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• What Liberal Democrats really think of Staunch Republicans...
  by Karl Denton

  NSFW

• You Betcha!!!!
  by montdragon

  Dear Journal: / At one time a long long time ago there was a senator who was noteworthy and honorable…that man Senator John McCain does no…

  Dear Journal: / At one time a long long time ago there was a senator who was noteworthy and honorable…that man Senator John McCain does not exist now, but every once in awhile you see a glimmer of him and you sigh and feel bad for him. He has thrown his lot in with the Neocons (working for and with George W. Bush who smeared and vilified John McCain and swift boated Senator Kerry and Vice President Al Gore) and extreme right wing evangelical Christians like Sarah Palin who is a demagogue of intolerance and hate. Congressman John Lewis made a statement that John McCain is “sowing the seeds of hatred and division” and compared him to George Wallace (John McCain has asked Senator Barack Obama to repudiate Congressman John Lewis’s statement, wonder why? Too close to the truth?…Why hasn’t John McCain spoken directly to Congressman John Lewis )….the person fueling this hate is Sarah Palin with gusto and rabid enjoyment she was booed at the Philadelphia Flyers hockey game, ironic at a hockey game…and of course at her rallies you hear “kill him kill him” and “traitor” and he is an “Arab or Muslim” (ever wonder what law abiding Arab Americans who love America think…like Ralph Nader) and other vile things like “off with his head.” John McCain has tried to stop extreme hateful comments at his rallies they are being recorded and they are a video public record. Every time Sarah Palin speaks more Americans see and know now who Sarah Palin is, it is embarrassing for thinking Republicans, Democrats and Independents and it will affect their vote. The ones that are rabid hateful supporters are not Americans who understand who “We the People” are; they never have and never will. Sarah Palin was found “guilty” or “unlawfully abused her authority” which simply put she is not qualified to be a Vice Presidential candidate and reports that her Gubernatorial administration is “shockingly amateurishly mismanaged” one seventy two year old heartbeat away from the Presidency (?)…that is dangerous, not vetted properly and the non Fox News interviews affirm her inadequacies and her debate was not a debate just jingoistic parroting. Of course some will shout out that she is qualified they may or may not be racist…fascist and ignorant for sure….when you take the position that “they are not like us” or they are “not as patriotic” as them or are not “Christian enough” as them, co-opting God as theirs and all others are damned….muttering that the others “are different” (?). Some publishing images of soft porn Sarah Palin or glorifying a gun toting Sarah Barracuda and images of excreting fluids and body waste on Senator Barack Obama…makes you wonder. It is a zero-sum to attempt dialogue just ideologue diatribes ala Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter et al the extreme right wing nut jobs unleashed…Lord Almighty some are just faux Christians or misogynist prepubescent middle aged men-boys tickling their pickles fawning over Sarah Palin. Stating your position and challenging the opposition to think and respond in kind is part of the election process, you won’t find dialogue just ideologue nonsense proliferating all over the McBush McCain McPalin United Banana Republican Republic of Stupid….You Betcha!!!!

• A Nail in the Coffin of the Grand Old Party, as hammered by themselves
  by klezedawg

  “Theodore Roosevelt was a prominent conservationist whose policies eventually led to the creation of the modern U.S. National Park Servic…

  “Theodore Roosevelt was a prominent conservationist whose policies eventually led to the creation of the modern U.S. National Park Service.” from an article about the Republican Party. It’s too bad the Republican Party was gutted and destroyed by the likes of Richard Nixon, the Bush’s, and Carl Rove. And what was with Ronald Reagan? One day he was like “I will not under any circumstances choose George HW Bush as my runnig mate” and then he was saying “I’d like to announce George Bush as my Vice Presidential choice”. Was he the Republican that got that going? I won’t sit here and list all the great Republican presidents that are rolling in their graves but will say that I’m sure President Lincoln didn’t die serving his country as the First Republican President with this in mind. All this mudslinging, and hate mongering against the Democrats is more them being pissed they aren’t really the Grand Old Party then it is anything else. They are the second oldest political party in the Untited Sates afterall, and since we only have the two parties left in existance in 2008 it’d seem that Obama is the candidate representing the oldest political party, the Grand Old Party if you will. By 2012, I’m personally hoping that we have no political parties left.

• This Whole Natural Born Citizen Biz.
  by klezedawg

  Today was the first day I have heard the latest rumors they were looking into Barrack Obama possibly having been born in Kenya and his bi…

  Today was the first day I have heard the latest rumors they were looking into Barrack Obama possibly having been born in Kenya and his birth ceritificate being fake. Then there is the fact John McCain was born abroad in Panama to a father who was serving there. Well, McCain is definitely a natural born US citizen, I myself was born in Japan while my dad was serving in the Air Force. I have two birth certificates, my live birth one from the hospital in Okinowa and my “Natural Born” citizen born abroad certificate from Hawaii. I have to say that the Obama certificate looks more like a naturalization certificate then a live birth certificate. McCain should relase his as well. What makes me laugh about this whole thing is that my parents sided with my eigth grade social studies teacher when she told me I couldn’t run for president. I decided to read her every amendment on the subject of “Natural Born” but was shot down because of her ‘US soil stance”, now here we are over twenty years later, age wise it would have been my first eligible election to run in, and one of the candidates was born under the same circumstance as myself. I wonder if that teacher ever told any other kids they couldn’t do something they could have. It also really surprises me that the Republicans nominated someone who wasn’t born on US soil, I generally find Republicans to take the born on US soil stance. I guess with the CIA’s invasion of Panama to control the cocaine flow into the Bush’s pockets, a war vet born abroad to a Navy man was just about as American as cocaine use in the 1980’s was. Barrack Hussien Obama, I’ve been hearing references to the Manchurian Candidate. I have got to say great story, political candidate put into office to play out someone elses agenda. Shit, kind of reminds me of George W. Bush, playing out his father’s and Cheney’s leftover Middle Eastern schemes from 41’s administration. Get back to the issues and if you can’t do that then go ahead and loose votes to Ron Paul because you’re spending too much time on hate!!!!

• What happened to America? election2008
  by klezedawg

  Well, we are coming closer to election day here in the USA and I am beside myself with disbelief. I have never really been a fan of the …

  Well, we are coming closer to election day here in the USA and I am beside myself with disbelief. I have never really been a fan of the Republican party and the conservative’s that make up their base. It seems to me they are always for less government regulation, unless it has to do with social issues. They are all for telling woman they no longer have the right to choose but are against regulating businesses that overpay their CEOs and underpay their hourly employees. I have been working in the United States for nearly twenty years and make $1.75 less an hour then I was making in 1991, not to mention they no longer pay time and a half for Sundays and holidays. This is fare, how? I have been listening to the spin the republicans have been putting out to defend their actions over the past few weeks and am offended by them. They depend on fear to try to climb out of the holes they dig themselves, expect people to be stupid enough to forget what they said yesturday so we buy into the line of BS they’re trying to sell today, and they lie far more then their rivals the Democrats. The Republican party had two perfect candidates for change and reform in Washington with Mike Huckabe and Mitt Romney. Both conservative and far more appealing to the base then McCain is but instead they offer a couple of self proclaimed mavericks that will only run the US further into the ground. If they love this country as much as they claim then McCain/Palin should concede this election before election day or they should bow out so the republicans have three weeks to offer up a ticket that has a grasp on the issues and shows up to debate them as opposed to showing up with talking points and zingers.

• NO more hatred - Boycott Palin!
  by JRobinWhitley

  Just read several news articles where not only has Palin fed rumors she is now feeding hatred. One of her “followers” shouted out “kill h…

  Just read several news articles where not only has Palin fed rumors she is now feeding hatred. One of her “followers” shouted out “kill him” when she called Obama associated (at age 8) with Ayers. NO ONE NEEDS to feed hatred in this time of our politics. Regardless of your political affiliation, I encourage you to boycott Palin on all accounts. If you are Republican please write Senator McCain and call for her dismissal for fueling hatred. If you are Democrat, do the same. All of us are contributing to this feeding frenzy by allowing so much attention focused on someone who would foster such hatred. There is nothing more costly than this and the government cannot bail anyone out from these types of consequence. No more hatred! / http://digg.com/political_opinion/Boycott_Palin

• IT'S JUST ... SICKENING
  by Harry Murray

  Will the people we are FORCED to rather generously pay to represent us here in the good ol’ USA … EVER … do anything more than SCREW …

  Will the people we are FORCED to rather generously pay to represent us here in the good ol’ USA … EVER … do anything more than SCREW us behind our backs and hand us a teeny, tiny, little 600 dollar “economic stimulus payment” so they can say, “Oooooooo look at all we are doing for you”?? WILL THEY EVER STOP BEING SO ARROGANT???? I seriously believe … anyone who votes for any canidate from the two major parties in this country should seriously have their heads examined. But sadly on many lines of many ballots there will be no other options … and certainly no … “none ‘o these bums!” THESE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN ENTRENCHED IN WASHINGTON FOR FAR TOO LONG, TAKING A SUBSTANTIAL PAYCHECK FROM THE TAXES WE PAY, WHILE FEATHERING THEIR OWN RATHER COMFORTABLE BEDS … AND DON’T GIVE ONE DAMN BIT ABOUT ANY OF US! And they are laughing their way into very nice retirements … many Federal Goverment Employees … particualrly at high levels … again people WE PAY rather well … aren’t much better. The U.S. Constitution no longer starts out “We the People” ... It now clearly reads … We the Saps, the Dopes & the Suckers! You want to hear it straighter than that … go on You Tube and listen to what George Carlin has to say about voting and the people running this country. People only nervously laugh at him now. He’s not being funny people. Not at all. Yes, some comedy is based on exageration. But he just doesn’t have to exagerate nearly as much any more. Same with Lewis Black. They don’t have to try … the absurdity of reality is rapidly surpassing that of comedy. We are in trouble. BIG trouble. Folks we are seriously getting … buggered … to be polite … at every bend in the road by these ladies and gentleman in Washington, and all the other little government seats too. The two party system has taken this once great country and ruined it … ruined at least for the majority of the honest hard working women and men struggling harder and harder every day to get by. While they have been getting more and more … we have been loosing ground since the 70’s. Yes, for over 30 years now the REAL income for the Average American Family has steadily dropped as their debt has steadily grown. In that same period REAL wages for the Average American Worker have dropped and benefits slowly disappeared. The AAF & AAW have lost ground in the same period that Corporations … have “out sourced” more … / moved entire idustries out of this country … / received more and more direct support from the Federal Government ... / received more and more concessions and breaks from the Fed … and many have recorded record profits … and that list could go on and on. OK so we are still better off then folks in a lot of places and should be very thankful for all we DO have. It is good and right to be grateful and thankful But here’s the kicker ….. THEY WANT TO TAKE THAT AWAY FROM US TOO! THEY WON’T STOP UNTIL THEY’VE BLED US DRY. WHY? THEY DON’T KNOW HOW TO DO ANYTHING ELSE AND THE REAL PEOPLE RUNNING THIS CIRCUS CAN’T SEE PAST NEXT QUARTER’S PROFIT STATEMENTS. And we are supposed to be thrilled with a 600 dollar check? We are supposed to run out and spend it like kids in a candy store? Lets really mess with their minds … take the check … cash it … convert it to gold or silver … THEN BURY IT SOMEPLACE SAFE! Well I already spent half of mine … I gave it to a firend who lost their job to help them get by. Oh well I am rambling … but I do that when I am angry … and everyone should be. They have the POWER and the MONEY, but there are a helluvalot more of us than there are of them and we need to get aggressive and start DEMANDING better! Particularly from the people who prepetuate the farce of representing us in Washington. If nothing else … at least go read some of the thoughts on votenader.org. We really don’t have to put up with this bullshit … but it’s going to take a hell of a lot of work to get something back for US. And we do have to get our butts moving on this. I started MY morning almost loosing my breakfast reading what I have posted below. This is just so sickening and WRONG. Just plain WRONG. That people we have elected and we pay salaries to would even consider such a piece of legislation is a clear example of just how little they really care about the interest of the people they claim the right to represent. I’ll correct that … It’s not WRONG … It’s OBSCENE! But THIS is business everyday in Washington …. We need to get ANGRY! We need to stand up and FIGHT! We need to say ... WE WILL NOT TOLERATE THIS ABUSE ANY MORE! And make no mistake about it … it is ABUSE! REAL ABUSE! It should be illegal, it’s certainly unethical … there’s a little word long forgotten in the Halls and Backrooms of Congress and Corporate Boardrooms. Ethics! Ethics are those little things that are supposed to remind you that while you can do just about anything you want … there are times you shouldn’t … and YOU should be the one to stop yourself. WE NEED TO SAY IN MILLIONS OF LOUD VOICES …. NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And we need to start saying it TODAY. Mind Your Business / You Will Lose All The Rights to Your Own Art / Mark Simon As you know, I usually handle the subjects in my articles with a sense of humor. That is not the case this month. I find nothing funny about the new Orphan Works legislation that is before Congress. In fact, it PISSES ME OFF! As an artist, you have to read this article or you could lose everything you’ve ever created! An Orphaned Work is any creative work of art where the artist or copyright owner has released their copyright, whether on purpose, by passage of time or by lack of proper registration. Like when parents give up their child to be an orphan, you can give up ownership in your creative work to be an orphan for others to use without your permission. If you don’t like to read long articles, you will miss incredibly important information that will affect the rest of your career as an artist. You should at least skip to the end to find the link for a fantastic interview with Brad Holland of the Illustrators Partnership about how you are about to lose ownership of your own artwork. Currently, you don’t have to register your artwork to own the copyright. You own a copyright as soon as you create something. International law also supports this. Right now, registration allows you to sue for damages, in addition to fair value. What makes me so MAD about this new legislation is that it legalized THEFT! The only people who benefit from this are those who want to make use of our creative works without paying for them, or from large companies who will run the new private copyright registries. These registries are companies that you would be forced to pay to register every single image, photo, sketch or creative work. It is currently against international law to coerce people to register their work for copyright because there are so many inherent problems with it. But because big business, like Bill Gates, can push through laws in the United States, our country is about to break with the rest of the world, again, and take your rights away. With the tens of millions of photos and pieces of artwork created each year, the bounty for forcing everyone to pay a registration fee would be enormous. We lose our rights and our creations, and someone else makes money at our expense. This includes every sketch, painting, photo, sculpture, drawing, video, song and every other type of creative endeavor. All of it is at risk! If the Orphan Works legislation passes, you and I and all creatives will lose virtually all the rights to not only our future work but to everything we’ve created over the past 34 years unless we register it with the new, untested and privately run (by the friends and cronies of the U.S. government) registries. Even then, there is no guarantee that someone wishing to steal your personal creations won’t successfully call your work an orphan work, and then legally use it for free. In short, if Congress passes this law, YOU WILL LOSE THE RIGHT TO MAKE MONEY FROM YOUR OWN CREATIONS! Why is this allowed to happen? APATHY and MONEY. Artists have apathy and corporations have money. We need to be heard in order to protect our incomes, our creations and our careers. GET OFF YOUR ASS! That means writing letters to our congressmen and representatives. That means voicing your opinion about how we need copyright protection, as we’ve had since 1976, that protects everything we create from the moment we create it. Currently, your work is copyrighted as soon as it’s created, whether you register it or not. This is the case around the world. However, an Orphan Works bill is also in the works in Europe. I was speaking recently with Roger Dean, the famed artist of the YES album covers, and he is greatly concerned with what will happen if Orphan Works bills become law. “This will devastate the livelihood of artist, photographers and designers in a number of ways.” Dean continues, “That at the behest of a few hugely rich corporations who got rich by selling art that they paid no part in the making of, the U.S. and U.K. governments are changing the copyright laws to protect the infringer instead of the creator. This is unjust, culturally destructive and commercial lunacy. This will not just hurt millions of artists around the world.” “On the other side of the coin,” Dean argues, “what argument will a U.S. court have with a Chinese company that insists it did its research in China and found nothing? If the cost of this is onerous for a U.S. based artist, what will it be like for artists and small businesses in emergent economies?” If an artist, whose work is as famous as Roger Dean’s, is concerned with this legislation, it should be of great concern for all of us. The people, associations and companies behind the Orphan Works bill state that orphaned works have no value. If that were true, no one would want them. However, these same companies DO WANT your work, they just don’t want to pay for it. If someone wants something, IT HAS VALUE. It’s pretty simple. Some major artist and photography associations, or I should say the managers of the associations, support this bill. The reason they support is that they will operate some of the registries and stand to make a lot of money. Some have already been given millions of dollars by the Library of Congress. Follow the money and you will see why some groups support this bill of legalized theft of everything you have ever created. Corbis and Getty Images have opposed the Bill but have a lobbyist in Washington who is negotiating behind closed doors for favorable concessions to them. They are large stock photo and stock art companies. They sell art and photos inexpensively and are trying to build giant royalty-free databases. Do you see how they could benefit from considering most art in the world orphans? Do you know who owns Corbis? Bill Gates. He doesn’t do anything unless it can make a huge amount of money. For years we’ve heard of Hollywood fighting with China to protect the copyrights and income for distributing feature films from pirated DVDs. Our government has worked with the film studios to protect their investment. Individuals in our government are NOW WORKING AGAINST US by allowing our own citizens TO STEAL OUR CREATIVE WORKS. It will be easy for them to get away with it unless we make ourselves heard. Your calls and letters do work. I’ve been involved with many instances of a single letter making a difference in public policy. Tens of thousands of calls and letters help even more. This is not empty talk. I have written letters to my congressmen and I will do so again. I do what I can to let every creator know about terrible legislation like this…thus you are reading articles like this one and you can listen to interviews I’ve posted online. CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATOR: / Go to http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml to quickly find the phone number, address, e-mail of every U.S. Senator, U.S. Representative, Governor and State Legislator. Forward this article to every creator you know and urge them to take a moment to protect their very livelihood. I am giving everyone the right to reprint this article in any form to help spread the word to protect our creative rights. Instead of sitting around watching TV tonight, TiVo that show tonight, write a letter make yourself heard. Letters to our government officials don’t have to be long, but they should be heartfelt. A good story helps. Tell them who you are, how this legislation negatively affects you and that you want them to vote against the Orphan Works legislation. It’s that easy! If you don’t, you will have only yourself to blame when you see other people making money from your art and you don’t see a dime. Spider-Man comic artist Alex Saviuk is also concerned about the loss of copyright protection. “When I found out all the negative aspects of the new legislation, it would almost behoove us to want to do something else for a living,” says Saviuk. “If we would have to register with all the different companies, we would never be able to make a living.” “It would impossible for me to register all my art,” continues Saviuk. “It would put me out of business.” You can listen to my complete interview with Alex online at http://www.SellYourTvConceptNow.com/orphan.html. Think this doesn’t apply to you? Maybe you don’t license your artwork? How about this? Photos on the internet could be orphaned. With tens of millions of photos shared online with services like Flickr, Shutterfly and Snapfish, there is a huge opportunity unauthorized use of your photos…legally. You could see photos you take of your family and kids or of a family vacation used in a magazine or newspaper without your permission or payment to you. You would have to pay to register your photos, all of them, in every new registry to protect them. Say the average person takes 300 photos per year (I take a lot more than that). If a registry only charges $5 per image, that is a whopping $1,500 to protect your photos that are protected automatically in the current laws. If there are 3 registries, protecting your images could cost an amazing $4,500. Not to mention the time it would take to register every photo you take. Plus, you will also have to place your copyright sign on every photo. That’s not including all your art, sketches, paintings, 3D models, animations, etc. Do you really have all that extra time and money? Plus, even if you do register, the people stealing your work can still claim it was orphaned and unless you fight them, they win. Even if you win, you may not make back your legal fees. It gets even better. Anyone can submit images, including your images. They would then be excused from any liability for infringement (also known as THEFT) unless the legitimate rights owner (you) responds within a certain period of time to grant or deny permission to use your work. That means you will also have to look through every image in every registry all the time to make sure someone else is not stealing and registering your art. You could actually end up illegally using your own artwork if someone else registers it. DOES ANYONE SEE A PROBLEM WITH THIS? Do you think the U.S. Copyright Office is here to protect you from this legislation? Think again. Brad Holland of the Illustrator’s Partnership shares his notes from a recent meeting with General Counsel of the Copyright Office. Holland: “If a user can’t find a registered work at the Copyright Office, hasn’t the Copyright Office facilitated the creation of an orphaned work?” Carson: “Copyright owners will have to register their images with private registries.” Holland: “But what if I exercise my exclusive right of copyright and choose not to register?” Carson: “If you want to go ahead and create an orphan work, be my guest!” This cavalier and disrespectful dialogue should have you seeing red. Who the hell does he think he is? Carson should be fired and RUN OUT OF WASHINGTON! None of this could happen with our current laws. Our current laws work and they protect us and our creations. The only people who will benefit from the copyright law change are those who can’t create work on their own or companies who stand to make a lot of money from using our works of art. They pay contributions to Congressmen, which is why they get what they want. We need to stand up and be heard. Every one of you needs to write your Senators and Representatives. We have to protect our livelihoods. It’s that serious. Plus, the technologies being developed for locating visual art don’t work well enough. On March 13, 2008, PicScout, one of the softwares used in the registries, stated to the House IP subcommittee: “Our technology can match images, or partial information of an image with 99% success.” A 1% margin of error is huge when you consider the millions of searches performed for art every day. That means for every million searches, 10,000 images could be orphaned. Plus, this only takes into account images registered on their system. If you have registered all your work on another system, they won’t be searched here and even though you may have spent thousands of dollars registering your creations, a new or unused directory could orphan everything you’ve ever created. This is just one of the many reasons why INTERNATIONAL LAW FORBIDS COERCED REGISTRATION as a condition of protecting your copyright. The United States is about to break international law by making us register our works. The people behind the bill say it’s not forced registration, but you won’t have any rights unless you register. THIS IS SIMANTICS! Of course, this is forced registration and we can’t stand for it! There many, many other problems with the Orphan Works legislation. As a creator, YOU MUST understand what is going on. For additional information on Orphan Works developments, go to the IPA Orphan Works Resource Page for Artists: / http://www.illustratorspartnership.org/01_topics/article.php?searchterm=00185. This is not something that is going to go away easily. We need to be vocal NOW! This legislation has been beaten or delayed for the past 2 years and they will keep trying until it passes. This is no time to be quiet and see what happens. What will happen depends on you. Send e-mails and call your congressmen. Ownership of your own creations depends on it. Roger Dean sums this up well, “Where are the colleges and Universities in all this? Has the whole world gone to sleep?” GET ON ORPHAN WORKS E-MAIL LIST: / To be notified of the latest information on the Orphan Works bill and when we should contact our legislators, send an e-mail to illustratorspartnership@cnymail.com and ask to be added to the Orphan Works list. AUDIO INTERVIEW LINK: / I have recorded a fantastic interview with Brad Holland of the Illustrator’s Partnership regarding this bill and what it means to us as artists. Please go online to http://www.SellYourTvConceptNow.com/orphan.html to listen and learn more about how you may lose ownership of all your art and photos. This article and the recorded interview are available for anyone to use in any print or on any website. Please forward this information to every person and group you know so we can work together and protect our creations and livelihoods. Mark Simon is an award-winning animation producer/director and speaker. He speaks around the world on subjects about art, animation and tv production. His copyrighted companies may be found online at www.SellYourTvConceptNow.com and www.Storyboards-East.com. He may be reached at marksimonbooks@yahoo.com. Portions of this article use information and phrasing provided by the Illustrators Partnership.

• Politics and Stupidity
  by Habenero

  The problems America faces really are a result of stupidity. Dumb people chose our president by voting for the guy they think is mos…

  The problems America faces really are a result of stupidity. Dumb people chose our president by voting for the guy they think is most like them. Just because Bush was the guy they’d most like to have a beer with, the fact that he bankrupted 2 oil companies in Texas (an oil rich state) due to his incompetence was overlooked. His goal from day one has always been about getting as much money for himself and his friends from the stupid tax payers as possible. Lets look at how sports arenas are now built. The team owners threaten to leave a city unless the city builds them a new stadium. The city council members often cave into these jackals (I suspect they are bought off) and give them lucrative deals that make it impossible for the city itself to make any money from the stadium itself. The city pays for the stadium and its upkeep, lets the team owners have the concession, parking, and most of the ticket revenue and the stadium is rarely used for anything else without giving most of that revenue to the team owner as well. By the time the stadium is paid for, the team owners will demand a new one due to the age of the old one. There are many that claim to want change but continue to vote for the incumbents. It is almost always a case of your incumbent is bad, but mine is OK that rules in the voting booth. Congress has a very low rating, but my Congressman is not part of the problem. Try thinking, if congress is bad, all congressmen should be replaced, including yours! Single issue voters are the biggest idiots out there. If the person running is decent in most respects and has promoted good fiscal policies, but is pro choice, isn’t he a better choice to be given the purse strings than the antiabortion guy that has a reputation for reckless financial choices? Then again, many of the morons in the anti-abortion crowd are for the death penalty. What part of being pro life justifies this? Doesn’t your bible say “Thou shalt not kill.”? If so, I don’t see any loophole that says that you can kill if the other person has done bad things, it is only a 4 word commandment. No wiggle room seems to be included. Think carefully, if the 95% of Americans earn less than $250,000 aren’t they going to have more money to spend if their taxes are cut? Is the country going to prosper if the majority of the residents has more money to spend? Consumer spending is the engine that built the economic engine of the country. We didn’t prosper because the rich people bought all the cars and houses. We prospered because the middle class had extra income and spent it. Reaganomics, has been doomed from the outset. The rich do not spend enough to keep the country afloat. There are too few of them. For capitalism to work properly, you need a broad market. If too few people can buy your products or services, you can’t sell them. If more and more of the wealth goes into the hands of fewer and fewer people, there is not going to be enough demand to drive the economy. Under liberal government policies, the rich bear a larger tax burden. This places more spendable income into the hands of more people. Many of them spend and the economy prospers. If you place more dollars into the hands of fewer people, you cut off the economic engine of the country, and throughout our history, liberal politics increased our prosperity. If you are dumb enough to vote for the “Deregulator General” and his fundamentalist fool, you may as well plead for them to provide some lube before they ream you. You won’t be getting any mercy from them. The only option this country has for now is to elect Obama because at least then the economy can start to recover from the disaster Reagan’s policies has caused.

• Fuck Hillary Clinton Supporters
  by Jeff Ryan

  Ok a pervious journal entry I posted may have come off a bit harsh and hateful. First I would like to say I do NOT support violence again…

  Ok a pervious journal entry I posted may have come off a bit harsh and hateful. First I would like to say I do NOT support violence against women. I support violence against the elderly, they are old, cranky and always complaining about something. (Just Kidding, I love old people) I didn’t mean for my remarks to be taken seriously. Frankly, I didnt think anyone would read this, seeing as how in under an hour that journal entry recieved more views than any of my artwork that has been posted for about a month now. With that being said I stand by my statement regarding Hillary Clinton supporters who are starting these little internet groups and banding together against Barack Obama. I mean Im mad that Ron Paul didnt win the Republican Nomination but you dont see me protesting. It just seems that every other day I see a new Clinton group spokes person on Fox News bitching about how jaded she is by the democratic party and how Obama is an inexperienced antichrist left wing liberal loony. Im sick of seeing these ugly old white bitches complaining, these ladies look like they havn’t had an orgasm since Regan took office. Heres a politician who has policies that actually make sense and here you guys go screwing things up for him which in the end is going to hand the election over to John McCain. Why do we need another Republican in office? Why do we need four more years of a conservative right wing politician? Hasn’t George Bush proven that the only thing a republican president is good for is inspiring hilarious cartoons on Comedy Central? I think there are more similarities between Hillary Clinton’s and Barack Obama’s policies than Clinton and McCain’s. Im sick of retarded people protesting shit because they have nothing better to do with their time, go iron a shirt, smoke some pot, and loosen your bra straps a couple notches.

• Thoughts & Politics
  by MattTucker7

  There are many (myself included) who in the past, or perhaps presently feel that politics don’t effect them, that no matter who’s in the …

  There are many (myself included) who in the past, or perhaps presently feel that politics don’t effect them, that no matter who’s in the House in the coming years, their day-to-day lives will remain the same, and they’ll live them that way. But I’ve come to realize that this has the same detrimental effects of those of us who wish to give our lives to humanitarian work and snub our noses at the wealthy and those who seemingly work and/or live for money. We need all people to make this world go ‘round, and money is unfortunately a necessity to some extent in this world. Those people making the money can allow us to have the funding to do world missions and to start foundations keep non-profits running. They’re influential, as is the money they posses, and they allow us to be influential as well. The situation with politics is very similar I’ve come to realize. Those people have so much power and control over the issues in this country, and can really hold sway over one outcome or another. And these ‘outcomes,’ for many could be the difference between a healthy life and an unhealthy live. Or simply life or death. We must learn to educate ourselves in politics, particularly when it comes to the coming elections. It does make a difference who ends up in that office, and we do have a say. The past few elections had so few from our generation that the outcome was really decided by a relatively small number. This brings me to the series of thoughts I’ve been having today. There are many Christians who cannot understand, let alone support a Democratic candidate, let alone why other Christians may. But since when was God a Republican or a Democrat? In my opinion the informed position would be one closer to center anyhow, but that is neither here nor there. There are also many Christians (and I used to be one of them) who vote solely based on the abortion issue. Saying that voting for anyone other than the candidate with the strongest stance against abortion is murder. The problem is that abortions will continue whether they are legal or not, and if it is not, they will be in much more dangerous and unsanitary ways. Beyond that, who says that abortion is the only issue involving ‘murder,’ and potential loss of beautiful life or otherwise? There are many who cannot afford healthcare and who are thrust into a pit of debt by their medical bills, or the many others who simply don’t get treatment – some who don’t even try. And what of creating an environment that will last us as long as possible for future generations? And many other countless issues involving human life and its quality. Here is another thought: just because someone is a more ‘outspoken’ Christian, doesn’t necessarily mean they are truly a Christian, or that they will truly do God’s will. There are many who call themselves Christian. In closing my thoughts I would like to you leave you with one last thought: Jesus was a man of the people. The poor, the down-trodden, and the meek. He hung around with prostitutes, robbers, the lowest of the low in his society, and by inviting them to dinner he was making a great and quite blunt political statement. So who are we going to sit down to dinner with? Who will we invite to our tables in the upcoming elections and on after? Will it be all the children of God, which would be every last member or humanity the world over, yes, even the “illegals,” even the homeless that we dare not look at, speak about, or recognize? Or will it be “our people,” “our own kind,” as many say? Mike Huckabee, as much as I enjoy some of his videos and appearances on the Colbert Report, states on his website under the Immigration policy that: “I will take our country back for those who belong here. No open borders, no amnesty, no sanctuary, no false Social Security numbers, no driver’s licenses for illegals.” While I see where he is coming from, who are we to say who belongs here and who doesn’t? We shouldn’t forget that we too were all immigrants at one point or another. Should we keep people from having a better life? Should we bar people from sanctuary when it may save the very gift of their lives we say we try to uphold? I realize that we need to be aware of immigration, and I too disagree with members of other countries coming here who do not integrate into our society. That is why I prefer a stance closer to Obama’s who claims he will remove incentives to enter illegally, yet will support “a system that allows undocumented immigrants who are in good standing to pay a fine, learn English, and go to the back of the line for the opportunity to become citizens.” Remember in parting from this message, this ‘note,’ of mine that I do not wish to put down one candidate and uphold another, to push my views on you, or to give the impression that I have all of the knowledge when it comes to politics, the candidates, and Christianity. Truly I say to you that I am far from it! I just wished to exteriorize and to share my thoughts and feelings with you, and maybe it will allow for some chat, some discussions, and for each of us to reflect and think about things in new and different ways. To challenge our previous thoughts and to really come to a realization of what and who we wish to stand behind. Thanks for reading my note, and take care ☺

• Oh, Holy Crap!
  by biddlio

  The presidential election is getting closer. Everyone is picking sides and everyone has their own reasons. Some will vote the party line,...

  The presidential election is getting closer. Everyone is picking sides and everyone has their own reasons. Some will vote the party line, as they always do. And some, like me, will only vote begrudgingly. It is difficult for me to comprehend that these two candidates, and please don’t give me any crap about independents who don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of actually being elected, are the “best and brightest” that the U.S. could come up with. It’s absolutely fucking ridiculous and downright embarrassing. Neither of the two men (nor their running mates for Christ’s sake!) are trustworthy enough to run a country. Especially not a country as huge and complex as this one. I wonder if it’s the same or similar in the other countries represented here on RB. Do you mistrust your leaders as much as we do here in America? Or have we just become too spoiled and complacent? I’m guessing it’s both. / But the more I pay attention to the world of politics, the more I think that humanity is just fucked. It’s not just American politicians who have sold their metaphorical souls, and it’s not just the the American people who have failed to put our collective foot down to stop the problem. I believe the world at large is sick and tired of the “gunboat diplomacy”, the capitalism that leaves the poor in the dust and the democracy that is not at all democratic. / Let me say that I am not anti- American. I love my country, and I love the American spirit of individuality and pioneering. But by God, we need an enema! A gigantic socio- political rectal flush. Q: Who is charge of running Hell, if Dick Cheney and John McCain are here on Earth? And the democrats, Obama, Hilary, they’re not much better. So which dildo is gonna be the least painful? So who do you really want to run the United States, Satan or Sylvester the Cat? / Come on! These two are really the best we could come up with? We are screwed, my friends. As long as we keep putting people like these in power, we are fucked.

• Commentary on the Wall Street Meltdown
  by Habenero

  Am I too cynical? Why do I interpret the financial meltdown on Wall Street to be a power grab by greedy bastards that have bankrupted th…

  Am I too cynical? Why do I interpret the financial meltdown on Wall Street to be a power grab by greedy bastards that have bankrupted the country? Are my fears rational? Let’s look at the things we know. The president and his republican goons with the encouragement of the Keating Senator that got away, have been eroding regulations and the constitution as fast as they could. They used every trick and cried wolf at every opportunity they could to scare the public into going along with their plans. They brought us an unjust war in Iraq, delayed any attempt to alleviate global warming, a very flawed “Patriot Act”, rewrote the bankruptcy laws to make it harder for individuals to file, placed so much of our economy into housing that almost every other sector was drained of the capital that would have kept workers employed here, and have denied we were in a recession for the past year. Nothing is ever done by these guys unless it is in crisis mode. The country is being driven to bankruptcy by the same guy that bankrupted his oil companies. Unfortunately the idiots who voted him in chose the guy they’d like a beer with instead of the guys that would have kept us solvent. Now it seems as if they will be swept out of office. Since fear is the only thing that these people seem to know how to do, they are trying disparately to scare us into letting them steal another $700,000,000,000 and put it into the hands of the very people that have been causing the problems. It has all the earmarks of crooks hell bent on fleecing the people one last time. It seems to me, Palin was placed on the ballot because they hope the religious sheep will flock to vote in one of their own because few of them liked McCain. Those with a brain that don’t make over $250,000 per year have only one choice this election, Obama. The worst thing this country could ever have running it is a religious fundamentalist. Their intolerant behavior towards other religions and their view that “God” guides their hand makes it impossible for them to govern effectively. Look at Bush to see what a fool that places “God” above the country’s interest does. History seems to show that greedy conservative Republicans ruin the economy and the liberal Democrats pick up the pieces and get the country moving forward again. As much as I can’t stand either of them (Kucinich would be my first choice), my own wallet forces me to vote for Obama. I hope others vote with their wallet as well.

• Chicken Little, Democratic Capitalism
  by Trucker

  I am against any proposal to bail out private capital companies with taxpayer money. / / I am tired of years of following hurry up police…

  I am against any proposal to bail out private capital companies with taxpayer money. / / I am tired of years of following hurry up polices of George Bush into oblivion. The senators are suppose to be the cool voice of the people over the hubris of a few self-serving idiots. They have allowed the vast majority of the American people fail with out regard and allowed harsher bankruptcy laws for the middle class while continuing to fund the Presidents outlandish spending which has impoverished our country, leaders, and children well into the future. Will we let these malpractice corporate leaders leave with millions yet we would strip the spoils of any other person (doctors) or private individuals (tort) for similar impunity (crashing a car into private property) why do we want to bail these criminals. / / They scream socialism in the face of Universal Health Care for Americans, / yet pass a magic wand of applying socialism (no loan but a gift) to corporate cronies and, oh yes, the offshore corporations. In the old Feudal System the first priority was to protect the people inside the walls so you could tax them later, not throw your resources over the moat to your adversary’s. For once I ask them (Senators) to act as leaders and support the reality of capitalism I fought for in Nam, let the system rise or fail based on the market forces not covering the bad judgment of corporate greed. Stop this rush to judgment and someone yell the “King has no cloths”.