Stop, look and be safe.

The dangers of public transit, while minor, are still in need of observance.
Case in point: This afternoon, a pedestrian was killed today by a Metra train. The accident occurred nearly 100 yards from where I work, at a stop that I use daily.
I can’t say that I know all of the details yet, as this incident happened at 4:30pm CST. What I do know is someone was hit by the oncoming train, was killed instantly, and service was shut down until about 30 minutes ago. I was able to secure a car ride home, so my evening travel was not impacted. But thousands of commuters were.
It’s also speculative right now if the accident was due to a careless commuter, or if this person’s intent was to step in front of the moving train. Either case, the situation is extremely sad and distressing.
If it was indeed the latter situation, I can’t fathom the pain the family is going through; Or, for that matter, what the individual himself was suffering through to cause him to think death by high velocity train was the way to stop the pain. Similar to the Metra official who took his life in a similar way last year, I can only imagine what this person’s final seconds were like. Tragic. My thoughts go out to the family of this individual.

I’m am not saying that my comforting thoughts for the family are in any way diminished if this was a case of a careless pedestrain who tried to play beat the train to the station and lost. It’s indeed a sad situation. But it’s something that could have been prevented.

Every day I ride the Metra and disembark, I watch several of my fellow passengers as they hurriedly cross over the tracks, on their way to work or home or wherever, and yet they never stop to wait for the crossing bell to stop ringing. Some people are in such a hurry to get to wherever they need to be that they disregard the safety mechanisms put in place to protect them from harm, just to save a few seconds from their day. It’s absolute insanity.

For me, my life and safety are far worth more to me than getting from point A to point B quickly. Frankly, I’d rather be a moment or two late than to risk my life just to get there on time. Being late because I waited for the train is a far easier conversation to have with my boss than trying to explain why I was late because I tried to make it before the train pulled in… and I didn’t.

It just doesn’t pay to try to be in such a hurry that a person’s safety is compromised. I just hope more people actually take a moment and wait rather than rush just to get somewhere after this incident. I guess I’ll see come Monday morning’s commute.

Sadly, I think I’ll be dissapointed.

 

Shopping oddities and ends

A few random and aggravating happenings as Rick and I took a shopping excursion today in Lakeview, aka Boystown:

– What has happened to the Gap? First of all, loved that it was Friends and Family (30% off!), but the service seems to have fallen into a gap. Items that are on the website are no where in the store. Really? Then why have a store at all? An associate ‘helpfully’ suggested that it may be at Michigan Avenue, then walked away. When I worked at the Gap (yes, I’m pulling that one), I would have stopped and offered to call another store or order it from online. Yeah I waited for that to happen… and I would probably would still be waiting now. I had to call on my cell to another store and discover that they didn’t have what I was looking for either. Then Rick needed a certain size in khakis, and while they searched in back for us, again there was no offer to call another store- we had to suggest it. So then they offered to call, but items would only be held until the end of day. Uh, what? I held items up to two days for a customer. And evidently, ordering in the store from online can’t happen anymore. It just seemed that overall they really didn’t care to have our business. It was dissapointing to say the least. And yet they think it’s exceptional service to be open on Thanksgiving day. Well, maybe if you tried a bit harder on the regular days, you wouldn’t need to be open on a holiday. Just saying.
– Caribou Coffee on Broadway had a better service experience, but this time I was repulsed by other customers. I needed to use the bathroom, and I walked in to urine on the toilet seat, on the floor, and the toilet unflushed. Foul. Now downtown, I might expect this, but we were in Boystown. Gay central. And this is how the gays treat a local hang out? What kind of bums are living here now? Disgusting.
– CTA, always a trip, was just as heinous as usual. First there was the woman who kept screaming, ‘Out of my way, I’m getting out here!’ as she knocked into every person crammed in the aisle. Come on, the bus is crowded, don’t get angry at people just because the CTA can’t keep buses running on schedule and cause over capacity buses. Then there was the guy talking on his phone and making sure everyone around him knew it. I don’t care if you think the girl was creaming her pants over you, I don’t want to hear it!
– The grocery store: did you know the elderly can not only not drive a car, evidently a shopping cart is problematic for them as well. I was run into at least three time without so much as an apology. Then while in line at the self checkout, we were trying to finish bagging our groceries, and this woman walks in front of us and starts ringing her stuff! Can people not wait their turn anymore??

To quote Cee Lo, fuck you and fuck her too.

Yard Sale Folly

This past Saturday we decided to host a yard sale. The yard sale is that time honored tradition of pulling out all of the junk and miscellaneous nicknacks that you no longer use, remove sentimental value from them, and pass it off as treasure to your neighbors. You never know what you consider junk is truly a thing of value to someone else.
Most of what we were parting with was objects that really were of no use to us, but were in good working order. For example, the DVD player that I sold was in great condition, but I had a new Blu-Ray player that can still play my regular DVDs, so why have two? Sell it. And the TV/VCR combo that we no longer used since I got the TiVo? Perfect for some kid’s bedroom use. The glass jars, great for decorative use, that sat in the basement? Move ’em on out of here. So Rick and I sorted through a bunch of random items, and some clothing that no longer fit but was wearable, and along with the upstairs neighbor set out a smorgasbord of trinkets and finds.
The day went pretty well, as well as one can expect when selling your old hand me downs for a few dollars; and most shoppers were friendly, chatty, good old neighborly people. But there was one woman who just didn’t know when to shut up.
This woman was definitely a piece of work. She was joined by her daughter and a friend visiting from New York, both of whom seemed very nice. This woman, however, was destined to share her opinions on everything with everyone, even if the information wasn’t solicited. Her demeanor was rather condescending towards everyone else; she gave the air that she was affluent, like Chicago North Shore, and that yard sales on Saturday were kind of slumming it to her. And while the friend and her daughter rummaged for treasures, she would turn up her nose and make snide comments.
For instance, there was a picnic basket that Rick and I had out for sale for the bargain basement price of $2; A little rough around the edges, but in pretty great condition otherwise. The New Yorker was intrigued by it, and seemed to hem and haw about taking it. Snobby Sally, on the other hand, was grilling her on the basket’s usefulness. ‘Do you really need it, or do you just want it?’ She implored repeatedly. ‘If I were selling these things here, I wouldn’t be putting this (pointing to the basket) out’. There was a book I had out for sale, on organization tactics at work. Again, she walked up, looked at the book, and sneered “Sure, waste more time reading a book about organization and prioritizing, why not just do it?’ Let’s put it this way, her disdain wasn’t very hidden.
It was obvious to Rick, myself and our neighbor that this woman was in no way a champion to our cause. In fact, she was trying to talk her friend out of buying anything. She actually started to break some of the frayed pieces off of the basket and littered them on the table, and yet refused to inquire to us anything about it, or even look or acknowledge us. It got to the point that I nearly walked up to her, removed the basket in question from her hands, and bluntly told her, ‘It’s no longer for sale, and perhaps it’s time for you to leave.’
In the end, the friend found our basket useful, and bought it. Snobby Sally, apparently disgusted, decided to walk down the street to another yard sale to ‘see if they have anything of worth.’ How ignorant can a person be? Yard sales are all about finding the hidden treasures, not a sidewalk venue for people to judge other people’s things. If she had opinions about our things, talk about it later in the privacy of your own home, but not in front of us. And acting superior is a sure fire way of getting shot in my neighborhood…although in this woman’s case, I don’t think I would have shed any tears. Regardless, word of advice to yard sale shoppers everywhere…leave the opinions at home, and when in doubt dial it down in public.

What not to do on public transit

Public transit. It’s a daily routine for many, including myself. You take it to work. You take it home. You take it to go shopping. Bus, subway, Metra, whatever your vehicle, you end up spending at least an hour if not more a day using it.
For some people, this time spent seems to also mean that it’s a second home where they can do whatever they want.
Case in point: last night, as I rode the train downtown to meet friends for dinner (which was at Frontera Grill, fantastic by the way), I observed two egregious errors of passengers that only adds to my laundry list of public transit no-nos.
First up: the nail clipper. Clipping you nails is something I prefer to do in the privacy of my home, or have done at a salon when I get a manicure. One rider last night felt comfortable enough to clip his finger nails right there on the train. Snap! Snap! went the clippers, and dirty finger nails fell to the floor. I could only cringe. This is not your private bathroom, this is a public train. Nasty!
Then the spitter appeared. A semi intoxicated Cubs fan (hey, if you were a Cubs fan, you’d have to be drunk too) stumbled onto the car and sat across from me with a have case of Miller GD in one hand and a red Solo cup in the other. After a brief moment he lifted the cup to his mouth, and- you guessed it- spit!
I’m gagging at this point.
Chew and snuff are the grossest tobacco products out there. I’m a smoker, so many people would argue what I do is foul. Maybe, but I don’t smoke on the train, and besides, my smoke doesn’t have brown tobacco grounds and spittle in it. It’s so…frankly I equate snuff being a bit white trash. At least smoking is somewhat elegant in comparison.
So joining annoying travelers who feel the need to shout on their phone at the top of their lungs, the trashy gluttons who eat their chicken wings and then wipe their greasy hands on the seat next to them, and the bad music lovers who can’t seem to afford headphones, I add the gross chew guy and the idiots who clip their nails to the list of people who should be banned from public transit.

Brent DiCrescenzo strikes again

I’m seriously considering canceling my subscription to Time Out Chicago. I don’t think they realize that one of their editors are single handedly destroying their circulation.
If you recall a few weeks back, Brent DiCrescenzo, the music editor (*cough*) of Time out Chicago and the arch nemesis of good taste in music, ripped to shreds my beloved LCD Soundsystem album, This is Happening. As the situation went, I raged and wrote a letter to the editors of Time Out, calling Brent out for his lack of actual music reviewing and more on his blatant attack on the character of the artist. If a music editor is supposed to review the qualities of a albums’ musical merits, why then was so little time spent on that and so much spent on belittling the talent for theft and cribbing other artists, which may or may not be the case but is beside the point. Brent’s emailed response to me was to call my attack on his review petulant. I guess blatant character assassination is a job only he can do and get away with, while the rest of us who complain are relegated as a group of cry babies.
Well he’s at it again. In the recent July 8-14 issue of Time Out, on the front of the music section, is an article consisting of Brent and Joshua Ferguson, another Time Out hack, in conversation over with the artist M.I.A. is a big phony.
M.I.A. (born Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam)- is from Sri Lanka by way of the UK, and is know to many for her huge single ‘Paper Planes’. It’s well documented that M.I.A.’s father was a dissident in Sri Lanka working for the Tamil Military, and she spent her first several years hiding from the Sri Lanka Army. She moved to London, where she was educated and began a career in graphic design, fashion and eventually music. Her first disc, Arular, was named for her father’s adopted name during his time with the Tamil. Kala was her second disc (named for her mother), and one of my favorites from 2007, a brilliant fusion of hip hop, rap and dance hall with electro thrown in. Her new album, // / Y / , a typographic creation of her name that was designed as a diss against Google, is scheduled for release this week.
To give you an idea, this is her video for Born Free. Warning, NFSW as it shows some disturbing imagery.

M.I.A, Born Free from ROMAIN-GAVRAS on Vimeo.

Which brings me to my question. Why wasn’t the album reviewed, and instead we get this dissection on how M.I.A. is a hypocrite and a non-artist? Brent and Joshua go down this path of calling her “and idiot”, comparing M.I.A.’s history in Sri Lanka to Sarah Palin’s ‘I can see Russia from my backyard!’, and overall calling her a media whore for over exaggerating her father’s anti-government history. The purpose for all of this? According to Brent and Josh, it makes her music less attractive:
BD: With M.I.A., it goes beyond personality. She’s a hypocrite. Her entire stage act is this guerilla, radical figure. Now she’s revealed to be completely unknowledgeable about politics.
JPF: Taking her authenticity to task does make me less interested to hear what the album is about.
Read more: http://chicago.timeout.com/articles/music/87044/the-mia-debate#ixzz0tNpnxTNZ

Well bully for you two, but guess what? I don’t give a fuck what you two think of M.I.A. personally. I did not subscribe for a bunch of pretentious dissing of artist, or even to read that you are ‘reluctant to call her an artist.’ Sorry Brent, but when I last looked, M.I.A. has a record label, designs her own album cover art, and performs music. She kind of falls into the artist category. But to counter your reluctance, if it makes you feel better, I’m reluctant to call you a music critic.
I’m also surprised you can get anyone to interview with you, since you’re more likely to skewer them than not. And when did you two turn into Bill O’Reilly and become the expert du jour on foreign politics? Do I see your commentaries on CNN? No. Then I don’t need your half-assed political hack analysis here.
Furthermore, why does everything need to be so fucking deep and meaningful to matter? M.I.A. herself is quoted as saying “Nobody wants to be dancing to political songs. Every bit of music out there that’s making it into the mainstream is really about nothing. I wanted to see if I could write songs about something important and make it sound like nothing. And it kind of worked.”
Finally, to answer your burning question on how much of her album is her or her producer, Diplo? Diplo produces two tracks on the new disc. Maya produces nine of them. She also handles creative direction, art direction, photography, A & R, executive producer and mixing on the album. I’d say she’s all over the place. Hope that clears that up for you.
So in effect, Brent and his minions over in the ‘music department’ of Time Out have proven how ignorant they actually are. I think the icing for me was a few pages after this article where Brent reviewed, surprisingly favorable, a new track by Of Montreal. The final line discounted the entire review for me: “Duh. Bowie never worked in his garage.” It seems our boy Brent can’t find a modern day artist that lives up to the glory that is David Bowie (of whom he defended so vigorously against those thieves LCD Soundsystem). In fact, since Kevin Barnes did record in a studio this time, why isn’t he accused of aping Bowie like James Murphy was? The Bowie worship and comparisons are just a tad tired, and really show what a shallow basis for his music expertise Brent actually has. I just hope TimeOut Chicago
realizes this sooner rather than later before their readership migrates for greener pastures.

The infection of hate

As Gay Pride day wraps up nationwide, I looked at the online media reports regarding the parades. What saddens me is the spew of hatred and religious dogmatic vomit that people felt inspired to post in response to a day that is designed to represent a movement towards equality.
These days, the hatred seems to spring from all directions, and place the blame of this ‘corruption of morals’ and ‘liberal machinations’. One guy on Yahoo! went as far to say that a day of family is ruined by seeing two gay people holding hands and kissing.
Amazing stuff.
What does this all do? it just causes an infection of hate to spread. What happened to love your fellow man? It seems in our post 9/11 world we have only learned that hate is the best way to treat people from different walks of life, sexual preference, race and religion. Culture is training people to hate Muslims, blame ‘queers’ for pedophilia and accuse a black President of being a socialist.
It’s disgusting. And unfortunately no going anywhere soon.
People often wonder why I can’t keep my mouth shut when I feel angered or annoyed by the stupidity and hatred of others. It’s because I’m tired of being treated as a pariah, as the one who doesn’t have his head on straight. I don’t hate people… I hate their ignorance. I hate that they misuse religion or politics to further an agenda that is hateful towards other humans. It’s encouraging rage and destruction. What I do here isn’t destructive, it’s voicing my opinion. And the argument can be made that these other people have a right to their opinion, but I have to ask, when an opinion is so vicious and driven by violence, is it a right or freedom? Or is it just dangerous?
For example, Innocent Bystander, a Yahoo! member since: 06/19/2010, posted this online:
now that these gay freaks are in one place
this would be the perfect time to nuke them
and wipe the off the face of the earth
the less we see their pervert face
the better for humanity
This kind of commentary and language only furthers an agenda of hate, and pretty much insinuates murder as a solution. Genocide. How nice. How far we have evolved in the past 70 years.
I get so angry, and I really want to hate this person. But obviously they are too stupid to realize that they just condemned a group of people that may include a friend, a teacher or a relative. They are so insecure and ignorant that they have to feel superior by tearing someone else down.
The saddest thing is that most people feel this way about one group or another, and if everyone had their wish come true, no one would be left standing.

Why LCD Soundsystem rocks and critics don't

While this may not be the most timely of post, the fact that people have terrible taste in things and critics see fit to rip music and movies to shreds to satisfy their ego brings me to my latest rant.

A few weeks back, Time Out Chicago ran a review on the new LCD Soundsystem disc, This Is Happening. It’s the third and supposedly final release from mastermind James Murphy and his Brooklyn, NY outfit, and it’s amazing. 95% of music reviews out there have deemed it an excellent release. Of course, not everyone loved it, like The New York Post, who thought that while it was musically impeccable, it lacked lyrically substance. So you can’t please everyone.
Then there’s Brent DiCrescenzo of Time Out Chicago.
First a little information on this guy. He used to be a music reviewer for Pitchfork.com before segueing into Time Out. He’s also insanely pretentious. His reviews are artistic babble of the intrinsic metaphysical bullshit blah blah blah that music is. There are websites out there that laugh at how pretentious his writing is (my favorite… his review of Kid A by Radiohead, check it here). But I have always found him slightly annoying, dating back to his early reviews in the late 90’s. They all seemed holier than thou, and at some point I think I sent a nasty letter railing against him to Pitchfork, which was disregarded but whatever. That was over a decade ago. It just always annoyed me that someone thought he would be a good critic.
The Time Out/LCD Soundsystem review published in issue 273 (and linked here) was, to say the least, unpleasant and mean spirited. Instead of talking about the music, he criticized how Murphy seemed to be ripping off Iggy Pop, David Bowie, and for goodness sake, Spoon. “Audacious and larcenous” are directly used to describe the album. And here lies my issue with this review. How is this a description of the quality of music? It’s not. I find it arrogant and downright infuriating that because a group is inspired by or has a sound that is reminiscent of another group, it’s thievery.
It’s absurd: what music group or artist has not been compared or been written as sounding like someone else before them? Nirvana being compared to the Pixies, Oasis to the Beatles… I mean, no one can say their sound isn’t derivative of someone who came before them. Immediate, it makes his accusation of larceny moot.

Then there’s the point of how the disc lacks ‘jaded wit’ and comes off as snarky. So what? The point of that (which is evidently lost of Brent) is that some of the tracks are supposed to be. I find the snark towards critics especially evident in ‘Pow Pow’ (featuring a killer diss to the Village Voice critic: “Eat it Michael Musto, you’re no Bruce Vilanch”) and in one of the tracks DiCrescenzo took particular offense to, ‘You Wanted A Hit’. The music on This Is Happening isn’t about hits and #1 songs. If it were, we’d have a disc of Katy Perry tunes. Blech. James Murphy is doing what he wants, and running his freak flag high. He’s also flaunting his influences. And it’s not cookie cutter. It’s also not being a thief. I can only imagine that Murphy, anticipating the haters, basically wrote some of the tracks as a big ‘fuck you, I don’t care about your indulgent opinion’ to them. I love it. It’s clever, it’s empowing, and it’s what makes the disc even more freeing.

Which brings me to my biggest beef with DiCrescenzo’s piece. He really didn’t listen to the album. I’m sure he ‘listened’, and shucked out that piece of shit two star article in a matter of hours. But he didn’t listen to the lyrics, the sound, the groove, the vibe. He picked apart what he found displeasing and made that the basis for the review. Never once did he grasp the excitement, the joy, the emotional aspect the disc brings. Sure there’s a bit of thumping energy and balls out dance tracks. But the disc, from start to finish, is a story, of heading out, finding the groove, making fun of the drunk girls, making out with someone, wishing for more, promising change, hanging with your friends and making fun of the scene, and heading home at the end of it all. At least that’s what I get out of it. I identify with most of it. I relish it. I guess Brent just didn’t get it.

So I wrote Time Out, expressing my displeasure, for which they graced my letter a spot in the Speak Up page of the June 3-9 issue last week.
I had my say, called Brent on what I though was a low class diss, and got published. As I’ve seen from some of the comments that are linked to the online review, I’m obviously not alone in my thoughts. Even his colleagues who wrote glowing things about LCD’s live show seem to reference a bit of embarrassment about the thrashing the album was given.
What many people didn’t see, and really irked me, was that Brent replied to my letter personally. At first, I thought, wow, this may be a ‘Sorry we had a difference of opinions on the same work’ kind of note, but what I got just astounded me and reinforced how lacking of awareness of the world around him he really is. And it said VOLUMES about what he thinks of people who don’t like his writing. Just an FYI, this is an honest to goodness unedited email I received from him:

From Brent DiCrescenzo to me more 3 weeks ago

JV,

I’m used to petulant hate mail, but it never ceases to amaze me when
people of differing opinion assume a critic didn’t listen to the album.
I’ll assume you CC’d the New York Times on that email, as they said
essentially the same thing. I guess universal acclaim isn’t enough for
some fans.

Thanks for reading,
BD

Brent DiCrescenzo, Music Editor
Time Out Chicago
247 South State Street, 17th Floor
Chicago, IL 60604
bdicrescenzo@timeoutchicago.com
312.924.9378 direct line
312.924.9350 fax
http://www.timeout.com/chicago

Yes, folks, like James Murphy’s music is larcenous, my opinion of Brent DiCrecenzo’s writing is petulant. It just shows that he uses his words to tear people down, and when clueless of what something means, to spin a load of bullshit that means, in the end, nothing of relevance.

So to Brent, I say thank you for showing me what a gracious and talented writer you are. Keep writing that fiction, it should sell tons.

Me, I’m not buying.

Update 6/24/10 I’m adding the Soulwax mix of “You Wanted a Hit” as part of my music series…

Shut UP!!!

I’ve been gone a while. I’ve had a bit to deal with and sort out, so sorry. But I have a small rant I must get off my chest.
I get on the bus on Monday to go to my friends house, and the woman who boarded right in front of me struck up a conversation with the driver. A loud conversation. About how great her 30 day CTA pass was. And why the $20 pass would leave her stranded. And that’s why the 30 day pass was so great. And that it expired at 2:44pm that afternoon. And how she was so glad her friend told her about the 30 day pass. And so on. It was riding with a loud, obnoxious and completely socially unaware Miss Daisy.
Okay, great you found some convenience in your sad life lady, but telling the bus driver and everyone else on the bus about it at the top of your lungs is not necessary, nor welcome. For that matter, you are not even supposed to talk to the driver protractedly, as it could risk an accident. On she went, from the moment she boarded at Elmdale all the way down Broadway. The best part: the driver was encouraging the conversation, and kept talking to the lady.
Finally as the bus approached Foster, and after a brief moment when we thought she had nothing more to say, she kicked right back in to the 30 day pass love fest. I had sat silent for 15 minutes, but frustrated and annoyed, I let loose a very loud ‘eeeeNOUGH! SHUT UP!’ And yet, the only acknowledgment I received from this woman was her outstretched hand, as if she was saying ‘oh no, I’m not done, be quiet now’. She gave me the hand. And she finished her ramble to the bus driver! The bitch!
After she finished, the bus driver asked if there was a problem, and Miss Daisy herself turned around and asked the same thing. I simply said that the loud conversation was distracting, inappropriate in volume and I didn’t like that it was interfering with my bus ride. Then the guy sitting one seat behind me, who was also quite annoyed at the woman and her loud talking, chimed in “And you’re not supposed to talk to the driver for safety reasons. So stop talking.”
The woman looks at both of us, and then simply stated, ‘I’m sorry you two are having a bad day, but I can talk to whomever I want.”
At this moment I was losing it. I blurted back, “Not when it’s distracting to the rest of the riders. I don’t care about your 30 day pass, I don’t want to listen to you go on about it anymore!”
“Are you done?” she haughtily remarked back.
“Are YOU done?” was my snappish retort.
“Are you done?” was her reply.
I was. I stood up, as we finally reached Foster and had stopped, spat sharply “Fuck you, I’ve had it, I’ll walk,” and stomped my way off the bus. As I looked to the driver, who seemed completely oblivious about why there may be some angry passengers, I stopped and asked “What is your number?”, pointing to her shoulder where her driver’s number was. She looked at me, turned her shoulder away from me, and pointed to the front of the bus with a curt ‘it’s there.’ All the while, Miss Daisy was now screeching unintelligibly, loud enough I could hear her half a block down as I walked away.
So to miss loud and obnoxious on the 36 Broadway bus on Monday, May 31 at 1:04pm heading southbound, with driver number R285 egging you on, I say shut the hell up. And to the CTA, who after I left a message to voice my complaint about this whole fiasco, and they never called back, I say fuck you. You don’t care that some screeching crazy was distracting one of your drivers, causing a commotion, and annoyed other passengers. The driver didn’t care that she was violating CTA safety guidelines designed to protect the rest of us. And you obviously can’t be bothered to contact a customer who voiced a concern and complaint because it would look too much like you actually cared about what the rider/customer thinks.
Oh yeah, and you owe me $30 for new sandals since I ruined mine having to walk in the rain because of this whole fiasco. I’ll be expecting the check in the mail.

Something not to be subjected to.

This morning I received one of those automated phone surveys asking me several questions, all of them directly linked to the Republican candidate for Illinois governor, Bill Brady.

It’s my day off, and I don’t have anything better to do at the moment, so let me take a few minutes to answer it. Why not? And I’m glad I did.

The first few questions were around whether I supported the reasoning for high school students and their parents to choose what school to go to rather than be subjected to violence and danger in their neighborhood. With all of thew violence against Chicago Public students in the past few years, I feel that if parents can afford it or have a choice, why not? If the kids are serious about education and it’s the neighborhood issue, why not let them go somewhere else? I don’t encourage letting the violence infect other schools and neighborhoods, but if they want to learn, they should have that opportunity.

The next few questions started taking a slant towards differentiating between Democratic candidate Pat Quinn and Mr. Brady. Do I support the raising of taxes that Mr. Quinn has seemingly endorsed? No, especially in a city with the highest tax rate in the country. Between income, sales and property taxes, I feel like I give half of my money to the state of Illinois as it is. So no, I don’t want my taxes increased.

But the questions that followed, which continued along a similar vein, gave me cause for alarm. Do I support a bill being introduced by some Pastor guy allowing for kids to be given money so they can go to any school of their choosing, whether it be Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, etc.? Uh, no. First of all, religious individuals don’t need to be mixing in matters of state, that’s where things get weird because religious dogma begins to cloud the situation and the next thing you know, just because the Bible says it’s so means it’s a bad thing. Sure enough, next question comes, ‘In regards to abortion, do you consider yourself Pro- life?’. No, because I think people should get to decide what goes on with their own bodies, and if they think their God is pissed at them for doing something, that’s between them and their God.

So I look at Mr. Brady’s beliefs, and sure enough, he supports teaching creationism in Illinois’ schools. In fact, he wants to eliminate the state Board of Education, which is it’s own entity, in favor for a group that reports to the governor. And does what he wants. And now he’s controlling what gets taught in schools and what doesn’t, like yes for creationism but no to abortion and sex education. Uh, no, we want to keep it independent so a group of people can come to a consensus and not let one person dictate docterine.

Meanwhile, Mr. Brady supports Pro-life, and banning all abortion even in cases or rape and incest. So when a 12 year old girl is raped by her uncle and forced to have the baby, that’s okay. But to choose to terminate the pregnancy…that’s not??? Wow, a man telling all women what to do. That is so… neanderthal. You know, If a woman wants to have an abortion, I see that as being one’s inalienable right to themselves. Their body. I wouldn’t do it personally, but I would want to have a say it what goes on in my life. Because it’s my life. And I refuse to argue with people who say it’s murder or it’s a sin, because not you are trying to force your religious beliefs or morality on me. Once again, my choice, my life, my say. Mind your own fucking business. You don’t want to do it because to you it’s murder? Fine, don’t have an abortion. Let’s move on.

The next question is the one that serious pissed me off. ‘Do you support the civil unions between homosexuals, and do you support subjecting our troops in the military to homosexuals in their ranks, on their ships, in their bunks and showers?’ Subjecting? I am someone to be subjected to? Well okay, maybe sometimes, but wow, what a complete and utter prejudicial way to say something. And you know Mr. Brady approved this. Come on, the same man who believes abortion is a sin, and creationism should be taught in public schools, why wouldn’t he believe marriage is only between one man and one woman that man should be able to control? And gays, we are lower people that people are subjected to…hell in 2005, he didn’t think enough of gays that he voted against the ban on discrimination against gays and lesbians. The ban passed, no thanks to him. But as we can see, he doesn’t like being subjected to us, and doesn’t think anyone else should either.

I was never so happy to shout yes in the phone as when I did in response to that biased question.

Afterwards, I talked to my friend Alan on the phone, and we discussed why the Republican party (or for that matter, any political party) tries to front their political advances with a tool like Brady. All it ends up making them look like is extremist that really don’t move the party lines in a positive manner, but rather just asserts to the other side that fear mongering and hatred is the way they are attempting to influence people. Similarly, the movement that says Obama is moving us towards socialism, or that wish him dead have started with politicians who want to move extremist agendas because their failed concept of the American fabric has torn and been soiled and we are now all doomed to be struck down by God for our evil ways. It’s a back and forth battle; One side says something, the other goes to the extreme, then the other reacts in extreme, and so on. Unfortunately, I see most of the pandering and hate mongering from the political conservatives and Republican party. And it’s escalated so much, the hate and severity of it all is now rampant, a happy medium is no longer possible. It’s looked upon as weak or milquetoast. I’m not saying kumbaya and let’s all get along here, but how far away does it look to be a second civil war, where the extreme right and extreme left fracture the country as a whole and everyone hates everyone else?

But I am starting to look beyond my Illinois back yard to the national stage, and I really can’t equate being considered a being to be subjected to as the launch pad for wishing our President dead, now can I? Actually I can. It’s not such an unrealistic leap anymore. Of course, the opposition will deny, and what I will hear is that Brady does not speak for the party as a whole. I mean, he is the candidate that the party has endorsed, and he is the one that will represent if he makes it to office… why wouldn’t I assume he does? Isn’t he the person chosen by the party to represent them in this situation? But I hope that rational and realistic heads will prevail, Brady will not win the election, and this situation never materializes. After all, if he does, I’m not someone he would want to be subjected to. And when thinking like that takes hold and is in charge, I can only know that where it leads is to a very bad place that frankly I don’t want to be subjected to, and neither would you.

Hatred of spewing hate

I’m sure the title of this post have a few people going, huh?

I mean, the irony isn’t lost on me either. I’m a self proclaimed misanthrope, which by definition is a generalized dislike, distrust, disgust, contempt, or hatred of the human species (thanks, Wikipedia). And certainly, I bitch, I moan, I point out folly of the stupidity that is the human species, which is not to say I’m ever perfect. Far from it. I just think it’s more entertaining to pull apart the errors of others ways.

Even if I did ‘hate’ someone, this is my piece of lawn out here in cyberspace for people to view if they wish. A link is posted on my Facebook page for friends to come and read, but other than that, no advertising. No force mandated read or observation to visit. Hell, the most views I’ve ever had is 23 in a day, I think that’s a lot. It’s my opinion, in my quiet corner of the world, and I’m sticking with it.

On the other hand, if I stood outside a naval officer’s funeral with big signs that said “Thank God For Dead Soldiers”, I’m forcing my opinion out into the public. I’m intruding on a captivate audience who are there mourning a fallen soldier/son/daughter/sibling/friend/whomever. I’m chanting aloud “I’m glad he’s dead” or “He deserved to die”, and for those people, trying to sit quietly and deal with the loss of a loved one, they are trapped having to hear this vocal barrage. Free speech? Perhaps, like my blog it is to an extent. But a line has been crossed where the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and religious belief has been boisterously inflicted on an assembled group of people of differing beliefs, and who can’t escape the harassment or pain my beliefs have inflicted on them.

Now I would never ever do this, say that I thank God for dead soldiers. First of all, because I don’t believe that officer serving in the military deserved to die. I may not agree or like war, but sometimes it became a necessary evil that in the country’s history, became a determining factor in our existence and freedom. I support our troops, and mourn their loss. They are doing something that frankly I just don’t have the ability to do. It’s brave and exhausting. I’ve had friends spend tours in Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran. My Grandfather served in WWII, a Sargent, a member of Merrill’s Marauders in Burma. They all defended our country, and I’m proud of them.

Secondly, I don’t believe God or whatever spiritual being a person prays to has any reason to be glad that people are happy other people are dead. I may immensely dislike a person, even wish that karma gets them in the end. And yes I’ve casually may have told someone to be gone before a house dropped on them as well, sometimes in jest, and sometime, in not so good nature of a way . I’ve been mistreated and can’t stand it when some person who thinks they are above another and so blatantly flaunts it doesn’t think their actions don’t impact the feelings of others. To be deliberately rude, hurtful or inflict pain in the name of one’s God or simply for the sheer bliss it brings is narcissistic and frankly sociopathic. And that person certainly does not worship the benevolent all loving God that Christians were raised to believe in and whose son died for us so that we could eat ham this Sunday and celebrate Easter (well, maybe not just eat ham, but you know what I mean). This is also why I have such an immense dislike of religion as an organization, sects and churches and buildings rather than the sheer joy that it supposedly brings. It’s all been bastardized by people like the Catholic church and, in extreme, Phelps. I don’t need someone telling me what to believe or how I need to believe it. But that’s a whole other post.

So no, I would never do what that unconscionable man Fred Phelps did outside of Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder’s funeral, which caused his father and family so much distress. And Mr. Phelp’s Westboro Baptist Church does this at many military funerals, at GLBT events and parades, and at Matthew Shepherd’s funeral. Basically they do this because they say God takes delight in the death of these soldiers, defending our nation, because homosexuality has ravaged the US and we are all going to pay for it. Yes, that is actually their platform. But Albert Snyder had enough, and sued and won against the fundamentalist church for the emotional strain and stress they inflicted at his son’s funeral. He won, too. But of course, in our fair and equitable justice system, the ruling was overturned pending Supreme Court interference, and now Mr. Snyder is being told, as a result, he has to pay Westboro’s legal fees. So not only has a man who’s son serving our military and government lost his life in a war for this nation, but that same government turned around and said, sorry, even though those people upset you, attacked your son, said he deserved to die, they have a right to harass you during your moment of utmost grief, force you to listen to their hateful chants that haunt your dreams, and now you have to pay for their court costs.

Completely fair, right? Fuck that.

To merely say the deliberate spewing of hatred is wrong is a criminal understatement in a situation like this. Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist ‘church’, you are all a bunch of sociopaths. You wish people dead, you say God Hates Fags, you say Thank God for IEDS (improvised explosive devices, used mainly in suicide bombings and road side bombs in the current war), and call military funerals pagan and blasphemous. My head literally wants to explode at this. My immense dislike wants to boil over into hatred. I want to scream, to cry, to hit, to sue, even kill this bastard. To have such an inconsequential repulsion for a human life almost turns me murderous. And to most rational human beings, it should. Hell, even Bill O’Reilly thinks Phelps is a tool.

But then I have remorse. I feel sorry for this man. He’s pathetic. I mean, look at him for starters, he’s practically the Crypt Keeper.

Basically, when he does die, and mercifully may it be soon for the rest of us, he’s going to be in for a nasty surprise if he thinks he’s going to be shown the gates of heaven by his God. Frankly, I have him pegged for the his eternity walking with his head twisted backwards on his body around with the rest of the false prophets and frauds in Dante’s eighth circle of Hell, but where in the Inferno he may reside can be argued.

What it all comes down to is this: I’m appalled at what Fred Phelps stands for and believes in. His right to believe, yes, even as misguided and stupid of a belief that it is. His right to say his opinion, yes. But his right to inflict pain and cheer murder and hatred and celebrate it? No. To force people to endure it in the way they did, while attending a funeral, is abuse of his right to free speech. This man stands for everything that is the opposite of what this nation stands for, and to let him win another battle like this is disgusting. And for him to do it in the name of God… I do not know what God you worship, but I do not remember reading in the Bible to celebrate murder and hate people because they are different. What book are you reading? What it fosters is more hatred, and more acceptance and indifference to this hatred. To spew hate just for the pleasure of spewing it should be just as repulsive to you as it is to me.