McDonald's and Taxes

I just found this call to arms in my email: McTaxes: You're Payin' It! Oh dear. Apparently we Americans are subsidizing McDonald's and other fast food restaurants because they don't pay their employees enough and thus need federal assistance. Plus the article even lists sources. Now when Forbes, Time, and Bloomberg Business support your argument, oopsie, time to reevaluate.

This article also reminded me of an incident I experienced earlier this week.

My husband and I ordered pizza to be delivered from our favorite pizza place. I like to tip $5 on a pizza order that is $25 or less because, well the delivery people are using their own cars and hey, it is hard work getting up our sidewalk. When the door opened I gave the man the cash and tip. He looked sad and I wondered if I had not tipped him enough. (I hope I did.) The many delivering my pizza looked to be over 40 and possibly Asian. His English had an accent. And I wondered "How did this man get here? Did he come from another country? Did he leave a good life? What brought this particular human being to my doorstep and how on Earth can I make his life better?"

Dear Sir, whoever and wherever you are, may your life be filled with joy. I hope I can find a way to help your life be good.

Now effing pay your taxes McDonald's!!!!! And the rest of you freeloading corporations!! I'm looking at you too oil companies.

Email

Hello. I got this email today:

"Have you seen the polls? The reckless Republican shutdown has destroyed the GOP brand across America. Just check out what the Washington Post said about its recent poll:

“The survey highlights just how badly the GOP hard-liners and the leaders who went along with them misjudged the public mood. In the aftermath, eight in ten Americans say they disapprove of the shutdown. Two in three Republicans or independents who lean Republican share a negative view of the impasse. And even a majority of those who support the Tea Party movement disapprove.”

With Election Day coming up on November 5, Republican candidates are running scared as their poll numbers implode. All eyes are on the purple state of Virginia, where DFA’s “Purple to Blue” candidates have seen double-digit polling spikes. In a dramatic surge, four top-tier progressives are now in statistical dead heats with their Tea Party opponents.

As Gov. Howard Dean told DFA members during our nationwide DFA Live call on Monday: If Virginia Democrats win these critical elections, it will send a political shock wave across the country -- and set the stage for Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats to take back control of the House of Representatives in 2014. That’s why DFA is mobilizing members across the country to Call Out The Vote in Virginia. And it’s why DFA’s Purple to Blue program needs your financial support. This is urgent -- please contribute now to defeat these Tea Party Republicans.

Democrat Jennifer Boysko and 12-year Republican incumbent Tom Rust are locked in a statistical dead heat, with Boysko gaining 16 points since the last poll. Democrat Kathleen Murphy is now leading Republican Barbara Comstock by three points. Democrat John Bell and Republican David Ramadan are tied. And Democrat Atif Qarni has jumped 13 points and trails by just three.

Let’s be clear. This isn’t just about the shutdown. DFA members like you have been contributing to these campaigns since April. We’ve had staff on the ground since May. We’ve made thousands of voter contacts both at the door and through our DFA Dialer program. And the resources and contributions we’ve provided directly to candidates has placed us in the top three donors to several candidates across Virginia.

DFA members have made a huge difference -- and now we urgently need your help at the finish line in this critical bellwether state. Please contribute now to defeat these Tea Party Republicans -- and send a message to their cronies in DC.

While we still have to wait until 2014 to take back the House, we can beat Republicans at the ballot box right now -- in Virginia. But only with your help.

Thank you for all that you do,

Jim

Jim Dean, Chair
Democracy for America"

I am very very pleased to read this. Now I must ask all people to vote out the Tea Party/GOP.

AND

I must beg all of us who love our country to HELP PEOPLE VOTE IN 2014!! And beyond. See the voter suppression nonsense is running rampant and I am NOT HAPPY. Remember that voter supression is alive and well. AND it isn't about "justice" it is about beating up those who vote Democratic. Don't believe me, well see below.

What I find hideously disgusting is that rational people who vote GOP don't take great offense at this. I bet that if the Dems were doing this they would be furious. I pledge to you now that if the Dems were doing this I would vote GOP out of sheer fury at this injustice.

Yet the GOP supporters aren't doing much. Shame, shame, shame. At least the yakking fool in the video was asked to step down. That's a step I guess.

So please, help people vote this coming election - and all elections. As Whoopi Goldberg once said "The country you save may be your own."

Love and Liberty,
-Purple
 

Anonymous and Maryville

Dear Anonymous,

I know that I have said it before but I must say it again: I love you. I have just finished reading the Ms. Magazine article Hacktivist Group Seeks Justice in Maryville.

I wish I had the words to convey to you my gratitude in your actions. I wish that I could hook you into my heart like in "The Matrix" movie so you could feel my gratitude and absolute humbled joy. I feel like I am watching a miracle. I am certainly watching a group of people put their safety aside to get justice for a young woman.

I am so touched by your bravery I am actually crying. 

BTW, by your actions for this young woman you are helping others who have also been victimized. It is breath-taking to know that there are people out there who care - and are willing to take action.

Again, I am incredibly humbled and grateful that you are helping this young woman. I know that you have done this in the past and I hope that you succeed here too.

I hope you all go to bed knowing that in my heart the angels thank you. Thank you thank you thank you thank you. And bless you. And thank you again.

May you all know love and joy and victory and success. I shall hope and pray for that ever day for you.

Thank you again for helping the victims.

In Deep Gratitude,

-Purple Patriot

Oh Republicans

I am not amused. Disgusted yes. Amused no. Grow-up.

Plus this sums up my thoughts perfectly: 

Maps

Red and Blue indeed.

Evolution Isn't All About Men

There are times when I get really annoyed with anthropologists/sociologists/sexologists/etc., because they assume everything in life is centered around male needs. Puerile male needs I might add. So I really enjoyed reading this post: Why Do Women Have Breasts, Anyway? It was written by Florence Williams and taken from her study for her book Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History. I encourage you to click on the link and read the article and visit Ms. Williams site. I will also share some of my favorite passages from the above article.

"The more I thought about it, the less it seemed that sexual and natural selection of the breasts arrived in lockstep. In fact, I became increasingly convinced that breasts have been categorically miscast in modern history.

I kept thinking as my plane thrummed out over the Pacific, which long ago men and women crossed in rickety dugouts following their human dreams of migration and survival. Then, as for all of our history on this planet, they fell in love or in lust, and everyone who could have children did.

What if instead of men selecting breasts, the breasts selected the men? It’s possible that once upon a time, Early Man loved lots of different specimens of Early Woman, some with no breasts, some with small breasts, some with hairy breasts, whatever. Man, as we all know, is sometimes not that picky. Then, for the reasons described earlier—fat deposition, cranium shape, the development of speech, and the long neck—the women with the enlarged breasts and their infants gradually outlasted the others. That is, after all, the way natural selection works.

Consequently, the people who could talk and sing and have the biggest, best-fed brains were the ones born of women with breasts. It makes perfect sense that we would grow up to appreciate and enjoy breasts, eventually putting pictures of them in eye-tracker machines in universities.
Perhaps, all along, the breasts were calling the shots." - from Why Do Women Have Breasts, Anyway?

So enjoy the read everyone. And do keep in mind that male sexual desire does not control evolution, ok?

Links:

• Why Do Women Have Breasts, Anyway?
• Florence Williams
• EDIT: I had to add this: 6 Big Boobs Problems 

And oh heck, the video is just too much fun to not share.

An Excellent Picture

Kind of says it all.

Economic Collapse?

Hmmm.... So the Purple American Economist has been worried that the Republicans hate Obama so much - and their own failures - that they might destroy the country economically. Of course they will blame Obama and the Democrats - they are surprisingly good at that.

I wasn't so sure about his fears but hmm it seems The New York Times was wondering the same thing: A Federal Budget Crisis Months in the Planning.

I don't like it when I get this mad at people.

Here's a picture of people to NOT support in the next election.

The Purple American Economist once said "Clinton gave them (the Republicans) everything they wanted. Why did they have to go and ruin it?" It seems the GOP is filled with so much hate, and so much crazy belief in their own rhetoric, that they don't care who they hurt to get their way.

It is disgusting. 

Feminist Hulk WIC List

Yes, there is such a Website called Feminist Hulk. Yes it is just that awesome. The site is an extension of the fabulous Twitter feed Feminist Hulk. Feminist Hulk is here to smash gender binary. Feminist Hulk is very good. There is even a Feminist Hulk Tumblr.

Feminist Hulk is also showing true feminist values by dedicating a Webpage to helping women and children find WIC resources. So if you or anyone you know needs help, go here: WIC and Shutdown: Where to get baby food and formula.

Oh Feminist Hulk, you smash despair and are a hero/ine in all ways.

And.

I'm sure Feminist Hulk would run with Wendy.  Goodness knows I am.

"It's called insurance."

Stephen Colbert scores again.

Government Shutdown: LOL

Well I guess something good, and funny, happened due to the government shutdown:

KKK Rally At Gettysburg Canceled Because Of Government Shutdown

 

Trying not to laugh too much here.

Also note at the end of the article that some WWII veterans just went into the memorial to pay their respects. Well huzzh to them!!!

Ah life.
 

Government Shut Down: Oh Good Grief

So how do I feel about the government shut down? Hmm... Well that's like asking me how do I feel about someone I love being taken hostage. Or how do I feel about mostly grown men throwing temper tantrums. Or how do I feel about most grown men being in a dick waving/measuring contest?

My answer to those questions is the same as this question: How much disgust do I have for the Tea Party branch of the GOP? Oh infinite is almost big enough.

I say shame. Shame on those who scream that the President won't meet with them AFTER they refuse to meet with him. Shame on them for saying he won't compromise when they are the ones NOT compromising. And shame on the Democrats for not ripping them to pieces for their arrogance.

Shame, shame, shame.

I think that those who wish to shut the government down should give up their federal benefits, i.e, salary, health care, etc. Also their districts should have all all federal funds pulled from them. The rest of us can enjoy civilization - that which is purchased with taxes. The rest of us can love our country and each other more than the almighty dollar and greed.

Now I would also like to share with you two fabulous thoughts on the shut down. 4 Quarters, 10 Dimes wrote An Open Letter to the Republican Party on the Eve of Political Disaster. It is so good, I am sharing it. Click on the link and enjoy the wisdom.

Plus how could this post not show the glory that is John Stewart telling the truth. 

Finally, fret not my friends. No, really. Humanity has survived much worse than this. We will survive the GOP. 

Oh will we ever.