I had a kidney episode last week; two decades ago I had a couple of kidney infections within a three year period; serious enough that I was ambulanced to the ER both times. This wasn't that, I just had difficulty urinating for about three days, then passed something small, less painful than just uncomfortable, and now I'm fine.
That wasn't the proximate cause of my not writing Tendown last Sunday (although it didn't help) I'm working at my desk now for a regular 40 hour a week online job plus probably another 15-20 hours a week teaching my additional online adjunct courses. And I just don't want to sit here more than I have to. That's the bottom line. My schedule has actually significantly improved with the reshuffling of my professional obligations (and I'm making more money and, I think, have more job security) it's a full on life upgrade.
But I just can't sit here for four hours on Sunday mornings anymore.
I'm going to try every other week for Tendown; if that doesn't work, I'll try whenever I feel like it Tendown. Note that the wrestling blog has not been impacted, neither my other sports related posts through this blog - it's really just this exercise that has to get ashcanned. My apologies. I'm just the one dude.
136 is here. This is Tendown 137.
1. Octoloan
When I wasn't hospitalized with kidney infections, twenty years ago I would watch the WWF wrestling product during middle of the night re-airings. The dominant advertisers during those shows were phone sex lines (does commercial phone sex exist anymore?) It was an unfortunate mirror; corporate America was telling me who I was - the type of person who watched professional wrestling at 3:30 in the morning on a Monday is also likely to spend $1.99 for the first minute, $3.99 for each additional minute talking to "Kandi" from some boiler room in New Mexico.
I was up late one night this week, watching some re-run on some cable channel - when a commercial aired for a payday loan website endorsed by the Octomom.
When you think Octomom - what's the second thing that comes to mind? Money troubles - right - that she's broke. But yet, there she was, giving the predatory payday loan pitch "do you need a thousand dollars this weekend...?
Who in the hell is getting financial advice from the Octomom? Who sees this commercial and says "here is a woman with a good handle on my cash flow situation?
Me, apparently, or people similarly situated. Otherwise I wouldn't have seen the commercial.
Octoloan. Not quite as dumb as lining up all day for a chicken sandwich to support the right of a multi-millionaire CEO to express his bigotry, but you can see it from there. Because that's the real victim in our economy, multi-millionaire conservative Christians, as detailed in this piece.
Wealth gives Chick-fil-A’s owners an outsize impact on our politics: As we’ve been reminded this week, the company channels millions of dollars into anti-gay organizations. But its impact on national policy is nothing compared to its influence over the lives of its employees. Comments from the company’s founder suggest that Chick-fil-A embraces its legal right to reward and punish employees’ private behavior. And a series of lawsuits allege that managers have wielded their authority over workers in ways that break the law: firing a Muslim for refusing to pray to Jesus; firing a manager so that she’d become a stay-at-home mom; and punishing workers for objecting to sexual harassment.
But none of that bothers the self styled "real Americans" who took to the streets this week to support the oppression felt by the multi-millionaire. The next time you see a picture like this:
...recognize the reason they're doing that is advertising. You're the kind of person likely to be swayed by the Palins support of anti-gay bigotry. You're the kind of person who thinks multi-millionaire Christians are the real victims in our economy.
Otherwise, they wouldn't show you that commercial.
Mad at your facebook friends who keep saying "hey, we're just standing up for the first amendment!"?
Recognize they're a step away from an Octoloan. The Palins charge higher interest rates, I betcha.
2. 12 Rules for Mixing Religion and Politics
From the People for the American Way.
2. While it is appropriate to discuss the moral dimensions of public policy issues, religious doctrine alone is not an acceptable basis for government policy.
Because government represents all the people, not just those who share the faith of particular government officials, and because the First Amendment prevents the government from establishing religion, it is inappropriate for government policy to be based solely on religious doctrine. Debates over who speaks for God or who has a superior interpretation of scripture should not form the basis for policymaking.
This does not mean that government officials and other players in policy debates are expected to abandon their faith as the price for taking part in the political process—or that it is inappropriate to talk about moral or religious values in politics. There are moral dimensions to public policy, and not only on so-called “social issues.” Many social justice advocates, for example, argue that budgets are inherently moral documents and apply religious moral insights to contemporary moral dilemmas. Decisions about taxing and spending reflect a community’s priorities and affect people’s lives. Laws prohibiting murder and stealing, as well as laws protecting worker safety and the environment, reflect moral judgments. Those judgments may be rooted in specific religious teaching for some people, but they are also shared broadly across religious and secular lines.
A vivid example: civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. drew on his faith and used scriptural language in his speeches advocating for civil rights, but he also rooted his views in values contained in America’s founding documents, such as equality under the law, that could appeal to, and were accessible to, all Americans.
In contrast, some elected officials have cited the Bible story of the great flood as a definitive argument against government policy to address global warming. At a 2009 hearing, Rep. John Shimkus cited God’s promise to Noah not to destroy the earth, saying “I believe that’s the infallible word of God and that’s the way it’s gonna be for his creation.” That argument may be compelling for people who read the Bible the same way, but it would be wrong to rely on a particular interpretation of any holy scripture to determine policy on any issue, whether on the environment or on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.
3. Vertigo
I really only know enough about film to be allowed to see them; my first hand viewing of pre-Godfather cinema is pretty spotty. But I do know that Sight & Sound has the most definitive word on film ranking.
Citizen Kane is no longer the greatest movie ever made. Vertigo is. Here's the list.
1. Vertigo
4. I Watch 4 Star WrestlingWhat I do know about is graps. Since last we spoke, here's the 4 star wrestling I've seen:
AJ Styles v Chris Daniels July TNA 4 stars
Austin Aries v Bobby Roode 4 stars July TNA
AJPW May 4stars Sekimoto/Okabayashi v Kaz/Kondo
AjPW May Kai v Omega 4 3/4 stars (eligible for MOTY)
NJPW Low Ki v Devitt May 4 1/4 stars
NJPW Okada v Goto May 4 1/4 stars
Union Miyamoto v Ohka 4 1/4 stars
May PWG Generico v Ricochet 4 stars
5. What the Hell is Happening in Tennessee?
This is the Democratic nominee for US Senate. Just read it.
Mark Clayton believes the federal government is building a massive, four-football-field wide superhighway from Mexico City to Toronto as part of a secret plot to establish a new North American Union that will bring an end to America as we know it. On Thursday, he became the Tennessee Democrats' nominee for US Senate.
Clayton, an anti-gay-marriage activist and flooring installer with a penchant for fringe conspiracy theories, finished on top of a crowded primary field in the race to take on GOP Sen. Bob Corker this fall. He earned 26 percent of the vote despite raising no money and listing the wrong opponent on his campaign website. The site still reads, "DEDICATED TO THE DEFEAT OF NEO-CONSERVATIVE LAMAR ALEXANDER," whom Clayton tried to challenge in 2008. (That year, he didn't earn the Democratic nomination.)
On his issues page, Clayton sounds more like a member of the John Birch Society than a rank-and-file Democrat. He says he's against national ID cards, the North American Union, and the "NAFTA superhighway," a nonexistent proposal that's become a rallying cry in the far-right fever swamps. Elsewhere, he warns of an encroaching "godless new world order" and suggests that Americans who speak out against government policies could some day be placed in "a bone-crushing prison camp similar to the one Alexander Solzhenitsyn was sent or to one of FEMA's prison camps." (There are no FEMA prison camps.)
In April 2008, Clayton issued a press release accusing Google of censoring his campaign website on behalf the Chinese government
6. Greenwald
Glenn Greenwald, who tells truth no matter who is in power, is leaving Salon to go work for the Guardian; here's what might be his last great piece for a US publication.
There is zero question that this drone surveillance is coming to American soil. It already has spawned a vast industry that is quickly securing formal approval for the proliferation of these surveillance weapons. There’s some growing though still marginal oppositionamong both the independent left and the more libertarian-leaning precincts on the right, but at the moment, that trans-ideological coalition is easily outgunned by the combination of drone industry lobbyists and Surveillance State fanatics. The idea of flying robots hovering over American soil monitoring what citizens do en masse is yet another one of those ideas that, in the very recent past, seemed too radical and dystopian to entertain, yet is on the road to being quickly mainstreamed. When that happens, it is no longer deemed radical to advocate such things; radicalism is evinced by opposition to them.
7. Would You Like 20 Minutes of Bernie Sanders from the Floor?
Sure you would.
8. Would You Like 10 Minutes of Matt Taibbi Talking About Libor?
Sure you would.
9. How do You Spell 49ers?
Apparently with a U
In the US - we'd rather thousands die every single year than provide health care - in England - support for their health care system is trumpeted across the globe.
Enjoy your chicken sandwiches, countrymen. Don't let anyone criticize bigotry from multi-millionaires; they should hate and hate proudly under the cloak of the overwhelmingly dominant religion. Corporations should be able to express any view they wish without fear of reprisal.
Unless they say "Happy Holidays" - then we should burn those godless bastards to the ground.
That's all for this time. I'll be back next time...if there is a next time...
Your pal,
Jim
