HERCULANEUM

So, I've been on the verge of self-combusting this past week over the whole union-busting thing. Will would be so pissed off at me if I exploded in the house.

This past week, I've gotten into heated debates with friends and "friends" on facebook over the union-busting in Wisconsin.

It's been rather lively. But, I've had a tightness in my chest all week until I finally broke down and drank last night.

It was a Wintery night (we got a fucking FOOT of snow yesterday - as much as I love Winter, I almost started crying. I've HAD IT, BISHES!! HAD. IT.). And we had friends over for dinner (I made a hearty Greek stew called "Ladera") and having a beer and being around them was grounding for me and much needed. Will made a fantastic salad with buttery pears and a fresh baked blueberry pie that when eating it was like wrapping a warm blanket around cold shoulders. All was lovely and cozy until we threw a large piece of applewood on the fire that was still too green (should've aged a year before using it indoors for firewood) and the house filled up with smoke and everyone went home.

My eyes are still burning this morning and the whole house smells like a cabin... Better than an outhouse, I guess. See? There's always a bright side.

Well, back to my freak-out week. And what is to follow in this post... I don't like just posting rants without giving ideas of what you can actually do about something. Of course, making ourselves aware of something is the very first step. But, it also helps to remember that as consumers, we have power.

How and where you spend your money matters.

Computers (and Macs as well, which mine is) are manufactured in Taiwan and China. And the minerals used in them, as well as all of our other "gadgets" are mined in Congo, and the money that the Congo receives from that goes to finance horrendous wars. (As though there's a war that isn't horrendous.) Apple likes to sell itself as such a progressive, hip company. That's marketing. An image - smoke and mirrors. They're just as bad as any other company, they're just not so transparent about it.

And people who shop at WalMart are supporting manufacturing jobs in China. And of course, WalMart isn't the only place that sells shit from China. It's difficult to find products made here in the U.S. But, we should remember when we buy ANYTHING from China we're supporting manufacturing jobs there, not here. EVERYONE has a hand in this... So, if we're going to point fingers, we should be humble enough to remember that we should be pointing at ourselves first.

So, yes - it helps to be aware. I'm not saying be obsessed with it. Of course, we'll all meet limitations. I'm just saying, as a consumer, be aware. It helps to remember to keep your consumption of "gadgets" to a sane level. Do you need a new cell phone every year? Unless you're careless with it, no, you don't need new shit all the time. So, knock it the fuck off. Calm your ass down and stop dropping your phone in the toilet or your coffee. I've had the same blackberry for four years now and even though the battery isn't so great anymore, I just charge it more often. It's really not that difficult. I'd rather do that than ad more money than is necessary to the mineral industry in central Africa so that somehow, somewhere, my money goes to systematic rape, torture and death. I know, I'm silly like that.

When I was young and we would be sitting down for dinner as a family, the discussion often was politically or socially oriented in someway. And I'd think, okay, this is great that we're talking about it, but what do we do now? And if I do say so myself, I think being three years old and thinking that was rather something, no?

Okay, so I was a bit older. Four maybe...

OKAY, OKAY! JEEZ!! I was older, for Christ's sake!

Like, four and a half.

So, the koch brothers... Riding in on their cloud of evil.

What can you do? Spend your money responsibly. Here's an extensive list of these fuckers' business shit:

Koch Brothers' Products -- We're Surrounded.

Two other companies that suck the big one?

* If you're with AT&T, you should know that they gave to members of the House Tea Party Caucus during the 2010 election cycle (1).

* AT&T also repeatedly contributed to Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey, the chief sponsor of House legislation that would redefine rape and severely restrict women's access to reproductive health care (2).

* If you're with Verizon Wireless, you should know that they contributed to the campaigns of Tea Party-backed Senators Rand Paul, Pat Toomey, Marco Rubio and Mike Lee (3).

And shame on APPLE for having exclusive contracts with either company for their iPhones. Progressive, my ass.

Now, CREDO MOBILE is a different story. Thankfully, we have choices.

Credo Mobile will buy out your contract and as you probably well know, they're active with donating a certain amount from your monthly bills to progressive causes as well as generating petitions for those same causes. They're constantly offering deals - single users, family plans, you name it, they cover it. And they don't support oppression and bigotry and hate while they're doing it.

Credo is ENGAGED in progress. And they're total badasses. (And no, I'm not getting a dime for saying so.)

AND, if you care to shop, eat or stay at places that support workplace equality?

Here's your Buyer's Guide.

In the heated debates on Facebook, a theme that comes up quite regularly, is that people get confused with socialistic ideals, communism, fascism, capitalism and democracy. The terms are NOT inter-changeable. It helps to know what each one actually means.

Socialistic ideals and democracy are NOT mutually exclusive. Somewhere along the line, people have been sold a bill of goods (some pun intended) by private enterprise that wants more private enterprise (not surprisingly) that socialistic ideals are anti-democratic. NOT TRUE. The two are NOT mutually exclusive, NOT either-or... And most countries that have strong social ideals are DEMOCRACIES. Even Sweden.

UUmmm, bork, bork, bishes...

Government wasn't a dirty word until the spokesmodel Reagan came along. He deregulated and handed the keys to Don Regan and Wall Street.

Corporations work to profit.

Governments should work to serve its people.

And with that bottom line, who are you going to trust?

Multi-national corporations???

Look at the "happiest" countries in the world. The thing that they all have in common? Democracies with strong social ideals. They actually TRUST their governments. And in the days of FDR, this country trusted theirs as well.

If you support some social ideology, people will call you a communist or a fascist because they're too stupid to know the difference.

AND capitalism and democracy are not synonymous. The former is about markets. The later is about voice. Look at China. A totalitarian country with a capitalist economy. Get ready for our future...

It's no longer democracy when people lose their voice. And a collection of people right here, right now are being told they don't have a voice.

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