Walking down the old dusty two lane, faded yellow lines, melting hot tar crack sealer and a gravel edge.  The side falls off fast, covered in brambles, weeds and accumulated crud and drops into one of the prettiest creeks I know. I wonder as I stroll along, worn comfortable shoes crunching out a leisurely beat, what is the story of here?

Slumbering patch towns, Roscoe, Livingston Manor, Ferndale, Harris.  The occasional car or pick up pointing out from even narrower tracks, cut stone on tar or plane old rutted hard pack.  Phaboom phaboom, phaboom.. Phaboom, phaboom, phaboom.  Eighteen wheelers blast by off to the other side, drivers trying to make time, separate, insulated on the new expressway.

Duality, you and I, us and them, here and there, now and then.  Deep contemplation for a quiet walk on a sun dappled morning.  This is a place where at least for me duality dims.  Gnostics and Buddhists have stories key to their beliefs regarding duality.  Both in different ways look at duality as illusion all or wrong and here on this road I want to believe.

Once their was then was became conscious of itself and duality began for too be conscious of oneself one is then separate.  Monkey realized he was monkey one day.  He saw fields and sky and thought I need shelter and he moved into the shelter he then thought he might Ned to defend his shelte and put bars on his window and a door on the font and voila he had built his own prison. Out their became other and fear ruled his life

I wonder when and to whom that happens here in these idillic low nils.  This area had been the fruitful domain of native Americans for countless years before the Dutch and English  came these hills and creeks are among the oldest on earth, once tall and proud peaks eroded by millennium after millennium of wind, snow, ice ages and finally man.

The Gnostic gospels of the Nag Hammadi discovery tell of Sophia. One of the last aeons created by Bythos.  Bythos is the entire thing as in Alpha Omega, begging and end, the whole enchilada the Pleroma.  Sophia and the other archetypes are or I should say we’re not separate from Bythos but aspects of Bythos, like the white, green, blue and red Tara’s are to the Buddha.

So one day Sophia becomes self aware and creates her own reality, a flawed reality, she promptly falls from grace.  In fear and longing to return to to the Pleroma she accidentally creates the reality we know and the Demiurge Yaldaboath who forgets Sophia and declaims himself the one and only God.  Anyway, Bythos sends Jesus to convince Sophia to return.  

The miles slip by, the clouds run like prancing horses, the creek gurgles and flows, the sun dips closer to the mountain ridges to the west and I want to be one with it all.

LaLast evening I posted a rant about an email exchange with a company I didn’t name for fear that I might be wrong about there support of Rush.  Well today I received more email from said company which confirms the fact that they are… Carbonite is the company and they have sent me two more emails claiming that they do not agree with Rush’s statements and that they were but poor advertisers only trying to get to a desired demographic.  

All of this would be believable if they’d stop giving Rush money.  By paying for advertising on his show they by default support him and hence his views.  

The hoot is Mr. Friends equating calls for dropping advertising from Ed Shultz to calls to drop Rush.  I don’t remember Ed ever calling a young college student a slut or all but a whore.  Now admittedly I don’t read or watch all that much MSM anymore but from what I’ve seen and heard I can’t think of any ‘lefty’ commentator on or in any serious media outlet calling anyone a slut or all but a whore.  I may have missed it if anyone has but I’m sure MSNBC, Salon, The New York Times or even Ruperts Journal would fire anyone who did.  

The tone deafness of Mr. Friend and Carbonite is unreal.  Disagreeing with Rush or Ed or anyones political views are not in my opinion reasonable cause to stop supporting their shows.  Lude, sexsist,noxious commentary that by any standard of civility is beyond the pale is cause enough for me.

Mr. Friend is gonna schedule a meeting with Rush next week and berate him LOL sure right

Now I’m sorry, Carbonite can advertise with anyone they wish to and it is their right to do so it is of course the public’s right to stop buying the products and services offered by Carbonite.  

I’ve pasted Mr. Friends post along with the email exchanges below In reverse order.

So I wrote an email to (&&***&^&, C21, Auto Zone and a few other of Rush’s sponsors.  I know Auto Zone has said they are gonna drop him Day late and a dollar short but it helps. One though did respond.  I didn’t send an email with a title but in the subject I wrote this.

Dump Rush or do you agree with him?

They replied:

Response Via Email (Company Guy. – &*&^^&**, ME) 03/02/2012 07:25 PM

> Hello and thank you for contacting ***^&^&&* Customer Support in &&&**(,ME.

> My name is Company Guy.

>

> I apologize for any misunderstanding, but we do not endorse political views or opinions of the companies, magazines, newspapers, TV stations or radio stations that we advertise on. We simply choose a range of programs designed to reach a broad range of people so that might hear about %%$%^^&*&.

>

> Again I apologize, and have a great night!

>

> Please let us know if you need additional assistance.

>

> Sincerely,

> Company Guy.

To which I then replied

Company Guy;

   Thanks for the reply, I wonder what the viewing public of Salon, Daily Kos, Docudharma, The Stars Hollow Gazette and whomever else I can show you reply to will think of your rather Um Hm weak, equivocating, smarmy, Um well you know what I mean.  Sorry, you can’t advertise with someone with out at least tacitly supporting there views.  I mean really, without you money Mr Limbaugh wouldn’t have a bully pulpit to spew his rabid venom from.

Sincerely

Spindrifter.

Anyway, I thought everyone should get to see this and either laugh at me, scold me though for what I don’t know or maybe boycott all those companies who give money to folk like Rush.

.

Twas the day before the night before Christmas and not a shopper was stirring not even a crotchety old hen or Marine Corps. vet.  The flag industry was dying like so many others and here I sat thinking WTF is next.

So the book keeper goes to the boss the other day “We’ve got 8k in the bank and here’s 8k in checks to sign to pay off vendors” “We’ll be solvent till January first”  Now I’m one to get nervous needlessly, I suffer from anxiety and depression so forgive me if I sound like I’m freaking out because I am.  Forty seven years old, under educated, legally blind, 16k in debt, living in a company supplied house that’s ready to collapse from rot and termites, BC/BS is calling everyday for the 2 or 3 grand I owe em and the NJ Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired is spending huge dollars to make my workplace more accessible for me by buying CCTVs, Screen Readers, Glasses and other nice toys but I have to remain employed for 90 days or I loose them.  I have my health though, well maybe, haven’t seen a Dr. in four or five years, my teeth need to be serviced and I’m 47 with all that that implies LOL.

It could be worse though for tonight I have a roof over my head and probably will for a while longer at least, I’ve got food and friends to help if I need. I’m not one of the third of humanity living on less that two bucks a day and I still have hope!!

Merry Christmas Happy Hanukkah and a Safe, Healthy and Happy New Year to all

So I just returned from a quick visit to Toronto, more precisely Etobicoke and the Muscoka lake area.  It was my uncles 80th birthday and all but one of his kids were there with husbands, wives and kids.  Needless to say as most large(ish) family gatherings go it was in turns fun, stressful, disheartening and uplifting with to much eating and drinking thrown into the mix.  Being the avid DD reader, news and political junkie and lefty I am lots of my conversations wormed their way towards Left and Right, Tea baggers, environmental issues, taxes, religion and all those topics mothers tell you not to discuss in polite company.

In the main most of my northern family has a rather dim view of our nation, not our people individually but our nation as a whole.  I’d venture to say they look at the U.S. in much the same way as many of us here at DD do.  What gives us the right to play big brother to the rest of the world and whats more does anyone with more than two brain cells communicating with one another really believe in manifest destiny, divine right etc. etc. they are tired of us.  China they believe is or will be the dominant nation for the foreseeable future.  They see massive upheavals ahead for all of mankind as well as life on earth as a hole.  Melting glaciers, rising waters, increasing population and demands on food resources worry them as well as any number of other issues we all worry about.

Dear Mr. Dean;

   FUCK YOU!!,  I’m sitting here watching you try to pull your foot (feet, up to knee?) outta your cake hole.  What the fuck are you saying, compromise, compromise with who?  A bunch of idiotic racist assholes who’s idea of negotiation is ‘my way or the highway.  LOL what tripe.  

    These folks are AMERICANS, building a community center for the community that happens to have an area dedicated to prayer.  They have the incontrovertible right to that practice, the local government approved it and it’s done.  Try and change that, go ahead you and your fellow apologists and watch what happens, whats left of our eviscerate rights will be ‘negotiable’ Hmmm.  Unfuckin real.  This isn’t a popularity contest, poles are not relevant, no vote no discussion, they have the right to do this at 51 Park as well as all the other places they, the Muslim community are.  

    Not only does this spit in the face of what America is supposed to be by violating the right to practice ones religion I’ll bet it ends up coming under bills of attainder when the govt. tries to back out of the approvals already given to these AMERICANS.

    And people wonder why I’m done with the frackin Dems.  You don’t negotiate with EVIL, you don’t compromise with morons, you don’t back down when you right. You don’t tell others they should do those things either, they shouldn’t.  They should stand up at the statue of liberty, Lincoln memorial, and every other statue, building, bell, hall and revolutionary battlefield and shout ‘What aren’t we entitled to our rights?’ ‘Is this great experiment only applicable when the white right says so?’

    If and I’m betting on when these AMERICANS need help defending their inalienable (what a laugh) rights I’ll be proud to pitch in.

Cannon Fodder

Function noun

Date: circa 1891

1  soldiers regarded or treated as expendable in every battle

2  an expendable or exploitable person, group, or thing

So today, late in the work day my boss says ‘Hey Brunemeyer, lets go.  We’re off to Monmouth County to push up a 30’.  This translated into driving to one of the wealthiest towns in the country to push ups a $2,000 flagpole, on a guys front lawn, in front of his brand new anitque looking 4000 sq ft summer home, a block from the ocean.

On the way back south to our humble base camp we got to discussing the state of affairs we face today.  Things like the, largest environmental disaster ever seen, the riots in Greece and Ice Land, Wall St. bailouts and ‘to big to fail’.  

I mentioned that I’d been listening to the Lord Ramage novels and the Richard Sharpe series on my blinky book reader and how the idea of Cannon Fodder hadn’t changed since the beginning of time.  We, and I’ll be liberal in thinking of anyone not of the ‘mover and shaker’ cast are nothing but cannon fodder.  1% give or take of humanity is and has always controlled the game.  The 99% remaining are nothing but Cannon Fodder.  We the ‘enlisted, drafted, enslaved, pressed’ are of no concern beyond our use as prostitutes consumers, borrowers, laborers, clarks willing of necessity to sell our minds bodies and souls to survive swindled and defrauded with the scam we call the American Dream.  “yep, you too can live the life of luxury and hedonistic over indulgence if ya work hard and do as we say”  

Now you may say  ‘not me, I have a degree, a good job, great future and who knows what all else but think about it.  Loose your job, get sick or have any sort of setback and see how fast all that secure future is real and how much is so much hype.  

It’s the same old tune, cyclical and unending,  I’d hoped we’d evolved to something better than our brutish past proved.  I’d thought maybe just maybe we’d learned at least in some small way that we’re all in it together but no I was delusional, drunk or stoned.  We are still a brutish species.  The revolutionary war in the U.S., the French Revolution, Russia, India, Iran, Cuba et al are but blips in the great theater of history.  The little men behind the curtain still play Svengali and we still march, bayonets at the ready, stocks on, hopes and patriotism swirling in our minds into the breach to die.  To play our parts, no more valuable than chits, or playing cards in the great game of life.

Hi Everyone;

    This is a bit belated but Merry Christmas to all those who follow the applicable faith.  I just flew home from Greensboro, NC where I was visiting with one set of parents.  Had a lovely time accept that we all came down with flu Yippy!!!.  (Much better now thanks)  I’d also like to say happy Solstice (thank Gaia the days are getting longer). Happy Kwanzaa, Hannukah, Dakas day, Amtabha Buddha Day etc etc.  

    I guess I was outta touch a bit but I did here about the thwarted bomber, thank the FSM he was unsuccessful.  If it werent so sad I’d laugh, I got back and walked over the the shop where I work and lo and behold got blindsided.  The boss asks what I know about the subject and immediately starts her rant on how she ‘heard’ on a radio program the arguemnt that we should stop the PC shit and just start profiling those Muslims (LOL I’m thinking of converting, just for shits and giggles (thats why I wont)).  Imagine being so ignorant that not only do you support profiling but that you think only ‘Arabic’ looking folks are Muslims or that only Muslims or arabs are terrorists.  Ah So good to be home.

    Happy, Peaceful, and Healthy New year to everyone