World Cup Saturday

I am torn.  I want the U.S. to do well, but an entire continent’s hope rests on the shoulders of Ghana.

Priorities: Republican and Democratic

I know it’s just one poll, but I found this result revealing:

Now, thinking some more about you preference for who controls Congress…
(ASK ONLY OF RESPONDENTS WHO PREFER REPUBLICAN CONTROL OF CONGRESS (Q11:1))
Q15a Which one or two of the following reasons best explains why you would prefer the Republicans to be in
control of Congress? (RANDOMIZE LIST. ACCEPT UP TO TWO RESPONSES.)
TABLE RANKED BY HIGHEST PERCENTAGE
6/10  3/10+
To reduce government spending ……………………………….. 39 42
To repeal the new health care legislation^ …………………. 28 29
To keep taxes down …………………………………………………… 17 24
To protest the policies of Barack Obama ……………………. 15 11
To stop Democrats from controlling Congress ……………. 12 10
To promote moral values …………………………………………… 10 16
To strengthen national defense …………………………………… 9 10
To protest against special interests …………………………….. 4 4
Other (VOL) ……………………………………………………………….. 1 2
All of these (VOL) ……………………………………………………….. 9 6
None of these (VOL) …………………………………………………… 1 1

The Republican voters top priorities?  Money, Money, stick it to Dems, stick it to Obama with a dash of god-bothering “moral values”.

Notice the difference:

(ASK ONLY OF RESPONDENTS WHO PREFER DEMOCRATIC CONTROL OF CONGRESS (Q11:2))
Q15b Which one or two of the following reasons best explains why you would prefer the Democrats to be in control
of Congress? (RANDOMIZE LIST. ACCEPT UP TO TWO RESPONSES.)
TABLE RANKED BY HIGHEST PERCENTAGE
6/10+  3/10+
To look out for working people ……………………………………………… 45 39
To support the policies of Barack Obama ……………………………… 29 28
To support the new health care legislation^ …………………………. 19 31
To prevent Republicans from controlling Congress ………………. 17 10
To continue current economic policies ……………………………………. 8 7
To protest against special interests ……………………………………….. 7 10
To support policy in Iraq and Afghanistan ……………………………… 6 6
To continue in the same direction in Washington ……………………. 5 6
Other (VOL) …………………………………………………………………………… 1 2
All of these (VOL) …………………………………………………………………… 1 1
None of these (VOL) ………………………………………………………………. 1 2

What’s that?  We still have troops in two countries?  While that at least registered with the Dem voters, it seems that the Republicans have shifted their priorities so that the wars don’t even show up on their radar anymore.  I’m even more surprised by this given what a bloody month it has been in Afghanistan.  But hey, it’s all about the money — their money.  It’s not about helping out working people or the wars.  And just to note, the pollsters read the respondents a list of issues to pick from, so the Republican respondents consciously didn’t choose the wars or supporting working people as priorities.

via

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Juneteenth and Father’s Day

Today was not my day, though I remember African Americans marching down the lonely highway between Seagraves and Seminole when I was young.They weren’t the lowliest of the low, though they were pretty far down there.  The worst off were the Mexicans.  My grandfather and uncle bypassed the blacks (except for the moonshine buying in a dry county) for the Mexicans who couldn’t even claim something like a wage.  I remember the woman who taught me how to hoe a row of cotton.  I eventually got a car for my childhood work.  I doubt that she earned enough to live by.  I remember my cousins showing me where their “wetback” lived.  I will never forget it.

When I was younger, my father’s family was considered city folk and therefore kind of weak and sickly by my mom’s family.  It was far from the truth; my grandfather worked hard to get his family in town (my mom’s family never lived in a town or any kind of incorporated area).  He apprenticed my dad to a job that lasted him a life time and he was so valuable to his employer that that employer had taken out a life insurance policy on him that paid the company AND he paid for my dad’s funeral.

My tribute to my dad this year is the moonplants.  He’s the one that turned me on to them, and having neglected planting them for years (why?), the ones I have now are going crazy.  Just like dad would have loved.  I’ll take a picture or two of them tomorrow, for him.

I loved my dad more than he loved me.  I’ve always known it.  I still think that he would have come around to me, had he lived long enough.

FIFA World Cup and other stuff

I don’t know that I am hooked on football, but I am hooked on the World Cup.  Call me partial to South Africa.  I want this to be successful for them.  The point at which I got hooked was the opening on ABC last Saturday.   I’ve watched several games and have gotten used to this level of play.  Perhaps some of my students’ enthusiasm has finally rubbed off on me.

The run of the sunflowers has been short.  They are already bowing down to the weight of their big full heads.  The little bees still frequent them and I’ve seen more beneficials, which was the whole point.

While my squash have stalled (after giving me one more), the cucumbers have been troopers.  The tomatoes have give a modest return, but the upside-down experiment is busted.

I used some old hose to make a watering system for the new beans and okra bed.  It seemed to work well even thought I think I lost two seedlings.

It’s early, but I think I will hit the hay early as well.  It will be cooler to work around six in the morning.

We need some rain.

Some Video Links Plus Added Rants

I don’t get this. He doesn’t really say anything and his pronoun references are completely vague.  It looks like someone in the GOP lower levels is trying to push the NJ gov for prez.  What about Rick Perry!!!!1!!1!1!

Sarah Palin gets put on the spot.  I can think of quite a number of people more qualified to yap about the oil spill.  Michael Berry isn’t one of them.

White male Seattle idiot police officer punches a young black woman in the face. Commenters say she deserved it.  It’s hard to watch.  I don’t think I could have stood there and just recorded it. Cops can just be criminals with guns.  One Bellaire cop shot a pro baseball player and got off — nothing happened to him.  Michael Berry blamed the baseball player’s mother for the shooting.  FAIR ENOUGH?

Related:  Pasty white boy gets ruffed up by 68 year old.  The same people showing there “balls” about a cop punching a 19 year old black girl get misty-eyed and cry Assault!!!!  Assault!!!!! when it’s one of their own.  These people are insufferable.

Lastly, I am SICK of pasty white people telling African Americans that this that or the other is their problem.  As I have said again and again, why can’t all of the pasty white concern trolls take a look at their own poor white folks and fix that?   Michael Berry and Bill Bennett need to quit acting like they’re black and get with taking care of all of the poor whites.  Wouldn’t that be novel?

Pasty white guy wants drug testing.  Who is going to pay for that?  Does the Utah Senator have some interest in a drug testing kit company?  Does the Utah Senator have a problem with people who are down on their luck?  I’d like to see him submit to a drug test on the teevee first.  Dick.

Lastly, I’m about ready to build a Mexico City style wall around my damn house.  Someone put the nicely bundled vegetation I had ready to go for next month’s green pick up by the city in my recycle cart, destroying the very expensive new freaking green yard waste bag I had ready in the process.  Whoever it was left my recycle cart in the middle of the driveway, too.  Oh, and whoever it was, cut up my Lantana, too.

Dicks — all of them.

More Poop from Michael Berry

I only caught a bit of Berry’s ass-showing, but it was enough.  As always, he only gets enough right to make all the rest of the ignorance and lies possible.  Illustration one is his calling futbol KICKBALL.  He either doesn’t know what kickball is or is being disingenuous.  It’s the latter, probably.

He actually had a caller point out to his face how he lost his truck and called police and claimed that he had been mugged.  It clearly touched a nerve.  Michael mocked the way the man spoke — which the caller Ray pointed out.    The Houston Chronicle article about the incident is now behind a pay wall, but I read it at the time and have access to it.  I’m not sure Berry hit a car — maybe a parked one? — but I am sure that as a city councilman, he didn’t want to get a DWI, and so he faked the whole thing.  Surely the lack of anyone being arrested or Berry filing any charges is evidence of that.  Berry is a liar and he didn’t take well to being called on his bullshit.

Ray the caller also served our country in the military — Michael Berry was too fat, or so he claims.  You can see how he is a former fat baby by looking at him.

(link)

Could Michael even bring himself to recognize the man’s service?  No.

I don’t know who told Michael that he does a good impersonation of a Black Man, but that person should be forced to listen to Berry doing his Black Man rant for about 3 minutes — it would probably lead to a debilitating event with a nail gun.  Just listen to this — about a third of the way through (sorry no time marks on this low budget station’s podcast.  Berry is disgusting.  After mocking the way Ray speaks, Michael Berry then says Ray does a  “shuck and jive” and claims that Ray doesn’t know anything about him.  Sorry Michael, but you ass is in the papers (you bragged about it earlier.)  We know what you are up to.  You are trying, one little step at a time to discredit a group of people — just like you have done with Hispanics and Muslims. (It was difficult to listen to the first time — even more so the second time.)

But don’t call Michael Berry a racist!  Never!  He ain’t no racist!  No, he is an asshole.  And he shows his ass every day.

Michael asks if that accusation is the best he can say.  While Ray made a good fight, I have more.  I wrote to one of Michael’s supporters last week asking him to ask Michael Berry about the apartment building that he bought and rented out to undocumented workers and drug users.  Berry then sold the property to an unwitting buyer.  Berry is as dishonest as the day is long.

Hear Michael Berry’s cry:  YOU DON”T KNOW ME!!!!!!!

Hell, Michael, we know you.   You lay everything out.  And there are those of us who have access to what has been in print about you — hell we lived it.  (Remember how he was on the local news crying about anti-war people protesting on overpasses — while he was a city councilman.  First Amendment anyone?)

Good god, I listened to a bit more and now Michael Berry is trying to say Ray was mistaking him for another city councilman via a commenter on his facebook page.   The ass covering is thick.  Berry lost his SUV /truck whatever.  He claimed he got mugged.  He wasn’t mugged.  Michael Berry was drunk and lost his truck.  He called HPD and only when he was sober did he show up and then made up a story.

Yeah, Michael, we know you.

Sunflowers, Kittens and Pickles

Finally!

The first one bloomed!

Food

I’ll probably expand on this tomorrow, but I have a problem with the way we as beings on this planet approach food.

We had our party today at school.  Games and Bingo and then hit the food, per usual.

I’m always amazed at the attitude that the food will run out.  Some rush to the food.  Some rush to the food and get two plates.  Some cut in line to get seconds before their fellow students get their firsts.  And there is always the victimhood of the servers — in this case the office staff.  They always whine about having to “serve” the people who pay their salaries.

Typically, we have junk food for parties, but for some reason, today we had real food.  I don’t know why.  I noticed there was less food left on the tables this time, despite the fact that everyone loaded up their plates and many came back for seconds and thirds.

In years past, I often took some leftovers to the Star of Hope Mission, but after years of being made to feel that I was starving our plump staff, I stopped volunteering.  It can all rot in the refrigerator for all I care at this point (as it does after every party).

I can’t figure people and food.

“the Turkish-Syrian-Iranian axis”

The hell?  Per Liz Crazy, oh, I mean Cheney.

I know that Turkey is struggling with their secular/religious issues, but last I checked they were on our side and are NATO members.  And that goes back further than the existence of Israel.

Turkey has been restrained in its criticism.  Israel has been bellicose in its own defense.

Perhaps we can get the peace processes going.

I won’t buy anything from Israel and I applaud the efforts that Palestinians are making to enforce a ban.  It was the most effective way for the South Africans.

And that the Israelis propped up the apartheid regime in South Africa to the end because of diamonds just plays to type at this point.

“Yeah, we waterboarded Khalid Sheikh Mohammed,”

so says GWB

This is one area that most of Obama’s critics don’t get.  It’s not that the U.S. doesn’t or has never tortured anyone — it’s that torture is bad all the way around.  It doesn’t produce actionable intel.  It makes the survivors revengeful.  It is beneath this country at this point.

I bet holidays at the Bush house are torture for the old man.  Can you just see W slapping the old man on the back and saying, “I got two terms!  I got Saddam’s gun!”  Poor Poppy and Bar.