The Obama Deception

Today on BART I glimpsed the newspaper headline, "Liberals distance themselves from Obama." I'm afraid it's true. Cynicism is realism at this point. Obama is owned by the same people who owned Bush. They are people who make money off war (hence 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan! Although I think Obama's lack of emotion or enthusiasm during the speech at least shows his conscience is conflicted about doing the bidding of the Emperor), and engineered our recent economic collapse (and others before it). That's why Geithner is Secretary of the Treasury, Bernanke is being re-confirmed, and we haven't taken any serious steps to change our economic structure so that a major recession like this doesn't happen again. The bail-outs are a band-aid on a third-degree burn. Huffington Post, led by Arianna Huffington, has published one article after another on this subject for a long time now.

Panic! At the Doctor's Office

Wonder of wonders, a BALANCED article (from HuffPost, again, now officially my preferred online hub for news and opinion) on the question of vaccines (albeit with a couple typing errors), by Bill Maher, that doesn't go to either one extreme or the other! How refreshing! Personally I find this guy far more palatable than, say, Alex Jones or other more extremist conspiracy theorists. Maher is a pretty sharp and reasonable guy, with a multifaceted perspective on various issues, and also a flair for controversy...which never hurts.

How about a vaccine for being a panicky American?

Carlin's Last Words

Tony Hendra has written a wonderful little piece on the late, great George Carlin for Huffington Post, arguing that Carlin was/is "America's Greatest Comedian." This comes as the book "Last Words" which he co-created with Carlin is about to hit the shelves. When I first saw an HBO special of Carlin's back in the early '90s it was life-changing: I'd never seen a comedian SO funny who at the same time provoked so much thought and tackled the huge cosmic issues that most people shy away from. He made me laugh til I cried, think about things more deeply and be righteously (but not self-righteously) pissed off all at the same time. (He also forever opened my eyes to what a boring, elitist "sport" golf is and to this day I can't abide it.) I will miss his raging, scorching commentary as he raced about the stage with amazing energy for an older dude (he'd already been at it for quite a while when I first saw a video of his stand-up). I have always had a special appreciation for stand-up comedians. I think performance in general is an art form I have a great deal of respect for, and comedy adds a further "plus" of respect, because I think making people laugh is not easy, and to make them laugh in a smart way, even less so. I think I would venture to say that great stand-up comedians are some of the greatest human artists. (And laughter itself so uniquely and spiritually human.)

Read Hendra's HuffPost article, buy the book, and treasure the memory of a true American original who won't be replaced any time soon.

Franken will be senator, and Jesus never existed

I just read an article on the Huffington Post website saying Republicans are preparing for the loss of Coleman from the senate, and the victory of Al Franken. Talk about your close races! This has got to about take the cake. Sometimes I am proud of my former home state - often the only "blue" Midwestern state - although I can't say I miss it much.

In unrelated news, I see a new film is garnering a lot of buzz for being a full-frontal attack on Christianity and the very existence of Jesus Christ. The film is called "The God Who Wasn't There" and I'll definitely be seeing it. If comparisons to "Bowling For Columbine" are accurate I'm sure it's very one-sided, but I've been listening to one-sided b.s. my entire life on the other side, so maybe I'm just fine with that.

Let us celebrate the dawn of the New Age of Reason and the End of Religious Tyranny!

(Meanwhile, Israel continues to slaughter Palestinians in its latest conflict with Hamas, and has rejected further peace talks. Will it ever end?)

Zooming in from the macrocosmic to the microcosmic for a second: I've been wanting to add a disclaimer to my last post. Some people would probably wonder why I post such personal information on my blog. Well, first of all, it's not like millions of people read it. Only my "friends" and glorified acquaintances even know about it and I doubt most of them read it - who has time to read everything on the internet? Secondly, I intend this blog to be a mix of personal me-stuff and exterior reality that has nothing to do with me - a diary PLUS a response to politics, events in the world, pop culture, art, etc. As far as the me stuff goes, it's not going to be rainbows and bunnyrabbits, because that's not who I am. I have moods, I have a temper, I go through periods of depression and anger. I'm not going to hide it. I learned in treatment (years ago) that secrets kill, and I'm not going to have any. As far as posting personal dramas on my blog - well, it is MY blog, part of who I am is using writing as therapy, and being a published author and journalist, I find that writing it publicly as opposed to hiding it away in a little journal that no one will ever see is more effective.

ALSO - I did not mention the friends I'm currently feuding with by name. AND I made it abundantly clear to THEM the reasons that I'm currently on the outs with them, so the journal entry isn't some passive-aggressive way of not dealing with a problem. I'm usually pretty good at telling people when I have an issue with them. I'm a harsh critic of myself...and others. At times.

But let's be jolly and merry and have drinks and forget all this crap, 'cause it's New Year's Eve, so

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVE!

here's to a glammy gorgeous 2009

xo

tony aka glamrocktiger