided they put down their Iphones long enough and they can actually read, they'll have to see it, "The man who dies rich dies disgraced."- Andrew Carnegie

I realize these are harsh words and images but maybe that's what it takes to get people to care. Please don't get me wrong, I'm not asking these billionaires to hand out money just because things are rough. I'm saying these fools have the money to save the Gulf from big oil and help clean up the damage, they have the money to set up full scholarships for students who want, need and earned the right to an education, they have the money to feed families that need it 3 squares a day and bailout families whose homes are in foreclosure because their companies and their friends handed out loans like candy to people already in over their heads, convincing these people it would all be ok. Instead of helping their fellow man these fat cats choose to wallow in their greed. Carnegie wasn't some swell guy either but the man sure knew how to justify his beliefs and he believed in providing opportunities for those who desired them and in helping those who would help themselves. His employees received low wages and poor conditions but if they wanted more they could go to the local library, donated to the city by a local wealthy family, learn a thing or two and get themselves into a better situation.

I spent some time in a library today and it was revitalizing to be surrounded by so much power. Books have this smell, this feel that no piece of technology can ever quite provide. Books are so full of answers, solutions, questions, knowledge that no amount of recycled paper, green energy or computer technology can replace. Standing there surrounded by books the options feel infinite. Yet we keep trying and thus continue repeating bad behaviour because Bing or Google or Wikipedia don't include enough solutions or they provide too much possibility or none at all, the phone is ringing the music is too loud and we just don't have the attention span anymore, we just don't care enough about the people we've become because we forgot where we came from. The silence of a library can certainly give a person an entirely different perspective, and I just wonder how long it's been since the rest of this country experienced that.


When do we start to get angry again? When do we stop letting our ancestors roll around in their graves while we drop the ball and let the few steal our tongues and speak for the many. Who really wakes up and says "I need 5 to 15 thousand dollars a day to support myself and my family, I require 1 to 30 million a year to survive." These people are robbing you blind of your basic necessities and your spirit alike. These people have you too busy running their wheels to even attempt to look at the world of possibility that exists if you stop buying what they sell. People used to talk to eachother, face to face, actual human contact, now we barely know the people we see everyday. Our hopes and dreams rest on the shoulders of our neighbors, do you know your neighbors name? When they come for you will your neighbors stand to protect you? Are you tired enough, are you angry enough, are we there yet?

Crap you were right about...

This last two weeks have taught me alot about who I am becoming and its hard to say or even think, but maybe some people are just part of our past. It doesn't happen over night and sometimes we don't even know until it's happened, but some people will fade out of our lives. Some people grow at different stages and maybe they'll catch up but maybe they won't and that's ok, it's nothing personal, its just life. If you'd said to me two weeks ago that my friends wouldn't always be my friends, I would have told you to shut the fuck up. I love each and every person i've shared a piece of myself with and some get more than others but suddenly I'm realizing that changes and growth they either happen or they don't and I want to be with the people that move. I want movers and shakers, lovers and risk takers, I need love and friendship just as much as the next person, but I want more.

There are people we keep in our lives because they understand that part of us that wants and needs more than the moments leading up to now. There are also people we keep in our lives because we hope they'll eventually match our stride. Some will catch up and some will not and as much as I hate to be underestimated, I fear I've been overestimating some of the people in my life. Maybe, I've been overestimating myself, clearly this isn't where I'd hoped to be by now either. As simple as it seems to say oh people drift, oh things change, not everyone is wired to accept that drift and change with it. For some friendship is more like family than family and you don't always like them but you love them. The family of friends that sit at my table, all mean the world to me and maybe the table needs an extension, but I'm suddenly in a place where I'd rather just set up some folding chairs in the corner and send the kids off to their own table. I love them, but space isn't such a bad thing. There are so many different parts of life to experience and maybe its time to take off the training wheels and stop looking for people that no longer exist as they once did.

Part of becoming an adult is knowing when to step back and be happy for the good. I may not be growing into my life the way I planned or as quickly as some of the people I cherish, but I am not nearly as broken as I sometimes think I am. Not every mistake is a bad one, not everyone knows how who they are and hope is always a good thing even when it hurts. Some things are meant to be buried deep and some are meant to roam free, some friendships can be buried deep in our box of memories and some are free to breathe and grow. I'm inspired by newer, stranger, more challenging friendships lately and as much as the past can complicate things I am ok with the changes. Its still sad though, to watch the old friendships fade away. I don't generally handle change or plan ahead very well, long goodbyes make me cringe, I hate going places alone and I've never been much for doing things the way other people do, yet somehow I've always managed to get where I'm going. This time, I'm pretty sure I'm not lost but the path chose me and eventually i'll get there, I guess the table will be set a little differently is all.

From oil spill to shining oil spill, with Ninja Pirates.

Dear BP, U.S. Government and general lazy, uninformed, carefree public,

If you were parents, your children would be taken away. If you were managing a McDonalds, no one would eat there and if you were teachers, students would actually leave less educated than when they went in. I am clearly, no accountant but. I am willing to bet, you have spent more money and more importantly, time, trying to place blame and make people "feel" like your doing things to clean up, than actually cleaning up. I have a few suggestions I'd like to throw at the american people while you continue making up reasons not to clean up your mess.

First of all, those pretty beaches that Americans with a budget for a small vacation have made plans to do nothing at this summer, or anytime in the next few years, consider those beaches an active vacation. Putting your kids on those beaches, in that water despite the large bits of oil and rotting animal carcasses is a bad idea no matter how much you paid for your beach vacation. Perhaps as an American citizen who loves the beach you could volunteer to help clean up efforts as a family for a week. A marine biologist could teach you and your family all sorts of fun and interesting things about helping to clean up this mess and maybe the hotels would even give you your rooms half off, or a free future stay. Even just 10 families a week for a year, helping the clean up effort would make a world of difference not only to the economies effected by this insanity but to the actual shorelines as well.

Next, I'm thinking we could pass a giant hat around and collect enough money to get Super Suck International ( Supersuckinternational.com )to clean it up. They have a way of cleaning this up that any asshole should be able to understand and they have done it before. If you can show me another place thats already done this type of work by all means lets evaluate it quickly and get them out there but from the dumbass ideas I've been watching, if we dont make a bigger stink about how this is being dealt with, we will soon be able to run our cars off of the oil we collect and process ourselves at a fraction of the cost, each time it rains.The point I'm attempting to make is simple, this guy is ready and willing to end this, why aren't we pulling his ships with magnets, cartoon style, to get him out there?

Then after the oil is cleaned up and reprocessed to be once again useful, we allow the people effected by this insanity to sell BP back its oil for triple the cost in addition to the clean up fees, throwing in "Bob", also known as: that million dollar yacht of Tony Haywards, as a parting gift. From there each U.S. government official with any financial ties to any oil or energy company, politely retires after making a reasonable donation to nonprofit agencies geared towards helping people here in the United States get a hold of their bootstraps and pull themselves up.

These are are just a few wildly hopeful suggestions from someone with barely half a college education and some hope for the future of this country. Please consider these options before I start looking for volunteer ninja pirates to hijack your rig and let people who know what their doing rescue the gulf from this endless terror. Thats right ninja pirates, I write it and I mean it, stealthy, ruthless, will work for Rum or Saki, NINJA PIRATES. Do the right thing America, start passing the hat, because your Government and BP, don't give a FUCK if you don't.

Are you Chester Copperpot or are you a Goonie?

There is an epidemic of ignorance in this country, it could be argued that faith in your government and media is not ignorant or blind. I'm not buying what their selling. I know maybe you're asking where this is going, and I'll tell you it goes everywhere from your bedroom to your politics, your job to your families holiday dinner. We are living in a time where we should be sick of watching people point fingers like five year olds while a president who inheritted one hell of a mess from an imbesile who ran this country into the ground long before the oil rig exploded, attempts to clean up a bush-made disaster in policy, economics and morale. We keep talking but instead of watching to make sure the economy gets better and disasters like the Gulf are cleaned up we sit at our computers, or watch our news and get just upset enough to bitch, but not enough to do anything of substance about it. We don't want to tell our neighbors not to beat their wives or let their kids torture kittens because, well, its just none of our business. Then we wonder why no one stands up to politicians or big business when they can't get it together and address legitimate issues that effect the portion of the population not getting paid by big business and the government simultaneously. Hey folks, we allowed these assholes to be elected, it's my fault and your fault too, we are all to blame for regulations becoming so lax and businesses having a guy who evaluates the risk and says "Eh fuck it what are the chances..." That guy exists because we let him just like we go on letting the neighbor smack around his wife.



History is full of power struggles and poorly managed resources but as any Goonie knows, "Down here its our time,Its our time down here." and Goonies never say die, Goonies find pirate treasure after surviving booby traps set by century old pirates and a small crime family chasing them through this. Goonies survive and while their middleclass parents struggle with upper class businessmen to save the homes their kids were meant to grow up in and the way of life they worked so hard to keep, Goonies find treasure and save the Goondocks! Try and follow me this may be radical here, but lets pretend our government and big oil are the upper class businessman and we the people paying attention, are a fair split between middleclass Goonie parents and Goonie kids. The treasure is having an environment that isn't massacring all life it comes in contact with either directly or slowly and painfully. The treasure is a country once again having and believing in, an actual checks and balance system, knowing how it works and taking part in the process. The media is the booby traps and theres a few old hippies for One Eyed Willies crew, those guys have been waiting since their revolution died for someone to start paying attention again, they're gonna be thrilled if we can just get off the money trains and the couches.


My point with the Goonies analogy? For one, its a classic and two, it makes it a little easier to swallow that your letting your government steal your kids chances of having everything you wanted for them and then some. As well as bending over and taking it your silence is saying its ok, wether you feel that way or not no longer matters. I'm a Goonie, I'm not looking to save the world but how about we make an actual effort to save our country, ecologically, economically and even politically then send more aid to wartorn countries or natural disasters. We've seen how we helped our own people in Louisiana once before what makes anyone think other countries really want our half assed government issue help anyways. This is our time here in this country to start the change that can keep us from becoming the next collapsed civilization. My suggestion, get on your bikes and ride! Get a clue, check your information, read a history book and find the map in the attic, this will not end well if we forget where we come from. America is not the home of the almighty dollar, its the home of the free.

While you watch your fire works and light your own consider how much longer your watch mommy and daddy fight about who cleans up the mess before you stand up and make something happen. Actions of many are so much more brilliant than the words of one, words must be read but actions can't be ignored if done well. How much is the Gulf of mexico worth to you? I'm thinking maybe it's time we pull out the map, get on our bicycles and go hunt for the jewels to buy back our country and our environment. How many out of work ecologists, biologist, fisherman, machinists, sales reps, etc would it take to clean up this oil. Take it out of the governments hands to delegate and BP's hands to clean up and clean it up! Take your environment back in everyway, feel good about actually doing something and stop watching it get worse.Theres a Baby Ruth in it for you if you accept this mission, now lets make it happen!

Dear Mom and Dad, Thank you.

I believe the term I used was "whiney, touchy feely bullshit", wouldn't want to call anyone indecisive with words like "wishy, washy". Feelings are great but when you decide to have kids they become your priority, not your feelings but their well being. If your kid is autistic and prone to wandering, by all means strap them into that stylish leash that looks like a backpack with a harness, but not because it makes your life "easier" but because the child is safer with it on. Each child may respond to different types of discipline but there is a difference between discipline and and basic core values. Respect is learned then earned not given with wreckless abandon. Basic core values are generally the same we all would like a certain degree of respect. No one wakes up and says man, I want everyone to treat me like crap today. So why would you let your kid treat you poorly and just hope they learn by watching television that you deserve a certain degree of respect. I have little if any respect for parents who spoil their kids rotten just about the same amount I have for a parent who beats their child. What little respect I do muster is from the very small part of me that questions if perhaps, there is some perfectly reasonable explanation as to why they would allow or cause their child to have such a high probability of becoming a drain on society in one way or another.

"A healthy kid will naturally shy away from adults they do not know" - An equally healthy kid might go up to the same stranger, say hello and proceed to have a conversation about teddy bears and unicorns. The difference between Chatty Kathy and Shy Sam getting ripped away and sold on the black market or breaking their neck after tripping on a horshoe crab is that ones mommy and daddy are not only paying attention, but they also taught their kid not to walk away with strangers, a healthy respect for the rules and to obey the rules not because it was a nice idea, but because it was right if for no other reason because as the parents they love their kid and don't want to see them get hurt by some dirty fuck or a horseshoe crab. The latter of wich falling under the " Because I said so" blanket. Why should I or anyone else with any common sense respect another person's parenting standpoint and point of view if they don't respect their kids or themselves enough to know their value as parents or the importance of basic core values.

Yes, everyone has their own set of values but there is one universal way to consider it, do to others as you would have them do to you. If I was letting my 5 year old be rude or disrespectful to me or themselves, I would want someone to let me know I was being hypnotized by the charms of a child and allowing them to walk all over me therefore ensuring that my kid would learn this behaviour was acceptable. I would want someone to keep me from allowing my child to have this lack of respect that they then treat other adults and children with. It may not feel good to be reminded of my job as an aduolt and parent but it would certainly humble me enough to want to keep my kid from embarassing me the next time we go out. Perhaps you would keep it to yourself, sit on it and then in your old age, sitting in the very nice looking, very expensive home your sweet children put you in, wonder why the poorly disciplined, ilmannered nurses and general staff, made up mostly of these peoples kids treat you like garbage. While you let their parents do it their way because, well maybe there's a reason, imagine these kids letting you lay on the floor with that broken hip, because they need a cigerette and they need it now, your pain is not nearly as important as their hourly fix, is it? Ponder the politeness of it all while you sit in bed stewing in your own fluids at 80, 90 or 100 years old because everyone took lunch but poor, sensitive Billy who can't get to everyone and didn't know how to say," Hey this is wrong", while you sit hungry at lunch only to watch Tammy eat your pudding cuz she couldn't afford her own dessert after maxing out her credit cards on nails or tanning.

Clearly this is worst case scenario but is it really all that far from possible if everyone sticks their head in the sand and says "Well, to each their own." or "We don't know their situation", it's common sense, kids getting punched in the face stand up for him if you don't who will? Same can be applied to lazy, half assed or parentless parenting, children are children no matter how adultlike you try to treat them. Who will be left to mention, politely of course,that treating others with respect is a swell thing to do, if by adulthood they haven't been taught to respect simple family, parent and child roles. They certainly won't grow to respect their elders any more as adults than as children if we all say oh well not my problem and leave them to their own devices. Generally, people do not wake up and suddenly say "Today is the day I treat myself and others with respect." You learn to respect yourself, you learn to respect others as they earn your respect , but you don't give respect to people who don't know the value of the sentiment or meaning of the word. As those people learn self respect, they earn your respect and you learn to respect them.

No, it's not politically correct or openly popular to voice your opinion with wild abandon, but if properly placed it's sure as hell can be more effective than hoping they'll get a clue and want to hear someone elses opinion. If you don't want to listen, then don't but the freedom to say it was once of the great beauties of this country. Words had less power and more freedom. I have the freedom to sit at my computer and type out my feelings and opinions on any topic, because you can choose not to read them, but I really shouldnt state simple observances out loud and in front of anyone who may just need a reminder of their responsibility, because, it may hurt someones feelings and once I've said them they're out there hurting peoples feelings and raising awkward questions about what came first the bad parent or the bad child. Being sensitive and healthy is good and well but all the more reaason to speak your mind when you see foolishness that will someday and in some way effect you.

You are completely right, there is no clear cut training manual on how to be a good parent but if people use a little common sense and put their kids ahead of themselves, keeping in mind that they would like their kids to someday show everyone the same kind of respect that they themselves would like to be shown, we may just make out ok. No, it does not feel good to send a kid to time out, take away a treat or tv time, send them to bed early or without a bed time story and yes it is sad or irritating to watch them pout or throw a tantrum but it is part of the job as a parent to follow through and not let cute kids turn into sociopaths and narcissist. Nature can only explain away a few the rest were nurtured right on into these mentalities. As for social darwinism, the runts of the litter eventually get killed off or die out apply this concept to human beings, not everyone is meant to be a parent but technology and poor parenting have landed us in quite a pickle, because now everyone can produce children they just can't raise them. Did they want friends, kids or someone for their friends kids to play with, did they make a mistake and now the kid and the rest of society has to suffer their actions? I'm all for abortion, adoption or even dare I say a womens right to have her tubes tied upon request. Your body is your business but if you can't handle the consequences of your decision to have a baby by having sex, implanting eggs or sperm or both, be ready to hear my boldly opinionated loud mouth in the grocery store, at Ikea or anywhere else where I may have to witness your bad parenting and don't get your panties or feelings in a bunch, I am telling the guy or gal that beats their kid the same thing, just as loudly.