I can definitely feel this one. Credit to John Scalzi

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Being Poor (with my comments)

September 3, 2005 By John Scalzi

Being poor is knowing exactly how much everything costs.
Being poor is getting angry at your kids for asking for all the crap they see on TV.
Being poor is having to keep buying $800 cars because they’re what you can afford, and then having the cars break down on you, because there’s not an $800 car in America that’s worth a damn. (done this for a few years)
Being poor is hoping the toothache goes away. (Wife has this now)
Being poor is knowing your kid goes to friends’ houses but never has friends over to yours.
Being poor is going to the restroom before you get in the school lunch line so your friends will be ahead of you and won’t hear you say “I get free lunch” when you get to the cashier.
Being poor is living next to the freeway.
Being poor is coming back to the car with your children in the back seat, clutching that box of Raisin Bran you just bought and trying to think of a way to make the kids understand that the box has to last.
Being poor is wondering if your well-off sibling is lying when he says he doesn’t mind when you ask for help.(I only asked once back in 2004. Never again.)
Being poor is off-brand toys.
Being poor is a heater in only one room of the house.
Being poor is knowing you can’t leave $5 on the coffee table when your friends are around.
Being poor is hoping your kids don’t have a growth spurt.
Being poor is stealing meat from the store, frying it up before your mom gets home and then telling her she doesn’t have make dinner tonight because you’re not hungry anyway.
Being poor is Goodwill underwear.
Being poor is not enough space for everyone who lives with you. (totally)
Being poor is feeling the glued soles tear off your supermarket shoes when you run around the playground.
Being poor is your kid’s school being the one with the 15-year-old textbooks and no air conditioning.
Being poor is thinking $8 an hour is a really good deal.
Being poor is relying on people who don’t give a damn about you. (had this happen too frequently)
Being poor is an overnight shift under florescent lights.
Being poor is finding the letter your mom wrote to your dad, begging him for the child support.
Being poor is a bathtub you have to empty into the toilet.
Being poor is stopping the car to take a lamp from a stranger’s trash.
Being poor is making lunch for your kid when a cockroach skitters over the bread, and you looking over to see if your kid saw.
Being poor is believing a GED actually makes a goddamned difference.
Being poor is people angry at you just for walking around in the mall.
Being poor is not taking the job because you can’t find someone you trust to watch your kids.
Being poor is the police busting into the apartment right next to yours. (had this happen a lot)
Being poor is not talking to that girl because she’ll probably just laugh at your clothes.
Being poor is hoping you’ll be invited for dinner. (what is hope?)
Being poor is a sidewalk with lots of brown glass on it. (seen this a lot)
Being poor is people thinking they know something about you by the way you talk. (or by what you post in political threads)
Being poor is needing that 35-cent raise. (and not getting it)
Being poor is your kid’s teacher assuming you don’t have any books in your home.
Being poor is six dollars short on the utility bill and no way to close the gap. (closer to 60 for me)
Being poor is crying when you drop the mac and cheese on the floor. (been there)
Being poor is knowing you work as hard as anyone, anywhere. (I actually work at work)
Being poor is people surprised to discover you’re not actually stupid. (they are more surprised when they see rich people go completely stupid)
Being poor is people surprised to discover you’re not actually lazy. (too frequent)
Being poor is a six-hour wait in an emergency room with a sick child asleep on your lap.
Being poor is never buying anything someone else hasn’t bought first.
Being poor is picking the 10 cent ramen instead of the 12 cent ramen because that’s two extra packages for every dollar.
Being poor is having to live with choices you didn’t know you made when you were 14 years old. (or when I was born for that matter)
Being poor is getting tired of people wanting you to be grateful.
Being poor is knowing you’re being judged. (all the time.  Makes me want to hit them)
Being poor is a box of crayons and a $1 coloring book from a community center Santa.
Being poor is checking the coin return slot of every soda machine you go by.
Being poor is deciding that it’s all right to base a relationship on shelter.
Being poor is knowing you really shouldn’t spend that buck on a Lotto ticket.
Being poor is hoping the register lady will spot you the dime.
Being poor is feeling helpless when your child makes the same mistakes you did, and won’t listen to you beg them against doing so. (been there, done that)
Being poor is a cough that doesn’t go away.
Being poor is making sure you don’t spill on the couch, just in case you have to give it back before the lease is up.
Being poor is a $200 paycheck advance from a company that takes $250 when the paycheck comes in. (done this)
Being poor is four years of night classes for an Associates of Art degree.
Being poor is a lumpy futon bed.
Being poor is knowing where the shelter is. (there is a directory available now)
Being poor is people who have never been poor wondering why you choose to be so. (dumbasses)
Being poor is knowing how hard it is to stop being poor. (sucks hard)
Being poor is seeing how few options you have. (options?  what are those?)
Being poor is running in place.
Being poor is people wondering why you didn’t leave. (more like they would rather I be dead)

=================

Poverty completely sucks, and in America, kindness is withheld because of a culture that worships money and war.  Christian nation?  I don't think so.

Pressing Issues: Sarah Silverman Against Voter ID 'Bullshit'

Pressing Issues: Sarah Silverman Against Voter ID 'Bullshit'

Human Rights Petition: The U.S. House of Representatives: Pass constitutional amendment penalizing states that practice suppression. | Change.org

Human Rights Petition: The U.S. House of Representatives: Pass constitutional amendment penalizing states that practice suppression. | Change.org

This petition makes the one way to end voter suppression, whether by racial profiling, poll taxing, or any other means.  When a state is caught doing it, it loses all of their electors, and does not get to elect the next President, obviating the need to manipulate the election.

For those needing a break from the political

https://angrybirds-facebook.appspot.com/embed?levelId=1000-10&levelName=Golden%20Eggs-10&score=347510

Video- Cory Booker walks back criticism of Obama campaign tactics

Video- Cory Booker walks back criticism of Obama campaign tactics

Cory Booker is the most thoughtful voice I have heard so far on this election.

watch the video and see

By SOSadmin, Chicago police using unlawful detention without charges to intimidate activists streaming the video of the protests

CPD head on activists held without charge: "We are not talking about it."

Submitted by sosadmin on Fri, 05/18/2012 - 19:01

View video of the press conference here.

Scroll down a bit for relevant portions of the transcript.

In case you missed the news about Chicago Police arresting nine anti-NATO affiliated activists in a residential apartment before the summit began, check out Kevin Gosztola's blog at Firedog Lake. Here's a breakdown. 

Five activists raided and arrested in an apartment in Bridgeport on the south side of Chicago continue to be held without charge. They were arrested during the night around 1 am on May 17, along with four other activists who have since been released. Those four were also held without charge.

The National Lawyers Guild reports the activists were “taken to the Organized Crime Division of Chicago police department for 18 hours and then they were transported to Harrison/Kedzie (District 4).” After transportation the police released the four activists.

Below is an edited transcript of the relevant portion of the press conference on May 18, 2012. When a journalist asks about the pre-crime arrests, Superintendent Gary McCarthy says:

"I don't know anything about it. I'm gonna have to follow up on it. What was the arrest for? What are you being told?"

A reporter pushes him, saying he spoke with one of the people arrested that night.

McCarthy: "Oh you're talking about the case from the other night…I thought you were talking about something that happened today."

Reporter: "He said he was held incommunicado for about 17 hours and…"

McCarthy interrupts: "Yeah, Mike, we're not going to talk about that. We just are not going to talk about it. It's an ongoing investigation that is not completed. We are not going to talk about it."

"Listen, I said very specifically and I'm saying again, protest related activity, we've got twelve arrests so far. That's the issue. Ok, we're still making arrests in the city of Chicago. We still made gun arrests out in the neighborhoods -- we've made robbery arrests at the same time. So we gotta delineate ok?"

Reporter: "I understand you don't want to talk about the five that are still being held, but... (inaudible)"

McCarthy: "No, Mike, Mike, I'm not talking about it..."

Reporter: "But this man was released..."

McCarthy: "We are not talking about that. We are not completed with an investigation [sic]."

Reporter: "Nine people were arrested under suspicion of making molotov cocktails..."

McCarthy: "Mike, Dave, we are not talking about it. We are not talking about it. We are not talking about it....We will facilitate people's rights to the first amendment speech. We are not going to allow criminal conduct. It's that simple....We'll keep you posted. Again, we're not discussing that thing. It's still under investigation. We will at some point. It's not happening now."

None of the nine arrested on May 17 have been charged, though the police appear to be leaking rumors about molotov cocktails to the press. Are they talking about the beer making kit they seized?

"We will facilitate people's rights to the first amendment speech," McCarthy said.

Right.

• sosadmin's blog

I don't know

Why is it people think that the argument they got trained to barf back reflexively is somehow new, original or winning?  Or worse yet, they see ALL CAPS AS THE FAST TRACK TO WINNING the argument.  I could go into full blown troll mode and entertain myself for weeks shredding their world view piece by piece.  You got Christians who can't tell where Constitution ends and scripture begins. You got wing-nuts on both sides howling some epithet that means nothing at all, because those epithets have been overused and lost their flavor like 5 day old chewing gum.

The folks demanding the congress burn the US economy down, if I was the President, the obstruction would have ended in 15 minutes.  Each congressman would have been brought in, one at a time into the Oval office, and then the ones planning to burn the US economy --- treason, one way ticket to Gitmo, water-boarded until all patrons disclosed, and made to confess working for Al Qaeda on video, then summary execution, family billed for the bullet and the costs of the incarceration and body disposal.

Yes, I would be a dictator, and Congress would get crushed under my iron boot.  I also would bring the troops home from overseas everywhere, and have them stop all traffic into the US that is not fully permitted, documented, and controlled properly.

We try to foist the cost of a world empire level of military onto the poor of our nation, so the hyper-wealthy can continue to play RISK with American lives as their playing pieces?  AYFKM?

We should take the Forbes 400 list and cross match them with the list of those who got the biggest handouts from the government and filter it with those who actually do philanthropy for actual unfortunates in the USA. (I really don't give a damn about philanthropy overseas, I live in the USA).

Those who are on the Forbes 400, and received money in any form from the government, and failed to do actual substantial philanthropy in the USA, they should summarily executed by Guillotine, except for the Koch Brothers.  Those two should be drawn and quartered after a painful disembowelment.  That is the only proper way to deal with treason against the USA.  Death, painfully dispensed, in full view of everyone else so they get the hint that they better not repeat their folly or they will repeat their result : painful death.

There are people on the Forbes 400 who don't take money from the government or who perform wonderful philanthropy.  They should be rewarded and held up as examples of "this is what you should do".  There are only a few very evil people who use the material blessings they have to very evil ends.  Those people should be treated as the anomalies they are, and extracted from existence.

Until justice is properly in control, liberty will forever be in danger to evil people.  These evil people would gladly slaughter the US citizens for a few shekels. Nothing stops them except the cold embrace of death, because they have no conscience, no soul, and heart.