Here we go again

Warning: This is ultimately a political statement but unpaid.

I will accept contributions, however. I need the money to replace the failed Samsung Galaxy Tab, and to save up for a new desktop.

The Tab was just over 6 months old and the HP Pavilion Desktop is still under the two year warranty and has its second failed hard drive if you do not count the one they first sent with a hard drive that never worked.

Every time I have trouble with my HP I get the MAC users telling me how trouble free their MAC's are. Go away. In the last three months I have had three MAC friends (PC's vs MACS is about as entrenched as Republicans vs. Democrats so I count myself lucky we still talk) that have had failed hard drives. And from what I gather their customer support sucks. HP, the last time this happened, did offer data recovery. Not MAC.

One of my friends with the failed MAC has informed me that 99% of all hard drives be they in a Dell, MAC, HP or tablet or laptop of any of those brands probably come from the same off-shore company. And what incentive do they have for making a dependable product? NONE. It is win/win for them even if we lose. They get to continually make replacement hard drives. And all their people that can speak even a modicum of English get employed in tech support centers.

We have come a long way since my mother's 25 year old Maytag that was still working when Dad bought her a new washer and dryer set. 

So it is not all about American jobs overseas. It is about accountability. Your neighbor working at the assembly plant in Detroit took pride in his role in producing Fords and he did not want to hear us complain about them. But the workers in China do not know us. And if introduced would not even understand what we were screaming. I wonder at times about even the tech support people.

HP does seem to be working on its customer service image. It was once rated one of the worst in the industry. Just a bit better than Dell. I have a friend that told me Dell has gotten better but I have no intention of finding out. But this time from HP I received an e-mail I am able to respond to about the tech problem being experienced. Last year it took me something like 6 days and twice as many phone calls to get my problem escalated (don't you love that word) to someone that might actually own a computer and know that the DVD tray is not a cup holder. It did take me over 30 days to get the computer fixed. And then it didn't work when I got it. Fortunately that time I was able to immediately talk to someone that speaks computer.

So this morning I emailed HP and let them know I think the solution their tech (I do hate using that word for someone speaking from a set list of phrases that constantly has to put you on hold to go ask someone else what to do if that just did not work) came up with is wrong. A recovery disk returning the computer to factory specifications won't work. There are bad sectors on this hard drive. And if I have to go to the problem of restoring all my programs and backing up all my data I want it to work.

I do not want to go back to the incident on the last computer where I insisted it was a hard ware problem and they were adamant it was not. Two days of erasing and recovering and it did not work. Turns out that when they replaced the memory sticks (those had failed in 30 days) they had unplugged the wireless internal modem.

But I do not know that industry today wants anything to work. They make too much money re-selling you a new version of the failed product and promising that major improvements were made. It isn't just that all our money goes overseas it is that it does it again and again and again.

My first computer lasted me over 12 years. I bought a new one because of the internet and a need for more RAM because I changed what I did with it. Since then no computer, except my laptop, has made it past four. It is the manufacturing version of the food industries smaller packages at the same prices. In case you hadn't noticed there is no such thing as a 50 pound bag of dog food any more. And the 25 pound bag is now 17.

I do not think I want to trust my government to a CEO. Their track record with the products I purchase is not that good.

Can we be too scared?

I have gotten to the point in this election and this last two decades when like a cat in a Skinner Box I want to just sit and shiver. Why even bother jumping to the box without the electric shock?

I vote. I always vote. I will vote this time but I have this feeling that it will make entirely no difference. And it is not the campaigning which has been dirty on both sides, or that the GOP tea party was so obstructionist that Obama was not able to effect any change beyond ACA. Or that I am scared to death of what Romney/Ryan will do to this country if they win.

It is that at my heart of hearts I know it will not be fair. For once in my life I totally understand what people under repressive regimes felt when forced to go to the pools and cast a vote they know will not be counted. I have absolutely no faith in a fair election in this country unless the United Nations is called in to oversee the registration of voters, the voting and the counting of those votes.

At is a cumulative effect. First came 2000 and Florida and hanging chads. But that also had a black voting district with major street construction and detours put into effect that morning of the vote. And the strongly Jewish district that supposedly voted for GW after in uttered a slur against their religion.

In 2004 the UN asked to be allowed to monitor our election process and GW refused to let them. The BBC sent over investigative teams and found 11 states with questionable returns. And hundreds of precincts where the exit polls did not match the voting tally. In 2008 I was one of the volunteer poll watchers. And in 2012 we still have voting machines that can be altered from the parking lot with a cell phone. And the Republican Attorney general of NM didn't order enough voter registration forms and those she sent to predominately Republican districts.

Across the nation they are altering voting laws to exclude women, seniors, minorities, etc. Not since the fight for civil rights in the early 1960's as so much been done to exclude people from their right to cast a vote whether or not it is accurately counted. I fear violence on election day. And maybe that is a good thing. I was proud of our people in 2000 when we did not riot after the Supreme Court did what it had not constitutional right to do. But I figured law and justice and right would prevail. But 2004 showed that was wrong. Today I think if there are any irregularities at all in the 2012 vote we should riot. We should overthrow the government. Democracy is dead. It has been a slow death but I do think that what the Taliban wanted to do on 9/11 we have achieved for them.

The trouble is we were always the country that rushed into emerging young democracies and helped them keep the peace. Who will help us? This morning a political commentator said it isn't even about red states and blue states any more. Because of an out dated and abusive electoral college system it comes down to seventeen counties in the entire US. And Mitt Romney has enough money to buy every single one of them.

But even scarier is that he thinks God want him to do it.

For Sale - The White House

FOR SALE:  This historic mansion set on beautifully landscaped lot in a National Park has 132 rooms, 32 baths on six levels. Built originally in 1800 it was totally renovated in 1952 and refurbished in 1979. The east wing and various balconies and porticoes were additions to the original structure. It comes completely furnished and with a resident staff.

The four year lease on this prestigious residence in its prime location of downtown Washington, DC will be offered at public auction on Ebay beginning the first Tuesday in November. Minimum opening bid of $150 million. Additional related offerings include a large number of congressional seats. Please submit a birth certificate and 3 years of certified tax returns to qualify to bid.

**************

I came up with this wild and crazy idea while sleeping. Properly executed it is an end to our economic woes and we get out of two years of campaign ads. We sell the White House and all congressional positions. We can do it with a bidding war on Ebay.

If it is true that the candidate who raises the most money wins then why vote? Why let the advertising companies and media get all the money? Why live through all those polling calls? We just put it all up for sale and take the winning amounts and put them in programs to aid the other 98%.

And here is the best part of this dream - we do not let any of those bidding for congressional office to pass laws. Hey, they are not in it to help the US anyway. They just want to pontificate on the evening news and get lobbyists to send them on junkets. And they seem to be willing to spend any amount of money, even several times what they stand to make in salary, to get those positions. So since the salary seems of little consequence we eliminate that straight off.

And we are not actually selling the property and seats but short time lease/lends. Everyone knows you cannot sell National Park land. So every two to six years we are able to put it all up for bid again. We will have a constant and dependable income to use in credit references.

And we the people of the United States of America will hold all governing rights. What has the congress done for us lately but repeal our universal health care 33 times. We the people will govern ourselves with a political FB. Legislation can be proposed by any adult registered voter. A law passes with the most likes or shares or a combo of both after a period of open debate and amendment. Don't tell anyone but this is a nice opportunity to put in place an ad hoc literacy law. Clearly you have to be able to read and write to participate.

I like it. If you do just leave a comment or go to this blog linked on Facebook and hit like. Please share.

Oh, and  BTW we are not changing much. It has always been for sale given our current campaign laws.

We should be afraid - very afraid

Michael Astorga was given the gift of life imprisonment yesterday by a jury selected for the death penalty phase of his trial. The jury reported in the morning that they were hopelessly deadlocked and very afraid. The asked for police escorts and protection. The judge sent them back to continue deliberations and later in the afternoon they returned the verdict of LIFE plus 13 years for the murder of Deputy Sheriff James McGrane. He still faces charges for the murder of Candida Martinez. 

But Michael Astorga is goring to jail where he has been before and wants to be because he can still control his gangs in jail. The jury that placed him there hope he will be merciful. The jury that found him guilty of the murder of Deputy McGrane is scared.

Michael Astorga has been committing violent crimes since he was a teenager. He was arrested in 1994 for battery. In 1996 he and his brother were charged with first degree murder—his brother was convicted but Michael walked. He has a long list of other crimes including another battery charge, property crimes, and a long list of drug crimes including trafficking—usually while carrying a deadly weapon. 

In 1998 he was sentenced to prison for eight different felonies—but we released on good behavior only six years later. After this release, in March 2005, he was arrested for violating parole, but was released again in June 2005. Then, in November 2005 a warrant was issued for Astorga’s arrest for shooting Candida Martinez in the head. She died a few hours later and Astorga walked out of a meeting with his parole officer just a few hours after the warrant had been sworn out for his arrest. 

Michael did not flee New Mexico. Albuquerque was his home turf. He was pulled over for a routine traffic stop by Deputy Sheriff James McGrane. Astorga shot him leaving McGrane’s wife a widow and his children fatherless. He should not have been free to murder Candida Martinez or Deputy McGrane. If our criminal justice system worked he would have been in jail as a repeat offender. Or sentenced to life after the 1996 murder with his brother. Or serving his full sentence for the eight felonies he was found guilty of in 1998,

Astorga has no redeeming social values. He is not going to be rehabilitated and become a contributing member of society. During the death penalty phase of his murder trial for Deputy McGrane he called character witnesses including the Archbishop of Santa Fe, who didn't show up. And his attorney's claimed extenuating circumstances. It would be funny if it was not so serious for our society. Justice is broken. Very broken. He can be bought as in the case of O.J. Simpson or forced by threats in any direction the defendant and his friends want.

Astorga should not be allowed to serve his life plus 13 years in a New Mexico prison. He should be exchanged with another prisoner like him in another state. Take him as far away as possible from his Bros and the system he has learned so well to manipulate.

Sometimes you just have to stand up

I was a rebel for almost any cause in my youth. From free speech to against illegal wars to save the mini skirt. I was working on a United Churches campaign to end the draft when a young draft dodger noticed my ERA pin - Equal Rights Amendment. He told me women were not equal and had no right to be. That God said we were the hand maidens of men.

I quietly got up from the desk and leaned over and told him in a whisper I hope he was drafted and walked out. From that day forward my goal was to make women equal in the eyes of the law. On March 22, 1972 the ERA was passed by the congress and began moving through the states for ratification. It ultimately failed. If it hadn't would we be having this current rash of vagina politics? Would presidential candidates be telling us we shouldn't be having sex except to procreate? Would states be passing laws that infringe on our rights to control our reproductive lives? Would companies have the right to refuse to cover birth control prescriptions even if they are used for other health reasons?

I think not.

And I feel a bit guilty that I stopped fighting. I believed that line in the 1964 equal rights amendment that stuck in sex as well as race would be enough. It obviously is not.

I live in a conservative community. And as an artist I depend upon my "friendly" presence on the web to further my reputation and my sales. So there were a lot of reasons to not get involved in fighting this current round of oppression of my sex. And I was trying to be quiet and lady like in my subtle support. Until Rush Limbaugh. And the most recent round of oppressive laws in Virginia (maybe they should change the name of the state to a man's name).

But I have a bumper sticker on the back of my car (which was there when I got the car) which says, "Your silence will not protect you," Audre Lorde. And it occurs to me that my silence might get me burned at the stake. We all need to speak up about this horrid trend of the religious right before we are all victims of the next inquisition. Four million women were put to death by the Catholic church during those times. Now they just want to deny us equal access to health care. It all begins with one small step.

But they are way past that small step. They have allied themselves with the Christian Right (which is wrong) and with one of the two major parties of our country. And it is not just the laws but the attitude. They have made it right for a major public figure to rant for three days against a coed witness before a congressional committee. To defame her sex and her character nationally over and over and over.

And this morning when I thanked Carbonite, Inc for withdrawing their sponsorship I became a victim of the same nasty, sexist abuse. I will not be silent on this issue if it kills me. It feels rather lonely out here but it feels right.

A long time coming - or not

I was in Washington, DC when the process of an Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution of the United States began. It was passed by Congress on March 22, 1972 and began the long uphill battle for ratification by the states. 

It had originally been written by Suffragist Leader, Alice Paul in 1923 so it had already been a long and arduous battle for what seemed to so many of us so simple an issue. It was argued that we would be giving up our protection under the law. Especially labor laws and draft laws. And we countered that if we had equal rights we could protect ourselves. In March of 1982 it was declared dead as it had failed to pass.

This March 22 it will have been forty years since the bill went to the states in the process to become the 27th amendment. The southern states essentially denied all women equality. I fortunately live in a state that ratified the short lived attempt to give women equality before the law.

I was abhorred by recent events led by the GOP and its Tea Party to once again extend our servitude. Men can get Viagra paid by their insurance companies but the majority of the same companies will not pay for birth control for women. And with national health insurance looming the GOP has made it very clear they do not want to pay for our PLAY. We are to take responsibility for ourselves. Well, guys we tried that. And you said we needed protection. And now you won't pay for that protection?

We are suppose to grow up and practice restraint, and yet in 1972 you argued we could not even make our own informed decisions about how much weight we could pick up (most women carrying twins were over the then legal limit) or how many hours we would work.

We still make way less than male counterparts but we must pay the $20 to $30 a month for birth control pills. The men don't want to pay for that. Cheaper than a whore frankly, boys. Not to mention child support. Oh, right you always try to side step that one even to the point that murder by spouse is the number one cause of death for pregnant women. And yet you call abortion murder and are still fighting to take away our right to a legal abortion. The extreme right has terrorized abortion doctors and clinics to the point it is almost safer to go back to the alley way abortionists of my youth.

I am past the age that reproduction politics should matter but I would love to be an equal to a man before the law before I die. Because it is not all about reproduction. Sexual discrimination still exists in housing, mortgages, car loans, credit cards, deposits for utilities, rental leases - the list goes on and on and on.

The recent debate over vagina politics has made it clear it is time to dust off that old ERA button and try it again ladies. Let's make this March 22nd a day for all men to remember. Just say NO to whatever they want.

Time to Move On

 

Moving does not mean packing up the household belongings and hitting the road. As a child with a father in the military, and then later in my youth working for a major construction management company I got to redo my life on a regular basis via United Van Lines. Home was just where my parents lived. And given their lives not anywhere I had lived often.

Now I have lived in the same house for almost 15 years and in the same geographic area for almost 23. I until recently would image moving house just to not have to be trapped. But I have at last discovered that movement can be a rather static thing. It can be just a shift in attitude. Or turning just a bit to be aware there is another path to follow. It can be not calling the same friends for lunch or belonging to the same board of directors.

It can be like the newly emerged butterfly just quietly pumping its wings full so it can fly - a movement so still as to be almost no movement at all at first. Then that leap of faith. Leaving that comfortable space.

I have done a lot of moving this summer. Changing people and goals if not place. And while a bit scary it feels good. And it seems that the universe has united behind my shift in direction. Or should I say directions. To a lot of my old friends it seems that I am going all ways at once; that I am leaving behind what they believe is important.

The biggest visible shift has been to photography. But, never fear, I am still painting. I just am not painting for fairs or the expectations of galleries. I am painting what I want to paint. And I am painting at a pace my muse can support. A lot of energies are going into the photography just now but that is understandable. It is new and exciting to me especially given my success with it thus far. To the outsider this seems all so sudden. But it was a change in some ways long coming.

In some ways I was pushed by the economy, the down turn in fairs, the death of the Astro Van that took me to those fairs, my stand against giclee prints of my paintings, and just plain got to move off this damn leaf I am on. If I hadn't moved I could have been gobbled by some frog.

But yes I am still here. I have not moved house as the Brits say. I am still blogging but the focus of my blogs may have shifted a bit. More poetry on Creative Journey. Less politics and more consumer issues on Travels with Charley. A tad more introspection on Sidetracked Charley. And I have left groups I began on Facebook as I consider new groups I might want to start.

Times they are a changing. Like the butterfly whose new wings are at last dry: Move or die.