This Woman is What's Wrong With America

I'm sorry to bring this to your attention, but it's pretty much my civic duty at this point. I love my old home town of Alamogordo, but after this and the burning of Harry Potter books a few years ago, it's time to move on. Above you see Marcia Stirman, who ran in 2006 for a position as Magistrate Court Judge. Below you'll find an article from the Associated Press about a letter she wrote to the editor of the Alamogordo Daily News in response to a previous submission "Why I'm a Democrat". I apologize sincerely on behalf of everyone from Alamogordo for this woman, and I hope everyone realizes that things were not always like this.

By Tim Korte, of the Associated Press:

ALBUQUERQUE - The chairwoman of an Otero County Republican women's group on Tuesday defended a letter to the editor in which she wrote, ''I believe Muslims are our enemies.''

Marcia Stirman, a 56-year-old interior decorator, also called Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama ''a Muslim socialist.''

A national Islamic group expressed outrage over Stirman's letter and called on state and national Republican Party officials to repudiate the publication of ''anti-Muslim comments.''

''Because these hate-filled remarks were made by a prominent Republican, it is incumbent on state and national GOP officials to repudiate her divisive and intolerant views,'' said Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Officials with the Republican Party of New Mexico had no immediate comment.

The letter ran Tuesday in the Alamogordo Daily News. It was titled ''Why I'm a Republican'' and listed 16 reasons for her party affiliation.

The list ends with Stirman saying Obama is ''a Muslim socialist.'' She also wrote, ''I believe war is a fact of life and we should always win.''

Stirman told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that she was surprised by reaction to her letter, which she said included support from all over the country. She wrote it after the newspaper recently published another reader's letter titled ''Why I'm a Democrat.''

Asked for a response to Awad's concerns, she said of Muslims: ''I don't trust them at all.

They've sworn across the world that they are our enemies. Why we're trying to elect one is beside me.''

Obama's Kenyan father was Muslim, but Obama grew up in a Christian family. Although he has professed his Christianity repeatedly and explained how his Christian faith shapes his politics, he has battled Internet-fueled rumors throughout the campaign that he is Muslim.

Stirman said she carefully considered what she wrote in the letter, refused to apologize and defended her right to express her views.

''I still have freedom of speech and an opinion. If the Islamic group doesn't like it, well, I don't like what's going on in their camp, either,'' Stirman said.

In case you're wondering exactly what her letter said, here it is verbatim:

I read in today's paper what a woman wrote explaining why she's a Democrat. Let me tell you why I'm not. I'm a Republican because:

I believe in a sovereign God who sometimes gives us what we deserve.

I believe Muslims are our enemies.

I believe in life. A baby is not just a fetus, but a living being no matter where it resides.

I believe there is a good reason for the death penalty.

I believe in fiscal responsibility, for the government and for us.

I believe the government is way too big and rife with greed and corruption.

I believe in the truth. People believe lies because it's much easier than finding the truth.

I believe in personal responsibility. That includes spanking your children.

I believe American women should raise their own children and American men should be men enough to pay for children they've produced.

I believe a man and woman make marriage. Period.

I believe in America first and foremost and we ought to take care of our own people, our own land, and illegal aliens should go home.

I believe in guns and knowing how to use them properly.

I believe war is a fact of life and we should always win.

I believe in lower taxes. I know how to spend money better than Congress any day

I believe in voter ID.

I believe there is a moderate and a socialist in this election. I agree with a two-party system, but Obama isn't a messiah or a democrat.

He's a Muslim socialist.


Marcia Stirman, Alamogordo
From the Alamogordo Daily News

This has got to stop, Obama needs to win if only to put real change into action. Not even politically, but at the very least ethnically. I'm all for freedom of speech, but bigotry and racism based solely on the fact that this woman is too stubborn to educate herself out of her own ignorance... fuck that, and fuck you Marcia Stirman! GO TIGERS!!!! How's that for freedom of speech, bitches!

WTF - Over-evolved Technology

There was a time, not too long ago, when technology could be summed up in one word or a small explanation. You would plug the thing in, turn it on, and it would do what it was meant to do ... nothing more, nothing less.

For example, the Microwave. Put food in, press a button, food gets hot (pending the presence of moisture), burn roof of mouth, eat food.

Or maybe the CD player. Insert disc, push play, remove disc, blow on it, wipe off spit, insert disc, close lid, close lid, slam lid, close lid, push play, shout explicative, listen to radio.

Ok, let's try the phone, plug in phone cord, dial, talk. There, at least that one was easy, in fact, you don't even have to plug it in, in the good ol' days the phone drew its power from the line.

My point is this, one device, one purpose, end of story. No extraneous features, and if you had it and it was dependable, your need for anything further was eliminated. But something happened along the way. Some lazy nerds, and by lazy I mean they didn't want to invent something of their own, decided the best way to market increasing numbers of these devices would be to meld them into one device. Like chocolate and peanut butter, some tastes taste great together.

Sounds great in theory, right? Who doesn't mind that the microwave has a little clock that also lets you know what time it is ... simple enough, eh? And what's the harm in the phone identifying who is calling so you can elect to ignore the call? Or better yet - to show my age - let the machine get it. And the CD player, how about letting it play tapes, and instead of one CD, maybe 5 or 6, to eliminate the need for switching out the damned things every 52 minutes? All good questions IMHO.

But where did we go wrong?

The magic of technology, while meant to save us time, seems instead to whisk it away faster than ever. We are living in an age where our most adapted inventions have outgrown their purpose. Our cell phones are more apt to be utilized for everything but phone calls, the laptop has its own remote control, and the phrase "I have dial-up" seems to elicit more sympathy than "I have chlamydia".

The phone plays MP3s, connects to the net, can e-mail, fax, take pictures, record audio, recognize my voice, assign one of several million ringtones (which are caller-specific), play video games, give me driving and/or walking directions, act as a walkie-talkie, alarm clock, calculator, stopwatch, tip calculator, currency converter, monitor world time, my time, your time, address books, contacts, call logs, text messages, picture messages, video messages, shiatsu messages, accepts SD memory, headphones, bluetooth headsets, car chargers, wall chargers, solar chargers, San Diego Chargers, and about 43 billion other things I haven't the time nor wherewithall to mention

and yet...
it can't make a freakin' phone call!!!

Why, after all this hyper-gadgetry, can we not make the thing connect consistently to the network and provide the clarity and volume necessary to be considered - by even the most forgiving of us - reliable?

My Xbox 360 can stream Netflix video, I can purchase an almost unlimited library of vintage games, movies, tv shows, and content that boggles the mind. It connects to the net to access my Windows Messenger, and I can manage my Xbox Live account through my computer. I can stream music and video from a computer across the house and listen/watch on the TV. The wireless controllers work through walls, so I can play from the mailbox in the event I'm stranded outside of my house.

Yet somehow after three months of use I have to send it to be replaced, like an estimated 30% of 360 owners, simply because the insides melted like some crazy expensive snowman.



Really, lets just take it all down one peg. Make my phone work, my games play, my software load, and my TV watchable. That's a start.

As for you, microwave, I still love you.

A Week in the Life - Good Times with Old Friends

Well, hello again, your friendly neighborhood Jimmy is live and on the air. This last weekend I had the distinct pleasure of being able to have a nice afternoon lunch with a couple of good friends whom I haven't had the chance to visit in a long time. For the sake of anonymity we'll refer to them as Snoopy and Woodstock. Don't ask me why I chose those names, since they have no relevance and won't be used again, it just something I do.

Anyway, the point is this, it was great to see them and if they're reading thanks for the visit. There is something refreshing to the human soul to be reminded that somewhere outside of our microcosm there lie people who do actually think of us from day to day. It isn't too hard to feel lonely, especially here in Las Cruces, where you're more apt to see a friend move away than move "home". Families, careers, education ... the list of reasons to leave are many, while the reasons to return dwindle slowly through the years (although the food will never be replaceable).
Still, I remain, and look forward to seeing you all again. We really aren't as far apart as it feels.

Otherwise, we're still on baby watch here in the LC. With only seven calendar days remaining, my phone is on and ready to vibrate, even mid-symphony. Rest assured that I'll have posts up ASAP following the birth of our first child. A select few will receive phone calls, and I apologize in advance if I forgot to call you, I'm still frazzled from the whole experience.

Mmmmm, El Sombrero...

More to come,
Jimmy

Palin As President

Had to add this little website I came across the other day. You've got to stop by just to get at least a taste of our potential future if we don't turn Obama supporters into Obama voters.

Palin as President - trust me, you'll enjoy it!