I saw this sign on the news and it really pissed me off.
First off let me say as a non-New Yorker, I can't truly understand what it's like to have my city attacked by terrorists, to lose people I live with, work with, and love with every day. So I cannot say, first hand, what having this Mosque built up in my back yard would feel like. I can imagine it's like a slap in the face, having the religion of the terrorists who attacked you thrown in your face.
As an American I can say remember what it felt like to have my country attacked; that raw, visceral pain that made me so angry. However, how many times have one particular group in America's past had their religious or personal freedoms usurped because if offended the majority? Just because the terrorists who attacked us were Muslims does not mean every Muslim-American is a terrorist.
By participating in Islamaphobia we are waiving the little white flag to the terrorists and shouting ... "Hey guess what guys?!?! You won!"
By not protesting the Mosque we are saying "Hey, our First Amendment guarantees religious freedom. We welcome diversity, and you're not going to drag us down. Fuck off."
But what it boils down to ... the Mosque is being built on PRIVATE PROPERTY ... get that, Private Property. The Muslims building it aren't under any suspicion of being terrorists.
And to the 70% of Americans who oppose it ... mind your own fucking business. 70% of Americans do not live in New York. So those of us who do not ... we do not deserve a say. And before you begin to protest, if New Yorkers had an opinion about something being built in BFE South Dakota (or any state) ... I guarantee you South Dakotans would tell New Yorkers to mind their fucking business. That goes with any state.
First Amendment. Religious Freedom. I am not minimizing the losses of 9/11 but those two phrases are legally all that matter here.
According to a survey from Trulia, as home ownership falls to a ten-year low, the number of renters who plan to enter the home buying market is also on a steady decline. In July, 72% of American adults polled said owning a home was part of the 'American Dream.' Six months ago that same number was 77%.
While researchers say that people delaying their home purchases, or deciding to not purchase at all, could have a domino effect and delay the economic recovery in the United States, I have to say I actually feel this is good news. Who in the hell ever decided owning a home was one's 'god-given right' as an American? This kind of thinking is part of what to led to economic collapse in the first place. With much of the country still in the clutches of foreclosure why should we continue to think we are 'entitled' to own a home?
Before I elaborate too much more, let me first say this: I realize there are so many people out there who bought homes responsibly with a huge down payment, had a comfortable savings, and paid all their bills on time. Then the recession hit, they lost their jobs, their savings dwindled and they eventually lost their homes. My heart does go out to those people.
My heart does not go out to any homeowner who had to struggle to come up with their down payment, entered into one of those ridiculous home loans with the balloon payments on the end, or thought they deserved to be a home owner when they struggled to make ends meet or pay their bills on time. Why did so many people in this situation feel they deserved to own a home? That's what renting is for. This may sound callous, and yes banks are at fault for offering home loans to people with shaky credit.
Personally I would never, ever, try to purchase a home unless I had paid off my debts, my credit score was above a 720, and I had 40% set aside as a down payment.
But this whole 'American Dream' thing is silly. Does owning a home with a heavy mortgage out in the suburbs with one or two car payments and the trapeze act you walk with your check book each month make you more of an American? No. Home ownership is a privilege for those who have learned how to balance their budgets and manage their money, for those who have proven they can save money, for those who can actually afford to own a home.
I saw an article on CNN today from Jack Cafferty. It was more an opinion piece from the cantankerous old dude discussing the recent rumblings that President Obama will replace Vice President Joe Biden with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as the VP running mate in the 2012 Presidential election.
First off, that's two years away. A LOT can happen in two years.
Second, I don't want Hillary Clinton to be Vice President. Let's face it: the woman should have been President, not Obama. Obama has proven himself to be a man who just lets every Tom, Dick, and Berther say whatever the fuck they want without firing back. In a time of economic and social woe we need a firebrand in the White House. That is not Barrack Obama. If he's not going to be the angry Black Man he refuses to be what the fuck is the point?!?!?! Hillary would not quietly take the abuse Barrack is taking. She has balls ... balls bigger than every Conservative Comb Over taking pot shots at the White House. Hillary has always show the spine that Obama should be showing. My point, Hillary has more influence as Secretary of State than she would as Vice President. Unless she's going to the Senate chambers with a whip and a dominatrix outfit leave her be.
Okay anyone who has small children may hate me after read this blog posting. If you're easily offended and lack a sense of humor I would suggest finding another blog to read.
I don't want to give the impression that I hate children. I don't. In fact, many years ago I was a child myself. Okay, those of you laughing already can fuck yourselves with with an ice pick. Yes, I was once a small child; a cute one at that. But no, I do not hate children even though I'm not overly child-friendly. What irritates the hell out of me are children that are not supervised and allowed to run amok in places where they should be leash... I mean supervised.
Let me give you an example. Yesterday Jeremy and I were at the Mall of America. I'd estimate that eighty percent of the population in that mall were children, most of whom were probably under the age of thirteen. It sucks when you're trying to walk around in a civilized fashion and you have half-pints running in front of you, cutting you off, causing you to bump in other people or make sudden detours. I can't even remember how many times I rolled my eyes or gave a mental scowl at some heathen without his ADHD medication, or a parent there to properly beat his or her ass. And don't even get me started on the adult conversation we overheard some some preteens having on the train to the mall. I didn't know whether to laugh or puke, and since my body couldn't decide I just simply became gassy.
Oh, and even though she wasn't a child I want to give a special shout-out to Chow-Mini ... you know who you are gurrrl!
This evening, however, I saw something beautiful. I was in Target in downtown Minneapolis and I saw a small child, in a harness, attached to a leash! Immediately I wanted to congratulate him on the excellent parental skills I perceived him to possess. I wanted to buy him a beer as a reward.
Okay so ... my question is this: are child leashes harsh things? Everyone with a child might squawk like chickens at the thought of leashing their child. But let me ask all you parents who are so sure your child is the most angelic creature to bless this ball of rock: how many times have you seen a woman in your local Target or Cost-Co or Wal-Mart (if you live in the South or wear stretch pants because you can't find pants that fit you, in which case you probably are the woman in question) trying to shop and she has a toddler sitting in the shopping cart, an infant in one arm (while she pushes the cart and grabs items off the shelf with another) and an army of four or five bad ass children running around being shit-tastic asswipes, when they should be grabbing the items off the shelves for their tired ass mother (who was probably wishing she had a bit more pro-choice earlier in life).
Oh okay, so that was a bad example. Wah wah wah, I'm an asshole. This is why I will never be a parent. I have zero desire to be a parent; I don't have any paternal longings. In fact, a nice house with my boyfriend (in the future), a dog or two and some kitties ... that's all I need. I don't want to spend my Saturday afternoon scrubbing Crayola Magenta off my Cream-colored walls and yelling at some crying six-year-old who claims he is sorry when he really did it to piss me off because I wouldn't buy him a goddamn pony for his goddamn sixth birthday. By the way, I will never have a Cream-colored wall in my house (when I actually own one). Fuck that Midwestern-Granny-House Bullshit.
So what can you, the reader, take away from this blog other than the fact that Mike should not have children of his own (nieces and nephews are awesome, I can spoil the shit out of them and send them back to their parents to be bad ass children) or that he believes children in public should be seen and not heard? Perhaps you can infer that I am a concerned citizen ... concerned about the out-of-control irresponsible parents who let their kids act like assholes in public. Perhaps your conclusion is I, am indeed, the asshole.
Either way, there's an asshole running amok somewhere. And, at least for the next sixty or seventy years, I won't need a diaper change. So neener neener!
