It's About Time

"It's about time". 

I heard that phrase this week. The connotation was that some other entity was not operating at the desired speed the Boss expected. She needed something and someone was not delivering. Upon it's completion, her remark was one of exasperation and disdain. I was ecstatic that I was not the focus of her ire. 

Everyone is operating on their own timeline. Point A to Point B. Origin to Termination. Alpha to Omega. That line that connects those two points? Called "time".

Back in the day, due to the plethora of cuckoos in the world, the Swiss decided to measure that ethereal entity. So, they made clocks... And I personally hate them for it.

My dog can not tell time. Her only concept of time is that it was "an eternity" since she last ate. That is the only measurement of time she is concerned with. She has a "schedule" and it is something you could set your watch to. She knows within a 10 minute period of when she gets fed... It's almost spooky.

 

People are on their own timelines... AND they are travelling that timeline at their own velocity... My proof of this theory is thus... When you are running a little late for work, and you hit the road... EVERYONE ELSE IS NOT LATE and they drive accordingly. Slow as shit and directly in your way. Now, it could be a plot to make you MORE late, but that would take a metric fuck tonne of logistics that I do not accredit humans.

Yet another example is the one my Boss was involved in this week, that led to the utterance of the phrase that stuck in my craw. When you have to interact with other humans, when your "paths cross", it could be interpreted as the two "streams of time" have crossed.

As a once brilliant, fictional theoretical physicist once posited, "Crossing the streams would be bad." Egon ("Ghostbusters", 1984, not that shitty remake!) touched on something there... I interact with some people, like, say, Trump supporters, and "try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule of your body exploding at the speed of light." 

When you choose to interact with someone, or you are FORCED to interact with someone, you are crossing the streams. Sometimes it is bad... You get the the "total protonic reversal"... Other times, you banish Gozer the Gozarian, in the form of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, to a parallel dimension (It's a good thing).

Thinking of time as a "stream" is saturated with symbolism and imagery. I know my Mom, at the moment of reading this will think of the sappy as shit Garth Brooks song "The River", that she asked me incessantly to listen to... At a time when I exclusively listened to everything BUT that song. Mmmm, taste that? SPITE!

"Two ships passing in the night"... Hmmm... Could be a stream/timeline crossing analogy to be drawn there! Also, it was a way old people could talk about a one night stand in old timey songs.

I examine my own timeline, and look at the numerous ways I could measure it... Marriages, Presidencies, World Cups to name a few... And I think of the other timelines that I have interacted with... Some, a single, intersecting point, some lasting a more substantial period, and the timelines that have always been there...

I visualize the lines... intersecting... merging... diverting... Watching them intersect with other timelines... Then there is a party and it is one big ass, shared timeline.

The timelines I try not to think about are the ones that I know will end. The logical, rational part of my brain understands that ALL timelines end... Them's the breaks. No one gets out of here alive... 

The selfish, non-logical part of my brain knows that it is just going to fucking suck and I don't have to accept it. Until I do.

I guess in the end... Choose wisely those who you decide to cross streams with. It is not about what they can do for you or how you can help them. It is not about whether they make you happy or sad...

It's about time.

_____________________________________

If there is one thing people usually wish for more of, it's more time. That and oral sex... 

I have spent my solo timeline, for the last year or so, making it so that when I DO decide to cross the stream of someone special... It will not be a momentary intersection... I would like to be a lengthy endeavor. I feel I am at a pretty damn good place in my life. The one component that I think is missing is someone to share it with.

And, yes, I am fully aware my Mom just read that and agreed. As she would say, 

"It's about time."

For whom the bell tolls,

d

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And as a special bonus...

No One Remembers Bockscar

The most destructive part of an atomic bomb is the initial shock wave and blast radius... The cruelest, more widespread, and longest lasting part is the radioactive particle cloud that is generated from the detonation.

An atomic bomb is usually an "air implosion device". It explodes about 50 to 100 yards above the ground. The blast wave is so extreme, the air itself is scorched and expelled outward with great force. When the air comes rushing back in, due to the vacuum left by the shock wave, the dirt and ash of incinerated bodies,is pulled back in, along with the air. It is then shot upward in a volley of fire and energy. That dust, dirt, soot, and ash... all radioactive. All damaging and detrimental.

This is the mushroom cloud. One of the most indelible icons there is to convey death and destruction. (Hey kiddies... for some time/population killing fun at work, CLICK HERE!!!)

The people atomized in the initial blast... They are the lucky ones. Their suffering is over. They no longer are subject to the horror yet to come.

So... This election...

Whichever way it turns out, there will be the shock wave. Once the winner is declared, a large number of people will die, in a political sense. They will shut down and just cease to exist on the political plane.

The rest of us, who can't just flick that switch... Who actually give a shit about issues and follow the happenings will be mired in the radioactive fallout. Our death will be slow... It will be painful.

The next four years will see AT LEAST one Justice of the Supreme Court nominated by the new President. If one candidate wins, they will probably select Garland. If Republicans still control anything, they will still say that we should wait... Let the American people "have a say"... You know, the SAME BULLSHIT ARGUMENT that has left the court lopsided for the last 8 months.

If the other candidate wins, we could very well see Judge Judy nominated.

The next four years will include a decision to be made about Syria. Syria is the 1,000 piece puzzle of the Beatles "White Album" cover. If any person reading this has a REAL and VIABLE solution of how to deal with Syria, NOW would be a really great time to speak up. I know if one candidate wins, there will be strategy meetings upon strategy meetings. Going over logistical permutations and predictions on a myriad action plans.

If the other candidate wins, it will be a non issue because they have vowed to dedicate the first 100 days to suing all the people accusing them of sexual assault.  

The next four years will be socially tumultuous if something about the law enforcement communities disregard for due process (and meriting out a death sentence for non violent offenses that are not even felonies) is not done... Or even addressed. If one candidate wins, there are plans to address more than one issue. Racial Bias, Criminal Justice Reform, RAMPANT Military and Campus Sexual Assault, and Gun Violence Protection, to name a few.

If the other candidate wins... "Law & Order". That is all we have received. Well... are we talking "Criminal Intent"? "S.V.U."? How about "Los Angeles"? or "Trial By Jury"??? Seriously??? 

The next four years might just see MORE effects of the "hoax" of climate change emerge. I mean besides the crippling California drought... And the increased number and ferocity of hurricanes and other severe weather patterns... And the collapse of entire ecosystems like bee colonies and the Great Barrier Reef... And the erosion of polar ice sheaths at an unprecedented rate... Do I really need to continue? One candidate accepts the findings of 97% of scientists who agree wholeheartedly that climate change is real and human interference is a major contributing factor.

The other candidate is of the mindset that "Gy-nah" is perpetrating a ruse on everyone...  It will be free reign for the corporations that have made their fortunes by making the ground, water and air unusable, undrinkable, and unbreathable.

Four years... A lot of issues and things that will impact this country that I loved enough to dress up in camouflage will have to be dealt with.

I am not trying to convince anyone what is the right way to vote. You have your mind made up. I know most reading this, will be voting against a certain candidate. I know this because this blog is longer than a bumper sticker and not as pandering as a segment of Fox "News".

Wait... I guess I am trying to convince people. I do so because I DO love this country and if one candidate gets in, the possibility that I could get sued or imprisoned for writing things against him, becomes real.

Don't vote for Trump.

_______________________________________

Tomorrow, early voting opens in Texas. I am very thankful that by Wednesday, I should have done my civic duty. 

I am awaiting the inevitable lunch room conversations at work.. 

"Dougie! Didja vote?"

"Of course."

"Who'd ya vote for?"

"That, good Sir, is none of your business, thank you, oh so mucking fuch."

"All right, fine"

"Fine... You wanna know how I voted?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Correctly. And I hope he loses."

Hanging chad, 

d

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Casper, I Ain't

I think I am not going on dates as of late because of the phenomenon known as "Ghosting" (Yeah... THAT's the reason!). Old, married people, be thankful you are getting to skip on this latest trend.

Ghosting is where if the person who you went on a date with just isn't feeling it, they don't let you know any reasons as to why, or if they had a good time, or they were still hung up on their old boyfriend and just weren't as ready to date as they thought they were. Nothing... They just vanish.

On the rare, rare occasion I do pursue someone romantically, there is now a more than good chance that there will be a shift to the ethereal and intangible, usually associated with something dead...

What drives this course of action? Is it cowardice? Apathy in effect?

Best case... The person doing the ghosting understands that rejection is a big ball of shit to hit someone with. So, in the effort not to be a dick/bitch, they go the route of fading away and becoming uncommunicative. See? They did not stomp on your guts... They did not point out all your faults... They didn't lead you on... Nope. Like a ship in the night, they just sailed on.

Comedian Aziz Ansari, in his brilliant book about modern romance, mysteriously titled, "Modern Romance", talks about the practice of ghosting. In his up routine, he would ask the audience/research groups about how they would like to be told that there is no interest by the other party.

A) Be told up front. Honest and Direct.
B) Go on a few more dates and end things before it get's too serious.
C) Never hear from that person again and all attempts at contact are ignored.

The crowd overwhelming and emphatically indicated that "A" is how they would like to be dealt with. "We're adults, dammit! We can handle it."

Then he would ask the same crowd how they handle it when THEY have no interest in the other party, do they:

A) Tell them upfront and directly that there is no interest?
B) Lead them on for a bit... Delaying the inevitable?
C) Ghost them like a mother fucker?

The SAME crowd would resoundingly pick "C" as their go to method for ending a budding romance.

Ladies, Gents, Others... I give you the definition of hypocrisy.

I was in a group/forum and someone brought up this topic. I equated it to a band aid. If you tell someone, "Not interested", it is like ripping off a band aid... with a Robin Williams level of hairiness.

Getting ghosted leaves questions. "What did I say?",  "What did I do wrong?", or, in my case, "HOW did I offend?" So many ways for me to do so, I just want some idea of exactly how I offended you. I
am not really giving a damn that you ARE offended, just wondering WHICH button I pushed.

One can not be "Angry" at the Ghosters of the world... In the end, they don't owe you shit. There was no contract or statute dictating that further communication was guaranteed. Even if you ended the date with "I will talk to you later" and they said "Look forward to it."

Having been ghosted, you can be puzzled and disappointed... But not angry. Consider the fact that they did you a favor and showed you the merit of their character early on.

I don't think I have ever fully, and truly ghosted someone... If able, I always answer the phone, or reply to a text. The manor in which I reply will convey, quite succinctly, my feelings towards said person. They will be left with little ambiguity as to my feelings towards them.

Ghosting just goes into the myriad games played in the beginning stages of any modern relationship. Now it is "Call vs. texting?", "Showing too much interest vs. not showing enough", "Who cares least wins", "Who pays for what?", "How many dates before we make with the nudity?"... All games.

I know that it is not their sole province, but ghosting is much more prevalent in the youth. I guess the only thing easier to brush someone off on your phone is not to brush at all...

____________________________________

Took last weekend off. I just needed to not do anything. Veg. I am getting election coverage overload. It has only been going on for two fucking years. Thankfully, it is almost over.

Also, Trump is turning out to be an even bigger piece of shit than thought... and I thought he was a colossal piece of shit anyway... The even SADDER fact is that his supporters STILL will not see that they are... just... wrong...

Ugh... anyways... Ghosting is bad, mmmkay?

Who ya gonna call?

d

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Not Tall & Not Sour

Not in a long diatribe mood... So... Think of this as my gift to you... I give you TIME! You don't have to mire yourself in my weird, prolonged mind vomiting.

First... Clinton won the debate. Granted, when going a petulant little shit like King Oompa Loompa, she would basically have to piss herself, while picking her nose, and singing "Walking My Cat Named Dog" by Norma Tanega to lose it.

Also... President Obama was right to veto the "JASTA" or "9/11" Bill. It serves no purpose but to weaken our standing with already tenuous allies in that region. It puts our supposedly beloved by everyone troops at more risk. The Senate overrode the veto... and the NEXT DAY was in "Oh shit!" mode.

"Luke Cage" on Netflix is the primary reason for the shortened time allotted for blogging... Really well done. ALL of Marvel's Netflix presence is really, really well done.

Lastly... I would just like to proclaim that "boneless chicken wings" are FUCKING CHICKEN NUGGETS pre-jizzed on. Gussy it up however ya want... it ain't anything new.

_______________________________

See... All that time saved. I am still of the mindset that 90% of the news in 2016 has been shitty. I hope that last little nugget (SEE WHAT I DID THERE???) put a smile on your face... if not....

I can only tell you that election coverage is only going to last 36 more days...  But then, we will (hopefully) only have to hear about how it was rigged and she cheated.

Hug the kids and spank the wife,

d

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"We Have To Make These."

The title is reference to a fuzzy afternoon in Augusta, KS. in May of 1987, on Custer Lane, in [Name Redacted]'s barn. A group of young people, were stoned to the beejuzus, laughing to tears at his blind cat ("Meow?" - Yes, you could hear the question mark.). We had just discovered a box of microwaveable pancakes.

Marijuana. Cannabis. Weed. Dope... and myriad monikers that would only show whenabouts I stopped keeping track of that shit.

The first question is... How in the name of fuck is this stuff not legal??? I mean just look to the disasters in Colorado, Oregon, and Washington - STATE AND D.C..... Wait... What? They are doing fan-bloody-tastic after legalizing??? Hmmmmmmm.

The biggest argument by stupid people, who only believe what authority figures planted in their heads when they were younger, is that marijuana is a "Gateway Drug".

I will go so far as to cede that by smoking weed, you are probably more likely to come into contact with people who also procure and distribute other illegal substances. That is about it. If your kid is going to do "Drug Next Step", it is because a friend had some, knew your kid had some money, offered them some in order to get them hooked, so they will spend money on "Drug Next Step" and share with them.

The case for marijuana being a gateway drug is the same as when politicians tried to stop equal rights by asking what was after legalizing same sex marriage. "If we allow that... what's next? Will we allow people to marry their pets?" Same sex marriage was a "Gateway Marriage".

The first recorded usage of cannabis was by the Synthians in 440 BC. They would use it in their baths, like a sauna... The ORIGINAL Hot Boxers*!

The word canvas... derived from cannabis. The sails on all the ships that brought everyone's ancestors to America? Yup... Hemp.

Hemp was huge... and was going to get even more prolific. Then came the war between agriculture and industry... And if memory serves, we don't learn about he "Agricultural Revolution" in school.

Easiest way to win a war? Outlaw the thing you are warring against. Just make it illegal. Spend money making propaganda films. Films that portray anyone who uses the stuff as a deviant, perverted sort who wants to barbecue babies because they are stoned!

I have known some pretty stoned individuals, and not once was BBQ'd infant discussed. BBQ Pringles however? Devoured in droves.

All that manipulation and distortion of the facts led to the War on Drugs. Nancy Reagan telling everyone to "Just Say No." Which led Ronald Reagan to question, "To What? Who are you? What is my name?" (Too soon?)

Granted, at the time (the early and mid 80's), c0ocaine was rampant. Mostly on Wall Street... and Motley Crue. Of course, the feds, in their infinite wisdom, decided to war against ALL drugs. *Spoiler Alert* The U.S. lost this war. In fact... Many people believe that the CIA was responsible for flooding inner city neighborhoods with crack cocaine... So...

By focusing on, and apparently supporting, the supply, they did absolutely fuck all to squash the demand side of the equation.

"Gee, we have done nothing to improve living conditions, bolster employment opportunities, lessen the rising cost of living... Why would all these people look to something to make life a little more pleasurable without breaking the bank, with no real addictive side effects??? WHY????"

Incarceration rates for non violent offenses skyrocketed, which made the true deviants come up with the Prisons For Profit scheme.

Also, if you could make it a felony, and target minorities... They can't vote! Double points!

The enemy for the legalization of cannabis these days is a two headed snake of the Federal Government and Big Pharma.

The government, namely the Republicans, will not legalize it because then the prison profits will go to shit... More minorities will retain the right to vote... Can't have that!

Here is one good thing about the government speed bump... The "50's guy" Politician... Those who grew up in "Leave It To Beaver" land... They are a dying breed. There will be changes when people who grew up a little later get elected. I say that with hope... but not certainty.

Big Pharma does NOT want weed to become legal. It would cut into their BILLIONS of dollars of yearly profits... and sweet Jeebus... How can you ask them to only get by on a couple of BILLION dollars less??? You selfish prick!

In August, the DEA denied the reclassification of Cannabis. It remains a Schedule I drug. Schedule I drugs have NO MEDICAL USE and high potential for abuse.

Mmmkay, Pum'kin... Let's play that lame ass card... Considering that Ritalin, Adderall, OXY-FUCKING-CODONE , and Fentanyl (the one that killed Prince) are Schedule II... Those are primarily manufactured by six pharmaceutical companies, whose net worth is in the trillions.

How much does the DEA cost these days? Do you have to buy just the director? Couple of politicians to boot? Do you get a discount if you buy in bulk? When elections come up, do you compare prices? Whoever comes in with the lowest bribe amount, do you contribute to their campaign?

The benefits of hemp... WAAAAAAAY too many to list here. Seriously, Google that shit. More specifically... Google "Benefits of industrial hemp". There are literally millions of hits off that search. In two seconds, I learned that in 1938, Popular Mechanics magazine called hemp, "The Billion Dollar Crop."

Which made the other robber barons of the time clench their collective sphincters... Hence the propaganda... and inevitable, unwinnable war.

Second huge benefit of marijuana use... All the really good music.,. Thanks, Drugs!

_______________________________________

The last time I was stoned, was 1993. I remember it fondly. I remember the smallest details of that night. I remember laughing to the point of tears... It was a good night... The last song that I smoked to was Pink Floyd's "Run Like Hell". 

I have a lot of friends who partake. I am jealous as hell. They are completely functioning humans who get to enjoy the extra benefits of mother nature... Although, while usually running a little late because they forgot something... They tend not to "rush"... And I think they are a lot happier for that fact. 

I miss it. It is about 5:20 PM. In about 90 minutes, I will pour myself a Lemmy (Jack & Coke, renamed in his honor). I will have more than one, less than five. I will be in a state of inebriation that is perfectly legal. Also, I will be taxing my liver, kidneys, and heart. Cokes are not healthy for you. Jack, while being my hetero life mate, is not the healthiest for you either.

If given the option, I would get high. I would reach a nice calm, tranquil state of mind. I would sleep better. I would not be in any way hungover in the morning. I would have not felt the need to make any rash decisions. I might crave some Doritos... watch "30 Rock"... Listen to some vinyl... Just chill.

Rainy Day Woman 12 & 35,

d 

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* - Hot Boxing is smoking a shit tonne of weed in an enclosed area... Think Spicoli's van, in "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" and they open the doors and a massive cloud billows forth...

Hemingway, or "What's In A Name?"

Ernie once said, "Write drunk, edit sober."

Giving that a whirl.

First and foremost, I am not "drunk". Would I like to operate a motor vehicle at the moment? Not really... So... Here I am... On a Sat. night, with an empty bottle of mead... Eyeballin' the Jack Daniels...

Anywhoozle... I was scrolling through the ol' Facebook, wasting time until I can go to sleep. Which, in and of itself, makes me start to want to kick my own ass. It is Saturday. I should do something. Be out until the wee hours of the morning, raising Hell. I have no one to answer to... No commitments... Aaaaaaand no desire to waste money. So, here I am.

I succumb to the click-bait of a 12 year old contestant on a talent show. One of the plethora that television is inundated with these days.

I suffer through the cheese reel preceding the performance. She starts to sing. The timidity in her voice, coupled with her accented delivery... Quite intriguing. Then there are the lyrics. THEY are responsible for the lump in the throat. They are the perpetrator of my teary eyes.

I don't know my name.

I don't play by the rules of the game.

So you said I'm just trying.

Just trying.

Fuck. I remember being that age. The one thing that resonates from that age is the unrelenting uncertainty. It is the crucible time... Where YOU... THE YOU THAT YOU WILL BE... is thrust into a furnace of hormones, NAY - RAGING hormones, growth - both physically and emotionally, experiences undreamt of (autocorrect says that should be 'undreamed', but 'undreamt' sounds fucking better!), and trials and tribulations that are yours and YOURS ALONE! They are what make you YOU.

At that age, the "rules of the game" are introduced... Subject to change - from moment to moment... Your head is a fucking jumble of 1) What you are supposed to know, 2) What you THINK you know (which is estimated waaaaaaaaaay high), and 3) What you WANT to know. 

A friend's father, one Jack Thomas, once told me and his offspring, "I wish I could buy you for what you are worth... And sell you for what you THINK you are worth. You two think you are hot shit on a silver platter, and you ain't nothing but cold snot on a paper plate."

Father of the Year, he wasn't. But he did have a point.

That last two lines of the lyrics... Just trying... For fuck's sake... "Just trying" never stops. Yes, as an alpha geek, I understand and do my best to adhere to the Yoda-ism, "Do or Do Not, There is No Try." However, I ain't no Jedi.

Hopefully as you get older, sometimes wiser, you see a shift in the whole "trying vs. doing". You learn and grow... But as a youngling... There is a whole mess of "trying" going on.

The next lyrics of note from this TWELVE YEAR OLD...

I am lost.

Trying to get found.

In an ocean of people.

Please don't ask me any questions.

There won't be a valid answer.

Fuck. When you were twelve or thirteen, if you never felt lost... Well, bully for you. You are the exception. "What's my place?" "What am I supposed to be?" "WHO am I supposed to be?" Fun fact... That sorta "un-anchored" feeling... It rears up now and again.  

She fucking nails it with the last two lines. Go ahead... ask away...

My 7th grade guidance counselor asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. My reply, of course, was "Viking." She then asked what my parents thought of my desired vocation. I told her, "They are aliens, so... They are not concerned."

When I was at that so impressionable age, pop culture kinda had a "It Get's Better" movement for kids, gay and straight.

What we had was Happy Harry Hard On...

If you watched to the end of the clip, kudos... One of the better messages from the movie was towards the end... (After Samantha Mathis, in her prime, gets topless)... And I quoteth...

"But just remember one thing, it can't get any worse, it can only get better. I mean High School is the bottom. Being a teenager sucks! But that's the point, surviving it is the whole point! Quitting is not going to make you strong, living will. So just hang on and hang in there." - HHH.

And that leads me to the last lyrics from one Grace VanderWaal, from the song "I Don't Know My Name".

I now know my name.

I don't play by the rules of the game.

So you said I'm not trying.

But I'm trying.

To find my way.

Jeeeeeez this kid's got some insight. NIAGRA FUCKING FALLS in this joint! 

I think it was in my seventeenth circuit around our star that I REALLY introduced myself to someone... and meant it. It was in a hallway on the second story of the B-1 Bomber simulator building on McConnell AFB, Wichita KS.

I was visiting my Dad. He had to run some paper work upstairs. I followed and waited in the hallway. A Captain, if memory serves, came out of the door Dad just entered and saw little ol' me. Back from my graduation tour of California. Sporting a mohawk mullet configuration... cut up denim shorts... and tank top, representing the "Viper" roller coaster from Six Flags Magic Mountain.

He justifiably wanted to know "Who the hell are you?"

I remember KNOWING the answer as I stuck out my hand and introduced myself.

I knew my name.

______________________________

Again, the last two lines... They are universal. We are all just trying to find our way. The world is rife with people doing just that. The problems usually arise when you to find someone else's way for them, or they try to tell you yours.

I know the power in a name. And yes, there is power in a name. The power can be a form of control... Ancient priests believed if you knew a demon's TRUE name upon summoning, you could control said beast from the Abyss, and make it answer your questions, and do your bidding.

If you do NOT believe in the power of a name... Close your eyes... Will make this next part difficult to read, but you GET THE POINT... Do you remember that person you saw in passing, but never got to talk to, that just knocked you for a loop and stole your very breath? It could have been for the briefest of moments from your youth... But the vision of them... That moment, that glimpse, is so very seared... So...  fucking part of you... Envision THAT person for me...

Now... wouldn't you like to know their name?

Talk hard,

d

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(Forgot the 'Edit Sober' part! Cheers!)

The Day After

Wednesday, September 12th, 2001...

Boxers will say, right after a fight, that they weren't hurt. Their opponent never got to them or caused them any distress. At that moment, they are in a state of shock. A day later though...

You may never have boxed a day in your life, but when you woke up on the day after, you felt like you had gone into the deep rounds. You felt punched. You felt wounded. You felt beat.

There was no precedent of how to react... No rule book...  It was just under six decades since we had been "attacked".

On that morning after... I was told not to come into work in Dallas. My now second ex wife was told to not to come into work in a skyscraper in downtown Dallas. Her parents were staying with us in Cedar Hill, TX. We watched the news. That is what we all did. Every station - EVERY STATION - was news.

I would go outside to smoke and was unnerved by the silent skies. Devoid of air traffic.

Yesterday, I watched a tribute before turning off the TV. There were fly overs at the majority of football games. I saw our President speak to the unifying nature of the tragedy.

Unity... in this country? It took the deaths of 2996 people to "unite" us.

How long did it last? Four years? Two years?

I no longer scoff when I hear a mouth breather grunt, "Murica!" Because the title "United States Of America" is not an entirely true title. People will point fingers and say This or That person has polarized us. I think the polarization started on September 12, 2001.

My personal opinion is Cheney's dick got so hard, at the prospect of snatching oil and construction contracts for Haliburton, he had to be careful not to blow out his "heart", or reasonable facsimile of what we humans call a heart, that pumps his unholy blood.

Cooler heads voted against the inevitable calls for war... Namely our current President, and a one time candidate who would have been an even stronger nominee than whatshername...

I think to all the speeches from President Retarded Cowboy, aka War Criminal. Every year, he would mention the tragedy. Every year, he would state why we spending billions in a war with a country, later to shown to have NOTHING to do with 9/11...

I also remember thinking, this is why I don't want a religious president. They put stock in make believe bullshit, as long as it makes them right, and justifies their belief in the bullshit.

People will always remember 9/11/2001. Politicians have made careers out of it. I remember a crispness in the morning air. A bagel from the Tom Thumb on Northwest Highway. Howard Stern doing what I thought was a radio bit...

And going into an empty office... Then finding everyone huddled around a TV in the conference room. It took about an hour for them to send us home.

It was a terrible, terrible day. I think it hurt more on the 12th, because we realized it wasn't a nightmare we could wake up from.

_______________________

9/11, for incoming high school Freshman is a history lesson. It happened before a lot of them were born. They have grown up not knowing of a world where that did not happen.

They also only know of an America perpetually at war. They have grown up being told that a good portion of the world hates us.

Fifteen years, and the shadow of that day still looms. We were altered that day. Forever.

Oh... and here is a site that lists all the members of Congress who voted AGAINST the First Responders or "Zadroga" Bill. Just a little something to help you vote this November.

The music wouldn't play,

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