What am I Thinking?

I'm thinking that I'm tired of "Regular Joe" speech from our president, and for once would to hear that someone is "Absolutely the correct person" instead of "Right Guy" for the job. Even if I don't think that person is correct for the job. Formality only seems stiff and unnecessary when it's over-done, and I actually miss it when it's NOWHERE.

I'm also thinking that men who call powerful women whores are scared of powerful women. At least they're not calling Nancy Pelosi a slut. That would just be idiotic. Why do insults directed at women inevitably end up directed right at her privates? Now that I've said that out loud, I wonder how many times I've called Bush a dickhead, and wonder if I should just be less sensitive. Huh. Probably not, we're probably all wrong, here. I'll put that on my list of things to work on: "Start calling people assholes instead of gender-specific insults". Got it.

And since I'm catching up at Shakespeare's Sister, now I'm thinking that America was NEVER a Christian nation. It was ALWAYS supposed to be secular. Do people think that Benjamin Franklin believed in god? Would someone with a fear of the all-powerful try to attract electricity from the sky? Of course not!!

I Used to be a Good Writer

Lately I haven't had the time or the will to write the kind of essays that I used to. I used to spend time carefully crafting my paragrahs, espousing my opinion as clearly as I could. After a while, I realized that all of my major points had been made, but the world remains so stupid, in so many ways. Rather than make the effort to write something new, I think I'm just going to quote one of my old postings, because let me tell you, I'm re-reading them, and they really are pretty damn good.

From my review of the October 10, 2004 Presidential debate (written October 11,2004):

I don't think that religion has a single place in government policy. Don't give me any crap about the idea that morals aren't religion. Why the hell does the president get away with saying that destroying a life to save a life is wrong, when he sends our soldiers TO WAR? What, it's better to end a life at the 18-22 mark rather than the "not actually a viable organism" stage? An embryo that has never taken a step, or said a word, or learned ANYTHING is to be saved, but soldiers can be disposed of like paper plates? You know what? Anyone supporting this inconsistent position can bite me. Right on my big white behind.

See what I mean? Pithy!

Altrok's Rantcast: Melody Bar Refugees: A Reunion On The Horizon?

Altrok's Rantcast: Melody Bar Refugees: A Reunion On The Horizon?

OK, I'm just seeing how this works...

Rumors and Random Amusement

Rumors first: When I was younger I spent an evening or two at the Melody Bar in New Brunswick. I wasn't a regular, but I'm attached to many people who were. Today, I heard a rumor about a Melody Bar Redux, featuring a "certain bald DJ personality".

Next, random amusements. I like an internet quiz as much as the next gal, so I went for the "Which Tarot Card are You?" quiz. I went in knowing that I have one orange cat and one black one. Apparently, the quiz knew that as well:

You are The Devil

Materiality. Material Force. Material temptation; sometimes obsession http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.spell.gif
Check Spelling
The Devil is often a great card for business success; hard work and ambition.
Perhaps the most misunderstood of all the major arcana, the Devil is not really "Satan" at all, but Pan the half-goat nature god and/or Dionysius. These are gods of pleasure and abandon, of wild behavior and unbridled desires. This is a card about ambitions; it is also synonymous with temptation and addiction. On the flip side, however, the card can be a warning to someone who is too restrained, someone who never allows themselves to get passionate or messy or wild - or ambitious. This, too, is a form of enslavement. As a person, the Devil can stand for a man of money or erotic power, aggressive, controlling, or just persuasive. This is not to say a bad man, but certainly a powerful man who is hard to resist. The important thing is to remember that any chain is freely worn. In most cases, you are enslaved only because you allow it.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Why I'm All About Education

I've mentioned this before, but not recently.

Both my parents were school teachers. My late mother taught elementary school, and my dad taught high school math until he retired, at which point he started teaching college math part-time. So, in case you were wondering why I, a non-parent non-teacher spend so much time talking about education and the money we spend and waste on it, there's your reason - I was raised to it.

I Get Harsh Comments!

Someone who gives no forwarding address has written (in response to a Barry comment below):

Save your breath BNJ. People like Tami NEVER express outrage at the politicians who squander our money here in Jersey. They only express outrage at the hardworking taxpayer when said taxpayer declines to be good little sheep and sign over even MORE of their hard earned money to the crooks in Trenton so they can fuck us over even more.

I am a lifelong Democrat for what it's worth. But any REAL democrat would be outraged by the way the Jersey government is screwing hardworking overtaxed families. Any so called "Democrat" who's not furious at the plight of the NJ taxpayer care only about the Democratic PARTY and has long since ceased to care about the ideals on which that party was based.
Hoboken Eddy

Damn!

So nice to meet you Eddy, and so glad you jumped right in with assumptions about my outrage levels! Let me get this straight - you think that I don't care about overspending, misappropriation of funds, and outright stealing because I'm a good Democrat who toes the party line? Well thank you very much, I guess the things that I write about mean nothing at all. You know, things like hating corruption, wondering why the hell we have a million and a half school superintendants and speculating on construction projects that have no business taking place at all, forget taking place over 3 to ten years. Things like specific suggestions about combining the administrative work for small school districts so we can stop wasting all the damn money to have superintendants in every corner. Crap like that, which I am way to annoyed to even go find for you in my archives. The kind of thing that I write to my legislators about, because they're the ones who MAKE LAWS.

Understanding that debts incurred by corrupt politicians still need to be paid and wanting to avoid those kinds of stupid-ass debts in the future are two different issues. Guess separating them out in more than one post is too hard for some people to understand.

I Get Comments III

Barry, from Cynical Nation makes a point:

(I said)
> I've said over and over that someone has to pay the bills and that people should just suck it up...
(Barry said)
But what if the bills are unreasonably high, as a result of waste and mismanagement? Isn't that at all a cause of concern? Isn't it worth at least a complaint or a bitch or a grouse?

Of course it is! Of course we should bring up what we think is wrong, and what we think must be changed. Rail! Complain! Take action and suggest what you think could work instead! Make the future world a better place.

The thing is, making the future world a better place doesn't pay the bills that are due, today. If you let your brother use your credit card and he maxes it out in a month, those charges all have to be paid off no matter what you do to your brother.

Upstream, Red Team

First things first - Holy Crap, Rutgers beat Louisville! w00t, Rutgers!

I know I don't actually care about football, but when the college you graduated from is all over the news, you can't help but feeling kind of... good about it. Crazy!

Now, I don't care about Rutgers, but my dad does. Poor Dad, there he was this morning, all excited about his beloved team, the team he stands by year after year, who this year is actually giving him something back, when he hears the news about New Jersey property tax proposals. He did the math this morning. Seems that as a senior, he was getting a $1200 rebate from the state of New Jersey. Under the new plan, his rebate will be cancelled, and his taxes will be lowered $1040, for a net loss of $160. My dad has fallen through the cracks. To be truthful, we're actually thrilled that something's actually being done, but it would have been nice if it didn't cost him money.

I actually sighed out loud while I was writing that. I've said over and over that someone has to pay the bills and that people should just suck it up, so I guess that's what we're doing in my house. My dad, and me, the hypocrite who doesn't own the house and doesn't have to pay this tax, anyway.

Sense of Balance

The Dems Take the House.

Democrats picked up at least 28 seats, more than the 15 they needed to capture a majority in the House.

Will the Dems take the Seante, too? I don't know, but it doesn't seem as important to me as the whole concept that our government isn't a one-party party any more. Fight it out ladies and gentlemen, that's the way it's supposed to be.

I predict that the Senate will come out even, with 2 independents amongst the ranks. OK, the independents are kind of a gimme, since they already won, but I'm not exactly George Stephonoplis, here.

Election Day 2006

Finally! I am so completely sick of stupid stupid STUPID campaign ads.
I am going to vote after work. If you live in my town and don't know where you go to vote, here's a handy list: Somerset County Board of Elections (Franklin Township).

Nothing to See Here

So head over to Blondesense, and read this post about something that really pissed me off.