where do the buffalo roam?

several years ago i had the chance to return to yellowstone national park and was able to see the buffalo once more– i had seen them as a young boy and they made a large impression on me– as a souvenir i smuggled some buffalo dung back on the airlines– bet that sure raised some eyebrows

i recently noted a story on cnn through the blog crooks and liars about the buffalo– in this day and age i am amazed yet pleased that somebody actually cares–

to be a little paranoid . . .

afghanistan in the news– not that it went anywhere but our news agencies sure did forget that it existed for awhile– afghanistan . . . the war that we all felt ripped off on– this was the war where we were supposed to go and kick some serious butt as payback for 9/11 and smoke osama out of his hole– the war that commander shrub forgot about so we could go and raise the cost of oil while blowing up iraq– remember that war???

of course americans being the sheep that they are perk their ears up and go “oh yeah, that’s right let’s get the taliban”– it’s almost like an obscene joke– you can lead them to water, stick their heads in, slap them in the balls with two bricks and they’ll take a big drink and thank you for your trouble–

and it’s not just the news that are pumping this up– the bloggers are making the most of it also– of course this gives hillary something to stick her chest out about– she and mccain can continue to tell the country how they are going to be strong ass kicking leaders–

and obama . . . he’s still worried about reverend wright . . . i am starting to lose my patience with the man– barack, relax!!! most of what he says is true!!! he’s only your pastor damn it!!! pay attention to the important stuff!!! like the inflated war in afghanistan– after all, who do you think really attempted a hit on that puppet???

add it up– do the math–

i have had math anxiety for many years– i attempted college algebra 5 times with the need to withdraw from the course every time and therefore i do consider myself somewhat illiterate when it comes to doing mathematical computations– however, i have been following the democratic candidates for several months and it appears to me that obama is in the lead– and odd as it may seem to me, it isn’t just my calculations that say this– report after report seems to state that obama is leading with the popular vote, delegate votes, number of states won– and yet hillary thinks that the recent win in pa shows a turn in the tide– well okay, but the tide comes in . . . and the tide goes out– heads up, there’s another wave coming–

at msnbc, “Clinton’s win still leaves her the underdog” and

“Clinton’s near no-win situation“

at crooks and liars, “Burden on superdelegates gets even heavier” and “Air America: Howard Dean Says Democratic Race Should Be Resolved By June“

and at newsweek, “Flashback: The Popular Vote Still Doesn’t Add Up“

add it up, do the math–

“off with their heads!!!”

it is sad– when this presidential contest began i was looking at hillary clinton, john edwards, and the rest of the presidential hopefuls with a lot of hope and feelings of promise– i was unfamiliar with dennis kucinich and when i learned more about him i was hopeful that he would somehow be on the final ticket– i thought hillary would be an excellent candidate and wouldn’t it be great to finally break that sexual barrier– when the contest began, i knew that regardless of who the final candidate was, i along with most democrats would vote for the candidate in an effort to end what has been the most hellish eight years that i have ever seen this country go through–

that of course was when the presidential contest began . . . . now, i can only hope that obama maintains a lead and that in all honesty and fairness (right!) the democratic party will nominate him to be their candidate– hillary??? no, i don’t even want to see her name on the ticket– i won’t stay home on election day if she is on the ticket– no, i will go to vote– but not for hillary–

the tactics that hillary has used lately make me question every positive thought that i had concerning her– to begin with, i have not been pleased with her as our junior senator– however, i was willing to put state feelings aside in hopes that nationally she would be a good choice– hell, that’s probably bullshit on my part because i was really impressed with the thought that bill would be the “first man” and two presidents are better then one, but you know . . . . now, i don’t think so–

no, hillary has really gone to far bringing fear tactics back into this campaign as the republicans have for the past two elections– and farrakhan??? and reverend wright??? wow!!! and then they linked in a college professor that happened to be part of the weather underground??? you know the anniversary of the beginning of the revolutionary war just passed and it is funny that if the british would have won the war paul revere would have gone down in history as a terrorist– bill ayers back in the 1960’s was in many ways a patriot when you consider how screwed up our country was– kinda like it is now– back in the day people were using radical means to attempt to bring about change– i guess now that is hard for a lot of folks to understand– hey, pass me the chips and the remote–

hillary has really gone to far bringing fear tactics back into this campaign as the republicans have for the past two elections– and it is sad that she would do this at the cost of possibly losing the election for the democrats– and if the democrats should lose the election in november to john mccain? well, hillary is part of the elite– do you really think she will be losing any sleep over the hardships faced by the common folk at three am in the morning???

who in times of challenge will unite us?

scientists decode brain farts

it doesn’t get much better then this– modern science–

inheriting the names

i have recently finished reading a book by thomas norman dewolf titled “inheriting the trade“– the book deals with 10 extended family members that come together as adults (most for the first time) to discover and explore their ancestors roles as slave traders, and as plantation owners– the family of 10, as the author refers to the group, also explore their own whiteness, with a recurring return of emphasis on religious and educational backgrounds– these of course are two elements of our modern world that religious missionaries have shared with the lesser savages for centuries–

the author places a lot of value and emphasis on participation within the episcopalian church which he states that he is estranged from and also on higher education– also an issue for the 10 (sort of a sub-plot) is the issue of sexism within this patriachal clan– i find it somewhat amusing that the complaint of sexism is still spoken from within the established heirarchy and yet i refuse to delude myself that the members would even after acknowledging its presence then consider stepping out of their looking-glass worlds to communicate about its existence with one another with sincerity–

the ending is somewhat uncomfortable in the way that the author goes from an issue that the entire family (10) is dealing with to an issue that effects himself as an individual– personally, i can identify with this issue, for although i was raised in a somewhat feminist household i have dealt with my own sexist attitudes and my own actions because of these attitudes for decades– however, apart from the “see, i can be an asshole too” point, and i just made it also thank you, this section seems to be to convenient for crucifixion and resurrection and at the same time awkwardly misplaced to me– no, this doesn’t absolve any ancestors or any of the rest of us from their deeds–

for the family, possibly a good book to learn more about our ancestors– for the larger world, i see this as just a book about a bunch of self-assuming intellectual white folks that are impossibly attempting to deal with the demons of the past– this of course is one plus to being catholic rather then protestant– confession–

as an analyzation of “wasp”s it is somewhat humorous and telling– of course, this being my extended family, the humor only goes so far– a good review is here–

mikey likes it!

My Vote’s for Obama (if I could vote) …by Michael Moore

for a lot of folks michael’s choice would be a reason for them not to vote for obama but personally i am very glad to see him come out on this one– excellent choice, and i think michael’s voice is an important one–  i agree with his reasoning and also dislike the clinton camp even more for throwing farrakhan’s name in the mix–  obama has of course remained above the racist and sexist crap and hopefully will continue to do so–

barack realizes americans are bitter– hillary and john don’t get it–

as a resident in upstate new york i think it’s important that senator clinton learn the many definitions of the word bitter– many folks up here are very bitter–  of course what would hillary know about her own constituents–

positive barrel

it’s amazing– some people can take a barrel and make a positive thing out of it– reminds me of a yellow personal keg that i had once–