Think Before You Ink!

I’ve mentioned to you the local radio show, “Traci and Friends” (or as I shall henceforth refer to them, “Crazy and Fiends’) at WSOM 600 AM on the dial. Traci and most of her friends are conservative African-Americans. They also sometimes include a white businessman named Ben. Ben is one of those guys whose father worked at GM and put Ben through college, and in return Ben turned out to be a union hating conservative. We all know such hypocrites. Ben like all the friends is a fountain of misinformation. The latest announcement on Traci’s show is a union with the Warren Tribune Chronicle. The Tribune Chronicle is going to make sure Traci gets a copy delivered to her before her noon to 3pm show. Now we will have the unholy alliance of two local corporate media stooges to double their misinformation campaign. Like FOX NEWS it will be, “we distort you decide.”

Speaking of that rag, the Warren Tribune Chronicle I want to mention an article about, Christmas shopping. The piece was written by syndicated columnist, Thomas Sowell. Only the Tribune could have two African-American syndicated columnist and they both by coincidence (nod, wink) just happen to be conservatives. Sowell’s column was his annual one about which books to buy for Christmas presents. The ones he suggests are always conservative mean-spirited books. One is, Theodore Dalrymple’s, “Life at the Bottom.” The book trashes not only the poor but abused women. Another is, “Injustice” by J. Christian Adams. In this book Adams trashes blacks which Sowell also likes to do. Yes, Sowell is black but he is paid big money by the Hoover institute to trash minorities and tout the corporate interests that own Hoover. Sowell also recommends, “FDR Goes to War” by Burton W. Folsom and Anita Folsom. Any book remuddling history to trash FDR is an instant big hit with the conservative crowd.

The Trib’s other African-American syndicated columnist is, Walter Williams. Sowell also suggests you buy William’s book, “Race and Economics.” Williams just like Sowell likes to trash his black race. Williams started out as a follower of Malcolm X. He learned it was more profitable to be a follower of Milton Friedman. To get the big bucks that conservatives shower on black republicans Williams hates, Affirmative Action, minimum wage laws, believes the southern states should have been allowed to secede  from the United States and that the slavery history of the U.S. is overemphasized history. Thomas’s other recommendations are Anne Coulter’s latest hate filled rhetoric against liberals and a new book of Sowell’s writings. Nothing says Merry Christmas and hail the Prince of Peace to a conservative better than hate filled venomous books by angry right-wingers.

I just watched, ‘The Help” on Pay Per View and highly recommend it. If Traci, Walter Williams and Thomas Sowell would watch it they would learn some history about how the white conservatives they worship treated African-Americans.

This summer in one of my posting I came up with an idea that would make our country a much better place to live. That idea decreased air pollution, noise pollution, preserved fuel and at the same time created an army of volunteers to help others. That was my idea to teach Yard Nazis how to lower their mower heights. Right now the Yard Nazis only like to trim a mere one-eight of an inch off of their grass so they can mow three or four times a week. It doesn’t matter if gas goes to $40.00 a gallon these folks are hooked on mowing that grass. If they dropped their mower lower they could get away with mowing once a week, it could be like a methadone program. The up side is a quieter less polluted neighborhood and the few days a week these Yard Nazis would have to donate to working at a local food pantry or homeless shelter. It is a win-win situation and an ingenious idea if I do say so myself.

Even though no one has taken me up on that great idea I haven’t gotten discouraged. I have looked around and come up with another winner. This idea will help the art community, put a crimp in gang violence, help feed poor American families and send money to starving children in places like, East Africa. I was perfectly serious about the Yard Nazi solution and I am just as dead serious about this idea.

First off the artist community, there are a whole lot of talented artists busy drawing uninspiring stupid boring done to death shit. They are also doing this work on some bizarre canvases. Imagine doing your drawing on a canvas you have to shave and that the drawing you spent a lot of time doing could be covered up in the future by a hirsute canvas. I am of course talking about skin art and tattoo artists. Lots of people are getting art on their bodies they would be embarrassed to have hanging on their walls. Men, would you really want that dated barbed wire or tribal band wrapped around your upper arm hanging on a canvas in your man cave? Ladies, would you want that Walt Disney, Eeyore or Minnie Mouse on your ankle in a frame displayed in your family room? Why then would you have such crap tattooed on your body? Then we have the talented artists doing these tattoos that could be spending their time creating original art work that would look much better in galleries and hanging on your wall than a blue Papa Smurf tattooed on your calf.

If we got rid of tattoo parlors we could also stop gangs from getting their would-be macho tattoos. The average tattoo is around a $1oo and takes about an hour. I’ve seen some young parents all decked out in tattoos while their kids are dirty and hungry. Somehow skin art has taken priority over children’s needs in white trash society. If a twenty something wants to be unique today he’d be the one without the tattoos. Ever see anyone with tattoos all the way up their arm called, a “full sleeve” tattoo? These take about 20 hours to do with about five four-hour sittings. That is twenty hours that could be donated to volunteer work and $2,000 that could be donated to starving children in drought infested East Africa. These people can be fed for 24 cents a serving so your $2,000 full sleeve could feed 8,300 starving East African people. That is a lot of good in the world vs. your self-indulgent vanity.

I know I know what some of you are going to say. You’re going to tell me you got a tattoo of a butterfly because it reminds you of your deceased mother or grandmother. First off you know your deceased grandmother would have killed that butterfly if it got in her house. If you want something that reminds you of your mother you should have an artist paint a picture of your mother in a house dress from the back bent over. This is because she spent most of her time bending over picking up your mess or bent over loading the washer with your clothes. Give her a hand while she is alive by cleaning up your own mess and forget about “remembering” her with a lame ass tattoo.  That is a message to my own kids also. Enough with the tattoos when I die donate the money you were going to spend for a tattoo to remember me instead to save starving children. It will mean a whole lot more to me and to the parents of those starving kids. Forget about spending hours getting ink injected into your skin and spend a minute to put an ink pen in your hand and use it to write a check that will do some real good. I say, think before you ink. I kid you not and here is a list of places that will do a great job with the money you send them. I’m not just picking on people with tattoos but also people who buy self-indulgent toys and equipment they don’t need. If we make better use of our time and money we could go a long way to making that better world for our kids.

A little irony just happened as I was writing this. Our next door neighbor, Haley just stopped over to show the Mac (my daughter) her new tattoo.

A local group you get involved with conserning the famine in East Africa: People Fighting Famine

Baratunde Comedy: Black Conservatives

10 tattoo cliches to avoid.

50% of everyone who has a tattoo would like it removed.

This is the World We Live In

Majah  Bless: Hungry Days

I always look for a woman who has a tattoo.  I see a woman with a tattoo, and I’m thinking, okay, here’s a gal who’s capable of making a decision she’ll regret in the future.  ~Richard Jeni

“Ownership Auction”

I got an interesting call the other day with a new job opportunity. The Democratic Party from the 4th District of Ohio called and asked me if I’d run for U.S. congressman. The 4th district runs from Lima to Mansfield and includes 11 counties. This area is 92% white and 50% of the population has white-collar jobs. The 4th has not voted for a Democrat for president since 1964. If elected as a Democrat, I’d be the first Democrat congressman elected there since, 1936. I don’t have to live in the 4th as, candidates for the office of U.S. Representative must be a resident of the state from which elected, but do not have to live in the district for which they are running. Right now in Ohio the Republicans are pushing HB 319 to redistrict Ohio. The GOP’s new map creates 12 Republican districts and 4 Democratic districts in a 50-50 state. Given all this I would we wasting my time and the Democratic Party’s money running.

Did they want me to run because of my: altruism, empathy, clarity, wit, wisdom, charm, honesty, compassion, dedication, sincerity, personal integrity, incorruptibility, civility, political knowledge, humility or modesty? No, they wanted me to run because of the name I was given at birth. It seems the 4ths Republican congressman has the same name as me. He is a far right-wing conservative and an embarrassment to my surname. He is part of the reason I now go by the name, “Elecpencil.”  It seems the Democratic party in the 4th wanted to cause some kind of confusion with putting me on the ballot as a possible third-party to confuse the voters and take votes away from my name sake who some would think is running as a third-party candidate. Sadly, working-class voters in the 4th are so dumb they vote against their own interests and vote for the GOP candidates.

I turned down the idea of running not because it was a waste of time but because I feared even a small chance of getting elected. I am a man of peace but that would all end upon my arrival in D.C. There is no way I could sit in a room with that weasel, Eric Cantor or the evil witch of Ohio, “Mean Jean” Schmidt. Then there is that other Ohio loser LaTourette and my name sake in the 4th. Then we have that turd from New York, Pete King. When King isn’t voting 100% with the way his master Rush tells him he is bashing Occupy movement protesters. King said, “It’s really important for us not to give any legitimacy to these people in the streets,” He continued, “I remember what happened in the 1960’s when the left-wing took to the streets, and somehow the media glorified them and it ended up shaping policy. We can’t allow that to happen.” Dear Pete, those people in the streets in the 1960’s ended a god damn war.  You are one of those semi-chicken hawks who joined the National Guard to keep your ass out of Nam. Now the policy you care about is passing trade policies that destroy U.S. jobs and send them to Vietnam and China. That is a slap in the face to those veterans who served in Vietnam. How could I be in the same room with these people and not want to stomp them to death and spit on their dead bodies. See just thinking about this traitorous corporate owned scum brings out the Mr. Hyde side we all have down deep.

On the other hand, I’d love to hang out with Dennis Kucinich, Marcy Kaptur, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and senators like, Sherrod Brown and my favorite, Bernie Sanders. I’d also  love to sponsor my own legislation to make the country better. My first would be my idea of campaign finance reform called, “Ownership Auction.” Instead of politicians working every day not for the people but to garnish campaign money they could only get contributions one day a year. The corporations and lobbyist would have to come to a big barn annually and bid on politicians. It would be filmed by CSPAN so the public could watch and see who really owns our, “representatives.” I want legislation so that politician who vote to weaken clean air and water and food safety laws will be forced to drink polluted water, breathe dirty air and eat contaminated food. Legislation is needed so politicians who vote for war must along with their family lead the front line infantry charges. Politicians that have voted against minimum wage laws should be paid minimum wage. They will never have this raised as they also vote against unions that would have helped raise wages. Congressmen should not be exempt from bills they pass. I would push to turn Gitmo and the School of the Americas into universities where peace is taught. Teabaggers would be given the mental help they so desperately need. NRA members would be given the free Viagra they obviously need. If we can recognize, Communist China, Cambodia and Vietnam it is certainly time to recognize and trade with Cuba. Then there should be legislation to help workers with ESOP’s and other community owned and run businesses.

Hmmmm, I think I’m going to call the 4ths Democratic headquarters back. If they’ll pay for some anger management classes for me I think I could make these changes! I’ll be the only representative that won’t show up for “Ownership Auction.” Happy Holidays (whatever yours is) and vote, Elecpencil.

Why all of our presidents are corporate puppets:  Late great comedian Bill Hicks nails it.

GOP spirit of Christmas past.

Teabagger racism.

Bob Seger: Sock it to Me Santa

Tom Waits: Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis

Nat King Cole: Christmas Song

He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree. ~ Roy L. Smith

GOP Freak Show

Help make a better world by clicking on my, Armchair Activist section and taking action. Did you help my heroes, Jacki and Diva by taking on the evil forces at, “Traci and Friends” radio show? See my last post about further info and support Jacki and Diva as they have been doing a good job speaking up for the working class.

Mr. and Mrs. Elecpencil are happy the Mac is home from college before her next semester. She has always been a hard worker and very frugal with her money. She loved to shop at the valley’s best thrift store, the Village Outlet on Mahoning Ave, in Youngstown. She was shocked to see it had closed and was dismayed to see how they hadn’t informed their workers they were going to close. I have yet to learn why they closed so if you have an answer let me know.

I’ve been thinking about what our country will look like into the New Year. In doing that I first have to think about who will be our next president. The lineup of candidates for president in the GOP camp looks like the cast of a satire on who would make our country the laughing-stock of the world.

Republicans hate candidates who actually worked on the streets getting their hands dirty helping others. They loathe people who were community organizers like, Jesus Christ. They prefer governors who have run a whole state. You know like, Governor Pontius Pilot. Therefore, I will start with people who have been governor.

Mitt Romney is the former one term governor of Massachusetts. Mitt’s dad, George was the CEO of American Motors and Mitt grew up in the affluent suburb of Bloomfield Heights, Michigan. George Romney became the governor of Michigan and was re-elected twice. Mitt co-founded a private equity firm specializing in leveraged buyouts. This type of buyout makes large acquisitions without committing all the capital required for the acquisition. In one investment Romney was on the board of directors of Damon Corporation, a medical testing company later found guilty of defrauding the government. Romney’s company cut thousands of jobs, closed factories, exported jobs and bankrupted five companies. This led to Romney’s current wealth of $250 million. This record doesn’t bother the GOP at all. They only hate the fact he is a Mormon and helped establish a health care plan that helped all of Massachusetts citizens. When John Kerry ran for president the conservative media hung the term, “flip flopper” on him. Mitt has made more flip-flops than the pancake grill at, Bob Evans. The most import thing for the next election is jobs. In bizarro GOP land that means backing a candidate like, Mitt “Flip Flop” Romney who has a history of destroying jobs.

Our next governor is Texas Gov. Rick Perry who is in his third term of governor. Rick’s dad was a rancher and a Democrat. Like GW Bush, Perry was an Air Force pilot. Rick was a Democrat Texas state congressman. In 1987, Perry  voted for a $5.7 billion tax increase proposed by Republican Gov. Bill Clemens. He supported Al Gore for president in the 1988 primaries. In 1989, Perry switched parties, becoming a Republican. As governor Perry has raised taxes over the years until signing Grover Norquists no tax pledge in 2009. In 2003, Perry created the Texas Enterprise Fund, which since has given $435 million in corporate welfare (read taxpayer dollars) to businesses. Many of the companies getting the money, or their CEO’s, contributed to Perry’s campaigns. Perry is a big death penalty supporter carrying out 234 executions since becoming governor. In 2003, he vetoed a ban on executing mentally handicapped inmates. Perry has a dismal record on education in Texas. Perry appointed an Exxon executive head to run Texas Public Utilities Commission. The very next day he received a $25,000 thanks from CEO Ken Lay (of Enron infamy). While at Texas A&M Perry received a D in economics. Rick has a lot of far right Christian backing thus he is a gay basher. Perry may well be the worst kind of gay basher, one who is gay. In 1982, Perry married, Anita Thigpen, a woman he has known since elementary school. Despite this marriage it has been rumored in Texas for years that Rick is gay. Perry’s consultants have had him using an ad in Iowa bashing gay and lesbian veterans. Now, one of those consultants, Tony Fabrizio has been exposed as being gay. It’s sad how many gay politicians and political consultants take the cash to trash and bash the gay community. In 2009, Perry suggested Texans might at some point get so fed up they would want to secede from the union. Perry has now gone from taking Texas and leaving the USA to trying to turn us all in to one big Texas. No thanks Rick “G.W. Bush on Steroids” Perry.

Jon Huntsman Jr. has been elected as governor of Utah twice. His father is billionaire Jon Sr. who runs the global chemical company, Huntsman Corporation. Like all republicans Huntsman wants to lower the corporate tax rate, eliminate corporate taxes on income earned overseas and eliminate taxes on capital gains and dividends. He is also a gay basher, set up the largest school voucher program in the country and is anti-choice. On the other hand Huntsman can’t be elected because he is Mormon, believes we need a health care system, supported the raise in the federal minimum wage and believes we need to do something about global warming.  He has a wealth of knowledge because he has held many, business, political and diplomatic jobs. He has actually helped bring business to his state and was re-elected by a wide margin as he is a popular governor. There is no chance for Huntsman as: only terrible Republican governors can win the Presidency which is why many conservative pundits were throwing around Gov. Kasich and Gov. Christie’s names for president. No chance for, Gov. Jon “I’m Too Qualified” Huntsman.

Donald “Is He in or is He Out” Trump is next. Donald was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and thinks he is a self-made man.  He thinks he is the best guy to run our economy. This despite filing for bankruptcy five times. He stiffed banks, bond holders, contractors and suppliers for millions. All of those people paid fewer taxes because of their losses and in the end we the taxpayers got screwed, also. Trump was opposed to the USA helping Libya get democracy unless we could get their oil. Money trumps human rights every time according to Trump (pun intended). Trump says we should go to war with China over economic trade policies. I would suspect Trump would be a traitor to the USA in that war. That is because Trump’s  line of men’s wear, the Donald J. Trump Signature Collection, is manufactured in China. He’s an equal sweatshop opportunist as he also has items made in Mexico and in Bangladesh. The guy is P.T. Barnum in a comb over and would sell our country down the drain or bankrupt it for any shiny object.

Michele “I’m a Fruitcake” Bachmann is a Minnesota congresswoman. Bachmann is notoriously anti-government and hates “entitlements” and social subsidies and safety nets. She and her husband own a Christian counseling practice. The clinic received nearly $30,000 from Minnesota government agencies (read taxpayers) between 2006 and 2010 in addition to at least $137,000 in federal payments and $24,000 in government grants for counselor training. Bachmann’s father-in-laws farm has received $260,000 in federal crop and disaster subsidies (taxpayers) between 1995 and 2008. Michele does not believe in global warming, wants creationism taught in school, doesn’t believe in evolution, is against gay rights and has said Pres. Obama is foreign-born.  She wants to phase out Social Security and Medicare. Michele has made too many comments that make her look as stupid as Sara Palin. Bachmann’s own New Hampshire staff resigned in mass calling Bachmann’s national campaign “rude dishonest, and at times cruel.” Which means this woman has a future in the GOP.

Rick “the Hypocrite”” Santorum was a U.S. senator from Pa. from 1994-2006. Rick a Catholic blamed liberals in Boston for the Catholic Churches sex abuse scandal. Even Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney called Satorum’s charges an outrage. Rick has compared homosexuality to bestiality and pedophilia. Rick is not only opposed to gay marriage but would like laws banning homosexuality. Like most homophobes Rick thinks laws would prevent homosexual acts. I believe that laws about bestiality and pedophilia are the only things keeping creeps like Rick from kiddy fiddling and screwing poodles. Rick pushed for tort reform which would have prevented Americans from getting just compensation for their pain and suffering caused by medical malpractice. Yet, sometime later Rick’s wife sued a Virginia chiropractor for a half million dollars in “pain and suffering. That amount is twice as much as the cap on such damages that his own legislation would have allowed others to receive. Rick doesn’t see the hypocrisy as he calls their own lawsuit a “private family matter,” but doesn’t think everyone else’s family deserves the same rights and respect. In January 2000, the judge in Virginia set aside the jury’s award, saying the $350,000 was excessive and reducing it to $175,000.  Rick lost his last senate run and thinks he can win the presidency. Why do guys like Rick who hate the government keep trying to get government jobs? Go away Rick and do us all a favor.

Ron “the Nazis, KKK and John Birchers Love Me” Paul: Paul has served in Congress three different periods totaling 12 two-year terms. Ron is for closing bases around the world and against getting into wars. Other than that the man is a creepy old guy. He has made plenty of racist comments over the years which have made him the darling of the white supremacists. I guess because he is such a long shot for president the media hasn’t brought up the facts about his racist newsletters. In a 1996 Dallas Morning News interview with Ron Paul, he justified his racist newsletters. Now, Ron Paul supporters are saying the interview is a false and fabricated interview created by The Dallas Morning News. Paul has been called the “intellectual godfather” of the Tea Party movement. Which just goes to show you that the teabaggers are racists. I’ll waste no more words on this racist and assume racist in Texas keep electing him but I’m confident the country won’t ever elect him president.

Newt ‘”Family Values” Gingrich: Newt married his high school geometry teachers, Jackie Battley. They had two daughters and he divorced her after 18 years of marriage. He asked her for a divorce while she was in the hospital recovering from her third cancer operation.”The divorce started off very badly. We went to court to get the basic financial necessities met. The utilities were about to be cut off –it was dire.” Jackie’s testimony at a hearing to determine alimony –revealing Newt’s $34,000 personal debt, his spending habits, his refusal to pay forwarded bills. After the divorce Gingrich refused to pay his alimony and child-support payments. The First Baptist Church in his hometown had to take up a collection to support the family Gingrich had deserted. Newt on why he wanted a divorce from Jackie: “She’s not young enough or pretty enough to be the wife of a President. And besides, she has cancer.” Source: Katharine Q. Seelye. “Gingrich’s Life: The Complications and Ideals.” NYTimes.com 11/24/1994.

Newt had been having many affairs during his marriage and six months after his divorced in, 1981 he married Marianne Ginther who had been seeing him while he was married. Marianne had been a staffer for Ohio Congressman Lyle Williams. Newt divorced Marianne and got married to a House of Representative staffer 23 years his junior. Mickey Porter: “Gingrich’s most recent ex-wife (Marianne) says he ditched her eight months after finding out she had multiple sclerosis. Marianne Gingrich, 48 … says the ex-speaker of the House told her on Mother’s Day 1999 that he wanted a divorce, after learning she had a neurological condition that could lead to MS [multiple sclerosis].” Source: Mickey Porter. “Newt’s a Beaut.” Akron Beacon Journal. 7/25/2000.

Gingrich acknowledges he was having an extramarital affair even as he pushed for the impeachment of President Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky affair.” Source: AP. “Gingrich admits affair during Clinton impeachment.” Frederick News-Post. Frederick, Maryland. 3/10/2007. pg. A-10. Marianne: “He believes that what he says in public and how he lives don’t have to be connected.” Source: John H. Richardson. “Newt Gingrich: The Indesensible Republican.” Esquire.com. 8/10/2010.

During Newt’s term as Speaker of the House eighty-four ethics charges were filed against him. After an investigation and negotiation by the House Ethics Committee, Newt was fined $300,000. Now Newt has made $1.6 million to provide strategic advice to Freddy Mac. This while he blamed Freddie Mac for our housing collapse. Newt wants to be our president despite being a liar, adulterer, lousy father, and a crook. He is riding the “born again” train and he’s picked up enough conservative passengers to make him the front-runner. Newt will not be “manning” up too his past and just avoiding that train station. He’s laying tracks for the “family values” express and the family values party will look the other way at the train wreck that has been hypocritical Newt’s life. I hope he ends up being the Republican voter’s candidate as that will show the GOP for the joke it is.

Looking at this group I can only think that the GOP tent houses a freak show.

Johnathan Blackshire: 99 to 1

American Dream

We’d all like to vote for the best man, but he’s never a candidate.  ~Frank McKinney “Kin” Hubbard

Getcha, Getcha, yaya, a Boule, Boule Burger and “Super Zeroes.”

First off to follow-up on my blog about fracking here is more proof fracking is contaminating ground water.

If you are like me at this time of year, you are busier than Lindsay Lohan’s bail bondsman and Newt Gingrich’s divorce attorney combined. I’ve missed a lot of important meetings and events that are important to our community. Bless all the people who are more organized than the Elecpencil and are working hard to better our community. Yesterday, Mrs. E and I were running around from sunup to sundown trying to bring some kind of order to our lives. We decided to take time out for dinner and patronize a local restaurant. I remembered that the Mahoning Valley Burger Review Board (MVBRB) was going to award the Sunrise Inn in downtown Warren, Ohio with a burger of the year award.  MVBRB came together a few years ago when some postal workers decided to visit area restaurants and review hamburgers in a way to help promote the area business community. I think that is a great idea and I like the idea of being involved with fellow workers outside the job site which I think helps promote a better community at work. So Mrs. E and I stopped at the Sunrise for dinner at 7pm when the MVBRB was going to be giving the award. The restaurant was very crowded and I believe the MVBRB was over in the banquet room so I missed the award presentation. What I didn’t miss was eating one of the best burgers I’ve had in a longtime.

It’s hard to be at Sunrise and not get their pizza which is one of my favorite slices of all time. The other problem is, that  being Irish on every side of my family, it is hard to see a Reuben sandwich on the menu and not order it. Sunrise had the perfect solution, order the Reuben hamburger complete with corn beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and Thousand Island dressing on top of an 8oz. burger. It was served on a boule bun with the lettuce on the bottom not the top just as I ordered. One of my many pet peeves is that at some period in history a bed of lettuce on a sandwich became a blanket of lettuce hiding everything. That is just wrong as the lettuce helps keep the burger’s bottom bun from getting soggy. This boule bun is the best burger residence I’ve ever seen a burger housed in. The burger came with skin-on, hand cut fries which according to us Irish, is the only way of serving fries and respecting the life-giving potato. Mrs. E opted for some shish kabob that she said was very good. I left feeling overly full and thankful that the MVBRB had turned me on to the Sunrise burger. As I said, it’s hard not to get the pizza but one can get a burger served between two slices of pizza which sounds so good eating one must be breaking an 11th commandment. I say get to Sunrise and as Labelle sang in the song,” Lady Marmalade” getcha, getcha, yaya, a boule, boule burger! Thanks Sunrise and MVBRB for being a part of our valley!

On the downside Sunrise serves that skunk water Coors (and Killians which Coors owns) on tap. The Coors brothers are union busters and use their money to fund the far right-wing Heritage Foundation which is no friend of the working-class in this country. In the same vein you should be boycotting Yuengling because their management threatened to shut down the factory and close shop if workers kept union representation. To keep their jobs the employees filed for union decertification in 2006. Info on the union busting. When at your local working-class tavern point out to them they shouldn’t be selling products that are the enemy of working people.

Because the MVBRB is made up of postal workers I want to mention: Three Big Lies at the Heart of Republican Attacks on the Post Office.

Last blog I was speaking about talk radio and how we need to speak out about the lies and horseshit we hear on it. I think fighting the lies you read in the newspaper and speaking against the lies on talk radio should go hand in hand with the Occupy movement. In that vein I need your help. A few months back a new talk radio station debuted in our valley at 600 am on the dial called, WSOM. It is owned by Cumulus Broadcasting, the second largest owner of AM and FM radio stations in the U.S. behind Clear Channel Communications, operating 570 stations in 150 markets. WSOM features syndicated right-wing talk hosts: Glen Beck, Michael Savage, Rusty Humphries, and the unfunny comedian, Dennis Miller. They also feature a local show from noon to 3pm called, ‘”Traci and Friends.”  This local shows goal is to be as stupidly misinformed and proud of it as FOX NEW’s morning TV show, “FOX and Friends.” I at first thought “FOX and Friends was a satire as no one could actually be that stupid and be on TV. Upon first hearing, “Traci and Friends” I assumed it was a satire on the radio as no one could be as stupid as the “Friends” and still breathe air. Traci is Traci Winbush a former area school board member. With school board members like Traci who has no children, hates unions and  loves vouchers is it any wonder we have problems in our school systems. The way Traci, her co-host Jeff and Ben a local business owner unprofessionally, rudely yell over callers I can’t begin to imagine someone at a school board meeting getting a word in edgewise if you disagreed with her.

Traci and Jeff are proud of the fact that they are black republicans and think of themselves as members of the party of Lincoln. Lincoln died 146 years ago and would never recognize today’s GOP. Today’s GOP is hard at work making it harder in each state for African-Americans, minorities and young people to be able to vote. Yet, Traci and Jeff like to talk about how many of the KKK and southerners who opposed civil right were democrats. The fact is they may have been registered democrats but they were conservatives and Traci and Jeff refers to themselves as conservatives. Ben owns or operates a frame shop in the Marc’s Plaza on Rt 224. Ben likes to trash unions so I will be boycotting his business. Jeff, like Ben and Traci, is a wealth of disinformation. As with all the media on the right, they have fired the fact checkers years ago. A woman they call, Sticks is a daily caller to Traci and Friends. I think she is called Sticks after the old put down that someone is so dumb they couldn’t blow their nose if they had sticks of dynamite for brains. Traci’s show is available via the internet so one conservative from Chicago and one from South Carolina weigh in daily to prove that conservative stupidity is nationwide. A woman who is more moderate named, Jacki sometimes sits in with the friends and tries to add sanity and intelligence to the show. She is quickly yelled over by Jeff and Traci. A frequent caller these friends have named, Diva calls in using something the friends are allergic to….facts, common sense and wisdom.

Jacki and Diva need your help as the deck is stacked against them in the form of rude yelling, a corporate agenda, spin, lies and outright bull shit. Traci actually defended Herman Cain by saying that so many women came out with statements against Herman’s morals that it must be a plot to get him. Yep, Cain is not a sleazy rascal it’s just a case of he said, she said, she said, she said, she a said, she said, she said etc. Traci talks about young black men not having role models yet she feels men like Cain and Newt are role models who could lead our country. She is a real piece of work and along with goofs like Jeff, Ben and Sticks they make a team of “Super Zeroes.” Fact is, from 12-3 pm you should be listening to 1540 am and the Louie Free show for intelligent conversation. For now, I ask you to please tune into “Traci and Friends” on your lunch break or wherever and help Jacki and Diva combat the daily barrage of lies on our local airwaves. Consider it cleaning up our valley’s environment by taking out the trash talkers.

Christy Moore: Ordinary Man
Victor Jara 

Yeah, but you need an experienced radio veteran who is a liberal advocate. And there just hadn’t been any radio that did that. And so they weren’t trained – they had developed all these bad habits of being objective and balanced and stuff like that. ~ Al Franken

Quacks Hacks Fracks and Sad Sack Yak Yaks

A Quack

The dictionary defines a “quack” as “a person who pretends, professionally or publicly, to have skill, knowledge, or qualification he or she does not possess; a charlatan.” I firmly believe in the First Amendment’s right to free speech. Given that, to me the press remains one of the most important defenses against tyranny. Sadly, some in the press think that the First Amendment entitles them to special protections that don’t apply to anyone else. The best local example of a “journalist” that would deny freedom of speech to others is the Warren Tribune’s Editor Frank Robinson. Maybe, it would be better said that conservatives like Frank put a price on freedom of speech. In Frank’s recent editorial he called the Occupy movement, “A tiny, self-appointed elite that has become a leech feeding on the 99 percent.” Frank is angry that the cost of the Occupy movement in 18 of the big cities cost $13 million in police, sanitation and vandalism. I’ve been to Occupy Youngstown and people there sweep the area and keep it clean. I have not seen any need to have a police presence at all at the Youngstown site. Far as I can see around the country the police have injured Americans exercising their First Amendment rights. Editor Frank thinks he should be protected by the First Amendment but a price tag should be put on his fellow Americans rights to the First Amendment. Sorry, Frank the Supreme Court has repeatedly made it clear that the media’s right to free speech is no greater than anyone else’s. Frank as far as journalism is concerned you are a “quack.”

A few months ago I had a blog reader send me an e-mail dealing with Frank Robinson. This wiseacre suggested that since I spend so much time picking on Editor Frank I might as well devote my blog to nothing but that effort. He said, I could write a column whenever I think Frank wrote an idiotic editorial. My answer, “I write a blog once a week and don’t have the time to blog on a daily basis.”

A Hack

A political hack is a negative term ascribed to a person who is morally bankrupt. Ohio’s Governor Kasich is the poster child for political hacks. Even Kasich’s friend right-wing talk show host Bill Cunningham had his number. Cunningham told Kasich his support of SB5 would be obvious to everyone as an attack on union labor because they support  democrats. When Voinovich was governor  his economic plan consisted of bringing in garbage and medical waste from other states. At that time our license plates read, “Ohio the Heart of it All.” During Gov. Voinovich’s reign it should have been changed to, “Ohio the Dump of it All.” Now Gov. Kasich’s plan is to sell turnpikes, prisons, state parks and everything not nailed or welded down. During his reign we certainly will need more welders and nailers. Soon the signs entering Ohio will say, “Welcome to Ohio see anything you like send a bid to the governor.”

Gov. Kasich and the GOP in Ohio are willing to risk the lives of Ohioans to profit the gas and oil industry. The Columbus Dispatch on Monday November 21, 2011 featured a story called, “Disclosure of ‘fracking’ chemicals not complete.” The article stated that, “the state won’t ask drilling companies to disclose all the toxic chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, known as “fracking,” or subject them to mandatory water-pollution tests.” To me that just shows Gov. Kasich is a political hack that is not going to protect the citizens of Ohio because he is morally bankrupt. The article went on to say the fracking companies have disclosed to Ohio 84 chemical used in fracturing. Of those products listed, 11 contained at least one ingredient that was kept secret by the companies as a “proprietary compound.” Identified chemicals include naphthalene, which destroys red blood cells, and ethylene glycol, which can damage the kidneys, nervous system, lungs and heart. They have disclosed 84 chemical used but it has been said over 596 chemical are used. Politicians in Ohio have benefited from nearly $3 million spent by oil and gas producers on lobbying efforts and campaign contributions in the state during the past decade. Do you think these politicians have your best interest at heart or the oil and gas industries?

Frack

Fracking is the process of injecting chemicals at high-pressure into the earth to pull out gas and oil. The gas and oil companies state they have been fracking for decades and they claim that not one single water well has been harmed by hydraulic fracturing for natural gas. Here is info on a case that goes back to 1982. There has been lots of cases of contaminated well water since 1982 but many are unreported as the victim’s settlements included confidentiality agreements. Here is a case in point about that confidentiality. Here are some of the lies of an oil lobbyist pointed out. The gas companies have spent $747 million to buy “our” politician’s souls. Many right-wing pundits have been citing a Penn State study that found fracking has not contaminated wells. Never mind that the gas industry actually paid Penn State $100,000 dollars to write the favorable case study on the fracking industry. The Penn State study says no problems in Pa. Oh really than explain this video. Fracking insiders admit to employing military ‘psychological operations’ on American citizens. The manipulation of saying Hydro-fracking is patriotic. Exposing the lies about the boom in jobs that come with fracking. I know I’ve given you a lot of info on fracking but our area needs to learn as much as possible about this industry because it is being shoved down our throats. We need to be informed to see if this is something we want in our valley. The other reason we need to be informed is to be able to speak facts and truth against the next group I’m going to mention.

Sad sack yak yaks.

Editor Robinson is paid good money by the corporation that owns the Warren Tribune Chronicle to spew a corporate agenda. Gov. Kasich and other politicians are given huge amounts of campaign cash by oil, gas and other corporations for doing their bidding. Lobbyists are paid large salaries by corporations to purchase politician’s souls. In 2008 the world’s richest drug addict Rush Limbaugh signed a new contract. He will be earning $38 million a year through 2016. He also received a $100 million signing bonus. Corporations pay Rush this kind of money because he is the Johnny Appleseed of talk radio. You see if idiots grew on trees talk radio would be an orchard. I perfectly understand that many people will sell their souls for cash. The people I don’t understand are the sad sack yak yaks. They are the callers to talk radio that do the dirty work of lying corporations for not one red cent. These sad sacks somehow think it is patriotic to worship corporations that have no loyalty to this country. Two-thirds of the corporations pay no taxes, they collect our tax dollars in the form of corporate welfare, they pay politicians to pass trade policies that harm our country and these same corporations export American jobs. The Supreme Court may have awarded corporations personhood but if the people of this country were as traitorous as many of these corporations we’d be in GITMO or before a firing squad.

The other day on WKBN talk radio there was a discussion about fracking in our valley. There are callers who call everyday that will defend anything corporations do. One for instance is an elderly daily caller from, Pittsburgh named, Kay. She was making insinuations about activist, Josh Fox who made the film, “Gasland” which exposed the dangers of fracking. She feels he did the film for monetary gain and that the gas and oil companies want to frack out of the goodness of their hearts.  Kay lives for two things the first is, calling radio talk shows everyday spreading corporate lies and the second is, spending the rest of the day at her proctologist looking for her head. I called, to state some of the facts from the links above. I first expressed that I wish fracking could be proven safe and actually provide a ton of jobs to turn our valley around. The caller after me said that I am so opposed to the oil and gas industry and so pro-government that nothing could convince me fracking was safe. The caller totally ignored my statement about wishing fracking would be a boom for the area. He also ignored my comments that our politicians are so bought off we couldn’t trust the state or federal government to regulate fracking. My son graduated from college two years ago and moved all the way to Vermont to get a job. I would have preferred he had the opportunity to get a job in our valley. My daughter will be graduating college in another year and I don’t want her to move so far from Mr & Mrs. E.  In other words I want good paying safe jobs in our area for all our children.

  I feel the next stage for the Occupy 99% movement is to speak out against all lies that you see in the newspaper or hear on talk radio. Yes, as I’ve said they will distort your words but don’t let that deter you. Think of it as the zero B.S. tolerance movement as in we won’t tolerate any bullshit from anyone!

Norman Ball: Inside Job

Rick Fowler Band: Guided Missile

“Too many whites are getting away with drug use…Too many whites are getting away with drug sales…The answer is to go out and find the ones who are getting away with it, convict them, and send them up the river, too.” –Rush Limbaugh, in 1995