Obama, Iraq, Twitter, and Stupid

Okay, let's do this again.

Last night I saw a stupid tweet. I know, I know, they're ubiquitous. This one said:

Obama's JV ISIS blows up ancient Arch of Triumph because... Obama. http://t.co/VIOvwR59S8 pic.twitter.com/uFShjBFiXr

— Rufus Kings ® ™ (@RufusKings1776) October 5, 2015

I was feeling plucky and thought that maybe - maybe - if someone had just pointed out to him that he was wrong, then he would be enlightened. :P

So, yes, stupid, but reminds me how ignorant America still is about Iraq. So let's review, shall we?


Getting Out of Iraq

Bush started it. Seriously, this is not a blaming thing; it was a good thing. Bush started the negotiations to get us the hell out. Why? Iraq wanted us out.


International Negotiations

Barack Obama is not the only guy, and the US is NOT the only country, despite the idiocy of the talking points of the detractors.

Long story short: Iraq said GTFO. ALL the countries said "Um, okay," with the US saying "Ummmmm, okay."

So we left.


BLAME OBAMA!

Obama was there when we were leaving. To some detractors and morons, that means Obama pulled out of Iraq. Because the international pull-out resulted in a vacuum, many ignorant people resort to the information in the tweet.


The Facts

We were part of an international coalition. Iraq said GTFO. We did. IF we had stayed, we'd be basically invading a sovereign nation, and subject to the penalties of one nation invading another. We'd be not at war with insurgents, but the nation of Iraq itself - as well as any other nations who thought of or were aligned with the defense of Iraq.


The Troll

Rufus blocked me. I wasn't terrible, but I was rude. He (she?) ran away in the end. And this is what we deal with every day. Every day, ignorant awful spewmouths put forth the day's agenda and talking points. And then block you when you apply intelligence.

That's a part of America that makes me sad. Every day.

Little Shambles Goes to College

I dropped my daughter off at college today - and spent a good part assembling IKEA furniture and manhandling the dorm pieces to arrange the room into her ideal configuration. It was a pretty heavy day for her and left me burned out, but she seems to be okay about it and I'm sure she'll be fine on her new adventure.

My first mind fuck was driving into town and realizing I was doing the same thing with my parents 19 years ago. 19 years ago? Damn. I saw all these "kids" checking in, wandering about, getting their bearings (hello ladies!), and floated back to my experience, specifically my experience on move-in day.

I was a suburban white kid rolling into a 4-person room with my punk/goth/indie CD collection. Focus on Biotech (ended: Eng/Psy degrees). I think I'd had one brief conversation with each of my roommates on the home phone. No one had cell phones. I ended up with a brilliant crew: A cool guy with similar music and geeky tastes, a skinny white kid who was in love with rap, and a HS jock who brought his iguana, Gimpy. And while there were some differences in opinion, we were all cordial and had a great and amazing year with each other.

And then the feelings of waste and want to go back. How I could've done things better. I spent my last year in drink and drugs and had lost almost all contact with those wonderful people. But, y'know, get over it; you can't go back; it was what it was.

I'd spent part of last night compiling a mix CD for Little and it was hard to keep the eyes dry.



I was very worried that all of today would be me weeping, but it didn't hit me until my second mind fuck: after driving 4 hours there, spending 7 hours in the move-in process and dinner, and 4 hours back, I didn't lose it. It was walking back into the apartment and realizing that bedroom was now just an extra room. She won't be back for months. Waterworks.

Mini will be fine. She's got most of her family about an hour away and with smartphones, she's just a text away.

Sleep and process. I'll be fine too.

And then Monday is the dissolutionment, but that's another post on the other blog.

Thanks for reading.

That List - Dig Out of Depression

(NOTE: This is gonna get a little personal, so feel free to skip)

(NOTE2: This will grow. I just added to the DOs. I also just added to the intro notes by writing this. Check back.)

So having gone through a rough down-slope, I recently mentioned I was working on a list of sorts. That list starts with a schedule and has some serious DOs and DONTs. For your approval, though not nearly thorough enough.

The Schedule

If you don't have a schedule, you have nothing. Even if it's rough, write it down. Somewhere. Keep it between your condom that expired 12/95 and your Subway rewards card in your wallet. But do it.

I wake at 5am every morning to make Irish Dancer her lunch and a pot of coffee so Mrs. Shambles can leave before 6:30 with a mug. Here's my roughie:

• 5am: wake, make lunch & coffee
• 5am - 6am: clear emails, catch up on a show
• 6am - 7am: stretch, meditate, exercise
• 7am - 11:30am: work
• 11:30am - 1:30pm: work, eat, take at least 30 minutes to flake/rest
• 1:30pm - 5pm (maybe 7pm): work
• * Stretch at least every hour
• * Nibble healthily

DOs

• Eat! (sometimes I forget)
• Snack healthy
• Exercise at least 30 min a day
• Take breaks to breathe, center
• Drink coffee
• Smoke a cigarette (I know, I know. I rarely smoke, and only when I'm drinking, but if I have at least 1/2 a cig early in the day I tend to ward off apathy)
• Catharsis: Cry. Cry like your dog or cat just died. Watch your favorite cry movie (even if that's your wedding tape or Short Circuit 2) to emote it. No. "Cry" is not right. Weep. Every week or month or two just dig down there and fucking lose it - but only for a few minutes. Let it out. Lose your shit and bang on the pillows (sheet rock is expensive) and scream "WHY!?!?!" Then get it together and understand you're better for it and ACTUALLY be better for it.

DONTs

• Lay on the couch in front of the TV (If I feel like I need to drop out, do it in the bedroom where it's dark and I can talk myself out of my spiral)
• Drink early or much (obvious, right?)
• Keep a messy desk (self-defeating)
• Think blogging, anxiety, or angst are substitutes for work.

Success?

Today I ate, focused, exercised, and rocked out 5 solid hours of work and made almost $800. Success? Yes. Could I have done more? Yes. Should that example be a case in point for myself for creating and following this list? Yes.


I'm prone to depression from my grandfather down, "badges" on my wrists from college, a few of their little sisters on my arms and legs live as reminders as well. Sometimes I like to wrap myself in blankets on a cloudy day and wish the world would just fall apart around me (give me a gun and a zombie apocalypse and I'm good). At least I don't have the passive suicide daydreams of "turning the wheel and going off a cliff" of yore. For that I'm thankful.

I'm past the dangerous stuff. I made it through. I have no pity for whiny bitching - in myself or others. And I think the biggest thing I've learned, the most important thing I can pass along is:

STAY ABOVE IT

It's all in the state of mind and can be changed in a second: Everything we do, everything we deal with, every single part of our lives from joy to chaos to drama to too many people to meeting with expectations is noise. When you're down, when you feel beat, you're looking up at it all, it's covering you, encompassing you, suffocating you like an awful, killing comforter (oxymoron, eh?).

But even though none of that shit, none of that - noise of expectations or the sky's too gray or the sky's too grey or your sister's in prison or you need to make rent or the cat box hasn't been changed in a week or you forgot to put your good shirt in the wash last night or the goddamned dog needs to be boarded and you not only hate taking her but hate missing her - even though none of that shit in your life changes: YOU CAN.

Dig deep, think mentally of how those things are affecting you. They're all above you, stilting you, snuffing you out. NO! They're not! Change that. Change the game. You are above that, literally, mentally floating above it all to deal with it as you please. Yes, it still sucks, but being above it at least you can see the sun. And you might be able to see how you can drive that bus.

Get above it. Own it. Push its nose in the doodie. Drive that bus. Make me proud.

Pro-Life Protest Particularly Apropos

Awwwshitt. You know what's gonna happen tomorrow? This is! W00t!

Tens of thousands of pro-life students in high schools, middle schools and colleges and universities across the country will take a vow of silence tomorrow. They will refuse to speak to their friends and teachers because they are representing the voices of millions of unborn children killed in abortions.

Hell, I'd go just for the free red tape.

No, hold on a minute. There's something serious happening here, happening tomorrow, happening all across the country, and it is making a somewhat redundant but wholly unified and powerful statement: Religious conservatives do not, nor will they ever truly understand the very basics of symbolism.

Allow me to explain to the dim: You're putting a piece of red tape over your mouth, preventing you from speaking, and writing LIFE on it. You're already into the realm of sex and babies so let's take that red and us it as an allusion of sin and shame like lovely Hester Pryne. And then let's seal it with LIFE.

You kinda look like you're on the other side.

A woman walking around with red tape labeled LIFE over her mouth in a protest situation says to me: The outside-imposed sin, the religion-into-policy, the government-up-in-your lady parts is trying to alter the laws in this country, and is charging towards a religion-based, a Sharia law all of it's fucking own, where a woman has NO say over her own body and must have that child despite choice, despite rape, despite incest. Her voice is no more.

And you'd better keep an ear out on birth control because the nutters pushing this bullshit don't wantcha fucking with a condom either because their image of a perfect world is every family in the US of Jesus as devout Christians breedin' like the Duggars until we burst our seams to all of North America of the Bible and ship the QEIII over full of damn kids to march on the Holy Land and kick them Palestinians out like worked with that Childrens' Crusade! Oh, wait...

Anyway, one more notch in the "Conservatives don't understand" belt: Humor, Technology, and ~*NEW*~ Symbolism.

Like Attracts Like: An Irish Allegory

When Mrs. Shambles and I were planning for Ireland for our honeymoon, we knew we were renting a car for 2 weeks, but weren't sure where to go, what path to take. Both being in theatre, we contacted a showman and storyteller who was born on the Emerald Isle and returned there frequently to give us some guidance.

As we were going over our plans and our map with him, I asked him about the demeanor of the Irish in general; what sorts of people would we meet? His eyes lit up. "Let me tell you a story," he said...

A young man from the town of Tipperary walks into a Dublin pub, sits down, orders a pint, and asks the bartender "Excuse me sir. I've just moved here to Dublin from Tipperary and was wonderin' what kinds of folks I might meet here."

"Well," the bartender responded, "what kinds of folks do you have there in Tipperary?"

"Greatest people in the world! They'd give you their last penny and the shirt off their back if it'd make your life easier for just a moment."

"Well son, I've got good news for you: you're going to find the exact same people here in Dublin."

Not long after, a young man from the town of Limerick walks into that same Dublin pub, sits down, orders a pint, and asks the bartender "Excuse me sir. I've just moved here to Dublin from Limerick and was wonderin' what kinds of folks I might meet here."

"Well," the bartender responded, "what kinds of folks do you have there in Limerick?"

"Oh, the most dreadful people in the world! They'd steal your last penny and the shirt off your back if given just a moment to do so."

"Well son, I'm sorry, I've got some bad news for you: you're going to find the exact same people here in Dublin."

Over 10 years and that story still sticks with me. Like attracts like. You have no one but yourself to blame for your friends. Your actions and thoughts are constantly telling the universe what you really want from life and people. Pick one or all; they're all true.

Whitest Kids U'Know: Clint Webb

Yeah, I've been kinda incommunicado as of late. And I'll probably dump my life-changing personal and social issues on you sooner or later, but until I decide that sharing pain anonymously is really going to dilute the process of going through it, please enjoy a clip from a show you can catch on IFC.

Ladies & Comics: Dawn & Death

Based on some inspiration from Cal's fantastic blog post on Wonder Woman's new costume, there was a bit of discussion about the oversexualized women in comics (as one aspect of what keeps bringing the boys - and men - back) and I immediately thought of Dawn.

The series of different comics featuring Dawn, goddess of birth and rebirth, and her lover, Death is exactly what we describe when we talk about over-the-top eye candy. And the storylines weren't exactly the most brilliant writing in the comic world.






And in thinking about beauty and storytelling I was immediately drawn to a place I don't return nearly enough. When you take various artists and combine them with the sharp wit and brilliant writing of Niel Gaiman, you get Death, one of the Endless who pull the strings of existence.







Seriously, stare at the Dawn all you want, but if you haven't picked up the Sandman comics you are missing a true piece of literature.


...and then there's someone's take on the Little Mermaid. I have no reason or excuses.

What's Sexy?

Here's something I just thought of that might happen with punctuated regularity. What does Google Image Search tell us is sexy?

Anime



I don't know that I can call that sexy. Then again, I'm not into transvestite cosplay.


Dude



I'm going to pass on this one.


Villians?



I really don't ...WTF? What in holy hell is this? A sexy Disney villain, of course. More here, if you dare click.


Firefox



Okay, that'll work.


Lesson: The internets does not know what I think is sexy. Beware you search yourself. O'er there, there be furries.

Wedding Disastrous

Because you deserve it.


I said keg stand, not keg lean. Get on up in it.



I am not drunk, I have not been crying, and yes I took this from the bar. And it's MINE.



Unwrapping isn't as much fun when you stare at the present all night.



...in an elementary school classroom.



That's how we do it in mothafuckin' M-trop, bitches!

If You Forget Me

You know how this is:
if I look
at the crystal moon, at the red branch
of the slow autumn at my window,
if I touch
near the fire
the impalpable ash
or the wrinkled body of the log,
everything carries me to you,
as if everything that exists,
aromas, light, metals,
were little boats
that sail
toward those isles of yours that wait for me.

Well, now,
if little by little you stop loving me
I shall stop loving you little by little.

If suddenly
you forget me
do not look for me,
for I shall already have forgotten you.

If you think it long and mad,
the wind of banners
that passes through my life,
and you decide
to leave me at the shore
of the heart where I have roots,
remember
that on that day,
at that hour,
I shall lift my arms
and my roots will set off
to seek another land.

But
if each day,
each hour,
you feel that you are destined for me
with implacable sweetness,
if each day a flower
climbs up to your lips to seek me,
ah my love, ah my own,
in me all that fire is repeated,
in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten,
my love feeds on your love, beloved,
and as long as you live it will be in your arms
without leaving mine.


- Pablo Neruda

Mentalist Fight: Amanda and Robin

Mrs. Shambles and I watch The Mentalist with that strapping Aussie Simon Baker who was in that terrible show The Guardian that gave me a sad feeling in the pit of my stomach whenever I saw it listed on the DVR. Wait - did we have DVR back then? I don't know. I don't remember the cable situation then. I do remember the sad, empty feeling though.

Anyway, I was thinking about my previous post mentioning the Oliva Munn / Morgan Webb post from a while back, and then The Mentalist popped up. It's a good show, nothing like The Guardian.

So, readers, feel free to chime in: I'm not putting any qualifiers on it like fight or beauty. Who wins? Why?

Robin Tunney



or...

Amanda Righetti




Personally? Well ...I'll let you mull over it and I'll update the post with my thoughts and any particularly clever comments next week.

Michael Moore's "Capitalism: A Love Story"

Don't know if you saw this trailer, but I'm eagerly awaiting the movie.

I Say Juggalo, You Say ...WTF?

If you do not know Insane Clown Posse (ICP), the horrorcore hip hop duo, then you do not know of their followers/groupies/fans called Juggalos (the ladies are, appropriately, called Juggalettes). ICP has a very large and loyal following that sport their tattoos, scary clown makeup, and espouse the joys of Faygo pop.

Every year they assemble at the Gathering of the Juggalos. If you don't know, there's nothing I can do but show you. Truth be told, the actual volume of Faygo vs. Natty Light at the Gathering is up for debate.

Snacks n Shit

Snacks n Shit is a newly discovered (by me, anyway) blog that riffs on rap and hip-hop lyrics. It's hilarious. Examples, please?

"Man, her head was gooder than a music."
- Common, I Poke Her Face

Man, this might be the single worst sentence I've ever heard someone say, and it mostly just made me sad.

Filed under: Worst comparison ever / Extreme English failure

As you can tell, there are many layers here, from the raw lyric to the names of some of these artists, the album name, and, of course, the commentary.

Enjoy!

(via BoingBoing)

Read a Book - Bomani Armah

I heard this artist/song on the French station Sirius 87 Bandeapart. That is because American radio sucks a left nut unless you want to lick on Hanna Montana. Trust me; it is in English and it is brilliant.

It begins: "Read a book, read a book, read a motherfuckin' book..."
(semi-racy animation with rap-level cussin')



Bomani's official site is www.notarapper.com

I will be spending tomorrow's "not work" time getting to know him better.

This is Really Happening

Radiohead. Idioteque.

We're not scare mongering
This is really happening
Happening
We're not scare mongering
This is really happening
Happening
Mobiles quirking
Mobiles chirping
Take the money and run
Take the money and run
Take the money

Any questions?

Susan Boyle - British Star

Here's a taste:


Get the full taste at this link.

Stupid Sick & T Shirt Hell Returns After Not Going Anywhere

Missed the last couple days on updating anything on the blog here, originally because of working on my real job, but the last couple days have seen projectile vomiting of everything including just water paired with ejecta from the other end. It was lovely.

Well, I'm back, and managing my time more efficiently at that.

Speaking of back, T-Shirt Hell was going out of business a couple weeks ago and now they're not. Actually, they never were. Yeah, I'm a sucker just like everyone else. Just a quality stunt to introduce new folks and get the old fans off their asses to open their wallets.

Yay! Plenty of time for you to get me that Pimp shirt...

Barack Obama - Fuck Yeah

Unexpectedly ran into this wonderousness earlier today.



Fuck yeah.

(via DothBrands via Inauguration)

How Voter Fraud Can Follow You

Two days ago, on my Twitter account, I commented on the fact that Ken Blackwell, walking example of both voter fraud and questionable interests in DieBold from the notorious 2004 election (He pushed the no-paper-trail electronic machines in Ohio, then was found to have investments in them) had created a Twitter account.

I said:

That fraud, that traitor of a human being, Ken Blackwell, has a Twitter. http://twitter.com/kenblackwell

WTF to my surprise, yesterday, I was greeted with this:



At the very least, that guy's got his social online thing going on, even if his financial interests at the time cost Democrats the 2004 election.

But he's still a horrible person. And fuck if I'll follow his antics.