I'm tired, angry and frustrated too.

Putting this here as a time and place marker. Because if things do not substantially change then we are going to have to face this again. And again. And then someday, what the fuck just happened.

Watch the whole thing before you start to have an opinion.

And sit with it and try to understand it.

The Flag May Be Grand But the Anthem Is Another Story

I've watched people grumble about having to stand up and sing the anthem. I've watched them talk non-stop as they ignore it being played. I've seem them stroke their phones, chow down on a dog and do all kinds of what-nots while that song is being played.


What So Proudly We Hail | DOCUMENTARY from Duane Saunders Jr on Vimeo.

This is a video that talks about the history of the lyrics, the Africans that fought and fought hard to be free and one man licking his wounds who got inspiration to craft some words on a piece of paper.

This past week I've have also seen so-called loyal to the bone American call a football player the N-word, the B-Word and all kinds of other words.

I've said it once and I'll say it again it is open season of the emancipation of the bigot.

There is so much American history that is not taught. Not expressed to those that need to make an informed decision about how far to take the promise of what America said it wanted to be.

The full lyrics of this song is a big ass lie and the person that wrote it was a slave master.

I have limited interest in being called names because, for multiple reasons, it gets harder to see my place in the American culture.

I can see my place in the time line of history. Basically the ancestors are telling us to hang on in their, it will work out.

American in the Nexus of Race and Guns Part 6

I don't remember if I saw Cat Ballou in the theater or on television. The second run movie house could have had it as a feature for a Saturday afternoon matinee.

It isn't impossible for me to have seen it on the big screen.






I would not have known about Nat King Cole's music career. I probably was trying to figure out why Sidney Poitier was not in the movie.

Sidney was in dang almost every movie I could think of in the 1960s.

I did like my westerns with the shooting and and killing of bad people. I was heavily invested in the killing of bad people.

But change came. New ideas were seeping into the general consciousness. I remember being in the audience with John Wayne type movie.

There comes a point when the Union army general or scout refereed to Native Americans as savages.

The audience, 99.5% black responded with jokes and booing. When the indigenous land owners were killing up said Union army there was cheering.

So that is probably why there was a whole lot of Clint Eastwood movies at my local cinema. Less wear and tear and not so much popcorn boxes chucked at the screen.

I digress.

Kat Ballou wasn't that kind of movie. It was a western comedy.

Plucky young woman returns home with her dad only to find out that a bad man is causing trouble.

Still got your Native American in service and white guys doing pretty much what they want.

And if you think about it the movie does kind of carry the meme that the only power anyone has it is the power of the gun to invoke change.

You want justice, do it yourself.

You want wealth, take it.

You want self-respect in an unfair land, fight for it.

Cuz real good so-called G-d fearing/loving citizens don't give a damn about anything other than their own self interests.

Yeah, yeah. I'm putting too much into it. Just a comedy movie.

American In the Nexus of Race and Guns Part 4

I guess one of the unasked questions in current movie fiction is can you be a strong man solving problems without a gun.

We know men can be goofs.

They can be con men.

Beloved hump fiends with their own private sex shooter.

But when was the last time you remember a movie that did not have the male hero/protagonist without using a gun (bomb, rocket, robot, spaceship with photon torpedoes) to solve the problem or be restored whole?

I know that this movie is based on a series of famous books.

I've never read them.

Spy genre is not my preferred reading area of interest.

The thing is that variations of this poster is on every bus, shuttle, cab and transportation device.
I have no choice but to see this image of a man with a gun.

Still with the Orlando shooting in my mind. Still with the most recent death by cop videos. Still with all the yakity yak about 2nd amendments vs gun control talk.

This is how I wind up in the nexus.

Because in the United States, that piece of metal means more than any one individual's life be it a child, woman or man.

And we are so connected to the gun.

Attitudes have to change. How we tell stories about guns and power might have to change.

And we are not there yet.

American In the Nexus of Race and Guns Part 1

The first movie I ever saw by myself was In the Heat of the Night. I am sure that there was a Three Stooges short and a couple of Warner Brothers cartoons in front of it. Probably one of those that had Elmer tooting a gun.

I can't remember.
I do remember this movie.


  
I understood about cops harassing and detaining without warrant or reasonable cause other than the color of your skin.

I absorbed the audience reaction when Tibbs struck the rich man as doing something none of us could possibly do and live to tell about it.

I felt the fear about being chased by a mob of angry young white men that had no other sport. 

I was also chomping down a lot of butter popcorn and Mike and Ike's so I may have missed a few things.

What did I learn at 8 years of age

• Have to be careful around white folks.
• Have to be careful around white folks with guns and chains.
• Sidney Poitier was Superman in a suit 
• I'm going to do my best to stay out of the south.

Looking back, I think I absorbed was the understanding that guns and power could keep you safe but if you had some brains and something that other people wanted that might keep you alive too.

Bryan Stevenson at Zeitgeist 2015

I am leery about talking about problems without attempting to have space for ideas and solutions.

I am weary of people finding excuses for damning other people to hell without having a slice of compassion or the ability to lean to the left or right to see another point of view.




And if you have been in hell how much grace will you receive for being less than perfect as you try to find your way out?

This is a talk by Bryan Stevenson. Among many things,he is the author of Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. He was invited to speak at Google Zeitgeist.

This gentleman is a master speaker so he will draw you into the concepts he is trying to convey.

It is just under 27 minutes in length.You will not hear any of the presidential candidates go deep into solutions. They can't. They don't have any. And if they did the other side would be the obstruction force.

We, on the other hand, can come up with solutions. It can be flip positive.

Klownie Kar Follies Struck A Nerve

I generally shake my head and move on from the Klown Kar follies. I know what is being said but there is only so much verbal spewing that a person can stand.

I should ignore it because in another two weeks it will not matter. Damn it. This matters to me. I am a grandchild child of emancipated people.

Ignorance matters to me. The misstatements of laws, context and circumstances make me a little testy. When Klownie #1 starts talking about anchor babies I was offended, but I considered the source and went on about my business.





When Klownie #26 pipes in that he too wants to revoke birth citizenship even though his own non-resident parents gave birth to him on U.S. soil, I kept moving forward because hypocrisy has a way of kicking your own ass and it didn't need my help.

For my non-U.S. friends and acquaintances if you don't know about the Dred Scott decision by the 1857 US Supreme Court then here is the short version:


Huckabee claims that this decision is still on the books. He believes that it is still a law, just a law that we no longer follow.

My understanding of what Huckabee is getting at is that he believes that gay marriage is an attempt by the Supreme Court to circumvent the will of the people and of the Congress.

That Ms. Davis had every right to refuse to issue marriage licenses because it is a violation of her faith and what she understands to be her rights under her authority as a clerk in Kentucky to invalidate an erroneous decision.

Oh, hell no. See, if you go messing with the 13th and 14th amendments then you messing in my neighborhood. And although many people, even on the conservative side, have pointed out his error to him (No, that freaking law does not still exist.) Klownie is holding on for dear life.

This will pass. Somebody will say something more stupid in a couple of days. But how the hell do you get to be a presidential candidate without knowing United States history?

There are decent people who are fiscal Republicans, faith based Republicans and every pro-choice Republicans but I do not accept any party that wants to ratchet me back to 1857.

All lives matter my ass.

Politically Speaking, The Poor Are the Enemy

I’m noticing a lot of talk about “The Poor.” It is an impersonal non-descriptive term. The prior incarnations were applied to “The Women”,” The Negro” and “The Asian (well, in the past this would have been referred to as The Chinese)” followed by the word “Problem.”

During most elections, “The Poor” would be invoked as a badge of concern or at least a focal point of attention. This time is different. “The Poor” have become the enemy.

In December 2011, Newt Gingrich made a statement about how poor children don’t have a clue as to understanding responsibility, ethics or the habit of working. This, by implication, means that their parents don’t have those qualities either.




Think about that statement. Every single poor person in America is engage in illegal activities. Sound idiotic. Yet many people agreed with the ignorance of that statement.

When Gingrich asked the potential donors in the room had they ever babysat or performed yard work as a comparison to an imaginary poor child, who hasn’t appeared to do anything but breathe and eat Skittles, I guess you could work up a bit of indignation.

Perhaps their understanding of “The Poor” is what they see and hear in the local and national media. It is a distorted vision.

But that was the beginning of the wave of “The Poor” being transformed into the enemy.

There are memes of taxation and certain Ayn Rand plug-ins presenting “The Poor” as picking individuals and corporate pockets in order to receive healthcare, education, and food. There are people ready to tell you that, in their perception, have done nothing to deserve it.

Never mind that you can’t live a day in this country without paying some form of local, state or federal taxes. And many people who should know better ignore the fact of millions of poor people do work and have taxes pulled from their checks each pay period.

No, don’t let the facts get in the way of the emotionally self-validating “live and let die; it is not my problem or concern.”

The main kicker in “The Poor” is the enemy campaign is when a presidential candidate Mitt Romney states that he is not concerned with the 47% and the reason why he is not concerned:

“…These are people who pay no income tax. Forty-seven percent of Americans pay no income tax. So our message of low taxes doesn't connect. And he'll be out there talking about tax cuts for the rich. I mean that's what they sell every four years. And so my job is not to worry about those people—I'll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. 

For the record, “The Poor” are hyper proactive about obtaining food, shelter and not walk around half naked.

Poor people take the jobs they can find. Many of those jobs are in the service industry or whatever employment is available. It bears repeating that many low wage jobs have been shipped to China, The Philippians and other countries.

We need to be really careful about defining who is worthy of concern or not. My understanding is that providing education was a non-negotiable part of the American experience. Have we decided that we now want a permanent class of illiterate citizens?

Are retired seniors unworthy of the money they invested in Social Security payments? Should disabled veterans have a time limit on re-entry support or medical care?  We do a terrible job of it now but we can do worse if we put our minds to it.

If you are not in the above groups and you do not make a lot of money what exactly makes you unworthy of being considered a full participant and recipient of the government’s resources?

There are real people behind the political rhetoric and quotes of the week. You wouldn’t know that from the political discourse of the past three years. I don’t expect that to change anytime soon after the election.

I do expect that if we as a people want to portray “The Poor” as the enemy there will be a price to pay.

From the thought, to the word, to the deed.

The Speech That Should Viewed To Be Understood

I love animation in just about all the forms possible. I was telling a friend earlier in the day that I had purchased a comic book program that will animate the panels into a comic book motion graphic type video.

The tools to create are becoming more accessible. But it still takes talent and writing skills to get the job done. I need more hours in the day to do what I want to do. So very much to do. For those of you on the non-progressive side of the fence you might want to hook up with me later.




You won't like the video. I just know it. The video takes a speech of President Obama's and animate it to visual clarity.

The video was created by Why Obama Now by animator Lucas Gray.

In this current election I have been exposed to 21st century verbal and political hate that hasn't been this proud and loud since 1954. I am not using hyperbole. It seems that every other week we have a wack job busting at the seems trying to tell me that we need to turn this country back.

There is a politician in Arkansas that wrote a self-published book about just how noxious he finds African Americans to be; if you got the stomach for it you can read a bit of it at Talking Business.

My understanding is that Arkansas is trying to get tech folks to move to that part of the the country.
They are having a hard time with the pre-existing stereotypes that the locals are trying hard to shake.

This business and civic campaign might take awhile when you have a Republican state senator, Jon Hubbard, codifying what my great-grandmother must have heard at least once in her life.

Ok, maybe twice.

“… will it ever become possible for black people in the United States of America to firmly establish themselves as inclusive and contributing members of society within this country?” (Page 187)

I've heard this before. Seen it. Read it. Oh, the above statement is mild. I have no intention of reading the book.I will not co-sign on being called lazy or the reason of the fall of the white man. Even now there are commentators and other bloggers trying to defend what this guy is spewing.

Being a member of this society I have to defend Hubbard's right of free speech. Don't have to like it. Just as Hubbard is now finding out you have to stand and accept the judgment of others who may or may not approve of what you have to say.


As for me? I like the animation better. Go figure. 

Robert Scheer on Working for the Los Angeles Times

The realities of current living make me want to hide in a deep cave but that isn't what I was sent here on the planet to do.


In March 2012 I attended the Media Makers for the 99% Summit. Robert Scheer was one of the speakers. He has a lot of things to say and I got about 40 some minutes of him saying it.  In this video clip, he is talking about how he got started, his liberalism and working for the Los Angeles Times.

Objectivity is subjective. Pick the subject and we may or may not have a bias but we are self centered about how we see the world. We all are. You don't have to pick a side, this is human nature.

But it does help to explain how we got into this mess we find ourselves. It is one thing to be sitting in a bar talking trash. Is is another to legislate with trash biased thinking.

Do We Even Know What Freedom Means?

Because when you constrict the rights of freedom of thought, expression and the right to vote in order to "be safe" you have lost everything.

What do we know or care about freedom if you won't move from polemics to action.

Open Letter to Jeanette at Utah Valley Magazine

A few days ago Utah Valley Magazine had a photo of some of the women in the office. You might have heard about it. This is a copy of that photo.

The headline for the photo was Women of Color. Now, hold on those of you who are women of color for just a sec. For those of you not traditionally thought of as women of color take two seconds.

I know. I understand. I got a brand new dent on my desk.  Deep breath, let the good air in, let the bad air out. Ok.

The editor of the magazine, Jeanette Bennett has written her explanation of how the photo and the headline came to be published. This is the comment that I left on her blog.

I wanted to address her question in the post as to why folks got so heated up about the headline and photo and how they did not seem to articulate anything more than anger. And there are some angry folks. Understandable.

But if she was serious about wanting to know why the headline and photo struck a bunch of nerves I wanted to step up and give it a go. It is not the only reason. No,  certainly not. And I know for certain there will be white folks that will be angry about being told they have no color. Never said that nor implied it.

Damn, I hate race based posts that require a book and a half to do properly. Anyway, this is the comment that I left at her blog. It may or may not be approved but I wanted to make sure some body sees it.

I appreciate your efforts to clarify how the cover and headline occurred. I am not here to cuss you out. No hate, no insults and no calls for lighting folks up.

As an African American woman I want to chime in on why the headline and the photo caused people to blink repeatedly. I have to say looking at the photo there was a psychic disconnect.

You know, it has been kinda rough for people of color. We have so many folks that want to be blind to seeing our ethnicity aka " I don't see color, I see the person."  Not really true, but I'm not here to get that fire going. Another trope is "I'm American, dammit, why can't you be too?" I am American with ancestors from Africa. I don't want my history expunged.

No, of course you did not mean for that meaning. Yet your headline or photo did that. In addition, with the bitterness and mendacity of the current political campaigns it certainly feels like open season on anyone not white, Caucasian or so called true American. It was, in a way a reminder of how a term is appropriated by another ethnic group then presented as their own definition.

There is a disconnect. There was a WTF moment that seem to imply resonance with the desire to turn this country back to 1945 or earlier.

You as a writer and editor know that words have a life and an energy of their own once published.  That is what happened to your headline. For some of us it was hurtful because we were not present in that photo. We were erased but the term remained visible under folks that rosy cheeks and straight flowing hair.

It is like have the a traditional Caucasian church choir (any choir, not specify any that might happen to be in Utah) attempting to sing One Nation Under A Groove.  It is possible to for the choir to sing the words. It would be a similar psychic disconnect. It would resonate poorly.

That is what happened. The photo and headline resonated exclusion.  Exclusion sometimes generates anger.  Or sadness. Or maybe confirmation that we have much more work to do to understand each other.

I suspect that there are people of color in your community that could write for your magazine. You might have to look past your usual social networking groups. You might have to shift your perceptions that they are not present.

Perhaps there is something about the mag that discourages contributions from people of color.

That would be a good place to start looking within.

When A Gavel Strikes At Free Speech in Pensacola

The 1st amendment is not something to mess around with. If we lose it by excess chipping away from city, state or federal governments we are lost.

Americans have the right to stand up to our government and speak out. Lately our various elected officials seem to grow tired of citizens speech. This is the most recent example. It won't be the last.

For the record, he was allowed to come back into the chamber and make his full point.



There seems to be some question if he is a priest. I'm not sure I understand but at some point he was a Catholic priest. He then transition to the Orthodox church in 2009. He is married with two children. http://www.saintbenedictmission.com/staff.html

Anyway, it is an interesting bit of video on where we are today and in the days to come.

Not Writing The Prescriptive White People Letter

I have watched and listened as privileged white men tried to help the nation understand the problems and worth of poor black kids. If I am understanding correctly, which is impossible because I use to be a poor black kid, I am incapable of going to work, thinking long term and handling my responsibilities as an adult.

It seems I am unable of understanding my current and future situation in life. I did not know that I require intervention to help me move past my impoverished blackness of being. The fact that I had to use technology just to find out how incapacitated I am is beside the point.

I can't make this stuff up. This is Newt with his view on poor children. Excuse me, very poor children. Like poor needs a superlative.



Gene Marks article at Forbes understands the totality of the inequality but wants poor black kids to know that there is a way out via web apps, sites and technology.

I'm thinking Gene does not have a good grasp of the concept of being poor. There is no money. Food is dicey. You might not have a place to live. There are other concerns at the top of the list. Buying a computer is not one of them.

I have a mind to write a letter called "Dear White People..." I am motivated. These past two weeks have really lit me up to put pen to paper.

Hey, wouldn't such a letter be irresponsible? Would it be extremely biased based upon my limited understanding of the totality of the European American experience. Even thought that experience is pumped into my consciousness each and every day by media, literature and commerce.

Yet I feel compelled to try again.  I have a tremendous amount of anger at the embedded racism that is structured in this society. Not only is there embedded racism but if I, as a black woman dare call somebody out on it I get accused of playing some goddamn race card of victim-hood.

I have no race card. With the shit coming out of (some) white folks mouths these past three years I don't need any. Do you hear the ish coming out of mainstream political discourse? Against women, the LGBTQ communities or anybody that is not a white Christian male?

Yet I am suppose to give a calm, rational nuanced response some of the most noxious public thinking that has been romping around the country as political commentary.

Bullshit.

Hmm. Not really where I wanted to go with this. Still too much anger.

I want to write that I am a human being with inalienable rights provided to me by the Constitution of the United States and the 15th Amendment.

Naw, that don't get it either. Bunch of extreme constitutionalists want to revert back to the original constitution. They don't recognize my right to existence anyway.

I can't do it. If I can't write it responsibly, with accuracy, historical perspective, real life experiences and independent documentation to support my point of view then I should not do it.

I can't seem to write without wanting to toss in a couple dozen cuss words. That isn't good.

See, I know that such a letter would hurt people I love, care and respect. It would even hurt people I don't like. There is enough hurt in the world. I have no desire to add to it.

Still that isn't a good reason not to write a prescriptive letter to white people.

Yet people I know might might take offense that I am telling middle class white folks that they don't know how to raise their kids, that they are structurally defective as parents and I, being the 2nd cousin, twice removed from God, have got the scoop on how they could live their lives better if only they would listen to me.

The poor white folks are probably doing the same things as poor black folks, trying to take care of their families the best way they can in these days of denial. Denial being telling folks to get a job but that job has been exported oversees years ago.

Then again, if I am so all powerful knowing that I can solve the problems of millions of people perhaps my time could be better spent fixing the state or federal budget.

Or laying in the infrastruction of a national high speed rail line. Or full high speed Internet access for all, even in the most pastel sections of the country.

You know,  If could lay in that rail line by June then I wouldn't have to get in an airplane or spending time in TSA lines.

Change of plan. I need to attend to my areas of interests.

White folks will have to muddle through without my assistance.

TOWS NY and Words From Jay Smooth

I pay attention to what Jay Smooth has to say. Brother can post once every three months and it is all right with me because when he does hit record it makes sense to me. I've been trying to write my own thoughts but I can yank three pages of them cuz Mr. Smooth has scope out part of the signal.

Case in point about Occupy Wall Street New York:



Especially the part about the ringers. The guy from American Spectator that started the ruckus at the Air and Space Museum and all the media pundits, pundi, pontificates and those that cannot see non-scripted reality for the life of them.

Oh yea, oh yea there will be co-opters, on both sides. There will be a voice that will be worthy and then not worthy. I know this. I've seen it. I also know that once a fuze is lit all it takes is some kindling.

The kindling catches and boom, you have illumination and heat. It might take a little longer for the kindling to catch up in Los Angeles but once folks get their iPhone 4S they will be back to normal. Can't do jack with them until they get the Apple fix.

I'm keeping my camcorders charged just in case.

The Road So Far and Wide

I remember back in the day when I would see Leo Buscaglia on television, it seemed all of the time. I have always remembered the story he told about his father asking him, "What did you learn today?"

I woke up this early this morning. My body forgot it was on vacation. I listened to The History Guys podcast on Walt Whitman’s attention to wounded soldiers in Civil War Hospitals.

It was about love, tending and connections. Things I have not felt of late emanating from the public discourse.

I putter though the idiocy of the budget crisis and I just want to disconnect from everything.



Almost. And then I got to thinking. Leo's father's question came up again.

"What did you learn today?"

It is that love thing. We have been fed such as nasty diet of bile and political ickyness that we have no national capacity to love anything or anyone not in our direct tribe or vested interest.

We will sink the nation because there can be no accommodation to consider the greater good. For all of us, not just corporate or power interests. Not just for the poor folk. Not just for foreign national's interests.

So. How do we reclaim our love for our country? How do we non-hate based carbon units not just take it back but embrace and nurture what we believe to be our better self?

There has to be some kind of reconciliation. We are no where need that concept. Not now. I haven't any answers. I just know that I am not built for disengagement unless there is absolutely no hope of change.

There has to be a better way.

Cheryl Contee on Networking and Watching The Old Guard

You learn something everyday and sometimes twice a day. Then again, you can be reminded of things you should have known.



In this clip, Cheryl Contee of JackandJillPolitics.com talks about the importance of networking, paying attention and keeping you eyes on the prior generation politicians who claim to be working on your behalf.

I am an old city girl. I know about the political okey-doke. Apparently, so do members of Congress; including ones you kinda hoped they would do better.

Rashad Robinson on Accountability and Obama

This is a short video that I recorded during the session Keeping It Real: Political Accountability in the Age of Obama. This was one of many sessions at the Blogging While Brown conference held in Los Angeles.



In this clip, Rashad is talking about how other groups network together to at least get their agenda on the discussion table. What can we learn and emulate is the question.

Rashad Robinson is the Executive Director of Colorofchange.org where 800,000 voice work together to deal with the issues of the day using the tools of technology.

The Day After A Very Sad Day

It is the day after. You might have calmed down after at the asinine behavior of various members of the citizenry but I haven't. It isn't about Trump. It is about deep, well no so deep, racism.

I said racism and I mean it. Old time, connect the dots "Where is your papers, boy?" racism. My fellow miner at the j.o.b. had to keep reminding me that I was at work.

I couldn't listen to President Obama because it would hurt to hear him have to say those words. I dang sure couldn't keep listen to Trump because I was cussing after he made that statement of victory.

Hence the repeated reminders that I was at work.



I had to turn off my radio because the ass in the wine was ridiculous. Moving on to grades in school are we? Oxy is a low class nothing school? We have a right to know?

It should have said Negro?

Baratunde Thurston is a comic writer, techie and social media doer and thinker. This ain't about politics. This cuts to the bone of my, his and our collective citizenship. If you have not seen this video watch it.

I gotta take the pledge to back up on recommending people to listen to Nina Simone's Mississippi Goddamn. Really, it has become an ear worm that I am trying to shake and cannot.

I hope I am strong enough to stand up to the days to come and the idiocy that is now walking around in the name of taking my country back.

Now that we know how far back they want to go.

Update on the PBS and NPR Funding

Most of you know that I am a Contributing Editor at BlogHer. It is a challenge when I have to fit in writing, research and the day job. All this and poetry videos too. In January I wrote a post about do we still need the Public Broadcasting System. So much has happened regarding attacks on PBS and governmental jockeying of resources.

Back in the day our favorite sweater dude, Fred Rogers made a heart felt plea to Congress to fund public television.

Watch the full episode. See more Mister Rogers.

No lie, I miss this dude. I miss what he represented as an adult male public figure. I can't think of a reasonable contemporary successor. There is one but I can't place him at the moment.

Hell, off track again. I do not question the importance of funding public television and National Public Radio. I have benefited and had my world expanded by the programs on both services.

I do wonder if constantly having to go back to a partisan knock down drag out fight each and every year just to ensure survival is the way to go. One of the things that crossed my mind is to perhaps make it similar to the United States Post Office in that it is taken out of the congressional budget, given a dedicated line of funding and allow it to find ways to generate income.

Just a thought.

Those in favor of funding:

• PBS Public Funding Information Page
• Mary Kate Cary US News What Congress Needs to Know
• Ken Burns talks with the SF Chronicle About Public Broadcasting's Value
  

Those in favor of cutting funding:

• The U.S. House of Representatives Vote to Bar Public Funding of NPR
• From 2010 Bill O'Reilly PBS Funding Should Be Cut Too
• ReNew America Blog We Should Have Stopped Funding PBS and NPR A Long Time Ago

It is up to us. I don't have too much faith in a nation that worships coke-a-holics and jewel thieves and rewards them with adulation.

Maybe the world will end in May.*

But if not, what are we going to do?

*Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. There is a religious group that believes that the end time is actually May 2011. Some folks have left their jobs, homes and everything because they anticipating the mothership, chariot or the heavenly night train to make a pick-up around that time.