Obscene the Enemy & He is Us!

There are many clever phrases we use to describe how we act in or to various situations.  One might claim ‘you cannot see the forest for the trees’ or you ‘Should not stick your pen in the company inkwell.’

We are all familiar with at least some of these and perhaps drop one or two in our daily lives.

Words can and are used to provoke a desired response.

For example a preacher rouses a crowd or a politician his base with words about sin or how the other guy sucks (five-letter word!)  These egoists look to gain power or wealth with their oratory and hold it with words of fear.

But one thing has not changed much in America and that is our use of and reaction to curse words!

Many people are terribly offended by so-called four letter words and lump all they dislike into a group known as profanity or obscenity.

But why should four letters strung together offend so terribly?  After all they are just words and didn’t we all grow up knowing that ‘Stick and stones may break my bones but words can never harm me?’

Recently I descended into an angry state after listening to certain politicians from a certain party rail against our current President and anything he puts forward or suggests for America.

The absurd uncalled for hate spewing from the mouths of these lesser beings, these undeserving elected officials caused me to snap.  I sent out a tweet that described the speaker as a nasty stinking four-letter word.

I was almost immediately greeted by a prim and proper prissy individual who replied his or her intent to ‘block me’ if I continued to use such obscene language.

Aside from the fact that it would mean one less person at my funeral I was not too upset over losing a ‘follower’ who frankly I did not even know I had.

But it did bring me to an interesting thought.

In our current ‘gang that couldn’t shoot straight’ world we seem to constantly focus on the wrong side or part of an issue.  That is assuming it’s an issue to begin with!

So I decided to find out what exactly the definition of obscenity is?

According to the old standard, at least for me in my youth, the Merriam Webster Dictionary defines obscenity as:

bawdiness, blueness, coarseness, crudeness, crudity, dirt, dirtiness, filth, filthiness, foulness, grossness, impureness, impurity, indecency, lasciviousness, lewdness, nastiness, profanity, raunch, raunchiness, ribaldry, smut, smuttiness, vulgarity, wantonness

Anyone notice a pattern?

All of the synonyms describing obscenity are mainly words describing a sex act generally considered as taboo by those with mentalities stuck in the Dark or Middle Ages.

Some of the words are silly by today’s standard and probably DO come from that time.

I mean how many of you use the word ‘bawdiness’ anymore?

But examine these words under the microscope of the ‘sticks and stones’ adage and think of another even more apropos saying, ‘Actions speak louder than words’ and you realize how absurd the whole thing is!

So to those of you who feel that a four-letter word is the most terrible obscene thing the world can endure I offer the following list for your edification of what obscenity truly is?

• Children going hungry in the richest country in the world
• People forced to work two or three jobs at minimum wage with little or no benefits just to survive
• War
• Blatant racism
• Denying healthcare to anyone not wealthy enough to have their own personal trainer
• Greedy billionaires caring only about getting more money any way they can and at the expense of anyone standing in their way!
• Congressmen or women allowing lobbies to dictate or buy their votes
• Gunmen massacring children (I was going to say innocent children but really that is redundant!)
• Large corporations spoiling our environment with pollution or oil spills then taking out ads telling us how wonderful they are.
• Bankers and Wall Street CEOs causing economic disaster; being bailed out with no strings attached then starting the cycle of bad behavior over again
• Government officials taking bribes to do the bidding of special interest groups
• Large corporations altering our food for personal gain despite the consequences
• Any religious fatwa
• Not helping victims of natural disasters unless you can gain political capital
• Calling yourselves “the party of family values” then not valuing any family except your own.
• Partisan behavior that carelessly blocks all human progress
• Sending our children off to war then ignoring them when they return damaged
• Saying we have separation of Church and State then governing per the Bible
• Disenfranchising voters because they might not vote the way you want them to
• Prejudice against anyone not you!
• Demanding every pregnancy is brought to full term regardless of its origin or the health of the mother then not caring about the baby or child after birth.
• Terrorism
• Discrimination of any kind
• Hypocrisy everywhere but especially in government
• Wealth gaps that increase seemingly forever with ongoing tax breaks
• Ending any social program aimed at helping the most needy of our nation
• Bold faced lies that purposely hurt others for personal gain

There are many more examples of true obscenity and each one of them is far more destructive to society than any four-letter word could possibly be.

And that’s the effing truth!

THIS JUST IN!

Breaking News on the Sports Front:

In a surprise move today the New York Mets announced they will be unloading their star pitcher Matt Harvey to the Yankees in exchange for 5 draft choices, a player to be named later and $17.50 to cover their subway fare.
While full details are not yet available this reporter has learned that the player to be named later is in fact just that as he is not yet born!
However the team is confident he will grow into a fine player and become an integral part of the organization as the Yankees insist he will be from good stock.
The surrogate mom will be impregnated later this year in a private ceremony attended only by close family members and a group from Shake Shack.
Fred Wilpon, NY Met owner and long time friend of Bernie Madoff had been hoping to acquire the rights to Lou Gherig until someone pointed out the former Yankee great had passed away several years ago.
This utterance caused Hal Steinbrenner to storm out of the room muttering that some people should "keep their God damn #*@$& mouths shut!"
Met ownership used the break in talks to sign a different first baseman to a 5 year deal.
Jeff Wilpon was not completely convinced his father had made the right move but he admitted he felt inclined to defer to the experience of age.
"My dad assures me Marvelous Marv Throneberry will be a great asset to the team."
Although they had wanted the former Met to take over for slugging star Ike Davis at 1st base Mr. Throneberry insisted that he was a touch old for that and the team would be far better served if he used as adviser and coach for the youngsters on the team.
Said Fred Wilpon, "With his guidance we are certain the New York Mets can return to the glory days of 1962 and '63."
For those of you too young to remember Marv Throneberry let me set the record straight on a bit of unfair publicity.
As the story goes Marv was so bad that after striking out he got angry, threw his bat down, and missed the ground.
The story is an insult and as false as it is ridiculous. He never threw his bat!
It was his helmet!
After learning who their crosstown rivals had signed the Yankee contingent returned with huge grins and renewed expectations of finishing a great trade.
"I think we can now get this steal, I mean deal, deal done," said young Mr. Steinbrenner fighting back tears of laughter.
A few minutes later the proud Wilpon family emerged from the locked room holding up a signed agreement between the two organizations.
"Some of you have asked why we made this deal.  Well all I can say is we have seen what our team does with so-called stars like (Jose) Reyes, (R A) Dickey and (Nolan) Ryan in the past and we do not wish to keep making the same mistake over and over expecting great things.  That's the definition of stupid you know!  So today we have made a giant step toward fielding a team of 'no names' who will want desperately to succeed as though they were exceptional.
This should make the team far more interesting while endearing ourselves to our loyal fan base.  These fans need to feel good about themselves and what better way to help them do that than fielding a team that they are actually better than?"
Asked about the future of his current star 3rd baseman Mr. Wilpon added, "We signed David (Wright) to a long term contract and until we can find a team willing to take him off our hands we're stuck with him.  Next question?"
Silence ensued and there were no next questions as reporters were stunned by the response and the meeting ended.

BWC is Now The Law of the Land!

While Congress and our so-called leaders debate who caused what or who spied on whom or who can we blame for whatever we don't agree with corporations are continuing to rape American consumer any way they see fit!  And while this goes on the charade that is the Republican Majority in the House of Congress will once again try to repeal the health care bill aimed at helping the average citizen!
A perfect example came today in my cell phone bill from AT&T which included a slight increase, as always!
I decided to have an on-line chat with an AT&T agent about this latest slap at a long time moron, I mean customer.
What appears below is that chat.  Please read it and see if it rings true with your experience dealing with impersonal corporations these days.

Thank you for your patience!

Your AT&T Representative will be with you shortly.

Welcome! You are now chatting with 'I removed the name lest the person be fired for possible honesty' 

BRUCE M RESCH: Hi AT&T Person

AT&T Person: Hi Bruce, I can help you with the charges on your account.

BRUCE M RESCH: My bill has been $197.82 for ages and while it's way too high for the actual service provided at least it was a constant.  Now the bill is over $200 and it looks as though the rise was merely a BWC increase.  Is that true?

AT&T Person: I can have that check for you. Let me review your bill.

BRUCE M RESCH: ok

AT&T Person: Please give me 2-3 minutes to run through your bill.

BRUCE M RESCH: sure

AT&T Person: Thank you for waiting.  Upon reviewing your account, I found out that your monthly bill is always $197.99.

AT&T Person: The reason why your bill went up to $200.70 is because of the additional fee that was being charged to each of your line.

BRUCE M RESCH: An additional fee for what may I ask?

AT&T Person: If you will take a look on your bill, each line has a corresponding surcharges and other fees.

BRUCE M RESCH: yes I see that

AT&T Person: The additional fee that was added on each line was the Administrative fee which costs $0.61.

BRUCE M RESCH: So I was right, It's a BWC

AT&T Person: What is BWC?

BRUCE M RESCH: BWC stands for "Because We Can!" It's a fee charged by all large impersonal anti-human corporations to make even more money for doing nothing and causing those of us who must go along with their greed to suffer. In other words, bullshit!

AT&T Person: I understand you. But the the Administrative fee covers a small portion of certain expenses AT&T incurs, including but not limited to: Charges AT&T or its agents pay to interconnect with other carriers to deliver calls from AT&T customer to their customers Costs and charges associated with cell site rents and maintenance

BRUCE M RESCH: Did you actually type that with a straight face? Forget it - I cannot beat you guys. But when I decide to leave because your inane unfair extra fees are too much you will NEVER get me back no matter what you do.

BRUCE M RESCH: It's truly a crock of shit! The small increase of which you speak in AT&T costs could easily be covered by the unbelievably high rate you charge for nothing! I am speaking of texts etc. which cost you zero! In fact you had to invent a way to keep track of texts just so you could charge for them! But as I said I can not win & I realize it is not you personally who is at fault so I'm done here - Have a nice life.

AT&T Person: I understand where you're coming from. That's the initial reaction of most of our customers when they learned about this fee.

BRUCE M RESCH: I wonder why!

BRUCE M RESCH: Most Americans have not gotten a raise in years but AT&T & others like you continue to raise fees and make more profits and hand over our hard earned money to a bunch of useless shits at the top of the corporation who think only of how to make even more money on the backs of the customer. As I said - This is not personal but THEY are criminals!

AT&T Person: I understand you. We all work hard to earn money and who does like to have their money wasted? No one. I understand how you feel.
BRUCE M RESCH: enjoy the weekend - I'm out of here - Have to think about this situation further. Thanks

Note the line about having to pay increased costs due to connecting with other carriers.  Of course those carriers are using that same bull shit line to collect their own BWCs.

The collusion is on all sides of the equation and the only ones being hurt are the customers!

If anyone cares to add all the bills they pay and track the changes in each of them since we handed control of the country over to the large corporations who now own Congress I believe they will notice the same trend toward new BWCs.

Can we stem the tide of corporate greed?

Can we get Congress on the side of the people who actually vote them into office?

Can we make it through a month without House Republicans attempting to repeal the ACA aka Obamacare?

Sadly I feel the answer is a definitive NO WAY!

But still I rant and still I complain and at least in a small way I am a thorn in the side of corporate hypocrisy.

Never turn your back on these criminals and do not let them get away with what they do without at least complaining.  Who knows, maybe one day the meek really will inherit the Earth.

And by the way, when we do I'm going to hit all the bastards of the former corporate world with so many BWCs they heads'll fall off!

A MARRIAGE Contract for America

The furor over same sex marriage or as it is known by some for various reasons gay marriage is a misdirection argument in true ‘forest for trees’ fashion.

Simply put the government, no government this side of the Vatican or other state run religious countries should be involved in a decision involving whether or not two people, any two people should get married.  Marriages are made on Earth!

Some may argue for or against marriage using economic reasons while others claim marriages of which they disapprove affect the sanctity of their own union.  There is a further argument clearly of religious beginnings that a marriage is union made to produce children.

First I submit that if your marriage is affected and or ruined because two other consenting adults wed then your marriage wasn't too strong in the first place and probably should never have happened.  It was bound to fail sooner or later.  I guess that other couple did you a favor by speeding along the imminent demise of a bad union.

As for a marriage being consummated solely for the purpose of having children it should be nobody’s business whether or not any couple produces offspring lest they are intimately involved.  If one or both of the individuals in a marriage is infertile or incapable of producing offspring should we as a society demand they divorce and seek out a more fertile partner?

And once we remove the tax benefit or liability for a married couple those who think only of the economic implications of marriage lose their argument as well.

Clearly the US Congress as well as the individual State Houses has no consensus on how to handle all the issues of marriage.  They should welcome the chance to relinquish the control of marriage licenses and cede that truly personal decision to the individuals involved.  If those couples wish to seek out the permission of their religious leaders so be it.  If they have no religious affiliation there should be a civil union option available at every level of government.

The rights of any legally joined couple should not be infringed by anyone.

Should a loved one be hospitalized or worse the partner must not be excluded in any way from the proceedings before during or after what ever befalls the injured party.

It is clear that the best solution to a non-issue no-problem problem concerning the marriage of two people is to take government completely out of the equation.  The IRS should have no need to know the marital status of anyone filing a tax return because there should be no difference between a single or married return.

Any and all entities (human or corporation) that reside in America and earn money as a result of their enterprise should be taxed as the law sees fit and passed by our government in order to provide for the services and well being of our citizenry.

Then maybe Congress can get back to fighting over other more important issues.

The bottom line is simply if two people wish to live their lives together for whatever reason we should celebrate their union and not vilify it!

We Don't Play by Your Rules Here!

If we continue on the current path of radical partisanship where one side totally blocks any social progress that would help the vast majority of citizens in the country then we may be looking at the end of the experiment known as America!
Billy Joel paired a catchy tune with a list of key moments in our history entitled We Didn't Start the Fire.
I offer new words and ask you to use his song's tune and beat and decide how long we can continue before something gives?

We don’t play by your rules here

So we have no worries

No sir, no real worries

We keep ourselves in power

In our ivory tower

While the masses cower

No healthcare, End Medicare, If you die we don’t care

Union busting, filibustering, We do those best

Tax breaks for the filthy rich, Tell ya folks life is a bitch

We help only those who pay, And dump on the rest

Block the vote of those we hate, In your red or your blue State

Making all the rules is great, We control our future fate

We don’t play by your rules here

So we have no worries

No sir, no real worries

We keep ourselves in power

In our ivory tower

While the masses cower

Climate change is not a hoax, Leaders in DC are jokes

Fossil fuels can’t be your friend, They’ll cause the world’s end

Gun control is just a must, But can’t even be discussed

Instead let’s block women’s rights, How the hell do they sleep at night?

We don’t play by your rules here

So we have no worries

No sir, no real worries

We keep ourselves in power

In our ivory tower

While the masses cower

Bankers never paid their debt, Voters better not forget

On one thing we'll surely bet, Regulations keep us safe

Asking kids to go to war, Don’t tell them what they’re fighting for

Returning damaged forever more, Their plight we ignore

Think once for the other guy, Help him out do not ask why

There but for the grace you know, We will surely some day go

We don’t play by your rules here

So we have no worries

No sir, no real worries

We keep ourselves in power

In our ivory tower

While the masses cower

There are no silly fools here

So we have no worries

no sir, no real worries

And we will stay in office as our terms go on and on and on and on and on....

Who REALLY Said That?

Good things come to those who wait.

                Anyone wanting to get ahead of others

The meek shall inherit the Earth.

                Not the meek I’ll tell you

Your call is very important to us.

                First customer service person after the invention of the phone

Of course I’ll respect you in the morning.

                Adam

Good things come in small packages

                Someone with a small package

I am not a crook

                First crook

Play nicely children

                Eve

A house divided against itself cannot stand

                The minority

Tis better to give than receive

                Someone hoping for a gift

Love thy neighbor as thyself

                Your neighbor

Spare the rod; spoil the child

                Ste. Claire (The first Nun)

A good man is hard to find

                Eve

A man who is his own lawyer has a fool for a client

                Every attorney since time began

A penny saved is a penny earned

                Every boss I ever had!

A place for everything and everything in its place

                Mom

Power corrupts - Absolute power corrupts absolutely

                First Serf

Every cloud has a silver lining

                Uncle Weatherbee (Let’s see how old you are!)

A man is judged by the clothing he wears

                Sy Syms

Better late than never

                My brother! (He’s gotten better lately.)

Never bring a knife to a gun fight

                Sean Connery

Try not, Do!

                Yoda, duh!

Fool me once, shame on - shame on you. Fool me, uh, - you can't get fooled again.

                If you don’t know I give up!

 I know a little about everything and a lot about nothing.

                Michele Bachmann

Ignorance is bliss

                Ted Cruz

The squeaky wheel gets the oil

                Tea Party members

Accidents will happen

                Murphy

Sipmle Social Security Solutions for Solving Solvency

Medicare premiums will most likely be going up for those in higher earnings brackets.  Basically the idea is those who can afford to pay a bit more for the services provided under the system should do so.

I have mixed emotions on this but mostly favor it since this country is after all the UNITED States of America and we must all hang together or, as Ben Franklin hinted we shall surely hang separately.

But lumping Medicare and its possible future monetary woes with the Social Security administration’s possible future shortfalls is unfair and disingenuous. And using the one word unfair definition of entitlement is just plain wrong.

Medicare is a program designed to help the aging with incumbent increased medical costs and it has worked well for decades.

It is a sort of gift we give ourselves as we age and the rug should not be pulled out from those in need just because lawmakers in DC have squandered funds elsewhere.

These elected officials allowed our tax payer dollars to be thrown into black holes such as two illegal immoral and unwarranted wars.

Then they handed over vast fortunes of our money without any strings attached to financial institutions that had gambled with and lost THEIR money!

So after those wonderful events America has nothing to show for a decade of governmental stupidity except tens of thousands of dead or disabled soldiers and millions of out of work or underpaid citizens.

This while an ever increasing ruling class comprised of the wealthiest people in the country, including many from the same financial institutions we had to bail out control the conversation in Congress!

But while these attacks continue what can we do to ensure the future solvency of Social Security.

This wonderful program can easily survive without any changes at all but could be even more secure with just a few tiny tweaks that would be painless to nearly everyone.

But with or without these fixes the right wing of the Republican Party, which is arguably a wholly owned subsidiary of the top 1% earning class of America, will continue to claim the entire program is headed for bankruptcy.

In one real sense their lies are comedic since that same right wing group has hated Social Security since inception and would love for it to be doomed to bankruptcy.  After all the more people who become and remain poor the wealthier they can feel by comparison.

I hereby submit for your approval five easy pieces to stop future worries about Social Security.

1. Get rid of the income ceiling for social security deductions.
1. This most egregious slap in the face of the lower wage earners must go
2. The small amount taken from paychecks should not hurt those in the higher brackets
3. Current salary limit of $113,700 means wealthy earners essentially get a raise for being wealthy!
4. We are one nation etc. and should all pull our weight.
2. No one should be allowed or forced to take Social Security payments if they are still working and earning above a certain income level.
1. More and more people are working into their 80s and many are earning nice money thank you.
2. States should set the earning limits

                     i. Those who reside in New York or California are faced with much higher costs of living than those in States such as Arkansas etc.

                     ii. COL adjustments should be reviewed yearly so as to alter fair amounts.

3. Social Security should be considered as income.
1. The income must be reported on tax returns even after retirement
2. Social Security income added to investment income should be taxed as ordinary income for all recipients
4. In the off chance an individual does not wish to collect his or her social security payment they should be allowed to decline it
1. The amount of the payment they are entitled to (yes, entitled!) should be used as a charitable deduction on their tax return
2. Money not paid out to entitled recipients must remain in the Social Security coffers to offset future needs
5. People who continue to work past the age of 70 do not receive an increase in their retirement payouts from Social Security BUT
1. The Social Security payroll deduction should continue regardless of age or salary
2. The amount of the payroll deduction for workers past age 70 may be reduced by an amount set by the State in which the worker resides.

                                        i. However Federal limits will apply.

All laws and programs in America are constantly reviewed for current relevancy and Social Security should not be exempt from such scrutiny.
However simply because the very wealthy do not take advantage of a program or need to is no reason to end or vilify it!
If we as a nation start forgetting about the elderly or the poor or the needy we are heading down a dangerous path.
Which group will be next on the chopping block?

To Protect & Serve - Corporations?

A new bill is being proposed in New York to go after those ‘knock-off’ handbags.

You know the ones that have a $500 price tag but perfect 'look-a-likes' can be bought on the street for under $30?

Basically I do not have a problem with protecting the originals as the companies who spend a great deal of money producing and marketing and maintaining an image of snob appeal do have a right to make whatever money hey can when they dupe the public into buying their quite overpriced product.

This is the essence of America and as they say, Caveat Emptor.

If people are dumb enough to pay those exorbitant prices for items they could get for far less that perform equally as well that’s their choice.

As long as they do not harm the rest of us we should not pass judgment on their sanity.

I would offer that we must use the same laissez-faire argument for same sex marriage as those who enter into it do not diminish any one else’s marriage unless of course that marriage was not all that good to begin with!

However our government sure does spend a great deal of time and effort to help private companies and corporations make and maintain profits.

They also tend to give many of these large non-human entities equally large tax breaks while the consumer is left holding the bag.

How about asking profitable corporations to kick a little of their gains back into the coffers that spend so much protecting their rights?

How about treating the rest of us with nearly the same respect given to undeserving entities such as Exxon/Mobil?

When an average citizen is lucky enough to make a profit on an investment the IRS knows about it and lays in wait for that amount to show up on the individual’s next tax return.  And woe be he who tries to hide that profit!

But when the fore mentioned polluting oil giant breaks all kinds of records with unbelievably large and obscene profits not only do they pay zero tax they receive subsidies!

We associate the word oily with sleazy for a reason!

But one should not place all the blame on the large, ‘not a person my friend’ corporation as it is only doing what it can to keep raking in the money while raping the land and the people they call customers.

Much of the blame must go to the very same law makers who look for high profile cases to pad their resumes while accepting funds; some might say bribes to stay the course of increasing corporate profits.

Remember all the ballyhoo by the hypocrites in government after the BP oil spill that killed countless birds and other wildlife in the Gulf?  Judging by the television commercials that inundate the airwaves about how wonderful BP is and how they have made commitments to the Gulf I’d say not too many people DO remember. 

But I’ll bet the families of those who were killed by the disaster remember.

I’ll bet the people who lost their jobs and businesses due to the disaster remember.

I'll bet all those who still suffer due to the disastrously poor cleanup efforts afterward still remember.

And I’ll bet the people who will suffer after the next inevitable disaster will remember as well!

But Congress will not remember, just as they have already forgotten about the massacre that took the lives of those children and teachers in Newtown, Connecticut.

The National Rifle Ass and other groups such as the Gun Owners of America are spending fortunes to stop Congress from enacting or even debating any rules or regulations that might limit their sales and profits.

And Congress naturally listens to the money; I mean voices from these small self serving organizations.

One must ask who does Congress exist to serve?

The founders of this nation tried to create a document that would set forth laws to live by but realized their Constitution must be able to evolve with the times.

And it has evolved with amendment after amendment correcting unseen flaws ever since.

As long as we the people make certain that our Constitution remains a living breathing entity that may be questioned and tweaked we will keep our place in the World as the worst form of government that is still better than all the rest.

But back to the latest issue at hand, we definitely should have laws protecting the intellectual property of those poor set upon handbag designers and manufacturers and others of their ilk.

But we must also get back to basics and start thinking about laws to protect the citizens of America against the real evil that goes on every day.