Special Graphic Post:
July 4, 2006
Published 7/04/2006 02:46:00 PM
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
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Happy Fourth of July!!
"whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
The Declaration of Independence
July 4th 1776
Hi DarkWraith,
you can collect your nickel now...don't spend it all in one place!
My Grandpa used to tell me that for a quarter he could buy a soda (a nickel), a hamburger (ten cents) and movie admission (ten cents).
And he used to brag about how the movie experience was an all day event. Him and his brother would go on Saturdays. In the morning was news reels, followed by Cartoon, the first feature, more news reels and cartoons, then the second feature.
There used to be a theater here in Carlisle, I saw "Goldfinger" when it first came out here. It was as incredible an event as I ever experienced, was that '62? Anyway it almost forced me to grow to a new level. I thank the wraiths and spirits that this happened to me then. May it happen some more. I'm thirsty.
Best 4th to all, I shoot a large firework later tonight in protest of the idiots in power. Although nobody will know the difference. I bought this monster a few years ago. And it has no anhydronous ammonia or diesel. It is legal.
anhydrous, dry.
"Legal" and "safe," my good friend, are not synonymous. Although I'm sure you know that, I offer you the reminder that it is not all that easy to find missing appendages at night.
For God's sake, blackdog, do be careful with that explosive device.
The Dark Wraith is always troubled when dog parts rain down from the sky.
Good afternoon, Dark Wraith.
Nice graphic. And to all, have a happy and safe holiday.
Illusions by their very definition cannot be. The very force of being moves towards greater being and therefore yes we shall prevail as we align outselves with what is.
You shine a bright light, oh Dark one.
Peace and all good things.
androgynous. Did I spell that correctly? Have i reached the lair of the DARK WRAITH? I believe I have.
Dude, you have been sowing your seed everywhere lately.
Sleeping don't come easy in a straight white vest.
dog parts raining down from the sky... I gotta get outta here, I gotta get OUTTA here....
Alice Cooper has a big lesson for us all.
androgynous. Did I spell that correctly? Have i reached the lair of the DARK WRAITH? I believe I have.
Dude, you have been sowing your seed everywhere lately.
Sleeping don't come easy in a straight white vest.
dog parts raining down from the sky... I gotta get outta here, I gotta get OUTTA here....
Alice Cooper has a big lesson for us all.
See? There is a reason for your madness. I only clicked once.
But you wished twice.
Cheater.
I did. And I confess. I often wish for that which I cannot have. And,... ohhh, nevermind.
As we sat in the park listening to the community band play patriotic songs (and I truly wish their conductor would not insist on playing stirring songs at a dirge-like pace-my yearly complaint), I asked Imp... if I was just getting old, or would patriotic tunes be choking me up so much if we did not have our present president. She replied that it was probably that, and the knowlege of how much better things were, and could be if someone else had been elected. Which statement choked me up again, so I think it is true. I know that right after 9/11 a good traditional American themed song would practically reduce me to tears, but I'd gotten over it.
At least the crowd stood for the Star Sppangled Banner and Taps, though as far as I could tell except me and the chorus, no one sang along. Or sang along with any of the other tunes. This too made me sad. Recalling in 2001 where any type of patriotic song became a hymn for all of us to sing. Now, nada. Remember, I'm supposedly surrounded by red state patriots.
It was perfect fireworks weather, and the Mu stood in his 2 year old awe at the display(he slept through them the past two years). It was cool. But I'm feeling rather depressed on this, our nation's 130th birthday party.Though admittedly, my standards are skewed by living 30 miles from Philadelphia back during the Bicenteniel...Bicenteniel Class of '76, that was us, we heard it for 4 years. I wonder if attitudes among folks who lived through that are at all different overall than folks who graduated a different year?
Unfortunately contrary to the sentiments expressed, I feel the death knell is sounding for the constitutional republic of America. As evidence, I offer:
"HasThis Country Gone Completely Insane? Getting Busted for Wearing a Peace T-Shirt"
Good afternoon Dark Wraith,
Hey, anyone heard from oddjob recently? Seems to have disappeared from other blogs.
I'm working on it, konagod.
Good afternoon, Peter of Lone Tree.
The fellow in that article has a decent case. Although he will probably run into a judge who will decide that the government can suppress speech, he'll get this out into the media and put another nail in what a lot of veterans think about the VA.
About a week ago, Shakespeare's Sister had the story of a 10-year-old girl who was at a mall with her mother. The little girl was wearing a bandana that had little smiley faces and peace symbols on it, and mall security told her she had to remove it.
People actually came to the mall management's defense, bringing up gang "colors" and such arguments in favor of what the mall did.
Now, Peter. I've lived in gang territory. I've taught gang members. I've had an understanding with a gang to cover my school that was in a bad, bad part of a big city.
It bothers me that I almost felt the need to explain the difference between a gang showing colors and a 10-year-old girl shopping with her mom.
This uniform fist of state/commercial repression can be stopped. That happens if the people get sick and tired of the nonsense. If they get weary enough of it, they can just stop going where the fist is waggling its pathetic finger at simple human activities. They can just stop listening to the harangue of the extraordinary as if it stands as some reasonable cause to beat everyone into the ground.
Eventually, perhaps folks will get sick enough to stop coddling government and corporations that think they have "rights." Maybe a whole lot of folks will get the big picture: the Constitution confers upon the government the privilege of service to the people, just like the Constitution confers the privilege of relatively free commerce upon business enterprises.
Of course, people would have to decide that there are things in this world they don't need as much as they need their freedom. That's when they would learn the power of simply refusing to crawl back up to the fist for another beating.
The Dark Wraith wonders if the people have that wherewithal in them anymore.
"The Dark Wraith wonders if the people have that wherewithal in them anymore."
Not as long as they still have a reasonable amount to eat.
12,000 children starve to death every day.
But how many in this country?
Good evening, good readers and commenters.
CNN.com has published an article by the Reverend Al Sharpton. The man is as clear as a bell.
I am tempered in my impression of what he says only because CNN.com seems to think that "balanced reporting" means an entirely reasonable, mainstream writer like Sharpton is the counterweight to the extremism published by CNN.com two weeks ago under the authorship of James C. Dobson.
CNN.com further shows that its editors just don't get it by publishing directly below the Reverend Sharpton's article readers' opinions of what he wrote. It troubles me that CNN.com is offering equal time to his detractors, going back and forth in sequence between those who praise him and those who condemn him. I am highly, highly suspicious of what CNN.com is making look like equally divided opinion on his statements. It appears to me an exercise in selective representation of opinions submitted, and it's disgusting and dishonest if that's what CNN.com is up to.
If, however, it is the case that there are that many readers siding with the narrow hate agenda of the Christian Right, we are in far, far deeper trouble than I thought. I doubt it, though. CNN.com thinks it's being "fair and balanced" by being unfair and unbalanced.
But we'll never know for sure, will we? Not as long as we have a mainstream news media that won't even stand up for its own independence in the hurricane of lies and intimidation that are the hallmarks of the 21st Century Republican politicians and their corporate and religious backers.
The Dark Wraith does recommend that you read the good minister's essay.
Good evening, once again, konagod.
OddJob is okay. He will return, but probably not for a while.
The Dark Wraith is glad to pass this information along to those who were concerned.
good morning dark one,
i am a bit surprised, in a nice way, by your optimism. while i do see many people awake to the present danger, multitudes more seem still sleepwalking to the mall, ignoring signs, like the little girl's censure by mall police, of our dire situation. i think that it will have to get much worse, freedomwise, to awaken the sleepers, much the same as i fear that only an inescapably obvious rise in sea level will wake the majority to the consequences of global climate change.
roger (the lazy pirate, who hasn't yet straightened out his net id)
Blackdog lights fuse and gets the hell out of the way. And it looked pretty good.
A great read from Rev. Al. I only wish more would see what he's saying. Did anyone read the short list of comments? Maybe it's just CNN, but they ran about 50/50. I just hate religious liars who are so sure of their opinions that they cannot even approach any level of understanding.
And as much as I don't approve, and since there is nothing I can do about it, I share this day with the shrub and my twin sister. We're 51. Damnit.
A blast from the past.
Too weird.
Now that was about as weird as it gets, Progressive Traditionalist.
What I'm still trying to figure out is the "satire" the title of that piece indicated.
I remember having students in a college English class read "The Crucible." Several students—paying close attention to peripheral details in the introduction and in some additional background literature about that era I assigned—took note of descriptions of the mass executions, including one where a dog was hanged. Now, mind you, this was a two-year college in a rough, urban ghetto, so most of the students were pretty used to the occasional imposition of violence by their fellow man and their caring police. But for some reason, that dog getting hanged just hit a raw nerve, and the story spread through a class discussion within a matter of seconds as a point of utter shock. I could barely keep a straight face when a tough young fellow slouching in his seat near the back of the classroom grunted, "DAMN. Tha's cold... Fuck that shit, man."
I'll tell you, to this very day, I think that student pretty much summed it all up just about perfectly.
The Dark Wraith does appreciate the pointed summary in short form.
Good Evening Dark Wraith, and thanks for the update!
Good evening to you, too, konagod.
Yes, OddJob says he'll be back. I can't say that it will be soon; but if he takes too long, maybe I'll have to throw out some blog bait: perhaps some kind of post that will get him so stirred up he'll feel like he simply must comment or go bananas trying to resist the urge.
I won't do anything that mean for a while, though.
The Dark Wraith does favor fair play.