In which LJ is a ghost town...

[stoney321]

I'm assuming everyone's off enjoying life? So, I've been missing for a few days. I walked past my powder bathroom two days ago and saw a bit of wallpaper coming up. let me be clear on this paper: it's the most WTF wall paper I've ever seen. My house is only 3 years old - we bought it from a lovely family that had to move with the dad's job right after it was completed. And they had a THING for pastels and patterned wall paper in bathrooms. Like, peach and teal and beige. With a NAVY BLUE AND GOLD fleur de lis border. Niiiiice. So... I grabbed the edge of the paper and gave a yank. So by this morning I have almost every wall free and clear of the monstrosity. Am going to patch/seal/paint tonight and tomorrow.

For those who haven't been to my home, I have a thing for natural textures: stone, dark, aged wood, bamboo, etc. I found a picture of a faux treatment that looks like an old, aged rock. I'm doing that to the bath. EEEEE!! I'll make it a bit darker, as I like womb-like small rooms. And if you can't GoCrazyNuts in a half-bath? Pffft. I'll finish it out with iron handles for a hand-towel holder, dark wood for a few small shelves (just rectangles - no molding, no curves) and I have a gorgeous orchid I'm mounting on the wall. I'm so happy!

Here's what I'm doing to the wall:


I can't get words to work for me lately, so I'm doing something creative this way. But my mind? She races. Off to see RotS with my son in a few hours, and in the meantime, thought I'd throw something heavy to think about. Feel free to skip if quasi-political rants bug you.

Bush's new push to rape, plunder, line his pockets get into action is COAL. For alternative energy. For those of you on my flist from the West Virigina/Kentucky/Utah/Pennsylvania areas who know first hand the dangers of coal... Can you believe this shit? My uncle was a coal miner for years. His body is broken, his lungs have 1/10th their original capacity, his children were born with defects... All from coal. Not to mention that it's one of the most dangerous jobs on the planet. Coal produces smog, sulfer dioxide, MERCURY... And all that rock particulate those men breath? Because it has nowhere else to go but into their bodies?

So Bush is the Christian leader of America, right? He's fighting for their family/Christian values, correct? As in, that's what comes out of the horse's mouth, yes? And the Christian Folks are all about preserving the family, the ability to live as God wants them to, to push their morality down the throats of everyone around them, no? Morality? Isn't that the big word for them? MORALITY?

have you seen the new GE commercial set to "16 Tons"? With the sexy, half-dressed models lounging about in a sexy manner, exuding sex? Because nothing's sexier than a coal miner coughing up black boogers out of his luings for five hours after a shift? Do you see how these two ideas don't work? How they are trying to have their cake and eat it, too?

Little info for you: Coal is filthy. We know this. We switched from coal to fuel because of how friggin' filthy it is. 1/3 of ALL carbon emissions in the US are caused by industry, powered by? Coal. There was this pesky little Clean Air Act, where the EPA and other watchdog groups want coal industries to reduce emissions by a moderate (read: paltry) percentage. Know what Bush did in March? Extended their time-table by five years. Know where he'll be in 5 years? Living high on the hog with all his money. His oil/coal money.

Bush also signed into the budget $2 billion dollars into COAL. GE? Got a huge chunk of it. Plus, they get $400 million in matching funds for, um, using coal. In other words, staying in business. Hey, here's a big chunk of Education's funding as a bonus for not changing anything about how you do things!

Remember how looong ago (like, pre-Newt Gringrich) the Republican party was all about little government? That THAT was their selling point over the Democrats, who were supposedly in everyone's business and legislating morality - like that pesky thing where the Blacks got to vote? And go to school with whites? You know, in-your-face legislation like that. And the Republicans didn't want Big Government influencing morals? Because government isn't for that? Do you see how the Republicans aren't even following their OWN party line anymore?

And this GE sex-mercial. How can they stomach this? How can Molly and Peter Public who go to church every Sunday, fight the "queers" from debasing their marriage (we don't talk about Peter touching his daughter's friend's leg under the table at sleepovers), and don't let their daughter wear unseemly clothing... how do they support Bush and the Republicans and the RIght-Wing when they make a sexy commercial selling death?

I honestly don't understand how these people's mind work. I think I'll go back and paint.

Comments

[tx-cronopio.livejournal.com]

First off, you are the least fleur de lis person I have ever known. And that's a compliment. Go. Strip. Repaper.

Bush. I can no longer be surprised at anything he does. Unfortunately, here in Texas, our little pretty-hair governor is trying to model himself right after the Dubya and is sucking up bigtime to the Christian Right.

GRRRR.

My doggie is sick and I'm depressed. In a revolutionary move, I'm not going back to work this afternoon. That'll show em.

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

I honestly don't understand how these people's mind work. I think I'll go back and paint.

Pardoning the pun, but it's pretty much about power. When you're out of power, government is the enemy, and it's oppressive. Until you have power. Gingrich, I'll give him some credit for this, actually meant it and really tried to reduce the government. It didn't work, because once he had the shut down, he got reminded that people do like having services. Bush etc... just want to have and use the power. And, in a pretty cruel twist of irony - promote coal as a "clean" fuel with sexy-happy models to the tune of an Anti-Coal song.

[ladycat777.livejournal.com]

My grandparents live in northeastern pa in a coal-mining town. Now, they were lucky -- they ran the general store so grandpa never worked in the mines. But they saw everything and my mom's told me stories. I don't give a *crap* if Bush says there are machines that do it now, that we can be cleaner and more efficient in our use of it.

No. We can't. Those wonderful machines do manage to do about 65 - 70% of the work -- but the rest of it's still done by miners who break and get sick, and spread disease to everyone they touch. It'll still create sink holes that have swallowed entire streets becuase somebody got slopping and didn't shore up the tunnels as strongly as they needed to. It'll still pollute our air and make our children cough and god dammit, I'm making myself furious.

Bush is a jackass. Seriously. There's a damned good reason the country has dropped it's coal usage when oil and natural gas came along -- they were BETTER. Now you want us to go backwards? Fuck you.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Fleur de lis. IN NAVY AND GOLD. *shudders* And the pic I posted is PAINT. I'm so excited. It's turning out... It's a combo of color-wash and speckling mineral spirits to make the craters/pock-marks.

I hate Dubya. And his little dog, too.

*pets your puppy and you, too*

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Oh, absolutely it's a bout power. But I don't see how they can know so little about their own religion, and then use it to justify their actions.

And the song:
You move 16 tons and what do you get?
Another day older and a-deeper in debt
St. Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the Company store.

Now that's what I call apt.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Exactly. I look at my Uncle Mark, see the hard life he's eeked out for himself and his family, think of his daughter Tia that was born so horribly disfugured her body couldn't make it past 4...

Fuck. Them. Coal is so filthy - the mines are so dangerous... You know I was thinking about you when I typed Penn., right? I'm sure you've seen/heard enough.

[ladycat777.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'd guessed. And when I saw that GE commercial I almost spit, I was so furious. I did actually write a letter to GE about it, and I know a lot of other people in PA are doing the same thing -- it's insulting. I love that song, both as a melody and for what it means.

My grandparents town pretty much dried up when the coal industry did (ps, we've used up most of the coal in the north east, and that was the strongest deposits of it, do we see a problem here?) and now the few people under thirty who are left are getting wooed by Bush and co. and say stupid things like "Yeah, reopen the mines! Bring back commerce to our area!"

The newspaper last week featured a front-page article about how stupid those kids are, by giving detailed information on deaths, injuries, sickness, and other issues coal-mining has created in the area, and that part of the reason the population is dying off is due to the mines themselves, not just people moving away.

Grandma said my cousin's friends -- who were pro-mining -- aren't so pro-mining anymore.

[entrenous88.livejournal.com]

Oh man, glad you're getting rid of those insane wallpapers. We're renting right now, so we can't really do too much, but I may petition to repaint in the fall with colors we choose if we buy the paint. Because all of the off-white, ecru, and egg-shell is starting to look, well, boring.

It's patently ludicrous to think of coal as "alternate" energy. And it's bugging me that we can't call the Republican party on anything without them saying our remarks are due to our moral shortcomings. I think what Howard Dean said recently was poorly-worded, but hearing Jimmy Carter respond ably proved that the sentiment is absolutely true. The RNC sells to a particular brand of person, and they care not at all if you don't fit into their ideal. And yet it seems like people still think that GWB is pretty much swell, and godly, and that's good enough for them. It's disheartening that we have so many Americans voting and responding to bills and laws based on the perceived likeability factor of the president rather than the import of those legislative materials on the lives of people living in this country now and in the future.

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

I don't see how they can know so little about their own religion, and then use it to justify their actions.

That's actually the point. Some folks just want to do what they want to do, and they know it's at least a little bit "wrong". So they look for what they need to find to make it seem "right". So right, and so comforting, that they don't have to think about it. And can pretty much brand anyone who does think about it...

So if the bible has five or six phrases about homosexuality, they can latch onto that and ignore all of the other conflicting things in the book. That way, they get to do the nasty stuff they want, and still feel righteous while doing it.

[somecandytalkin.livejournal.com]

You know, I'd wondered about that bathroom. Really odd combo goin' on. It's gonna look lovely!

The administration has no shame. None.
Everything's fine! And don't actually listen to what we're saying, either.

[marlo.livejournal.com]

At first, I thought COAL stood for something, like Congress Of American Losers, or something. Then I realized Bush is actually petitioning for coal. HOLY SHIT. Dude, take a look at the smogfest over in China. Grody to the max, bad for the planet, ruining the ozone layer - I'm trying to think of a WORSE alternative source of energy. What a fucking idjit.

[julia-here.livejournal.com]

Like your wall treatment, there...trying to get people here to agree with me that the living room needs repainted this summer but so far they're giving me funny looks and edging away. I expect this is because they know it's all part of a nefarious plan to get rid of pale gold, hunters green and maroon and replace it with lemon yellow, Swedish blue and true coral.

Anyway, up along my neck of the woods, we've got us a coal-fired power plant which releases more sulfur than the entire automobile population of Western Washington. It burns open-mined lignite that's just a bit past the peat stage, and even with massive emission controls dumps particulates and NOX and greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, and the mining itself is disrupting the groundwater regime in a very wet place, which is no better than doing so in a dry one.

And, as coal plants go, it's as good as it can get.

The election fo George W. Bush and his band of evil idiots is more evidence for a global pandemic of stupid, as far as I can see.

Julia, hey, GEORGE: the bloom date for the lilac in my rard has gone from mid May to late March since I've kept records. You wanna explain that to me?

[http://users.livejournal.com/_sharvie_/]

Haven't seen the commercial yet. But I'm so over the Bush, I think I've decided that I live in a bubble for the next 4 years and hope that a Democrat wins the next election because no one would listen to a damn thing I have to say. *shrug* But then I might be a little bitter about the whole thing.

[winterlive.livejournal.com]

Hey, y'know what else? Solar power is cheap, clean, more or less infinite and PRACTICALLY FUCKING FREE.

I hate your government, stoney.

[winterlive.livejournal.com]

But I love your walls! Yay, natural textures!

[poshcat.livejournal.com]

That's exactly what I was going to say. Go us! God, the Bush government is just so asstastic.

::waves to Stoney:: I was hoping you'd also show a pic of the before, too. What, you didn't take any pictures in the bathroom? What's wrong with you?

amen!

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

can I get a witness???

that commercial is the wrongest kind of wrong.

nice to see you around these parts!

[smashsc.livejournal.com]

Wait a second? GE is using the song 16 Tons? In an actual on TV commerical? Be right back I have to go hug my DVR. I'm so very thankful that I never watch commericals anymore.

I've been so close to just opening up the ranting lately. One of these days, man.

You and I have discussed this and I really do think that we can't be far away from a shift in how people vote. Part of me almost thinks the fastest way for change is not good progressive grass roots like I busted my ass on but nudging the Power Republicians more towards the edge of batshit insane. Bringing back coal? Getting rid of Seasame Street? Not to mention the war and the general fuckedupedness of the country. They keep pushing and pushing to the crazy and sooner or later that coil is going to be too tightly loaded and it'll go go off like a spring and get us all back to sane land again.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

GAH!! And I'll say this: I'm the LAST person those people want to get into a biblical/religious discussion with because I KNOW it inside and out. Most "Christians" don't *know* their own religion. They do everything in opposition to the best speeah ever given (The Beattitudes) but claim to be "righteous." It boggles the mind.

There should be no wonder to why I believe in no higher power.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

nothing makes me scratch my head harder than the Youth of Today supporting Bush. I... I don't see how that's possible.

(The coal situation your folks lived through is very similar to the Copper mines of Utah. The pour acid on the rock to get a few ounces of copper, and destroy ACRES of life to get a few ounces. OUNCES. Any wonder why no one lives in Northwestern Utah or Northeastern Nevada? Because it's a toxic wasteland.)

AHHHHH!!! *beats head against wall*

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

Oh, I've got faith in a higher power. But I don't pretend to really understand it. There are some baseline ethical norms and such that I feel confident in promoting, but beyond that - far be it for me to tell people how they're supposed to live their lives.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Man, that paper was so ugly... I can't even find it online. Think Miami Vice meets Holiday Inn. Blech.

For all Howard Dean's faults, I still admire him for saying things how they are. And I *love* Jimmy. Such an elegant, thoughtful man.

I sense a change in the force, however. :-D I think things are getting pushed SO far, so quickly, that their power may be weakening.

*looks up to the stars, a la Yoda*
There is another... I don't know who, but they are there...

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Dude. Seriously? Did you SERIOUSLY think I put that there??? Oh, it is going to look AWESOME. I *love* painting walls.

Kinky Friendman for Gov, man.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

MAR!! China, right! Or, closer still: freakin' YUGOSLAVIA. He is a fucking idjit.

On a side note? I took my boy to see RotS today. Wanna know how much I love him? He bawled. BAWLED when the Jedi were taken out. (I'm tearing up just WRITING it.) Gasped at the injustice. He's watched the CLone Wars cartoons over and over, and those Jedis had become his friends, you see. *sob!*

I'll raise him up proper and we'll put HIM in the house for Pres. He'll be like Obi-Wan, but with a touch more conviction. :-D

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Right. We have cement plants south of Dallas (Ennis) that are almost COMPLETELY responsible for the pollution in Dallas. (We're a prairie: car emission, while bad, usually blow away and dissipate) The Repubs have weakened restraints on them, and asthsma is at an all-time high here. Maybe (this is horrible, but CHRIST.) if enough of their kids get sick and their parents die from NOT BEING ABLE TO BREATHE, they'll figure it out.

I've never understood how people can screw up bills for CLEAN AIR and WATER. Maybe they run on methane?

(ANd paint!! Paint like the wind. They fight you, because they think they will have to tape off the room. That's why mu husband baulks. I just do things while he travels. Heh.)