John Fogerty and You

Have any of you listened to the new John Fogerty album? You know, the guy from Creedence Clearwater Revival who hasn't really done anything in the past...30 years? Well, he just put out a new album, and I'll give you a taste of what it's saying:

Long Dark Night:

George is in the jungle
knockin’ on the door
come to get your children
wants to have a war

Come on
Lord you’d better run
Be a long dark night
before this thing is done

Brownie's in the outhouse
Katrina on the line
government's a disaster
But George, he says it’s fine

Come on
lord you’d better run
be a long dark night
before this thing is done

Rummy's in the kitchen
messin’ with the pan
Dickie’s in the back
stealing everything he can

Come on
Lord you’d better run
be a long dark night
before this thing is done

You better run
you better run
Lord you better run
Lord you better run

Runnin’ down the highway
shoutin’ to the Lord
George's got religion
and you know he can’t afford more, yeah

Come on
Lord you’d better run
be a long dark night
before this thing is done

be a long dark night
before this thing is done
oh Lord

In the vein of old-school Creedence meets...I dunno, the Dead Kennedy's or something. I guess you could call it new-age swamp rock. Not quite southern punk (although some of his songs are), but damn close.

If you can, buy this amazing album. You will not be disappointed.

-Anteaus

The Right-wing Media and You

Oh boy, oh boy oh boy.

This isn't a commentary about an article I read, per se, but rather a commentary on the blatant disregard for news that our media takes when it comes to reporting it.

If you follow the news at all, like I do, you'll see that some news stations are better than others...at reporting entertainment. It's sick when the OJ Simpson trial or whatever the hell it was gets more attention by Faux News than the Blackwater scandal that's ripping apart British headlines. When Britney Spears warrants more media attention than the war in Iraq does, it's a bad day in news.

But there's a reason. See, in the White House, there's a thing called the "Spin Room." It used to be called the "Press Room," but anyone connected with that room couldn't legally call it that because there's too much lying going on. Now, here are the rules of the "Spin Room:"

1. No reporting on anything you have heard.
2. No asking relavent questions.
3. No photographs showing the President in a bad light.
4. No doing your job as Press Corps Agents and actually reporting the news.
5. You must print the story that the White House has given for you (copies on the back table).
The penalty for breaking even one rule is blacklistment from any future journalism jobs.

Now, we here at Freadom Meadows believe in a free press. One that is not burdened or hampered by the mass amounts of lies and spin that is directly fed from the hand of the Bush Administration. We believe in Walter Cronkite. We believe in Dan Rather. We believe in the news.

Because the news of today is nothing. It's run by a trust of media conglomerates who pander to the White House because they don't want bad things happening to their families. The only person who doesn't have to fear is Rupert Murdoch, and the only reason why that is is that he and George Bush, Jr. have pillowfights on Friday nights. Sometimes, it goes a bit further than that, but we'll respect the privacy of the President.

The news is no longer news. If you want news, read Common Dreams, or the Daily Kos, or the BBC.

-Anteaus

The Evil Ways of the Republicans

I still can't get over the SCHIP veto thing. In fact, I listened to Lars Larson explain why they actually did veto it. And he said that it "helps illegal immigrants, increases spending and gives healthcare to people who don't need it."

That's a crock of shit. And I know it.

My wife and I are not poor. We are not rich, but we are lower-middle-class economically. We make about $35,000 per year, with a two-year-old to feed. We do it. We pay the rent, and the car, and the insurance for the car. And that leaves us, after all is said and done, with about $150 a month to play around with.

Now, for those of you who don't know, health insurance costs a bit more that $150 a month. Try...$450. Or $500, depending on where you're shopping. I know, because I got quotes. I saw the plans.

Now my daughter does not have healthcare. She's overdue for her 2-year-old shots because I can't affording the fucking things because I have no money for which to pay the fucking costs of the fucking shots. The only way that she could get shots...is if SCHIP kicked in.

Because we would be covered. We don't make enough money for private healthcare, and our companies do not offer it. SCHIP could have gotten my daughter her shot. But she can't get it now, because my wife and I cannot afford to get them.

Bush and John McCain and whoever else was against this bill are evil. They do not care about America, because at the end of the day America is reliant on its children. The poor, the homeless, the wealthy, the affluent, it doesn't matter. These are the people who are going to fill our shoes. And we're throwing them to the dogs.

And for what? Just because we can? Because there's too much cost associated with the SCHIP program? Because it provides services to illegal children? WHO THE FUCK CARES!?!?!?!? Personally, I don't give a flying fuck if some illegal gets his two-year-old shots, because that baby just might get deported back to Mexico when he's seven and become a leader in Mexico that propels it to the standards that we in America have.

This is sick. Anyone who is for spending blank checks on a senseless war which is killing thousands of people every year, and not for spending money on a bill that can save thousands of lives a year is an amoral, sadistic, cold, evil-hearted, fucked-up son of a bitch and should burn in hell for eternity.

So fuck the Republicans, because kids always come first.

The Evilness of Bush...

SCHIP. The State Children's Health Insurance Program. And Bush vetoed it. The full story's here, on MSNBC:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21111931/

Apparently, giving free healthcare to children in families who make too much to be supported by the government, but too little to be supported by the private insurance companies, is a bad thing. These kids are evil, I say, evil! We must smite them with the glimmer of hope, which is then quashed by a man in a shitty pinstripe suit by a veto.

And the Democrats, while trying to get an override, fear they don't have enough support in the House to overturn the veto. How sick is that?

Seriously. This is a serious question: how fucked up do you have to be to veto a bill for kids? There is something seriously wrong with this president, beyond his screwed up view on Christianity or his zealous belief in pax americana. It goes past his undying belief that the world will be a better place where business runs the government. This delves into the realm of the seriously twisted. These are kids, the ones who we are charged with protecting no matter what the cost. If it costs $.67 more for a pack of cigarettes, so be it. I don't smoke, but I know plenty who do, and they're all more than willing to pay a buck more for their cigarettes if it means thatt their kids get the healthcare they deserve.

This is just wrong. And what else...John McCain is supporting the veto! Talk about a complete campaign killer, I mean, even Republicans are supporting this bill! How can he do this and still sleep at night?

I don't know. Do you?

-Anteaus