I'm firmly in the Hilary Clinton camp, which renders Senator and Presidential Candidate Barack Obama's current conundrum regarding his 20-plus year affiliation with a minister who has repeatedly voiced highly inflamatory anti-American sentiments, from the pulpit and elsewhere, non-influential regarding who I'll be voting for. But I can honestly say this: had Obama initially been my candidate of choice, this situation would have given me serious pause - and quite likely would have resulted in my loyalty being transferred to an alternative candidate. I cannot and will not abide racism and intolerance on any front, and Reverend Wright strikes me as a regrettable example of both. It is perfectly alright - even our duty as citizens - to openly acknowlege our faults and wrongdoings as a nation and strive to rectify them. Reverend Wright, however, seems to have minimal, if any, interest in the latter of the two. His rants amount to little more than venting and spewing forth the same kind of hate-mongering diatribes he's railing against to begin with. Given that Wright has been not only Obama's pastor, but also his spiritual advisor, for over two decades now, the concept of "guilt by association" becomes a significant force to be reckoned with, particularly when the 'associated' party happens to be seeking the Presidency of our nation. I don't want a caucasion President in office who harbors racist and/or anti-American sentiments, latent or otherwise... nor do I want a President of any other race, religion, or creed in office who operates on such a premise.

No one is more quintessentially anti-racism, bigotry, and predjudice than I - but that entails racism, bigotry, and predjudice on anyone's part toward anyone else. It never ceases to to amaze met that humans are so pervasively concerned with skin color and/or outward physical characteristics and features... so much so as to render them incapable of seeing anything beyond same. But the fact of the matter is that we all seem prone to be thus; predjudice, racism, and bigotry answer to no color boundaries whatsoever. Any person of any color or creed who fails to recognize that is spinning their tires in quicksand... establishing socio-economical pecking orders is second nature to homo sapiens and has become, it would seem, a global pastime.

Predjudice and all its attendant fun and games collectively represent one of man's greatest downfalls. Though it is a deadly threat to our ultimate success as a species, we're entirely unwilling and/or incapable of acknowledging that it dwells within us all, regardless of what color we happen to be and/or what faith or creed we espouse. There should be no room for it in the heart of any man... yet its seeds are planted in all. We may have no control over inherent/instinctive/imprinted tendencies; we do, however, have full control over whether or not those seeds are sustained and nourished to lethal, strangulating fruition.

Racism is in the eye of the upholder, regardless of what hue that eye may be. It lives only because we allow it to, and it will die only if we, as human beings from all walks of life, individually weed it from each and every one of our hearts.
 

What is wrong with people? Why do so many alleged "human beings" take such great pleasure in watching animals being tortured for "sport" and "entertainment"? If it's not dogfighting, it's cockfighting. If it's not cockfighting, it's bullfighting. When God gave man "dominion" over the creatures of the earth, what mortal man decides "dominion" included abusing, torturing, hunting, taunting, racing, "fighting", inhumanely slaughtering, and innumerable other shameful acts against creatures great and small committed daily by we, the purported "higher species" ?

Every time I see one of those "Most Shocking" videos shot during the "Running of the Bulls", or during a bullfight or rodeo where the bull - for once in a great while - gets free long enough to gore, stomp, butt, or otherwise inflict a measure of harm on the matador/rider and/or bystanders, the narrator always refers to these retaliatory acts on the part of the bull as "brutal", "savage", "horrifying", etc. I don't view it that way at all... in fact, as far as I'm concerned, anyone willingly participating in or recreationally observing such cruel and inhumane "sporting" events has it coming, as far as I'm concerned. They anticipated great "entertainment" in watching or actually perpetrating that same animal having his genitals cinched excruciatingly tight in order to make him buck, or being repeatedly stabbed with barbed spears which remained in its flesh and caused it to bleed profusely, taunting it with a red cape and inducing it to charge time after time to the point of exhaustion brought on by exsanguination and stress, then driving a sword through it's skull into its brain for what is often not even a clean kill. If animals are, indeed, "lesser' creatures than we, where do we get off referring to them defending themselves in such a manner as "savage" or "brutal"? Except in cases of illness/injury, animals do not attack and/or kill other than to eat. Man, on the other hand, has no compunction about torturing, provoking, taunting, abusing, neglecting, and exploiting animals for nothing more than entertainment, "sport", and, in many instances, some sort of skewered "fashion sense".

Yes, God gave us dominion over the animals, but never permission to treat them with such monumental disregard, indifference to their pain and well-being, and heartless disrespect. Who are we to say that animals of all kinds are unable to "feel", "experience emotion", or "think", simply because their bodies are constructed differently than out own? And even if they cannot experience these things, what right does that bestow upon us to treat them so horribly? If we're the "higher thinking" species, why is it that when man and animal meet, the one with the far greater propensity for unthinkable cruelty is inevitably man?

No wonder the majority of humanity fears any possibility that UFO's and higher life forms than he exist. Given the way man treats "lesser" creatures than himself... what if a life form higher than his own holds the same indifference toward mankind as man has demonstrated for the animal kingdom since the dawn of his existence? Think less of me if you like... but I'd say it'd be a richly deserved comeuppance.

 

With every passing year, I'm growing ever more convinced that God must've created me out of spare parts.

What's that you say? " What the hell brought that sentiment to the forefront? " I'm glad you asked... and if you didn't, work with me here.

Just today, I received e-mails from two different WDC friends, citing a couple of expressions I've used in previous Blog entries that at least the past three generations of my family have held near and dear to their conversational hearts: "Sure as the world" and "Katie bar the door". Gawd only knows what their reaction might be to several other of my favorites, including (but far from limited to) : "gangster slap", "in a New York minute" , "in a heartbeat", "babyshit green", "worse than a fart in a skillet" , "as sure as God made little green apples", "since Hector was a pup", "finer than frogs' hair" and "as meaningful as a flea fart in the wind".

I can communicate on a very intellectual level, but I can slip-slide up and down the scale from "sophisticated" to "folksy" as swiftly as poop through a goose. I was born in southern Ohio, but reared in northeast Ohio... yet folks have told me through the years that I have a decided "twang" to my speech, (mostly my " i " 's and mostly when I sing), and often assume I was born in the deep South. Here in my particular corner of Texas, I sound more "Texas" than most of my fellow citizens. I'm told that's because this is a college town of sorts, with many "transplanted" folks from all over the U.S. in residence here. And yet, I do get regionally made fun of... I recall with immense humiliation five bag-packers and two cash register clerks assembling and rolling around on the grocery store floor laughing at my polite request that they keep my refrigerables packed in the same bags so I could get them put away first in the 100-plus degree weather we were experiencing my first August in Texas. Seems the accepted term for 'refrigerables' in these parts is 'cold stuff.' They called me a "Yankee", which, to this day, I'm forced to assume is some kind of put-down... who knows in these crazy times? . I also remember being mercilessly guffawed at for not having a clue as to what the hell "Juneteenth" was or what on earth "he's out of pocket" meant... . It took me MONTHS to stop missing my favorite TV shows because I'd tune it at 8:00 PM as always, only to belatedly figure out that when they say 8:00 PM on a national network, that translates to 7 PM Texas time. Texans also give the WORST directions in the world and apparently view Sweetest Day as a non-entity, as far I was able to gather from an at first perplexed and then uproariously laughing Walgreen's Customer Service Rep and three of her cronies when I inquired where they displayed their Sweetest Day greeting cards. .

But while I was still in Ohio - living in an Ohio city so far north it's only half a click short of being Canada - my best friend, who happened to be the child of an African American father and a Grecian American mother and considered herself to be black, always swore that I had "soul" and was a black person with a pigmentally challenged epidermis. She maintained that my nose was a dead giveaway. Similarly, a dear co-worker and friend at my place of employment, who also happened to be black, on the whole had little use for white folks, and stood a foot taller than I did (she had a model's figure), was fond of saying that if a race war ever broke out at work, the only white person she was going to save was me. . She was quite young then, has since become far more accepting of the fact that assholes come in all colors... and is far more open-minded about judging each person by the merits of their humanity instead of employing a cart blanche measuring stick of race, color, ethnicity, or creed. But it was nice to know that even before that, we could connect as human beings despite differences in hues.

Then there's the issue of education. Bunkie always used to say that, had I not told him I only had a high school education and less than a year of college when I met him, he would have sworn I had at least a Master's Degree. Co-workers with Bachelor's/ Master's/ Doctorate Degree would have me proof read and/or collaborate on a variety of projects. But I don't think I'm all that intelligent... what I DO believe is that in my day (just before the last dinosaur died off) a High School education amounted to the equivalent of at least today's Associate's (and often a Bachelor's) college degree.

People also seem incredulous to learn that I am not a "religious" person... at all. Many assume for some unknown reason that I must be an ardent churchgoer, when the truth of the matter is I've absolutely no use for "man made religion" whatsoever, and haven't darkened a church's doorstep in decades. Yes, I have a deep an abiding Christian faith... which is precisely why I avoid as earnestly as I would the Bubonic Plague "congregations" of individuals possessing no more of an inkling of what it truly means to be a "Christian" than fly through the air. Folks also seem totally amazed at discovering that it's VERY difficult to make me blush... and that I can cuss like a truck driver when sufficiently motivated to do so. I just happen to reserve profanity for occasions most deserving of its utilization, thus preserving its wallop for maximum impact. I'm not a prude - I just happen to be lingually thrifty when it comes to spewing forth swear words.

To make a long entry shorter, I'm a mixed bag. Some would say I'm "multi-facetted", I suppose. Most shrinks, I'd guess, would utilize such heady nomencalture as "Borderline Smorgasbord Personality with No Psychotic Manifestations". Mary Lou and Deelyte, on the other hand, would probably coin terms like "Post Menopausal and Pre-Alzheimeran", "Nuttier than a fruitcake", and/or "Six clicks west of reality"... but what the hell do THEY know? .

The bottom line is, I LIKE being a tutti-fruity kinda gal - as Shelby said in Steel Magnolias... it's mah signature culuh !
 

My unemployment compensation was approved, and the State Board is cognizant of "Goliath's" game now. What a relief ! I'd offered on seven occasions to go back to work against Doctor's orders... and Goliath tried to tell them I ' voluntarily resigned '. To parlay a phrase Beverly Hills real estate brokers are fond of and transform it to suit my circumstances: Documentation, documentation, documentation!

I hate battles like this - I truly loathe them. But, doggone it, this company has been mistreating employees and utilizing decidedly less than ethical tactics (to put it in the best possible light) on all fronts... including toward it's own clients. And when someone pushes me this hard for this long... so long that I finally turn around and face off with them to do battle... I make for an extremely formidable foe. Back to being my grandfather's grandchild... once you shove me past the point of no return, it's ON, baby! I find myself looking forward to the legal battles to come. Even if they stall long enough that I kick the bucket while it's still pending... I'll pass the torch / outcome of same to my estate. My Irish stubborness is a beast not easily wakened - but once it is, it Katie bar the door!
 

Does man's avarice know absolutely no bounds? Is there any atrocity he'll not commit against his fellow man in the pursuit of power and/or wealth? In the case of Dr. Dipac Desai, owner of the bustling Gastroenterology Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada, apparently not.

It seems that from March, 2004 through January, 2008, allegedly on order of Desai in a drastic "cost-cutting" measure, he and his staff of of fourteen doctors, four Physician Assistants, and an unknown number of registered nurses re-used single-use syringes and vials in administering anesthesia to endoscopy patients... and possibly re-used other surgical equipment, as well, that was either not properly sterilized and/or never intended for more than a single use. The result? Some 40,000 innocent human beings have been exposed to Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and HIV / Aids. Thus far, 1,400 cases of Hepatitis C attributable to Desai's merry band of medicos have been diagnosed, and the numbers will climb dramatically for all three diseases, given that many infected people initially experience no symptoms. Nevertheless, Hep C and HIV both, basically, amount to a death sentence - and Hep B is certainly no picnic.

Apparently, "Doctor" Desai, because of his false claims that his staff members were experienced in the specialty of gastroenterology, was convicted of False Advertising in 1996 and fined $2,500.00. Now, he has reportedly been uncooperative in the ongoing investigation of what I view as nothing short of 40,000 counts of Aggravated Assault with Great Bodily Harm... and very likely mass murder, as time goes by. Perhaps he was unavailable to cooperate because he was busy closing on the 4 million dollar estate he recently purchased to serve as his private residence.

You've come a long way since immigrating here from India, "Doctor"... America's been very good to you. If you are found guilty of thus "thanking" her citizenry in pursuit of even greater fortune, may you and your cohorts spend every remaining day of your lives rotting away in prison cells. Even the nurses involved deserve prison sentences if they were too gutless to disobey "Doctor's Orders" and blow the whistle loud enough to protect the patients for whom they are supposed to be sacredly sworn advocates.
 

Thank you so much, Funnyface is happy to be back , for this HUGE honor! What a shock to find this awaiting me in my WDC mailbox today! Click on the logo below to check out an AMAZING WDC endeavor!

ID: 1163726   (Rated: E) RISING STARS--HISTORY & OVERVIEW  A one-stop mini-tour of Rising Stars Program, 2006-2011 by Gabriella

 

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