I'm Back

Titanium Hip, and almost a 3 hr drive, and I'm propped up like Nero, on my nest of 19 pillows, with a mountain of books arrayed within reach (but that I cannot yet read, due to Narcotics(!))
Reachers, Grabbers, a telescoping scratcher(prolly the most sensible investment I've ever made),a walker, with a little basket, and my usual trapeze.
Fentanyl, and Dilaudid, injected into my spine...as well as "Versed", which makes ya forget...and I wake up after 10 seconds(actually around 2 hours) to Fog and a Sandy Beach with a hospital bed and a funny nurse person, asking pesky questions.
I answer with a falling brook of metaphysical nonsense...and then(Time?what Is Time?)
I'm being wheeled...rather the bed is being wheeled(I am a passenger(il Passant)) through corridors that all look strangely alike, going up and down elevators...all to no apparent purpose.
Then we take a sudden hard right, fly right  into the door jamb(crash! shudder!aaargggh!) and I am lifted(?) and...
I'm in room 419....fussed over by nurses and aides, and doctors, and cleaning ladies, and my wife and dad.
Dilaudid continues till next day...but it's effects continue even now.(co-on-sti-pat-ion...sung to the tune of Carly Simon's "Anticipation")
I take myself off of it, because I couldn't find my mind...and am remarkably pain tolerant.
 I don't realise these other, horrible, effects, till the 3rd day...after gorging myself on all manner of tasty vittles....thus making matters worse.
I resolve, from 3rd day, am, to eat fruit, alone...Joe, the tube-Nosed Fruit-Bat.
"Post Operative Fever"....and then, according to the Doc, "Costipation Related Fever" hits every afternoon...and abates 4 hours later with drenching sweat.
3rd day, midday...I'm up, again...sitting in a chair by the window(I had a great view), and the Hospital's Chaplain walks in(an older woman(and it's a Catholic Hosp)).
I open with, "I'm a Secular Humanist/Mystic".She appears intrigued, sits down and says, "Do tell...what do you mean by "Mystic"?...
Hour later...long after her appointed time(Time?),...she must go...says she's glad she's met such an interesting individual....most well read she's ever met.
Ha!
Doc(all 12 feet of him, in his blonde, boyishness) comes bounding into the room, at 7 this morning...looks at the "Wound"(google: Amfortas Wound)...says, "Get out of here", and is gone.
Pretty nurses, for the most part...and all but one is nice, careful, and super attentive.
I sent a note , addressed,"to the Head Honcho"...encouraging him/her/them to give Raises, all around.
I was all but Nekkid for this whole period...those little backwards dresses they give you are more trouble than they're worth...what with IV, Walker,PulseOx, etc etc.
It was obvious that they were having a care for My Modesty(I have none)...always pulling the damned dress this way and that...so the first day, I said.."Y'all see horridly obese patients, every day, in the most unholy positions...If my Nekkid doesn't bother you, it sure as hell doesn't bother me." Thus, the futile attempts at Modesty in such an immodest situation, was dispensed with.
I am, by all accounts, a Model Patient.
Here endeth the Tale.
..we're pretty washed out.
I haven't slept for more than an hour at a time in 4 days.

Amfortas ventures Forth(2-19-2013)

So I’m Calm, now.

Hour or so of that Yes! album(“Classic”) I got at wallywirld(ugh)…
Lite Beer(b/c I don’t really like it)
Now Miles, Filles de Kilimanjaro, and In a Silent Way…

Comforting…now, after bringing in Library Wood, for tomorrow’s Rain Event, it’s Kind of Blue…

I left, this morning, at 9:30….all the way to North Austin.
”Arboretum”

I remember when it was cedar woods and Rangeland.

Testing distances…so I took 29 to 183, at Seward’s Junction…and headed south…into Cedar Park/Round Rock…and the absolute Fuckup they’ve made of 183.
I know to blame Rick Fucking Perry, because it’s a goddamn TollRoad that’s smack in the middle of what used to be a rather simple Highway.

So, 120 miles, and 2 ½ hours, and I’m pulling into Chuy’s…
The north Austin Version.

Get the patio…and learn that Austin’s No Smoking Crusade extends out there, as well…

as expected…
Order Enchilada’s Chicka Boom, or something…(Chuy’s Rocks)
…and read Neitzsche, alone in my little corner…birds

flocks of them,

Ignoring me.
The denizens of North Austin…staring…

They , in their Brooks Bro’s Shirts and Cologne,

…and I’m like a Ghost of Austin Past…
They can’t figger if I’m Real, or not.

‘Ecce Homo’, indeed!

So I go to the Bonesaw Shop, next door to the Hospital where the Blessed Event will take place…

Quick talk with the PA….
He’s in a hurry(vibes), and attempts to reassure me.(he’s recently from Chicago, so there may be certain cues, body language issues there…)

On to the hospital, proper…
More of the same…and more Exsanguination!

Mountain of Homework!

4PM Leaving.

Thick Austin Traffic.

I accidentally get on the Toll Road(Damn You, Rick Perry! Damn you to Hell!)

Reckon I’ve missed my desired Road…1441….but, no!

 There it is, after I find Regular 183.(!?!)

20 minutes later, headed West, sort of…and I’m in mostly The Country.

Winding, beautiful Road…Hills, covered with the hated Cedar(Mountain Juniper)…
Quite Lovely.

Light Traffic…as no one lives out here.

The Herd continues North…

….But there’s Smoke!

Lots of it.

 My Lovely Highway passes through Balcones Canyonlands Wildlife somethingorother…

(that’s why it’s so perty)

TPW is doing a Controlled Burn…that doesn’t appear to be all that “controlled”…
Helicopters with Buckets…Cops!

Firetrucks(mostly “Brushtrucks”) careening around, with Purpose(I assume, but cannot attest).

Almost 20 miles of this.

Finally get to Marble Falls, then Granite Shoals(speedtrap/Fundyland), then the Truck Overheats!

Pull in, next to the marker across from what used to be a Giant Granite Rock(Pluton/Batholith)…

but is, now, a broken pile, jagged…they’ve taken most of it away for seawalls, and state capitols…

Pour in a quart of oil, and the contents of one of the canteens…(“Be Prepared”…especially if yer Po Folks)

And on Home…after an uneventful 50+ miles.

I understand that people do this sort of thing every day….
But I most certainly do not.

Bully.

Friends and Relations, and the Necessity of Dissent.

In an insular and isolated community, social reinforcement mechanisms often become acute.
When one is in a minority, of some kind…be it religious, political or even ethnic/racial…one becomes keenly aware of this, and it takes a great deal of Courage to overcome such pressure,

 and speak one’s Truth.
When one’s minority status is of the political or religious variety, conflicts are bound to arise with friends and family, as well.
I am fortunate to have been born into a long line of Democrats and Left-Leaning individuals…not monolithically so…but in the main. Still, we have our share of conservatives, republicans and even  Tea People. This sometimes makes family relations uncomfortable…

so I understand.
In this little town…in this Far Place…the majority seems to be rather Apathetic, when it comes to Politics.
The second largest group are those of a Republican Bent, in all it’s variation.
There is a small Minority, often forgotten, of folks who are neither…who are, instead Democrats…and who, whether they know it, or not, are on the Left of the spectrum…part of a Tradition of Liberalism, of Free Thought, stretching back to the very first European Settlers in this region.(Adelsverein)
Nowadays, “Liberal” is most often heard in these parts as a slur…a pejorative.
This is due to a 40 year campaign of political Bullying.
That Bullying has become the Norm.
It can be found in classrooms, in church, at the grocery, at the café.
Letters to this paper are often filled with it, as are many of the regular columns.
It has become tacitly Acceptable Behaviour.
This, in it’s turn, has the effect of driving Dissenting Opinion into the shadows.
I understand.
I know the pain of rejection.
I understand the reluctance to Engage in such situations…the Courage needed to stand up to Incivility, disguised as Political Speech.

What some folks fail to remember, or acknowledge, is that we are a Pluralist Country…from our very Foundation.
The First Amendment says so.
Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion…these strongly imply a Freedom of Conscience.; without the overarching Freedom of Conscience, of Thought, the First Amendment is Meaningless.
The Minority of One enjoys the same Protections, is Entitled to the Same Freedoms, and is Subject to the same Restrictions, as the member of the greatest majority.
Diversity is Strength.
Those in the Majority must learn to accept that they are enjoined to Share this Nation with those who Disagree. The USA is not their Private Preserve…it belongs to Us.

 All of Us.
Those in the embattled Minority must, on the other hand, endeavor to Stand Up, and Speak their Truth…Our Democratic, Republican form of Government demands the Courage to Dissent.
If such Courage is lacking, the Bullies win…and Political Freedom  withers.

Use it ,or lose it.                                                       

Health Rant for February 2013

So I’m scheduled for Hip Replacement Surgery, on the 25th of this month…
In North Austin.
The “Pre-Op”..wherein they hook me up to an EKG and Exsanguinate me…was eyeopening…
Aside from my 70 year old skeleton,

I am, apparently, as Healthy as an Ox.
A little overweight…from Laying There, for so long…
In fact, technically, “Obese”…
I question this,…especially when I stand before the mirror, Nekkid.

A little Paunch…much more than what I consider my “Norm”…but where is that extra 35 pounds kept?

(I insist that it’s all in my head,lol…as in Brains)

Kidneys, Liver, even Lungs and Heart…wonderfully Robust.
I was shocked, really.
After the Drunken Ramble of the last 25 years, gradually tapering off, to today…
Chain Smoking, essentially…
And coupled with the increasing Immobility…

I had expected worse.

Of course, I could kick off, right on the Table…
As they say, “surgery is inherently Dangerous…”

(in that case, know that I dearly Love my Wife and Sons!...and I am very Fond

of all you so very Silent sons-a-bitches, out there…(giving a poignant edge to the word,”Lurk”!))

I’m very nervous about the whole Anesthesia, Catheter(!!!) and Tube in my Throat, bit…

After the wreck, I had no choice, for one….and I have no memory…aside from tiny flashes.

A Morphine Dream, of Pain and Disconnected, hallucinatory events…
This time, I’ve got almost a Month to Think about it.
I have avoided Thinking about it, for 6+ years…an amorphous , Future Event…at times, I despaired at ever reaching this point…
Now, it’s at the very forefront of my Mind…
the Blessed Event…and what comes after..

Will it Help?

Will it be orders of magnitude Better?

Unknown.

There’s still the rest of my Skeleton….
The Crumbling Vertebra T-4(or5,or 6…the XRay was only before me for a moment), is especially Bothersome.

Unknown.

I doubt I’ll ever cook agin.
What shall I do?

I will have to Reinvent myself…again.

I’m Limited by being stuck, way out here…few Jobs…fewer that don’t require Physical Labor..
and those that do not, I am unqualified for.

Honestly, I’m probably Unsuited for them ,as well!
”Unsuited” meaning,”Feral”
Ha!

I won’t wear a Tie…I won’t cut my hair.

Those sorts of jobs seem to require such Fakery…and I have grown too Wild , for that sort of Dishonesty.
Too, I have no Experience with “Office Work”….I have often wondered what they do all day!

I’m thinking of Artisan…Birdhouses, Hand Forged Crucifixes…something…

Or Author…once I can sit up for longer.
Local Ag. is one of  the Objects of my Crusading…as is Alt Energy… Especially Methane…
Unknown, until after…if I’m able enough for that.

Hyperegulation of Small Enterprise is a limiting factor, as well.

Maybe put in a Vineyard, out at Mom’s…join the budding Local Wine Industry.
It was, after all, My Idea…almost 20 years ago…(but, as I didn’t move on it, no one knows this,lol).

I have been ahead of my time, many times…there’s little money in Revolution, if one is Too Early!

What I won’t do, is Dishonest Work…or Drudgery…which likely means that I won’t work “for” somebody…
If I have learned anything, it’s that Life is too damned Short for that.
Whatever I end up doing, it must be amenable to Passion!

And to those Qualities I consider my Best…my sin qua non.

Probably a tall order,lol.

Two Weeks, or so…to go….
Then I expect to have Hard Data to go on…

Until then, I might as well be talking about Lunar Colonisation.

Light a Candle, for me…or whatever it is that you do…on the 25th.

Fragment on,”Where the Wasteland Ends.”

(with a wink at IK)

Roszak is describing, in outline, a natural confluence of two rivers…Cartesian Dualism…the Scientific Mind of Reason…and what is regarded, here, as it’s anathema…the Romantic, Poetic, Ineffable Mind.

His Critique of what he terms “Single Vision” is in line with Adorno and Horkheimer, and of course Eliot and Blake…and all the rest of the Romantic, “Counterenlightenment”…

All of which I’m coming to see as, rather, an Extension of Enlightenment..

I keep coming back to Habermas’ instruction, that what the Enlightenment Project requires, is not a Reversal…a Retreat to the Old Forms…but “More Enlightenment”.
A Graduation, sort of, from the Adolescent to the Adult Stage of the Project.

A Reunion of the two Sides of the Brain, Right and Left…the Poet and the Scientist.

“Above all, how was one to break free of the idolatrous psychology which, thanks to Christianity, lay so heavily upon the mainstream of western culture?.....
…..Orthodox Christianity, however, was no use at all. Its history included a scattered contingent of ecstatic saints, celebrated yet marginal figures whose discontinuous biographies do not add  up to a tradition-or even to a school of thought. Again we return to the critical fact in the evolution of western consciousness. Mainstream Christianity had sacrificed the rhapsodic for the theological, the mythic for the literal. It had become religion of the word, not the experience. It was without a discipline of the visionary powers.”(p.283-4)

I could reorganize my Library into these opposing camps…Brothers, facing each other across the battlefield of How we apprehend the World. What Roszak is proposing, so far, is the same thing all the rest of the “Romantics” were after…a Family Reunion. The Enlightenment’s Universal Reason, Tempered with the Rapture of the Shaman.
I smell Nietzsche.

And, here’s my perennial Theme: I don’t Know, and that’s OK…look at the Milky Way, and those great Voids, scattered throughout. And Relax, and Dream.
This Hunger for Knowledge, and it’s black twin, the Fearful Hunger for Agency….that’s where the EP went off the rails…
I was astonished the first time I heard someone say that the Enlightenment Enabled Totalitarianism.
I couldn’t believe it. Twenty-Plus years later, it seems all too obvious, of course…the IBM Cards, Systematising the Nazi Death Machine…the Certainty, too…my favorite practice dummy.
The Certainty that the Nazis, or the Stalinists, Assumed,…Precisely at that point when Absurdities and, therefore, Questions , Arose….
Perhaps it’s mere Human Nature…a simple failure of Courage, to admit that one may have been Wrong….especially after so much cajoling Rhetoric had been expended to drag one’s Society down the oh so Reasonable Path…Logic, indeed, led to the Atrocities.
(here’s Fromm, lurking!)

Perhaps Western Man wasn’t “Ready” for the Enlightenment…
…which, in this vein, could be considered Multiple Truths…Instead of only One(TINA).

No matter, it’s the past, and we should Learn from it(More Enlightenment)…and Temper our continuing Bubble Expansion with the Humility and Awe of Mystics.

More Ire for AEI.

I inadvertently saved a receipt from Walmart. from 1996….I found it a few years ago, in a box…and put it in Wealth of Nations…over there, next to Marx’ Capital, a large portion of the output of Galbraith, and the Godfather.(the "Economics Shelf")

A “large bag of Catfood”, way back then, was around $4.00.

The “Same “ Bag, today, is closer to $20.

Did the Catfood Improve, exponentially(fortunate for the poor!)?

Did Catffood become Scarce?
I think a Reasonable explanation is , rather, that the Money we use to Purchase that Catfood, is that much less Valuable.

There’s lots of examples like this(but for which I didn’t save receipts)…that indicate that the Official Inflation Rate has been Artificially Low...that the "Purchasing Power"(utility*) of the Dollar is a lot Lower than it used to be. Indeed, that even the Official Numbers are Rosy, and thus Suspect.

(Steak=Hamburger, "Energy" is unimportant, so isn't counted,etc)

But…here’s AEI!

This is a sort of Random, Cursory, Sample of their section on Poverty…..the first, by my new Whipping Boy, Nicholas:

http://www.aei.org/article/society-and-culture/citizenship/the-poverty-of-the-poverty-rate/

http://www.aei.org/papers/social-and-culture/poverty/the-material-well-being-of-the-poor-and-middle-class-since-1980/

http://www.aei-ideas.org/2011/11/income-inequality-myths-no-the-rich-didnt-steal-all-the-money/

It is all in our heads, I guess!

I possess a Refrigerator(three, actually)…a Microwave….Three Computers….and the Internet.

We also have three window units(A/C is mentioned, a lot…as in “if ya got A/C, ya can’t be “poor””)

Under the Criteria, used in these links, I am Not Poor.

(yay)

I have a washer/dryer, too.

I submit, that folks who try to Research “Poverty”….hell, all Economists!....should spend a Year of their Education, Living at the Bottom.
Perhaps with some great weight attached to one leg…small stones placed in their shoes….or a Cilice.

 To simulate Disability.

//////////////////////
I can only stomach so much  Opposition Research, lol.

I will continue to pick on Nicholas, and his buddies…but, for Health Reasons, only when I’m already Angry.

*I do not mean "Utility" like Economists do...rather, I mean it: How good is the Hammer that is Money?
Does it just barely get the job done(like a bar of iron)? Or is it better, more suited to the job, at hand?
I had forgotten about their esoteric definition.lol

Anger

Sorry, if I offended.

I wrestled with that last thing…to the Nicholas Lizard.( http://amfortasthehippie.blogspot.com/2013/02/piss-on-my-gate.html )
My Reasoning is thus:1 He knowingly associates with such outfits as AEI, and WSJ…

2His entire “Argument” is Representative of the Mindfuck visited on the great mass of the Rest of Us, these past 35(100?) years.

3Mix 1 & 2, he painted a target on himself…and, as per usual, with such creatures, doesn’t expect any of Us to Bite Back.

 Number 3 is Important.

We should Bite Back…and Hard.

For most of my life, I (we) have been the Victims of Ad Hominem, and Elitist Sneering from such Reptiles.

They have played on the Fears and Ignorance of our friends and neighbors, to enlist them in the Fight against Us…we have endured Hatred, even Beatings, from their many versions of Brownshirts(from Tie Wearing Scolds, to Rednecks and Bikers).

Any Counterargument has been met with Derision, and Screaming.

The vast Majority of Humanity has been regarded as Worthless…including the Majority of their own supporters.(!!)

The Thinkers on Our Side have been Too Fucking Nice!

Basta!

I’m tired of being Nice.

I wish to Strike at the Root….and the Root lives on Wall Street.
The Folks out here…the Befuddled herd who blithely attach themselves to the Thieves and Whores and Weasels…without understanding their actions…they are Not the Enemy.

Heritage, AEI,PNAC(or whatever incarnation…)”Wall Street”, K Street, Madison Avenue, Etc etc…

They are the Enemy.

The ones who believe that the great mass of humanity are mere impediments to their further advancement…worse, stepping stones…

The ones who have , not only furthered…sold…the Heartless Evil of HyperAvarice….But Formulated the Rationale.

The ones who have Stolen the Whole World…Stolen even the Image of Jesus….perverted into their own image.

Even Our Own Party has been Stolen by this Insidious Band of Dark Philosophers, this Mob of Manipulators and Liars and Cheats.

The very Language has been perverted to their Ends…

And now, at this late hour, it becomes Evident that Time is Running Out.

From Peak resources, to the terrifying changes in the Climate; from the Patenting and Manipulation of the Language of Life, itself…to the Encirclement, by Regulation and other means, of the capacity to Take Care of Ourselves and our Own…to the other Encirclement ,of the Panopticon…where We, the People, are Watched, tagged and Bagged.

When is the Right Time to Stand Up?

When is it Acceptable to say, No? Enough?

If the last 6 years have taught me anything, it is that the Systems that Nicholas and his buddies have built, are the epitome…the Quintessence…of Evil.

And that Mythology is at the Root of it.

When is it OK to Step on their Toes? To Piss them Off?

To Fight?

Much of the Citizenry is Offended by my Vitriol….

That’s unfortunate, I guess…

I am Offended, myself.

I am Offended at being Labeled a Leech.

I am Offended at being unjustly regarded as a Traitor, a Cockroach, a Terrorist.

I am Offended at being expected to sit idly by, in Silence, while My Country is Stolen from me.

I am Offended at the Use of even Christ, himself, to Further Hatred and Greed.

When is it Acceptable to Offend, in turn?

The Head, the Brain, of Our opponent is Impossible to find…Machine is Everywhere, and Nowhere.

Machine’s Representatives will have to do.

Nicholas is one such representative.

As FDR said, “I welcome their Hatred.”

Arise, folks, and Bite Back. 

Piss on my Gate.

 Re: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323539804578259940213918254.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Nicholas,

Regarding the Discussion(is that what we’ve been having?) about the “Welfare State”…You said,… that Obama said, that the “Discussion” is Over.
Then, you went on…

“It is not over—and won't be anytime soon, because the country's social-welfare spending is generating severe and mounting hazards for the nation. These hazards are not only fiscal but moral.”

When does the construction commence?

The Scaffolds and Guillotines will fit nicely, alongside that big ass Bull.

Let’s talk about Trillions of Dollars…Wasted on the Scum of the Earth!

…..

oh/….wait…you were talking about the poor and downtrodden?

I meant Wall Street.

You’ve pissed on my gate; I must Answer.

This latest attack on the poor , sick and injured is merely a rehash of that tired old “Welfare Queen” nonsense.
You all really must hire some new consultants.

There’s no evidence for widespread (individual) foodstamp or other welfare Fraud…and there is little evidence of widespread(individual) Disability Fraud.

It’s a Red Herring.

I have been unable to work, for over six years…at my doctor’s orders, I applied for Disability…

My Doctor and I both believed the sort of nonsense that you are spouting….that such endeavors would be stupidly easy.

They were not!

Here I was, Crippled, at 37…in need of a hip and an ankle…uninsurable…
We were sure I’d be a shoe-in.

Six and a half years later, I am only now…finally…getting a Hip.
Due to the delay….and wear and tear resulting from the delay…I now also need a Back, Wrists and Shoulders. Six and a Half Years! of Pain and Suffering!...not least of which was emotional…from the widespread Belief in that very Meme.

It took so long, and was inordinately unpleasant, because of people like You.

Always needing a whipping boy…someone to get everyone to Hate on and Blame…while you and your ilk run off with the country(since you write for the Journal, I assume that you are included in that lot’s crimes, if not, why do you work there(AEI)?…see above for my idea of a New WPA.)

I, instead, Blame You…and people like you…so coddled in your greed, so wrapped up in your Avarice…that you cannot see, let alone care, about the sufferings of your fellow man.

Re:” Over the 50-plus years since 1960, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, entitlement transfers—government payments of cash, goods and services to citizens—have been growing twice as fast as overall personal income.”

All but Ten of those years, give or take, saw NO Real Income Gains, relative to Inflation, for the majority of the American Workforce.

You, again:” According to the BEA, America's myriad social-welfare programs (the federal bureaucracy apparently cannot determine exactly how many of these there are) currently dispense entitlement benefits.>”etc etc

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_budget_of_the_United_States

     ….and remember that Rumsfeld said, on 9-10-2001, that they had “misplaced” some $2 Trillion…all before the two Bush Wars were added to my Children’s Debt.(over $2 Trillion, total)

Much of that Budget is either hidden away(DOE, USDA,ETC), or Classified, outright( National Frikkin Security).

“welfare” , on the other hand, is Stimulative(Ask USDA about “Foodstamps” and “Multipliers”). It is above board….all out in the open…and y’all still can’t figure it out.(lol)

Very little Individual Fraud. The vast majority of “Welfare Fraud”, in it’s broadest sense, is Institutional, or at least Organised…from Two Guys with a Truck, delivering wheelchairs, to Pfizer.
Not Grandma.
Not Unfortunates like myself.

You also seem to include SS and Medicare…perhaps even the Va?...in your aggregate number.
The Former two are, if let be, supposed to pay for themselves….aside from the relatively easy to fix demographic problem…Congress keeps running off with the fundage!

More you:” At this writing, about 35% of Americans (well over 100 million people) are accepting money, goods or services from "means-tested" government programs. This percentage is twice as high as in the early 1980s. Today, the overwhelming majority of Americans on entitlement programs are taking "means-tested" benefits. Only a third of all Americans receiving government entitlement transfers are seniors on Social Security and Medicare.”

Twice as High as in the Early Eighties….Hmmmm….

Something else happened around that time…..
Reagan, and his Revolution.
You and your ilk bullied and lied your way into Power, and started dismantling everything.(Vandals)

You screwed it all up.
Now you want to blame Us.

Typical.

As for the last bit where you seem to not care for means testing, it seems like a good idea, to me…if you have a care for efficiency; so long as it’s Fair.(it’s not)

A little more you:” As entitlement outlays have risen, there has been flight of men from the work force.”

Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc.

It’s a (potential) Fallacy of Causation.

You  brushing your teeth in the morning doesn’t cause the sun to rise, either.

Sorry.

Since I’ve been Cripple, I’ve had a lot of time to think about this sort of thing…

Perhaps some men are merely doing a cost benefit analysis…I thought y’all’s favorite theories called for Rational Agents. Something like:”Hmmm. pain, sickness…no healthcare…shitty job= no light at end of tunnel…perhaps a little help is in order…”
Seriously,In my anecdotal research, I have found that a whole bunch of these unemployed folks  just cannot find a job…ditchdigging, or no…

The economy’s been in the toilet  since  you all won (?) the trifecta, in 2000-2004….Reagan’s Dreams Fulfilled!
Where is the Dancing?

Flowers in the street?

Again, y’all screwed everything up.

And ya want to blame us.

You just won’t stop!----” But the pool of working-age government disability recipients may be even larger than those getting funds just from the Social Security disability programs alone. The Department of Health and Human Services reports that more than 12.4 million working-age Americans obtained disability income support from all government programs in 2011.”

 Man!

Maybe the lack of meaningful Health Care…and Declining Rel;ative Wages…have contributed to more injuries and illness…Preventative Medicine is cheaper…as is Quick Medicine (SIX AND A ½ YEARS!)

Makes for a Healthier Workforce, too…which benefits even You.

You:“That's more than the total number of employees in the manufacturing sector of the economy.”

Strawmen burn.

Manufacturing left largely because the Giant Corps(e) wanted it to leave…it’s been steadily shrinking for a long while, now. Hardly a good number for your comparison, there.

The rest of your bit…well…enough…I tire of shouting at earless …^%$*

I wish you the musculoskeletal Pain I have endured,,

I wish you the Depression I have, then, suffered, as a result.
I wish you even a mere 10% of my pain…experience it, then tell me about Bootstraps.

How many times have I heard,”You don’t look cripple to me…”

So many Experts, who don’t happen to look like my Doctor….and may have X-Ray Vision!!

To that whole, “You’re Faking It!”, Hysterical Argument…

Fuck you Nicholas.

Fucking Reptile.

Walk a Mile(100 feet), in my shoes.

I can no longer Fish, nor Fuck, nor Play with my Kids.

The last 5 Years were Medically Unnecessary, and Harmful, and have probably Damaged me for Life.

And I Blame Greedy Bastards like You, and the Hateful Mythos you have spawned.

May the Mob find you quickly.

Amfortas

in spite

-disability-fraud-hysteria

Ugh.
I think Mr Eberstadt might need to hear from me, today.
This little meme has been growing, sort of in the shadows...like some test-marketing scheme from hell.
Moocher.
Leech.
Faker.
After six and a half years of this nonsense, I am finally(!!!!!!!) scheduled for Hip Replacement, on Feb. 25th.
(cue choirs of Angels, fanfares, etc)
A Victory for Truth.
A Triumph of Perseverance.
The Deniers have been Vanquished.
Rejoice.
(but keep hollerin' at the asshats...)