Ooh, that John Kerry, he's on fire!

Kerry Uses Bush's Own Words to Call Him Unfit.

In this article, John Kerry discusses the fact that President Bush doesn't listen to the facts, he jumps to conclusions.

Bush on Wednesday accused Kerry of opportunism, saying: "A political candidate who jumps to conclusions without knowing the facts is not a person you want as commander in chief ... that is part of a pattern of a candidate who will say anything to get elected."

Kerry threw the words back at the president 24 hours later, announcing he was going "to apply the Bush standard" and declaring: "Mr. President, I agree with you."

"George Bush jumped to conclusions about 9/11 and Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)," he said. "George Bush jumped to conclusions about weapons of mass destruction and he rushed to war without a plan for the peace. George Bush jumped to conclusions about how the Iraqi people would receive our troops. He not only jumped to conclusions, he ignored the facts he was given."


Since I am studying Karl Marx for school, you know I am all high on The Communist Manifesto. I don't agree with everything Marx says but I think he makes several relevant points regarding the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, stuff that I find relevant given our current political circumstances with the elitist president and his unwavering support for his "base" as he called them in Fahrenheit 9/11"the haves and have-mores."

He discusses idealogy, not just as a system of beliefs on how we perceive the world, but in a negative sense. It is more about beliefs forming one's perception to the degree that a closed system evolves in which no amount of evidence or experience can change what you think or how you feel. That of course struck a very large chord with me. There is a reason that Preisdent Bush keeps saying that he will "stay the course" and that he can not think of a mistake he has made as president. That is because his mind is closed, he has his own idealogy (whether that is a fundamentalist Christian one or not, I couldn't tell you because I am not expert, but I do feel his religion has played a large part in forming his perception. I think that if you were to ask him he would agree with me, but I don't think he would mean it in the same way as me) but it does have a lot to do with his life of privilege, his experiences at never having to take full responsibility for himself, etc.

I know next week is the election and I think that many people just want it to be over and done with. I am tired of this whole electoral college thing. Who was the genius that invented that? It's time to get rid of it. There has to be a better way of making sure that what happened in Florida last year doesn't happen again. Here is an interesting article on voter "spoilage" that Karl Marx would appreciate because the author is coming from a perspective of critizing the class issue instead of race issue which of course are interrelated.
Florida's Computers have already counted thousands of votes for George W. Bush

Finally this article sounds funny but is very serious. Clueless People Love Bush

President Bush was fond of saying "he can run but he can't hide" about Osama Bin Laden and now he has used that slogan on the campaign trail about John Kerry in a subversive way of creating a subconscious link of fear in the hearts and minds of the American people.

Apparently, none of us can run or hide. It was leaked to the New York Times, and I say leaked because of course our government knew about it and said and did nothing, that 400 tons of explosives are missing from Iraq. Apparently while our president insured that the oil fields were well guarded, he forgot to look after the hazardous materials to make sure they didn't get into the wrong hands. U.N.: 400 Tons of Iraq Explosives Missing.


This comes on the heels of a bloody, horrendous massacre of 49 newly trained Iraqi soldiers that were going home on leave to visit their families. Now I want you to take a minute and think about this with me. Your country has been invaded by the Americans. They say they are here to help. Saddam is gone, happiness and joy. Then chaos ensues. There is no running water, no hospitals, everything around you is violent and miserable. You get a job to become a soldier to defend your own country, to take part in the reconstruction, to regain your dignity after all of the atrocities of war that have been inflicted on your people. You will have a paycheck and be able to give your family food and stability again. You are going home to see them and won't they be proud of you. You have so many stories to tell them about everything you have learned and all of your plans for the future. You get dressed in your civilian clothes, check in your weapon and head home, everyone laughing and talking on the bus. Then you are pulled over at a fake security point, you are held at gunpoint and told to take off your shoes. Then someone puts a bullet in the back of your skull. Worse, it was probably an inside job. One of the men you lived and trained with betrayed your whole unit.
Massacre at Baquba: 49 Iraqi Soldiers Executed in Attack Designed to Send Message to US.

The reason why all of this is getting to me is because I have a cousin going to Iraq tonight. I don't know where he is going to because he is not allowed to say. I worry that he will get hurt or worse. I worry that the sweet, wonderful person that I have watched grow into a dignified and compassionate man will return as someone else, someone broken. I worry that the insurgent problem which is becoming more confident and organized is going to continue to grow stronger and no one will do anything about it. Our president is lying to us. He tells us we are winning the war. He tells us things are getting better in Iraq and they are headed towards an election. They will get their election, but that won't change the violence of a nation in chaos. That won't change the fact that we have brothers, husbands, cousins, friends, fathers, wives, sisters, and daughters fighting for their lives for no good reason.

I spoke with a classmate the other night and she was still riding the fence about who she should vote for. I didn't slap her. I asked her calmly what was left to ponder. She said she has heard many people say that W. should have the opportunity to finish what he started. Can you imagine if we allow that man to finish what he started? Take a good look at that mushroom cloud, people. That is what our president considers the "rapture." If a man believes in the end of the world and the apocalypse, can we afford for him to finish what he started? All of the other issues- social security, no child left behind, gay marriage- all of those things pale in comparison to the reality of a nuclear holocaust.

In my local paper, The New York Daily News, buried deep in the tiny article section between pictures of Fidel Castro breaking his knee and ads for CDs at Washington Mutual was an interesting piece on women in this city ( and I wouldn't be going out on a limb to say in the United States and the rest of the world as well) women are more likely to be killed by a boyfriend or husband than a complete and total stranger. This doesn't come as a complete shock to me. Look at the sensationalized cases of OJ Simpson and Scott Peterson. I would be more interested to know the conviction rates in these cases. The article states that more than half were foreign born women and 40 percent were in their twenties. How many were pregnant or mothers?

The reason why I ask this is because in the article Dr. Susan Wilt at the Health Department's Bureau of Epidemiology (that's the branch of medicine that deals with disease control) states that, "We have to look hard and long at what services we provide." I don't understand why domestic violence is being handled by disease control. Is it a disease? Possibly a social one and in that case it has to be treated on a societal level outside of the lab. I ask if the women had children or were pregnant because that is usually a reason why women stay in an abusive relationship. If there are small children to take care of or if the woman is pregnant, work and independence are hard to come by. You are trapped. The remedy for this kind of problem is to provide healthcare and child care options that are affordable or free. Some job training and self esteem workshops wouldn't hurt, either.

Some people might complain about who would pay for such a program, taxes would be increased, etc. But really if you knew that your tax dollars were effecting change in someone's life, that in fact you were saving a life, wouldn't you pay more taxes? I would. I think people don't like paying taxes because they know it doesn't do anything to make this country a better place to live. Women are still dying in America. Children are still starving to death and old people can't get their flu shots.

The article makes a relevant point that in many immigrant communities it is not accepted for a woman to discuss abuse or family matters with outsiders. I think that if a woman knew there were outside resources to help her, if there was a safe haven for her and her children, then she would talk. She would scream. She would run. That is human nature to preserve our own life. It's only when you think resistance is futile that you don't fight back.

More Slain by Beaus

I mentioned the flu shot, here is an article that lets you know where the government's priorities are: bioterror vaccines.

Vaccine Poker I heard on Air America Radio that Congress has gotten their flu shot. Even the young and healthy congresspeople.

For those of you that are stunned and left wondering, how could this have happened, well read this article:

Bless You, Oh Canada"

Most important part of the article to consider:

Administration Was Warned

The president continues to blame "a production flaw" for the vaccine shortage, but the Bush administration received warnings about the vaccination supply and could have taken steps to diminish the problem.

After Chiron Corp. informed British and American officials on Sept. 13 that there were unresolved contamination problems at its Liverpool, England, plant, the British government responded by contacting other manufacturers and securing alternative supplies. The Bush administration, on the other hand, failed to act before all doses of the flu vaccine had been purchased. The administration had already ignored two GAO reports which warned of impending production shortfalls.


So the president was warned about 9/11 and did nothing. Then he was warned about a flu shot shortage and did nothing. Interesting how history repeats itself.

I had mentioned earlier that women need to have free or low cost healthcare and child care options in order leave abusive relationships. Apparently, women in non-abusive relationships don't have it that easy either. Whoda thunkit?
Here is an interesting article that discusses the effects the Bush Administration is promising to have on women and the economy by making an "ownership class society" (which sounds like feudalism to me) and the reality of such a program.

Leaving Women Behind

Finally, if you were thinking of going to see Ben Affleck or Sarah Michelle Gellar at the movies this weekend, think again. There is a website that is showing a movie called "Outsource This!" with none other than Jason Alexander.

Check it and save yourself some money: OutSourceOutrage.com

As I have posted previously, I walked out (justifiably) on my job last week. I had turned my back on it and I started to think of the future with an optimism that I had never felt before. I was free and I was certain that I was taking a step in the right direction. I would focus on my writing, on school, on my family, all of those things I felt I had abandoned when I took this job.

Yesterday I was in the laundry room of my apartment building, reading The Communist Manifesto for school when I got a phone call from my old job asking me to come back. They would fire my old supervisor and things would be different. Things would be better. I was stunned into silence because I had gotten this call 5 months ago and I had gone back only to be repeatedly stomped on. I have to say I am not made of stone. I need money just like everyone else in this world. I am an American so you know I have tons of debt. But I was wary. I don't want to be caught in that corporate trap of demoralization. That is not who I am. That is not who I want to become.

So I told them I wanted more money. MORE MONEY. A financial incentive, I called it. I haven't heard back from them. I guess that is a no thanks.

I feel I am in this moment in my life that will seperate me from everyone else. I know who I am, hell, it took me 27 years to get here. I know what I want from my life and it is when we get these tests, these challenges to our resolve and our character that we confirm it, is it not? I am sure that many people would think there are worse challenges to a person's character than being offered a job, but when it is a job that does not allow you to be who you are but instead tells you, "this is who I think you are so therefore that is who you must be" then I believe it is a challenge and walking away is the only decision.

If I give someone else my voice than I have no right to sit here at my computer telling you my thoughts in the safety of my home, in an anonymous fashion. I have to walk the walk too.

It reminds me of this chapter of a book by Lisa Lowe called Immigrant Acts in which she writes the Asian Americans have been written out of history and in being colonized they have shared a violent history of oppression by the United States. It is this violent history that they are forced to forget when they become naturalized because when they become an American, the U.S. is always right, and there are parts of our history-the oppressive, empirialistic parts- that we choose not to remember.

That is what happens when an individual goes to work for a corporation. Some people can easily check there independence and their free will at the door between 9am and 5pm but for some others like myself it is too much to ask. I can not seperate my thoughts and my emotions from my body. I am not a machine that can go through the motions every day while doing my job. My intelligence and compassion, however righteous and quirky it may be is who I am. You get the whole package when you hire me and heaven help you if you try to change me or suppress a part of me that you feel is not appropriate for the workplace.

If I don't think those parts of me are work remembering or fighting for, who else will?

Hey,

Here is an article that might be interesting to my readers of color or vague interest in racial issues. Bush is ignoring black people. BET:One Channel Left Behind

I am working on making the blog more available so I will be posting in and out all day long.

This goes in the 'things you won't see on your nightly news category.' I don't know about y'all, but Matt Lauer wasn't discussing this on the Today show. He was talking about Martha Stewart writing from prison. We are living in a serious bubble and the media is perpetuating that. Here is the link to the article on the protest in London.
Tens of Thousands Throng London to Protest Iraq.

Also worthy of attention is John Stewart of The Daily Show appearing on Crossfire and giving it to Tucker Carlson like he deserves. Tucker comes off really poorly because his audience laughs with John Stewart and that is never a good sign, is it?

Stewart on Crossfire.

I am off to study for school. Will write when I get home.

Hey! The Scarlet Pimp is in full effect, all you sucka bloggers need to come correct!

I am in a super terrific mood because I have walked out on my job, yes I left in a blaze of glory, and I am committing myself to my my website which is still in design phase and my writing and school. There are subtle signs that pop up in your life that tell you that you are on the right path. I slept Friday night, the day of my liberation from indentured servitude, with out anxiety attacks, stomach spasms or any stress related symptoms. I am free!!! The Revolution has begun! I have a good sense fo who I am. I just turned 27 this week and I realized the crossroads I was standing in. I could let other people tell me who I am and impose their expectations on me or I can stand. STAND!

So I did. Here is another sign. A website called Yes Bush Can sent me an email this weekend. I assume they send one out to every person with a blog, which makes me wonder which blogging website directory has sold their address book, however I felt it necessary to respond to them. In my typical Scarlet Pimp way: ya tu sabe, punetas!

Here was their letter:

RatherGate proved that bloggers are the best fact checkers. That is
why we are writing to a few bloggers asking for help.

Yes Bush Can has collected several documents that are clearly suspect.
But we need your help to prove they are fake:
http://www.yesbushcan.com/falsedocs.shtml

Let's spring to action before these documents needlessly tarnish the
reputation of our Commander and Chief. You know the drill: analyze the
handwriting, search for factual errors, and post your discoveries.
And keep us posted by sending email to FakeDocs@yesbushcan.com.
Thanks in advance for your help.
YesBushCan

Now first I would like to say that yes, bloggers are amazing fact checkers and have the time on their hands to follow up on such tasks. However, how many bloggers are really going to analyze handwriting with the kind of expertise required for DUI arrest records for President Bush, Darth Cheney, and Bushes daughters tweedle drunk and tweendle drunker?

Here was my response:

Dear Mentally Challenged Bush Supporters:

In error, your team of Bushites have sent me an email asking me to prove the president's legal indescretions were false and somehow maliciously contrived by liberals. Had you done your homework and actually read my blog, you would have seen that I AM one of those blasphemous liberals. I look forward to the day when John Kerry is elected into office in order to restore America to its position as a global leader instead of being despised by all other nations because of the lies and deception of the Bush Administration. However, thanks for writing. Nothing reassures me more of who I am and what I stand for than to have ignorant people that don't do their homework e-mail me to support their "righteous" causes.

Yes Bush can -- lose gracefully on November 2nd to John Kerry.
Yes America can -- vote their values, not their fears.

Sincerely,

The Scarlet Pimp