Archive for September, 2008

The bail out failed.  Americans are in turmoil. And half the country is screaming that the Democrats did it.  The rest are screaming that the Republicans did it.  Now, you all surely know me by now.  The Republicans did it with the bland complicity OF the Democrats.  De-regulation, remember that?  The concept that “business” knows best and government needs to nose OUT, remember that?

And now, everyone wants it fixed right away.  Not.  Going. To. Happen.  It is like the global climate change, folks—Presidential fiat can’t change that either.  The wheels of drastic and lasting change have been put in motion and there are no brakes.  We might gear down a little from either the planetary “You fucked me up, now it’s my turn” or the Wall Street rollercoaster of doom ride, but make no mistake—-we are taking the ride.

Many progressives are pissed at Congress for crashing the markets.  I have read some sources that say stocks were in a nose dive BEFORE the no votes were all counted.  Many are screaming that the deal failed because of sulking Republicans being pissy with Pelosi; others are screaming that it is all Pelosi’s fault.  Stop whining, all of you.  Pelosi hasn’t grown a spine before and yet suddenly we are to believe that a few words of hers had this effect?  Come off it, the GOP legislators wanted an excuse.  At long last, they are afraid of their pissed on and pissed off constituents, they didn’t want to have thier names on this piece of shit.

Yes, something MUST be done.  But is this the “it”?  Really?  There is anger because individuals and small businesses making the mistakes that these huge banks made do fail DAILY and learn from the experience.  The fact that so much stands to fall into ruin if these hubristic, spoilt rich pricks are not rescued speaks volumes to me about REAL market correction and re-set.  I am not an economics major.  I never had money to handle, I have nothing in the market and barely know what a 401K is, much less own one.

But a few thoughts occur to me as I got up in pre-dawn darkness.  If it all needs this much propping up, doesn’t that suggest it will fall down sooner or later anyhow and all those bail out funds will have been good money after bad?  And good money into pockets of bad men, perhaps?  This is where the working class mentality lives, you see?  People like me don’t understand being asked to trust and pay when it is all we have done all our lives—and we are beginning to see how screwed we have been.

And no, I do not understand why, as a fav blogger (Badtux) puts it, why it would be looney to rescue mortgaged householders instead of the banks.  Is it worse to risk money on little people instead of big people on bank boards for some serious reason?  Saving the rich, we are told, will save the poor—at least per Sarah Palin.  And you know what?  In my experience, very few rich folks ever have given a shit about poor folks, so pardon my skeptical nature here.

If those banks failing and market companies shuddering at window ledges were all run by Paul Newman, I might think the buy out a great idea.  But they are not, they are run by guys who make hundreds of millions in compensation….even when failing and firing thousands of little guys whose house payments then default.

And is it terribly stupid of me to think that if banks had not decided on bubble interest rates a lot of mortgages wouldn’t have failed?   And yet, some commentators blame the householders.  “They should have known they couldn’t take that 5% bump in interest after ten years.”  Right.  So should the banker.  But the bankers said “Well, you know….that is a long time, you will get raises, finish college, be making more money….and hey, who knows, you might have sold the house before then.”  Why are individual homeowners SO culpable for thinking they might somehow pull it out of their hats; but bankers are not usurous bastards for coming up with this scheme to make obscene profits for themselves?

The whole blame the homeowners thing reminds me of the way rape victims used to be talked about: “She should never have been out that late…and omg, dressed in that short skirt.”  Right.  How dare minorities reach for the dream of home ownership.  How dare a woman walk the streets with bare legs. How dare someone with minimum hopes and minimum pay and minimum education believe a banker who tells them “You CAN do this!”  Yeah, sure, they all should have known better.

We peons shouldn’t hope that we really CAN win the American dream.  And now we should happily bail out our betters, because even if they did set this whole mess in motion with their unholy fucking greed, it is OUR fault for trying to get a piece of that pie for ourselves?   I am not buying that, sorry.  Sure, plan a rescue, but make the people who set this in motion pay it all back WITH interest.  Gods know, they never made a loan that wasn’t paid that way….why the hell should they GET such a loan?

It is too dark for me to think my way out of this, but I am so NOT ready to “make nice” as the Dixie Chicks put it.

And John McCain, who thinks this is not the time to assign blame?  Well he can kiss my ass, too.  It is time to determine responsibility and then move to a solution that doesn’t reward greedy asshattery, because otherwise?  Yes, it is just more of the SAME.  I am no Savronola, but it might just be time for America to throw some popular ideas of blame, responsibility, and what being American truly means onto the bonfire.  Will your vanity keep you warm this winter?

It has been a quiet month, has it not?  I am fighting some sort of allergy hell/sinus crud and it is as well I wasn’t trying to enlighten the world even in a minor way with my wit and knowledge.

I did post more writings at my live journal account (which is where the Honey House Journal is actually located – labrys6.livejournal.com), but it was peaceful here while financial worlds “ended” and Candidate McCain claimed victory in debate….who DOES he think he is fooling?

I will be back to posting soon as I catch up with fall and stop using kleenex at a rate of 10 per minute.

Again it is time to count the dead…the moon phase has turned to new….and first are the non-American Coalition dead of the last month.  All died in Afghanistan, indication of the increasing chaos in that place.  (Also, I shall now list the Coalition dead at EVERY moon phase rather than just new moon, since it doesn’t seem fair that others searching for names should wait a month).(Daily updates of the list of the dead occur at the message board (the forum) at http://www.walkofthefallen.com/forum/index.php )

The non-US  Coalition dead from the last month:

Killed in Afghanistan:
(1)Christiansen, Tim Christian    (Sergeant 1st Class)   29   Denmark   IED

(2)Meier, Mischa   Hauptfeldwebel   29   Germany                                    IED

(3)Alexandrescu, Dragos Traian   Sergentul major   32   Romania            IED

(4)Grenon, Andrew Paul     Corporal   23   Canada                                       rocket fire

(5)Seggie, Michael James Alexander   Corporal   21   Canada                rocket fire

(6)Horn, Chadwick James   Private   21   Canada                                        rocket fire

(7)Cupples, Justin James   Ranger   29   UK                                                          IED

(8)ten Brinke, Jos   soldaat der eerste klasse   21   Netherlands                IED

(9)O’Donnell, Gary   Warrant Officer Class 2   40   UK                                 IED

(10)Rawstron, Jason Lee   Private   23   UK                                           small arms fire

(11)Mason, Nicky     Lance Corporal   26   UK                                           small arms fire, explosion

And US service members killed or reported since the last moon phase:

(12)1st Lt. Thomas J. Brown, 26, of Burke, Va. – Army – Iraq – small arms fire

(13)Chaplain (Col.) Sidney J. Marceaux Jr., 69, of Beaumont, Texas, died Sept 14 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C., from a non-combat related illness.  Prior to his illness, he served the Army in Kuwait supporting the war in Iraq.

(14)Capt. Bruno G. Desolenni, 32, of Crescent City, Calif., Army NG, Afghanistan – IED

(15)Staff Sgt. Ronald Phillips Jr., 33, of Conway, S.C., Army – Iraq – IED

(16)Capt. Michael J. Medders, 25, of Ohio, Army – Iraq – suicide bomber attack

(The  two men below died before the moon phase change, but their names were released only recently)

(17)Cryptologic Technician Third Class Petty Officer Matthew J. O’Bryant, 22, of Duluth, Ga., Navy – supporting Afghanistan war – Marriott Hotel bombing in Pakistan

(18)Staff Sgt. Matthew J. Taylor, 25, of Charleston, S.C., Army – Iraq – small arms fire

My sympathies to the families.  I do not have photographs, which some of you may be seeking, perhaps this link can help you:

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/fallen/

The final image is the one I added just before beginning this project, one hundred mixed beads…glass, shell, stone, ceramic with large shell counters.  Five thousand, four hundred beads for the men and women of American and Coalition forces who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan.  A harvest of grief and memories for their families.  Remember the cost of many American choices are being paid in blood.

One hundred rose beads with spiny oyster and aventurine.

One hundred glass beads with shell counter.

Many folks end up here searching for pictures of the dead, I do not have the wherewithal to post such pictures;  but the following link may help you:

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/fallen/

Two hundred shell and glass beads, with stone and shell counters.

Many folks end up here searching for pictures of the dead, I do not have the wherewithal to post such pictures;  but the following links may help you:

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/fallen/

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties/

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2004/oef.casualties/

One hundred beads of shell, glass, and stone with large shell counter.  And looking at the sad representations of 100 lives of beautiful men and women gone foreve, I can only think of the words of an old song….sang by everyone from Joan Baez to newer artists: Brothers in Arms

These mist covered mountains
Are a home now for me
But my home is the lowlands
And always will be
Some day you’ll return to me
Your valleys and your farms
And you’ll no longer burn
To be brothers in arms

Through these fields of destruction
Baptisms of fire
I’ve witnessed all your suffering
As the battle raged higher
And though they did hurt me so bad
In the fear and alarm
You did not desert me
My brothers in arms

There’s so many different worlds
So many different suns
And we have just one world
But we live in different ones

Now the sun’s gone to hell
And the moon’s riding high
Let me bid you farewell
Every man has to die
But it’s written in the starlight
And every line on your palm
We’re fools to make war
On our brothers in arms

Two hundred shell beads, with stone and crystal counters.

The following names are those released since the last moon phase, service members who have died in the wars in Iraq & Afghanistan. My sympathies to their loved ones.  Obviously, some who were killed in this same time period are not listed; this is because the names sometimes take days or weeks to be released.  A more current list is always available at the message board (The Forum) under the folder “Taps” here at the Walk of the Fallen website. (http://www.walkofthefallen.com/forum/index.php?action=home)  Also, many folks end up here searching for pictures of the dead, I do not have the wherewithal to post such pictures;  but the following links may help you:

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/fallen/

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties/

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2004/oef.casualties/

I have noted that many more National Guardmen are dying. They have, of course, been serving all along and dying, but there seem to be more of them as numbers of regular Army troops are more difficult to maintain. I hereby order any veterans and military personnel of my personal acquaintance to stop using the derogatory term “National Girls” as humor. It isn’t funny when they are serving and dying at such rates because our government hasn’t GOT enough Army to do the job.

(1)Staff Sgt. Darris J. Dawson, 24, of Pensacola, Fla. – Army – Iraq – non-hostile incident (shot by fellow soldier)

(2)Sgt. Wesley R. Durbin, 26, of Hurst, Texas. – Army – Iraq – non-hostile incident(shot by fellow soldier)

(3)Lt. Col. Ralph J. Marino, 46, of Houston, Pa., Army – supporting Iraq in Kuwait, from illness

(4)Pfc. Leonard J. Gulczynski I, 19, of Carol Stream, Ill. – Army – Iraq – vehicle accident

(5)Capt. Darrick D. Wright, 37, of Nashville, Tenn. – Army – Iraq – illness

(6)Lt. Col. James L. Wiley, 46, of North Bend, Ore., – Army – Afghanistan – non-combat incident

A Chinook helicopter went down in Iraq on September 18th:

(7) Chief Warrant Officer Corry A. Edwards, 38, of Kennedale, Texas, who was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 149th Aviation, 36th Combat Aviation Brigade, Texas Army National Guard, Grand Prairie, Texas.

(8)Chief Warrant Officer Corry A. Edwards, 38, of Kennedale, Texas, who was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 149th Aviation, 36th Combat Aviation Brigade, Texas Army National Guard, Grand Prairie, Texas.

(9)Sgt. Daniel M. Eshbaugh, 43, of Norman, Okla., who was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 149th Aviation, 36th Combat Aviation Brigade, Oklahoma National Guard, Lexington, Okla.

(10)Sgt. Anthony L. Mason, 37, of Springtown, Texas, who was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 149th Aviation, 36th Combat Aviation Brigade, Texas Army National Guard, Grand Prairie, Texas.

(11)1st Sgt. Julio C. Ordonez, 54, of San Antonio, who was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 149th Aviation, 36th Combat Aviation Brigade, Texas Army National Guard, Grand Prairie, Texas.

(12)Chief Warrant Officer Brady J. Rudolf, 37, of Oklahoma City, who was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 149th Aviation, 36th Combat Aviation Brigade, Oklahoma National Guard, Lexington, Okla.

(13)Cpl. Michael E. Thompson, 23, of Harrah, Okla., who was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 149th Aviation, 36th Combat Aviation Brigade, Oklahoma National Guard, Lexington, Okla.

(14)1st Lt. Robert Vallejo II, 28, of Richland Hills, Texas, who was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 149th Aviation, 36th Combat Aviation Brigade, Texas Army National Guard, Grand Prairie, Texas.

(15)Maj. Rodolfo I. Rodriguez, 34, of El Paso, Texas – Air Force -IED – in Pakistan (supporting the war in Afghanistan)
(16)Staff Sgt. Brandon W. Farley, 30, of Haworth, Okla. – Army – Afghanistan – small arms fire and RPG attack

The following 4 men died when their vehicle hit an IED in Aghanistan:
(17)Sgt. Joshua W. Harris, 21, of Romeoville, Ill., Army National Guard

(18)Capt. Bruce E. Hays, 42, of Cheyenne, Wyo., Army National Guard,

(19)1st Lt. Mohsin A. Naqvi, 26, of Newburgh, N.Y. – Army

(20)SSgt. Jason A. Vazquez, 24, of Chicago, Ill., Army National Guard,

* A lot more men from the National Guard units of various states are dying….they have been serving at increasing rates to replace regular Army personnel.

(21)Sgt. Jerome C. Bell Jr., 29, of Auburn, N.Y. – Marine – Afghanistan -combat ops

(22)SSgt. Nathan M. Cox, 32, of Walcott, Iowa – Army – Afghanistan -IED

(23)Pvt. Joseph F. Gonzales, 18, of Tucson, Ariz. – Army – Afghanistan -IED

In less than a week, one man for every day of this month., plus one….as the moon phase turns and marks the Autumnal Equinox. Pagans like myself often refer to the next sabbat (Samhain) after this one, which is called “Harvest Home” by some, as the “soul harvest”. Obviously, we are in error….every sabbat now harvests souls. Mourning crosses all traditions of belief…oh, that more than grief could be universal.