Why I refuse to identify as a Republican

Ace has a worthy rant up that's a must read, regarding the Trade bill that just stalled in Congress.  But the summation that I want to quote is this:

Paul Ryan argues that there's no sense blocking the fast track authority because Congress will always get an up-or-down vote on the actual trade deal, whenever Obama deigns to share it with us. 

He doesn't understand: We no longer trust the GOP. Yes, Mr. Ryan, the GOP will have another chance to weigh in on the TPP in its final form But we don't trust you to do the right thing then, just as we don't trust you to do the right thing now. 

The GOP lies to us at every turn. They claim they're going to stop Obamacare, then they begin drawing up plans to affirmatively save the plan with subsidies should the Supreme Court strike it down. 

They claim they will fight Obama like hungry dogs on immigration, then they approve it. 

They claim they're against Obama's Iran deal-- then they pass a mechanism which allows the Iran deal to pass with just one third of the Senate, so that GOP Senators can vote "against" the bill while ultimately losing the vote -- thus being able to claim to their constituents "Well we tried, but goshdarnit, the other side just outvoted us with its one-third majority."

Emphasis in the original.  The end of the rant is what should scare the GOP witless.  They've so completely alienated the politically active part of their base that they're going to have a hard time winning in 2016 no matter who they run.  There's a reason they're called "The Stupid Party".

President FuckUp

To start with, go check out an epic twitter rant about the Office of Personnel Management hack job, storified onto one web page.

And then understand that no matter how bad people think the hack job was, it's actually worse.  The Chinese were in the OPM database unfettered and undetected for over a year.  The Office of Personnel Management, for those who don't know, are the people in charge of running background checks for security clearances.  As such, they have every last bit of information on the people they're investigating.

Name.  Social Security number.  Place of birth.  Residences for the last seven years.  Employment for the last seven years.  Aliases.  Family member's information.  Financial information.

You want to completely fuck over someone?  Take their SF 86 and give it to a criminal.  And the Chinese had access to over four million of these records.

And "President LadyParts" as Mr. Wilson calls him is once again playing his game.  Shifting blame, downplaying it, "I read it in the news!" kind of bullshit.  Because actual leadership in this situation is impossible from a gutless pathetic piece of shit who has never once displayed any kind of real leadership in his entire life.

This is a fuck-up beyond compare, and the worst part is, nobody in D.C. is going to do a thing about it.

You know that's true.  You know it.

Oh, and now there's a massive, electronic database of people's health information thanks to Obamacare.  Don't you feel safe?  Don't you feel secure?

And this collection of tweets

Is the perfect example of why I wrote that letter to Mr. Doherty at Tor.

Notice how the Social Justice Warriors have no problem calling people everything but a white boy, all for the sheer horrible act of asking to be included in their reindeer games.

Nope.  We're bigots, and misogynists, or nazis, or whatever.

This is the exact kind of behavior that got feathers ruffled up to begin with, and it won't stop until they're driven out of their comfy little holes and exposed as the vicious, hateful pieces of crap that they are.

The SJWs are why #GamerGate exists.  And why the Sad Puppies campaign exists.  And why Vox Day started up his Rabid Puppies campaign.  Because they are hateful people, going into hysterical fits at the mere thought of having to share air with people they consider "beneath" them.  And they don't even realize that the people they hate and attack are the book-buying public that they need to survive.

So I say either kick them out, or let them die.  And me personally, I'm at the point where kicking them off of their pedestal is just more fun.

Feel teh CRAZY!!!

FEELZ IT!

Just feminist things. pic.twitter.com/r3sLMJWoeY

— Milo Yiannopoulos (@Nero) June 11, 2015

Hopefully, the men who read this blog would avoid a woman like that no matter how cute she was.

TMI

So I had a sit on my face, just below the right corner of my mouth.  It had been there for a while.  Unfortunately, this isn't anything new for me while living in California; the pollution here gives me skin problems like acne and contact dermatitis on a regular basis.  So I didn't think much about it.  It would go away, or it wouldn't.

Until this morning, when it started itching like mad, and I scratched it, and it damn near exploded all over my hand.  Nothing says "Good Morning!" like hearing a damn abscess pop under your fingernail.

Turns out it wasn't a zit.  The two-inch long hair that came out with the pus was proof of an ingrown hair.

I've had ingrown hairs before, but this once was special.  For me, this was Hairzilla.

And that's more than you wanted to know.

My Letter to Tom Doherty at Tor Books

Dear Mr. Doherty, 

My name is Ragin' Dave.  I am a (my rank) in the United States Army, and I was recently made aware of comments made by one of your Senior Editors at Tor Books, Irene Gallo.  The comments that I refer to are pasted below: 

"There are two extreme right-wing to neo-nazi groups, called the Sad Puppies and Rabid Puppies respectively, that are calling for the end of social justice in science fiction and fantasy. They are unrepentantly racist, misogynist, and homophobic. A noisy few, but they've been able to gather some Gamergate folks around them and elect a slate of bad-to-reprehensible works on this year's Hugo ballot." 

While I have not participated in any Puppy-related campaigns, I have supported them silently from the sidelines.  To say that this comment from your senior editor infuriated me would be an exercise in downplaying the meaning of the word.  After reading that comment from Ms. Gallo, I went in search of other comments from Tor personnel. 

That’s when I found similar comments from Patrick Neilsen Hayden, Teresa Neilson Hayden, and Moshe Feder.  All of them attacking the character, integrity, intelligence and humanity of people they do not know, have never met, and only are aware of because of an internet campaign to have other books on the Hugo ballot. 

Mr. Doherty, I buy books, hundreds of books per year per year.  I do not have a TV in my house, I read.  I don’t watch shows on my computer, I read.  I read for enjoyment, I read for learning, I read for research, I read for improvement.  I buy paperback books, hard cover books and eBooks through Amazon.com.  And I have never once in my life boycotted a publishing house because I do not want to punish good authors for the actions of a few knuckle-heads.  But that this point I cannot in good conscience purchase any more books from Tor Books, as it seems that at least three members of your senior staff (four if you count Mrs. Neilson Hayden, who was recently part of your paid staff but is now a “consultant”) are such hate-filled creatures that they would attack the very people who they need to buy their books. 

I have read Mrs. Gallo’s so-called “apology”, and it’s the Diet Coke of apologies; saccharine, bland, and not real.  I have read your statement whereupon you claim that Mrs. Gallo does not speak for Tor Books.  Given the statements of Mrs. Gallo, both of the Neilson Haydens, and Mr. Feder, I can say for certainly that you may not wish them to speak for Tor Books, but they are doing just that.  I’m a military man, Mr. Doherty.  Once is accident.  Twice is coincidence.  Three times is Enemy Action.  And you have four individuals who have all attacked, impugned, slandered and defamed good, honest people, and I am quite honestly fed up with it. 

I will buy no further books from Tor Books until Mrs. Gallo is relieved of her duties and issued a pink slip.  I will not buy books from a company that hates me. 

Ragin' Dave

If you own any Tor books, or if you enjoy reading and you supported the SP campaign, it might be worth your time to politely tell Mr. Doherty how YOU feel about being called a neo-nazi.

So there's this compendium

Of road-rage and car crashes on YouTube.  I clicked the link on a whim.  You'd be amazed how many of the crashes and road-rage are from the Los Angeles are.

I'm not shocked at all.  But you might be.

106 today

And it was in the 70's last week.  Ugh.

The worst part about the heat is that it also traps in the pollution.  It's a hellacious twofer!

A-yup

"fill up the clown car and drive it far away."

Hells to the yes.