Sunday, April 10, 2016

The Hell of regrets....



With all the flap about North Carolina and Mississippi legislatures taking a Jesus stand against LGBT folks…and completely missing the irony of the fact that they have already been serially on the wrong side of history for generations….I give props to PayPal and Bruce Springsteen and Charles Barkley for drawing a line in the sand, pulling up stakes and moving on to more rainbow pastures.


What I object to in this whole deal is the term “homophobe”.


Today we had a black guy come in and share what life is really like in the Carolinas.  As a musician he is used to moving in all kinds of circles.  In the Carolinas there are many, many restaurants and bars that he still can’t go into with his white friends.  Still.  This is not just racism... it is race hatred.  


“Homophobe” means “afraid of homosexuals or homosexuality”.  I submit to you that the folks in Mississippi and North Carolina have gone way past fear and are into full on hatred.  Not sure the Latin term for “hatred of homosexuality” is.


My dear departed brother, Rob (whose 62nd birthday we just didn’t celebrate) was gay My dad, Roger was gay, it turns out. .  Good on them.  They were originals way back before it was “OK” to be gay.  I mean, my dad was a NYC banker.  I remember the day he wore a blue striped Brooks Brothers shirt to work. He was shitting himself with worry.  Rob was the first secretary of ActUp in New York, etc.


Funny how Rob always had the hot, smart girlfriends in high school.


Anyway….based on my genetics….I have a little homophobia.  Lurking fear that….well?  


I am also kind of scared of depression, alcoholism and anger related issues that have popped up for generations in our family.


Locally we have very little actual race hatred…and a declining amount of actual LGBT hatred.  We still have homophobia.

Lots of the local general pop are afraid of homosexuality.  Unsure, worried, not understanding…..but not hateful.


I feel sorry for the Miss/Carolina folk.  I think they will live to regret their hatred and their actions.  Jesus actually always in all situations loved all his people…..and all his critters and plants, for that matter.  Anyone have a count of the gay, hermaphroditic, etc plants and critters around us?


Our local folks I worry more about.  I don’t’ see hatred.  I see fear. Still, there is a curse to come for these folks, too.  And Jesus has nothing to do with it.


When you turn your back on your beautiful, hard-working daughter…and her love choice (who is also gorgeous, genrous and hard working to a fault) when they choose to expose their love to public scrutiny by getting married….you are going to cursed.


Not by Jesus.  By your own self, and your regrets as the world passes you by, and you lose track of the best people in your life.


In twenty years, when you are sharing a room with your buddy Jim in the Heavy Equipment Operators Rest Home (for some reason, none of the available women are into you anymore) and your grandchildren are confused and scared by your attitude to their moms…..


You will be boiling in a hell of your own regrets.  I promise.


Guys….women:  don’t be afraid!  It’s OK.  These are great, great girls….and if they have a connection and want to make a life together…..support them. 

Heroes are made not born.  You can do it. .  


Go with hope…and faith.  Duh, love.


Jesus would approve. That’s what he did.

Tuesday, April 05, 2016

Single Payer is not the Devil......

Folks who rail against single payer health care have clearly never actually experienced it.
There are two ways of looking at single payer. As a recovering multi-generation Republican (my people go back before Abe Lincoln, so shut up) the practical aspects of Single Payer are the first things I think of.
As I go through my day-to-day life, driving, shopping here and there, selling beer and cigarettes at my Store, making sandwiches and potato salad for sale there, catering in people’s houses, carrying around my iPhone, plugging in my Fire thingy into my plasma TV, toasting myself a bagel and smearing it with butter stored in my Kenmore fridge, grabbing a quick bite at Ocean Sushi……I am covered by literally dozens of insurance policies to guarantee my health and safety….and care, even long-term.... if everything goes pear shaped.
Fridge supports a black mold because the subcontractor fucked up the gasket that seals it, or the other sub-contractor fucked up the frost-free fan….or the sub-contractor of the sub-contractor fucked up the bearings in the frost-free fan. Safeway, Valero, and Ocean Sushi have slip and fall insurance…and product liability. All of the folks who sell all of the things that are for sale at Safeway, Valero and Ocean Sushi have product liability insurance. As do all of the folks down to the seed supplier for the farmer that grew the onions that wind up in your Sarah Lee frozen dinner.
Forget dozens….I am insured by hundreds of policies every time I leave my bed….which is also insured….manufacturer, subs, etc….plus by homeowners in case the ceiling falls in. No worries, the Ingram’s who did the sheet rock work had liability insurance 35 years ago, as did Adrian the electrician from Prunedale who put in the lights, and Phillips Eindhoven with the bulbs, etc, etc.
If there is single payer….ALL of these costs go away. One guy pays if and only if someone gets hurt by something somewhere.from the giant cascade of products and services that surround us.
Car and homeowners insurance only covers negligence and malicious damage….and then only for “pain and suffering.” Good luck with that.
All of all these insurances go away……Product costs drop, service costs drop, rents drop….It is such a no-brainer that even the most economically conservative magazine in the world…The Economist from London…agrees.
All that money that was not given to lawyers and insurance companies can go to actual people, services, investment.....
Open your eyes!  Bernie is not Stalin.