WORDS REFLECT THE TIMES

The Urban dictionary is as good a source for sociologists.  When there was a rash of people going into post offices and shooting anyone there (or so it seemed) we call that type of behavior 'going postal'.  Today our urban mentors had a new one which, once again, reflects our current times.  The term is 'congressional' ("to act infantile and obstinate; to reject common sense in favor of self-interest regardless of consequence")s.  I doubt that anyone in Congress reads the urban dictionary.  If they did, they would be more in touch with the average public and issues of the day.  Or perhaps, if they heard from the people as they might have when they campaigned, they have become adept at stepping on those people, figuratively, to serve their own masters (Grover Norquist, the Koch brothers, ALEX, and all the far right (with the exception of the few who live in their own crazed, mental world an get nothing from outside their own heads)).  Campaign funding is more dear than the needs of the constituents who voted them in.

By some political miracle, humanity sprung forth to enough in the Congress to finally pass a bill that will free the money to assist in the recovery from the damage Hurricane Sandy did to New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. Those who had been obstructing it for so long should be totally ashamed of themselves for their lack of Christianity. Hopefully their constituents will be more God-fearing and remember how these selfish people behaved to those less fortunate, acting against the Bible's teachings in which they profess to adhere, when re-election time rolls around again.

Coined recently:  The 11th Hour:  Used to describe the final moments of a given event, or situation where change is still a possibility.  Right before a deadline.  This seems to be a practice our current Congress prefers rather than doing the job for which they were sent to Washington.  Impeachment is the word that comes to mind as a suitable public response to their performance, failing in their duty to the people which they promised to uphold.

By interfering with educators and trying to take control of education by forbidding evolution to be taught in places, substituting 'intelligent design' they fail to uphold our Constitution which demands a secular government, we have politicians ignoring that while criticizing what they see as threats to our Constitution in other places.  That myopic view from so many currently in office is dangerous.  Another urban word has come forth.  It is 'politischool': " A school system where all decisions are political and renders the entire educational environment stagnant and regressive. An atmosphere characterized by an uneducated school board who makes decisions based on what is politically popular than what is correct for children  This type of mindset and action leaves the system in a hopeless state of confusion". 

  ..

POLITICAL PROTESTERS TEABAGGING

Republicans and those who joined them made a very unfortunate choice in picking teabagging for their protests as it has another meaning they may find offensive. However, one can speculate (after you have looked it up on Urban Dictionary.

One could take this image far, which amuses me. The Republicans and Independents who are engaging in this protest, and figuratively trying to gain some sort of comfort through this process, can have little spirit of adventure or sense of humor, though offering a hearty laugh to looser minds.

The protesters are either incredibly naive or hopelessly frustrated and behaving like children having a temper tantrum. The term 'comfort food' usually refers to that taken by mouth but, in this instance, one wonders whether it is the object that implies receiver of comfort. I'm clearly the wrong gender to ever understand the answer to that question. Of course the real answer, as those of us who read the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, learned is 42.

It occurs to me that protests are a subject that is very complex. They work if someone has the power to resist that which they are protesting. Protests were partly effective about the war in Viet Nam. Hunger strikes work only if it is important to keep the protester alive, as with Ghandi. As with the teabaggers, asking that they wanted things to remain the same and not change hardly moved the majority of the country who had voted for change equaling hope. The only thing proved to anyone by this protest was that a minority of the country are sore losers who cannot tolerate change, even when what they have is not working, or working to the detriment of the majority (which in this context includes the protesters).

Nevertheless, now that the media has decided it does not bring viewers as a matter of interest, we seem to no longer see if they are active. Without lots of profile for them, it seems they will just continue to be sore losers.

UNDERSCORING REPUBLICAN PRIDE

To be a Republican must make one very proud to hear two obviously thoughtful intellectuals discuss Palin more deeply than most of the rest of us, who have failed to recognize how much she brings to the campaign.

Despite the evidence in favor of Palin (that she is hot; that she was mayor and later governor of a state with fewer people than Rhode Island) , there are some who have not as yet seen the reasons for her to quite likely become President if McCain is elected. Matt Damon is one of them and well-worth listening to a 'liberal' who doesn't see the Republican 'truths'. That she does, as someone who thinks the dinosaurs were here on earth 4000 years ago and will, as VP-later President have the nuclear codes, frighten him, oddly. Yet, admirably, as evidence of their greater security about the stability of our Administration by Republicans, it seems not to frighten any of the Republicans who, having run the country to the ground so brilliantly in the past eight years, think they continue at greater speed with Palin/McCain at the helm.

For those of you who don't know what a VPILF is, look it up on Urban Dictionary. Substitute Vice President for Mother and you will subsequently be able to feel the pride of what she adds to the Republican platform and the Republican voters find so appealing about her. It should make all of us flattered to be part of the voting public. It confirms our pride in our country for the past eight years, though the jealous world outside seems to see us quite differently. Their view is difficult to understand because we have saved them from Al Qaeda, which might have invaded Iraq and taken their oil, and we have knocked the money situation of the world to utter chaos so they, too, will have economic challenges (always a fun game). But apparently they have no sense of humor in the rest of the world as we have here in the US. At least, as those of us have who still have jobs, a roof over our heads, hope for the future of our lives and education of our children (oh dear, the numbers in that group seem to be going down so fast as I write this), medical insurance, and a local shelter we can count on occasionally so that we don't freeze to death, (saving the police having to pick up bodies in the morning), and occasionally some food, courtesy of the people who didn't want it.

Yes, we in the middle and lower class (is there a difference now?) of the US have much for which to be thankful. We should thank God for helping us for giving us the opportunity to make the rich people richer, for deregulation which allowed CEOs to earn up to 30,000 times the salary of the average worker, thus adding to our recreational pleasure so that we can stand on shore and watch their beautiful yachts sail or motor by. We can enjoy the creativity of the jewelers who make the $100,000 diamond-studded pet collars for pampered pets, while Sarah Palin continues to kill off the wild life that might endanger those little furry, diamond encrusted darlings. We can be happy that we do not have to defend ourselves against the painful jealousy shown by the rest of the world, now that we have been able to rid ourselves of anything they could envy.

Have we hit rock bottom yet?

URBAN DICTIONARY

There is an Urban dictionary which will send a word daily to its subscribers, for free. It is always amazing to me that words pop up daily that are so expressive. One of them is UDI (Unidentified Drunken Injury). Another recent one is that the country is in the grip of Obamania!

Should you hear someone say 'udder warmer'...you may not quickly guess that it refers to 'condom'. Another concept is a B Dinkadink. One must be careful not to confuse it with a B Donkadonk.

Apparently the English language isn't expressive enough and new words are constantly being invented. I don't know if they are universal or limited to specific urban populations. Many people have their own foreign languages to converse with in public to have a private conversation. My sister and I could do that on the subway and in stores, in Greek. Sometimes foreign words can be embarrassing. The Greek word for lentils sounds obscenely close to someone saying, intercourse (more common word, actually, for this function)-yes.

That ploy backfired for a couple once in England as I was in a subterranean area waiting for a lift. People were all standing before one as it was apparently the second was out of order. A couple standing before the one out of service were saying, in Greek, "we will stand at the front of this one and pretend we don't know it is out of order and then we can squeeze right in before all these people when the other comes." Since I understood them, I motioned with a sweeping arm when the lift arrived, for them to pass before me, saying in Greek, "After you". They had the good grace to look a bit embarrassed but moved in front of me anyway.

Having recently read that 1 in 7 living in the United States is foreign born, I wonder why we have to press one to speak in English. I know there are lots of places for which one presses 2 to speak in Spanish, but how many more numbers must we add in the future. It is difficult enough that there is a whole dictionary of shortcuts in chat, writers who speak in archaic English or with such erudite words as to need a dictionary handy to read them. Be ahead of the curve by checking out the Urban Dictionary.