Success!

I am still here and alive and thrilled to be so. I have new knees and straight legs. I am convalescing.

It is a good thing I am mean and I have a bigmouth or they might have tormented me to death in the hospital.

Am I glad I did both knees at once? I think so; I am still in a lot of pain.

Becoming Bionic

On August 10 ( if I live through the surgery), I will become a Bionic Woman, a Wonder Woman, the Hero of my girlhood. Both my knees will be replaced with knees that function.

I am remarkably healthy for a woman of my age. No diabetes, no heart disease, no high blood pressure. But my remarkable health will quickly deteriorate if I cannot do what has kept me healthy all my life: WALK long distances.

No scooter for me. I am making an investment in my future health and productivity. I am scared. I am doing the scary thing anyway.  I will be gone and convalescing for a bit. Meet you soon, cher Reader.

Dance and the World Will Dance with You

This video is one of the most inspiring I have seen of late. Derek Sivers is remarkably astute. Below is a link to his blog. This is how new movements and unique projects begin and grow in my experience. Someone stands for the idea and develops the intention and begins the dance. Then the second and third and nth followers show up. A profound idea is here in a silly hat.

http://sivers.org/ff

I offer a bit of the Tao Te Ching, translation by Herrymon Maurer, that seems appropriate. The Tao Te Ching was written by Lao Tzu (translated "Old Man") as a moral and spiritual treatise and counsel for Leaders and Creators.

41

When a superior man hears about Tao,
He goes after it diligently.
When an average man hears about Tao,
He both gets it and loses it.
When an inferior man hears about Tao,
He laughs loudly at it.
If he did not laugh,
It would not be Tao.
There is an old saying:
The bright way looks dark;
The forward way looks backward;
The smooth way looks rough;
High virtue looks low;
Great whiteness looks defiled.
Broad virtue looks deficient;
Solid virtue looks illicit;
Simple virtue looks decayed.
Great space has no corners.
Great talent ripens late.
Great music is out of key.
The great symbol is out of shape.
Tao is without name and hidden.
Hence Tao helps and completes.

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Cher Reader, how I have missed you.

Did you think I was never coming back? It would take more than two blown knees to keep me from You, ma Cher. I danced for a living for years. And my knees have finally cried "Enough."

On August 10, I will receive two new knees. I have been taking a lot of pills for pain. I find they interfere with my ability and desire to write.

Nevertheless, I am delighted to have found the energy and clarity of mind to write today. Who am I trying to kid? It is more like the energy to rant, whine, kvetch, and stamp my feet.

Stay tuned. Some rants coming up anon.

Rant:

For those concerned about the SCOTUS' Citizens United decision ( that a Corporation is a legal person with all the right of free speech attached to that status ) and the effects of the decision on the body politic, I point you to a diary at dKos.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/07/03/990979/-Unintended-consequences:-Raging-Bitch-beer-to-be-sold-in-MI-thanks-to-SCOTUS-ruling-on-data-mining

The Michigan Liquor Control Commission refused to grant a license to sell Raging Bitch  beer in Michigan because Flying Dog brewers are rude. In March of this year, Flying Dog filed suit, citing a violation of their 1st Amendment rights.

It seems that the State cannot now protect us from an artisan beer maker's raunchy sense of humor and deprive of us of an excellent new beer.  A good thing, eh?  Go get yourself a Raging Bitch beer and settle in your favorite chair. This may amuse you as much as it amuses me.

"This week, the Michigan Liquor Control Commission reversed their position. They did so based on the outcome of a U.S. Supreme Court decision last week that said the state of Vermont could not prevent pharmaceutical companies from harvesting data about doctor's prescribing patterns and habits as a way to market to them more effectively. This restriction on the rights of states to regulate "speech" by corporations is beginning to have far-reaching impacts." - from the diary at the link above.

When you get done laughing, think about this whole debacle. What will this decision do to the labeling regulations, for example? You know, those laws that have kept the Corpos from poisoning, maiming, and bamboozling us since 1920.

I think the Suits and Robes and Corpos have overreached. Bigtime. Get thee some popcorn and a couple more Bitches, sit back, and enjoy the ride. It is going to be a Hoot. And it will only get funnier and more absurd (if that is possible) as the months go by. And laughing at the Azzoles sure beats crying over the whole sickening mess.

Twat Did You Say? - Update

Update:

------------------------------------------------------------

There is Tempest in the Progressive Teapot. Bill Maher called Sarah Palin a "dumb twat."

This time the orange pekoe tsunami comes from the front page of dkos. A pox on the National Organization of Women for their holier-than-thou stance.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/03/27/960371/-Why-we-must-defend-Sarah-Palin

I "must" do what?

Defend Sarah Palin from the Big Bad Bill Maher?

Alaskans are erecting Poop Flags in Sarah Palin's honor. You think maybe Alaskans know something we don't know? Sarah Palin is a "dumb twat." Truth is an absolute defense to a charge of slander. And like my Father always said "I do not have to do anything but die."

There used to be a great photograph of a Sarah Palin poop flag on the blog Mudflats. It has been removed. No problem. Here is an example of a poop flag hung for another fabulous politician, just in case you have never seen a poop flag:

Comedians traditionally get a pass from PTA brand politeness. The Jester can say anything to anybody. That is the rule. If you do not like that, do not watch comedy. But "call off your tired old ethics" as Margot St. James says so succinctly. I am okay with the word Twat. The Prime Minister of Great Britain is okay with the word Twat. Twat is a unisex description. Do not watch comedy if you cannot take a joke.

Comedians have a special license to use language in any way they see fit. Lenny Bruce suffered to make that privilege a reality. And the Whiners and Pearl Clutchers are not going to make light of his sacrifice and his travail.

 Do not like evil dirty jokes? Do not listen to comedy. I am pro choice about more than my pudenda. I am a comedian. Comedy is an Art. I get to choose the brush strokes, the color, and the subject. Words are my paint. I will use any fucking word I want to use.

I am very dirty in a very polite way in my act. I can make any crowd laugh within 3 sentences. It took me awhile to learn to do that. It took Bill Maher awhile too. Doing standup is a trial by fire. I think Maher's politics are right on. I do not find Maher particularly funny. We both do comedy. I will defend to the death his right to be bad at it, in all senses of the word "bad."

You go on with your bad self, Bill Maher. Good night, Lenny, wherever you are.

I Live in Philadelphia Pennsylvania United States of America in the Northern Hemisphere on Earth

Twenty-one priests from the Philadelphia Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church have been named and/or suspended because of credible charges of child sexual abuse. Cardinal Justin Rigali has requested prayer for these priests.

A Prayer for Justin Rigali and his Merry Men:

I pray that their carnal members rot and fall to the ground.

I pray that they develop suppurating stinking boils on every square inch of their body.

I pray that they die soon in writhing pulsating prolonged agony.

I pray that Jesus really is waiting to see them and keep his promise:

"And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea." - Mark 9:42

I am a good Catholic. I know rote. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.

I quote from the Grand Jury Report 0f 2011 Summary:

"The present grand jury, however, is frustrated to report that much has not changed. The rapist priests we accuse were well known to the Secretary of Clergy, but he cloaked their conduct and put them in place to do it again. The procedures implemented by the Archdiocese to help victims are in fact designed to help the abusers, and the Archdiocese itself. Worst of all, apparent abusers – dozens of them, we believe  remain on duty in the Archdiocese, today, with open access to new young prey."

A poster named Sfer (BabyBoomer) on a message board made this apt comment:

"Gee, it's usually defense lawyers who try to paint their clients as co-victims. It sounds odd coming from an Archbishop. They're usually the ones accusing others of "relative morality" and "objectively disordered". The shoe is on the other foot now."

Update 1:
After I wrote this blog entry, I had a moment in which I repented and considered that the entry might be blasphemous and a little too coarse. See, I really am a Catholic; always second guessing my feelings and thoughts because I have been taught that my instincts are sinful by the RCC.

And then I read that the Jesuits (the fucking Jesuits) are paying now for making themselves ignorant of and aiding and abetting the child abusers in their midst for decades. Words fail me.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/8408229/Jesuits-pay-166m-compensation-to-sexual-abuse-victims.html

Update 2:
Rolling Stone has published one of the most readable and comprehensive articles on the Philadelphia Roman Catholic Church's coverup of the sexual abuse of children and the effort by two District Attorney's to bring light and justice to Philadelphia. This case is remarkable because it is the first time a member of the RCC administration has been charged with child abuse:

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/the-catholic-churchs-secret-sex-crime-files-20110906

Update 3:
Monsignor Lynn has been found guilty. Of course, I have an opinion.
http://plumstchili.blogspot.com/2012/06/billy-lynn-takes-one-for-team.html