War and Remembrance

(We decided to allow the Boy to have two of his friends over tonight, for an overnighter.  The other two are basically good kids, one has a little bit of a potty-mouth, but he apologized last time and promises he'll watch his language while he's in the house.  This is their last year of middle school and they're growing fast, entering that realm of hormones and high energy, wonder and illusion, and the days of killing Nazi thugs and evil aliens on their video games will be soon drawing to a close.  High school girls are coming.  I want to warn them, but they wouldn't listen to me.  What do I know, anyway.  At any rate, I got hot dogs and potato salad for them later, and Dad's homemade waffles in the morning.  It's a three day weekend, it should all be okay.  It's once again Memorial Day weekend.  I've put the flag up, perhaps prematurely, and as our tradition, the family will be going up to the cemetery and placing flags and flowers on our loved ones graves on Sunday.  Don't like to go on the actual Memorial Day, 'cause of all the people.  I guess, when you think about it, it's kind of a silly thing to do, and I never regularly did it like I do now, but when Uncle Bob died I made a promise to myself to visit his grave at least once a year.  On behalf of all of us here at Bad Hat, I wish you a very happy Memorial Day weekend.  Drive safe.  But I digress ...)

• Well golly, where to begin.  We've been gone for so long there's SO much stuff to report on, so let's just touch on the big ones, okay?  Tornadoes!  Big ones, global warming mothers of destruction wreaking havoc on innocent Oklahoma towns, throwing babies and cuddly animals halfway across the county, sucking parents right out of their shelters, wiping out elementary schools, pre-schools, day care facilities, Oh My Freaking F-5 God (on the Fugita scale).  Whyohwhy does God allow these things to happen?  Waitaminute, maybe it's not God doing all this afterall.  MAYBE it's the GOVERNMENT!  Conspiracy theory radio host Alex Jones says the government IS doing it.  Ohboy.  This is whole new kind of crazy.
• The NRA is also a twitchy clown car of paranoia and failure.  Well, by golly, I guess that pretty much sums it up.  George W. Bush is a sad, awkward loser.  Yes, I've noticed that too.  Pretty pathetic, actually.  Mark Morford makes these statements and more with a fascinating article called "Nine Amazing Truths You Already Suspected."
• Consider this:  The Boy Scouts of America, long a homophobic Christian based organization for the indoctrination of young boys, has finally bowed to pressure from the reality-based culture it exists in, and has said it will allow gay children to join its ranks.  (First question, why would gay children want to...?)  But wait, the BSA still retains its ban on gay scout leaders.  Ah yes, that "morally straight" clause.  Well, we salute the BSA for it's outstanding forward-thinking on this issue, but still advise any young man to stay away from joining this organization, just as we advise against joining the Catholic Church and eating at Denny's.  'Course that's just our opinion.
• GOP War On Sex Update:  An all-male panel of House lawmakers considered a bill on Thursday that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy across the United States, without exceptions for rape, incest or health of the mother.  Notice it says "all-male panel."  Yes, once again, righteous male Republican members of congress have gathered together to decide what's best for a woman's body.  Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), the bill's sponsor, says that he hopes President Barack Obama will stand up for fetuses in the same way he stands up for the nation's poor and sick. "He is their president and they need him so badly." 
• I was watching the Today show the other morning, and after a while my attention got sidetracked with something else.  I left the TV on as I went into another room for a bit and when I returned I glanced at the set and saw a hunched up little elderly man, more troll than human, who was creaking out little homilies.  His face was so puffy with age that his eyes were just slits, and it was difficult to gauge where he was looking.  Was he looking at the camera?  Were his eyes closed tight?  I finally began to listen to what he was saying, and I paused for a while, watching him as I would watch the aftermath of a horrible car accident.  This man, I would realize later, was Pat Robertson.  This little man was advising the married women in his audience that even though infidelity by their husbands is a natural thing, the hapless wife could keep their straying mates home more if they kept the house clean.  And if you, like I, found that advice to be more than a bit odd, here's the 10 Most Absurd Sex Tips From the Christian Right.
• The current administration has been embroiled in several "scandals" recently, and thinking back on it, most second term administrations seem to have had them.  One of those Obama administration "scandals" is the IRS auditing of extreme right-wing "tea party" groups.  Unfortunate, I suppose, but before we really get into some kind of argument here, read this article entitled "How Did the IRS Get Investigatory Authority, Anyway?"
• Here's some good news:  President Obama has called for an end to the "War On Terror."  Naturally that pissed off the Conservatives, whose motives of operation call for instilling fear and loathing upon the general populace.  The President said "We have to be mindful of James Madison's warning that 'no nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.'"  Now if we could just call a halt to the ridiculous "War On Drugs."

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