Entries by Mrs. Peel

Yesterday, a man dogged by demons of his own making, went into a small-town nursing home and started shooting at the elderly and incapacitated residents. He killed eight people and would have killed more but for the lone police officer on duty. When we come across stories of wrong-doing by the police, we also need to balance that with Officer Justin Garner, an example of the best the police can and should be.

There's evil on the scale of the toxic loans, credit-swap, recklessly-driving-the-country-into-economic-hell;then there's evil on a more mundane scale that we put up with every day with nary a peep - the way banks handle overdraft fees and the timing of the money flow of deposits and withdrawals. Some people (mainly the banks) will insist that if consumers simply kept track of their finances, they wouldn't have any problems. This is rather like a fox telling the hens if they just kept the door to the henhouse shut, they'd be safe. in1980, an overdraft charge was $5; adjusted for inflation, $13 in today's money. Yet most banks charge three times that amount. Consumers can start letting their displeasure be known with the way things are being done by considering other options (other than just stuffing your money in your mattress).

In an instance reminiscent of B'rer Rabbit's "Don't throw me in the briar patch!", the Wake County Democratic commissioners stuck their feet in it. Yes, serving the public good involves some sacrifices; yes, the Republicans were doing political grandstanding. The problem is, in the current angry climate, legislators can't just do business as usual. Voters do remember events like lawmakers giving themselves yearly raises (and how much do the Guilford County commissioners make again?), and at a time when most citizens are being asked to cut back, it is the better part of valor for them to do the same. As an irate friend pointed out to me, "They're upset about cutbacks in their second job, when I've had my hours cut in my only job!"

Sometimes it pays to dig a little deeper - Recently people were freaking-out over Bill HR875, which supposedly would penalize people for growing their own food. After looking thru the bill, I came to two conclusions: 1) Bills need to less verbose (HR875 was 90 pages), and 2)I could not find any indication that the bill goes after individual growers. It seems to focus primarily on international food shipments (calling China) and on commercial facilities like the infamous Georgia peanut factory. One can understand people's suspicions though, considering agribusinesses' track record is not much better than Wall Street's.

His status as master of internet invective is in danger. This woman comments about an appalling incident with truly sharp, creative word gymnastics. I couldn't have said it better myself.

....or for that matter, universal healthcare? As someone who has that unique pleasure of routinely injecting myself with medicine, I was less than thrilled to hear about the latest dropping of the ball by the FDA. Aren't they supposed to be protecting the American public? Just who in our state government is, or was, supposed to oversee the quality control/safety standards at this plant? Methinks we need to start rattling some elected representives' doors about putting teeth into penalties for attempted manslaughter on the citizens.

Where to begin...

Corporate Media I sincerely hope that network news, talking heads, pundits, newspapers and magazines will fade away like dinosaurs or Fuller Brush Salesmen. Corporate Media IS the Beltway, overpaid and woefully out-of-touch with the majority of Americans. Once, it was not so, but then they were seduced into being insiders, sharing jokes with the establishment at the Press Club Dinner (until Stephen Colbert was the entertainment), dining on BBQ on McCain's "Straight Talk Express", and becoming more than friends in some instances. I look forward to the advent of citizen net-reporters. Scorned by the mainstream, there is little danger of them becoming insiders - and outside is the best way to see the truth.

Liddy Dole Speaking of being out-of-touch...if any reporters had actually bothered to talk to a cross-section of North Carolinians, they might have noticed the main complaint folks had about Ms. Dole was that she was never here. People who wrote to her never heard back (even the junior Senator Burr was better in answering), her staff was rude, and she completely isolated herself from the people she was supposed to be working for...something she forgot about till election time. Oh, and Ms. Dole, there is more to North Carolina than Charlotte and Raleigh.

The 2008 Election Gawd, was it LONG! Can't we just have compaigning for 1 month, and then have the 2 finalists duke it out in an arena like Star Trek?

George "Dubya" Bush And take the whole Grand Oil Party of old, rich white guys with you!!

One final raspberry to Sarah Palin: Northern Exposure was one of my favorite shows, depicting an Alaska with eccentric characters who tolerated one another in a beautiful landscape. Palin has ruined that sweet image forever and replaced with an Alaska of rednecks hunting wildlife from planes, raping women at will, and getting whatever graft and corrupt goodies they can get. May she find herself on a rapidly melting ice floe with a starving polar bear. Bah Humbug!!

MCain/Palin: Because We Just Can't Get to Hell in a Handbasket Fast Enough!

After McCain's "riding to the rescue" of Congress hit a snag, and Palin's sparkling interview with Katie Couric, one sector of the economy should see an uptick - the comedy writing profession...

I am a white woman of a certain age, i.e. one of the voters John McCain was hoping to win over to the dark side. To say he miscalculated in his pick of Sarah Palin is an understatement of Biblical proportions. Maybe he thought women were so disappointed in Obama's choice of an older white guy for his VP, that they would run to an even older white guy who had a Tina Fey look-alike for his running mate. The one big negative that stood out for me was NOT the Troopergate scandal, not her love of earmarks, not her pregnant unmarried daughter (a victim of abstinence only education), not even her support of Alaskan secession - her biggest black mark in a pile of fecund stench is one that all the talking heads are tiptoeing around, but women note - how her ambition effects her handicapped baby.

All children should have love and attention from their parents, but a child with Down's syndrome needs even more than that. My nephew was born with a birth defect that seriously impaired his ability to process food. His mother (my sister-in-law) gave up a thriving career to wrestle with the medical industry, insurance industry, and various government agencies on his behalf. Her son is her full-time job. Now Ms. Palin, with the power of her position, may be able to get more assistance in some matters, but her son still needs her. If she is truly representative of "family values", then she should be willing to sacrifice her ambition for her child.

Following in the rigorous, analytical observation of the WSJ editorial staff, here's a rundown on the similarites between The Joker and the Joker-in-Chief.

1) Both have a creepy smile - though the Joker's makes one want to run away, while Bush's smirk makes one want to smack him.

2) Both start out with expendable criminals as henchmen, then end up with the hard-core insane (paranoid schizos for the Joker, neocons for Bush).

3) Both play on people's fears, to the point of making them turn on each other and those that actually can help (like Batman).

4) Both make women uncomfortable. The Joker fondles heroic lawyer Rachel's face as he threatens her; Bush fondles German Chancellor Herkel's shoulders as he invades her personal space.

5) Both use other people to do their dirty work, though admittedly, the Joker is more hands-on.

6) Both believe in collateral damage. The Joker blows up a hospital as part of his demented plan; Bush destroys the Constitution, multiple countries, and the city of New Orleans as part of his demented plan.

The Joker gets the last laugh though. When Batman goes Guantanamo on him to get vital information out of him, it does no good because the Joker is INSANE AND DOESN'T CARE.

One final observation on movies in general: One reason the X Files movie tanked at the box office was the "I told you so" factor. For all the seasons the show was on, it told us: "TRUST NO ONE", and we didn't listen. So when, in the movie, Mulder and Scully are waiting in an FBI hallway staring sardonically at the official photo of Mr. Bush and the X-Files theme wells up, it was a slap-in-the-face reminder to the American public that "You voted this guy in for TWO terms." THAT is an X-File.

The N.C. Shakespeare Company is performing "A Thousand Cranes", part of their summer series to introduce plays to children. "A Thousand Cranes" is the story of Sadako, a 12-yr-old Japanese girl diagnosed with leukemia as a result of radiation from the Hiroshima bomb. Legend has it that whoever makes a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish - Sadako's being that this never happen again. Serious stuff for children, but they seemed able to understand and were thoughtful, albeit a bit shocked that we still had LOTS of these bombs around. WFDD interviewed the cast, who took pains to emphasize they were not trying to make a political statement. I respectfully disagree, in that war is never good for anyone, least of all children. I applaud this beautiful and sensitive production, and urge you to see it, or take a child in this last weekend.

OK, how conceited are you when you put the presidential seal on your boots?

The Power of Language
Feministing.com

OK, for anyone who thinks the media doesn't have a subtle racial bias, check this out. The ensuing blog discussion on this bit of reporting brought out good observations on how women are reported as baby-producing receptacles, the difference in sympathy between the married white victim and the unmarried black one, and at what point one goes from being a "teen" to a "young woman". Me, I still find the insane lengths a woman would go to in order to have a child truly horrific. Blame it on the child-bearing cult in our society...

...for executions, according to the latest issue of Amnesty International's magazine. China leads with 1860+ executions (Texas is jealous), which racks up to one more reason to hate that China is hosting the Summer Olympics. A pesky and dedicated flock of protesters throughout the world has been dogging the torch and reminding folks of the uncomfortable record on capital punishment, Tibet, religious suppression and harassment, environmental incompetence, and suspect goods (as in poisoning people).

Much further back is Pakistan with 307+. Give them time, number two tries harder. The bronze for death is Algeria, with 271 executions (apparently they do a better record-keeping job). Anyone who is surprised by Algeria being on the list needs to read Robert Young Pelton's The World's Most Dangerous Places, or watch the movie The Battle for Algeirs. Algeria is a wound that hasn't healed, another "A" country that we hadn't heard of that we will probably come to know all too well.

Fourth place is Iraq, with 199+. I assume that AI means government approved executions, not ones by militia groups, Blackwater, or running-amuck warlords. Isn't democracy great?

Finally, India and the US tied for fifth with 100+ deaths by capital punishment. Now we could just let Texas off the leash, so to speak, and we'd probably pass India...but do we really want that record and to keep that kind of company?

As I was out and abouth this week, I chanced upon the post-NC primary episode of the Diane Rheams show. Her 3 guests were all in agreement that Hillary Clinton needed to get out of the way, but, that like a guest that just doesn't want to leave when you are yawning at the door, this might be a problem. Being Beltway operatives, they were all talking about ways to allow her to save face in a carrot-and-stick kind of way. These folks think she should be offered the Vice president's slot, or have her campaign debts paid off. Neither of these are very good - Hillary is not going to settle for second place, no matter how powerful Darth Cheney has made it, and with the really BIG, important election coming up, Democrats need all the money they can use for all the congressional, senate, and presidential races. Based on some of the blogs I've been reading lately, quite a few in the general public are beyond the niceties of negotiating and just want her out. NOW.

I have to give credit to my beloved for coming up with what I feel is a perfect solution - Give her the next open slot on the Supreme Court.

Consider:

1) Supreme Court Justice is a powerful enough position to assuage the loss of the presidency.

2) The Court is so out of balance right now that we really need a hard left shift to even it out.

3) Poor Bader-Ginsburg needs another woman to speak for half of the country.

4) All the corporate media and pundits would be so busy frothing at the mouth over her that Obama could actually get the important business of running the country done.
and most importantly

5) It would be so much fun to see Fat Tony, Clarence, Roberts, and Scalito blow their respective gaskets. It might even be good for them to be challenged and have to think about the issues, rather than rubber-stamping every leftover Bush whim.

Note from my Beloved: When I first made this observation over a year ago, Senator Clinton was not running for the Republican nomination, as she is now, so, the idea of appointing Clinton to the Supreme Court might horrify some people. Because she has some of the stupidest political advisers fistfuls of money can buy, she has been running a hard right campaign because they told her that's how she wins. As a Supreme Court Justice is not a job you have to run for, and once you're in, death is about the only thing that will dislodge you, she could happily return to the more liberal and sensible Hillary of the early 90's.

Just the idea of his would give Pat Robertson an aneurysm, and it doesn't get better than that.