Boomer Bob's Open Salon Blog

Is Nena Sanchez Living in My Garage?

Wed, 8 Aug 2012 20:08:43 -0400

Nah! Just a wannabe

Well; I tried :-)

Plain ol' garage cabinets aren't cool, so I dressed them up a bit after building them. Very likely the closest I'll ever get to the Carribean.

A swamp cooler added for some Carribean humidity and to make it semi-comfortable in 113 - 115 degree weather in the summers here.

Here's my baby! But it's a beast! A heavy-duty Porter-Cable 10" table saw. This guy can rip through 4 x 4 posts without skipping a beat; a very nice guy to have around when building cabinets.

For some REAL and very, very cool Nena Sanchez art; go to Nena's Place

From the Afghans and Iraqis to Obama: Thank You!

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 17:06:38 -0400

A few thoughts and thank you videos from the Iraqis to Obama and all those who continue to parrot his words; "we're out of Iraq."
The first video, identified as “Baghdad, Iraq, May–September 2005,” showed Blackwater convoys racing through town. Suddenly, the door of a Blackwater SUV opened and a rifle fired at passing traffic. “They opened the door,” my companion said. “You should never break the seal.

The next tape had been taken by a camera in the turret of an armored vehicle. An M4A1 fired from the turret at cars that had stopped to let the convoy pass. Whoever was firing the gun did so enthusiastically and often, sending rounds into parked cars and an overhead bridge. Another sequence showed a contractor vehicle rear-ending a car, shattering its back windshield.

The footage continued. A Humvee smashed into a car to move it out of the way. Guards swore at passersby. More armored vehicles smashed into civilian cars

Blackwater helicopters shoot at targets below in a Baghdad street.

Driving along a wide boulevard in Baghdad, the lead vehicle swerved close to the curb of a traffic island. A woman in a black full-length burka began to cross the street. The vehicle struck the woman and knocked her unconscious body into the gutter. The cars slowed for a moment, but did not stop, nor did they even determine whether the victim was dead or alive. A voice in the car taking the video said, “Oh, my God!” Yet no one was heard on the radio requesting help for her. Most sickeningly, the sequence had been set to an AC/DC song, whose pounding, metallic chorus declared: “You’ve been… thunderstruck

Harper's Magazine http://harpers.org/archive/2012/04/hbc-90008515

These are ancient videos and Blackwater is no longer you say? Blackwater met its demise? Well, if you think that's fact, here's a reality check for you; Blackwater, after its "run-in with the law" over its behavior in Iraq

did what many U.S. corporations do after they've been "outed by the law," and assumed a new identity known as Xe and appointed John Ashcroft as their "Ethics Watchdog." As we know all too well a single reboot is often inadequate and since many saw through this farce for what it was, they've once again rebranded as Academi and to get their business back to the main stream acceptance as murderers for hire, they quietly bought another security firm, International Development Solutions, and took over its State Department’s $10 billion World Protective Services contract, from which their predecessor Blackwater was removed years ago.

So, we've gone full circle, from King George II and Blackwater to Obama and Academi; the names have all been changed to protect kill the innocent and to fool the public, but make no mistake, their mission remains the same and Obama can no longer continue to use his favored phrase "this was brought about by the previous administration."

America is out of Iraq? Hardly! We went there to stay and we'll do so by invasion or by contract and Barack Obama and his band of merry mercenaries are leading the way, from Iraq to Afghanistan to Iran, to Syria to Egypt. But! It's those dirty little mercenaries doing that, not the current administration. Right?

In this case, the matter is most definitely not "Academic" rather it is Academi.

Surely! They Droned On and On and On

Tue, 5 Jun 2012 22:06:10 -0400

Seemingly oblivious to the cause and effect of blowback, the Bush “Shocked In Self Awe” and the Obama “Rama Lama Boom Bang” of the past 12 years continues to provide us with ample unreasonable reasoning to continue the perpetual sate of war in the new American Frontier; the American Middle-East. We’ve extended Manifest Destiny beyond the confines of U.S. borders and a century and a half late, flexing our bully-muscle towards the entire neighborhood of Mother Earth with a mental block towards civility that makes John Wayne Gacy and Jeffrey Dahmer the very models of neighborhood welcoming committees.

Abu Yahya al-Libi? Is this even a real person? Sounds a bit more like some divine ditty from a ya ya sisterhood to me. Hmm, maybe Obama didn’t like that movie any more than I did! But sure as hell, there he is in living; ahh dammit! I meant dead color. Somehow in a few short weeks after bin Laden’s death, he is now, uh er uhm was, the infamous, dreaded and much-feared “Senior al-Qaeda”or should that be, in Bush vernacular, Al Kayeeeeeda leader. Yippee ki-ya mother fucker! We got that suddenly senior leader from outa nowhere and we did so suddenly with a missile from outa nowhere! Boom! Bang! Your dead dude! I’ll teach your ass to have a ditty for name!

Why the sudden shift from an almost remorseful, seemingly benevolent modesty to outrageous boasting?

Ding Dong bin Laden is Dead

Surely! There are others who think it more than just a bit odd, how from the start Obama insisted upon maintaining only vague references to bin Laden’s death once he announced his wondrously, all be it highly suspicious, unlikely and absurdly unbelievably successful covert operation against the kingpin of terrorism only to now stand atop the rotunda of the Capitol Building to beat his chest like some moron from WWF’s latest “championship match” a few weeks later.

Surely! It’s not odd to just me, that suddenly Obama, with his War Powers Act in his back pocket tickling his ass so much he had to scratch it or go insane, he awoke one morning to the realization that he’d discovered his abilities were nothing less than superhuman and could kill with absolute impunity anywhere, anytime, anyplace.

Surely! Others see the political rhetoric of the current bully administration’s sudden change from “toning it down a bit” to “droning” this shit to death.

This is all about one thing and one thing only; about winning over the right-wing elitist and their demagogues along with the morons who vote right-wing because, well because! For the Bible tells me so! This isn’t about murder for hire, it’s about murder for votes; nothing less and nothing more.

This is about blinding the masses with propaganda that is hell-bent for leather to destroy what civility is left within the world and doing so with the powers that a single individual holds, the powers of POTUS. Not one person with even a miniscule amount of sanity can parrot; “this is a man who cannot do things on his own,” or “the president is not a king and must act within the confines of the system,” for this is in fact, in all sobering, hard-ass reality, a one-man show; make no doubt about it. And it has been well planned to be such for over a half century, since Korea and Vietnam; since Reagan invaded El Salvador, Clinton invaded Kosovo, King George I and II invaded Iraq, Afghanistan and Iraq yet again, since our present example of omnibenevolence, Obama Boom Bang, attacked sovereign countries such as Libya, Yemen, The Philippines and Pakistan and is now rattling his sabre at Syria and even Egypt for Chrissake! And you’d have to be deaf, dumb and blind not to see the sabre-rattling over Iran, so I’ll not belabor that with links.

Surely! I am not the only one who sees the threat to the world in the politics of the now Un-tied States. With people uselessly heading to the polls to vote party lines this November because there is no other choice; well even they can see what’s going on now.

Surely?

Mission reminded me of this; euphamistically called the "Phantom Eye" or the "Green Drone."

Greenheron's Open Call; Can You Draw Me?

Fri, 25 May 2012 00:05:52 -0400

OK. Here's my Best Foot Forward. Enjoy and eat your hearts out, you connisuers of fine art.

For the best effects possible, I've provided some very complex extra-sensory enhancements for your viewing pleasure. However! Please keep this under wraps as I'm in the middle of contract negotiations with I-max.

AND by popular demand, it is in 3 D now too. Grab some of the 3D devices below for your 3D pleasure

PRIVATIZING EDUCATION; YET ANOTHER ELITIST SCAM

Wed, 23 May 2012 18:05:34 -0400

In 1988, my first and only child was born and with her birth came the almost indescribable and unimaginable mixture of emotions that I’m certain most new parents experience. The minute she appeared, I knew without hesitation that someone with a severely twisted sense of humor was standing over some cosmic blender creating ad hoc a numbing concoction of torturous emotions.

This twisted chef with green drool dripping from its evil grin, glowing eyes and demonic chuckle was tossing in equal parts of excitement, trepidation, fear, angst, joy, hope, worry and some extra “holy shit; what in hell did we do?” then for a little extra fun pours in some exhaustion and some god-awfully smelly diapers; turns on the blender to puree and sits back to enjoy the fun.

And there you have it; the very reason(s) my daughter is an only child AND my utter confusion as to why the rest of the world fails to see and utilize the easiest, cheapest, most natural form of population-limiting birth control available; the experience of the first child.

What person bearing any semblance of sanity whatsoever would do such a thing more than once??? Even in my youthful stupidity I learned after the first time not to jump out of the back of a pickup onto the gravel road while traveling at 30mph, so I ask; why does ANYONE repeatedly slam their heads against the proverbial concrete sidewalk?

As if the concoction wasn’t quite right, the demon cook, now bored with the original maelstrom swirling around in the pureed mass of what was once a stable, happily married, fun-loving, human couple belatedly tosses in education to spice it up a bit.

What to do! Where to go! How do we know what’s right for her? “Holy shit; what in hell did we do?”

In California, shortly after the human can of gasoline was tossed into our fire, a hotly debated issue began to emerge during what can easily be seen now as the dawn of the decline of the world’s seventh largest economy; a debate centered around what, perhaps arguably was once the premier system of easily accessible higher education as it began showing the signs of failure and in fact is now literally coming apart at the seams. Granted, we had a few years to worry about higher education, but the immediate concern of primary education was even then a system that was already in the throes of decay.

If one studies education in the United States they can readily see a less than stellar system from the very beginning. We have, rather than education, a means to instill conformity and rudimentary training, the development of which, curiously enough coincided with the Industrial Revolution.

For the average Jack and Jill in the United States we don’t actually have a system of personal education and never have; what we do have is a hodgepodge of the six “Rs” - readin, rote, ritin, rithmatic, religion and racism; all traits that were necessary to work in the United States’ industrial complex developed simultaneously with the “education” system of the mid 19th century, the system that still exists (all be it in a dilapidated form) today.

Ralph Waldo Emerson - “We learn nothing rightly until we learn the symbolical character of life….I believe that our own experience instructs us that the secret of Education lies in respecting the pupil. It is not for you to choose what he shall know, what he shall do. It is chosen and foreordained, and he only holds the key to his own secret. By your tampering and thwarting and too much governing he may be hindered from his end and kept out of his own. Respect the child. Wait and see the new product of Nature. Nature loves analogies, but not repetitions. Respect the child. Be not too much his parent. Trespass not on his solitude.”

Also, in the womb of American education was a system developed in the far northeastern sector of the United States, a system of vouchers which would allow a student to attend a public school in a local community outside that in which the student lived as a stop-gap measure for small townships which could not afford to establish a formal education system on their own.

However! In the mid 1950s, an economist and metacapitalist by the name of Milton Friedman promoted the concept of vouchers for an entirely different reason – to promote privatization of public education. Friedman’s theory was that privatizing the education system would promote “healthy competition,” thereby improving the quality of education. Given the fact that this debate was considered as long ago as 62 years, gives reason to believe that education in America was less than stellar even then.

Friedman’s theory of “free market education” is widely accepted by most, if not all right-wing ultra-conservatives (and to be fair, a small congregation of “Democrats” as well) including billionaire John T Walton (son of Walmart’s founder Sam Walton), Grover Norquist, David Boaz and Ed Crane of the Cato Institute; conservative author Dinesh D'Souza; Dean Clancy, who was an education policy analyst for House Majority Leader Dennis Hastert; and Howard Phillips, the once president of the Conservative Caucus.

Wisconsin State Representative Chris Sinicki, who was a Milwaukee School Board member when vouchers began in Milwaukee in 1990, says there is no doubt that vouchers "are a Republican strategy to take down public education and the unions. This is partisan politics, completely."

Other very notable conservatives include John McCain and the Republican Party’s heir-apparent, Willard Mitt Romney.

When you look at the true underlying reasons in support for privatization of education, you quickly realize that it has absolutely nothing to do with education in and of itself, in fact I dare say that most of the supporters probably couldn’t care less about the benefits of real education for those in what they perceive as the lessor ranks of America’s society; or perhaps they do care and fear the results that educating the masses would give rise to; at any rate the issue emanates purely from political and economical classification; it divides the classes more effectively than anything else other than direct ethnic and racist policies.

From an ultra-capitalist’s “republic” perspective, the privatization of education accomplishes the following:

Creates a multi-billion dollar windfall for corporations
Aids in the ever-present goal of the conservative’s superiority concept of separating the cream from the milk so to speak
Reduces the concept of public sector
Drastically reduces, if not totally disbanding unions related to education, one of the few remaining union strongholds and arguably the most influential
Redistribution of wealth and political power

The name of another supporter should be of no surprise to you for his home state continues to make attempts to privatize education and George W Bush continues to promote his reign’s failures in education policies.

In less than a month, on June 22, King George II will bring his charade-parade to Las Vegas to continue his promotion of separating the economic and social classes in the U.S. He will be speaking (if one can logically use that term within the same sentence as George W Bush) at Mandalay Bay during a meeting of the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities – APSCU an organization that promotes furthering the already misuse of more than 32 billion dollars in OUR tax money for private business, a presentation sponsored by an organization highly suspect in fraudulent use of non-profit funds to influence politics – Pearson

Pearson is a large, publicly-traded, corporate conglomerate diversified in publishing textbooks (ask ANY student about the absurd costs of textbooks and see for yourself the wondrous effects of capitalism in education), testing and certification, education software development and consumer publication.

Any time King George II is in town, I will be there along with the rest of Occupy Las Vegas, to protest the continued funneling of tax dollars to private organizations. We need to improve education for our children and for the future of this country, not hand over to Wall Street our tax money to do what we’ve seen them do best – destroy our future.

There are social benefits that should NEVER be privatized; education, healthcare, fire and police protection, social aid and government itself and I worry the latter on the list is not far away as we continue to see our social programs be consumed as rapidly as we consume fossil fuels.

I worry about the future of my daughter and the future of all Earth’s children as our politicians continue to give what wealth we have remaining to the private corporations to expand the ever-widening gap between the elite and the rest of us.

For more on this story, see David Halperin’s article on “Huff Post.”