The Cheshire Grinning Moon

Lisa has found a place in the heavens from where she can encourage me and point the way.  When I ran my early races, it was so comforting to come to the checkpoint guides who reassured me that I was on course and not all alone out in the unknown.  Last night, on the drive home from her funeral, I noticed the waxing crescent moon - grinning at me from behind clouds.  It morphed and yawned, widened and thinned, always slipping in and out from behind clouds.  It was alive with the Smiling-to-me twinkle that gets my attention.  It dawned on me that it was Lisa.  It didn't "dawn" on me, actually.  That would be a Sun thing.  It ?Mooned? on me...or rose on me, waxed or gibbous-ed on me...in any case, it was Lisa letting me know she's in the best place imaginable, and already in touch.  After days of anguished tears processing the shock, the loss, the grief, the disbelief, we parted ways, her parents and me, to go on with our life.  We were together, intensely, for days as we said our goodbyes.  Sunday night, she suffered a massive heart attack and was without oxygen to the brain for too long to be saved.  An organ donor, she was sustained on life support for another 36 hours while the arrangements were made for the recipients.  We sat with her, watching her "breathing" on the respirator, all monitors in the ICU indicating normal activity in her body, but the brain showed no response.  Placid and beautiful, she hovered there with us, mostly gone, but standing by for a few final gestures.

Her fourteen year old daughter, Maria, came to hold her, grieve and accept the unimaginable.  On her Facebook page the night before, she had posted notice that her Mother was on life support, and asked for prayers.  Maria had "unfriended" her grandmother, me, Aunt Mayra and other adults, giving only her peers access to her postings.  Her young cousins, Marissa and Vinnie could only report to their mothers what they couldn't imagine was true!  Maria!  Tell us this is not happening!  But between phone calls and frantic messages, we learned too soon; Maria was posting: "Rest in peace, Mommy."

OMG!

Thus we processed and accepted, alternating between sobs and ok-ness, seeing the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest, the nurses busying about with the normal ICU activities, changing the IV, administering anti-biotics, checking vitals and emptying catheters for a body that was flushed with color and life as though with their care, she would revive.  Our hearts and eyes saw this ritual, but our minds knew she was already gone.  It was a see-saw of emotions; we intermittently chatted as visitors to a patient's bedside, only to be reminded she was not a patient as family members arrived, tearfully collapsing at the sight of her, so beautiful and placid, her long hair cascading across the pillow.  

Under the management of the Center for Organ Recovery and Education personnel, Lisa had transitioned to Donor.  Knowing her decision to give of herself so that others might live on gave her mother and dad comfort, and they respected her wishes.  Noble though it was, however, the questions of arrangements couldn't be made until the recovery surgeries had taken place.  So we marked in our journal that our beloved little girl was 

Lisa Jo Norelli Tosi 

September 19, 1971

January 22,23,24, 2012

To reflect that she had suffered a massive heart attack on Sunday night, was sustained on life support through Monday in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Washington County and regulations of the hospital pending re-confirming neurological tests, and yet not declared "deceased" until 9:00 a.m. Tuesday, when those tests confirmed what no miracle could reverse.  We allowed ourselves to process by degree, finally and agonizingly. 

Didn't we just do this not six weeks ago when we buried our Mom, Helen?  The same Friends and Family members came to share their sorrow and respect.  Lisa had been at the bedside of her fiance's grandmother, caring for the 93 year old until she passed.  A few days later, her own grandmother came home and Lisa moved in with her folks to care for her through her final days.  Mom passed on December 4, and at her wake, Lisa hugged the very people who came to mourn her yesterday.  How much grief!  How could this be?  God be with us and comfort us.  Family in Faith, together, being there for each other.   

She was a young woman with a "take no prisoners" attitude and an astute awareness of a soul in  need of her help.  When Lisa Jo was around, we knew it.  Her voice carried with an unmistakable "Alpha" vibe that conveyed self-esteem and confidence, and at the same time, one that moved readily into laughter.  With her eyes and her tone, Lisa could make you wonder "What's got her so riled up?" and yet, moments later, she'd make a wry observation from the other side of the universe and with her eyes and her smile, whatever it was that she had just so passionately asserted, she was dismissing with amusement.

A little bit irreverent, a little bit the Classic Italian Matriarch, Lisa was the quintessential Big Sister who delivered her statements with authority and intensity and then might just as convincingly erupt in deprecating laughter at the situation and find the most innocent fun in it.

This little girl understood feelings and how people responded to attention and interest.  From an early age, she developed her relationship skills, burnishing an already intense drive to provide caring and comfort.  Adding to her nurses training, and practical understanding of healthcare, Lisa was a dedicated provider and advocate who thrived on helping others.  In the hours during which we kept vigil at her bedside, we came to accept, minute by minute, that her life was about what she could do for you.  Never caring for material things, Lisa found her bliss in results.  She manifested kindness to those who needed a bit of encouragement, a gentle touch, a reassuring promise and steadfast tendency to break into a grin, them bubble with a giggle that grew into a full-blown belly laugh at how just regular folk we all can be.

Today and for many years to come, she lives on in those to whom she bequeathed what was hers alone to give, her greatest gift, herself.  Her heart-broken parents, Ernie & Joe, navigated the hours of accepting the loss of their daughter with the realization that Lisa's life, as we knew her, has acquired even greater reach and dimension in those she has helped live on.  Her daughter, Maria, will always be able to hear her voice speaking to her from within: no greater champion can you expect to find.  Those of us who knew her will, no doubt, miss her loving greetings and affectionate "Good Byes" can take comfort in the happiness of those who awaited her in heaven who are now greeting her with open arms and a wink for our "too smart," sassy, Lisa Jo.  In a week when Heaven called home Etta James and Joe Paterno, a lesser-known dynamo made the grade and tapped the bell on her way through the gate.  To all her cousins, classmates, friends and colleagues who share our grief and sense of loss, I can only offer this comfort:  Lisa has taken her caring to the next level.  Thank each of you for affirming what a World Class Spirit she is and what an unfailing gift her life was to all of us.

Through the sadness of the week, the sense of something very nice coming was ever present.  Tara will have a little girl in a few months, as we learned the same day Lisa passed.  Michelle dropped her custody challenge and brought Nicholas to be with his Family during this difficult time.  Fran found her own way to the gatherings with a GPS and determination, and Mary Ellen and Cil came with courage driving them past the difficulties following Mom's funeral.  In Joe's newly-finished basement, we toasted Lisa, shed those final tears and prepared for life without her.

It was only on the drive home that I thought about the Cheshire Cat grinning from the tree branch, then the clouds, then through the roof tops at "Alis"  (Lisa with the A moved to the beginning) and I look forward to writing with you.  I know you would have made a great saleswoman.  I'm sorry we couldn't see that in time to intervene.  We let Maria catch the plane with Anthony to spend a week in Florida with Aunt Mayra, away from the pressures of her loss.  Her tattoo'd, pierced, bejeweled gay friends kept her distracted, but could not obscure Maria's realization of the mountain of floral tributes sent by so many to offer condolences.  She had enjoyed quality time with her mother and Nana during three days of recovery from surgery last week after which she withdrew from Ringgold and planned to enroll at Belle Vernon again, moving back home with Nana & Pap.  It was coming together.  But for now, something nice is making a pattern.  To prove it's impending arrival, it smiled to me through the night sky, saying, "Hi."  Remember Frankie crying to Nicole and Sammy that they're the Big Girls now.  They're not ready to be the Big Girls.  Smile on them, Cousin Lisa.  Point the way.  

Nehilist Manifest

From today's reading, I wonder, "Whom Should I Thank?" for reconnecting to all the many gains we, Spiritual Kin Study Group, have collectively achieved.  In tandem, we endure, nevertheless, a loneliness and period of uncertainty during which we are bound by the principles of our mission to remain open and aware, respectful of those with whom we disagree, and equally respectful of ourselves in the exchange with those who would dismiss us in an expeditious attempt to truncate the process.  So obtuse and self-possessed are they in their comfort zone that they are blind to the reactionaries now determined to sabotage their cruel advance.  Where they believe themselves to be "powerful" they are Goosed by those honking from behind, to discover that they are, instead, corralled in a blind canyon of their own invention wherein they are neatly, safely and irresistibly contained by those actual powers ensconced, not by the willing, but by the convinced.

The spread, "Three Fates," synthesizes the scan of the Past/Present/Future as deliverance, returning the response to the inquiry, rather than the answer to the question.


The left card represents an important element of the past. Knight of Swords, when reversed: The dark essence of air behaving as fire, such as a tornado: A merciless and skillful warrior, unfettered by emotion or conscience. A nihilist who can refuse not even the most insurmountable of challenges. A person who inspires fear and hate through their domineering nature and the power of their presence. Speaking without tact or tolerance, in a sarcastic manner. May portend the swift initiation or conclusion of conflict, through the calamitous invocation of force.     


Definition of NIHILISM

1

a : a viewpoint that traditional values and beliefs are unfounded and that existence is senseless and uselessb : a doctrine that denies any objective ground of truth and especially of moral truths

2

a : a doctrine or belief that conditions in the social organization are so bad as to make destruction desirable for its own sake independent of any constructive program or possibilityb capitalized : the program of a 19th century Russian party advocating revolutionary reform and using terrorism and assassination

We are reminded that the past demonstrations of nihilistic behavior have served to associate us with Nikolai Lenin of the Bolshevist Revolution that so weakened and subverted itself as a result of emasculating its people.  We understand Power as the energized-by-intangibles which the Nihilists deny.    


In the two weeks since the encounter with Jim Burn, State Chair, I have been driven to the depths of the whirlpool of disorientation, and find myself being launched back to airspace where I may live and breathe free of what I must credit the Facade for describing as:  "the swift initiation or conclusion of conflict, through the calamitous invocation of force" with aforementioned self-respect.  I am reassured that the "mistake" was mine, for failing to convey to my esteemed colleague, my unwillingness to sustain further breach of that vault wherein my Family of fellows preserve their learned, evolved skills.  I would be remiss in my service to the registered Democrats of Butler County were I to permit Chairman Burn to approach the circuitry of our procedures with Table d'hôte when the consideration of all views brought to the table are de rigueur.  
   
Practical matters left unattended by those so impatient to take up the Lamp of Leadership, they were neither qualified nor willing to serve, pursuing the position, unaware of the sphere of contributors hovering in waiting to attend to all that.  As with Energies of all natures, those culled for securing and stabilizing the All found their bliss.  In their mutual company, they applied discipline and nobility to the maintenance and eventual development of the refined structure they now survey.  Arcs support a cantilever-aged deployment of natural and sustainable force present in our midst.  From the past, we resurrected the fulfillment of those challenges met and mastered discovering that the familiar lent itself to confidant exchange among our proven, tested best.   

Creative, Insightful Articulating of Conservative Principals - Vintage Newt

The quote from Dick Morris takes us a notch closer to the tone Republicans want to hear in this Primary.  We monitor the whole thing with a comprehension of their mission and begin to knit together the fabric underfoot upon which we'll step to leave behind the Obama Hope / Hype / Hip, Hip, Hoot.  Crystallizing it all, Juan Williams - despite posing AS a monitor - carried the Administration's water with contentious posturing to spin Gingrich's racism.  The crowd culling a second dunning of Americans as racist (it worked before, didn't it?)  were thus, succinctly sorted into Americans and hyphenated Americans....bring it on.

Yeah, "99 Weeks is an Associate's Degree."  The Unemployed are getting an education with or without the Academic Community.  The same fire must be invested into purposing the Republican Primary as the exercise to deliver a nominee who will lead this Country back to greatness.  Michelle Bachmann is gone because she spun every opportunity to speak into a yarn about herself.  Jon Huntsman is gone because he failed to lead the Spirit.  Romney's lackluster hovering at 25% is leaving a lot on the table.  To borrow a "come full circle" phrase from Jimmy Carter, "Why not your Best?"

What Newt is saying, and the audience is hearing is this:  "Work through it."  Esprit de Corps evolves from unity of purpose applied to the effort.  Talk's cheap, academic and can be no substitute for activity.  When a plan is formulated and committed to paper, there takes a fair amount of talk to ferret out the points that will prove pertinent.  The way to the Voter's heart is through the stuff he can't stomach.  That "stuff" is not the notion of defeating Obama, but in accepting that the current occupant of the Oval Office isn not All American.  Sure, you can back off the criticism centered on birth certs and protective secrecy, but the thing the Field must produce is the essence of knowing what works, what makes us work and how to work.

In 2008, we watched the Fourth Estate drag the all-but-tapped-out Obama across the finish line, forced on the Democratic Party by arm-twisting thugs.  The 'Dog Who Caught The Bus' was obviously out of his league and no amount of spin could cover for it.  Unanimity of purpose lay in the determination of Chris Matthews, Dee Dee Myers and the New York Times to dump the actual work of surviving the Candidate In Chief on Clinton People.  That's the sound of wind whistling past our ears as we fall at black-out pace from the top of the heap.

My closer instinct alerted me last night to the Buying Signals on display in Myrtle Beach.  Cheering on the concepts of competing legitimately, the crowd elicited from each candidate the notion that we should kill our enemies, not our competition.  Compete and Conquer.  Cower and call "Racist" and get yer butt kicked.  It has taken THREE YEARS for the Axlerod Attitude-Coppers to get the message.

Unfortunately, for them, they are steeped in their own spin and capable of only one thing: blaming the other guys.  It could have been worse, sure.  But we are capable of seeing daylight beyond the shadow by which your body of "you call that work?" has darkened our door.  The full retinue of protective spin plays...the recapitulation cantata of strategies that scored impressively ... are coming through.  Work 'em out; don't just "invite 'em" out.  Just Ought 'Em!  Black Leaders may no longer spit out ugly, angry accusations of racism; that card's been played.  What they reveal in launching such ploys is that they are merely "playing" and haven't ever even begun to actually work.  We get it.  It's not a racist thing, gentle people: it's what soccer moms and kitchen table economists understand.  Security.  Does the hot guy on the make "Make" you feel secure?  No!  He "thrills" and excites you, he causes you to obsess about him based on his animal magnetism, but after about six months, you'll be over it and looking for the bills to be paid and the indicators that you're the One and Only to HIM.  Absent that, you're admitting that Dad was right.  This guy is a fad and will never be the substance, supportive structure with whom you can make babies, rear and provide for them and keep you secure.  He talked a convincing rap sayin' things you wanted to hear, but he didn't deliver and he's now playing you for another chance to disappoint you.

Dog Whistle?  Are the black leadership players going to again turn this election into a trap into which they'd herd the trusting?  Are you inclined to blow another $50 bucks on the street tricks?  Or are you inclined to just pop that bill into a credit union account and hold out for the industrious, serious gentleman who's spending his "capital" on stabilizing himself and looking after his family?

"THE BOW - Tebow and Intangibles

Through careful conservation of their fuel, the engines of creation continue onward.

Mayor Luke Pays UP

Decades of work in the "off-beat" have taught me the very real role played by the Unknown in our daily lives. While a cynic, a quitter, one of religion without faith might dismiss the Tim Tebow phenomenon, we can look back on the "Change" meme, the "Don't Worry" fun of Bush 41, the direct line to god of W, and the energy of the Steeler Nation to respect the influence of emotional rooting for the underdog. Conversely, when the energy of support leaves the competitor, the results can be convoluted. Following each Super Bowl victory, Ben Roethlesberger has done something utterly stupid. His motorcycle incident of 2006, riding a crotch rocket without a helmet, then two sexual assault charges in less than a year following the 2008 Super Bowl victory prompted bonfires of "Steeler Gear" by fans no longer inclined to indulge the caustic behavior of an overpaid jock. In Pittsburgh, the "No Name" barely-out-of-the-Minors Pirates of 2011 were the darlings of the Family Fans because none of the players who streaked in first place right up to the 2:00 a.m. blown call of July 25 at home plate, were anybody but teammates. No Name believers in themselves inspired the "joes" who go to baseball games to be together. Nobody who lives in a real world wanted the party animal to defeat the genuflecting Tebow last Sunday. The Steeler Nation dutifully turned out and tuned into the Denver game, but in their hearts of hearts, grudgingly conceded the "Higher Ground" to the gesture that has even the most cynically immature high school boys taking a knee with a bowed head to the bigger circle drawn 'round the circle. Cartographers indicate 'elevation' by drawing

"circles" that connect points of equal feet above sea level described as contour lines. The key to these amoebic circles is that they neither cross nor intersect. They are, in fact, meaningless to those on other levels and, while they are known to each other by virtue of shared existence, they establish separation as a function of their existence, and are, hence, mutually exclusive. A cloud at 1,600 feet is produced and held there by a set of characteristics forming a stream. In a stream, the choice is removed and awareness, not activity, determines presence. We who call upon Americans to come together in decency and patriotism are unwilling to lend our hearts and minds to the contrivances of media hype. We see, in the Steelers logo, the "Unseen." To the top, a gold hypercycloid, to the right, a red hypercycloid, and to the bottom, a blue hypercycloid - marketing symbol of United States Steel, the building block of twentieth century skyscrapers. To the left, as described by Thomas Carlyle in his book On Heroes and Hero Worship: in his French Revolution (1837), "A Fourth Estate, of Able Editors, springs up; increases and multiplies, irrepressible, incalculable. ...Ideas to be gathered from those ethers of the next higher levels where dream-like impressions without actual substance call us onward, upward. "We're better than this." Where inventors, angels and necessity move us to explore space,to "See a need, fill a need," we are gridded up/down to an opening in the membrane that separates our level from that which calls to us where-in we have always existed but have yet to explore in time and space. This is the mystery and the universality of creation. Where what doesn't exist becomes the basis of everything new, we do it. We leave behind despair, anxiety, demoralization and the Who, What, When, Where and How to lay EYES on it. Recall the first time you saw the actual White House, or the Washington Monument, or the Statue of Liberty, or the Grand Canyon - landmarks of history that you'd seen many times in photos, and now in the flesh. Flying points of reference cause the vision to lurch dizzy-ingly until we are able to bring into focus our emotion, our relationship and our experience. From the moment a teacher or book raised our consciousness about the significance, we have seen the same image time and again. When we see it in the "flesh" we actually drop all those depictions into the little computer in our mind that compares and concludes: 'this is it.' We suspect it but remain to be shown that Tim Tebow depicts such a future. In a moment frozen free of the emotion surrounding his gesture, the viewers are sorted by their own emotions. Some embrace and applaud. Some reject and react. Some aren't "there" yet. Cross/Over attention begins to attract the uninitiated to "market" the idea whose time has come.  The momentum of the marketplace erases whatever preceded. 

 Championships and Elections are thus won.


In the minds of we, the Thinkers,

Tebow has embodied the often attempted (Dobie Gillis) but not-quite-nailed, moment of oneness with the desire of the heart. In his sideline re-enactment, the victorious play-master processes the outcome of the battle just waged, between his known and desired. While the potential exists, the quarterback represents what can be, and drives through doubt, history and the wind beneath his non-existent wings, to land in his next "life." In the moment of completion of the play, Tebow's leap of faith is rewarded by his teammates, fans and the big scoreboard in the sky. Momentarily, the others reaching for the same bouquet are resolved to accept the results. No "marriage" in store for them; No "Next In Line" for Union. Ah! The Game. Secularists need not apply. To any who defile the magic of the moment, hopelessness reigns, sealing their hearts and minds to the sight. Sparkle and Glimmer protect the essence of what happens when the unfolding of events have prompted this action, and prior to taking his next step, the BOWing #15 gets over himself.  While everyone is looking at him, he's looking within, calming desire with culmination.

At the line between what is heaven and what is earth, where the light is slightly brighter, faeries play....

Domestic Tranquility: The Election to Dump Obama

I came to consciousness this morning aware that I was a link in a chain-dream; one in which I was the friend of a woman whose spouse was berating, controlling, aggressively threatening and to heighten the ridiculousness of his demeanor, brushing his teeth. In the waking dream, I was at their home preparing to take a walk with her - our planned exercise. While she was agreeable, "normal" in her behavior and showed nothing different - we made steadfast haste toward the door and away from his negative vibe. Instead of simply heading off in the direction of the park, however, I looked - puzzled - as she turned the outer key and headed for my car. I unlocked the doors and we hopped in as the "dream" concluded. I had been deliberately kept unaware of her plan, yet as she launched into motion, readily recognized that she did, indeed, have one. Her "Escape" from the captor who held her prisoner in her own home entailed turning the tables. She had changed the locks earlier in the day leaving him with keys that would not work tonight. It was a move that bought her time to get to shelter, to notify the police that he was being temporarily restrained and to turn in the keys by which she had turned her life around. For the first morning in months, I was stirred to a level of awareness that made me get up at my - once but not lately - normal 5:00 a.m. It's Iowa Caucus Day. In my waking dream, I was connecting "dots" from the 2008 primary in which testosterone-driven Obats shouted down the Hillary supporters and launched a mixture of vicious and shocking tactics intended to both intimidate and stampede Caucus participants. At the same time I was thinking about the recounted witnessing of Caucus Fraud, I saw the face of Louisa Rodas and her Mother, Betty Jean Kling. I saw the many family members of Police Officers, killed in the line of duty, responding to Domestic Violence calls. I saw the moment I became a participant in the Peace Chain more than thirty years ago. The Iranian Embassy, seized by students holding the Diplomatic Staff hostage, was progressing through 444 days of torment as the Clergy of Iran completed the Coup. I was a mere link in a strong chain of mentally tough Peace Officers determined to restore stability and calm to a world disabled by conflict. The New Diplomacy preserves the Peace in the face of vindictive, reactionary, self-indulgent males obsessed with control issues and yet utterly incapable of taking care of their own business. I begin this day with a nod to the Blessed Mother, Virgin Mary, patron and protector. I affirm my faith in the gentle, Christian principles demonstrated by Joseph and Jesus; honoring of Women. The traditions of Family Values include the cherishing of wives, mothers, daughters and sisters. To men who miss the message, we offer this gentle response: a better way is available. In the words of the Angels who roused the shepherds of Bethlehem, "Peace On Earth; Good Will towards Men." The Democratic Primary of 2008 was a textbook demonstration of how NOT to run a campaign. The demeanor of the members of the media and the political class who conducted an assault upon the women of this country with their insufferable insults proved to be the canary in the coal mine alerting Women to the danger in which they found themselves. Women of class and substance, who have children to rear, educate and feed, are neither impressed nor intimidated by class warfare or whiners who blame the Republicans for the woes of the DNC. They are engaged in the active, but peaceable process of restoring and preserving domestic tranquility wherein they may protect their kids and get them to school. In communities where gunfire routinely erupts and often takes the lives of innocent children in the cross-fire, Peace is the victim. Insanity rules. Thinking is non-existent, drugs and disruptive behavior rob the children of their American right to pursue happiness. We are Sisters in the Chain, linked and connected to reverse the threat. The objective of threat is to ward off aggression with thought-provoking reminders of the right of redress. The males who failed Louisa Rodas blame her mother for angering them. For 'talking back' she is held responsible in the face of emotional tyrants whose own threats are intended to be the final say. To BJ, and her son, we say, "Enough!" It is the duty of each of us to control our emotion and respect ourselves. We understand completely, yet remain saddened by the lack of peace produced by the judicial process. Disturbed people without a balance of comprehension of power's double-edged sword and Choice are attempting to call the shots. The Chicago gang - so full of themselves, superlatives and historic significance - is a blowhard bunch of motherless punks whose plans for re-election center around assassination and threat. We hear, attuned. We are reminded by our Mothers: We Have A Choice. In the United States of America, we have Freedom. We take personal responsibility of the road our choices have paved. We accept ourselves and acknowledge our errors of judgment. By these mistakes we evolve when choosing to correct and restore. Our balance, not our mistakes, propel us.

OWS GLOM ONTO SUFFRAGISTS

I watched "Iron Jawed Angels," and saw how the demonstrators for the Right to Vote were spat upon and abused by their fellow citizens. For Eleanore Clift, of Newsweek, the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations merit favorable equation with those Sisters, who, having supported the Abolitionist Cause, found that the very rights men gave themselves were denied Women. I don't want to get into a hissing exchange with Clift, but her taking Pat Buchannan to task over predicting that the OWS will end very, very badly and Obama's connection to them will, in turn, harm him centered on blame. Clift used a tone with Pat that leads me to surmise that the police and elected officials charged with Public Safety, decency and tranquility in Oakland, California were to "blame" for the tear-gassing and injuries to the participants. I learned this lesson the first time I was robbed in Savannah and had it re-inforced by my colleagues at American Security Insurance in Atlanta: If you go to a place where the trouble-makers are gathering, looking for trouble, and you get into trouble, it's YOUR FAULT for being there. So, Ellie, stick it where the Sun don't shine. It is the OWS demonstrators whose fault it is! They don't have enough sense to leave when advised of impending confrontation. Your first message is out there. Go home. Get a Job. Work, preferably within the system, and be the next "Street." It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the jobless camping out with a chip on their shoulder aren't protesting joblessness: it's the income they want. The sympathetic Obama can relate. It wasn't the JOB of president he so ruthlessly persued: he wanted the POSITION, the perks and the fame...too bad he didn't read enough history to understand that his historic election was the result of eliminating his competition rather than rising to the challenge. One other thing I learned at American Security: people working together, exchanging and advancing their debate is progressive. People standing pat, irrationally defending a "going nowhere" status quo and being everything against which they campaigned may get their way, but they just foster yet another demonstration of displeasure with the results. Like Tanya Harding eliminating her competition via thuggish supporters whacking Nancy Kerrigan, the door opens for the Orphan, Oksana, to skate off with the gold. Gather your skirts, Elles, the

Women's Rights The progressives were successful in reforming the social and political problems in America because many women such as Susan Anthony, Elizabeth Stanton, Alice Paul and Carrie Cat fought for women's voting rights. They made their voices loud, strong and heard - in 1920 women won the right to vote. In the middle of the 19th century Americans had separate ideas of both men and women. Men ran for the government and worked while women cared for their families at home. Women were thought as of being delicate, childlike, emotional, and mentally inferior to men. Women did not win the right to vote until 1920 once their role in society had changed. Since men were fighting in the Civil War, women had to take up jobs previously done by men such as running the farm and working in factories. Both the Progressives (led by Theodore Roosevelt) and Socialists (led by Eugene Debs) favored women's suffrage and without their support women might not have the rights they do today.

 

...But, Elles, it still comes down to relationships. How many of you share my recent discovery: that what I had believed to be a relationship proved, instead, to be a parasite? It's taking all my resources to survive, while the ipod users and tent-dwellers appear to have a magic connection to cash flow and "sympathizers." As a woman "burned," I have zero enthusiasm for this crowd, deciding, instead, to work that "SHE LOST: GET OVER IT!" grudge against every fool that worked the angle which put an incompetent, empty suit in the oval office. That includes you, Clift. As I recall, Pat Buchannon became the darling of the HRC camp for one obvious reason, he didn't have his head up Obama's gold-plated a$$ and could make the obvious connection between Hope and Loose Wall Street Change. Not this time, Media. We know Pat Buchannon, and Ellie, you're No Pat.

The Narrative, 3rd Leg of Economic Recovery blending the Republican techniques using the private market for job creation at the same time that he stuck the social programs that the Democrats wanted and he balanced the budget ... Clinton represents a hybrid that this 3rd Way, this New Democrat formulation, brought the country when he was elected President, and made us competitive - for the first time - as a Party in 1992.  The Narrative of the Clinton Presidency was to change the Democratic Party from a Party of Interest Groups out of the mainstream, who lost the white working class, to a party of the Middle Class.  ... And President Obama hasn't struck that narrative, yet.  I think he's trying, but the Facts On The Ground are the problem for President Obama.  No matter what speeches he makes, as long as the unemployment stays as high as it is, it's really very difficult for him to do anything about it.  He's gotta work from facts on the ground  first, and narrative second, not the other way around.  Lanny Davis

The old Clinton Peeps got together and observed the 20th Anniversary of Bill Clinton's first announcement as a Presidential candidate.  Facing off against George H. W. Bush, Billary found H. Ross Perot along for the ride and the discussion about "The Deficit" gained traction.  Clinton was a sponge, absorbing all that was possible when Americans were heard, heeded and included in Government.  His own idea about addressing the issue of Health Care costs and availability won him the Pennsylvania Primary.  Read his speech announcing his candidacy, and without pretending that Barak Obama is anything but a disappointment, this speech could win him election again today:

 

Announcement Speech

Old State House, Little Rock, Arkansas

October 3, 1991

Thank you all for being here today, for your friendship and support, for giving me the opportunity to serve as your Governor for 11 years, for filling my life full of blessings beyond anything I ever deserved.

 

I want to thank especially Hillary and Chelsea for taking this big step in our life's journey together. Hillary, for being my wife, my friend, and my partner in our efforts to build a better future for the children and families of Arkansas and America. Chelsea, in ways she is only now coming to understand, has been our constant joy and reminder of what our public efforts are really all about: a better life for all who will work for it, a better future for the next generation.

 

All of you, in different ways, have brought me here today, to step beyond a life and a job I love, to make a commitment to a larger cause: Preserving the American Dream ... Restoring the hopes of the forgotten middle class... Reclaiming the future for our children.

 

I refuse to be part of a generation that celebrates the death of Communism abroad with the loss of the American Dream at home.

 

I refuse to be part of a generation that fails to compete in the global economy and so condemns hard-working Americans to a life of struggle without reward or security.

 

That is why I stand here today...because I refuse to stand by and let our children become part of the first generation to do worse than their parents. I don't want my child or your child to be part of a country that's coming apart instead of coming together.

 

Over 25 years ago, I had a professor at Georgetown who taught me that America was the greatest country in history because our people believed in and acted on two simple ideas: first, that the future can be better than the present; and second, that each of us has a personal, moral responsibility to make it so.

 

That fundamental truth has guided my public career, and brings me here today. It is what we've devoted ourselves to here in Arkansas. I'm proud of what we've done here in Arkansas together. Proud of the work we've done to become a laboratory of democracy and innovation. And proud that we've done it without giving up the things we cherish and honor most about our way of life. Solid, middle-class values of work, Will, family, individual responsibility, and community.

 

As I’ve traveled across our state, I've found that everything we believe in, everything we've fought for, is threatened by an administration that refuses to take care of our own, has turned its back on the middle class, and is afraid to change while the world is changing.

 

The historic events In the Soviet Union in recent months teach us an important lesson: National security begins at home. For the Soviet Empire never lost to us on the field of battle. Their system rotted from the inside out, from economic, political and spiritual failure.

 

To be sure, the collapse of communism requires a new national security policy. I applaud the President's recent initiative in reducing nuclear weapons. It is an important beginning. But make no mistake - the end of the Cold War is not the end of threats to America. The world is still a dangerous and uncertain place. The first and most solemn obligation of the president is to keep America strong and safe from foreign dangers, and promote democracy around the world.

 

But we cannot build a safe and secure world unless we can first make America strong at home. It is our ability to take care of our own at home that gives us the strength to stand up for what we believe around the world.

 

As governor for 11 years, working to preserve and create jobs in a global economy, I know our competition for the future is Germany and the rest of Europe, Japan and the rest of Asia. And I know that we are losing America's leadership in the world because we're losing the American dream right here at home.

 

Middle class people are spending more hours on the job, spending less time with their children, bringing home a smaller paycheck to pay more for health care and housing and education. Our streets are meaner, our families are broken, our health care is the costliest in the world and we get less for it.

 

The country is headed in the wrong direction fast, slipping behind, losing our way...and all we have out of Washington is status quo paralysis. No vision, no action. Just neglect, selfishness, and division.

 

For 12 years, Republicans have tried to divide us - race against race - so we get mad at each other and not at them. They want us to look at each other across a racial divide so we don't turn and look to the White House and ask, why are all of our incomes going down, why are all of us losing jobs? Why are we losing our future?

 

Where I come from we know about race-baiting. They've used it to divide us for years. I know this tactic well and I'm not going to let them get away with it.

 

For 12 years, the Republicans have talked about choice without really believing in it. George Bush says he wants school choice even if it bankrupts the public schools, and yet he's more than willing to make it a crime for the women of America to exercise their individual right to choose.

 

For 12 years, the Republicans have been telling us chat America's problems aren't their problem. They washed their hands of responsibility for the economy and education and health care and social policy and turned it over to fifty states and a thousand points of light. Well, here in Arkansas we've done our best to create jobs and educate our people. And each of us has tried to be one of those thousand points of light But I can tell you, where there is no national vision, no national partnership, no national leadership, a thousand points of light leaves a lot of darkness.

 

We must provide the answers...the solutions. And we will. We're going to turn this country around and get it moving again, and we're going to fight for the hard-working middle-class families of America for a change.

 

Make no mistake - this election is about change: in our party, in our national leadership, and in our country.

 

And we're not going to get positive change just by Bush-bashing. We have to do a better job of the old-fashioned work of confronting the real problems of real people and pointing the way to a better future. That is our challenge in 1992.

 

Today, as we stand on the threshold of a new era, a new millennium, I believe we need a new kind of leadership, leadership committed to change. Leadership not mired in the politics of the past, not limited by old ideologies...Proven leadership that knows how to reinvent government to help solve the real problem of real people.

 

That is why today I am declaring my candidacy for President of the United States. Together I believe we can provide leadership that will restore the American dream - that will fight for the forgotten middle class - that will provide more opportunity, Insist on more responsibility and create a greater sense of community for this great country.

 

The change we must make isn't liberal or conservative. It’s both, and it's different. The small towns and main streets of America aren't like the corridors and backrooms of Washington. People out here don't care about the idle rhetoric of "left" and "right" and "liberal" and "conservative" and all the other words that have made our politics a substitute for action. These families are crying out desperately for someone who believes the promise of America is to help them with their struggle to get ahead, to offer them a green light instead of a pink slip.

 

This must be a campaign of ideas, not slogans. We don't need another President who doesn't know what he wants to do for America. I'm going to tell you in plain language what I intend to do as President. How we can meet the challenges we face - that's the test for all the Democratic candidates in this campaign. Americans know what we're against Let's show them what we're for.

 

We need a new covenant to rebuild America. It's just common sense. Government's responsibility is to create more opportunity. The people's responsibility is to make the most of it.

 

In a Clinton Administration, we are going to create opportunity for all. We've got to grow this economy, not shrink it. We need to give people Incentives to make long-term investment in America and reward people who produce goods and services, not those who speculate with other people's money. We've got to invest more money in emerging technologies to help keep high-paying jobs here at home. We've got to convert from a defense to a domestic economy.

 

We've got to expand world trade, tear down barriers, but demand fair trade policies if we're going to provide good jobs for our people. The American people don't want to run from the world. We must meet the competition and win.

 

0pportunity for all means world-class skills and world-class education. We need more than photo ops and empty rhetoric - we need standards and accountability and excellence in education. On this issue, I'm proud to say that Arkansas has led the way.

 

In a Clinton Administration, students and parents and teachers will get a real education President.

 

Opportunity for all means pre-school for every child who needs it, and an apprenticeship program for kids who don't want to go to college but do want good jobs. It means teaching everybody with a job to read, and passing a domestic GI Bill that would give every young American the chance to borrow the money necessary to go to college and ask them to pay it back either as a small percentage of their income over time, or through national service as teachers or policemen or nurses or child care workers.

 

In. a Clinton Administration, everyone will be able to get a college loan as long as they're willing to give something back to their country In return.

 

Opportunity for all means reforming the health care system to control costs, improve quality, expand preventive and long-term care, maintain consumer choice, and cover everybody. And we don't have to bankrupt the taxpayers to do it. We do have to take on the big insurance companies and health care bureaucracies and get some real cost control into the system. I pledge to the American people that in the first year of a Clinton Administration, we will present a plan to Congress and the American people to provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans.

 

Opportunity for all means making our cities and our streets safe from crime and drugs. Across America, citizens are banding together to take their streets and neighborhoods back. In a Clinton Administration, we'll be on their side with new initiatives like community policing, drug treatment for those who need it, and boot camps for first-time offenders.

 

Opportunity for all means making taxes fair. I'm not out to soak the rich. I wouldn't mind being rich. But I do believe the rich should pay their fair share. For 12 years, the Republicans have raised taxes on the middle class. It's time to give the middle class tax relief.

 

Finally, opportunity for all means we must protect our environment and develop an energy policy that relies more on conservation and clean natural gas so all our children will inherit a world that is cleaner, safer, and more beautiful.

 

But hear me now. I honestly believe that if we try to do these things, we will still not solve the problems of today or move into the next century with confidence unless we do what President Kennedy did and ask every American citizen to assume personal responsibility for the future of our country.

 

The government owes our people more opportunity, but we all have to make the most of it through responsible citizenship.

 

We should insist that people move off welfare rolls and onto work rolls. We should give people on welfare the skills they need to succeed, but we should demand that everybody who can work and become a productive member of society.

 

We should insist on the toughest possible child support enforcement. Governments don't raise children, parents do. And when they don't, their children pay forever and so do we.

 

And we have got to say, as we've tried to do in Arkansas, that students have a responsibility to stay in school. If you drop out for no good reason, you should lose your driver's license. But its important to remember that the most irresponsible people of all in the 1980s were those at the top...not those who were doing worse, not the hard-working middle class, but those who sold out our savings and loans with bad deals and spent billions on wasteful takeovers and mergers - money that could have been spent to create better products and new jobs.

 

Do you know that in the 1980s, while middle-class income went down, charitable giving by working people went up? And while rich peoples incomes went up, charitable giving by the wealthy went down. Why? Because our leaders had an ethic of get it while you can and to heck with everybody else.

 

How can you ask people who work or who are poor to behave responsibly, when they know that the heads of our biggest companies raised their own pay in the last decade by four times the percentage their workers' pay went up? Three times as much as their profits went up. When they ran their companies into the ground and their employees were on the street, what did they do? They bailed out with golden parachutes to a cushy life. That's just wrong.

 

Teddy Roosevelt and Harry Truman and John Kennedy didn't hesitate to use the bully pulpit of the Presidency. They changed America by standing up for what’s right. When Salomon Brothers abused the Treasury markets, the President was silent. When the

rip-off artists looted our S&L's the President Was Silent. In a Clinton Administration, when people sell their companies and their workers and their country down the river, they'll get called on the carpet. We're going to insist that they invest In this country and create jobs for our people.

 

In the 1980s, Washington failed us too. We spent more money on the present and the past and less on the future. We spent $500 billion to recycle assets in the S&L mess, but we couldn't afford $5 billion for unemployed workers or to give every kid in this country the chance to be in Head Start. We can do better than that, and we will.

 

A Clinton Administration won't spend our money on programs that don't solve problems and a government that doesn't work. I want to reinvent government to make it more efficient and more effective. I want to give citizens more choices in the services they get, and empower them to make those choices. That's what we've tried to do in Arkansas. We've balanced the budget every year and improved services. We've treated taxpayers like our customers and our bosses, because they are.

 

I want the American people to know that a Clinton Administration will defend our national interests abroad, put their values into our social policy at home, and spend their tax money with discipline. Well put government back on the side of the hard-working middle-class families of America who think most of the help goes to those at the top of the ladder, some goes to the bottom, and no one speaks for them.

 

But we need more than new laws, new promises, or new program. We need a new spirit of community, a sense that we are all in this together. If we have no sense of community the American dream will continue to wither. Our destiny is bound up with the destiny of every other American. Were all in this together, and we will rise or fail together.

 

A few years ago, Hillary and I visited a classroom in Los Angeles, in an area plagued by drugs and gangs. We talked to a dozen sixth graders, whose number one concern was being shot going to and from school. Their second worry was turning 12 or 13 and being forced to join a gang or be beaten. And finally, they were worried about their own parents' drug abuse.

 

Newly half a century ago, I was born not far from here in Hope, Arkansas. My mother had been widowed three months before I was born. I was raised for four years by my grandparents, while she went back to nursing school. They didn't have much money. I spent a lot of time with my great-grandparents. By any standard, they were poor. But we didn't blame other people. We took responsibility for ourselves and for each other because we knew we could do better. I was raised to believe In the American dream, in family values, in individual responsibility, and in the obligation of government to help people who were doing the best they could.

 

Its a long way in America from that loving family which is embodied today in a picture on my wall in the Governor's office of me at the age of six holding my great-grandfather's hand to an America where children on the streets of our cities don't know who their grandparents are and have to worry about their own parents' drug abuse.

 

I tell you, by making common cause with those children, we give new life to the American dream. And that is our generation's responsibility - to form a new covenant... more opportunity for all, more responsibility from everyone, and a greater sense of common purpose.

 

I believe with all my heart that together, we can make this happen. We can usher in a new era of progress, prosperity and renewal. We can – we must. This is not just a campaign for the Presidency – it is a campaign for the future, for the forgotten hard-working middle class families of America who deserve a government that fights for them. A campaign to keep America strong at home and around the world. Join with us. I ask for your prayers, your help, your hands, and your hearts. Together we can make America great again, and build a community of hope that will inspire the world.

How did the Democratic Party allow itself to be overtaken by punks, selfish special interests and power-lusting identity politicos?

Solyndra Fancy on Us

It is regrettable that in the scandal coverage of the Obama Administration's forced "selection" of a Green Energy "Winner" funding, the uniqueness of the Solyndra product line is obscured.  From my own college days in the 70's to this very day as I observe the WindMill field along the PA Turnpike heading to Harrisburg for State Committee meetings, I have wondered at the "off-beat" quality of the alternative energy industry.  

I went to the Solyndra website, http://www.solyndra.com/technology-products/ and was impressed with the cylindrical design of the solar units.  Unlike the panels which have been the typical solar collector, the Solyndra collectors look more like flourescent bulbs you see in work-bench lighting and kitchens of the 50's.

قية - taqiyya

Who Gave These Wimminz the Vote, Anyway?

Increasingly more of them have been stood up enough to determine that their bad boyfriend only strings them along and takes the Mrs on Vacation. Figuring out that what they believed to be a relationship is nothing but a parasite isn't the worst part. It was SO loyal of them to beat back their dismay at the rumped 2008 convention when the roll call was called on account of competition. But it really frosted them to find themselves working the campaign headquarters as loyal Democrats while the Progressives were hijacking the flag, the America we all love and grinding them into serfs left to eat it as they were treated boorishly. You put these creeps on top and trusted them to reciprocate. Psyche!

But Gals, take faith...the Chinese want to pay cold, hard cash to get into Baseball!!!! Do you grasp what awesome diplomatic NEWS this is? This is a tectonic shift in all that is AMERICAN!

The money to pay for the deal would come from American investors and “certain state-owned investment institutions of the People’s Republic of China,” the letter said, according to the Times.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Dodgers+comes+from+China+reports/5342900/story.html#ixzz1WqJStqjx

As a Pittsburgh Pirate fan, (the Steelers lost for 40 years, like Moses not asking for directions, while the Honus Wagner card commanded the most cash in the trading realm) we saw the only walk-off series winning homer sail over the Forbes Field ivy to beat the Yankees and make Bill Mazeroski a hero, and Roberto Clemente go "Arriba!" in '71 and again as the Family in '79. We also returned home to The Burgh when the City of Pittsburgh, the Banks, Corporations and the Fans took ownership of the franchise and truly became the Team Managed by Committee. Ah! to be part of the team in a meaningful way, we all felt like world-beaters @the Confluence.

So it is truly a mark of respect and the highest form of flattery that the Chinese have offered back a bit of the cash we paid them to import their job-robbing products to our shores for a shot at the Show. The people who sell tickets for Major League Baseball clubs will affirm that this is the best economic news Americans could hear. The Chinese will come to the United States to enjoy their team and learn, in the process, the joy of legitimate competition. They will gain insight into a gentle pass time that matches pitching duelers with hitting prowess and all manner of agility and fundamentals... like the Japanese, the Chinese will fall hopelessly in love with America and it'll be a reprise of "How the West Was Won." The Japanese President of Success Motivation Institute International once spoke at the company convention in Dallas with the announcement that he bought himself a 10 Gallon Hat and some baby blue alligator cowboy boots which he couldn't wait to wear back home while riding his motorcycle. I can only imagine the Chinese bringing their children to sing the National Anthem, God Bless America and "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" while watching themselves on the JumboTron. All things American and all things traditional are enshrined in Doubleday's Game and the Diplomatic Corps from the Foggy Bottom can throw a China Town take-out into a Dodger Blue cooler with a couple of Stoneys and rig up a rally cap.

Really, now, you Latino's, do you think you should offend your Chinese Friends with complaints that somebody "American" should own the Dodgers? Do you not get that THEY WANT TO BE AMERICANS? (Just like younz) This is their bid. Smile. Kim Jong Il wants in, too. And that apology tour the tool town Chic took to the middle east will be a laughable moment when the Asiatic workhorses can finally relate to the tomahawk chop, catching a souvenir foul ball and running the bases after a Sunday game. Awesome! They're gonna be too much fun in Spring Training. And the Carolinas will show them all that is Americana with the Mudcats right up there beside the NASCAR pits, perogie races and minor league spinning.. They'll be hookin' up with the Blue Jays, the Cardinals, the Orioles and the Tribe, the Reds, Rays / Fish, the Sox, Cubs, Braves, Mets, Yanks, A's, Astros, Tigers, Twins, Nats and Bucs, the Snakes, Rockies, Mariners, Padres and Giants...and they'll learn to love the way fans rip the bull pen and as they tune into the language of balls and strikes, they'll bring a whole new dimension to contemporary management - and of course, they'll all be doing this: And after they see this, they'll wish they hadn't done the little girls that way.

A Variation on an Old Theme

OOOH...AN INNOCENT STAFFER, NOT AUTHORIZED, DID THIS:(

"For the People Jobs Initiative"

Job Fairs, Town Hall meetings, help putting together a resume, the nuts and bolts of finding a job, ... It's ALL work, folks.  Maxine Waters has done the Charlie Rangel and cried to her fellow leaders to "hold us back or unleash the CBC."  In my mind, the Congressional Black Congress should not even exist, yet this woman - who like Nancy Pelosi - has enjoyed invincibility getting re-elected in her California Congressional District while she wreaks havoc with the stability, substance and decency of the Economic Opportunity available to her Constituency.

Unlike Pelosi, Maxine represents virtually ONLY people of color, a mere 10% of CA-35 is white while fully 47% are Hispanic and 34%  black all of whom "enjoy" an average annual income of about $32,000. Their Congresswoman is fleecing her constituents - not unlike the recently deposed Speaker.


This district, formed in 1970 has, at times, included parts of Orange and San Bernardino. Targeted 7 times in 23 years for redistricting, the shuffle and shift a conflagration of California Wild Fires of political opportunism was finally "Ghetto-locked" into a readily controlled police state known as South L.A. over which the "Office" of socialist, Waters, has exerted political clout since 1993. Re-elected 10 times, Waters has joined the ranks of seniority in Congress that should qualify her loyal Constituents for some sort of "pork" yet we wonder where it goes. I took some classes at the Allegheny County Community College while "serving" on Unemployment back in the 90's - about the time Maxine arrived on Capitol Hill. The branch was on Pittsburgh's North Side (Old Allegheny; Millionaire's row, now a reclaimed slum and "Project" site.) Although a well-designed building complex, there were areas where a student could not walk the halls without being bombarded with flyers, signage and banners urging them to reject drugs, get help and know the dangers of drug use. I gotta tell you; the "culture" of this community was screaming through this "motivational" artwork and it so creeped me out that I switched to the North Hills branch for the next semester. Between that and the 'African' art, I simply could not relate, relax or realize my "potential." "Geez!" I thought. "They are so cocooned in their own cultural slant that they are as though blinded by baloney." At the time, I was doing classes in Word Perfect, Computer Programming (which kicked my butt) Lotus 1-2-3 (both of these programs were ultimately replaced in the mainstream by Word and Excel, respectively.)   But as I look at Roger Williams, Texan, Candidate for Congress and Republican, I begin to understand.  Like the White Tail deer population in the country, the voters who support such leadership are oblivious to the bustle of traffic on the freeway heading to the suburbs: they have carved out a community within a community that permits them to congeal into a collective of passive, indifferent, self-centereds who simplify their lives by gaming the system for the wherewithal to trade government scrip for privacy in their otherwise 'to-be-avoided' neighborhood.  At night, gunfire and shootings plague this part of the city, known as the Manchester District, and the residents there, while lovely and diligent, are infiltrated with low-life who live, virtually off those whom - I believe - attend Community College and buy their drugs.  Unlike in the Oakland area, home of Pitt University and Medical Center, the North Side is Heinz Field, PNC Park, Rivers Casino and the main branch of the Post Office, UPS, Port Authority Mass Transit, the Carnegie Science Center and Allegheny General and Divine Providence Hospitals - substantive employers and resources surrounded by blight.   On weekends, there is no more 'traditional' neighborhood; the Mexican War Streets teeming with Peace Corps alums who have done beautiful restorations of the grand town-homes, Southern-style barbecue chefs operating hole-in-the-wall establishments preserving techniques unique to contemporary business models, Bed & Breakfasts in old churches and monasteries.  Cart vendors offer Italian Ice, popcorn and refreshments but, unlike the Hill District, there is little night life beyond the river banks.

Thus my perception of Maxine Waters' district is difficult.  I would have to actually go there and see it for myself.  Waters has, over her ten terms, acquired some political weight, having served on committees and garnered notoriety as a derided socialist.  Her work in Congress is Afro-Centric as she is focused on issues of particular importance to African -Americans while her district is virtually HALF Latino.  Given the ethics charges brought against her, exposing her husband's banking connections (hey, Max, didn't you initially endorse Hillary then switch to the Wall Street Whipping Boy when the deal cutting with the Banking Industry got serious?), today's Fox & Friends interview with Alveda King, the niece of Martin Luther King, Jr. is particularly poignant.  Commenting on Waters' words "As far as I'm concerned, the Tea Party can go straight to hell." King observed that Maxine is simply not doing her job.    King observes that if Maxine would tell the truth about all the issues impacting every community, not limited to the African American community, "We'd be a littler happier with what she's doing."  What's up with these politicians who have their heads so spun into a dither over race that they are incapable of just looking around themselves and seeing with awareness?

China, Secrets & American JOB

Years ago, I took my administrative skills to an employment opportunity with a professional man engaged in the sale of carbon products and alloys to the metals industry.  He represented Coke, of the bituminous kind, the sort that makes Clairton, Pennsylvania the location of choice for the air quality monitors of Allegheny County.  The year before I was born, in the Monongahela River Valley, 1948, citizens fell dead on the sidewalks, overcome by toxins in the air described as the "Donora Fog."  United States Steel had a plant in Donora where the Zinc Works spewed flouride into the "inversion" later blamed for the 20 deaths attributed to the incident.  Our family doctor, Bill Rongaus, who normally saw patients in his 6th & Thompson office for endless hours, led the ambulances on foot as a Health Department Board Member, into their homes and neighborhoods well into the middle of the night, and personally assessed the impact on his clientele.  "Thousands would have perished had the fog lasted another day," he observed.  I started school in 1955 and for the next eight years, walked the few blocks to one funeral home or another to pray the rosary in the presence of caskets holding the family members of my classmates.  My own father, a 33 year carpenter at the Zink Works, died in his early 50's after returning to work from his six-week vacation having earned his age + service "sabbatical" from the grind.  A year shy of retirement, dad had a "heart condition" for the final eight years of his life, having suffered a "heart attack" while completing a side job renovating a dry cleaning establishment - one of your serious chemical zones, I guess.

At "Alloys & Carbon," Frank Praznik organized the delivery of various sizes of coke produced in West Virginia to the mills along the river in Monaca.  In the course of getting online with the new-fangled internets, Frank expanded to suppliers beyond our local producers.  He arranged a boatload of what was called "Buckwheat" coke to be brought in from China at about the time he had given me a book to read about the history of Coke as it was part of the American Industrial Revolution.   The original tree huggers of Great Britain turned to coke as a salvation for the too-rapid exhaustion of the the forests for the fuel to smelt iron for the steel industry.  Many of the secretaries performing the administrative tasks to receive the imported coke shipment were the children of folks whose lives were tormented and prematurely ceased to breath in the unacceptable working and living conditions fostered by these coke ovens known as "bee hives."  To Frank, their objections were ridiculous, inasmuch as only Clairton and the Neville Island plants continued to produce these products.  Because of the Clean Air Act of 1955, US Coke Works could no longer use the bee hive production method and had developed a system of "scrubbers" installed in the exhaust stacks in all US Steel Mills to manage the air quality.  Homes were moved from coal burning furnaces to natural gas and propane further up river in Pittsburgh, but the people of Southwest Pennsylvania were now well aware of the quality of life issues that drove the Union movements in Homestead, PA in the last decades of the nineteenth century.  To them, the people engaged in the production of coke via known toxic-producing processes were subjected to working and living conditions that were unacceptable and objections were received FROM THE SECRETARIAL STAFF about the importation of the coke.  For Frank's money, the wimminz were well-intentioned, but he viewed the efforts of the Chinese was a first tier entry into the industrial process.  This was in 1997, mind you, barely fifteen years ago, but to the "men" of the metals industry who could buy, transport and deliver this product from the Far East, it was still cheaper than they could get it in the United States.  Detached and profit-driven, Frank would have readily fired those meddlesom gals had they been in his employ.  But I came to recognize the complaints of the Immigration Control supporters who are constantly told the undocumented workers taking our jobs stateside are willing to do jobs Americans won't do. 

remnants of the helicopter destroyed

Read the piece about the investigations into the Donora Fog and understand that it isn't the jobs Americans reject, but, rather the working conditions imposed upon them by employers indifferent to the realities of dangers and threats to residents and employees their processes pose.  Instead of responsibly and routinely initiating upgrades and improvements to their plants as they become available, they simply remove the skilled, higher paid labor to admit poorly trained, ignorant people desperate for jobs at the lower end.  These folks, just thankful for a job, are often further victimized by shake-down artists who demand a portion of their paychecks for the "protection" of any claim they had to a job of any sort.  Like the Chinese, these employers shrug off the technology available to provide the mutually respectful, highly motivating job opportunities for working people and their families.  Priorities being what they are, the issue with JOBS driving this economy into the ground has a parallel issue in the technology reported today to have been sold to the Chinese by the Pakistanis holding the remnants of the helicopter destroyed when the Navy Seals entered the Abbottabad Compound of Osama Bin Ladin.  While the Chinese engineers pour over the wreakage to conduct what is - essentially -  an autopsy of US "Intelligence," their citizens foment in a rise to challenge the qualities of life issues that drove Eastern Europeans to hang Henry Clay Frick in effigy at the site of the Homestead Strike in 1892.  While his own employer, Andrew Carnegie, was travelling to Scottland, the Mount Pleasant German was "doing the best he could" with his limited skills, to control the workers.  His boss was reputed to be "pro labor," and no doubt had the wisdom, social insight and appreciation for his employees to have been likely to have done a much more effective job of dealing with their uprising.  In his stead, because he had to travel to connect with his colleagues in the growing steel industry overseas, his "deputized" partner was the entity whose fortunes, like his own, were tied to the resolution of differences between the two sides.   One would think that Frick had both the incentive and the insight to reach a sensible agreement with his producers.  Instead of negotiating from a position of strength fostered by good will toward his employees, Frick operated from a mis-guided notion that intimidation and subordination would somehow enhance the profit prospects of his business.  He paid "detectives" from New York Pinkerton Agency to come in and level the strikers with violence and destruction.  Up to that point, only the symbolic representation of Frick himself was impacted.  The overbearing actions taken in retaliation, however, communicated his ignorance in no uncertain terms.

Which brings me to my daily "Howler" to Barak Obama, a no-holds-barred assessment of his skill set limits now providing the Chinese with yet another 'distraction' from the needs to develop their economy by diverting resources to "Intelligence" work to defend what they are acquiring.  Of course, China is both our banker and our biggest customer / supplier.  Their "production" methods get a wink and a nod from our own human rights lefties as the rakes continue to glut the accounts of the Kennedeys who sell their cheap goods in Minnesota.  At the Mall of America, tourists are walked along a corridor of corruption that links directly to profits and privilege with utter contempt for those whose jobs prevent them from being able to afford anything more than the exercise they get licking the windows.  If Michele Bachmann were Hillary Clinton, the left would be assaulting her for serving on the board of any of the hundreds of businesses who import Chinese product to stock the establishments in the mall.  Instead, she's appealing to the folks who are in the decided minority in MN, for reason and mutually respectful behavior.  I have alluded in the past to the communication I often receive from my deceased ancestors, and have no doubt that the Chinese know of what I speak.

Along with the input from members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Crochet Club Amores, Brizzi's and Carbonnes to whom my grandmothers were related, I hear, from time to time, from departed spirits of underworld figures who thought they were smart but come to find out that they were but victims of their own callous indifference to their families' best interests.  As I have mentioned in previous posts here and at UppityWoman08, the MOB has electronics.  The Wise Guys who met their "eviction" from the underworld - from which there IS only one exit, stick around to kibbutz from the other side and look over my shoulder at my cards... They comment on how I play them, and sometimes, WHEN I FLAT OUT ASK FOR IT, they IM me with some sensible advice.  Always, always, always, these bytes of input from my "guys" reinforce the admission that their demise was the result of their own choice, something they, themselves did, to bring about their death.  Where they end up, they have alternatives, but not really choices.  They share with me that the better my decisions, the better my resultant choices.  What we don't always get is the taqiyya thing going on in our faces, obscuring pertinent factors that will ultimately misguide us.  So they invite me to enter the bird's eye, see how the land lies and adjust my course in coordination with their best wishes for me.  I get that, because I know that where they are is beyond material gain.  The only 'motivation' they have now is fun.  They have it "there" for certain.  They play at things one can do remotely and are - just as we bloggers, gamers and similar computer, phone, gps geeks, constantly testing new combinations of standards and traditions that, aided by technological advancements of the NASA funding, are exceptional fun.  The first time I put on quality headphones tapped into a radio/tape player while in the middle of a parking lot in Buckhead, on my roller skates, I "got it."  22 pinheads (rather minutes) past the hour, says Bill Hemmer on the morning Fox News, just as I typed that, and it reinforced the access they have to electronics.  I learned they can combine any / many things to convey their message to me and that reference to Pin Heads was an O'Reilley colloquialism telling me that the Long Island contingent of cucumber farmers was in touch.  OK, Guys, we'll play.  But for now, I've gotta get to the office and put the payroll together.  See yunz there.