Chewing Tar: Yummmmmmy

When I was a kid we used to look for shiny black globs of tar bubbling up from the pavement, or find a crew who were patching or surfacing roads with tar. We would then tease a lump off the road and chew it. Yup, chew it. Like gum only it tasted better. We survived (Although one of those guys drowned surfing. Can we make a tar connection? Doubt it.) into old age without any harmful side effects. Any else out there ever chew tar? It turns out that lots of people have chewed tar. Road tar, roofing tar, pine tar, spruce tar and just about every other kind you can think of. And the universal opinion is that it is better that chewing gum.

The thing is, I don’t know if the tar used today to patch roads is the same stuff as when I was a kid. So, I won’t go so far as to recommend that you try it. Really too bad, though. Chewing tar was a grand way to augment any activity.

I started on this because I read a research study that showed living near a coal tar sealed road increased the likelihood of getting cancer. Bullshit, my brain said, I used to chew the stuff. From there proceeded the above side trip to memory land.

Image: http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/32071325.jpg

http://genforum.genealogy.com/memorylane/messages/24239.html
Information:

Article citation: E. Spencer Williams, Barbara J. Mahler, Peter C. Van Metre. Cancer Risk from Incidental Ingestion Exposures to PAHs Associated with Coal-Tar-Sealed Pavement. Environmental Science & Technology, 2013; 47 (2): 1101 DOI: 10.1021/es303371t

Dangerous Bastards and Love Fist

Love it. Used it before.

Sometimes, my mother pokes her head out and reminds me just whose son I am. Here she goes again: sick and tired. She was frequently "sick and tired" of something. I grew up avoiding being sick and tired of things. Pissed off. Angry. Mad as hell. And more, but not “sick and tired.”

So when I just thought this: I am SICK AND TIRED OF WHITE MEN CONTINUALLY PUSHING ABORTION RESTRICTIONS; I thought "uh oh. Here comes Mother."

But I really am sick and tired of this. The Florida legislature just yesterday (3/27/13) had 3, count'em three, abortion restrictive bills in committee. Where the hell do these WHITE MEN get the right to pontificate to the entire population of Florida about whom, when, why and how a woman should deal with a personal reproductive process.

Don't give me the religious crap. We supposedly live in a "separation of church and state" country. They are personally offended. Not offended enough to plan for a rigorous education or healthcare system for children born today. Not rigorous enough to plan and implement a really healthy anti starvation program for the children born to poor parents No, just no abortions.

Answer this question: How do you keep em' down on the farm? How do you keep them down? Pregnant in the summer and barefoot in the winter. Who? Why poor people of course. Minorities. Poor whites. Load them up with children to keep them down. And poor.

You think wealthy or even middle class people won't find a way to have an abortion if needed or wanted? You are nuts if you think that. Who won't get them are poor minorities and poor white people.

So yes, I am SICK AND TIRED of these sanctimonious bastards always carrying the flag for the unborn, while ignoring the born. What asshole bastards. And (what a surprise) mostly they are Republicans and Religious conservatives. Bastards cover it pretty well. No, dangerous bastards is even better. No. Wait. Dangerous self-serving rich bastards. No. Oh, what the hell. You get it.

 

 Image: http://webwonks.org/misc/gary/fileball/BastardChild.jpg

Image: http://o.scdn.co/300/5badfbcdbea412f2d01665952fa2e8f00c5e1d92

 

Eagle Sighting!!

Yesterday, Sal and I were sitting in our kitchen looking out the picture windows into the back yard. Suddenly, a very large dark bird swept through the trees, plucked a squirrel off a branch, and then dropped it. The bird landed in the next tree, and for about 10 minutes stayed in plain sight while it changed positions and looked around. Finally it flew off. Whew, what a lucky squirrel.

The bird was an immature Bald Eagle. Fully grown but still no white head. And right in our back yard. What a treat!!! The picture above isn’t the one we saw, but it is exactly like it. We didn’t even think to take a photo; just watched and enjoyed.

Image: http://ckspc.org/Images/Immature-eagle.jpg

Sanctity of Marriage my Ass.

Listen to the whining, wheedling and sanctimonious pronouncements by the religious establishments about the sanctity of marriage and you would think that a bolt of lightning would evaporate anyone violating the “sacred vows” of marriage. IT DOESN’T HAPPEN PEOPLE!!!! For a number of reasons actually. Mainly it doesn’t happen because marriage isn’t sacred. It doesn’t come from god. Or God. Or Allah. It comes from the heart. It is a commitment to go through life as a couple, facing together what either couldn’t or wouldn’t face alone. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. And you don’t need marriage to produce children. Witness the millions of single parent homes and non-married mothers. And you don’t need marriage to raise a child either.

Two parents do make things better sometimes, and worse sometimes. Depends on the parents. Two mothers or two fathers have the same chance of being good parents as two parents of oppsite sex. Maybe even a better chance since it takes more determination to be parents in the first place.

So don’t through the old “Sanctity of Marriage” crap in my direction. I have seen many, many so-called normal marriages fail for many different reasons. I have yet to see a bolt of lightning.

Image: https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/c7.0.403.403/p403x403/9536_557637520924784_1675619134_n.jpg

Imagehttp://www.badassoftheweek.com/zeus1.jpg

Trust Me, Said the Elephant. I Have Changed.

And then he stepped on the mouse. Sorry, said the elephant, but I just can't abide mice.

Since the “Report” or dissection of the Republican losses was released earlier this week there has been much Gnashing of Teeth by the Right. And from what I have seen, it boils down to this: we must change the PERCEPTION of the Party to ease voters into the fold. Not change the DIRECTION, THE PERCEPTION! What bullshit is this? Oh, I forgot. It is the Republican Bullshit. Stick to the rabidly conservative values and agendas, but con the public into PERCEIVING them as a chaste and changed party.

In other words LIE THROUGH THEIR TEETH and use smoke and mirrors to try to con the miniorities and women and LGBTQ s of the world to think they have changed. Changed? Newt? Marcus? Mitt? Michelle? These morons couldn’t change a diaper without a nanny.

Pure unadulterated posturing. But, it may work. If it doesn’t work, they always have gerrymandering to fall back on.
As we frequently said in Good Old New York: Fuck Me.

Image: http://www.trbimg.com/img-51142803/turbine/hc-republican-party-courts-hispanics-20130207-001/600/600x427

Wolf/Man Follow Up

 

I ran into a friend I hadn’t seen for several years yesterday. He is a medicine man in a Florida tribe and I trust him. I told him my story, the dream/notdream (1.) and he said very matter of factly “He is a Shaman. Probably used the area you were in for ceremonies. Probably wanted to take a look at you.” No surprise in his voice or expression. No “are you sure?”. Just a simple explanation without reservation and without judgement.

Now, take this kind of experience to religious leaders of other faiths and see what would happen. This man is comfortable in his beliefs, they are based in the world around him and they are real. I know one thing: His world and mine intersect in more than one place. In other essays I have told about my spirit guides, and my family totems. If I had to pick a “religious” paradigm, guess which one I would go with. Wait. Did I say “if”? I have picked, and it is a very comfortable fit.  (And I am lucky to have two spirit guides: Owl and Wolf.)

Image: http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3642/5837380763_ae49896d87_m.jpg

1. http://searchesworld.blogspot.com/2013/03/one-more-strange-event-in-life-of-woody_18.html

One more strange event in the life of Woody.

Around 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning of the second night in the “earth house” in rural New Mexico I felt someone watching me. I opened my eyes and standing next to the bed was a man whose head was a wolf. As I watched, the form morphed into a standing wolf with a man’s head, then back. The person/wolf just looked at me without any implication of threat or approval. Then was gone. Lucid dream? Plain old dream? Not a dream at all? Beats me, but I felt really comfortable being there.

http://www.medicinemancreations.com/images/IndianWolfHead.gif

Arkansas Stupid: Really?

The Supreme Court in Roe v Wade established that a 23 week old fetus would not be viable outside the womb and therefore any fetus 23 weeks or younger is subject to the mothers “right to choose” option. Simply stated, the Court ruled that up to 23 weeks of age, to abort or not is the exclusive Constitutional Right and decision of the mother.

Once again for the record: I am not in favor of using abortion as a birth control method. I am for the private, exclusive and sole prerogative of a woman to choose when and if to have an abortion.
Now, the ridiculous state of Arkansas has passed a law over a veto of the Governor that defines 12 weeks as the threshold for personhood, and has thus criminalized all abortions over that fetal age. This is so clearly unconstitutional that one has to wonder what these CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICANS really think of the Constitution. They read it like they read their BIBLES: Cherry pick.
This MORONIC action of the Arkansas legislature will cost the state millions in litigation, and get nowhere. Not much makes me glad to be in Florida with the current political machine in charge, but OMG it is, as of now, a better choice than Arkansas.

Image: http://www.peteykins.com/sparklepics2/ArkansasSign.jpg

My Kind of Heaven

Just as Likely as Any Other

As an NDEer (Near Death Experience) myself, I feel somewhat qualified to comment on the buzz around Alexanders (1) book, Proof of Heaven.

Proof? No, anectdotes. Tales from the crypt do not constitute proof. Heaven? Fluffy white clouds? Harps? Strolling with the deity of your choice? Doing good works?
Much has been written about the conflict between the religious take on NDEs and the science that is developing to explain them in rational terms. People who believe in a heaven of some sort will naturally have a tendency to believe that the NDE experiences “prove” heaven exists. People who don’t believe in a heaven of some sort won’t. I don’t, and I don’t.
There. The cat is out of the bag. I don’t believe in heaven. Of any kind or sort. So when I experienced an NDE, I looked for a rational explanation. By the way, believing in heaven is not a rational act. It is an act of faith, which by definition must be accepted without evidence. Proof if you will. In 1960 something there wasn’t much known about these types of brain events, but now there is a ton of information. What is lacking is a good old fashioned experiment. Why? Because you can’t nearly kill someone in a lab to see what happens to their brain when they die. That aside, brain science does have a rational explanation for the phenomena. See for example and references this article (2).

The bottom line is that when you Nearly Die, your brain does funny things, and you INTERPRET these things based on your experience and belief system. Not a real trip to heaven. At least that is my position. As a NDEer.

1. http://www.amazon.com/Proof-Heaven-Neurosurgeons-Journey-Afterlife/dp/1451695195/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top/176-1242912-7441560#_
2. http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2012/12/03/the-death-of-near-death-even-if-heaven-is-real-you-arent-seeing-it/
Image: http://james.gameover.com/zen/disco-heaven-10x7.jpg

Confused and Pissed Off, Me and Diane.

Diane Rehm is confused, and so am I. Maybe for different reasons, but confused none the less. For decades workers, wage earners that is, have put cash money into their accounts. Their employers have done the same. Cash money. Interest-earning cash money. At the same time, the congress has taken the cash and replaced it with IOUs, called T-notes. The Social Security Administration is sitting on tens of billions of dollars worth of T-notes. And now the congress wants to cut benefits to SS recipients because "there isn't enough cash to meet the needs" or something like that. Those bastards looted the funds and now fall back on the excuse that the cash is gone. If the SS Administration were allowed to cash in the bonds, they would be flush with cash, and secure for decades without any cuts. But, to cash the bonds congress would have to borrow cash from someone. Who? Why the Social Security Cash Cow of course. Or China.

So I am confused. Can someone explain why I shouldn't be completely pissed off at congress? Because I really am. Really.

Image: http://b.vimeocdn.com/ts/823/620/82362054_640.jpg