No shit Sweden.

Wow. I just turned over a leaf and saw the nexus. Although I am usually a big proponent of many things Scandinavian, I recently discovered thelocal.se . This particular rag is Sweden's online English newspaper. Talk about some really, really hard hitting journalism. When I perused it, I was whacked in the head by the obvious bat. What bothers me is not stupid "journalism" , but the fact that it came from Sweden. I am just disappointed. I expected better from Sweden. Usually they are serious and progressive, world leaders in human rights and responsible industry, but this newspaper had the the great story of "Popular kids become healthier adults". Really Sweden? Are you fucking kidding me? No shit. I think if we all connected the dots, we would come to that conclusion. Generally popularity does not involve sickliness, and kids who get shit on generally have a hard time with life, which leads to some issues.

Another Pulitzer candidate is "Young men at greater risk for alcohol dependence". Wow. Thanks. I could not figure that shit out. Goddamn, if you are in a culture where swilling beer is as cool as it is everywhere but goddamn Utah, of course that is going to happen. Dudes practice that. If this is coming as a surprise to you, you ought to crawl out from under your rock and let the light of day shine into your sad little world.

I just don't know. I thought the US had the franchise on silly, obvious shit, but I was wrong.

Sweden, straighten your shit up.

fessin' up.

I admit it. I confess. I think I am starting to find a pigeonhole. At one point, I thought I was special. I thought I was unique. Now I realize I am dead wrong. I play board games. I have a twitter account. I drink craft beer in 22 oz. bottles and scorn those who drink regular, cheap, lagers and pilsners. I am part of the Northwest Counter Culture Trash. I own multiple guns, but I voted for Obama. I work on my own vehicles because it is cool. I have a subscription to Wired magazine although I am not terribly on the ball when it comes to computers. I am in my own little world, surrounded by people who think and act very similarly to me. None of us will set foot in a Wal Mart, but we have no problem playing on a Wii built by 12 year old Chinese kids. We bitch about all the hormones in beef, but we eat sushi loaded with mercury. We like little projects and hacks for iPods. None of us will drink Folger's Coffee. I dunno, it is cultural elitism at its worst. We like to judge how other people raise their kids, but we do not have kids of our own. We are the young, angry, liberal douchebags who will inherit the country, and inflict our will on the McCain voters. We are Barack Obama's base. The kinda haves and the wish they hads.

Fuck it. Now that is off my chest, I am going to drink another craft beer and check out best of Craigslist.

you got to be fucking kidding me.

I like how the right uses the British house of commons as an excuse for poor behavior. Yelling at the president of the United States, on the floor of the house is a punishable offense. If these low lifers wanted to emulate the house of commons, how about passing a viable health care bill and ensuring the general welfare of the populace? How about public service as opposed to representing the most whacked out portions of the constituency?

Now, the Right Honorable Member of Congress Wilson's excuse was that his outburst was spontaneous. That is absolute bullshit. The audience received copies of the speech prior to the actual speech. He had a chance to go through and pick a point to disrupt the president of the United States. If a democrat had done that during Bush's regime, he would have swung from the gallows tree. Now, the networks allow it to distract from the entire debate and cheapen the whole argument. Regardless of what side you are on, you deserve a fair crack at the actual information. You deserve an honest helping of what is actually taking place, rather than a goddamn sideshow from a clown like the Right Honourable Representative from South Carolina; Joe Wilson.

Punisher 2: War Zone

The first Punisher movie (actually the second) starring Tom Jane was crap. Just the sheer fact that it had ol' Saturday Night Fever in it made it suck even more. It seems that the franchise has a new lease on life with some perennial premium cable favorites. Rome's Ray Stevenson and The Wire's Dominic West (both also british) bring the pain. Dexter's love interest Julie Benz does a very believable job of acting the grieving cop wife as well. Ray Stevenson does not say a goddamn word for the first part of the movie, and Dominic West's big bag of crazy make this a really, really fun shoot 'em up. The plot is not particularly complex, but it brings a healthy dose of gun porn and some great explosions. The villain is actually kinda scary, and the united nations of gangs bring a nice element of progressive multiculturalism to the movie. The main thing it has going for it however; is no John Travolta. That big headed space boy is nowhere to be found with his Zoolander brand of acting. They achieved more with underrated HBO stiffs than the first one did with big budget goon John Travolta. The sociopathic gangsters and Stevenson captured a lot more of the original darkness with their inherent grit. I think that is the beauty of premium cable as well, (not that I have it, but I like the idea), it opens our eyes to dudes like Ray Stevenson and Dominic West, who would have languished in obscurity had it not been for the wily folks at those networks that use bad language. Anyhow, see the movie if you like violent films.

Health Care

The republicans have hit an all time low, accusing senate and congressional democrats, as well as progressives all over the country of capitalizing on Senator Kennedy's death. Now, correct me if I am wrong, but, Teddy would be super pissed if people did not use his passing to help usher in some goddamn change. Ted would tell us to strike while the iron was hot, in the parlance of his time. Make hay while the sun shines, jackass.

If something does not give in the current system, it will be just another nail in the coffin of the American Middle Class. Now, whoever might be reading this blog (Mom) might say "hey shithead, what about the poor people?" I say this; regardless of what happens, there will always be some poor people in America. Their numbers may shrink, or in the case of the last 8 years, rapidly swell, but, poverty will always exist in America. Poor folks are in no danger of extinction. Sure it makes everyone feel all warm and fuzzy to give poor people stuff, and we are morally obligated to help out the less fortunate, but, we also have to look out for the people that built America. The class in danger of extinction is the middle class. They are like the African elephant. OK for now, but if things take a turn for the worse, they are rat fucked.

Now, I am not anti poor people, and I am all for decreasing their ranks and elevating as many people as we can to an acceptable standard of living. Prior to the advent of Ronald Reagan, and neo-conservatism, we had hunger and third world poverty backed into a corner, ready to get stuck with the proverbial ice pick. We did not do this through private sector, free market fairy tales, but through the hard work of Americans, and a healthy dose of tax ducats.

When the undesirable elements of our establishment bitch about government programs, I think they forget what the alternatives are, (and if there are alternatives). Yeah, the postal service might have some issues, but, it is everywhere, and it works pretty well. Where else can you send a letter to any American soil for a 10th of the cost of a mocha frappucino. Also, Social Security works pretty well, as long as people do not steal out of it to wage war somewhere hot and shitty. Compared to wagering your life savings on a volatile pyramid scheme like the stock market, it looks pretty enticing.

One big thing they forget is Medicare and Medicaid. Those are government programs, and if your average geriatric republican was stripped of said programs, they would shit their Depends. Again. And twice on Sundays.

Next time one of these selfish jerk waters tries to say we do not need universal coverage, and the system is fine, hit them with a sucker punch in the mouth. When they fall to the ground, kick them handsomely in the ribs. Then announce confidently "Imagine how bad this would be without health insurance." Then tell them good luck with getting the emergency treatment paid for through their existing coverage.