fractions speak louder than words

As the occupy movement readies itself for what looks to be a long cold winter, support and opposition seem to be taking form in strange and confounding ways. I know that the people who live and work in the Wall Street area, even those who support the action, are rapidly tiring of all the drum beating and saber rattling. And even without a well defined message coming from the movement, the rest of the country seems to be queueing up to either allign with or disassociate themselves from the protestors. And the media doesn't know what to do with a news story that lasts for more than a couple of cycles with very few updates on which to report. But the first step in any recovery program is admitting that there is a problem. The problem however, resides not in lower Manhattan, but in Washington. The President's approval rating is somewhere around fifty percent, which given the state of the state of the economy, is not surprising. Congress, on the other hand, is not so highly regarded, with approval at only about 10%. People seem to be displeased with the White House, but far more displeased with the House of Representatives. These are all people who work for us. They were all elected to serve the people of the United States, and the people who elected them are largely dis-satisfied with the job they are doing. Or not doing. With the global economy faltering, and public confidence dwindling even further, the Congress of the United States last week could find nothing more appropriate to do with it's inherent power, than call to a vote a re-affirmation of the motto IN GOD WE TRUST. With an array of important issues facing this nation, some of them dire and immediate, this is how Congress chooses to spend it's time. As irresponsibly as the financial sector has acted, the political system is doing far more damage. The message out of Washington seems to be; Trust in God, because we aren't to be trusted.

I'll have what she's having

My great-grandmother was born a full blood indian. Back in those days there was a lot of inter-tribal warfare. Raiding parties would regularly take women and children captives back to their tribe. To help combat these practices and sort out who belonged to whom, my ancestors took to tattooing the children. An indelible proof of lineage that would last a lifetime. My great-grandmother's tribal tattoo was a bird and three diamonds. She was not proud of it at all. In her later life she wore long button sleeves and gloves to hide it from view. At that time only prostitutes and sailors had tattoos, and she didn't want to be identified as either. So very few people ever saw the tattoo. Which is sad, becase if I was going to pick an image to be put onto my body, it would be that one. The tattoo my great-grandmother had. My tribal symbol, my family crest, my heritage. But hardly anybody ever saw it, and nobody seems very sure of what it looks like.

first in the nation

Today I responded to a comment on a friends facebook page. Somebody was all bent out of shape, saying basically that the Midwest was different from the rest of the country, and should secede from the Union, or something. And since this person felt misrepresented in Washington, they felt that at the very least their little area should be able to make new laws just for them. I thought that this was a perfect time to quote one of my favorite laws, the 14th amendment. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States. Nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law, nor deny to any person within it's jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. It's so beautuful. It talks about States making fucked up laws, it talks about police power, it even covers immigration. A brilliantly conceived bit of legislation. And conservatives seem to hate it. This person did anyway, they said that nobody pays attention to the fourteenth amendment anyway, but at least they had God, and that at least they could still go pray. To which I replied that God is great. They took down all of their posts. I win.