http://fourstory.org/posts/ en rebecca@fourstory.org Copyright 2012 2012-02-22T18:01:28+00:002012-02-21T12:00:43+00:002012-02-21T07:03:23+00:002012-02-21T02:15:53+00:002012-02-20T23:54:52+00:002012-02-19T23:23:54+00:002012-02-18T01:16:02+00:002012-02-17T19:02:27+00:002012-02-17T15:52:37+00:002012-02-15T21:56:10+00:002012-02-14T19:02:19+00:002012-02-14T15:55:14+00:002012-02-14T14:00:53+00:002012-02-14T12:00:43+00:002012-02-14T12:00:16+00:002012-02-14T12:00:16+00:002012-02-13T19:04:24+00:002012-02-13T12:00:28+00:002012-02-11T19:10:46+00:002012-02-10T19:31:51+00:002012-02-09T11:59:35+00:002012-02-08T21:12:43+00:002012-02-07T22:39:11+00:002012-02-07T22:29:49+00:002012-02-07T20:16:45+00:002012-02-07T18:50:25+00:002012-02-07T13:02:00+00:002012-02-07T13:01:44+00:002012-02-06T13:14:46+00:002012-02-04T20:58:59+00:002012-02-04T03:24:59+00:002012-02-04T00:52:30+00:002012-02-03T23:02:12+00:002012-02-03T21:18:53+00:002012-02-02T19:14:22+00:002012-02-02T13:00:48+00:002012-02-02T03:00:49+00:002012-02-01T17:07:14+00:002012-02-01T16:21:21+00:002012-02-01T03:47:02+00:002012-01-31T21:08:20+00:002012-01-31T18:28:12+00:002012-01-31T13:02:13+00:002012-01-31T13:01:54+00:002012-01-31T13:00:43+00:002012-01-30T20:59:15+00:002012-01-30T18:10:37+00:002012-01-30T13:00:35+00:002012-01-27T19:51:34+00:002012-01-27T13:00:02+00:002012-01-26T13:00:16+00:002012-01-25T21:15:42+00:002012-01-24T16:09:56+00:002012-01-24T13:02:30+00:002012-01-24T13:01:15+00:002012-01-24T13:00:58+00:002012-01-23T20:06:29+00:002012-01-23T15:10:46+00:002012-01-22T17:40:14+00:002012-01-20T23:29:31+00:002012-01-20T14:43:41+00:002012-01-20T12:00:29+00:002012-01-19T16:36:02+00:002012-01-19T12:00:23+00:002012-01-18T18:12:03+00:002012-01-18T14:59:48+00:002012-01-18T12:00:35+00:002012-01-17T13:02:43+00:002012-01-17T13:01:28+00:002012-01-17T13:00:15+00:002012-01-16T14:43:45+00:002012-01-16T12:00:14+00:002012-01-15T18:01:53+00:002012-01-13T16:03:54+00:002012-01-13T12:00:56+00:002012-01-12T12:00:56+00:002012-01-11T12:00:19+00:002012-01-11T02:02:56+00:002012-01-10T20:22:53+00:002012-01-10T13:02:01+00:002012-01-10T13:01:39+00:002012-01-10T13:00:25+00:002012-01-10T12:00:17+00:002012-01-09T12:00:36+00:002012-01-06T13:44:38+00:002012-01-06T12:00:17+00:002012-01-05T18:24:59+00:002012-01-05T15:51:44+00:002012-01-04T23:19:21+00:002012-01-04T18:38:09+00:002012-01-04T13:33:12+00:002012-01-04T13:00:04+00:002012-01-03T14:59:00+00:002012-01-03T13:02:09+00:002012-01-03T13:01:52+00:002012-01-03T13:00:38+00:002012-01-03T12:00:44+00:002012-01-02T16:31:00+00:002012-01-02T12:00:15+00:002011-12-30T11:59:19+00:00 http://fourstory.org/posts/post/and-theyre-back/ http://fourstory.org/posts/post/and-theyre-back#When:18:01:28Z ]]> What have you done with yourselves the past month? Haven't you missed Rick Santorum pouting and whining and being a dick? And Mitt Romney, with his surprisingly dorky and inarticulate stammer? And Newton declaring war on any and all comers? And Ron Paul, with his trademarked litany of Sensible Things? My little brother Cakeyboy and I didn't know how we would live without them, after sharing our evenings with them like eight nights a week. But now, praise Jesus, they are back: tonight, 5 p.m. Pacific, on CNN--Your Home for Whatever. ("Come over for the debate," I wrote last time… 2012-02-22T18:01:28+00:00 http://fourstory.org/comics/page/cautious-is-all/ http://fourstory.org/comics/page/cautious-is-all#When:12:00:43Z ]]> 2012-02-21T12:00:43+00:00 http://fourstory.org/comics/page/what-happened-to-me/ http://fourstory.org/comics/page/what-happened-to-me#When:12:00:16Z ]]> 2012-02-21T12:00:16+00:00 http://fourstory.org/comics/page/to-the-promised-land/ http://fourstory.org/comics/page/to-the-promised-land#When:12:00:16Z ]]> 2012-02-21T12:00:16+00:00 http://fourstory.org/posts/post/if-youre-talking-about-destruction-count-everyone-out/ http://fourstory.org/posts/post/if-youre-talking-about-destruction-count-everyone-out#When:07:03:23Z ]]> Resistance is futile, but it is kind of endearing, how the downtrodden masses persist in speaking up for their inalienable rights. Usually, it does little to budge the entrenched powers. Sometimes, protest has an effect for the better, though a promising dawn usually devolves into a grey afternoon of “meet the new boss, same as the old boss.” As much as we all love mischief, with flaming tires rolling down the street and bricks flying, it just doesn’t cut the mustard anymore as a means of changing things, if it ever did. The form and manner in which people protest… 2012-02-21T07:03:23+00:00 http://fourstory.org/posts/post/my-white-privilege-at-county-usc/ http://fourstory.org/posts/post/my-white-privilege-at-county-usc#When:02:15:53Z ]]> I have been seen at County-USC for the past two weeks. And I have jilted them like the most faithless lover. With the exception of one primary care doctor about whom I do not have generous thoughts, the staff there has been compassionate and able. One nurse practitioner in particular gave me the most competent breast exam in history; it felt wonderful, like therapeutic massage. But it was too much to bear for what might be months on end, the standing in line 90 minutes to drop off a prescription, waiting hours and hours for each appointment, and then being… 2012-02-21T02:15:53+00:00 http://fourstory.org/posts/post/they-are-the-anti-science-ones-by-rick-santorum/ http://fourstory.org/posts/post/they-are-the-anti-science-ones-by-rick-santorum#When:23:54:52Z ]]> CBSNews gives him the pulpit: "Ladies and gentlemen, we need someone who understands, who comes from the coal fields, who comes from the steel mills, who understands what average working people in America need to be able to provide for themselves and their families," [..] He said global warming claims are based on "phony studies," and that climate change science is little more than "political science." "When it comes to the management of the Earth, they are the anti-science ones. We are the ones who stand for science, and technology, and using the resources we have to… 2012-02-20T23:54:52+00:00 http://fourstory.org/posts/post/fuck-you/ http://fourstory.org/posts/post/fuck-you#When:23:23:54Z ]]> I taught my children, by example and by lecture, that cussing was the way to keep one's freedom of speech. I never cussed when I taught.  I was afraid of getting fired.  Actually, I may have said "hell" or "damn" once or twice as I was just getting ready to retire.  So I understand your reticence of taking up the banner of Freedom of Speech.  You could lose your job! Anyway, back in the 60s, when I was a lass, I fell in love with freedom of speech.  And cussing to me is an expression of that.  And every time… 2012-02-19T23:23:54+00:00 http://fourstory.org/posts/post/competing-for-the-earth-what-capitalism-has-done-to-us/ http://fourstory.org/posts/post/competing-for-the-earth-what-capitalism-has-done-to-us#When:01:16:02Z ]]> In the Los Angeles Times last week, Julie Cart made a strong statement about the way we've come to interact with solar power and the solar industry: Despite its behemoth footprint, the Ivanpah project has slipped easily into place, unencumbered by lasting legal opposition or public outcry from California's boisterous environmental community. The public got its chance to comment at scores of open houses, but the real political horse trading took place in meetings involving solar developers, federal regulators and leaders of some of the nation's top environmental organizations. Away from public scrutiny, they crafted a united… 2012-02-18T01:16:02+00:00 http://fourstory.org/posts/post/maxine-waters-ethics-committee-recuse-themselves/ http://fourstory.org/posts/post/maxine-waters-ethics-committee-recuse-themselves#When:19:02:27Z I'm sure you know local Democratic Congresswomen Maxine Waters. She's the representative who speaks truth to power and says stuff like this: So the house ethics committee has been investigating her on charges of using her political superpowers to help a bank in which her husband owned stock. The accusation is fair enough, as all politicians who directly benefit from legislation should be vetted for potentially corrupt practices (it's simply in their nature to abuse power once they have it). An investigator even said that his team were conducting “a substantial amount of work… 2012-02-17T19:02:27+00:00 http://fourstory.org/posts/post/local-radio-haters-suspended/ http://fourstory.org/posts/post/local-radio-haters-suspended#When:15:52:37Z ]]> John and Ken, our L.A.-based spewers and fomenters of racist notions about people of color were suspended Thursday by their station, KFI, for "…making insensitive and inappropriate comments about the late Whitney Houston," according to a statement by the station. Among other tidbits, they riffed on Houston being a crack ho and cracked out for 20 years.  These two genial bigots are routinely targeted by the likes of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center and the National Hispanic Media Coalition.  They’ve called the South Central neighborhood where USC resides as uncivilized, gave out the cell phone number of a immigrant… 2012-02-17T15:52:37+00:00 http://fourstory.org/serials/installment/we-aint-got-nothin-yet/ http://fourstory.org/serials/installment/we-aint-got-nothin-yet#When:12:59:59Z ]]> Cochise wasn’t a bad driver, just one indifferent to the laws of man. If traffic lanes and signs were like notated classical music, Cochise was like Charlie Parker; probably aware of the rules, but not letting them confine his muse. Pioneering eastward on the Santa Monica, there were three near-collisions before Lloyd began to relax and appreciate the Indian’s driving, which seemed primed for navigating the minute gap between near-collision and collision. Lloyd had never been to Europe, but from newsreels he’d seen, Roman motorists had nothing on the Apaches. He didn’t want to distract Cochise, but to take his… 2012-02-17T12:59:59+00:00 http://fourstory.org/posts/post/venting-my-spleen-voting-in-tecumseh-oklahoma/ http://fourstory.org/posts/post/venting-my-spleen-voting-in-tecumseh-oklahoma#When:21:56:10Z ]]> I had worked all day (ten hours, to be exact) and was tired, hungry, and crabby. The drive home down Killer Highway 177 was long.  I couldn't wait to see my happy dogs and get something in my starving self. But as I was nearing my turnoff I realized that it was election day.  There was a County Commissioner race and a School Board race. I have never missed an election but as I pulled into my driveway I actually considered skipping this one.  I climbed out of my car, dogs hopping happily all around me, and walked into the… 2012-02-15T21:56:10+00:00 http://fourstory.org/posts/post/tales-from-the-working-world-the-plumbers-surprise/ http://fourstory.org/posts/post/tales-from-the-working-world-the-plumbers-surprise#When:19:02:19Z ]]> One of our toilets was stopped up. After trying my usual remedies—enzyme drain cleaner, magical thinking—we got a plumber in. He and his assistants attempted the manual snake down the toilet, and when that didn’t work, they lifted the toilet off its foundation and ran the big power rooter down that gaping orifice in the floor. While it was going ka-chunga, ka-chunga for the longest while, I asked the plumber about his job. I’m always curious about people’s work, particularly if it’s disgusting. What’s the weirdest thing he’s ever found down a toilet? He ran through some of the more… 2012-02-14T19:02:19+00:00 http://fourstory.org/posts/post/happy-valentines-day-baby/ http://fourstory.org/posts/post/happy-valentines-day-baby#When:15:55:14Z ]]> On this Valentine’s Day, a tip of my fedora to those lovelorn saps in crime and mystery stories, men and women, who got caught up in circumstances beyond their control, blinded as they were by lust and love. As the Right Reverend Deuteronomy Springer observed in The Black Mass of Brother Springer by Charles Willeford, desirous as is of lucre and the one he calls Merita, “Money is the root of al goodness.” “It scares me and I sweat down the back – God, I must be going screwy!  It’s my father-in-law’s wife, it’s a woman, and me thinking things… 2012-02-14T15:55:14+00:00 http://fourstory.org/posts/post/damn-lapd-drivers/ http://fourstory.org/posts/post/damn-lapd-drivers#When:14:00:53Z ]]> Recently, the L.A. Times reported about just how accident-prone our boys and girls in blue happen to be: At any given moment in Los Angeles, scores of police cars are out on the streets — either rushing to calls for help or prowling around in search of trouble. Despite the training cops receive in how to speed safely through traffic, they are an accident-prone bunch. Police were involved in traffic accidents more than 1,250 times in the last three years — an average of about one a day. Most of the crashes were minor, but some resulted… 2012-02-14T14:00:53+00:00 http://fourstory.org/comics/page/he-liked-you-best/ http://fourstory.org/comics/page/he-liked-you-best#When:12:00:43Z ]]> 2012-02-14T12:00:43+00:00 http://fourstory.org/comics/page/all-for-a-good-cause/ http://fourstory.org/comics/page/all-for-a-good-cause#When:12:00:16Z ]]> 2012-02-14T12:00:16+00:00 http://fourstory.org/comics/page/hey-laura/ http://fourstory.org/comics/page/hey-laura#When:12:00:16Z ]]> 2012-02-14T12:00:16+00:00 http://fourstory.org/posts/post/comfortably-ignoring-societys-problems/ http://fourstory.org/posts/post/comfortably-ignoring-societys-problems#When:19:04:24Z ]]> The blog, Letters of Note, posted a fantastic old letter from Mr. Jourdan Anderson, a freed slave living and working in Dayton, Ohio in 1865, in response to his former master, Colonel P.H. Anderson of Big Spring, Tennessee, requesting that he return to Tennessee and get back to work on the farm. Read these highlights from the letter and jump for joy: Sir: I got your letter, and was glad to find that you had not forgotten Jourdon, and that you wanted me to come back and live with you again, promising to do better for me… 2012-02-13T19:04:24+00:00