Category : RANT

in News, Politics, RANT

The shoe on his foot (no – the other one)

A man in West Hollywood hung an effigy of Sarah Palin in his front yard as a Halloween decoration. Read the story here.

Now, I’m not big fan of Sarah Palin. In fact, I can’t stand her. But I find this in pretty poor taste. I wouldn’t lodge a complaint about it, as it’s just a Halloween decoration, and it would be a practice in futility to try to knock sense into people (and I don’t know if I’m the best person for that particular job, in any case.)

I wonder how this guy would feel if I were to live across the street from him and hang an effigy of him? Or his wife? Or his kids? Is it because she’s a public figure that she’s fair game? What if I wrote “Asian” across a dummy’s chest and hung that? Or “gay”? Or “People who shop at Hollister”? Why would any of those be a hate crime, and his effigy not one? Would hanging an effigy of Osama Bin Laden be widely lauded?

Of course I don’t advocate doing any of these things, but I just wonder what would happen if the tables were turned a bit. I know context is the meat of a statement, but I find it a little…lame.

in News, Politics, RANT

In response to McCain being booed

I preface this by saying that I am not, nor have I ever been, a member of the Democratic party. I’m simply a woman, calling it like I see it.

Common decency, is, apparently, not a trait some Americans want in a presidential candidate. I am not condoning the deplorable (and, in all honesty, just plain stupid) tactics McCain/Palin are using to try to garner votes. Not only are they pathetic (if you must lose, why not be graceful about it?), but they’re downright insulting. Who is dumb enough to fall for these ploys?

Enough people, apparently.

I can’t tell if McCain/Palin are just doing the Hail Mary Good Cop/Bad Cop routine on the country, or if, when challenged, McCain actually meant what he said about believing Obama to be a decent, family man. If he meant it, I applaud him for putting character and decency above his political ambition. It is rare enough to see, especially when you are behind, so close to the end of a very long race.

If he didn’t, and it was just another lame attempt to give the appearance of having character, I do not have the words to convey how pitiful it is. I hope it is the former, rather than the latter.

But, if I were John McCain, at this point of the race, staring out at these people who, like Salem witchhunters, actually shout things like, “traitor” and “terrorist”, and “off with his head”, I would be having second thoughts. I am no great bastion of morality, nor do I have an outstanding character. But if I were John McCain, I would feel at least an inkling of discomfort that my campaign were devolving into a witch-hunt. I would be thinking, “I don’t care if they vote for me seven ways to Sunday, these people are not the people I want to decide who becomes the next US President.”

in News, Politics, RANT

Biggest eye-roll ever

I’m irritated that all of this is happening just as the playoffs are beginning so I have to worry about losing all my money AND the Dodgers losing all at once. WTF, man.

God, the government is a moron. I’m irritated that the $700 billion dollar plan is the only thing they’ve come up with to fix this. I’m irritated that that number, pulled out of the blue by Paulson, is still on the table. You know why it’s $700 billion? BECAUSE THE GOVERNMENT WOULD BE BUYING BACK BAD MORTGAGE DEBT FOR MORE THAN IT’S WORTH.

Obviously, if we want to prop up our artificially (well, all of it is artificial) inflated economy, something needs to happen. I do not relish the idea of going through an economic depression, but part of me just wants to see it all go up in flames and see if we learn something here. Like: stop fucking borrowing to fix the problem we created by borrowing. Stop government subsidizing of private debt. Why should I pay OVER market price for bad mortgage debts someone else incurred?

The country needs revenue based on something tangible. We should legalize marijuana. Not that I would partake because the whole smoking thing is troublesome, but apparently it’s non-addictive (unlike nicotine), it can be grown locally (as we are frequently reminded by our friendly neighborhood news anchors), and it will probably pull in billions of dollars a year in tax revenue, not to mention the fact that we spend that much less money trying to force people not to do it. Billions of dollars. Not, say, $700 billion, but it’s a start.

But of course that won’t happen. The nation is prudish enough to say that’s bad, but certainly, if you want to defraud the country by borrowing more than you can afford, go ahead! The government will bail you out, cause it’s not like you’re a dirty pot smoker.

in Life of Giang, RANT

Turn, turn, turn

Today was eventful. We left the apartment to grab some food and discovered that someone had stolen my rear license plate. Full of wrath and vengeance, I told Curt over lunch that if I ever knew who did it, and saw them being murdered, I would do nothing to stop it, and possibly revel in it while they died. Curt insists that stealing license plates is not a crime deserving of death. I responded that I agreed. I would not expect anyone to kill them for stealing a license plate. What I meant, I said, is that I would merely be wholly unsympathetic and unwilling to render aid should something unfortunate happen to them. Like a painful and horrifying death.

This is like those stupid kids who taunted the tiger in San Francisco. No, they didn’t deserve to die because they did it, but I’m sure as hell going to have a lot less sympathy for them than I would for someone who was standing across the way, quietly observing the giraffes when they were attacked.

I admit to being somewhat easily carried away by my feelings. But damnit, people need to live up to the choices they make. Taunt the tiger = be prepared for tiger attack. Have a baby = be prepared to raise the child or put it up for adoption. (Major in anthropology = work in an office that sometimes has toilet paper, sometimes has hand soap, but very seldom has both at the same time.)

ANYWAY. Dodger’s won today! Yes, I’m a little hooked. Very exciting game – they’re now NL West leaders! Or, will be, if they manage not to screw up between now and the end of the season. ;) Damnit though – we had to leave for Orange County just as Nomar came up to bat and then they called in Broxton to close right after. Poo. POO!

We did leave for some fun though: Pirate Adventure Dinner, ARGH!

It was a good time, with the usual cheering and piracy and acrobatics. Our pirate was the littlest one (piratito!), but arguably the most kick-ass!

Avarst! Now to be for me to read and mull and prepare for the joy that will be tomorrow. Toodle-oo.

in News, Politics, RANT

Politics, obvusly

Here is my rant-let about things that are patently obvious, but which have struck me this morning as blogworthy, anyway: politicians are shiftless whore-likes in the great sandbox of life. If they were children, they would be the children the adults would be shushing and telling to play nice, who, when the adults turn their backs, would stuff dirty, poopy sand in others’ faces.

That is all. Happy Wednesday.

in Life of Giang, RANT

An ugly little story for an ugly little day

When I was a little girl, we had one of those grocery-store-receipt-school-benefit deals, wherein for every such-and-such amount of money spent in the store, the school would receive such-and-such amount for the greater good of all mankind, etc. The supermarket was one of the pricier ones and my parents, being poor, never shopped there.

One day, I overheard one of the cool girls snickering at one of the other (but not quite as) cool girls, saying, “Her parents don’t shop at Name of Expensive Grocery Store Here just ’cause it costs more money. Can you believe that?”

I remember being angry that a stupid little girl could dismiss the efforts of poor people, like my folks, in feeding their families. I also remember being ashamed that we were poor, and resenting my parents for not being able to go to Name of Expensive Grocery Store Here so the cool girls would like me. It was a hard life at eight years old, walking such an emotionally dichotomous line.

Now it’s 20 years later, and I’m blogging about it. Why? Is this about me being poor? It this about me being vengeful?

No. It’s about me being pissed off at other things going on and having bad memories dredge up since I can’t go across the freakin’ street and buy chocolate ’cause I have a dress I’ve been fitted for and must wear in a month.

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

in RANT

Tom Cruise is nuts

Watch Tom Cruise Be Nuts

Seriously: nuts. I can’t believe people believe in Scientology. They don’t even have a really old book full of stuff to fall back on – it was written in the ’50s, and later gussied up in the ’80s with a volcano commercial.

/ scoff, scoff, scoff