Fiscal cliff.
I don’t want to hear these words one more time. I used to think that “fiscal cliff” sounded like a painful and depraved sex act, but the amusement factor is long gone. Stop saying it! Whoever started it needs to die.
Also:
Push back
Double down
Middle class
Grover Norquist
John McCain
Taylor Swift
Lady Gaga
Which two words would you like to ban? In the spirit of Christmas, please share!
Tonight I watched a news story about the Judge Rotenberg Center (JRC), a residential facility for autistic and other children with behavioral problems. It is known as a school of last resort and has a controversial history.
Whatever the fuck they’re doing there, they admit to using “Level III Aversives” (i.e. electric shocks) to “treat” children with a variety of disabilities including attention-deficit disorder, bipolar disorder, autism, schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a New York State Department of Education report — emotional problems, and criminal and abuse histories.
The “school” collects almost $250,000 per student from city and state taxes. A film of a frantic autistic teenager being subjected to 31 rounds of electric shocks is available here. It is disturbing, so be warned!
Among efforts to stop JRC from abusing its residents is a report by Disability Rights International filed with Manfred Nowak, the U.N. special rapporteur on torture, charging that the severe pain and suffering being inflicted on children violates the U.N. Convention Against Torture.
JRC published a reply to this report on its website. Here is the best part and by “best” I mean most breathtakingly stupid and repugnant.
“Under state and federal law, non-disabled individuals have the right to choose aversive therapy to treat behavioral problems such as smoking and drinking. Preventing disabled persons from the opportunity to avail themselves of aversive therapy for their own behavior problems, would be an invidious discrimination against disabled persons.”
I know three mothers whose teenagers had to spend time in residential facilities after too many violent incidents. These mothers love their kids and want them to learn self control. I know how hard things can get. But torturing children is immoral under any circumstance. Torturing children with disabilities is a crime and a sin.
If you’ve been following the Republican debates, you have been amused, nauseated, and enraged. You have probably shifted in your ranking of which candidate is the stupidest or most repugnant. It’s almost like watching The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills: You think Camille is the biggest cunt but wait, it’s Kyle!
I hate Mitt Romney. I really fucking hate him. I can’t stand his repressed anger and his conman demeanor. The thought of Mitt Romney as President is horrifying.
Newt is a bastard, Perry’s a moron, Santorum is a douche, Ron Paul is nuts and Jon Huntsman is just clueless (or he wouldn’t keep reminding people that he speaks Chinese.)
I am asking because I genuinely want to know: Which contender do you hate the most, and why?
What is the point of this guy???
Why don’t the Republicans nominate Bishop Don instead?
He’s got the charisma, the likability thing, the business acumen, and possibly a better grasp of foreign relations.
I’m sick of that stupid arrogant pizza salesman. What a fucker. His function as comic relief has expired.
Bishop Don could even use personal motto as his campaign slogan!
“Green is for the money, gold is for the honeys.”
“Rick Perry is like George Bush without the ethics or intelligence” - Jim Hightower
Michelle Bachman poses with her children and her gay homophobic husband. Who wouldn’t want these fine Christians in the White House?
And here are Mrs. Palin’s toenails as she relaunches her “family vacation”.
Since Mitt Romney is already toast, we can look forward to a nasty competition over which candidate is the most Christian, plain speakin’, and determined to cut social security and social services to the American People who are presumably longing for fewer regulations of aviation standards, air quality, and whatnot.
It’s the stupidity and the hate-mongering that make me gag. I’ve given up on waiting for Obama to live up to his campaign promises. But seeing Rick Perry morph into a g’ droppin’ , Bushian fake cowboy makin’ crazy charges about treason…it’s going to be enraging.
I mean, enragin’.
Anthony Weiner is a gift from god for people like me who are struggling with depression. His predicament (no pun intended) is so bizarre and tawdry, and yet Shakespearean. If character is destiny, Weiner is screwed, or as he would put it, “First I’ll make you gag on my cock before I make you cum.”
Let me say first that I was on his side, in terms of refusing to resign, until I read the text of his online chats with women he’d never met and had no intention of meeting.
It wasn’t the fact that he was a reckless horndog that provoked my disapproval. I was ready to accept the fact that the internet is an irresistible siren song to anyone with a “weakness.” Whether it’s a weakness for shopping, for social networking, for gambling or for porn, the internet makes it perilously convenient to indulge.
According to friends I discussed this with, “sexting” is now common among fifty percent of teenagers. It’s a Brave New World out there, where not much is considered too personal, not to mention sacred.
I will admit to chatting online in a flirtatious manner. Years ago I was chatting with someone who suddenly suggested “Send me a picture of your C**T” and the word was not cunt. I was so stunned and horrified, I shut the chat window and felt deeply shaken. I had no idea that people spoke to strangers like this. I learned that it’s the wild west out there online.
With Weiner, I imagined his sexy chat was something along the lines of “Baby, You’re so pretty, What are you wearing?” Big deal. Maybe he’s bored when his wife is busy and he’s just having a little tame sexy banter…. I don’t feel that calls for his resigntion, since it’s his personal business and he didn’t run for the Priesthood. Better to have a politition with a sex drive than Bush or Nixon, who seemed more interested in abusing the constitution than in getting laid.
But no matter what liberal principles you think you have, it all goes to hell once you read Weiner’s raunchy efforts at seduction. The deal breaker for me was “Pussy Juice.” It’s just a big NO in my world. You can’t listen to a congressman talking about jobs or taxes or healthcare once he’s said Pussy Juice. It’s over. He is toast.
So basically, for me at least, it comes down to literary aesthetics rather than any moral judgement. Sexting online isn’t a crime that would make someone unfit to serve as a congressman or mayor. Sending pictures is pretty lame but again, no real harm. Lying about it is only natural: You would want to avoid embarrassing your family. But a man’s game does reflect his sensibility. And “Pussy Juice” cannot be condoned. If only he could have said “Are you wet?” instead.
I cannot emphasize this enough but it must be repeated: Words matter! Choose them like everyone’s looking.
Opinions or objections?
Community gardens in all of New York City’s five boroughs, many begun in the late 60’s and early 70’s, were the product of grass-roots activism. Residents who were unwilling to wait for the city to clean up abandoned lots, moved in themselves and created cloistered, vernal retreats in the middle of some of New York’s worst neighborhoods.
However, under Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, the city finally decided to do something with these lots. The city began the process of bulldozing many gardens and auctioning off the land to developers. Giuliani argued that the city needed the lots for additional low-income housing, and that while the destruction of the gardens would be be distressing, in the long run area residents would benefit.
The residents didn’t want to wait for the long run, and pulled together to protest.
The city moved forward with plans to auction off 112 garden lots to developers on May 13, 1999. On May 12, Bette Midler in cooperation with the Trust For Public Land, purchased all 112 of the lots from the city, for a combined total of $4.3 million.
‘Today I’m prouder than ever to be a New Yorker,’ said Midler, who moved to the East Coast after an earthquake in California. ‘We’re thrilled. This is a joyous occasion and means that these gardens will stay in perpetuity.” You can learn more about her work here.
~
With this in mind, please enjoy blasting the anthem “Thank You Bette Midler” by the great Max Wolf : ThankYouBetteMidler.
I was so touched and delighted when “Sam” suggested that my readers could take over some of my worries for me while I tend to my PTSD. The three big-ticket worries I mentioned were Libya, Mrs. Palin, and fashion.
So I’d like to hand over these worries on a volunteer basis. Just pick the one you feel most suited or inclined to worry about! Here they are, in no order:
Libya
Mrs. Palin
The Tea Party
Obama’s ineptitude
Fashion trends
Nuclear catastrophe
Celebrity break-ups
Blogger business deals
Tavi developments
Afghanistan
Corporate crime
The economy
Sea of Shoes
Healthcare
I plan to continue worrying about hair and hair products, cosmetic surgery, language issues, cunts and COTW, and minor pop culture irritants. That’s all I can handle until further notice.
Okay, Thank you in advance for your kindness and generosity. Once you have chosen a Worry to be responsible for, just do your best. If you can’t fulfill your obligation and have to step down, it will go to the Alternate Candidate for that category.
xoxoxo
Sing along with Patti!
The power to dream / to rule
to wrestle the world from fools
it’s decreed the people rule
it’s decreed the people rule
LISTEN
I believe everything we dream
can come to pass through our union
we can turn the world around
we can turn the earth’s revolution
we have the power
People have the power ..
