#7: thinking about the man who saved me while eating taco bell

[didicrytoday-imeanprobably]

yes

[tessatechaitea]

Justice Society of America #7 (1993)

The fantasy: old white men are the heroes. The reality: old white men are the villains.

A Facebook memory from my friend Doom Bunny in 2012 came up today that made me cry. Not sobbing or anything! It just made me feel loved and noticed and, sure, proud of my past self. I'm not good at earnestness so please don't mock me or I'll retreat back into the safety of cynicism and sarcasm!

Doom Bunny might have taken the advice a bit too far.

One of the defining moments in my life that helped shape me into a better, more empathetic person was when I killed a massive wolf spider that had gotten into my room and was headed for my gerbil's cage. I caught it in a huge jar to take outside. The spider was so massive you could hear its fangs clink on the side of the jar. I went to go release it outside and was struck by a sudden terror that it would come back. Not the kind of terror that involves life and death decisions. More like the kind of terror that is just a rush of creepiness and discomfort at the prospect of the spider coming back and crawling on my while I slept. So, you know, not terror. But I treated the uncomfortable feeling like terror and decided I should probably kill the spider. Now, if it had been a small spider, I, like millions of people every day, would have probably crushed it without a thought and gone on with my day. But this spider was massive, probably the size of my palm. It wouldn't be a simple swat and done procedure. I tried filling the jar with some kind of cleaner in the hopes of poisoning it but that didn't work. So then I took a stick or something and began smashing it. It didn't die easily. It struggled and it put up a fight and it took multiple attempts to really smash it while in the jar. And even before I had delivered the killing blow, I knew I had made a terrible mistake. This spider didn't deserve this death. This wasn't a struggle to live. This wasn't part of nature. This spider was struggling against the pettiness of one human individual. The spider's only offense: giving me gooseflesh. But once I'd maimed the spider, I had to finish the onerous job. I cried afterward. I sobbed. I mourned this wretched beast. And maybe that's why Doom Bunny's memory made me cry. But I didn't just kill the spider that day. I killed a part of me. Luckily, it was a part of me that was useless and selfish and a thing I was well rid of. Maybe, as a rational justification to make a bleak act I participated in seem more uplifting, I can take solace in the idea that the spider, in death, was able to rise above its natural station. It was the Jesus Christ of spiders, dying so that so many more spiders could live. Who knows how many hundreds or thousands of spiders survived because of this one? And not only that, it was this sentiment (and seeing a documentary on Japanese "fishing" of dolphins) which turned me into a vegetarian. So the spider not only saved many spiders but many other (arguably higher-tier! Is that bad to suggest?!) creatures. Now, I'm not a vegetarian anymore. I was for about ten years and then got, well, a bit lazy and maybe a little less passionate. I got older and dumber. But I'm not what you'd call a meat-eater! I prefer lentils over steak (which is an easy comment to make because I can't even remember the last time I ate steak. I never really cared for it before I went veggie. The main reason I liked steak as a kid was the steak fries soaked in a little bit of steak juice (you know, blood?)). When I eat meat now, it's usually chicken or turkey. Not great, I know. I probably need to get out there and murder a turkey so I can be reminded how fucking terrible it is to kill something with your own hands. But that's part of it, you know? I'm not against eating meat. But we're going about it all wrong. It's too easy and too harmful. We should probably develop a system where people can only buy live animals and must do the killing and butchering themselves. Of course then only sadists will have the option of a delicious chorizo omelette at breakfast! The point is, yeah, I still eat meat. But I also don't rationalize my eating of it! I'm wrong in doing so. It's better for the world if humans, who have a choice in the matter being sentient and rational beings, would choose to stop. I try not to eat it much but that's just a little bit of a little thing and it doesn't make me "less wrong." I'm still just wrong. And I'm tired. And I'm old enough to hope the younger generations do better while I just get the fuck out of the way. Who are all these old people fighting change?! Why do they need to get so worked up about a world they're not going to be part of for much longer?! Let it go already! Especially old people with loads of money. I don't get how they still need to be angry about everything! You're set, you dolt! If you don't want to participate, go live in your vacation house and don't participate. But certainly don't actively try to hamper change! Christ, you're just obstinate dumb ass fools! Did I rant enough against old rich guys to distract from the fact that I had some turkey tacos for lunch? I hope so! Anyway, I guess the rant about old people hurting the world is a good enough segue back into this comic book about old people hurting the world. Not that the JSA is actively hurting the world! But their old man foes certainly are! Plus, I understand if you're old and powerful and rich and immortal, how you'd continue to fight change. But then again, if you're immortal and you've seen how you can never fight change, generation after generation, perhaps by continuing to fight against change, you're just showing how stupid you are? The JSA might not be actively hurting the world but it's still troubling that they think they need to be an active part of it. Just retire already and let the young heroes take over! Maybe, as Alan and Jay wanted at the beginning, stay accessible as mentors. But don't be dicks trying to push your old timey beliefs onto the young heroes' new and modern attitudes! Especially the ones that are sex positive and enjoy showing a lot of skin in their choice of costumes. Hooray for change!

Enough with being earnest! Let's now pretend her dad's advice was sexual in nature!

Jesse wanders into a part of the island that's off limits and after being attacked by guards trying to detain her for trespassing, she decides she now has a right to trespass. That's how law works, right? If I'm falsely accused of murder, I get to do one free murder! Ted Grant has been taken into custody by the Bahdnesian government because he interrupted a boxing match and beat the crap out of one of the fighters. Just because somebody is in a ring boxing doesn't mean anybody can enter the ring and start punching them. That's assault and I'm all for Ted Grant being arrested. Asshole thinks he can do whatever he wants just because he thinks of himself as a hero. Well, no more, old white man! There are consequences to your actions now!

The Atom doesn't think it's wrong to interfere in another country's arrest of a foreign national assaulting one of their own. No, what would be wrong is exposing the Justice Society of America's plans to infiltrate and spy on this nation.

The Atom rushes off to tell Alan and Jay about Ted being kidnapped. They heard Ted was injured and taken off for treatment which is a lie. Al tells them the truth but tries to make it sound like it was unjust. "Ted walloped some creep in the boxing ring and the guards dragged him away." Yeah. Of course they did! Ted wasn't supposed to be in the ring! IT WAS FUCKING ASSAULT! By the end, when we learn that the nation's king or manager or president, St. Germaine, is some villainous creep, all of the Justice Society's actions will be justified. But I want to point out that they have no justification for anything but observing right now! It's like that time in Star Trek: The Next Generation when one of the Captains of a Federation starship begins blowing up Cardassian science stations and supply vessels. They might have been up to no good but there was no proof! Picard does the right thing, in the end, by arresting the captain. Sure, the asshole captain was almost certainly right about the Cardassians being up to no good. But there was no proof! You can't just blow Cardassians up or disappear people from the streets of Portland simply because you suspect them of being up to no good. Fucking assholes. Jesse Quick runs into Doctor Mid-Nite who has found the Bahdnesians and a whole lot of other islanders as well. They're locked in cages underground because they're too sick or infirm to work in the tourist trap topside. So I guess the Justice Society of America has a right to start tearing this nation down. I guess. They're just lucky their instincts were so dead on or else Ted Grant's temper would have started an international incident with a happy-go-lucky nation. Doctor Mid-Nite has a plan to free the people from their cages.

It's not like she can, you know, run at super speed to do the same thing that distracting them with her tits did.

If The Flash had run into Doctor Mid-Nite, would the plan have been for Jay to strut out from the dark with his balls hanging out? Although it was a terrible and unnecessary plan, it might be one of my favorite bits because now I know Liberty Belle loved flashing her tits for justice. Johnny Thunder goes on a day trip to the place he first got his Thunderbolt genie. He discovers that after he left the island with their genie, the entire place fell apart. See, now that's appropriating a culture! Being white and selling burritos out of a burrito cart is just called having a job. The rest of the Justice Society just hangs out until they can hear from Doctor Mid-Nite. That doesn't happen until he interrupts St. Germain's speech about how great and beautiful and the best his island nation of Bahdnesia is.

Oh! The days when you could describe a terrible country treating its people in the worst ways imaginable and the first thing you would think of is Nazi Germany instead of present-day America!

St. Germain's plan was to create a sham utopia and then find a job as a consultant with other governments. After he was offered a job, he would blow a nuclear weapon in the volcano and destroy the place. But when the Justice Society appears, he throws his plan out the window and yells, in front of everybody at his press conference slash job interview, "I've got a bomb in the volcano and I'll blow up the entire island!" So I guess that's his reputation blown! Like the guy in The Dead Zone who uses the kid as a human shield and ruins his entire political career! Sort of. Anyway, that's a thing I just remembered that seemed somewhat like what just happened here, so it felt like a smart thing to add. During the tussle, Ted Grant knocks the detonator out of St. Germain's hands and it sets off the bomb. The volcano explodes but it doesn't destroy the island until the Justice Society can completely evacuate it. St. Germain just looks on and shouts, "My utopia!" That guy might need to get his head straight to decide what he really wants out of life. A utopia? A consulting job? Revenge on the Justice Society? In the end, Thunderbolt reveals that the only actual Bahdnesian left is Kiku, the young girl who has become Johnny Thunder's sidekick. So I guess that's the mystery solved that could have been solved two issues ago if Johnny had just thought to ask Thunderbolt one simple and direct question. Justice Society of America #7 Rating: B-. St. Germaine was yet another immortal guy who was once a Nazi. I think there's some legendary St. Germaine that's supposed to be immortal or something but I'm too hot and uncomfortable in my office to do any research about it right now. There's a similar character in Warren Ellis's Castlevania on Netflix. And, no, I don't want to discuss Warren Ellis. I don't actually want to disucss the Justice Society of America either! At least I only have three more issues to go!

[oukis]

read at your own risk

if you want to experience true hell read below the read more

On 1/27/17, at 10:31 AM, shrekugami nerd wrote:

> i need to know how mermaids have sex it's killing me

On 2/20/17, at 3:37 PM, Jo Kay wrote:

> Do gods even have poopholes

On 2/20/17, at 5:47 PM, emily | scarf wrote:

> it’s very important to Kermit that Yato’s buttcheeks maintain maximum suppleness

On 2/25/17, at 8:58 PM, bluism wrote:

> pip spray me with the holy water of kinkshame after tonight bc im about to write pure sin

On 2/25/17, at 11:23 PM, Wolf wrote:

> Nuns don't have sex Blue

On 4/14/17, at 12:33 PM, maddie wrote:

> if I get pizza am I consuming the milk of cows meant to nourish their precious children but instead used for my sick pleasure

On 4/18/17, at 10:57 PM, maddie wrote:

> why don't i have a wife in this chat. is it my nipples

On 4/18/17, at 11:48 PM, maddie wrote:

> can we just add them so i can show my dick hand and them sleep in peace

[13:03] Sunny not Sunhee: when you get fed far too much extremely good food and you wonder if you're a lamb being prepared for slaughter. Oh well at least I know I'll be a tasty Indian lamb curry

On 4/23/17, at 4:11PM, Gio wrote:

> can this chat go a full day without someone saying the word vore

On 4/23/17, at 11:19 PM, emily | scarf wrote:

> maybe the real hafuri was all the kinks we shamed along the way

On 4/24/17, at 11:14 PM, maddie wrote:

> maybe i really was easter sex

maddie - Today 8:28 PM

> to be fair everytime i accidentally taste my pills i feel like I've just given satan a rimjob

I N K- Today 9:08 PM > Ohmygosh I have to tell you the time I had to explain to my mom about alien sex in space

On 4/30/17, at 1:02 PM, maddie wrote:

> my nipples are better protecrted than the gods greatest secret excuse you

[5/1/17, 1:25:26 PM] maddie: after i showed u my dick hand

[5/1/17, 1:25:32 PM] paperypiper: doc

[5/1/17, 1:25:43 PM] maddie: pls pip my dick hand is already in there once

[5/1/17, 1:25:52 PM] maddie: i don't want this to be the new nipples

On 5/5/17, at 12:54 AM, Gio wrote:

> i leave for a few hours and scarf has new kinks

On 5/10/17, at 10:11 PM, Mrs. 707 wrote:

> omg I only introduced myself as daddy LETS TRY THIS AGAIN HI NUGG I'M ALIA

On 5/10/17, at 10:16 PM, maddie wrote:

> I never talk about my nipples!!! I have to protect them because you all are always bringing them up

> defend their honor

maddie - Today 9:20 PM

> I have the healthiest vagina here I bet

[10:13:22 PM] maddie: every time i see an uncircumcised penis i want to cry they're so beautiful

On 5/24/17, at 6:41 PM, shanna ☆ wrote:

> reverse vore is making a baby and giving birth through your mouth

On 25/5/17, at 22:18 PM, emily | scarf wrote:

> gotta fuck the cupcake

On 5/30/17, at 21:59, maddie wrote:

>yato looks oddly calm and placid for being taken from the back either kermit has a small peen or yato has a gaping asshole

On 5/31/2017, at 23:37, bluism wrote:

> why make a competition out of those two presidents when Obama was the daddiest of them all

yatorihell - Today 4:30 PM

> IF GAME OF THRONES FINAL SEASON GETS DELAYED TO 2019 IM OIGN TO RIP MY TITS OFF

Wolf - Today 5:58 PM

>The only day where you can kinkshame me, get it while it's hot

On 6/5/17, at 8:58 PM, maddie wrote:

> gio half of me want to make sweet and passionate love to you behind a dumpster at taco bell and the other half wants to kill you

On 6/10/17, at 12:50 AM, maddie wrote:

> someone had to lovingly shade the clefts in those ass cheeks

On 6/11/17, at 9:31 PM, paperypiper wrote:

> nug he fucked the chicken

On 6/12/17, at 1:27 PM, Hiyori's gf wrote:

> She's 12 and talking about anal beads please drag her

[19:42:09] Yatorihell: Calm the fuck down you uncouth toddler shit stain

On 6/13/2017, at 9:31, Paperypiper wrote:

> if you're maddie you can shove everything up your ass

On 6/14/2017, at 2:50AM, bluism wrote:

> is it true that when you turn 18 you get free dicks for life

On 6/15/17, at 1:17 AM, briitine wrote:

> I wanna look like a moist biscuit not Sasquatch

On 6/20/17, at 10:20 AM, Yatorihell wrote:

> To aliens maybe humans look like their dicks

On 6/20/2017, at 22:52, maddie wrote:

> hey. asking for a friend. you guys ever get nipple lint

On 6/20/2017, at 22:55, maddie wrote:

> what was that you fucking breaded chicken breast

On 6/20/2017, at 22:55, Maddie wrote:

> I'm going to die alone with only my inverted nipples to keep me company

On 6/20/2017, at 22:57, gio wrote:

> maddie what’s the science behind nipples being the shade of your perfect nude

On 6/21/17, at 10:52 PM, shanna ☆ wrote:

> id rather blow a whale than get humped by a dolphin

[6:27 PM] I N K A Y: When two unicorns are having sex they sound like wind chimes

On 6/25/17, at 9:44 PM, paperypiper wrote:

> fisting isn't important to everyone

On 6/27/17, at 6:11 PM, maddie wrote:

> i hate not being in call but being in the text i feel like a kid with polio in the fifties sitting in a wheelchair while the other children play on the playground

On 6/27/17, at 6:23 PM, shanna ☆ wrote:

> wtf maddie no one gets fisted by Roy mustang but me

On 6/27/17, at 11:52 PM, emily | scarf wrote:

> if you think abt it

> vore is representative of how we are all devoured by the dominant ideological hegemonies of capitalism,

> ....

> hot

6/30/2017, at 10:57 PM, Yatorihell wrote:

> sword or dagger

Bluism: > whichever is least painful to shove up my ass I guess

7/3/2017, at 16:19, emily|scarf wrote:

> sleeping with Gio was soft and warm like a mash potato

On 7/6/17, at 7:40 PM, bluism wrote:

> I'm going to lick his nipple tassel  and you can’t stop me

On 7/11/17, at 10:39 AM, Yatorihell wrote:

> FUCK YOU MY AUTOPUSSY IS INDESTRUCTIBLE

On 7/11/17, at 9:20 PM, shanna ☆ wrote:

> my toddler vagina creates miracles

On 7/19/17, at 10:09 PM, scarf | emily wrote:

> I come back to noragami height discourse and daikoku's lethal dick

On 7/22/17, at 23:01, maddie wrote:

> if donuts weren't meant to be fucked why do they have holes

On 7/31/17, at 18:41, blusim wrote:

>I love voring my loved ones

On 8/2/17, at 4:23 PM, maddie wrote:

> real sex is sobbing in the missionary position for the 2 minutes it takes to come

On 8/5/17, at 4:16 PM, bluism wrote:

> who's my baby daddy? the lord

On 8/7/17, at 18:15, Bluism wrote:

do yiu thubk hiyori's tail workds like a dick

On 8/12/17, at 10:39 PM, bluism wrote:

> im only a hoe for one man and that's the lord

On 8/12/17, at 10:42 PM, bluism wrote:

> bitch catch me at a church sucking sin from both men and women left and right

On 8/14/17, at 10:21 PM, jay wrote:

> i'm gonna start a gofundme to help achieve my dream of being vored by a giant plush shark

On 8/18/17, at 12:09 PM, Yatorihell wrote:

> vore, pip, vore

On 8/18/17, at 12:13 PM, scarf | emily wrote:

> Nevore

On 8/19/17, at 1:14 PM, bluism wrote:

> i birthed the lord jesus christ you judas believer

[On 8/29/17, at 4:17 PM],Wolf wrote:

> The three nippleteers

On 9/10/17, at 12:24 AM, maddie wrote:

> anyways i'm done eating ham straight from the bag in my underwear in the kitchen at midnight

On 9/19/17, at 11:04 PM, maddie wrote:

> i type with my nipples first

On 9/23/17, at 12:56 PM, Mrs. 707 wrote:

> nope im saving myself for satan

On 9/23/17, at 5:51 PM, soukohoe wrote:

> no that's illegal in the state of Texas as both homicide and incest

On 9/25/17, at 12:29 AM, vore queen wrote:

> I came here to sin and vore and I'm all vored out

On 9/26/17, at 1:24 PM, maddie wrote:

> anna is leonardo davinci and i am leonardo doujinshi

On 9/26/17, at 9:51 PM, I N K wrote:

> You don't have to buy dead bodies, you just make them

On 11/2/17, at 12:01 AM, maddie wrote:

> you come into my home on the day of my lamppost orgy

On 11/2/17, at 12:01 AM, gio wrote:

> also unrelated to fucking lamps but i found this really neat shark onesie at target today let me show you

On 11/2/17, at 9:07 PM, paperypiper wrote:

> scarf your giving tree smut crashed my wifi

[jamiebongwater]

Pretty Sure This Is America

Somewhere in America today a single middle-aged man who works in the financial sector parked somewhere to scarf down a quick lunch while skimming the news of the day. He was confronted by headline after headline telling of a polarized public and a mosaic of disparate, fractured Americas struggling to understand one another, and he wondered aloud to himself what the source of this confusion could be. “It sure seems like things used to be simpler,” he thought, “I would like to think we could just sit down and find a solution that works for everyone. I know one thing for sure though, I never would have thought to complain as much as this generation when I was younger.” He was feeding from a wrapper with a Taco Bell logo on it, and gave no thought to the place his lunch was made as he pondered the current state of the country he called home. Where were all these dissatisfied people he kept hearing about, and what were their lives really like? At this moment the man could not recall the faces of any of the working class people he had spoken to that day, even though they had made his breakfast, lunch, and coffee, and washed his car.

I recently took a gig at Jimmy John’s in an even smaller town just North of Coeur d’ Alene. I am planning to relocate to Las Vegas in about 1.5 months to make some real music, money, and art -related moves, and I need some extra money saved for the move. I am working five days a week as a cook at a downtown restaurant right now, which I like, but it’s just not enough money to fund my immediate endeavors. I decided to bite the bullet and get yet another retarded corporate job to fill out my schedule. I mean, I applied to some pretty cool places, but due to the time frame I basically had no choice but to take the first thing that came my way. This place didn’t even interview me.

ring ring

“Hello?” “Hey yeah I do need someone for mornings on Wednesday and Thursday. So just come in at 10, we’ll have a shirt for you and stuff. But there’s two training videos you have to watch, they’re like two and a half hours each-” “Wait a minute, I’m sorry- who is this?” “Sorry, my bad. This is Justin from Jimmy John’s.” “Oh, good to hear from you!” “Yeah, we just had someone leave and I’m actually tryna bring on two new people. So, you can come on down really anytime between now and then and watch those videos. I know it’s shitty but you get a sandwich for doing it and you also get paid so...” “Yeah man, sounds great. At the latest I’ll be by at 7:30am on Wednesday.” “Haha. Alright buddy.”

click When I got there Wednesday morning Justin looked tired and his face was red and puffy. “I’ve been out sick for two days, man. Today was the first day I had to wake up to an alarm clock again. Fucking sucked. Anyway, let’s get you set up with this video.” He wasted no time pulling out a Samsung tablet and setting it up on the table, where I watched my new owner personally explain how to uphold the Jimmy John’s brand for over 145 minutes. I was full of coffee and broke up my piss breaks to make the video go by faster. In every city there is a working-class underbelly composed of various spheres of fast-food workers, dishwashers and cooks, low-rent security guards, parking attendants, and other people working in marginalized industries, barely or not quite making ends meet while at the same time trying to get to a better stage in their lives. In different cities these circles overlap and mix to different degrees, but combined this working-class, service-industry group often comprises the largest single sector of the economy by number of employees. In Coeur d’ Alene the service industry contingent is particularly diverse, lively, and tight-knit. You’ve got some local cooks and bartenders who have been at it forever, some hardcore burnout kids from the surrounding areas, inexperienced waiters and pretty 19-year old servers who are more likely to be middle class, from out-of-state, and/or attending classes at NIC, literally anyone who had a kid at an economically disadvantageous time and just needs a steady job, and my favorite, the rotating cast of misfits, cluess 18-year-olds, tweakers, and lost souls who staff our local fast-food restaurants, chain stores, and corporate entities with the absolute laxest hiring standards and highest turnover. I’ve been embedded with this cohort since moving to Coeur d’ Alene, and I’ve had the chance to interact with people from across the spectrum. While I mostly try to work slightly higher-wage, less-corporate line cook jobs, work is somewhat spotty in this town and I’ve ended up working whack ass places both on accident and out of desperation. In turn, many of my friends work for Hagadone Hospitality, the owner of the massive resort I refer to as Dracula’s Castle, and my long time girlfriend Katie was a manager at McDonald’s. My point being, I’ve been taking notes. Inside, Jimmy John’s was a sterile, mechanized assembly line for the conversion of offsite manufactured product into end-sale revenue, with the elimination of individual thought, habit, and work style as an incidental byproduct of the corporate auditing process. In this regard it was pretty similar to Subway, Domino’s, Jamba Juice, or any one of these interchangeable corporate-shell companies that make up at least half of the world’s food economy now. Remember that people in America’s towns and inner cities live and die in these chain stores, feeding their children with paychecks stamped with beaming logos. I don’t take this corporate homogenization lightly. Our work is our life. Don’t let them take it from you. College dropout who prepared for an economy that wasn’t there, Retiree returning to work because his savings wasn’t enough, inner-city single mother who just doesn’t have a better way to fund the upbringing of her child...

If you step outside today in most populous areas of the United States the world looks rather shitty. There’s a McDonald’s, Wendy’s, or Carl’s Jr. on every block, at least one, and people are rushing between working shitty jobs and spending their money on shitty things. A person’s life is made up of their time, money, and actions. The world we inhabit is made up of human lives. When jobs are shitty, lives are shitty. Working-class life in Coeur d’ Alene is in some ways a microcosm of the dystopian future that I fear may soon await most of the country. The inequities would be almost comical if it weren’t causing palpable suffering to thousands of people every day and stifling untold human potential.

The huge influx of outside money necessitates a massive service industry, but the work is highly seasonal. People at the bottom, most often the people born and raised in the area, are reduced to fighting over scraps; rents are relatively high and no establishment pays more than they absolutely have to, especially since Idaho’s minimum wage of $7.25 sets the bar pretty low. Middle management positions that offer some tentative financial security are a far off dream for most, and those who attain them are forced to guard their status to the point of assholery, bullying subordinates into submission and withholding valuable knowledge. The huge amount of property tax revenue enables the right wing government to fund a massive police force. The town’s drug subcultures remain extant, but are kept in check by a police and court system that actively preys on the underclass for revenue and to justify their salaries. This is the American Police State 101: There are more than enough businesses paying more than enough taxes, so the availability of public funds isn’t an issue. What these businesses require, however, is an endless supply of cheap labor, and the police fill this need by maintaining a permanently marginalized population of people who are not housing secure, people of color, people with substance abuse issues, and anyone who has to miss work because of court appearances or fail a background check. These people, who society blames for their own problems, are continually re-arrested for suffering from the afflictions of poverty and thereby kept in a state of economic desperation. All in all, ordinary working brothers and sisters are largely prevented from sharing in the leisure opportunities and scenic beauty of Coeur d’ Alene that bourgeoisie tourists from around the world come to enjoy, all because of the false promises of economic justice that are so pervasive across the United States. I will give you a specific example. I have what would be considered a pretty good job for this area and I make $12.50 an hour. Extrapolated to one year, that’s $26,000. However, I made barely over $18,000 last year, I know because I just did my taxes. That’s like $1,500 a month. Rent on an apartment like mine is $1,000, though in my case I was splitting it with somebody. And in reality I worked over 5 jobs, some of them weird tip jobs like delivery driving, and never knew quite how much money was coming in. Needless to say nearly all of it was sucked up by bills, paying to fix shit on my car, and court expenses. These are the harsh realities of working class life in America. Jobs like Jimmy John's shouldn't exist as we currently know them. If a college kid or a single mother needs to get an entry-level job at a place like Jack in the Box or Wal-Mart because they have limited options and need to fund important things in their lives because they are adults, then they can be paid $15 a goddamn fucking hour or some kind of meaningful indexed minimum wage that enables them to actually do those things. Like eat, for instance, or acquire further training. If prices go up on prepared foods and service industry-based luxuries- fuck, it astounds me that people talk like that would be the worst thing imaginable. Have you seen our cities? This country has become an absolute corporate shitscape. These dumb corporate jobs, these cheap simulations of luxury, there needs to be less of them, they need to pay their employees better, they should probably be a little more expensive, and they need to provide at least a hope of a better future for everyone involved. Why anyone would oppose accomplishing that through legislation is beyond me. These companies have become the most profitable firms in human history off the labor and hard-earned money of ordinary Americans, and they have only used their profits to further decimate the working class. Money has to stay circulating for the economy to work. It moves upstream through consumer spending, and it moves downstream through paychecks. Right now the paychecks aren't big enough to keep the whole population in a state of healthy economic activity. Capitalists aren't going to start paying out more on their own. It's their job to protect their bottom line. The people need to use a combination of collective bargaining and legislation to protect their interests and to force more money out of the corporate machine. Because our government is now owned by corporations through legalized bribery, this will necessarily entail rooting out corruption from the Federal level down and making the bribery of representatives illegal. Not an easy task, but nothing worthwhile is. What are you gonna do, sit on your ass? How pathetic would that be. A sandwich maker at a chain sandwich shop could easily have a dignified existence. It doesn't have to be a terrible job. Make sandwiches, whatever, talk to people, get paid. As long as you have some sense of autonomy at the workplace, you have a chance to be good at what you do, you feel the people around you want you to succeed, and it enables you to actually live your life, there's nothing wrong with that. One could easily design the job at Jimmy John's so that it doesn't suck. But it would necessarily cost Jimmy John's more money. They wouldn't be able to schedule 8 grown ass men per day to work four hour shifts and weird split shifts, not train them at all, make them sign mandatory arbitration clauses so they can't sue or organize, make them pay for their own meals, no benefits,... your life emanates from your job. If your job sucks, your life sucks. Some conservatives will tell you that that's the point of Capitalism. Life has to suck so that you are motivated to make it not suck; in other words, the economy makes you work to achieve a dignified existence and your work fuels the economy. I happen to think this model is asinine and outdated. Healthy humans are largely self-motivated and they like to do work and make money. These corporations are not helping to train healthy, hard-working humans with these entry level jobs, they are wasting people's time in dead-end positions, systematically devaluing the labor of the working class. People can tell when they are being fucked over and treated as if they are expendable, and they don’t respond well to it. When your life sucks due to a lack of funds and you can't connect the dots, you can't pay a security deposit, you can't fix your car, you can't go back to school even though you want to, that's wasted human potential. Time, work, effort, and creativity are the things that our world is made of. Right now the corporate machine is devouring human life and shitting it into the ocean, and nobody is even saying anything about it. The great lie sold to the working class by the elite in this country is that the market forces of Capitalism will naturally and necessarily create the perfect meritocracy and by extension the perfect civil society. This lie is projected to the individual as "Work hard for your masters and you will be recognized and rewarded with your very own piece of the wealthiest society in human history." It's a perfect swindle, designed to make ordinary people identify with wealth that they don't have. Workers compete for their place in the paycheck stream by putting on appearances and throwing each other under the bus instead of actually working, managers are forced to cut labor costs and encourage high turnover instead of training and motivating existing employees, executives outsource, subcontract, and issue ever-more demanding corporate standards without regard to human life or dignity, and everybody blames the person immediately below or above them for the shitty state of things. THERE ARE BETTER MODELS. Social science has come a long way. THERE ARE THINGS THAT CAN BE DONE. I know what some of those things are but not all of them. I am not a scientist, I am a writer. My main job is to point out how full of shit everyone is. But there are people developing kickass solutions to the things that are making human life suck, and you need to listen to those people. The only people who are definitely wrong are the ones saying that the current system is fine and we don't need to do anything, or worse, that giving more money and power to the corporations is the answer.  The corporations, as long as they have the unrestricted freedom to do so, will always find creative ways to staff their buildings that are cheaper than hiring and developing long-term employees who are paid a good salary. The corporations created this backassward world of ours, now the people will have to do something to change it. A simple place to start would be taking seriously the notion that everyone who has a full time job deserves at least an economy-class ticket to a decent life that offers some degree of choice and autonomy. Say, enough income to comfortably rent an apartment, stock the fridge, and finance a preowned car. You could accomplish this by creating a good federal minimum wage that is indexed against housing costs, alongside a robust social safety net and other worker protections such as standardizing work contracts so that employees who desire full-time employment or consistent hours have some guarantee that their expectations will be fulfilled. That's not really a lot to ask. All the modern western democracies do this, even ones that do dumb shit all the time like Great Britain and Australia. Can we be smarter than Australia, the country that elected Tony Abbott? I guess time will tell.

I hope things get better for the working people of Coeur d’ Alene, and I plan to come back to this area for Barter Faire and shit next year. But I’m not going to spend the rest of my life fighting the impossible uphill battle that it would be to try to bring socioeconomic justice to North Idaho. I hate cops. I hate cops hate cops hate cops. I haaaate cooooops. I’m getting the fuck out of here. I need to get out while I’m ahead and try to make some real money somewhere else. I leave on Saturday. The Desert Cruiser is fully outfitted. See you on the other side.

JAMIE

[aceofstars16]

Tagged!

I was tagged by @gods-little-punk and someone else (I forgot to save the post to see who) to do a get to know you tag, but I already answered here, so I thought I’d just let them know that! (thanks for the tag! I always love tags ^^ The only answer that has changed from that tag is that now my hair is short xD)

I was also tagged by @friendlywildflowers, @sgcfcjohnpreston782 , and@shenzi-hemlock (they asked me different questions so I’ll be answering t three sets of questions, flowers tagged me forever ago but I kept forgetting to work on it xD)

Rules: Always post the rules Answer the questions given to you Write 11 questions of your own Tag 11 people 

@friendlywildflowers questions:

1. Would you rather sing well and not be able to play any instruments or play all instruments beautifully but have a horrible singing voice?

Ohh that’s hard...I might go with singing because I love singing, but it can also make my throat feel tight *shakes fist at VCD* so maybe instruments would be more fun, especially if I could play any instrument...

2. Oh no! You’ve been injured and one of your limbs must go lol sorry. Which limb would you give up? Why?

Oh gosh...maybe my left arm? Cause I could still write and draw? Or a leg...I really don’t know I don’t want to lose a limb haha xD

3. You have the chance to make 1 thing come alive. What/Who would it be? (And by that, I mean fictional/inanimate things/people. Dead people don’t count.)

Ohhh...oh that’s hard...I’m tempted to say Peter Parker cause honestly that would just be fun...or just any character I want to hug? There are soo many though! *flops* (I want give Lance a hug though...like he needs it poor bby!)

4. If you had to live in a museum for 2 months, which museum would you pick?

Oh goodness...I’ve never been a HUGE fan of museums so I really don’t know...maybe the Natural History Museum, I could just pretend I’m in Night at the Museum haha xD

5. You’re forced to steal a painting. Which one would you steal, and why? (Bonus: Also, how would you steal it?)

Ummm, gosh I don’t know...Starry Night maybe? I’ve always loved that one...I would use my “make one fictional character real” card and make Neal Caffery real and ask him to steal it for me...xD

6. What food would you eat if you had to eat only that for a year?

Can I go with the salad option and like have fruit salad and regular salad and like anything I can call a ‘salad’ cause I’d do that...or chicken maybe but I would get tired of only chicken so....salad...xD

7. Oh look, the world is being attacked by a super villain and you must save everyone! Who is in your squad and what superpowers do y’all have?

Oh I’m thinking this is like, people I know and not fictional characters? I’m legit blanking on fun creative things so much right now tbh...I don’t even know if I can narrow down all of my friends into just one squad??? *flops*

8. Your pet (any one) turned as huge as Clifford (and if you don’t have a pet, imagine you do). Now what?

I snuggle with them and pet them and enjoy having a huge fluffy cat xD

9. You come home one night and your parents tell you you’re adopted. What’s the first thing you do?

Probably ask about my real parents....though I might be kind of shocked...no I’d be really shocked and confused.

10. What would you describe as “the perfect day”?

Hmm, no stomach or headaches, just feelings good, going out, maybe hanging out with friends, seeing a movie or trying out a fun restaurant or activity, and then when we get home, watch a movie and make cookies and stay up late talking and laughing.

11. Favorite quote you’ve written yourself?

*looks at the list of word documents of fics and thinks of my long drafts of stories* I....I have no clue and it would take me hours to scour through them to look for something...like I’ve looked at a few things but none of the scream favorite or “I love this!” Like I like some quotes but it’s mainly just fluff things so...I don’t know xD

@sgcfcjohnpreston782‘s questions:

1. How is God working in your life right now?

Patience and trusting in Him, it’s been a continual thing for a while now, but yeah, I have a lot of worries about my life and future so just trusting God in that.

2. Which book(s) of the Bible are you reading?

2 Chronicles in the morning and Isaiah at night. Also trying to read John and Psalms with a friend but I’ve kind of fallen behind on that *flops* 

3. Last thing that made you laugh?

Probably White Collar or Homecoming xD

4. Twenty-six is 20% of what number?

...my math brain is asleep right now...and percentages are my weakness...come back to me later on this...xD

5. How long have you known your oldest friend?

21 years, my sister is my best and oldest friend and I’ve known her my whole life haha xD

6. What talent do you lack, but wish you had?

Not sure if it’s a talent, but giving myself motivation for fun things and school...also being able to learn other languages cause I’m bad at it *flops*

7. Best version of Spider-Man?

*looks at my icon and the answer to #3* This boi! 

To be fair, I don’t dislike any other version of Spider-Man, I’ve liked pretty much every version I’ve seen (I haven’t seen all of them - aka all TV shows/comics- but the ones I have seen I really like!) but I LOVE Tom’s Peter soooo much!

8. Favorite type of cookie?

Give me a good chocolate chip cookie any day

9. Current obsession?

Marvel mainly...also kind of getting into White Collar again, and Rebels cause Season 4 is coming and I’m NOT READY

10. Do you have any nervous ticks?

I kind of like try to make myself small when I’m out, like I’ll hold my purse close and hold my water bottle like I’m ready to swing it as a weapon....pfft xD Also sometimes I’ll fiddle with things or clench up when I’m really nervous

11. How would you describe yourself if you were the main character of an adventure novel?

Oh...hmm...

Ace didn’t seem like much of a hero, and if you asked her if she was one she’d just kind of shrug and say, “Depends on your definition of hero I guess.” Most days she stays home, scrolling online, chatting with friends, trying not to stress too much about the future. But despite her semi-normal life, she has a love for stories. Running outside she pretends she is her favorite character, jumping around saving lives, interacting with made up worlds. Some people might think its silly, but to her its a blast. 

@shenzi-hemlock‘s questions

1. Have you ever been pulled over by a cop?

Nope, my dad did when I was in the car once though. But that was just because he was stressed trying to find a place for me to go to the bathroom (we were on a road trip) and I think he turned too fast or something?

2. Best compliment you have received?

Off the top of my head, I remember a comment I had on a fic saying someone was rewatching the episode my fics had been based off of and they thought scenes where missing because they rememberd my fics and thought they were actually part of the show!

3. What is your perfect pizza?

Hmm, I don’t know, I like trying new things, but I mean, I like veggie pizza, and chicken barbecue pizza and...lots of other pizzas so???

4. Do you feel that children should be sheltered from unhappiness?

My first thought is no, and in a sense, yeah I agree. But I also know you can’t be happy all the time and you shouldn’t spoil kids either, so...a good balance of making sure they are okay and safe, but not always giving them everything they want just to keep them happy. 

5. Have you ever eaten a crayon or glue?

I don’t think so xD

6. What cheers you up?

Chatting with friends, hugs, watching a show/movie I love, sometimes writing or drawing, happy music, going outside and soaking up the sun, snuggling with my cats.

7. Do you enjoy reading and if so what is your favorite book?

Usually...not always, it’s been hard for me to get excited to read recently. I can’t pick just one favorite book...I love a lot? The Lunar Chronicles is great though, and Percy Jackson, Rangers Apprentice, Harry Potter...I like series xD

8. Do you have anyone you go to for advice? If so, are they in person or online?

Usually my sister, sometimes maybe Lynna ( @fair-and-finn online)

9. Which do you use more often, a dictionary or a thesaurus?

Honestly...I use both...when I don’t know what something means or I’m writing and need a better word...I always just look it up online though, so not an actual physical book xD

10. Are you still learning who you are?

Hmm, yeah

11. What dead person would you least want to be haunted by?

So someone I don’t want to be haunted by? I...I don’t know...I tend to think of fictional characters so...??? xD

My Questions:

1. If you could enter one movie, what movie would you enter and why? 

2. If someone paid for a quality cosplay for you (with all the bells and whistles, so you actually feel like that character), who would you want to cosplay?

3. Goldfish or Cheeze-Its?

4. Favorite type of taco?

5. What fictional character would you want to be your best friend?

6.  Favorite tumblr meme?

7. Favorite type of relationship in fiction (romantic, brotp, familial, etc.)?

8. Do you like Nutella? If so, what’s your favorite way to eat it?

9. Your go-to movie for when you feel down? Or a movie you can watch over and over again and love it every time?

10. Do you binge watch Youtube? If so, what do you usually end up watching?

11. If you could meet any actor/actress, who would you pick?

I’ll tag... @hiccup-is-left-handed, @littleaussiecupcake, @throwaninkpot, @forever-painting-roses, @jupiterlandings, @wise-lizard, @ikos-evil-twin, @mintylovesbarryallen, @meldy-arts, @starry-writes, and @book-and-comic-fangirl (bonus: @gaybrielreyyes if you want to do it! ^^)

[stephenaltrogge-blog]

This past week as Irma’s projected path seemed to jump back and forth from the west to east coasts of Florida, we all spent days trying to decide if we should stay or leave, batten down the hatches or get the heck out of dodge (I’ve got some opinions about the value of incessant storm projection coverage that gives everyone panic attacks but I’ll spare you).

In the end, after much debating, we made a last minute call to leave, and drove the 4 hours to Gulf Shores, AL, where 8 adults, 8 children, 6 dogs, and 4 cats crammed into a beach house. That’s a story for another time.

THIS story is about how the last few months I’ve had a growing realization that driving long distances with my children no longer makes me want to pull my hair out. We drove 4 hours to and from Alabama and it was really no big deal.

This summer, I took several trips to Orlando with my four kids (to visit my family, not The Mouse), and those trips were fairly enjoyable and easy, just like this recent one. It’s pretty amazing, considering how much that used to NOT be the case.

Long car rides are kind of the dread of most parents, unless you have those children who occupy themselves for hours and have no impulse to insist on knowing the remaining duration of the trip at all times. This post isn’t for you. Go away.

Probably 80% of the ease of long car rides is simply due to my children being older (i.e. not needing my help getting in and out, being able to feed themselves, etc.). But I think the other 20% has to do with all the lesson’s I’ve learned along the way.

Dreading an upcoming drive with children? Here are my tips for successfully making it from point A to point B without losing your sanity.

1. I Don’t Know Why You’re So Attached to Your SUV, Get a Minivan Already

Somewhere along the way, minivans got a bad rap. I cannot understand this. I’m on my second minivan and I love it so much. I feel no shame driving it. I don’t care if I look like a stay at home mom. I AM a stay at home mom. What is this weird hatred of minivans?

Here’s are just a few reasons a minivan is vastly superior to an SUV for long drives (Or short drives. Or any drive.).

It’s like two feet closer to the ground. I have no need for a vehicle that requires me to lift my children into the car past the age of two. I can barely get myself into an SUV, let alone four children.

Automatic doors. Need I say more.

Cupholders. Guys, my minivan has SIXTEEN cupholders. Why do you need so many cupholders, you ask? Have you ever been on a long car ride with six people? You just do.

Trunk space. SUV’s have the most ridiculously small amount of trunk space I’ve ever seen. We have fit three weeks worth of stuff for our six people into our trunk just fine. It’s massive.

Captain’s chairs > bench seats. Separate those kids, people.

Don’t make this harder on yourself than it needs to be. Get the minivan. And while you’re getting the minivan, you need to get something else.

2.“Don’t Be a Hero, Get the DVD Player.”

When my husband went out to buy a minivan two days after our second child was born, he consulted with a friend, who made the above statement. Don’t be a hero, man. Get the DVD player.

These days almost every van has one, but back then it was kind of a luxury. Even so, if there’s some part of you that has visions of being a better parent because you use your entire four-hour drive to play car games and sing songs, you might need a reality check.

Now I’m not really a fan of using it for the 10-minute drive to Trader Joe’s. That’s a little over the top, even for me. And I actually like car games (I try to get all 50 license plates on every trip we take…without success). But if you’re going to be spending hours in an enclosed space together, I guarantee, you will be thanking God for that DVD player down the road.

And, as your kids get older, you won’t have to listen to annoying cartoons anymore. On one of our summer trips, my kids watched Sound of Music and it made my heart so happy to hear it. But, even if you are listening to The Lego Movie for the 800th time, it’s still better than whining and crying. I promise.

3. This is Not The Time For Strict Food Rules. Give Them All the Snacks

I know there are a lot of dietary restrictions out there. But even so, every kid has some beloved snacks. Those snacks are your best friend on your drive. Believe me, I’ve done the whole “you’ve had enough, no more snacks” thing, and it only makes us all miserable.

Just let them eat the snacks, guys. If they’re eating, they’re not shouting. One of mine ate almost an entire box of cheez-its on our last trip. She was fine. They’ll be fine. Snacks are your friend. Give them snacks.

Pro-tip: have a designated snack distributor who is not you. My oldest has to hand everyone their snack when I say so, and I don’t even have to turn around.

4. This IS the Time For Strict Drinking Rules.

I do not have time for 18 bathroom stops. These kids are healthy American children. They are not dehydrated. They will live four hours without drinking 32 oz of Gatorade simply because they are bored.

No drinks. Drinks are not your friend.

5. No Wasted Bathroom Trips

If one person has to go to the bathroom, everyone has to go to the bathroom.

I am not always good at following this rule, so here is an example from my folly of why you should follow this rule.

On our last trip, we were stopped at a Taco Bell (because everyone needs a gordita every once in awhile), and I was lazy and didn’t feel like fighting the “but I don’t NEED to go” fight, so I let two of my children off the hook.

Forty-five minutes later we were on one of those unbearable empty I-10 stretches and suddenly there was no waiting. And I had to stop at the most murdery rest stop you’ve ever seen and take my kids into the bathroom.

Don’t go to murdery rest stops, people. Make everyone go at the same time.

6. Don’t Give Your Kids Your Neuroses

This is another lesson you can learn from my folly. There’s no turning back for me on this one, but you can save yourself.

One time, about 4 years ago, one of our daughters said she didn’t feel good. And because I get motion sickness, I projected this onto her and said, “You’re carsick. Maybe you’ll feel better if we open the windows for a while?”

Now I have to open windows for “carsick” children every 30 miles or so. I know it’s probably fabricated, but I’m just paranoid enough about car vomit that I give into it every time.

Don’t do this to yourself.

(unless they really are carsick, in which case, do exactly what I did…)

7. Limit the Lovies

We used to say “go get your lovies and blankets!” When going on a long car ride.

Do not give your kids this kind of blanket freedom. This leads to a car so full of stuffed animals, you can’t see out the back window.

Now we do 2-3 lovies per child. That’s still an absurd amount, but at least I won’t get into an accident because all I can see in my rear-view mirror is a giant Olaf.

8. Embrace the Noise

No matter what, even with movies and favorite soundtracks and books, by the end of a long trip, everyone goes bonkers and the decibel level goes up to 130. In these moments, I must remind myself that I have four children, not four adults.

Even if they are not being individually loud, the sheer quantity of children speaking at once makes it feel like a rock concert in there. They’re not being bad. They’re just being loud. It’s okay. I can survive a few hours of noise.

Your next trip doesn’t have to be miserable. Take these tips to heart, thank me later. And don’t forget, the days are long, the years are short, and someday you’ll be in a quiet car with no noise and missing them.

Just kidding. It will be glorious.

The post 8 Survival Tips for Long Car Rides With Kids appeared first on The Blazing Center.