Election 2010

VOTE!!!!!!!! << >> Main

Well, I guess it's finally over... Almost. We have a recount or two to get finished because of the closeness in some races. What a wild ride it's been. For me, I have to say I am both relieved and depressed. Nothing I can do about the results of this election any longer, BUT I will refuse not to fight any way I can to keep the Teabagger/Conservative's, who have taken over our government, from repealing the gains we all have gotten for all people in the last 2 years. I sincerely hope that hose of us who voted and even those who didn't won't sit back and whine and mope but will keep fighting for our principles. We still need comprehensive health care, imigration reform, election reform, education reform, etc. Just because the Teabbager/Conservative's have the majority in the House and maybe the Senate (possibily after recounts), we can still fight for ourselves. Look at how the Teabagger/Conservative's stopped almost all forward process when they were in the minority? If they could do that, then we can, too. We need to stop them from repealing all of the progress that the Democrats somehow managed to get through regardless of the opposition and obstuction that came from the Teabagger/Conservative side of the aisle. Plus, we still have the Whitehouse and Obama's veto power. We need courage and conviction to get what we want. Nothing good will happen, especially now, without hard work and struggle from our side of the aisle and without the voter's support, a lot of the polititions on our side won't work for us. Some are good, honest people who want to do what they were elected to do, but a LOT are millionaires and billionaires already and some are there because they want power and that makes them use their votes in Congress to get re-elected and don't have a hell of a lot to do with our needs. The polititions already have all their needs met. They have iron-clad incomes, health care and retirement benefits for themselves and familes paid for by us. We don't have any of these parachutes. Now, the ones in the majority have all the money AND all the power. We need to make them give us the same opportunities that they have to get the same quality of life that they have given to themselves. Nobody said life was fair, but it could be fairer. If they enact all of the crap on their agenda (at least the one they campained on), 98% of us are totally screwed.

You know what I've found so disappointing is that the politcal "pundits" predicted this result months ago. I figured that they had to be wrong because the liberals/Democrats would never stay home from the polls and risk losing all the good things that have been passed in that last two years. I guess the Pollyanna in me screwed me again. I keep forgetting that people are lazy and don't give a shit. They care more about Nascar than their kids education or their healthcare coverage.

I want to thank everyone who exercised ther right to vote, whether you are Teabagger/Conservative, liberal, or anything in between. On the other hand, I'd like to kick everybody's ass who didn't vote. Looking at the numbers this morning, it's the registered democrats that "weren't excited" enough or too f-ing lazy to get out and vote and that could (most likely WOULD) have made all the difference. Well, I hope you got in enough time to go to your Halloween parties and watch your football games this last weekend. I'm sure those types of things are far more important to you than voting. I guess now you won't have time if you have to take on another job when you get paid less than minimum wage. On the other hand, maybe you'll have more time when your job is out-sourced to China or India. And you Seniors better work on your greeting skills for when you have to work at Wal-Mart after your Social Security is lost in the stock market. We can't forget that "Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Iran" John McCain won his relection, too. Are you all ready to rumble in another war? These are the people you let get voted into office. Well, at least there are a lot of happy Teabbager/Conservatives and clueless non-participants today.

If I sound bitter, it's because I am. Not just because my "team" lost, but because the majority of people of this country don't participate in the most important "right" they have. The right to stand up for what they believe and VOTE. There is no excuse for not voting. Another thing that pisses me off is that the people who don't vote still whine and moan about what their representatives do or don't do and they have no right to complain about anything if they didn't participate in the election process. It takes "effort" and we are a lazy people. We work more hours and get less vacation time than any other industrialized country in the world, yet we don't stand up for ourselves. We let others tell us what to do in our bedrooms, workplaces, schools, doctor's offices, etc. Now, for all the people who whined about government being too much in our lives, it will just get worse IF the Teabagger/Conservative agenda is enacted. The 2% of the American population are the people who have most of the money and now have almost all of the power. This election has given those same people more even more power over us. It's just that simple. We have given that power to them on a silver platter by not voting.

These people have always been against the 98% of us that work hard and barely get by. That's they way they want us; trapped in shitty jobs (if we haven't been out-sourced), trapped by keeping us from being able to afford healthcare, not supporting our veterans when they get injured or killed, etc. By getting rid of regulations, our workplaces will more dangerous, our environment will be sacrificed more, our foodand water supply will be less safe, our drugs will be more hazardous than the diseases we are treating, our senior citizens will be less safe in nursing homes and hospitals. We NEED some regulations to protect us from those 2% of the population that own all of the industry in this country. If they get thier way, they will have us working in unsafe places, eating unsafe food and drugs, and working until we die. At least that will be the result if they get their published and promised campain agendas passed into laws.

I wish us ALL good luck. Except for the top 2%, we will ALL be at the mercy of the new agenda, everybody from the bottom 98%, whether you are a Teabagger/Conservative, a rabid Progress, in between. We made our choice, so I guess we are stuck with it.

VOTE!!!!!!!!

Caught on Tape <<>> Election

I’m Confused….. Might be because I’ve been struggling after a major surgery that I had 25 days ago, but I don’t think so. What the hell is going on with these Conservative/Republican/Teabagger candidates? I cannot believe the crap I am seeing and reading.

Now, I haven’t been totally enamored with President Obama’s methods of getting legislation through, but what the hell do I know? I’m in no way a politician and have only been a real “student” since around January, 2007 when I became too damned ill to do anything physical and decided that my time in my bed with the laptop could be spent by learning all I could about how America’s political “machine” worked. Wow! What an eye-opener I got. You’re never too old to learn. At 48 years old, I was still a total infant when it came to politics. Up to that point, all I did was learn about the people that were running for offices that I would be voting for and not really pay attention to what was going on in the country-at-large. I kind of understand why the more progressive and liberal wing of the Democratic Party is a little miffed that President Obama “caved” too much to Republican wishes too soon so that when whatever legislation got passed, it was watered down. I DO understand President Obama wanting to work “across the aisle”. BUT, even though the Conservative/Republican/Teabagger’s had lied and said they would vote yes on legislation when they got their wishes and then voted NO on everything, there have been a lot of good things passed in these last 20 months and there will be more forthcoming IF the Conservative/Republican/Teabagger’s don’t get control of the House and/or Senate. I’m terrified that the liberals, progressive base, and independents won’t get their asses out and vote because things haven’t gone their way or things haven’t gone fast enough for them. If they don’t get out and vote and all the candidates elected are Conservative/Republican/Teabaggers, then everything that has gone their way in the last 20 months will be repealed and, at least according to their own rhetoric, the Conservative/Republican/Teabagger’s agenda will put us back into the stone age.

The Conservative/Republican/Teabagger Agenda calls for repealing all the Healthcare reforms, Financial reforms, to privatize or get rid of Social Security and Medicare (Hey Grandma, you’re screwed because you’ll not be able to be in assisted living or a nursing home and won’t be able to see a doctor unless you can hobble to a free clinic IF there is one of those nearby), get rid of public education (let’s only allow the rich to be educated and let them enslave us working-class folk again), let the Banks lend at loan-shark rates again, etc. Mitch McConnell is on tape saying that the most important thing that the Conservative/Republican/Teabagger’s are going to do is make Obama a one term president. Some are even taking about shutting down the government again. Geeze. That means no school, no Social Security checks, no Medicare so don’t get sick while the Conservative/Republican/Teabagger’s are stalling government services. Hope your house doesn’t start on fire or you don’t get raped or mugged because there will be no cops or fireman around… You get the idea.

Also, racism is blatantly running rampant. There are plenty of Conservative/Republican/Teabagger’s saying how we’ve lost our country because we have a black president who is prejudiced against white people. How stupid is that? He had a white mother and was raised by her and her white parents? That particular Conservative/Republican/Teabagger argument doesn’t seem very logical to me.

Then we get ads from the Conservative/Republican/Teabagger’s telling Latino’s not to vote because the Democrats didn’t get immigration reforms passed. They are afraid that the minority population will vote for Democrats because the Conservative/Republican/Teabagger’s are against the “minority” peoples of this country, so they are telling them to stay home so that the whites, who are the majority of the Conservative/Republican/Teabagger’s supporters, will elected these idiot Conservative/Republican/Teabaggers.

And what the hell is going on with all these idiots hitting and stomping women in the head and taking down old men? Or spitting on black Congressman and calling them niggers? These Conservative/Republican/Teabagger are really classy folks. So far, after a lot of searching, I can’t find any liberal “thug” like actions, only Conservative/Republican/Teabaggers doing the beatings and liberals being targeted. There might be some liberals out there doing the same thing, but after 5 days, I can’t find any news reports about anything like that from any Conservative/Republican/Teabagger media or liberal media sources.

This shit is totally out of control. Anarchy is not part of our American political system as far as I know. Peaceful protests are permitted as far as I know. Apparently, Conservative/Republican/Teabagger’s are choosing violence and scare tactics as their way of intimidating anyone who isn’t “one of them”. There is too much shit happening that I can’t even begin to scratch the surface.

Well, all I can say is get out and vote. Remember what the Conservative/Republican/Teabagger agenda is. It’s your choice.

Caught on Tape

Decision Time Is Coming Soon To A Voting Booth Near You! << VOTE!!!!!>>

Apparently, there is at least one person who thinks I’m lying about everything in my last “Rant”, so for your viewing pleasure, here are some links to just a few videos on Youtube (I’ve got a clogged spinal column and am too hurt and tired to go to the hundreds of other sites so this is the best I could do until I get the bone removed) but you may go directly to ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, PBS, MSNBC, C-Span, NPR, BBC, and thousands of "honest" blogs and find the same type of stuff, and more, online for yourselves. Most of these links are not the newest. A lot more current one are available out there and not hard to find. They are also more disturbing.

I have no hidden agenda for posting these video links, even though I wish I had time to add more before I have to go under the knife. The more current examples are much more frightening and/or disturbing. Some are not fit for viewing, in my mind. Some are put out there by sociopaths and psychopaths are unconscionable. Some of these people are also the actual politicians themselves, which is very disheartening. If these examples don't get the democrats out to vote, then they will get the government that they deserve. Anyway, like I said, here are some videos that aren't the newest for your viewing (dis) pleasure.


Tea Party Hate: A Month of Ignorance and Fear


9_12 DC TEA PARTY MARCH FOOTAGE WITH INTERVIEWS


Angle on Health Coverage For "Autism"


You're Spoiled, Drug-Taking Hobos & Animals, Who Shouldn't Breed


Pregnancy because of rape is "God's plan"


Meet Sharron Angle


Republicans Attack 12 Year Old Boy


Tea Partiers Mock Parkinson's Victim


Barney Frank Calls Out Mitch McConnell & Co For Lying About Financial Reform


Whose Side is Mitch McConnell Really On?


Fox News President Roger Ailes Caught Lying


Anderson Cooper 360°: Texas textbook changes


Texas school books decision


Fact Check- Boehner Lies on Stimulus Projects in Own District


Befuddled Teabaggers at Cleveland Tea Party


Unedited Tea Party Protester in Cleveland


Maddow Covers The 'Really Crazy' GOP MIT Tax Lie

Here are three videos from a Republican citizen from 2006 BEFORE the party got it’s agenda from Teabaggers (scary):

100 Examples of GOP Corruption, Lies, and Ignorance (Part 1)


100 Examples of GOP Corruption, Lies, and Ignorance (Part 2)


100 Examples of GOP Corruption, Lies, and Ignorance (Part 3)


Here’s a democrat lying, just to mix it up a little.

Abortion-HC Reform - Lies Exposed


Of course, there’s always Glen Beck.

Glenn Beck's Journalism Fraud!

This one has nothing to do with politics, but it’s so tragic… But since our education system has been run by Bush’s “no child left behind” but not funded by his administration, maybe this is what we should have expected.

Americans are NOT stupid - WITH SUBTITLES


Okay. I’m really sick of watching these videos… There are thousands more... Just Google it for yourselves. Plus, like I said, I've run out of time, but those of you who want to educate yourselves, there are plenty of reliable and honest sources out there to find and help make an informed decision.

The thought of the Conservative/Republican/Teabaggers getting rid of the Dept. of Education, the Dept. of Veteran's Affairs, changing history and lying by omission in textbooks, shoving their brand of religion down everyone else's throats and tryong to change the constitution to include their beliefs, lying about almost everything (all caught on tape and unedited), their unabashed hypocrisy, etc. makes me ill and scares the hell out of me. I don't agree with the democrats and liberals on 100% of all the issues, BUT I cannot imagine what harm and damage that the Conservative/Republican/Teabagger caucus will do to our democracy. PLEASE educate yourselves and vote! The proof of the Conservative/Republican/Teabagger agenda is out there in their own voice. Find it and then vote for the democrat, even though they aren't perfect, and some are downright dishonest, too. The majority of the democrats are fighting for us, the little guys.

Decision Time is Coming Soon to a Voting Booth Near YOU!

State of the Union (IMHO) << >>Caught on Tape

Okay, People. Remember the most important date this year….
Tuesday, November 2, 2010.
If anyone who reads this has been paying attention to what has been happening in government and politics for the last 3 or 4 years (or longer), and if you get your information from all different types of sources, both conservative and progressive, that is Republican/Tea-Bagger and Democratic respectively, you will be able to figure out how important it is to get off your duffs and vote. I’m especially urging (begging) people who will vote for the Democratic candidate because, if you are sulking because everything that the Bush Administration did to fuck up the economy, international policies, lose of our civil liberties, and created these huge budget deficits didn’t get fixed fast enough or powerfully enough and decide not to vote, things WILL GET FAR WORSE!!!! Also, this is for those of you who believe all of the Conservative Republican/Tea-Bagger rhetoric and lies. You have to actually WORK a little bit (but it’s not that hard) to find out the truth and see what’s really been going on for the last 22+ months and the real improvements for the working folk and the real obstructionism from the Conservative Republican/Tea-Bagger politicians in the House and Senate.

It’s easy to find the proof that the progressive Democrats have been trying their damnedest to help 98% of the American people and proof that the Conservative Republican/Tea-Baggers are helping big money interests and to hell with the rest of us. In campaign commercials, conservative talk radio, conservative blogs, the Wall Street Journal, The New York Post and Fox “News” (both owned by Rupert Murdock), lies and propaganda have been easily found and discredited, yet one of the most vulnerable sectors of our population and most reliable voters, namely senior citizens, are being bamboozled and convinced that voting for these Republican and Tea-Bagger candidates is going to help them. It will NOT! The Conservative Republican/Tea-Bagger candidates have done NOTHING for the average person (and especially senior citizens) and have done everything to help the people who line their own pockets and keep them in their jobs.

Okay, let’s be honest. Politics is a dirty business for all involved. Both sides are guilty of pandering to special interests and getting pork-barrel projects for their districts and states. There are some good conservatives and some bad progressives out there, but in the big picture, the one that affects the average American citizen, the Democrats are the ones who at least try to help the average person and the Republicans are the ones who hurt the average person.

The Republicans want to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Veteran’s Benefits, eliminate the Pollution Control Agency, The Department of Education, Financial regulation, etc… The list goes on and on and it’s easy to research their agenda. You can find enough video and articles quoting their hideous agendas. It’s a horror show and it scares the hell out of me. They claim they want less government intrusion into our lives, yet they want to force THEIR agendas and regulations into our lives using government enforcement. That doesn’t seem like smaller government to me. The Conservative Republican/Tea-Bagger agendas, if they get control of the House and/or Senate, their “smaller government” will dictate every aspect of our lives. They want to dictate what we do in our bedrooms, force women and young girls to have babies even if the pregnancies are caused by rape or incest. They say God has his reasons for letting Grandpa rape his granddaughter and knocks her up. I’m not pro-abortion, I am pro-choice, btw, and I believe forcing a child to have her father’s or brother’s child is beyond reason. They want our schools to teach only Christian interpretations of evolution, law, morality, etc. (They have already gotten many textbooks changed to teach their point of view). Have you seen their museum with the saddles on dinosaurs? It would be funny if it wasn’t so tragic.

Another thing that really pisses me off is how the Conservative Republican/Tea-Baggers are treating our President with absolutely no respect. When did this sort of behavior become acceptable? No matter who held the office, whether you liked the guy or not, whether he was a member of “your” party or not, the man and office was always treated with respect. When the president gave his speech at the beginning of the school year, we would always watch and listen to his words of encouragement and our responsibility to learn and work hard to do our best at school. For the last two years, the Conservative Republican/Tea-Baggers warned everybody that President Obama wasn’t “safe” for our children to listen to. What a load of crap! Such disrespect shown to our president should outrage us all! And what’s the deal with these Conservative Republican/Tea-Baggers waving posters showing our President as a witch-doctor, Hitler, and worse. How racist and disrespectful is that? You can respectfully disagree with the President and/or his policies/party/whatever (I often have and do), but I certainly wouldn’t make degrading statements because of his race, religion, or anything similar type thing. It’s just heart-breaking to listen to the elected officials in Conservative Republican/Tea-Bagger party make such disparaging remarks, too. Just because they don’t agree with the “other side” doesn’t mean that they have to follow the corporate talking points handed to them by the big money people.

Whether they like it or not, the Conservative Republican/Tea-Baggers as well as the Democrats are supposed to be working for US. WE pay their salaries, taxes, pensions, and healthcare bills and they should pander to US, not the lobbyists, Wall Street bigwigs, and other special interests that buy their office positions and House and Senate votes. The only ones who seem to be bucking the lobbyists, Wall Street bigwigs, and other special interests (for the most part) are the Democrats. Almost every bill that has come before the senate has either been filibustered or amended to death by the Conservative Republican/Tea-Baggers. THAT’S why we normal folks don’t have better access to healthcare, why we don’t have better protections from predatory lenders and loan sharks (excuse me… I mean Banks), companies that kill their employees by forcing them to work in unsafe conditions, etc. The Conservative Republican/Tea-Baggers have said and shown us time and time again that they vote for bills that help corporate shareholders and the wealthy and vote for bills that hurt the rest of us. If only the Democrats would stand together like a brick wall like the Conservative Republican/Tea-Baggers do, we would see more progress for ourselves and our children and our grandchildren. The wealthy don’t have to worry about the things we worry about. They don’t pay as much in taxes as the rest of us yet get the same, if not better, services. They can buy healthcare without needing insurance. They have enough money for retirement without Social Security. They don’t need Veteran’s Benefits because they can pay for medical treatments, housing, and higher education out of their pockets, unlike most of our service people who get paid a pittance for putting their lives on the line for US!

The Conservative Republican/Tea-Baggers even want to repeal the half-assed healthcare bill (the one that’s better than nothing), too. Good old Mike Huckabee compared people with pre-existing conditions being allowed to buy health insurance as being the same as buying car insurance after your car was totaled or house insurance after your house burned down. That just shows us how out of touch with reality and compassionate these Conservative Republican/Tea-Baggers are. People are denied health insurance caused by no fault of their own, like acne, a bad back, a childhood disease, etc. We finally have that protection now, and the Conservative Republican/Tea-Baggers want to take it away. Nice…

Well, I could go on and on again. All I’m asking you to do is really listen to what the Conservative Republican/Tea-Baggers are saying and what their plans are (repealing everything that helps the average American) and vote, especially for the Democratic candidate. The Democratic candidate might not be perfect (nobody is), but if the Conservative Republican/Tea-Baggers get control, you can say goodbye to minimum wage, Veteran’s benefits, Social Security, Medicare, Financial Safeguards and Regulation, Workplace Safety, Healthcare protections, etc. and say hello to creationism only education, rape /incest victims babies and mothers, more regulation in your bedroom, less services from fire departments, police departments, social service departments, etc. Remember, it’s YOU and ME who have the power to elect WHO works for us and by voting for the Democrats, at least we have proof that they will try to work for US no matter how hard the Conservative Republican/Tea-Baggers try to work against US.

State of the Union (IMHO)

Cell Phones << >> Decision Time

I’m so sick of stupidity and lies. No one is excluded: Politicians, political pundits, and the general population (yes, that means us!). I’ve not been as active in politics as I should have been through the years, but I have been paying close attention since 2000. I figured it was time to find out how things are run. After 10 years, I am totally disgusted by the politicization of the Supreme Court, the outright lies that are coming out of our elected officials’ mouths (at LEAST all of the lies that can be backed up by witnesses, emails, video, etc), the bullshit that the “talking heads” are spewing, but worst of all, the lack of interest in political issues by the general public. The GENERAL PUBLIC are the ones who put these liars, cheaters, and thieves in charge of running this country. That means YOU and ME put them there with our blessing!

The last administration broke uncountable laws and no one is going to be held responsible for it. Man, if I tortured anyone, my ass would be fried. If I illegally wire-tapped someone, my ass would be fried. If I lied to Congress, my ass would be fried. There is so much that has gone on that we don’t even know about because its “top secret” and the GENERAL PUBLIC doesn’t care! That’s us common, ordinary American citizens! We seem more interested in the fucking Super Bowl commercials or what happened on our Soaps than the Wall Street Debacle; Unemployment; National Debt; Health Care; Crazy, racist Tea-Bagger Rallies; Republican Obstructionism; Democratic Caucus Chaos; Out-right Racism because we have a black President; Radio, Television, and Internet “pundits” showing disrespect to the President and OUR country along with down-right lies and fear-mongering aimed at getting the public (us, remember?) riled up enough to get “their” people into office and/or the “other” people out. Etc., blah, yada, yada.

Well, people, you NEED to start caring about what’s going on. Our CIVIL LIBERTIES have been eroding since 9/11 by the past administration in the guise of “National Security and Terrorism” and it’s not improving much under this one. I hear a lot of people saying; “Since I’m not doing anything illegal, then I don’t care if the NSA (or whatever government entity) wants to read my email or listen to my phone calls.” Well, with a Supreme Court that rules that Corporations have the same rights as individual citizens and Google looking at joining with the NSA for so-called “internet security”, how long will it be before no matter what you say or do, someone might find it “suspect”. Hell, this BLOG may be suspect, since I appear to be criticizing the government. I say “appear” because I am really bitching about the stupidity of the citizens who don’t give a shit or care enough to educate themselves on what has happened, what is or isn’t happening right now, and what that may mean for future generations.

I’m not a “conspiracy nut” or trying to inspire fear. I’m not a crazed liberal or fanatic conservative. I’m just an American citizen who cares about the futures of our kids and grandkids. I don’t what the NSA and Google shutting down my blog. I want my guns. I want to raise my own food without the USDA’s NAIS making me microchip all my critters or Monsanto forcing me to buy their GMO seeds. I want to buy my vitamins without the FDA saying I can’t because the pills I want to take are above the government’s RDA. I can’t afford to pay ¾ of my limited savings on medical bills and insurance premiums since I am still too sick to go back and work and the money tree died a long time ago and I don’t want to have others pay for me once I go bankrupt, either, so I NEED HEALTH CARE REFORM NOW. I want regulation of ALL corporations and Government Agencies, like Health Insurance and Big Pharma monopolies, greedy Wall Street practices that the public (that’s us, again!) have to bail out while they get their billions is bonuses. I want us to stop giving government subsidies to Corporate Agriculture and Big Tobacco, etc. The list goes on and on as we, the people (lemmings), don’t pay attention and don’t fight against these people who are taking everything from us and giving nothing in return. I want my tax dollars doing something for the People, NOT the Corporations. Come on, People! Wake UP! This is no different than fighting off someone who is mugging you, except that it is the people we elect that are robbing us!

All of the information on our Supreme Court decisions and Congressional Bills and legislation are free to find out about from reputable sources:

Supreme Court , THOMAS (Library of Congress) which has federal legislative information freely available to the public.

Some TV “news”, bloggers, political “pundits”, newspapers, radio personalities and the like are NOT necessarily reputable sources of unbiased journalism. Every news outlet has the potential to bias its information and lots of the propaganda that they spew under the guise of “news” has been proven false by many other (actually reliable) sources. I never sign a petition without finding at least 3 outside sources to confirm the information given in the petition materials, even though I “trust” the groups that send them to me. I never ever believe only one source, even though I do trust some more than others. Knowledge is power. If we vote, we should be sure we “know” who or what we are voting for by educating ourselves and by NOT relying on what some “talking head” tells us to do or because of some knee-jerk reaction on one issue or another. We have to learn to THINK about the consequences of our vote and look at the “whole picture” before we go into that booth. That’s IF you have the time or inclination to bother. You know that if you don’t vote, you have no right to bitch about what’s going on. When less than ½ of the eligible voters in this country turn out for elections, it just shows how much people don’t give a shit about how they are treated by these elected officials, so why should these elected officials give a shit about what we want?

Cell Phones

Cell Phones << >> State of the Union (IMHO)

Okay…New Blog.

I was raised never to talk about Money, Religion, and Politics, but I guess at age 50, I can do what I want to do now. (Plus, the people who have raised me are dead and I can’t get “grounded” any longer). I am devoting this blog to “things that make me crazy”.

This first one will be about cell phones. I am not a “Luddite”… Far from it. I LOVE new gizmos and gadgets. I took my first computer class in 1977 using FORTRAN programming and punch cards. I had a Commodore 128 with dual 5-1/2” floppy disks and color monitor and dot-matrix printer in February 1989. I bought an Atari when they first came out in 1979 and bought the Nintendo in 1986 and the first Zelda game at the same time. I’ve had a cell phone since 2000 because I needed one for a cross-country trip and thought it would be useful in case of an emergency and it was because we used it when we broke down in Death Valley. BUT….

As a society, we have totally gone overboard with cell phone use. No matter where I am, I see someone with one of these things glued to their head. Doesn’t matter if I’m driving, in a restroom, or any and all public areas and buildings, there is at least one person blathering or texting on one of these things.

First off, we all know that multi-tasking while driving is dangerous. Fine, drive your own self into a tree or ditch, but make damn sure that you don’t take someone else with you. Every time I get behind an erratic driver, I’ll yell at the idiot “PAY ATTENTION AND GET OF THE FRIGGING PHONE!” More times than not, if I dare pass them, they’ll be using their cell phone. IDIOTS! I don’t care what you do in your own world, but when you’re driving, “PAY ATTENTION TO THE ROAD AND TRAFFIC WHILE YOU ARE BEHIND THE WHEEL!”

Secondly, “I HAVE GREAT HEARING AND I DON’T WANT TO HEAR YOUR PERSONAL CONVERSATIONS!” I don’t want to eavesdrop on these idiots but I can’t help it. I would like to read my book and keep to myself while waiting for my doctor appointment, not listen to someone talk about anything, especially “WHO YOU PICKED UP AND SCREWED LAST NIGHT!” I get embarrassed hearing these things. I’m no prude and like sex as well as the next person, but I don’t want to hear the details of anybody else’s sex life, especially some stranger’s. I also don’t give a rat’s butt about anything else that these people feel they must broadcast to the rest of the world.

Third, have we all decided to disconnect from where we actually are? I can multi-task when I need to, but I know I’m not paying attention to what’s going on around me when I am doing more than one thing at a time. When I’m on the phone, I can’t pay attention to what the person on the other end is saying if I’m doing something else at the same time. Either that or I’m paying attention to the person on the phone and NOT paying attention to the world around me. Hell, someone could be pointing a gun at my face and I wouldn’t notice. Aside from the potential danger from not being aware of your surroundings, it seems like we are disconnecting from personal, face-to-face contact with our fellow human beings. Is it so hard to shut the phone and acknowledge that the cashier at the grocery store said “Thank You”? I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve had a door shut on me or my poor crushed hands because the person going though it before me was on their phone and didn’t notice me or else they didn’t care that I got hit by that door. Now, I just hang back until the door shuts instead of trying to grab it. I get a lot fewer injuries that way.

Fourth, it’s JUST PLAIN RUDE! If I’m out with someone and they are waiting for an important call I don’t mind them using their phone (I have call-waiting and only use it if I am waiting for my doctor or lawyer to call), but sitting at a restaurant twiddling my thumbs while my lunch date is texting or talking to someone else for no apparent reason makes me feel pretty bad. It makes me feel like I am not the person that my lunch partner wants to be with so why the hell do they bother being with me in the first place?

Fifth, with all these apps that show where everyone is, who is talking to whom, on-line information “back-up”, or the GPS letting anyone know where you are is kind of scary. Crap, I don’t want anyone to know where I’m at or who I’m talking to unless I specifically tell them even though I’m not doing anything illegal. HELLO! Do you remember BIG BROTHER in “1984”??? TIN-FOIL HATS ANYONE?