Hope and.. fuck it!

It is 18 degrees outside of my house right now. I honestly could not be happier about this. I love cold weather. People tell me all the time that I'm totally freaking crazy because of this. I enjoy winter, what can I say?! It's such a wonderful time for me. There is nothing better than the first lungful of icy cold air in the morning to wake you up and remind you that you have a life to live. There is nothing more beautiful than the moon reflecting from frozen pools of water on the side of a lonely highway in the middle of the night. There is nothing better than a brightly lit house at Christmastime(I haven't believed in God since the second grade and I love Christmastime, fuck you Gretchen from Fox News and your "war on Christmas"). I can't help it, I love the winter. I enjoy the darkness, it's very soothing to me. Of course, it is very obvious why I am ABLE to enjoy the winter; I have a place to go to get warm. Unfortunately, this is not the case for so many people in this country.

What is the difference between the homeless guy at the end of the street and myself? In most cases, it's one thing-luck. Yes, luck. It isn't because I work harder, or because I'm better, or smarter, it's because I'm lucky. Most of us will come into hard times. That is a simple truth and fact that we all must accept and understand. However, not all of us are going to get out of hard times unscathed. There are a shit ton of homeless people that have mental illnesses that they cannot afford to treat. Can you imagine what it is like to be living on the street because you have a disease that you did nothing to inherit? It's heartbreaking, and an absolute reality. Are all homeless people mentally ill? I wouldn't dare make that distinction. However, it is one of the many hard luck reasons that some people are going to fucking freeze to death this year. Think about that for a second, just a fucking second. Someone is going to freeze to death, scared and miserable and alone, because they just had bad luck.

Of course, what makes that fact even harder to stomach is that while some people have nothing, literally, in this country, there are some that are fighting to keep more. These people aren't fighting to keep a roof over their heads, or food in their families stomachs, they are fighting to stay rich and powerful. Who am I talking about? Well, it should be obvious by now. I am talking about the richest one percent of our nation that controls about 25 percent of the wealth. Think about that one too. 1 percent of people earn 25% of the countries wealth. Those people must have worked hard to be that elite, right? Right! They fought very hard; through lobbies, and back door legislation and overall bullying of the working class. They use the Republicans and Democrats as their foot soldiers in a way to keep them Godlike in wealth. Much like the poor homeless eating out of a garbage can, these motherfuckers got lucky.

How could they get any luckier? Just ask Barack Obama, as he is their new weapon in this war. The GOP has the working class in a stranglehold. They are refusing to vote for tax cuts for the working class if the richest of the rich do not get them as well. This is 300 bucks for you and me and 1 million for them. Obama played right into it, and BAM, hope and change continues to mean more of the same. There is some opposition to these tyrants, Bernie Sanders being one that is really shining right now. However, we are in this mess because our leaders are playing pingpong with bills that will benefit the richest Americans no matter what, as they have for the last 30 years. Barack Obama and all of his hype has nothing to stop this ongoing process. Remember that the next time you tell me "This time it's too important to not vote, we have to pick the least of two evils".

At this point, I don't think that there is one. Greed will always rule over compassion when the richest are concerned. How much more will we take until we are all frozen on a door step on a cold winter night?

One time, at the hookah bar...

It's December first! And it snowed today! And I TOTALLY busted out the Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris and Reverend Horton Heat Christmas records! This may seem really weird to some. Why on Earth would I care about Christmas? I'm a firm Atheist (have been since 2nd grade, I wasn't just drawing underwear on people's drawings) and I really don't enjoy Capitalism. I also don't care for crowds of human beings. Come to think of it, red and green aren't even close to my favorite colors.... So, what is it about Christmastime and December that draws me in?

It's really quite simple; MAGIC! Yes, this time of year is quite magic. Magic sucks me into enjoying songs about Jesus, it allows Santa Clause to come down your chimney and it also transforms mean spirited pricks into humanitarian savants! Please allow me to tell yet another fictional story to explain what I mean by that last one. Here goes...

Once upon a time, there was a dude named Dave. Dave has had a pretty good life, and he is now in his late 40s, early 50s. He owns a company in a medium sized Midwestern city that makes a product and sells it on the internet to retailers. Now, Dave is a really cool guy. Or, he probably was in the 80s. Truth be told, he did enough blow in the 80s to not even know that the cold war is now over, that Reagan is dead and that people aren't going to take you seriously as a business owner if you have a mullet and wear shorts with suit jackets. Yes, Dave is slightly out of touch. Ok, he's actually really fucking out of touch, but he does ok. He employs a couple dozen people, and he feels rather Godlike because of that. Dave doesn't pay very well, but those pricks are lucky to have work as it is, ya know? So, Dave likes to do totally wacky things to show you how relevant he is, like rocking the newest Christian rock band in his office or adding cool Y ending nick names to your real name. He's a wink and gun finger kind of guy. When you actually have to look into his empty eyes and realize that there isn't anyone home, it's kinda sad, so Dave likes to just say hi to you on the go. Like I said, hes really wacky and relevant, and just ZANY!

So, Dave and his other friends(the guy that runs the Cleaners down the street, the biggest White Stripes fan to ever work for an insurance company and the local Grand Wizard of the KKK) have recently discovered the Tea Party. Dave is all about the Tea Party, because he can memorize two words at a time, like "TAX" and "SPEND". He's anti social programs, which is funny, because he pays so shitty that a lot of his own employees have to seek these government services to stay alive. Dave doesn't pick up on these life facts because hes to busy watching Eddie Money interviews on VHI Classic to actually learn about his "peeps". Dave even said that the Tea Parties were the only political groups that made sense, and included his zaniness into his beliefs by passing out free bottles of tea on Tax Day. Little to his knowledge, some of his employees took two bottles, since their children can't afford milk. 

So, Dave pushes this nonsense that he truly doesn't understand, he pays like crap and when he isn't walking buy your cubicle and saying "GOOD MORNING RONNNNNNNY!" hes passed out half drunk watching Glenn Beck. It's obvious that he doesn't care about poor people, as 11 months out of the year, he does nothing to help them.  But then, that MAGIC happens!

Now thats its Christmastime, and he is closest thing to Christ he's ever met, hes now pushing for everything to pitch in for the "needy", and people that lost their jobs. He is SOO concerned, and he really wants you to know it. He is such a humanitarian. He may even stand behind a vat of soup before heading back to his McMansion on Christmas Eve, especially if the local paper is there with a camera. Otherwise, it would be bad for business!

The moral of the story is this; Dave is a dingleberry and people are cold, hungry and in need of assistance 12 months out of the year instead of just one. If you truly want to help people, then please do. However, if you are giving yourself a Christmas present via pat on the back, why bother? Dave has two tickets to paradise, so go ahead, you'll leave tonight. Those of us that aren't total fucking hypocrites will take care of it. 

It's more of a slap in the face to pretend that you give a shit, so if you don't, just don't!