Author: stevekuusisto

I remember being bullied rather routinely all through my public school years. See the following study:

http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2011/07/29/study-bullying/13634/

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Check out this article:

TSA agent: I have one arm and I do job fine!

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2011/07/30/2011-07-30_i_have_one_arm__i_do_job_fine.html

Robert Bly once wrote a poem entitled “Those Being Eaten By America” in which he concluded: “the world will soon break up into small colonies of the saved.” In Bly’s vision salvation came by turning one’s back on predatory capitalism. In the poem, big industry was devouring its workers–it literally ate them alive. 

Bly’s poem was written in the dark days of the Viet Nam War and it’s reactionary impulses felt just fine to me when I was 18. Now, contemplating the extremism of the “Tea Party” I see Bly captured an omnipresent aspect of our nation’s psyche–which is to say, when things get hard there’s always a faction that wants to secede. This is old news but what the TP is proving is that Democracy stands in the way of a preferred and sentimental vision of frontier anarchy. Here is a succinct list of what the Tea Party folks believe:

1. We don’t require doctors. All we need is an occasional dentist who can patch you up when you’ve been shot. If things are worse than this, well, you’re supposed to die–that’s God’s will. (BTW, the dentist won’t mind if you pay him with a chicken.)
2. Children need only be educated until the third grade. Then they can go to work picking beans–surely, once we kick all the Mexicans out of the country, this will again be possible. 
3. Since everyone already has a gun we don’t require police. Those who have the most money have their own militias. Might makes right.    
4. Belief in God is the only necessary diploma–regardless of the enterprise. “God told me how to build this bridge–he also said that no gay people can drive on it.”
5. We no longer need higher education. Let’s face it, college just complicates things with its insistence on science and history.
6. We can toss out environmental regulations of any kind. After all, they are not mentioned in the Bible.   
7. We don’t need an economy–we have sufficient stockpiles of ammunition and dried beans in our bomb cellars. 
8. Elderly people, cripples, colored folks, etc. can just leave. Or…or…

With the nation’s attention diverted by the drama over the debt ceiling, Republicans in the House of Representatives are loading up an appropriations bill with 39 ways — and counting — to significantly curtail environmental regulation.

Republicans have loaded a House appropriations bill with provisions to severely curtail environmental oversight.

http://nyti.ms/n7WVwe

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The clock is ticking. Last minute talks in Congress and the Administration to develop a deficit reduction strategy have turned out two major proposals:the Reid plan and the Boehner plan. Both plans could result in devastating cuts to Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security after six months of passing. With the fate of our country hanging in the balance, should the burden of this financial crisis fall on the backs of struggling seniors and people with disabilities? Time is running out for lawmakers to reach a decision on where our country will go from here, and who will foot the bill. With the pressure building, we must make sure that Medicaid is not left behind. Call 866-324-0787 today to tell lawmakers that you oppose Boehner and Reid's proposed cuts to vital services for people with disabilities. On this 21stanniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, we must fight to protect the ADA's promise of equal opportunity and equal access. Don't sit on the sidelines. This fight needs you.
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Check out this article:

Pit bull puppy saves vet from suicide

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/07/27/2011-07-27_pit_bull_puppy_saves_air_force_veteran_from_committing_suicide.html

The announcers are still your neighbors. They don’t know precisely how to pronounce “The Heifetz Institute” but they give it their best. They do know how to pronounce Winnipesaukee. They report with equal earnestness about Brownie Brewster’s victory in a kid’s athletic contest and the exploits of the Red Sox. It’s the earnest quality in their delivery that is so affecting. Local radio isn’t fully sanitized for your ingestion. Here’s to the Rotary annual lobster boil.

SK

During a heat wave this is the place to be.

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