Deep Fried Southern Racism

When I first moved the South, I was blown away by the blatant racism that still abounds.  It was like a time warp.  Things happen down here that would NEVER happen up North.  At least not to this degree.  But I was positively enraged and disgusted when I heard about the comments of John Williams….an old white councilman of Warner Robbins, Georgia…and his outright slur against a fellow African-American councilman.

Here’s the verbal exchange along with the video (click image).

“I was disrespected last Monday. I’m getting about tired of you all, talking to me any kind of way. I’m not working in a cotton field,” Lee said.

Williams paused for a second and then replied, “You should be.”

I could go on and on about the triflin’ stupidity of John Williams.  But I’ll refrain.  I’ll simply say that he’s the walking epitome of an ignorant, old, southern, white racist who ought to be ashamed of himself and stripped of his title and position.  Since he’s worked in cotton fields before…maybe he could get a job doing THAT. 

“Racial superiority is a mere pigment of the imagination.”

~Author Unknown

The Miner and the White Butterfly

Miracle:  Something which man is not normally capable of making happen and which is therefore thought to be done by a god or God.

From the bowels of the earth, Jorge Galeguillos sat and penned a story that will no doubt become a part of Chile’s history and folklore.

It was early afternoon on August 5, and Galeguillos was heading back down into the mine aboard a Nissan Terrano pick-up truck. His friend, former soccer star Franklin Lobos, was at the wheel.

“We had been up to the workshop and as we were driving back down, a slab of rock caved in just behind us. It crashed down only a few seconds after we drove past. Just ahead I saw a white butterfly,” Galeguillos wrote in the two-page letter to his brother Eleodoro, also a miner.

“After that, we were caught in an avalanche of dirt and dust. I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. The tunnel was collapsing and the rocks buried a backhoe. A water tank lower down was almost completely buried too,” he continued.

A huge slab of rock collapsed behind them, totally blocking the entrance to their section of the mine.  This collapse set off a series of rockfalls and cave-ins further down the mineshaft.

After the dust settled, Lobos and Galeguillos were able to maneuver around the rock-piles and reach 31 fellow miners, who were, by then, huddled for safety in the 50-square-meter refuge on Level 100.

Every once in awhile, the human spirit endowed with grace is given a  special power, with which he can accomplish the miraculous.  Not often do you see 33 souls merge and become alchemists of strength and spirit.  What gave these men the tenacity to make it through the worst mining disaster in the history of mining?  Was it thoughts of their families?  Their strong Catholic upbringing?  Undying optimism?  Hope uncensored?

And then there’s the White Butterfly.  A representation of past spirits and souls…a sign that angels are watching over you. A symbol of our ties to past cultures.  Sometimes we as humans become so cynical and jaded that a major  spiritual wake-up call is needed.  I watch as the “Fenix” raises one man at a time…it’s almost like watching the birth of a child each and every time a miner is freed.  Born into a new life of renewed faith and perspective. I believe that’s what this mining disaster and its resurrection is all about.  The ultimate spiritual wake-up call.

And I, for one, am paying attention.

P.S.  Who gives one flying flip about the Democrats and Republicans slinging mud at each other on a day like this?  Anyone more interested in THAT should be covered in shame.

Islamophobia: Would Thomas Jefferson Approve?

“Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should “make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”, thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.”

~ Thomas Jefferson

There seems to be a growing sense of  mob-mentality surrounding the construction of an Islamic mosque “at” the site of Ground Zero.  I say “at” because it’s not “at” at all.  It’s two blocks, around the corner and up the street….completely invisible to anyone standing at Ground Zero.  They’d have to grab a cup of coffee and hoof it  to even SEE the building where the Cordoba House will be constructed.  And let me just say, I use the word MOSQUE loosely.  The Cordoba House (a.k.a. Ground Zero Mosque) isn’t technically a mosque at all.  It will be a cultural center with a prayer room.  Numerous Jewish events are already scheduled to take place there….but you don’t hear them calling it a synagogue now, do you? And if it WAS a synagogue, would there be the uproar?

Thomas Jefferson emphatically expressed that religion lies solely between Man and his God.  Man and HIS God.  Not your God.  Not a Baptist God, a Methodist God, an angry God, a liberal God….but by whatever God man chooses to worship.  If a man wants to build an alter of tin cans and Swiss cheese and pray to it every day, that’s his American right.  Sure, we’d question his sanity and no doubt mock him, but his freedom of speech and religion is something that cannot be taken away, no matter what the public opinion is.

Prior to September 11th, the deadliest act of terrorism on United States soil was committed by Timothy McVeigh.  A born and bred AMERICAN man who claimed to be Catholic as a child, Christian during the majority of his adulthood and scientifically agnostic towards the end of his life.  Would we seethe with such hatred if a Presbyterian church began construction across the street from Ground Zero?  Or would we applaud the sanctity and sovereignty of having an “American” God and his congregation reside in such close proximity to a place of evil and horrific happenings?

I struggle to understand how some people treat our Constitution like a Golden Corral buffet….picking and choosing what suits them at any given time.  You cannot be hell-bent on having the right to bear arms, then turn and shake your fist of hatred and intolerance in the face of an American Muslim.  You can’t stand on a street corner and hand out tracts stating your religious views on abortion and homosexuality…then turn and shake your fist of hatred and intolerance in the face of an American Muslim.  If you feel it IS your right to shake-a-fist, then perhaps you should know what rights YOU should have to surrender.

*  No more standing across from abortion clinics shouting out scripture verses and words of condemnation.

*  No more parades demanding equal rights.

*  No more political rallies used as a platform to shout out your personal religious and political agendas.

*  No more church services on television.

*  While you’re at it, get those “God is watching you” messages off the roadside church signs.

* No more public witnessing and proselytizing.

*  No more protests, whether peaceful or violent.

*  No more political television commercial smear fests.

*  No more turning people away from your doctrine or religion because they don’t “measure up” to your belief system.

I could go on and on…but I think you know where I’m coming from.  You can’t take the rights of some and let others hang onto theirs.  That’s not the American way.  This country was founded on the premise of freedom.  Freedom across the board.  The majority of American Muslims living in the United States today are exactly that:  AMERICAN.  They were born here.  Raised here.  Will die here.  We cannot judge or condemn them based on the actions of other Muslims.  If we did that, then we’d have to judge each and every religious group based on the past actions of anyone affiliated with them, American or foreign.

*  Scientology: Charles Manson

*  Christianity: Adolph Hitler

*  Jewish: David Berkowitz, “Son of Sam”

* Catholic: Too many priestly pedophiles to count

It would behoove us to take a look in the tainted mirror of our own religious history.  Not one stands without blood on its hands.  Not one stands without crime, hatred, bigotry, imperfections.

If there are Muslims who hate us…and Americans who hate Muslims….how are we any different from them?

33 Angry Miners

Certainly by now you’ve heard of the 33 Chilean miners trapped over 4 miles beneath the earth’s surface, finally found after 17 days of searching.  The entire country of Chile is partying in the streets, celebrating the miraculous find.  And rightly so!  I’m sure the buried miners are having a party themselves, dreaming of uniting with family, children, parents, pets.  No doubt they see rainbows!

Now, what’s going to be interesting is when they find out it’s gonna take AT LEAST four months to get them out.  I don’t think they know that yet.  A psychologist said telling them now would be equivalent to reaching the top of Mt. Everest, then pushed off the side.  I’m racked with curiosity.  Where do they go potty?  33 men?  One man is enough to stank up an entire house…can you imaging that times 33?  Nay.  I cannot.

Davitt McAteer, who was assistant secretary for mine safety and health at the US labour department under President Bill Clinton, says they should all emerge in physical fine shape.  Yeah, but what about mental?!  Someone is going to nut up down there.  I truly hope they can come out of there, completely united as brothers.

But the miners’ plight has drawn parallels with the story of 16 people who survived more than 72 days in the Andes mountains after a 1972 plane crash.  And you know what happened there, right?  Yeah, they ate their dead friends to survive.  I’m sure when you’re in that type of situation, your  limbic brain system takes over and it becomes survival of the fittest.  Who’s to say we wouldn’t do the same thing?  What if one of those miners starts to see his buddy looking like a piece of fried chicken?  It sounds funny, but I’m being serious!

Apparently psychologists and Chilean officials are well aware of this potential nightmare and have a plan to keep the miners highly informed and busy.  I hope everything ends well.  This planet could use a pick-me-up about right now.

Oscar: Angel Cat or Mocking Demon?

This is Oscar.  If you’re reading this article….chances are he doesn’t like you.  Oscar is partial to those on the fringes of life.  The souls who are lingering on death’s doorstep, waiting for someone to open the door and let them in.  Souls that are unaware of their surroundings due to Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Oscar was born in 2005 and adopted by the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Providence, Rhode Island.  In 2007, Dr. David Dosa, a geriatrician and assistant professor at Brown University who works with several Steere House patients, wrote an article that was featured in the New England Journal of Medicine.  An article telling the story of Oscar and his ethereal ability to predict the impending death of terminally ill patients.

Oscar’s M.O.?  Apparently Oscar observed the patient and sniffed the air all around them.  If he walked out of the room, you could sigh with relief.  If he turned around in a circle and laid down next to the patient…then you ccould expect that patient to be dead within hours.

Explanations for this ability include that the cat can smell ketones, the biochemicals released by dying cells, or the lack of movement in near-terminal patients.

Oscar usually stayed with his patient until the morgue came to collect the body.  If the family put him outside of the room, he’d pace back and forth, howling in protest.  I guess Oscar is proof positive that we all have a purpose.  Even those who may hiss and bite.

Like my cat, Tess.  I’m not quite sure what her purpose is, but I’m fairly certain it has something to do with teaching me the lesson of commitment and consistency.  She’s also a walking reminder for me to take my meds.  Motherhood didn’t exactly agree with Tess.  We had her fixed immediately after the birthin’….and somehow…she got permanently stuck in postpartum depression that ain’t going nowhere any time soon.  She’ll walk through the room and just kill the joy.  When she makes poo in her litter box…she gets OUT and scratches on the outside of the box and on the floor instead of putting litter over her stinkin’ atomic mess.  When I catch her in the act, I remind her of her blooming stupidity by dragging her box and setting it outside the back door with a disgusted “GAWD!”  Then I commence to fumigating the laundry room.  I have a sensitive sense of smell, you see.

Apparently there were people who didn’t see Oscar’s purpose either.  In the fall of 2007, Oscar turned up dead.  And not from natural causes.  Apparently it was a case of feline homicide.  Not verified but hinted at by the Steere House:

Oscar, the nursing home cat who could seemingly sense the impending death of patients, was found dead early yesterday. The cat gained recent notoriety when reports of his ability to detect the impending death of the terminally ill became public. Seemingly aware that death was at hand, Oscar would reportedly climb into the bed of patients during their final hours.

Officials at the facility would not reveal the cause of death, but did acknowledge rumors that the cat was becoming increasingly unpopular among the patients. One knowledgeable source – who agreed to speak with us on the condition of anonymity – confirmed increasing animosity toward the animal, and that a dented bedpan was found near the body.

Patients in the terminal ward became increasingly upset at the sight of the cat, prompting administrators to move Oscar to another floor. After an unexpected death on that floor, Oscar quickly became quite unwelcome there too. “Good riddance.” said patient Gertrude Feinman, when told of the cat’s demise. “It would just sit there and stare at you – with this look on his face like ‘you’re next'”.

I know some of you are out there laughing at the thought of a senile old person beating the brakes off a cat with a filthy bedpan.  I’m trying really hard not to grin here too.  But we all should just stop it.

So was Oscar’s gift a blessing or a curse?  I would sit and contemplate this….but my cat is giving me the stink eye and that makes me nervous in a way I don’t really have words for.

I must go now.

Shannon Price: A Different Stroke of Dumb

I realize I’m a few days late on this one, but I wanted to let the dust settle before I began to cast judgement.

Back in 2007, Gary Coleman was walking through the barren wasteland of Utah when he tripped over a rock….and out came Shannon Price, with her scuttling, triflin’ self.  Coleman picked her up, gave her a spit-bath and took her home and made her (legally, even!) his very own.

Okay, that was a lie.  I think they met on a movie-set or something.

“I never got the opportunity to be romantic or feel romantic with anyone,” Coleman said. “I wasn’t saving myself, she just happened to be the one.”   (How very sad for you, Mr. Coleman.)

The couple’s nuptials happened on a mountaintop.  “Nobody was around but the minister, preacher, the videographers, the photographer, the helicopter pilot and us. That was all that was there. There was nobody else.”  (Again…how very sad for you, Mr. Coleman.)

Less than a year later, they were divorced.  But not before making a classy appearance on “Divorce Court” to try to salvage their marital wreckage.  At some point in 2009, the fabulous Shannon Price was arrested for domestic violence.  That’s right.  You heard me.  She put the smack-down on her wee little man.  For shame, woman….for shame.

A bit off the subject…but here’s another odd pic I found.  It looks like a scuffle is taking place and someone jumped out with a camera and surprised them.  Hence, the deer-caught-in-headlights look.  Poor Gary looks like he’s being man-handled…woman-handled…whatever.  He’s being mistreated.

Sadly, Gary Coleman passed away on May 28, 2010 after taking a tumble down some stairs a few days prior.  Now.  Here’s where things get HIGHLY suspicious.  The 911 call made by none other than Ms. Fabulous.  Apparently she’d moved back in the house and they were planning on re-marrying after Gary’s health improved. 

Gary apparently fell down some stairs and suffered a brain hemorrhage, followed by Shannon’s less-than-stellar 911 call.  She told them there was blood everywhere and they’d better speed it up because “I can’t deal”.  Talking about she didn’t want to go down there to check on him because she might seize out.  She probably didn’t want to go down there because she didn’t want the 911 operator to hear Gary say, “Why’d you push me, woman?!”  Two days later she pulled him off life-support…and here we are. 

No one really knows how they’ll react in times of crisis until they actually happen.  But dang….this woman seems a bit “touched”….and not by an angel.  YOU be the judge and jury.  Here’s the call:

2 Year Old Chain Smoker and the People Who Love Him

Okay, here's my theory. This kid...Ardi Rizal...couldn't take the stress of the "Terrible Two's" and said, "Screw it. I need a smoke."

All jokes aside, the boy's dad, Mohommad Rizal, should be flogged.

“I’m not worried about his health; he looks healthy. He cries and throws tantrums when we don’t let him smoke. He’s addicted.”

And that’s okay for you, Mr. Rizal? Really? Seto Mulyadi, chairman of Indonesia”s child protection commission, says parents who smoke and aggressive advertising are responsible for the rise in the number of child smokers.

He said: “A law to protect children and passive smokers should be introduced immediately in this country.”

 

Ya think? Smokin' Ardi's mother says maybe they'll get him to "cut back". But don't count on that working out. Two year olds aren't exactly renowned for cooperating with the authorities. But you hang in there, Stoopid Parents! Consistency is key.

Van Der Sloot vs. Karma

I’m sure this pig-nosed piece of doo-doo thought he was untouchable, invincible…kin to Superman.  Sometimes we’re able to witness a dreaded Karmic come-back.  Sometimes we’re not.  But this time, the world was watching as Joran Van Der Sloot was taken into custody yesterday after finding the body of 21-year-old Stephany Flores Ramirez in a hotel room registered to Van Der Sloot, brutally stabbed and wrapped in a blanket in a pool of blood.

According to surveillance tape provided by the hotel and a Lima (Peru) casino, Van Der Sloot seemed to use the exact tactics used to lure Natalee Holloway to her death back in 2005.  Stephany’s father stood before the press this morning and informed the Holloway family that they would do everything within their power to make sure Van Der Sloot paid for the murder of BOTH girls.

I remember watching the whole Holloway fiasco back in 2005 and thinking to myself…”Self.  God forbid something like that ever happens to MY daughter.  Because I’d hide in a bush in Van Der Sloot’s back yard with a sling blade and a can of potted meat.”

But then…if I did THAT…Ms. Karma would be stalking the streets, looking for MY criminal self.  Turns out that’s exactly what happened to Van Der Sloot.  Karma pulled him down to the concrete by his hair.  If he’s not convicted this time around, I’m fairly certain he’ll mysteriously go missing….and only his mother will care where he went.

The person who is basically evil by nature will always be averse to virtuous deeds. He is always engaged in bad karma.

~ Sri Guru Granth Sahib

Nick Pozzi Says Keep It Simple Stupid

Why is it that when we hear someone give a simple solution to a difficult problem, we automatically discount its effectiveness?  We assume that the more complicated, mind-boggling solutions are the answer.   

This is precisely what’s going on with Nick Pozzi’s suggestion to effectively clean up this BP oil spill.  Now if only the people who could make it happen would return his calls. “No one’s listening,” says Nick Pozzi, who was an engineer with Saudi Aramco in the Middle East when he says an accident there in 1993 generated a spill far larger than anything the United States has ever seen. According to Pozzi, that mishap, kept under wraps for close to two decades and first reported by Esquire, dumped nearly 800 million gallons of oil into the Persian Gulf, which would make it more than 70 times the size of the Exxon Valdez spill.

But remarkably, by employing a fleet of empty supertankers to suck crude off the water’s surface, Pozzi’s team was not only able to clean up the spill, but also salvage 85 percent of the oil, he says.

“We took [the oil] out of the water so it would save the environment off the Arabian Gulf, and then we put it into tanks until we could figure out how to clean it,” he told AOL News.

And whaddya know…BP refuses to return his phone calls or give him five minutes of their pathetic time.  Granted, there are substantial differences between the Saudi and BP oil spills.  The 1993 spill involved sweet Arabian crude, not deep-water Gulf oil (not all oil is the same). The 1993 spill also involved a finite amount of oil. The BP spill is ongoing and difficult to estimate both the amount and how long it may continue to spill.

But certainly the process could be tweaked, doncha think?  Maybe BP ought not be in control of idea-hatching and experimentation.  It’s obvious the BP geniuses are nowhere NEAR the state of genius.  They’re off wandering around in a field, sucking their oily thumbs and waiting for their mama’s to come finish breast-feeding them their dinner and bedtime snack.

All I’m sayin’ is this….give Pozzi’s idea some thought!!  I think BP is being doggy territorial with this whole cleanup operation.  They should just pee all over the Gulf of Mexico to mark their spot.  Oh wait.  They did that already.  Because everyone knows BP execs pee oil. 

If this mess screws around with my vacation beach plans in September…BP might be on the receiving end of The Wrath of Ape.

Kindra Arnesen – The Fisherman’s Wife

Kindra Arnesen’s husband is a tough-as-nails fisherman who recently fell ill after working on a clean-up crew just off the shores of Louisiana.  I can’t find any pictures of Kindra or background info on her and her family.  I actually caught a glimpse of her giving an interview to CNN about BP’s death-grip on the local fishermen and their families.  What stood out to me was her balls-to-the-wall fearlessness to speak out against BP and Deepwater Horizon’s horrific aftermath.

She mentioned that several friends asked if she was “scared” to get on national television and go head-to-head with the one entity that put food in their mouths…and had the power to take it right back out.  And what was her answer?  “Yes.  I’m scared.”

One spunky girl getting all up in the face of a conglomerate that has repeatedly failed to recognize and respect human and environmental frailty.  Initially after the spill, BP hired out-of-work fishermen to help with the clean-up, but things started to get bumpy when the fishermen complained of too few people being hired and their cleanup contracts containing problems.   After working long hours in water thick with oil and dispersants, men began complaining of illness.  Headaches, thick coughs, unable to sleep.

At least one worker said he wasn’t given protective equipment by BP.

Like other cleanup workers, Jackson had attended a training class where he was told not to pick up oil-related waste. But he said he wasn’t provided with protective equipment and wore leather boots and regular clothes on his boat.

“They [BP officials] told us if we ran into oil, it wasn’t supposed to bother us,” Jackson said. “As far as gloves, no, we haven’t been wearing any gloves.”

BP spokesman Graham McEwen told the LA Times that “he was unaware of any health complaints among the cleanup workers,” adding that “the fishermen the company is training are not being deployed into areas that require respirators or breathing apparatus. Those who are working for BP laying booms or skimming oil are issued protective coveralls and gloves.”

LIES!

BP even went so far as to insult everyone’s intelligence by suggesting these fishermen were simply suffering from a good ole fashioned case of food poisoning.  Really, BP?  Really?  I guess this is what happens when Big Oil is given autonomy with no responsibility.

Obama just needs to quit pretending to be a Cool Cat and go on and get ghetto on BP’s triflin’ butt.  I mean straight up G-to-the-H-to-the-ETTO.  Burn all the red-tape and bring down the gauntlet on these dredges of society.  Bankrupt them.  Make it so the CEO’s and CFO’s have to apply for food stamps and welfare cheese.  Make it so they can only afford Goodwill and Save-a-Lot.  Make it so they have to look every person in the eye whose life they’ve single- handedly destroyed.  Make them take full and total responsibility for 100% of this nightmare.

Then make it so these fishermen and their families can live the rest of their lives without a financial worry or health concern.  Make THAT so.

Maybe others will stand up with Kindra Arnesen and let their voice join with hers…making it louder until everyone is forced to stop and listen to what they have to say.  Maybe others will boldly look BP in the face and dare them to screw around with the lives of their loved ones.  BP has already tossed out a million bucks to help these fishermen and their families…like this is the cure-all.

Perhaps the almighty dollar is king in BP’s world.  But out here….where the water is poison and the air is toxic…there are more important things.  Things like the human condition.  Things like our ecological legacy evaporating before our very eyes.  Things like Kindra Arnesen pointed out in a recent town hall meeting with BP officials:

“I look at my five- and my eight-year-old, and I think in 10 years, am I going to have to look at Elena(ph) and say to her the reason you’re in this hospital bed is because I kept you there. That’s what I’m here to ask, and I really do appreciate that.”

I pray that we as a people can somehow take control of the reins and get our planet somewhere CLOSE to the track so that our children and future generations aren’t left with the diseased scraps of what God trusted us to care for.

“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.'” (Genesis 1:26)