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Topic:
***, Death and Strained Peas
Date:
Wed Jan 5 21:54:40 2005
Posted By
Eric

I weep for the children because of the future, I weep for the future because of the children, when did I involuntarily become such a weepy bastard?.........
Topic:
Tucker in!
Date:
Wed Jan 5 18:51:24 2005
Posted By
Terry

I guess Jon Stewart matters! This might be a sign of hope!
Topic:
Not drowning yet
Date:
Tue Jan 4 00:29:22 2005
Posted By
Terry

01-03-05 – What a weird place I find myself in. Not just California, (which is as weird as it gets, though I love it,) but age. I am only a few weeks away from 35 and find myself questioning everything. Is my life an experiment that just went horribly awry? Was I even supposed to have lived this long? Am I ever going to reach that crest of peace and fortune I am constantly seeking? Does it even matter in the long run? I have been staying away from people over these holidays because I was working in retail, trying to stay sober and feeling pretty low. That is where I have kept my profile. I need to poke my head out of my shell and get back to business. The election results left me a little shocked and awed. I don’t really understand America very much anymore. I have stopped watching the news and getting worked up about policies and actions that I disagree with. I went to the doctor today to get a checkup because I am so close to a total melt-down. I feel physically destroyed. The holidays really did a number on me. I feel like an abused and beaten whore who is no longer capable of doing anything but whoring. I feel like I am fighting off madness every day and it is a lot of work. I went down to San Diego a couple days ago and found it to be very nice. I also enjoyed hanging in Hollywood last week, (I finally put my feet in Christopher Walken’s shoes, at least in his foot prints, that is.) I love L.A. I just want to be around art and photography, beautiful people and interesting environments. I can’t worry so much about what I can’t control. I need to switch jobs and start over. I need to direct. So, that is where I am at. I am trying to deal with ant infestations by the thousands, my cats spraying their territory and non-stop rain. I am trying to stay healthy and not lose my mind. I am working towards making a career change for good. Staying sober and keeping a positive attitude is a lot of work, but I am doing it. 4 years of sobriety is only 3 months away and I want to make that date. Here is a not safe for work link that will put a smile on Kirsten Dunst fans everywhere. Let’s make 2005 better than last year.
Topic:
I love Christmas... when it passes!
Date:
Mon Dec 27 23:45:54 2004
Posted By
Sir Terrance

So, another holiday passes in the land of retail. People can stop feigning good will again and just get back to barely holding back in murdering each other.
Topic:
christmas sucks?
Date:
Mon Dec 20 21:37:05 2004
Posted By
Terry

Sometimes when I am bored, I will type in a random URL just to see if it is out there. Today I found this one... http://www.christmassucks.com/
Topic:
Change The DNC
Date:
Mon Dec 13 08:32:48 2004
Posted By
Ian

MoveOn has made an interesting demand of the DNC. It's an idea I support fully. You can support it by signing the petition here. Here's their basic pitch:

"Please support a DNC chair who will declare independence from special interest politics and reconnect the Democratic Party with all of us outside of Washington, DC."

You don't need to add a comment, but here's what I offered:

"I reluctantly pulled the lever for John Kerry, believing that he was a bought and sold special-interest Washington insider, but a better choice than George W. Bush. This campaign very directly addresses a key issue for me and dozens of my Liberal-minded friends and acquaintances. If the Democratic Party doesn't take a direction more like this in the future, I and many like me simply won't be Democrats in the years to come."


Topic:
The Previous Two Posts
Date:
Sun Nov 28 22:42:56 2004
Posted By
Ian

So John, what do you really think? I mean really? Must confess I had to do some quick research on Ortega Y Gassett (there's a useful summary at historyguide.org). I oddly agree with portions of what both of you have said below. I'm a little cynical, a little paranoid (to quote William Burroughs:"A paranoid is someone who knows a little of what's going on."). I wouldn't be at all surprised by major market collapses (check out this article quoting Stephen Roach, the chief economist at Morgan Stanley) in the next few years, but frankly I think they'd be good for America. If people had to think about how to put food on their table before worrying about who the fuck is on "The O'Reilly Factor" (or whose ass he's grabbing that week), I think we'd have a slightly different country. In the meantime, let those who can afford it gas up their Hummers and try to figure out where the hell they are in life with the GPS unit they can't figure out how to operate.

On the other hand, I hold out some hope for humans, and down the road, for Americans too (heh). I'm going to do what I can in real ways to change what I can to make the world a better place. Just spreading that idea could have a much greater impact than one might imagine.

Maybe some bellyaching American intellectuals caught some news about those citizens in the Ukraine, who actually left the house and did something, instead of sitting in a café complaining about how they weren't being covered by the media.

Do what you can, and encourage others to do so as well. It might actually change things...


Topic:
John
Date:
Wed Nov 24 01:11:40 2004
Posted By
Terry

Actually John, if you read through my endless tirades here, you will see that we actually agree. I just don't think any of us non-sheep know what the heck to do since losing this election, but everything else has failed. Protests don't get coverage. The media is bias. It is easier to identify the problem than the solution. My solution is to turn up the positivity and get active on a local level and do what I can to make the world a better place. Since the elections I have stopped calling the President names and talking trash and it feels really good to be out of the cycle of negativity that has ruled my life for four years. I don't hate the man and I'm not going to devote precious time dwelling on things I can't control. I may not have respected him through the first round, but he won this one fair enough. America has a lot of people that don't think America is ever in the wrong and that beer drinking and watching football after church is actually a law. We can't change this nation by bitching about it, but we can by reaching out to one person at a time and trying to find some middle ground. I agree with everything you say, John. I just want to know what we can do to fix it.
Topic:
A Fresh Start
Date:
Tue Nov 23 15:48:04 2004
Posted By
John Minock

Unfortunately, I disagree with Terry. The u.s. is a primitive, brutal place masked only by the latest inventions (to paraphrase Ortega Y Gassett). The ruling class has no interest in the rest of us, except as sheep to be shorn. The republikan mantra is merely the mastery of the big lie, getting people to vote against their own interests. I am pessimistic, and I fear that the financial house of cards is liable to fall soon and initiate a global depression, due to the current administration's stupidity. The rest of the world doesn't hate us because we have freedoms, they hate us because we act like imperialists.But don't ask what I really think.
Topic:
Ian's new strip
Date:
Fri Nov 19 10:19:39 2004
Posted By
Terry

Ian, we should have a little contest to see if anyone can come up with a great name for your hilarious new comic strip. It is so good, it hurts. My first suggestion is "Bizzarro Bush Bingo," and I know you all can do better than that. The good news for Ian and I with Bush winning is, its the 80's all over again so we might be relevant once more! Woo hoo! Black eyeliner meet my Mork and Mindy suspenders! Also, Derek you are absolutely right. So what is the first step to reforming this broken system. Ian is on the case and may weigh in soon with some serious ideas and suggestions. Keep the comments coming folks.
Topic:
What happens next
Date:
Tue Nov 16 14:38:10 2004
Posted By
Derek

There is no saying what "President" Bush will do next. George W. Bush is not the rightful president. He never won the 2000 election. Florida would have gone Democratic.I can also make the point that electoral colleges were first started whn the President and Vice-President ran on seperate ballots. The only reson they started the electoral colleges is because sometimes the President and Vice-Presitdent might be from different parties. That issue has been abolished with time, so the Electoral Colleges should be abolished with it.
Topic:
Gag Reflex
Date:
Mon Nov 15 22:21:24 2004
Posted By
Ian

Yeah, but yikes - check out the replacement....at least it's not Wolfowitz
Topic:
Gag orders
Date:
Mon Nov 15 10:05:45 2004
Posted By
Just a citizen

Yeeha! Powell's resigning...wonder if they'll take the duct-tape off his mouth now?
Topic:
Quitcher Cryin'
Date:
Thu Nov 4 15:14:42 2004
Posted By
Ian

Wow. I agree with just about everything Terry said below, so I'll try to be brief here. Read what he's said, if you have the time. He's making a LOT of sense. Those of us who are freethinking, cognizant humans - regardless of our political leanings - have a lot of work to do. The reason America is such a fantastic place is that we have so much freedom to say or do whatever we believe in. For the next four years, I'm going to try to treat the office of the president with the respect a civilized person should maintain. WE'VE GOT TO STOP BELLYACHING. It's a waste of energy. Get to work. Try to really change the things that you believe in. It'll feel good, and maybe make the world a little better.

For my part, I believe changing the electoral process is one of the single most important things I'd like to focus upon as an American. The system is so obviously manipulated that it sickens me, but rather than sitting around whining about it like most of us reasonably intelligent people are likely to do, I'm gonna try to get to work. I'll shut up now, but I want to encourage every weepy liberal out there to quit moping and do something. Keep the spirit. We can change things.


Topic:
A Fresh Start
Date:
Thu Nov 4 15:04:15 2004
Posted By
Terry

America is a different place now. It has taken me a couple of days to adjust to the idea of four more years from a President who won't work with those whose ideals he doesn't agree with, but I am. I was in a great mood yesterday, (fighting hard the feeling of doom and gloom that chewed at my center.) After the results, Bush supporters walked around upbeat and energized, salivating at the thought of how they will finally get "their" version of America. I could have let their joy rip me apart and make me bitter, but instead I shared it. I felt enthused and energized. I congratulated Bush supporters and frequently commented on how happy I was that the election was over and done without too much difficulty. Bush won, fair and square! He is our president. I didn't take the "stand by your president" stance through the last four years because Mr. Bush took such an aggressive and dismissive stance on issues I felt needed more consideration. In his speech yesterday, Bush vowed to work with those who voted for his opponent and earn their trust and support. I personally don't like how I have felt over the last four years, feeling like every day I was fighting a cultural war against this president's administration. I will support this president if he does plan on working harder with ALL Americans. I believe he has grown a little bit and has gotten the message from HALF OF AMERICA that not all of us share his beliefs. I am also not going to allow myself to be ruled by fear and negativity. I love America. I love it for its freedom, but that freedom includes freedom of expression and speech, art and thought. I will not be compromised or censored. Hustler magazine and the Holy Bible both have the right to exist in my America. Larry Flynt and George W Bush have the right to their views and ideals, and both have my support. Yes, dear readers, I'm not moving to Canada or throwing myself on the carpet in a 6 year old temper tantrum. I'm not pouting or depressed. I'm going to smile more than I have in the last four years because I can't put the energy into that anymore. I don't agree with the other half of America, and I think many Americans make their choices based on prejudice and ignorance, but there are also some pretty wonderful Americans in the heartland that could change their minds if they had the chance to be enlightened. I'm going to give George W Bush a chance to unite ALL Americans, and I am going to work harder in my daily life to try and open the minds of the scared and closed-minded. I'm going to continue to better myself and enjoy the wonderful people who are in my life, like my beautiful wife and my good friend Ian. I am also going to start volunteering to clean up areas that are polluted and work on environmental issues where I can. My tone for and attitude for this country is going to change because we have to work together. Americans do a lot of talking and complaining about what we have a problem with, but we are usually too busy to do anything about it, (or too lazy.) Now, I am not saying I am going to give this President a free pass to do what he wants, because I don't want to live in an ultra conservative America, and I hate war, and I want all people to have the same freedoms. I want the environmental issues to be dealt with, and I want the lower class Americans to not have to struggle so much. We can still call Mr. Bush out when he is crossing the line, and we can do it loudly, but we should take a new road. We should start respecting his office and not be so personally insulting. I call on all liberals and Democrats, (by the way, your party has been castrated because you didn't fight harder or take the high road,) to be the better person from here on. John Kerry would have been a great President and I was in love with the idea, but Americans, (even Democrats didn't commit to him and it cost them.) People who couldn't make up their minds or bought into the media's portrayal of John Kerry cost us this election and you people are the reason we lost. New York Democrats always bitched about Kerry and never gave him their full support. Republicans who disagreed with Bush still gave their full support, and they WON! Wake up Democrats! I can't even remember how many Democrats I heard say, "Ew, well I just don't like Kerry," and guess what, your whining cost him the nomination and now you are stuck with a President you don't agree with who has more power than any President in decades. We had better learn to love a Republican America and find out how to work with them because John McCain will most likely be the next President.

So, to sum it up, cheer up! Stand up! Get to work! This great country and the world need us to be better people so there is a future. I will help this President be remembered as the greatest President who ever was if his promises work. If he can bring peace to the Middle East and bring prosperity to America, I support that, but not at the cost of our personal beliefs. I stand ready to be a proud American because I can't live another day as a bitter, defeated liberal. I am a fighting, free-thinking liberal who believes in the greatness and unseen potential of our civilization. Please join me in fighting and working hard with this President when he needs us, and against him, (with respect,) when he needs to be reminded that America is a nation of many diverse beliefs and ideals. Bless America and give us strength.