That big scary word was bandied about by the right wing when President Obama was going to give his first address to the nation's schools (LIKE SO MANY PRESIDENTS BEFORE HIM) about the importance of working hard, staying in school, doing your best - you know, liberal, socialist, Marxist, Communist ideas.
Glenn Beck made sure to add it to the Word O' The Day verbal toilet paper he unrolled for his mASSES each day. Filling his audience with the fear of indoctrination camps being set up across the nation.
Rick Santorum loved the word, too. He used it to describe colleges. You know, those places where a young person's mind is polluted with liberal things like FACTS and INFORMATION. (Let's not even get started on old Frothy attending 3 colleges himself. They failed miserably at filling him with anything but beer and pomposity.)
And the fearmongers of the nation love to point their chewed nailed, stubby fingers across the globe at the MIddle East and drone on about how they - you know, brown people who aren't Christian - indoctrinate their children to hate America, to believe in Islam, to want to kill everything with a pulse.
THEY.
It's always THEY.
The elusive, scary, morally bankrupt and bereft of values THEY.
And none of them realize THEY live a lot closer. In fact, THEY live right in THEIR mirrors.
Today's example of the Christian Taliban:
You explain to me how THIS is not indoctrination? This tiny child singing with conviction about homos not getting into heaven.
This child did not come into this world knowing the word "homo," let alone some bullshit, manmade requirements to obtain a Fastpass for the Golden Gate and St. Peter's Wild Ride.
Your children came to you as blank slates. Empty vessels.
Take a good look. What have you written on them? What hatred have you filled them, INDOCTRINATED them with? It is abuse just as much as if you shot them up with heroin or stuffed a case of Marlboros in their mouth and lit it with a flamethrower.
If they are hating another group of people, then you have failed. Utterly, completely, and you are as far from the ideas of Jesus as is humanly possible.
All are part and parcel of sharing oxygen on this orb with other people. We know that. We, for the most part, are vigilant about our safety. We lock our doors, check our cars, carry Mace, stay in well lit areas, and background check our potential datemates. We do what we can to get from AM to PM, from PM back to AM, from point A to point B without mishap.
As adults we have the intellect, the resources, the awareness to do these things.
But what about the most defenseless among us? The children.
Not a day goes by without a story about a child percolating to the top of the news pot. And they are heartbreaking. Some days, the stories are many - the heartbreak continuous.
- Isabel Celis, missing since April, supposedly abducted from her home. Authorities are now releasing reports of bloodstains on her bedroom carpet and in a car parked outside.
- Koralynn Fister, 2, systematically raped, tortured before dying at the hands of her mother's boyfriend. TWO. YEARS. OLD. Neighbors now report hearing the child screaming on many occasions - makes sense as the boyfriend asked to be allowed to babysit repeatedly.
'I was tempted, so tempted to call the sheriff's office and tell them about it because it was awful,' said neighbor Ella Morgan.
'I'm so sorry I didn't call somebody. A kid don't cry all the time, and this kid cried all the time. I mean, [she] cried into a big scream.'
Look, I realize not everyone is a parent. And in today's tech savvy society we are all more connected than ever before , yet more disconnected than ever, too. But come on. There is a huge difference between a tantrum cry and an I-am-in-serious-pain-please-help-me-cry.
- A 4 year old girl repeatedly tied up so her father could play his bullshit video games...
Babies "disappear" only later to be found dead at the hands of the parent(s) who reported them missing. Toddlers are neglected. Children are used as sex toys and then casually dumped like garbage.
I simply do not understand.
A child is a gift. An innocent, trusting GIFT.
If you get pregnant and deliver a child, that does not make you a mother or father - that makes you a life giver. If you are not prepared to step up, GROW UP, sacrifice, and live unselfishly - then give that baby away. The child is not yours to torture, treat worse than an animal, or fuck for your pleasure.
A child is an empty vessel into which we can pour the best of ourselves. As a society we need to do better, be better, protect them better.
I am liberal - I make no secret about that. But when it comes to abused/neglected/murdered children - I am as conservative as they come. I do not want my tax dollars paying for anything but a 35 cent remedy to the problem.
Maybe with enough publicized lead aversion therapy, those who would reach for a child in a violent way may begin to think twice and act not at all.
While Robert Moog began developing the technology back in the 60s, it wasn't until I was in middle school that I first heard the words "Moog synthesizer."
It wasn't long before I started paying attention and hearing the sounds, the magic, it could add to a songs of my formative years - especially the 80s.
Herbie Hancock led the charge, with other artists like Thomas Dolby imbedding bass lines in our head in songs like Blinded Me With Science. (Admit it, the turntable in your head just came on.)
Today, Google honors Robert Moog with an interactive graphic on their home page.
So today when you Google, stop a moment before you search for "fuschia hotpants," "men who love monkeys eating bananas," or "best brownie recipe EVER" and Moogle up a tune.
I was born in 1966. That made me roughly 11-12 when disco raised its mirrored ball over the world, draped every young (and not so young) adult in polyester, and introduced a generation to line dancing long before anything on Billy Ray was achy or breaky..
When you're 11/12 years old, you have precious little freedom. You eat what is put in front of you. You go where the car is pointed. And when you are told to jump, you respond "How high?"
You also have precious little you can call your own. Especially when you have three siblings.
Sure, I had my clothes, none of which I had to share because I only had one sister who, as opposed to me, was lithe and lanky vs my vertically challenged form that wore clothing ending in "X".
I had my Lemon Twist, a bicycle, some books, and a few knick knacks.
I well remember when I got my own bedroom. It was during this 11-12 year old period. We had moved to Pennsylvania and the house had four bedrooms. Up to that point in life, I had shared with my sister. Her being an older sister, "shared" meant "never put one toe over the imaginary line into Kimberliestan.
This "bedroom" I got to myself was in actuality more of a glorified closet, the previous owners having used it for storage. But it had a window, a tiny makeshift closet, some shelves, and four walls. It barely fit my bed, but it was my space. My dad and a friend spent a Saturday laying down pink carpet (some remnant they found for $10 - again, NOT a huge space to cover), and then I shut the door to the world.
Because I had one other thing I could call my own. A radio.
I spent countless hours drifting away on the tunes of the 70s, staring out my window, fantasizing about the day my clothing would lose the "X" and I would find some boy to Dance The Night Away with, feeling alive, Stayin' Alive.
During this time period, I became a radio contest maven. If they were giving it away, I wanted to win it. I won money, fair tickets, movie tickets, Kennywood Park tickets. But the coveted jewel in my contest crown was the day I was the 10th caller and won 25 albums from a Pittsburgh radio station.
25 albums. When you're 12 years old, that is HUGE.
I still remember taking the bus downtown with my grandmother, finding the station, and picking up my haul. Back at her duplex, I spread them out on the floor, and there it was. Among the Yvonne Elliman, Fleetwood Mac, Meat Loaf, and Judas Priest was the iconic cover...
Yes, I had heard those amazing songs over and over during my self imposed isolation in my bedroom, but now I had them in my possession, and they were mine to listen to whenever I wanted.
(OK, ok, whenever my sister wasn't using the stereo to play Barbra and my parents weren't cranking John Denver.)
The Bee Gees were, quite simply, a huge part of my musical formative years. Yes, music had played a part in my even younger days (Monkees, Bobby Sherman, etc), but I was in middle school now and music was beginning to be a part of how we identified ourselves.
Listening to their insane harmonies, soaring falsettos, and magical lyrics - life was great. I may have been way too young to enter Studio 54, but it didn't stop me from perfecting The Bus Stop in my living room. And I obsessed over pictures of the Bee Gees - all of them - Barry, with his lion's mane of hair (surely the inspiration for Mufasa in Lion King); Maurice, loved his sexy beard; and Robin, the quiet one with his own Pantene locks and sweet smile. And let's be honest - all of them wore pants tight enough that you could see their pulses - that was especially titillating to a 12 year old for whom "sex" was still a very mysterious concept.
It wasn't until many, many years later when Saturday Night Fever made its way to HBO that I was finally able to connect the songs they sang and I loved, with the scenes they so perfectly backdropped.
To this day, if I stumble across SNF on cable, I will stop what I am doing and settle in for a trip back in time.
And to this day, the Bee Gees remain in heavy rotation, not on a sterio, but on my iPod. Jive Talkin' is a perfect workout song. And I love when I run across something very early of theirs on Sirius 6, like I Started A Joke.- one of the few Bee Gees tunes on which Robin Gibb took the lead.
Today, the music world is quieter for his passing over the weekend, and no one is laughing.
But I, for one, would like to thank him and his brothers for the music that started this young girl living.
I received this email from Lisa and an happy to share it with the DGMS family. (Apologies to Lisa - as it had been vacationing in my SPAM folder for about a week)
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Linda could you possibly post a reminder to people to please keep in touch with loved ones and neighbors, especially if they are a bit reclusive. This past Friday, we assisted in rescuing 12 dogs and 5 cats from a horrible situation. The owner died and it was weeks before anyone noticed. Most of the man's pets starved, others had to resort to eating the corpse. http://www.ksl.com/?sid=20144978&nid=157 I have already told all of my family, if you can't reach me or my husband for more than two days, you had better get someone to check on us.
About a year ago you helped me with getting letters sent to my father for his Honor Flight. Those letters were truly treasured and they were one of the items left to me when Dad died in December. Dad started getting really ill in June and moved in with me and my husband and the 20+ rescue dogs. Dad loved the dogs! During our six months of being involved with hospice, I was made aware of a huge need in the community. Many homebound seniors, disabled and hospice patients are pet owners. Unfortunately many patients get too sick to care for their pets and many expect their family to take responsibility for the pet. All too often that does not happen.
After Dad passed away I created a new 501c3 non-profit in his honor. It is called Hospets.
Hospets provides volunteer pet care services for referred seniors, disabled and hospice patients who need help caring for their pets', lifting much worry and stress from the patient so they can simply enjoy their pets' unconditional love.
How does Hospets help?
Transporting pets to grooming and veterinary appointments
Assistance with pet food and basic veterinary services if owners are facing financial difficulties
Transporting pets to assisted living facilities for visits (if allowed)
Emergency respite care for the pet should the owner need to be hospitalized
Pre-planning placement - Assisting owner with finding a new, loving home for their pet
Cleaning litter box, walking, general grooming
24/7 Emergency/on call pet caregiver until family can take possession of a pet
We are teamed up with Senior Services, Meals on Wheels and local Hospices. We are serving the Central Ohio area and hope to eventually expand. I was wondering if you could give us a little plug. I am hopeful that people who may not live in my area will at least love the idea and consider starting a program in their own area or volunteer with programs that may already be out there. Our website is www.hospets.org and facebook is http://www.facebook.com/Hospets
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