NYT: 'Silent raids' sweep illegal workers from jobs - U.S. news - The New York Times - msnbc.com
It's so unusual to have a smart and moral person as the President. In my lifetime I haven't seen the like. We have had Presidents who have come from humble beginnings and have achieved greatness. Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton certainly would come to mind. While both were brilliant they were duplicitous and ultimately their Presidencies suffered as did the nation. So we looked for persons who were humble and just like us or could pretend that they were President better than anyone finally culminating in last President who would've had trouble being a good Congressman. From Texas no less.
These silent raids of audits on employers of illegal aliens is just the latest example of the way this guy works. Quiet and smart. While the rest of the US politicians are in a stranglehold with one another and the pundits just sit on TV and analyze or I mean jack off, he is leading us to the promised land. But are we going to shut up our fucking mouths (and I'm talking to you liberals) or are we going to FUCKING HELP????!!!! It's bad enough that racists and other jack offs are going at him! Why are you doing the same??!!! And if you think your disgruntledness is more valid because you voted for him thing again.
Did you not remember who we had as our last President and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that and the one before that...!!!! I sure as fuck do and I'm so fucking sick of hearing about the how GAY community is not getting everything they were promised and that jobs that are getting created aren't the right kind of jobs and the oil oh the oil in the gulf and all the other bullshit that everyone fixates on. Hell Nigeria has had the same problem that the Gulf is having for years. Their costal waters are as dead as the Dead Sea but no one is going to help them because WE can't give up our cars and our demand for all things petroleum!!! Even when it may cause the unwanted suffering of millions both here and abroad we can't be bothered. And Wayne LaPierre don't forget your fucking gun when you go this Sunday CHURCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That gun in church nonsense begs the question, "WHAT THE FUCK WOULD JESUS DO???"
But I digress...
But before I get back on track let me just say this. I'm especially bothered by the GAY leadership of our nation right now. There has been so much change for the good that has happened in the last 18 months for our community and you're bitching about that its not fast enough. How much got done say in the last, oh I don't know, ten thousand years?!!! And Hey GAY PEOPLE we in the trans community, you remember us, are used to waiting like our whole fucking lives to be whole. With all due respect you tell people your gay and you got a lot of shit ahead of you but when we tell people we're trans we're just getting started!!!
I could list President Obama's accomplishments but the biggest one is he has started real change. Real change like Health Care and Financial Reform and getting out of these Wars and stopping DADT and on and on so GET OFF OBAMA'S BACK!!!! He's trying like hell to do the right thing now we got it FINISH it. We all need to be quiet and smart. And that goes for me. So I'll shut up now and put away the dishes and WALK to church on Sunday!!
Marie Fairman
Friday, July 9, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
My Hero
Hero was his name. I know it usually a girl's name but my Dad had named the mangy black cur who was my first dog and my first real friend Hero. We lived in northern suburbs of Indianapolis. It was not very populated when we first moved out there as a matter of fact we were in the only home built. Over the next few years home’s were built and were always immediately occupied and pretty soon there was a whole neighborhood around us. So Hero who moved with us from my Grandparent's was the defacto ruler of all dogs by claiming every bush and tree before other dogs with pedigrees and attitude even got their chance to make their mark. Hero ran about the neighborhood free. He accompanied my brother when he had a short lived paper route and everyone got to know the super sweet, tail constantly wagging pooch. He was as much the neighborhood's dog as he was ours.
By the time I was his companion as I traveled along on my bike to see the sights of our neighborhood, Ralston Heights, he had seen it all before. He was getting up in years and now was content to hanging around the house and survey his survey his kingdom from the stoop that led to the back of our house. That’s where you find him usually sleeping more and more as old age was setting upon him.
On July Fourth in 1964 he had reached 16 years of age and though he was an American dog he had never liked the loud noises of Independence Day. The neighborhood sounds of exploding cherry bombs, firecrackers, roman candle and their like always upset him. But the fireworks we're quite legal for adults to purchase and would find themselves in the hands of their children every fourth. That evening we went to a fireworks display at Riverside Park. We left Hero alone in the backyard on the stoop that led to our back room and settled down to a comfortable nap as he awaited his pack’s return.
When we returned home from a totally lame fireworks display, Hero was not around the house and my Mother immediately worried about him. My Dad assured her and me that we would find him lying on the stoop that led to our back room in the back yard when we awoke. He had done this kind of thing for years and there was reason to think otherwise.
The next morning, we all awoke to a banging on our front door. My Father answered it and talked with one of our neighbors for a brief bit and then turned to us with devastating news. Out on the big road that led to our neighborhood there was the body of dog lying on the roadside. My Mother stated to cry and so did I as Dad got in the car and traveled out to see if it was our Hero.
In what seemed like forever Dad returned shortly. He left the car in the driveway which was unusual because he always pulled it into the garage. He got out of the car and slowly walked up to his sobbing family. He told us that he had found Hero on the Big road and he was dead presumably hit by a vehicle. He then told us that Hero was lying in a blanket in the back seat of our car. I wanted to see him but Dad would not let me and my Mother held me back. I turned into my Mother’s arms and dissolved into heaving tears. Dad took Hero to the vet who would take care of Hero's final arrangements.
My Mom stayed at home with her devastated little child. I couldn't stop crying. I couldn't believe how sudden life could be taken away. I've never been able to wrap my head around that to this day. I accept it now but it still leaves me utterly helpless at the capriciousness of death.
Over the next few days, we pieced together the last few hours of Hero's life. After we left to watch the fireworks, a group of boys came by our yard where Hero was lying peacefully on the stoop to back room of the house. They were armed with various LEGAL fireworks mentioned before, lit a few and threw them at our defenseless dog. Hero sought shelter but there was none to be found in the yard and so he bolted out of our yard. He ran through our neighborhood pursued by the pack of boys maintaining their assault on him. He ran out of the safety of neighborhood and onto to the unfamiliar Big Road and was hit by some vehicle and was probably killed instantly. We got this account from all our passive neighbors as they watched the tragic story unfold. In all fairness to them, Hero was a street wise dog and all thought he would eventually evade his torturers. But Hero was old and arthritic and could no longer make the quick turns and have sudden bursts of speed that had been his legend. His fate was sealed when he left our yard.
I wanted to post this today because this is the date I learned of the news. Since that day, the July 4th weekend, no matter what I do, has always been tinged with melancholy as I remember my fallen friend. Sure he was just a dog but to me he was my first and bestest friend.
It was concluded by many that the boys had spooked him and Hero had run away in fear. I can't imagine my loyal friend ever doing that. Instead I always like to remember him leading the danger away from his pack and our home and then tragically given his life for us. After all, his name was Hero.
Marie Fairman July 5th, 2010
Friday, July 2, 2010
Looking for Work can be Bittersweet
My spouse and I are going Metro!!! Our carbon footprint has just gone down considerably because we gave up our car and we're walking or taking mass transit to get to wherever we have to get too. It's so liberating not to have that damn Prius anymore. No it really is. We didn't really want to give it up but sometimes you have to do what's best for yourself and the world. Okay we do care about the world but we had to give up the Prius regardless. It just so happens that Joy's (my spouse) work is right on a bus route and so is our apartment. So we could give up the Prius and she could keep her job and I can get to my training and job interviews.
The main reason we gave up the car was that quite suddenly my unemployment stopped. I came to find out that I was one of the million plus people who were being funded by the federal government. With the Senate unable to pass the new funding suddenly it was gone. Such is life. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else but the United States and we don't have enough money to move anyway.
I'm not worried about us. We're blessed. My spouse is working and loves her job and so many of our friends are helping us get through this. I am concerned that a new mindset is taking shape in our national dialogue. Not helping the "least of these" is seen by many as the right thing to do. I believe its because the meaning of the "least of these" has changed. What use to mean a person or persons is now a number. 1.2 million unemployed. Numbers have no feelings so you can ignore them. When you're talking about 200 million plus in the work force and the number is less than half a per cent its easy to make a "tough" choice.
I believe that unemployment insurance is a good thing and I hope it will continue for those of us affected and those affected is a number that grows weekly. But it must be accompanied by training and that training should be free.
I waited a year for MS Office training at the Actors Fund. It's fantastic. It's a twelve week course that includes basic to third level training in Powerpoint, Word and Excel. I'm through Powerpoint and am not quite halfway through Word with five weeks of Excel training to follow. I've used these programs for years but I can't tell you how reaffirming and enlightening it is to finally have someone to show you how they really work. And the training is free. I had to wait a year because having a highly skilled experienced instructor teaching you a new skill set for free is really hard to find. It shouldn't be.
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