My Whole Expanse I Cannot See…

Waiting for Hillary…

The Hillary Clinton rally was packed, standing room only. Had the venue been large enough, people would have filled it. Her chances to take Florida in next week’s Primary are looking really good. Still, if you’re a Hillary supporter in sunny Florida, now is not the time to get complacent. Just because various polls say she’s up by 30, 40ish points doesn’t mean it’s safe to skip voting. That’s how election upsets happen; a candidate is way up in the polls, their supporters stay home on Election Day, while the underdog’s supporters show up en masse. We can’t let that happen, in any state. We can’t let Bernie Sanders take Primaries because his supporters are super-organized, while we’re so wrapped up in polls and projections that we forget to actually VOTE for the woman who ought to be our next President, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Hillary talking plans and policies… that actually make sense!

Over the last year, I’ve really paid a great deal of attention to Clinton’s speeches. It’s one thing to visit web sites, read up on the candidates, but hearing them speak is a totally different experience.

I’m going to be honest, I’ve only really started paying serious attention to Hillary Clinton this election cycle. Up until this past year, I’ve had cursory knowledge of Hillary; She’s former President Clinton’s wife. As First-Lady she championed universal health care, and lost. She was Senator of New York, Secretary of State, a career politician. Some say she’s sort of cold, others say she’s a stone-cold bitch. That was the gist of my knowledge of Hillary Clinton. With that kind of understanding, I didn’t like her so much. I did a really poor job of understanding one of our country’s most influential politicians. Such is no longer the case.

Hearing Hillary Clinton speak, the most important thing I’ve come to understand is that she is a true public servant. She isn’t in politics for power, or greed, or to make her rich pals richer. Hillary Clinton is in politics to affect change, to make society better than how she found it by the time she leaves it. Her entire political career has been about helping people, serving America. She cares deeply that all Americans have their shot at life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. She’s worked in child-advocacy, with a focus on health care for children, and early education programs. She led a strong charge to grant access to health care for all. Her attempt at health care reform was unsuccessful, but she tried because it was the right thing to do. She’s what all politicians should be, one who genuinely cares about people, especially those who are the most vulnerable. You can hear it in her voice, a sincere desire to perform good works.

As for being a stone-cold bitch, I think that’s a moniker given too often to women who are bold enough to smash a glass ceiling rather than be crushed underneath it.

After hearing Hillary Clinton speak in person, I’m only more certain that she is the right person to serve as our next President.

So, I’m not a fan of Bernie Sanders, but not because I don’t necessarily like his ideas. Some of his plans are totally great; campaign finance reform, wage reform, making college possible for all, great ideas. He’s an excellent speaker, really powerful, his talk of POLITICAL REVOLUTION sounds to be exactly what America needs. Politics is astonishingly fucked up, something has to change, so his narrative of POLITICAL REVOLUTION is really compelling. Sanders is especially compelling to young voters, kids who are about to cast their very first ballot and already feel like their voices don’t matter, or those who voted for President Obama twice and feel disgusted because they were promised change and got less than they hoped. I totally understand the frustration, I see the appeal of Bernie Sanders. Political revolution sounds really fucking cool, and necessary these days. However, Bernie fans, casual and die-hard, are missing something important, something crucial about his candidacy. When Bernie Sanders talks about his POLITICAL REVOLUTION, he isn’t talking about some ephemeral ideal, it isn’t some affectation to make himself come across as daring, exciting. Rather, he means something quite specific by his promise of political revolution. Unfortunately, it’s a promise without wings.

See, when Bernie Sanders talks about political revolution, his POLITICAL REVOLUTION, he’s talking about how he plans to fund every policy, accomplish every goal. Sanders believes that he can create such voter support, such an uprising of the people that the political process will bend to their will. Congress will have to pass legislation for debt-free college tuition, they’ll have to pass legislation for a real living-wage, otherwise any legislators who oppose Sanders’ Presidential ideas will be voted out office by everyone throughout America gathered under the banner of President Bernie Sanders. He doesn’t publish detailed budget plans, nothing much beyond, we’ll make the fat cats pay for everything. Making the fat cats pay will be possible through political revolution, that’s the key to every piece of proposed legislation, every change in policy. He will bring so many people into the political process, people speaking as one voice, that politics will fundamentally and permanently change.

Ideally, the American people are in charge, those we elect are supposed to govern according to our will. This is how politics should work, and maybe one day, when society is truly ready to get deeply involved in the political process, we’ll see the sort of fundamental shift that is required for any kind of political revolution, but we’re not there yet, nor is Bernie Sanders the one to help us get there. For Sanders’ political revolution to take place, voter turnout would have to reach epic numbers, and so far, that hasn’t happened. Sanders would have to beat Hilary Clinton in primary after primary, and so far, he hasn’t. Lets say, Bernie Sanders does make it to the general election, but only just barely, and only through the bluster and moxie that is so loved by his base of young voters. That’s hardly an auspicious start for his POLITICAL REVOLUTION, and being that said revolution is the lynch-pin for his Presidency, his Presidency doesn’t look like the strong hand that America so desperately needs.

Bernie Sanders is all bold talk and bold ideas that are just right for firing up young voters who are a likely ticket into a general election, but that’s the only firm plan he has under his proverbial hat. His POLITICAL REVOLUTION is beyond his ability to make reality, and without it, his promised change and big ideas are nothing but ash. This election is far too important to leave to a guy who’s all cotton candy, fun, but no substance. We need someone with solid plans AND a realistic way to implement them. Bernie Sanders is not that someone.

So, I spent much of today reading, which I don’t necessarily consider a “lazy” pursuit. I’m finally reading the entire Clockwork Century series by the Queen of Steampunk, Cherie Priest. I don’t know why I haven’t gotten around to it before now, I’ve been a fan of her work for years.

I actually read the first book in the series, Boneshaker, awhile ago, and was amazed. Reading Boneshaker feels very similar to reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy, both books have this sense of urgency about them. The characters are in a poisoned environment, always struggling to find the next safe place that isn’t very safe at all. The stories are totally different, but they share the same brilliant vibe. Cherie Priest is definitely skilled.

Anyway, I re-read Boneshaker, just for continuity, and now I’m ploughing through book two, Dreadnought. I think after I finish Dreadnought, I’ll write a full review of Boneshaker, then Dreadnought, and so on, until the end. Six books, six reviews.

During President Obama’s 2016 State of the Union address he blamed himself for not being able to overcome the political gridlock that has plagued his two terms in office. It was a very noble “the buck stops here” kind of regret, but I think he needn’t blame himself.

Americans have this false perception that President Obama is ineffectual, that he can’t get anything done. People feel let-down, people feel that President Obama has let America down. Yes, the last eight years haven’t seen the change we expected, but to blame the President is absolutely unfair. The fact is, President Obama has passed a great deal of important legislation under the worst possible political conditions. It’s astonishing that he has managed to get anything passed, considering the wall of ignorance and intolerance between him and the change WE want. This wall was designed by one man, with the Republican party to help him build it brick-by-brick. The architect of our current state political gridlock is Senator Mitch McConnell.

Back in November of 2010, after a midterm election cycle dominated by the G.O.P., then Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell, spoke at a press conference during which he laid out the Republican party’s political agenda for next two years. He spoke quite plainly, their top priority, their #1 political goal shouldn’t be to protect Social Security, or to lower taxes (like always). Mitch McConnell proudly and publicly announced that above all else, the Republicans should make Barack Obama a one-term President.

The plan was simple enough, just say no to everything President Obama proposed, first and foremost, the Affordable Care Act, something Mitch McConnell would not abide. The Affordable Care Act was already law at the time, so McConnell vowed to repeal it, or otherwise defund and hinder it until a successful repeal could be made. Of course, President Obama would veto any successful vote to repeal, hence Goal #1. Yet, vote they would, over and over and over again in some sort of bizarre symbolic gesture. Aside from trying to kill the Affordable Care Act, they would vote no on everything from the extension of unemployment benefits during a time of economic crisis, to blocking Presidential political office appointments. They even refused to pass typically non-partisan infrastructure legislation, legislation that would usually pass without a second thought. As a rule of thumb, infrastructure legislation passes easily, building roads and fixing bridges is a political slam-dunk. That is, until the Republican Wall of No went up.

Mitch McConnell’s plan didn’t totally pan out. President Obama is three years into his second term, his re-election soundly won. The Affordable Care is still law, it was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. Unfortunately, the Mitch McConnell architected Republican Wall of No is strong and tall as ever. Republicans are still voting to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the House of Representatives has taken up some 60 votes since 2010. These exercises in futility would be amusing, almost, if not for the waste of time and tax dollars.

Recently, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia passed away. When a Supreme Court Justice dies or retires, it’s the President’s Constitutional duty to appoint a new Justice. There’s no fuzzy gray area, there’s nothing to interpret or debate, the Constitution is clear as glass. The Supreme Court must contain 9 Justices (to prevent situations of dead-lock), it’s the President’s duty to appointment new Justices when necessary. President Obama is our current President, his term doesn’t end for just under a year. That should be enough said, but of course, it’s not. Before Justice Scalia could make it into the ground (we’re talking an hour after Antonin Scalia quit breathing), Mitch McConnell flat-out vowed to block ANYBODY appointed by President Obama. He insists that our next President should appoint Justice Scalia’s replacement. While there have been Supreme Court appointments made toward the end of a Presidential term, no branch of government has ever demanded that a sitting President yield his duty to appoint, no matter the length of his fading term in office. McConnell would rather risk a year of dead-locked Supreme Court decisions for a 50/50 shot that a Republican President would appoint a conservative Supreme Court Justice. It’s unheard-of, it’s astonishingly arrogant, it puts one man’s agenda above what is written in the Constitution. It’s exactly how Senator McConnell has “governed” for the past six years. Damn the will of the people, damn what’s best for America, damn any and all rules governance. So long as President Barack Obama is blocked at every single turn, Mitch McConnell counts it as a victory. Is it a victory for the Republican party, a victory for Conservatism? No, to me, it’s a victory for closed-mindedness and selfish ego.

For the past six years, the Republican party hasn’t been about anything, rather, they’ve set out to stop Presidential ideas. Led by Senator Mitch McConnell, they’ve built their Wall of No between President Barack Obama and the change he promised America.

I think it’s telling that we have crumbling roads and failing bridges in our great nation, it shows a level ice-cold calculation. The Wall of No isn’t arbitrary and it isn’t stupid. It’s chillingly thoughtful. It didn’t work in 2012, but no matter, McConnell was planning for the long-con just in case. It’ll work this election cycle if we let it.

The Republican narrative on the campaign trail is that we are no longer a great nation, the shining city on a hill is a long-faded dream. America is broken as her roads and bridges. Don’t worry though, they con fix everything. A Republican President can restore us to our former glory. It sounds terrifying, and there are hints of truth that help to sell the story. We have experienced steady, but slow progress. Employment is up, but wages aren’t great. We are stagnant in many ways. We don’t have clean energy in place. Our infrastructure is stuck somewhere in the 1950s. Immigration reform is so far away it seems like fiction. Republicans point these things out, while painting America’s portrait a thousand times darker than it truly is, always crying that President Obama has done nothing to fix anything. Of course, Republicans conveniently leave out key facts. President Obama has tried to address each of these issues and dozens of others, but being that both houses of Congress are controlled by the Republicans, they’ve made certain that no legislation passes, made certain that nothing changes. They created the political gridlock that was necessary to make their narrative of stagnation and decline true enough to sell while maintaining straight faces.

History won’t look kindly on Mitch McConnell and his long-con, his Wall of No. History can not be fooled, History can not be swindled into marking down lies as facts. I don’t worry how History will look upon President Barack Obama and the way he fought to protect America against abhorrent political tactics. I do worry about the voters of 2016, I worry they’ll help to undo nearly a decade of good work by electing peddlers of half-truths and straight-up lies.

Come November, look at the big picture, look at the Wall of No. Vote to protect the ideals in which we saw so much merit. Do not vote from a place of fear. Republican manufactured fear.

So, the “new” WordPress editor isn’t really the new editor, its existence is kind of convoluted. If your blog is privately hosted (like mine), you get a different writing environment from what you get if your blog is hosted for free at WordPress.com.

Bottom line, writing on WordPress.com sucks.

Tattoo by Kyle, Doc Dog’s Las Vegas Tattoo, Ybor…

So, fuck, I got this tattoo ages ago. I’m finding it really hard to write about, because it asks a question that I was undecided on at the time, but I now know the answer, and it hurts.

The tattoo is from an Alanis Morissette song, That I Would Be Good, which is off her second record, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie. People may argue it, but I feel like Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie is the best writing she’s ever done. It’s absolutely my favorite Alanis record. I’ve likely said this before, but I figure it’s worth saying again. Too many people for my liking think Jagged Little Pill is her only record, but Alanis Morissette has done a great deal of gorgeous writing over the years, That I Would Be Good is just one example. The song is a beautiful inner-monologue of uncertainty, a running string of questions, fears… That I would be good, even if I did nothing. That I would be good, even if I got the thumbs down. That I would be good, if I got and stayed sick.  Her own worries that are true to being human, worries that are in all of us. If one of my worst fears happened, would I still be okay? Anybody with a bit of self-awareness thinks such things, and often enough, our possible “worsts” become reality.

In the last ten years, I’ve experienced (quite literally) every single one of my worsts. I’ve lost people I love, to death and plain old circumstance. I died myself, but apparently didn’t care for it, as it only lasted a few minutes until my heart decided against giving up on me. I quit talking… and so on. Out of everything, losing people I never wanted to lose feels worse than dying but not. I don’t even remember my lights going out, but I feel all the empty places in me, the pain never stops. Sometimes, even after years of being apart, the pain doesn’t so much as dull. When I got this tattoo, I was thinking about someone in particular. I kept hearing Alanis sing…

That I would be good, whether with or without you.

I can’t just say it’s okay, because it’s so not. Being without her, it hurts every moment of every day. It’s been years now, I don’t love her any less, I miss her all the more. I hit kind of a difficult time health-wise, so I pushed her away because I felt like she’d be better off. Though, deep down, I didn’t think she’d go. I don’t think we really are better off apart. I know that together, really together, we can get through anything. We can do anything. I know that when I’m with her, it feels like home.

That’s it for now.

First, a confession. I read To Kill a Mockingbird for the first time a few days ago. From almost the first page you can tell it’s special, Harper Lee is special. If Ms. Lee were a super hero, Go Set a Watchman could be considered her Origin Story, but it’s one nobody need or ought know.

This isn’t really a book review, because Go Set a Watchman isn’t really a book, let alone some sort of sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee’s brilliant first and ONLY novel. The publisher ought to be really ashamed for even ASKING Ms. Lee for permission to publish, then for actually going through with it, and billing it as “Harper Lee’s new novel.” The “official” story behind its release goes, when Ms. Lee was asked for permission to publish this “newly found novel,” she supposedly said, “…if you think people will enjoy it, go ahead and publish it.” I don’t think the real circumstances were so tidy, but we’ll never know what was truly said, or the tone used to say it. My head and my heart tell me old-age and apathy are why Ms. Lee put pen to paper, allowing Watchman into the world. That it never should have happened becomes obvious all too quickly.

Go Set a Watchman is nothing more than either a first draft of Mockingbird, or more likely (since it IS titled), a failed manuscript of a book that evolved into Mockingbird. You see her spark in Watchman, you see that EVENTUALLY she was going to write something that’s publishable at least, but probably something ultimately beautiful. You see a writer trying to find her voice, testing parts of her craft, attempting techniques and devices, and in that sense Watchman is fascinating. Still, it’s astonishingly flawed, as anything one writes in their early attempts at a novel. It was rejected with cause, and never should have seen the light of day.

I knew that, soon enough, I’d get a pro-gun comment on my mass-shootings post. I also knew that when said comment came, I’d have to take it downtown to Chinatown…

A reader commented:

What is the root cause of shootings? Is it all about the tool? Not the actor, nor his motives? I realize that public policy is a blunt instrument which can more easily impact firearm availability than it can change motives, reduce hate, etc. That doesn’t mean that we ought to use public policy to “solve” this issue.
What is a military grade weapon? What is military grade ammo? I could argue that almost everything on the market fits this category. What type of firearm hasn’t been used by the military at one point or another? Any hunting rifle is practically identical to a sniper rifle. Hunting ammo is more lethal than what the military uses, by far. Revolvers were used by the military and police – even in modern times, like the last 50 years. Shotguns are used by the military. Get rid of them too? The military uses non-lethal rounds. So, could a private citizen shot bean-bags from a shotgun to defend himself within his home? I guess not, because both the shotgun and the ammo are military grade.
What is left for people to use to defend themselves? Pellet guns? 22s? Archery? Or should people just call 911 and hope for the best?
But if you want to get rid of the 2nd amendment, which was born from the right to self-defense, then who gets disarmed first? Law abiding citizens will probably be the first ones to turn in their weapons. They won’t want to risk going to jail for gun ownership. Then who is left? What is the plan for them?
Seems like a utopian plan that would be impossible to execute, in my opinion.

To which I replied:

My little aside about my personal feelings toward the 2nd Amendment isn’t the point. The 2nd Amendment isn’t going anywhere, nobody of relevance in politics is suggesting such. It’ll never be abolished, no matter my wants.

I think that we ABSOLUTELY need public policy to combat gun violence, particularly mass-shootings. The Federal Government has avoided the issue for way too long, and people have died because of it. There are many issues that are involved in the prevention of mass-shootings; better treatment of mental illness, better opportunities for higher-education, improved economic opportunities, social issues that will take time to fix. The immediate problem is the tool, as you say, the gun. The motives don’t matter, not right now, because all mass-shootings have the same common thread. Somebody really angry or really mentally-ill was able to easily obtain firearms. The motives and the whys are for psychologists to study, they’re the keys to long-term solutions. Long-term solutions won’t stop the bloodshed that’s happening of late, again and again and again, seven mass-shootings in just the past five months.

We need stricter background checks that REQUIRE psychological evaluation (The Brady Bill was a good idea).
All gun buyers’ finger-prints should be stored in AFIS.
The gun show and online sales loopholes need closed.
Private gun sales should require ATF oversight.
We need a new assault-weapons ban.

Military grade gear, such as the following… Civilians should not have M16s, MP5s, Desert Eagles, or ammo that punches through body armor as easy as a brick of cheese. I didn’t mean gear from WWI.

I think I have a few more gun violence posts in me, there’s just so much to say…

So, now we know that the killings in San Bernardino weren’t just our sadly typical mass-shooting, the killings were an act of terrorism. Since it was an act of terrorism, we are hearing calls, particularly from the right, and the far far right, to ban Muslims from America, stop immigration, shut down Mosques, the list goes on. These racist arguments are loud, highly visible, they dominate the news cycles. The right screams, “we have to protect America, keep the foreigners out!” While it’s absolutely true that we have to fight terrorism, the war on terror is very real and very serious, the fact remains that the “act of terror” in San Bernardino, at its core, isn’t any different than America’s previous six mass-shootings. There’s a common denominator among these horrible acts of violence, this common denominator is the real problem, the thing that should receive public outrage and media coverage. This common denominator is, legal access to military-grade guns and ammunition for anyone with the inclination to buy them. It’s easier to buy an assault-rifle in America than it is to buy, say, Sudafed (a key ingredient in cooking crystal meth).

The San Bernardino terrorists didn’t have to smuggle in the rifles and handguns they used to murder fourteen people. There was no chatter with Isis about arms delivery that anybody could have intercepted, no international plot to foil. None of that was a possibility. The killing of fourteen people was illegal, but the purchase of the guns used was not. The motivation behind the San Bernardino attack is really a non-issue if you consider the fact that the attack was made fairly easy to accomplish because the guns used were obtained perfectly legally. Assault-rifles, semi-automatic pistols, extended ammo clips, they’re all legal to purchase, in multiple ways. There are the myriad of gun stores where one can buy any number of guns with minimal background checks and minimal waiting periods. If you feel iffy about a background check, or you want your gun right now, you can go to popular weekend gun shows where gun enthusiasts buy, sell, and trade firearms of any kind with no background checks or waiting periods. It’s also totally legal to buy and sell guns online through, for example, Facebook or craigslist, anything from hunting rifles to AK-47s. You can even legally buy a gun right from your next-door neighbor, if they have one or ten and are aiming to sell. It’s so easy to buy guns of any kind, ammunition in any amount, legally.

Whether it’s a terrorist, someone who’s violently mentally ill, or a bullied high-school kid out for revenge, they all have one thing in common; quick, legal access to just about any type of gun and related gear under the sun. Unfortunately, people like Donald Trump are putting political rhetoric ahead of morality, and public safety. Political candidates know that one tried and true way to win an election is to present scared, disheartened voters with an enemy, then promise to protect them from said enemy. Blaming all our security issues on Muslims and immigrants is a political red herring, it’s an irresponsible, dangerous way to literally scare-up votes. It distracts people from the truly dangerous issue; broken, antiquated gun laws that basically roll-out the red carpet for anyone interested in putting a lot of bullets in a lot of people. We’ve had seven mass-shootings in five months, one of which was terror-related. Terrorists are not American’s biggest problem, not by a mile.

Politics isn’t broken, not really. We have power, we can demand common-sense gun laws, we can demand the reinstatement of the long lapsed assault weapons ban. We can let politicians know that if they don’t DO something to limit gun violence, they won’t BE politicians anymore come election time. We, as a nation, need to tell Donald Trump to fuck off. His hateful rhetoric goes against everything our Founding Fathers believed, and all the ideals on which our great nation was built.

President Obama isn’t “coming for your guns,” nobody wants to abolish the 2nd Amendment (Well, I want to, but that’s neither here nor there), but compromises have to be made. Otherwise, the parade of mass-shootings will continue, not because of international terrorist conspiracies, but because in America, it’s way too easy for the mentally ill and those filled with rage to obtain guns that are specifically designed to kill many people in very little time. Guns that no civilian should have at hand.

Until we recognize the true common denominator in all American mass-shootings, blood will be needlessly shed. It’s time to get angry at the real issue, and not politically manufactured shadows.

So, we are now running WordPress 4.4, Clifford. As far as the user-interface (UI) goes, again, there aren’t any crazy changes. The last several releases have been about refining performance, making it easier to post various types of media, and Clifford continues that trend. موقع مراهنات عربي Aside from making WordPress sites scale to look gorgeous across all devices, Clifford lays the first stage of groundwork for the REST API, the next major step in the evolution of WordPress. REST will totally revolutionize the look, feel, and functionality of WordPress. لعب قمار حقيقي

I have the tools, I just need my content to live up to them. بيت فاينل