Fifth Generation Leftist

It Was A Beautiful, Sunny September Day...

2011-09-11T08:54:00.006-04:00

I'm up early this Sunday morning because I haven't been to sleep. As with the nights before the anniversaries of my parents' deaths, I don't sleep then either. I couldn't sleep the night before any of these awful days a decade ago. I truly hate the wallowing that goes on every year in the media-did they really think anyone has forgotten? Especially people who live here in New York? I began

Wisewomen, Witches, Midwives, and The Age of Ignorance , Part II

2011-04-10T20:47:00.005-04:00

I began to write a follow-up to this post from last February about myths concerning men's reproductive health quite a while ago, but couldn't really find much besides vasectomy, tightness of underwear, and penis size. Next to the constant discussion of women's fertility, there is a relative silence on men's role in making babies. One can almost hear crickets. Think about this: many of the

People Not Worth The Price Of The Gunpowder Needed To Blow Them To Hell Aug 10 Edition

2010-08-30T21:32:00.003-04:00

August of 2010 has been a month to remember, for all the wrong reasons. Hmmm...do I begin with least offensive or most offensive? So hard, they are all so very, very offensive. I can't decide, so they will simply be as they come to me.1. Morrissey: What the Hell? Everyone agrees that Chinese law allows horrible abuse of animals, he's got a point, but to then suddenly draw this Nazi-like

Riding Those Dinosaurs

2010-08-14T14:03:00.007-04:00

Back when I was a college freshman, I learned something important that was not in my actual curriculum, but a life lesson. This life lesson learned came from watching my fellow students struggle through classes that covered topics I had learned freshman year in high school, and were often discussed at the dinner table in my home. The American Education system is not simply greatly unequal in

Single Bullet Got Ya, Arlen?

2010-05-18T23:58:00.003-04:00

I imagine that was the expression on the faces of many of the MSM, especially those who work inside the Beltway. Incumbents losing?!! Being forced into a runoff??!! Isn't the Tea Party signaling a Rightward tilt to our politics??Maybe it was this...progressives, while not so vocal as the Tea Party stunads, who seem to have been dying to yell "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not gonna take it anymore!"

More People Not Worth The Price Of The Gunpowder To Blow Them to Hell

2010-02-11T00:33:00.003-05:00

I haven't done this in a while. The title for these posts is a quote from my late father, and he didn't say it often. To make the Gunpowder List you have to be really quite despicable. Like say...Newt Gingrich. Stop using 9/11 to try to score political points! You don't even know the facts of the terrorism cases you are using to criticize Obama anyway. Obama is treating these cases the same way

Wisewomen, Witches, Midwives, and The Age of Ignorance

2010-02-02T23:15:00.008-05:00

Yesterday, I lost my temper. I know, I know big news, alert the press, and all that . There was a legitimate reason for anger, I will tell you why if you're patient.I saw the latest report on women's health. The latest fertility reports. The University Of Edinburgh, and The University of St. Andrews have put out a report that states women lose 90% of their eggs by age 30. Really? Only 10%

Lunatic Fringe Frays

2010-01-17T14:50:00.002-05:00

The recent statements by Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, and Glenn Beck in regards to the tragedy in Haiti are so vile, disgusting and especially in Robertson's case outright loony, that I don't care to repeat any of them. One can take comfort in the hope that they are losing all but their most rabid followers as they race each other to the edge. When even George W. Bush won't defend them...

I've Been Searching...

2010-01-01T19:58:00.005-05:00

“May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art — write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.” --Neil GaimanI've been searching for a quote that spoke to me, on a very difficult day. And

First New Year Surprise! I Agree with Something Written By David Brooks!

2010-01-01T16:21:00.005-05:00

David Brooks' column today discusses something I have been attempting to ignore: the reaction to the Underpants Bomber. I was in the air on the way to Miami the day the Shoe Bomber struck, and was outraged that I had to walk barefoot across the airport, and that others who were not wearing sandals like myself, had their shoes cut open by the screeners. (I wasn't exactly quiet about my distaste

Because We Won't be discussing Tiger, Top Chef, or Avatar, That's Why

2009-12-14T00:05:00.003-05:00

All right, I'm lying, I will be perhaps mentioning Avatar after I see it. It's just the anticipatory lovers/haters debate has exhausted my patience. It feels like the frenzy before The Phantom Menace. Enough. I watched last night what will likely be a cult movie verrrrry soon. It's called Outlander. A retelling of Beowulf. With Aliens. And Jim Caviezel as a sort of Shane/Maximus/Ellen Ripley

Nothing Makes Me Angrier Than Hypocrisy

2009-11-14T16:25:00.003-05:00

Just thought you all should know that about me. While we Humans all have our rationalizations, magical thinking, and days where we simply lie to ourselves, nothing makes me angrier than people who have double standards. The healthcare, and the abortion debates are prime examples of this. Take a look at this. Cigna is the provider for the RNC. The people who believe in Death Panels are covered by

This Status Has Become Viral On Facebook.

2009-09-04T01:05:00.003-04:00

No one should die because they cannot afford health care. No one should go broke because they get sick. No one should be denied medical care by their own insurer. No one should stay in a job because they are afraid to lose their insurance. No one should have to get married so that they can be covered under the spouse's insurance. If you agree, please post this as your status.It has now been

You're Drowning? Try Swimming!

2009-06-08T19:13:00.003-04:00

I had to post this article in full. I was an only child,from an area that can be described as affluent...but I never experienced anything like this. I have been wondering myself when and why the phenomenon of twenty and early thirtysomethings who have NEVER held a real job began, I know someone like this but thought she was simply an aberration. Guess not.Parental Lifelines, Frayed to BreakingBy

Moment of Clarity

2009-06-01T01:44:00.003-04:00

By now, we all know what happened in a church in Kansas. I am sick of the Abortion "debate". The supposedly Pro-Life side debates in this manner. I'm right-you're dead! Guess I win. The type of abortions provided by the late Dr. Tiller were late-term. When a woman has a late term-abortion it generally means her life is at risk or she is giving birth to a child with fluid where it's brain would

The Peasant Mentality

2009-04-18T16:39:00.007-04:00

I had been searching for a name for what appears to me to be some sort of psychiatric disorder: the aggressively siding with, the championing the cause of, groups or individuals who are blatantly screwing you, your family, your people over. In the past, I subscribed to the theory that these middle and lower class dreamers saw themselves as potential lottery winners, or brilliant inventors who

Let The Sunshine In

2009-04-07T23:48:00.002-04:00

I don't often do this, but David Sirota's latest post at Open Left is something I've been feeling for a while, and a question that is it critical to ask oneself periodically. Think of it as mental maintenance... Existential Question: What The F%$@! Are We Doing?by: David SirotaTue Apr 07, 2009 at 20:46Over the last decade, I went from idealistic college kid, to idealistic Hill staffer, to cynical

More People Not Worth The Price Of The Gunpowder To Blow Them To Hell

2009-04-04T01:19:00.001-04:00

It has been a while since I've done a Gunpowder post but I think the liars, fools and idiots on parade the past few weeks warrant it.A perennial...Bill O' ReillyThe Royal Family likes the Obamas. The Queen hugged Michelle, and the I-Pods contents were thoughtful. Sorry they thought the Bushes were classless jackasses. Get over it right-wing fools. I saw this man in Grand Central. He ran chills

An Appointment with "The National Razor"?

2009-03-20T02:53:00.005-04:00

Yes, this is America, and yes it is over two hundred years later, but I find myself amazed as each new story breaks of the naked greed, and disregard for the public's outrage. Don't these captains of industry know their history? Don't they know bubbles are meant to burst? Don't they realize that when you are in a hole you don't keep digging? Or are they so deep in denial that they will only

Where's Tarzan When You Need Him?

2009-03-18T23:57:00.007-04:00

My late father loved the adventure movies of the 30's and 40's, so consequently, I saw a lot of Johnny Weissmuller swinging through the trees on The Escarpment, giving that ear-shattering cry, as a child. Weissmuller starred in 12 Tarzan films from 1932 to 1948. In the 1943 film, Tarzan Triumphs, the Nazis have come to Africa and taken over the lost city of Pallandria. Tarzan, being, well Tarzan

Never thought I'd find myself writing this: Leave Meghan McCain Alone!

2009-03-17T03:49:00.003-04:00

Talk about eating one's young. I found Meghan to be an irritating cheerleader for her father during the election, and her recent whining about being dateless because of him ridiculous self-pity. However, the piling on by these Republican female media "personalities" is outrageous. This from Bob Cesca:Malkin vs. Meghan McCainMalkin appears to be choosing which stand-up comics Meghan McCain is

Guilty of Neglect...

2009-02-25T01:02:00.013-05:00

Ah yes, I admit it. I have simultaneously been lazy and busy. Busy with work and another writing project, lazy with my blog. Poor neglected blog, no more pathetic whimpering in the corner, Mama's back.What might I write about? Going to D.C? All right. By the week before election day, I was feeling as if I had overdosed on politics, and was having fever dreams of what Palin a heartbeat away from

"To teach is to touch the heart and impel it to action."

2008-12-01T17:39:00.008-05:00

The quote I used as title of this post is by Louis Sullivan, architect, mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright, from "Kindergarten Chats and Other Writings". The man was considered the "Father of Modernism" and the skyscraper. He inspired the group of Chicago architects known as the Prairie School. And unlike the legions of so-called reformers of American Education, he understood the very essence of what

Please Stupid People Stop Breeding!

2008-11-22T17:21:00.001-05:00

Sarah has fans. Fans who are thankful for turkeys.

The Turkey Visiting The Turkey Farm

2008-11-22T14:28:00.003-05:00

Come on, she knew what was going on behind her. This woman has become addicted to being in the public eye and feels any attention is good attention. She also thinks she appeals to "real" Americans like herself who believe that man was given dominion over all the creatures of the Earth and find slaughterhouses not simply fun, but God's will. Go away, bitch.