November 13, 2002
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The number of people I really want to kill increased by about 40,000 this morning. According to the American Humane Society, that is the number of people across the country engaged in making animals fight to the death for their own twisted pleasure. This little factoid turned up in a Florida news story on how golden retrievers were being kidnapped and used as “bait,” training adjuncts for pit bulls and the like. These worthless callous fucking rednecks are taking some of the sweetest, most trusting, happiest critters on the planet and killing them slowly. What is worst, I think, is that these dogs die not only in agony, but also in fear and confusion, thinking “What did I do? What did I do?” Meanwhile, I see PETA doing nothing about this, as they are too busy grabbing headlines by bad-mouthing the Iditarod.
In a related story (also out of Florida–what the hell is wrong with that state, anyway?), a mother came to scholl to get her autistic 8-year old, and found him lying on the floor, handcuffed and crying. He had thrown a tantrum and a highly-evolved, sensitive asshole school rent-a-cop told the kid he would take off the cuffs when the kid calmed down. Right, nothing like putting a scared kid in handcuffs to make him calm down. Hey folks, being cuffed HURTS. I still have nerve damage from the last time I was cuffed.
Anyway. I read someplace that a society can be judged by how it cares for those unable to care for themselves. If that is the case, our society sucks. It sucks big-time, and I rejoice anytime anyone strikes a blow against the empire, so to speak. Folks my age may remember President Johnson, and his War on Poverty. In the new millenium, that has morphed into a war on poor people. Here are a few examples.
Alaska has a mandatory insurance law, but the heat can only ask for proof of insurance if you are in an accident. I know perfectly responsible folks here in the valley who have driven for 20 years without having insurance, and who never needed it. I myself drove for over ten years with no insurance, and the only one that hurt was some hypothetical insurer that didn’t get my money. Both our cars are insured now–God bless Geico! Anyway, what I am getting to is that our legislature recently passed a law saying cops could ask for insurance anytime and lift your license and fine you if you have none. Think this will bother Joe Average as he drives his late-model SUV to his $150,000 home? No way. It will only hurt people who are too poor to afford car insurance.
Going back a few years, those my age may remember back in the 60s, when thousands of nonfunctional mental patients were thrown out into the streets, having been given some meds and a pat on the back. Talk about social Darwinism–most of them quickly died, many after having been victimized by more canny denizens of the streets. Some of them actually managed to survive–I wouldn’t call it living.
The drug laws reflect still another way our sick, corrupt, rich white male dominated society screws over poor people. Right now, there are over 50,000 people in this country in jail for pot-related offense, and on the average, their sentences are greater than if they had been convicted of murder. I don’t know anyone getting rich off pot, but I do know plenty of people whose meagre income is supplemented by selling the stuff. Also–ever wonder why the penalties for crack cocaine are ridiculously higher than penalties for regular old coke? SImple–crack is more popular with blacks, Latinos, and poor whites–regular coke is favored by well-off white folks. And did you ever–EVER–hear of a pill-pushing doctor doing time? Me neither.
Thomas Jefferson once said “If there is a just God, I tremble for my country.” Amen.
Comments (6)
But God was one of those that they tossed out on the streets in the ’60s.
It’s sick that people get their rocks off watching these poor animals fight to the death. Makes me sick (it’s no wonder I prefer my cats to most humans). And the rent-a-cop that put hand cuffs on an autistic child? I sure as hell hope the mom sues the school for that. I don’t have a lot of praise for our society.
Exactly. Let that be a lesson to you, if you are of the golden retriever kind, stick with your own kind and don’t hobnob with pit bulls. Actually, pit bulls, though perhaps too inbred, like the crazy miniature dachshunds, are apt to be temperamental when they grow older, but otherwise are very kind and good- natured dogs, so long as they’re not pushed into situations that bring out their potential meanness. Is this another lesson?
As to insurance, no one liked Ross Perot’s idea of paying at the pumps, except me. This is a very individualistic society. Everything in a capitalistic society breeds competition where there will be winners and losers and drop outs. And when we try communism we abuse that far worser. I went many years without insurance, but in Cal you have to have it, so I’m a Geico guy, too. You could put your money in Berkeley-Hathaway stocks; if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.
As for crack, the average black gets a lot more out of it than the average white. I’ve never tried coke or crack but I’ve talked to people and seen things with my own eyes and this is the way it appears to me. May be genetic, no matter how people try to deny such things.
Funny, I just recently read from an old newspaper that Martin Luther King was mainly interested in three things. Let’s see if I can remember them.
National health care, a guaranteed national income, and a guarantee of a job for everyone.
I strongly disagreed with him on favoring the minorities by race rather than by income, but still, because of his stand on these three things, I guess I would have had to just gone and voted for him if he ever ran for President. He was even better than Ross Perot, not that I cared much for politics at the time. I was barely into politics then, and do my duty of voting now, but not with much faith in the system. It goes no matter who gets in, and that’s maybe its strong point. I could improve it if they’d let me, of course.
“Vote for Roadrunner”; it does have a kind of ring to it.
Sad state of affairs…Not even in the ‘land of Plenty’ is there equality and justice, nevermind mercy.
Spot
Ugh, makes me ill. That poor child. That security guard needs to be fired, charged with something, arrested and put away. And PETA– well, I’ve always thought they made lousy choices of what battles to fight. The concept seems logical, but they’re more interested in buying advertising to convince people to go vegetarian/vegan than in actually protecting animals that need protecting. Seen the ads about how there’s no such thing as a fat vegetarian? Very offensive to us fatties. But I digress and ramble, and so adieu for now….
wow. will I ever have enough education to be an informed advocate instead of just an opinionated bitch? I hope so