Monday, December 27, 2010

Dreams: General Conference in Baskit Underwear

For some reason, LDS General Conference was being held in Lafayette, LA. The very first speaker was to be Brother Struck, a man I haven't ever met before. For some reason, I was chosen by the Priesthood leadership to give the introduction to Brother Struck (or Strup); but was only given five minutes notice, and I had just come in from water skiing and was cold. I had a big blanket wrapped around me, and took off my clothes till i was only in my Boxer Briefs (from Baskit) and a skimpy tank top.

I decided that I needed to know something about brother struck, so I started talking to his daughter, who told me to wing it. She wasn't too helpful, so I decided to talk to his son. Just as I was putting my pants on to go talk to him, conference started and he was the first speaker. I felt out of place with my jeans half way on, still in my tank but an A&F brown striped polo shirt with no clue who this man was I was to introduced.

Then I woke up.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Sexting with Idiots

Yes. I'm a sexter. Manhunt, Adam4Adam, Grndr are some digs where I waste too much time.

Occasionally, you come across a really stupid comment. For example, I have a c*ck pic that is from 2003. It's cropped so that it only shows my manly materials. It's got a time stamp on it from 2003. So, here's the comment:

Again, the picture is cropped, and all it shows is the meat and potatoes. Of course my reply was: 'Yeah it (Johnson) has grown two more inches in length and put a few more inches in girth during that same period'.

Come on guys...

Tea Party Spam

I recently received this email as a 'mass forward' from one of my friends. He's sent me Tea Party spam before, and I've ignored it. However, this time my pugnacity overwhelmed me, and I replied to all on his list.

I, later researched the article and Mr. Hall, who just happens to be a libertarian (and supposed centrist Republican). Wouldn't it be interesting to notify the tea baggers that pass this on that Mr. Hall supports gay rights and gay marriage?

My retorts are in red and italic, below:

Subject: FW: "I'm 63 and I'm Tired"

I'm 63 and I'm Tired
By Robert A. Hall

I'm 63.  Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but job-hunting every day, I've worked, hard, since I was 18. Despite some health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and haven't called in sick in seven or eight years. I make a good salary, but I didn't inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, there's no retirement in sight, and I'm tired. Very tired. 

I'm tired of being told that I have to "spread the wealth" to people who don't have my work ethic. I'm tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy to earn it. 

I'm tired of idiots who believe they are spreading their wealth to others. Especially Mr. Hall, who claims he can't retire in his current state of financial affairs. Most likely, he's paid less in taxes than what he's consumed: in education for himself and his children; in public facilities he uses regularly; on public roads; in public police/fire departments; in food/drug safety; and in most hospitals. So, he really hasn't spread his wealth at all to anybody. Instead it's more likely, he's been the recipient. 

I'm tired of being told that I have to pay more taxes to "keep people in their homes."  Sure, if they lost their jobs or got sick, I'm willing to help. But if they bought McMansions at three times the price of our paid-off, $250,000 condo, on one-third of my salary, then let the left-wing Congress-critters who passed Fannie and Freddie and the Community Reinvestment Act that created the bubble help them with their own money. 

I'm tired of fools, who think they are paying more taxes now then they have ever paid. Again, Mr Hall, if you can't retire anytime soon, that insinuates you make less than 250K a year. That means, you have not paid a cent more in tax today than what you did last year or since 2001. I'm tired of you thinking that the bail-out did anything but help you or the national economy. You would most likely be out on your keister if the economy had tanked and unemployment reached 25%. I'm also tired of fools that think bailouts were strict products of a Democratic congress. George Bush signed the first bail-out, and necissarily so. 

I'm tired of being told how bad America is by left-wing millionaires like Michael Moore, George Soros and Hollywood Entertainers who live in luxury because of the opportunities America offers. In thirty years, if they get their way, the United States will have the economy of Zimbabwe , the freedom of the press of China , the crime and violence of Mexico , the tolerance for Christian people of Iran , and the freedom of speech of Venezuela .

I'm tired of dim-witted idealogs who think left-wing millionaires hate America. These people love America and believe in what they think is moral and just. This is a lot different than right-wing media moguls, who do and say anything to make money. While lefties are called traitors for their efforts to act and improve America, right-wing moguls manipulate and distort facts for financial gain. Seems like the latter is more treachery than the former.

I'm tired of the poorly-educated making unrealistic and impossible comparisons of America to other countries, especially when they haven't visited, nor know anything but talking points regarding those countries. To say that America will lose its first amendment rights, abolish its criminal justice system, prohibit religious liberties, and abandon capitalism is simply fear-mongering and useless pandering.

I'm tired of being told that Islam is a "Religion of Peace," when every day I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and daughters for their family "honor"; of Muslims rioting over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they aren't "believers"; of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for "adultery"; of Muslims mutilating the genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the Qur'an and Shari'a law tells them to. 

I'm tired of religious bigotry. Not every Muslim believes in honor killings, or in acting as terrorists to bring down the West. There are many secular Muslims. There are many flavors of Islam, from radical to liberal. Just remember, that when a dog bites a man, it doesn't make the daily news cycle. When a man bites a dog, it does.

Mr. Hall, based on your logic, am I to believe...
  • You picket military funerals a la Christian Fred Phelps and Westboro Baptist Church?
  • You refuse to use modern medicine to treat yourself and your children a la Christian Science or Jehova's Witness?
  • You support gay marriage a la Anglican/Episcopilian and Unitarian Churches? 
  • You turned a blind eye for centuries as your priest molested altar boys a la Catholic Church?
  • You support a woman's right to her own reproductive system a la Unitarian Church?
  • You dance with snakes a la Pentacostal Church?
  • You believe instruments in a church building are sacreligious a la Church of Christ?
Just how many Muslims do you know personally to make such assumptions that 'one-size-fits-all'?

I'm tired of being told that "race doesn't matter" in the post-racial world of Obama, when it's all that matters in affirmative action jobs, lower college admission and graduation standards for minorities (harming them the most), government contract set-asides, tolerance for the ghetto culture of violence and fatherless children that hurts minorities more than anyone, and in the appointment of U.S. Senators from Illinois. 

I'm tired of race-baiting. Do I believe you are racist? No. But please have some qualifications and facts to back up your claims. The statements 'race doesn't matter' and 'post racial world of Obama' are just race-baiting, Rush Limbaugh talking points. Leave it alone.

I think it's very cool that we have a black president and that a black child is doing her homework at the desk where Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation. I just wish the black president was Condi Rice, or someone who believes more in freedom and the individual and less arrogantly of an all-knowing government. 

I'm tired of radical and unpatriotic assumptions about this president, and for that matter, our previous president. How excactly does Mr. Obama not believe in freedom.

If it's in referrence to the healthcare legislation, please note that the bill that passed this past year was almost a carbon-copy of the Republican plan presented as an option against the Clinton healthcare reforms 20 years ago. If nothing had been done to address our national system, in 15 years, at a mere 5 - 10% increase in annual premiums, none of us would be able to afford healthcare. 

I'm tired of being told that out of "tolerance for other cultures" we must let Saudi Arabia use our oil money to fund mosques and mandrassa Islamic schools to preach hate in America , while no American group is allowed to fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia to teach love and tolerance. 

I'm tired of this mythical person who keeps telling you that you must be tolerant of other cultures. I'm tired of this mythical person who thinks we have the right to tell other countries how to spend their own money. I'm tired of this misinformed mythical person who thinks that all Islamic schools preach hatred in America. I'm tired of this person who thinks religious freedom only applies to Christians. I'm tired of this person who thinks our constitution applies to the entire world.  

I'm tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global warming, which no one is allowed to debate. My wife and I live in a two-bedroom apartment and carpool together five miles to our jobs. We also own a  three-bedroom condo where our daughter and granddaughter live. Our carbon footprint is about 5% of Al Gore's, and if you're greener than Gore, you're green enough. 

Again, I'm tired of this mythical person who tells you to consume less. I'm tired of the hypocrisy of Al Gore. I'm tired of the extreme right, which has demonized the environmentalist movement to the point that any legislation or judicial action regarding the environment is deemed unreasonable, unrealistic, loony, and political.

Take it back a notch and protect the air and water around your home.

I'm tired of Republican and Democratic congresses that are/and have been unwilling to increase mileage standards (to the point that our vehicles won't sell around the world or at home).    

I'm tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses while they tried to fight it off? I damn sure think druggies chose to take drugs. And I'm tired of harassment from cool people treating me like a freak when I tell them I never tried marijuana. 

I'm tired of assumptions that you are paying for the rehabilitation of drug addicts. I'm tired of liars, who say they've been treated 'freakishly' because they haven't tried marijuana. I've never tried it either, but hang out with 'tokers' and have never been treated freakishly, poorly, or uncivilly.    

I'm tired of illegal aliens being called "undocumented workers," especially the ones who aren't working, but are living on welfare or crime. What's next?  Calling drug dealers, "Undocumented Pharmacists"?  And, no,  I'm not against Hispanics. Most of them are Catholic, and it's been a few hundred years since Catholics wanted to kill me for my religion.  I'm willing to fast track for citizenship any Hispanic person, who can speak English, doesn't have a criminal record and who is self-supporting without family on welfare, or who serves honorably for three years in our military.... Those are the citizens we need.  

NEWS FLASH: illegal aliens and undocumented workers are synonyms.

I'm tired of your veiled attacks against Catholics. What does that have to do with anything but demonstrate that 'I think my religion is better than yours'.

I'm tired of folks who talk the talk, but then don't walk the walk. I hope you supported the DREAM act, because the DREAM act accomplishes the points you outlined above.  

I'm tired of latte liberals and journalists, who would never wear the uniform of the Republic themselves, or let their entitlement-handicapped kids near a recruiting station, trashing our military. They and their kids can sit at home, never having to make split-second decisions under life and death circumstances, and bad mouth better people than themselves. Do bad things happen in war?  You bet. Do our troops sometimes misbehave?  Sure. Does this compare with the atrocities that were the policy of our enemies for the last fifty years and still are?  Not even close.  So here's the deal. I'll let myself be subjected to all the humiliation and abuse that was heaped on terrorists at Abu Ghraib or Gitmo, and the critics can let themselves be subject to captivity by the Muslims, who tortured and beheaded Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, or the Muslims who tortured and murdered Marine Lt. Col. William Higgins in Lebanon, or the Muslims who ran the blood-spattered Al Qaeda torture rooms our troops found in Iraq, or the Muslims who cut off the heads of schoolgirls in Indonesia, because the girls were Christian. Then we'll compare notes. British, Canadian and American soldiers are the only troops in history that civilians came to for help and handouts, instead of hiding from in fear. 

I'm tired labels, such as latte liberal, whose only purpose is to inflame and stifle debate.
I'm of 40-63 year olds that somehow magically believe that they can purchase health insurance after they retire at a reasonable rate. News flash: Your policy would be around 1,000 to 2,000 a month-----but hey, it's an ENTITLEMENT---let's get rid of it.

I'm tired of folks who want to take the moral high ground, but do no object to, nor feel inclined to punish military individuals who 'sometimes misbehave'. Ever hear the phrase 'Do as I do and not as I say' and feel infuriated by it? 

I'm tired of people telling me that their party has a corner on virtue and the other party has a corner on corruption. Read the papers; bums are bipartisan. And I'm tired of people telling me we need bipartisanship. I live in   Illinois , where the "Illinois Combine" of Democrats has worked to loot the public for years. Not to mention the tax cheats in Obama's cabinet.

By GOLLY, I'm also tired of the same things, except the last two sentences which totally negate what you said in the first two. Have some intellectual honesty.

I'm tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians of both parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was getting caught. I'm tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor. 

I'm also tired of the same things.

Speaking of poor, I'm tired of hearing people with air-conditioned homes, color TVs and two cars called poor. The majority of Americans didn't have that in 1970, but we didn't know we were "poor." The poverty pimps have to keep changing the definition of poor to keep the dollars flowing. 

I'm tired of your rhetoric, which continually betrays 'what you are tired off'. Poverty exists, as will classes of people. It's unrealistic to think that we can all make 50K a year and still pay the prices for the things we consume. There is nothing wrong with helping those less fortunate.

I'm real tired of people who don't take responsibility for their lives and actions. I'm tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination or big-whatever for their problems. 

I'm tired of your rhetoric that makes it sound like their are hoards and hoards of people out there blaming government or big-oil for their lives. If you can't see how discrimination kept people intentionally poor, uneducated, and stuck in a cycle of 'Jerry Springer World' activity, then I suggest you take off your rosey red glasses and walk in another man's shoes for a day.

Yes, I'm damn tired. But I'm also glad to be 63. Because, mostly, I'm not going to have to see the world these people are making. I'm just sorry for my granddaughter. 

First you say, 'I'm tired of people who don't take responsibility for their lives and actions,' then you blame the world your granddaughter will inherit on 'these people'. Take responsibility for your world. Maybe if you took your rhetoric down a notch, and worked for a better world, then your daughter might have one.

Robert  A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam veteran who served five terms in the Massachusetts   State  Senate.
There is no way this will be widely publicized, unless each of us sends it on!
This is your chance to make a difference.

I am tired of tea party rhetoric, based on incorrect information. I'm tired of the intellectually dishonest. I'm also tired of tea party SPAM!

Odd Dreams: Couples and Glee

Originally Posted December 6, 2010

Yet another Glee dream within a week.

In this dream, an old bf and I are visiting Andrew and Andrew in the UK, which is really Zack and Micheal's home in The Colony. The ground is covered with snow, and people rent little storage rooms off of their neighbor's houses (why they don’t use their own, I don’t know).

Within moments, Gary and Tony show up, Andrew and Andrew are inside, and I’m talking to Zac about some weird things he can do with the fence.

The bf trips on the porch near the dog door, and Tony and Gary talk about their recent trip to Italy.

Then there is a quick zoom off: Everybody is standing on a hillside, about a dozen feet apart from each other, and the cast of glee is mixed in among us. There is a quick facial zoom on Rachel and then the blond guy.

At that point, my wake-up call startles me from my dream.

Dreams of Extended Family, Extra Terrestrials, and Extinction

Originally Posted September 9, 2010

This could someday be a movie plot–at least part of it.

In all honesty, I think this is three dreams meshed together in one. It starts out with me having to walk from Jerome or Twin Falls Idaho to Malta and Pocatello along the interstate to visit my maternal grandmother. After making it three fourths of the way there, it is evident that I must turn back to assist and warn the rest of my family about the coming invasion (which I have learned about from a bleached out Lydia type character from Big Brother Season 9).

Once I return home (which is not Soda Springs, but some city next to a canal with a lot of old Victorian houses–like old-town Mckinney TX or Springfield MO), I find my extended family on my Father’s side packing up items to head to a safe area. This extended family consists primary of the Loveland family (Gordon, Julia, Susan, Heidi, and others), and the Jerry Hoggan family (Valeen, Christi, Debbie). Since there is not enough room in the safe area for everybody, my Dad and my little brother volunteer to stay behind-in fact they will catch an American Airlines flight to a bigger city where they can find safety.

So, everybody else loads up their items (in pioneer type wagons and carts), and we make the trip along the interstate to the safe area. The safe area resembles the Alexander valley in Soda Springs, except the stone is sedimentary sandstone and there are caves for us to dwell in. Julie has set up camp and is skinning squirrels for dinner. Valeen, Kristy, and Debbie are watching reality TV shows in their three story tent-canopy about 200 yards away. Connie asks me if it is okay for my dad and rod to use my food storage back at home, cause all the flights were booked. I replied of course, that’s what it’s for and then Heidi and Susan start yelling.

They are yelling because the invasion has begun, and an orb (similar to that which Luke Skywalker trains his Jedi Light-Saber skills with) has invaded the canyon containing our campsite. Susan hits it with a ball bat and breaks it and Gordon has it sent off to the lab to figure it out.

Almost immediately, we receive a response from the lab. To our horror, we find out that it is terrestrial of human design, and that the designers chewed bubblegum. Then the dream cuts to David Hasselhoff, who is held prisoner in one of our caves because we have somehow captured him. We ask him and he tells us that the world is overpopulated and the future earthlings are destroying the past earthlings to prevent overpopulation. Then he says, ‘I met somebody the other day, before coming here and told them I was from Los Angeles. They asked me, which neighborhood, ”Syria?"

There was a laugh track and the dream ended.

Dreams of Murder, Mayhem, and Churches

Originally Posted May 14, 2009

Last night was a particularly disturbing dream. Nothing at all seems related and I can’t remember the sequence of the events. Here is the main points.
  • The LDS church at the bottom of the hill on Campus is not a temple, but is being demolished to build an Institute of Religion.
  • My grandparents crossed somebody years ago, who turns out to be a psychotic murderer intent on doing harm to people.
  • There is a temple in the old city of San Antonio, it’s just not the church-house at the bottom of the hill on campus (the one with yellow brick).
  • The psycho kicked out my grandparents furnace, which sits in the rounded part of the motel (they did own a motel). They just aren’t my grandparents, and I’m a third party, epherial observer.
  • The psycho has captered the grandson, put a white pillow case over his head and torso, painted the grandson with poly-urethane so that he can’t move (just blink and breath), and was about to start gutting him.
I woke up then, troubled.

Dreams of the Rapture

Originally Posted May 11, 2009

On occassion, I have dreams that are so terrifying that they wake me up. This is one such dream.

I’m in the Valley (Rio Grand Valley) on business. It’s early afternoon, and the parking lot at the local mall is full, but I manage to find a spot in time to meet Richard and Robin just outside the entrance. The sky is overcast and dark, as if it is about to storm.

About two-hundred miles away, the stormclouds touch a small section of the earth and lightning a thunder abound from this center of activity (in morning thought, it’s kind of like the pilar of clouds in that Moses movie).

Richard says to me and Robin (who is no longer Robin, but some other girl of large size): ‘Is that a hurricane?’ ‘No, I don’t think so!’ I reply because it would be impossible for it to be a hurricane this far inland (as we are no longer in the valley but someplace at least 400 miles from the sea). I’m afraid though that it is, and I definitely know that it is not a tornado. So we enter the mall, which has an odd amount of windows, like the amount you see in an airport looking out over the concourse. As we walk down a corridor, the dream intensifies…

Meteors or large, watermelon-size chunks or rocks begin falling at random from the sky. Robin (who is back again, partially as Robin, partially as Racheal), says, ‘This could be the end.’ We are undoubtedly all frightened and begin running down the corridor. I’m secretly thinking about how to get to Idaho and the airport nearby when all of a sudden, airplanes start dropping out of the sky. They aren’t gliding in as if they were still moving forward based on the laws of physics though. They are dropping as if the had stopped immediately in the sky. Their belly’s landing flat on the earth. Scores and scores of airplanes fall to the planet.

People are running around terrified, and I think to myself, ‘Is this the Rapture? It’s a long way to Idaho. And finally, ‘I guess I was wrong about that atheist thing.’

Then I woke up. It took me a while to go back to sleep, during which I had another dream, but the details are murky on that one. It was a murder mystery dream and I was the investigator.