Ashamed To Be An American

It's impossible to be proud of being an American when Our Country stands on the verge of collapse. We as a nation have teetered on the edge of ruin for some time now because corrupt Politicians and the corrupt Corporations that have bought them have usurped our rights and freedom for their own greed.
Watching videos posted from citizens in cities across the nation; the abuses being levied against peaceful citizens attempting to exercise their First Amendment Rights and the powers that be (corrupt corporations and politicians) are using the people's money to assault and terrorize our fellow citizens. There is no honor in what is happening to the #Occupy Protesters.
When the foreign governments assaulted the protesters in their countries, our elected officials pointed to them stating that the people demand freedom from oppression, it's an Inalienable Human Right! When the Citizens of the U.S. finally begin to rise up against the injustice of oppression and corruption, our governing bodies do the same things that Mubarek did in Egypt. The same things Quadafi did in Libya. Not quite the same things as China did @Tienamen square… yet. The Chinese Government is the only one of those three examples still in power. The peaceful movement is on the verge of becoming a movement for survival.
Several Governing bodies across the nation have opted to ignore our constitutional rights. They no longer serve “We the People.” These governing bodies and the corrupt police departments protecting them and their corporate owners must be brought to justice. We do not need another violent and bloody revolution. Though bloodied the #Occupy Protesters have remained peaceful. They do have every right to defend themselves and yet they are choosing to show everyone that Honor and Integrity do still mean something in the 21st Century.
As a U.S. Marine, I took an oath upon enlisting to defend our country from all enemies foreign and domestic. Every man and woman professes the same oath when enlisting in any branch of the U.S. Armed forces. I’ve been back in civilian life for 20+ years but seeing these abuses of power and position; seeing people injured simply because they are trying to find a way for the governing bodies to take our claims seriously. It pisses me off. The next “Shot heard ‘round the world” is potentially, only one more abusive act away.
Over the last two years, things have really gotten out of control with politicians passing legislation overturning voter-approved laws. New restrictions have been place on our right to vote in some states. Law-abiding citizens are being subjected to unlawful searches and seizures. Private property is being destroyed with out due process. If you agree that as citizens of the United States that we do not deserve to have the rights our founding fathers bequeathed us then you are possibly in the right place.
However, if you feel that any if not nearly all of our constitutional rights have been/ are being continuously violated by our governing bodies and the Corporations that have bought their loyalty. Then stand up and speak out. If you can’t march with the protesters, then at least write and call your elected officials and tell them how this country will be run from now on! Exactly as our founding fathers meant for the U.S. to be, a nation governed by the people, for the people! The corruption plaguing our governing bodies (Federal, State, County/Parish and Municipal) has carried on for decades much like a criminal enterprise under the “Rico Act.” It sounds like it too me.
I applaud the #Occupy Protesters that are braving more than just the wrath of mother nature in order to help force the Governing bodies to listen and respond in accordance with the will of the people. It is my hope that though bloodied by abuse, the protestors can remain peaceful. I just wonder how many will risk their lives over the coming weeks and political turmoil forces the powers that be to instruct the police departments to step up the level of abuse against the people protesting? Of those valiant citizens, how many will die in this attempt to restore our rights and freedoms, to put an end to the injustices foisted upon the citizens by corrupt corporations and the politicians they have bought.
I was willing to die for my country if I had to during my time in the Marines and even beyond that up until the last few years or so. Now, I don’t think so. Not now that I have come to see the reality of the situation. If we are to change the situation, put an end to the corrupt practices our governing bodies have adopted and get the corrupt corporations out of our governing bodies, then that is something I can believe in and to help fight for. We can all do something to help. If we do nothing, we may as well line up for our mandatory 10yr prison sentence so the government can keep up with the mandatory minimum inmate population they agreed to in the Prison Corporation of America’s contracts. Which can only go up as the PCoA attempts to provide an ever-increasing profit for their investors.

I honestly never considered that one day, I would come to feel ashamed of being an American…

Going to LA!!!

Hey Sons of Anarchy Fans,

I didn’t realize Kurt was announcing the contest winners Sunday. We were at my sister’s celebrating my son’s birthday (he’s 5 now) and I was telling everyone about the challenge for Sons of Anarchy.

Seriously, though, I wanted to say something here on my blog for all the fans that aren't on #twitter.

Pimping #SonsofAnarchy and @sutterink has been, and will continue to be a blast. I know there are a lot of fans jumping on the M.C. Pony Express since 101 The Sons of Anarchy Series Premier! All with good reason, The Sons of Anarchy is the greatest dramatic production in the history of television. I made a statement to that effect several times, well before @sutterink (Kurt Sutter) ever replied to me on #twitter.

I was always conscious of the fact that he could at any time say, “HEY, stop your shit! You fucking cunt!” When I decided to hit #twitter, I decided I would go as hard as I could and as far as @sutterink would let me, lol. I don’t really have much of a filter and I trip myself up quite often. So, I’m a bit self-conscious about what I say usually. Not getting hammered for “spam” was a secondary concern. I thought about starting up a disposable acct just for promoting @sutterink and #SonsofAnarchy, just in case. I opted to continue using my original #twitter acct @Twisted_Shadow. I never really tweeted much before SAMCRO anyway so what the heck.

Pissing off @sutterink was the one thing that would have crushed me. I’ve never met the man in person, any of the cast or crew (to the best of my knowledge). I had only ever heard of Katey Sagal (I enjoyed Married with children a great deal) and Ron Perleman (my mom was/is a huge beauty and the beast fan). Why would he getting mad at me be a potential emotionally crushing incident? Well, Sons is his show. I try to treat my online interaction as I would real life. It may be just words on the monitor to some people but there is still a person on the other end of every post, tweet, what have you.

At first I was like a madman, perhaps even a bit psychotic in my approach. I typed every single tweet I posted. I downloaded #tweetdeck and set up the columns so I could see anything I thought that might help. I ended up with four columns, as my basic #tweetdeck feed and I would add additional columns as needed to keep up with other things that might help. I rarely ever checked direct messages because that only works when someone I follow is following me back. I do try to remember to check my DM’s every couple of days now.

I think I had less than 100 tweets when I started pimping #SAMCRO and @sutterink. Season three brought me some challenges because apparently while I didn’t get slapped with a skateboard for spam I did experience quite a few error messages. Which meant I had to switch my system up to get around the (what I called) blocks preventing me from tweeting the way I had been before. I didn’t use any sneaky tech programs or use one of those things where you pay them and they get followers for you (I’m a cheap bastard in most things). I had to get a bit more creative.

My entire philosophy for pimping #SAMCRO and @sutterink depended completely on reaching as many potential fans/followers in a single tweet. Once I had done that it was up to the new followers to add a few friends/co-workers to the bunch and they begin adding more friends. Simply tweeting “@sutterink, #sonsofanarchy, #SAMCRO and #SOA would only reach tweeps watching for those #hashtags. So unfortunately, for many people trying to help get the message out, it didn’t go very far. Once I realized this, I fought with myself over how to reach as many tweeps as possible. I had to stop thinking about it in order to come up with a solution. This is not something I normally do. Look at the number of followers for @Twisted_Shadow. Last Saturday or so I had a little over 200 (I think). I just checked I have like 375, that is a huge jump, for me lol. I’ve had this twitter acct for a several years now. I just never really tweeted much before Sons of Anarchy. I’m still under 9,000 tweets and Kurt has over 56.5K followers on @sutterink!

Believe me, #SAMCRO fans come from all walks of life. I found fans in some very unlikely places. Well, unlikely for me. I can’t say for sure how effective my efforts really were because quite frankly I never tried to track at what I did. I looked at how many followers @sutterink had gained and began tweeting that also. Sure enough every time I posted a tweet with how many followers Kurt had, I could go back and check a few minutes later and see another hundred, 200 or so more followers. I think one night during season 2 we (all the tweeps pimpin’) got a little over 1.2K followers for @sutterink.

Here we fans are settling in to watch 402 and I still wonder what is it about the show that drives us fans to practically drag people in front of a TV and say “watch, just watch for a minute.” Boom, they’re hooked. I can break down what I did in a simple easy to follow formula (for lack of a better word). I tell 3 people and get them to tell 3 people and those nine to each tell 3 people. ROFLMAO. To some of you that will sound very familiar, if you’ve ever been approached by an Amway salesman (or anyone selling a system like it). That is how they break down the system. I guess it really does work if you are pimping something people really want. Only instead of reaching 3 people, I needed to reach thousands. I do know of one celebrity for sure that started following @sutterink because of my tweeting to her. When she tweeted that she was now following @sutterink, I was ecstatic.

Once I figured out how to do what I wanted to do in a more effective manner I was rolling. Later I figured how I could pimp more effectively and not have to sit at the computer for long periods of time. LOL this isn’t actually funny but I came up with the concept after I injured my back and it freaking hurt to sit, stand and especially lay down. I could barely lift a nearly empty plastic cup much less having anything in it. That was agony. I think I did miss a few days tweeting for a short time. I’ve gotten used to it for the most part. Anyone that has ever messed up their back can tell you, it effing sucks. Sometimes it felt like a knife and other times it would feel like it was on fire.

Ahhh, started drifting, LOL. I do that now and then.

Being chosen for this opportunity is as much thanks to all the fans that jumped on the M.C. Pony Express and followed @sutterink on twitter and the Blog. I wouldn’t be having this opportunity if no one had begun following Kurt. I wish everyone could go on the trip.

I have a friend in Australia (thanks to #SOA) She’s a Huge #SAMCRO fan. and has been helping spread the word down under. It would crack me up because she always wrote: S.A.M.C.R.O but now the #hashtags have caught on almost everyone uses #sonsofanarchy rather than #SAMCRO. Personally, I like #SAMCRO. The Aussies’ are a season behind us in the states for some reason. FX, I expect that to be fixed, with worldwide satellite capabilities Sons of Anarchy should be able to be viewed worldwide on Tuesday’s; Wednesday night’s beyond the international date line (and I’m only partially saying that because she’s hot! I hope she doesn’t read this, lol. I would not want to embarrass her.) Then all the fans can discuss/chat about the episodes the next day essentially. Especially for our troops overseas, it is a very small contribution to ask in return for what the men and women in the Armed Forces do all too often without regard for their own safety during a time of war.

Somewhere along the way, I stopped watching the previews for the next episode of #SAMCRO. I have found that I enjoy the anticipation of what will come more than teasing myself with the previews. I guess for that reason I tend not to participate in the fan sites much. I dislike spoilers only slightly less than Musicals! *cough* Glee *cough*...

That’s another sticky point with me! In what fucking Universe does cancelling Terrier’s and Chicago Code, while Glee is renewed, make a bit of sense? It’s almost enough to make me freaking puke! I guess that’s why I’m not a Network Exec. LOL Drifting again but, gotta finish it now. WTF do NBC Exec’s think they are doing? Their lineup sucks year after year and any good shows they could have had they passed on or canned and put more crap on. Can NBC survive much longer?

This started as a simple thank you to all the fans of #SonsofAnarchy and @sutterink for making this trip possible. Sometimes it’s difficult to express how you really feel just saying thanks everyone doesn’t seem enough. Yeah I know, a three page (on Microsoft word) blog post might be a bit much. When it comes to #SonsofAnarchy is anything really too much?

Drug Czar Tells NORML why they can’t legalize Cannabis!

I e-mailed the following query to the President using the "Contact the Whitehouse" page.

Is this what our tax Dollars are being squandered on:

Drug Czar's Office To NORML: 'We Can't Legalize Marijuana Because Some People Abuse Prescription Drugs!' Wait, Huh?

People are going to abuse RX drugs no matter what. I for one have had enough of the wishy-washy, fence sitting, smoke & mirrors act from you! Your vids from your time in the Senate are a big reason why the "Online Community" voted for you. your supposed stance on decriminalizing Cannabis and regulating cannabis for medicinal use or out right legalization.

So when the Citizens of the US vote to repeal the unconstitutional and racist prohibition; what are you going to do? declare martial law? Open concentration camps oh, I mean FEMA Camps with the gas chambers like the NAZI prison camps!

YOU either SERVE "We The People" or resign. We will have an end to the lies every administration has perpetrated and the fraud committed to bilk over a trillion dollars from the US treasury!

And YES I would like a response to these questions. A real response, not some song and dance routine.

 

I am still finding it hard to believe that our elected officials are forcing the taxpayers to pay for a department whose sole purpose is to lie to the public. Between the Democrats on one side and the Republicans on the other side and both parties using as much smoke & mirrors and misdirection as they can to continue feeding off the taxpayers for pet projects, somewhere along the way the Government decided that "We the People" weren't capable of taking care of ourselves. We are not competent enough to make more decisions beyond what food to eat and what clothes to wear. Even those choices are being infringed upon. Every single department under the domain of the federal government has abused their authority so by the federal Government's logic they should be locked up for life for the crimes they have committed against the US Citizens. Fraud, embezzlement, accepting bribes, enacting legislation that is not only in the best interest of the United States as a whole but legislation that is harmful to the citizens and puts them in harms way on a daily basis. The association of Corporations with the government has long been documented and everyone knows that a corporation can't vote but they can buy a politician's vote on specific legislative matters. Look at the recent declaration that several Pharmaceutical Companies faked research data and test results in order to get medications approved by the FDA. The FDA, rather than forcing Big Pharma to correct their underhanded ways, says it's no big deal. A clear case of another department of the federal government acting against the best interests of the citizens. What is truly mind boggling is any attempt to reign in the Feds and put them back under control is blocked by the Supreme Court. Our country has gotten so backward that it isn't funny. We no longer have a Federal Government that functions under the boundaries established by the Constitution. Our Government has become no better than the Governments of other Nations that we have been taught are oppressive and violating the basic civil rights of humanity. Every Administration beginning with the Nixon Administration has attempted to steer our government towards an anti-freedom regime or a police state if you will. Nixon was a CRIMINAL!! Now, how can anything he started be good for the nation? Just look at the war on drugs; EPIC FAILURE! Ever since then the credibility of our country has been tarnished and continues to fade away more and more rapidly. One example, the most recent Budget problems.

To put it into perspective; It's like being shot over 70 times and being offered a band-aid. Really? Are you freaking kidding me? Our elected officials can't get past their pet projects and corporate sponsors to do what they were elected to do? To all the officials in Washington DC, You work for WE the People! The last time I checked corporations are not living breathing beings with the right to vote. DO YOUR JOB AND SERVE THE CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES! Not the money grubbing corporations! Fix the Budget right, cut all funding to everyone's special little pet projects. Give our Senior Citizens the cost of living raise that they so desperately needed for the past 4 years. And lest but not least Take care of our VETERANS!! Bring them home Osama and Saddam are dead mission accomplished get our people the hell out of those countries.

IF you just can't bring yourselves to disappoint your corporate sponsors or let your pet projects go until you fix the budget properly then just do us citizens a favor and RESIGN FROM OFFICE!!!
That's right I said "Get Out" there are plenty of eager young would be politicians that are just waiting for the chance to get into office and help put the country back together. I can see that if things don't improve greatly, there are going to be worse problems. The type of problems not seen in the US since the Civil War.

Yes, I am eluding to the potential for another civil war or possibly an outright revolution. Look at the former USSR, the more recent uprisings in the middle east. The Citizens of the US are pissed and tired of the two party system where every time the people want change they end up getting the same old worn out, tired policies and agenda's of the party being voted in. I for one want real change! Not Obama's quadruple the nation's debt type of change. Real positive change where we have a balanced budget that works toward paying off the national debt, not just making payments on the interest.

Kurt Sutter Dumps Twitter after flushing Facebook

http://sutterink.blogspot.com/

Talk about pissed! I had read about Kurt's Facebook page getting hacked, but I didn't know he took it down. I had been busy with other things and hadn't been pimping the FB page or @sutterink on twitter as I usually do. I have been gearing up for it though as Season 4 is just around the corner and Kurt had teased the fans & followers with the chance to win Sons of Anarchy merchandise and memorabilia.

So the ever crucial goals Kurt set for the fans to reach, just for the opportunity to be one of the lucky winners, is done I suppose. The pages are gone and that’s that. I am slowly realizing that this could be the reason why I never got into the a show beyond what we see on the TV. I never cared about who was playing whom or any of the writers. I had never heard the term “Show Runner” before getting into pimping @sutterink on twitter and the Facebook page the following season.

I’ve gotten to know the online persona of many people while tweeting about Sons of Anarchy. I was ecstatic when Kurt Sutter took notice of how much effort I put into finding new followers for his twitter feed. I even received a promotional booklet and DVD’s of the first 5 episodes of Season 2. I don’t remember if I ever actually told anyone about it. I didn’t mention it for a while because I didn’t want to upset anyone because I wasn’t even one of the winners. Kurt messaged me and said “email me your address I’m gonna send me some shit.” That was a great day for me.

 

99.9% of the fellow SAMCRO fans that I have tweeted with are great people (in my book) and Kurt Sutter really is a nice guy(Despite his colorful expressions wrapped in profanity and deep fried in vulgarity.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do with the time that I was going to be promoting @sutterink on twitter. I guess, I can still pimp the blog and and the YouTube videos.

Well, gonna call it a night, 2:33 am and the kids go back to school today! I have to be back up in 3 and 1/2 hours. some days everything just sucks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sons of Anarchy Season 4 Mazar Casting Update

http://www.boomtron.com/2011/08/sons-of-anarchy-season-4-mazar-casting-update/

#SonsofAnarchy (the twitter hashtag)

I hate spoilers, especially in production of my favorite TV show. When I accidentally found out that Debi Mazar, whom I follow on twitter, was going to be on #SonsofAnarchy in Season 4 I was so psyched!! and now her spot has been cut due to time constraints....
WTF, "Time Constraints"... I'm sure Kurt Sutter (@sutterink on twitter) did everything he could to get a couple of hours added to the season 4's air time so he could include the beautiful and talented Actress Ms. Debi Mazar. I'm sure he used all of the colorful expletives in his *"vocabularic arsenal" and I'm hoping Katey, Winter, Kristen and Maggie picked up some skateboards and showed the upper level, high muckitymucks a thing or two in the subtle nuances of face-boarding. I would also like to think that Kim Coates and Mark Boone Jr. strapped a network Exec or two to a skateboard and launched them down Cajon pass in an attempt to get the needed air time for Ms. Mazar to appear on the show.  All to no avail.

The good news is that Mr. Sutter has plans to bring Ms. Mazar in just not for this upcoming season. So all is not lost; just set to whet your appetite with further anticipation of what may come

 

*Vocabularic is a word that I just invented! So remember, It’s mine!! MINE!!! All Mine!!!! If you want to use it you must pay me tribute!!

Lindy: "No Knock Raid" - A song about the drug war's deadliest tactic.‬‏ - YouTube

Law Enforcement Officers in the United States use the slogan "to Protect and Serve". Now, to me that used mean they are on the streets to protect Citizens from dangerous criminals and serve to keep the peace. Pretty much ensure no one is infringing upon anyone's rights. Ever Since Richard Nixon Declared a "war on Drugs" that slogan has quickly turned to "protecting themselves and serving the Politicians. Our Judicial System has turned from innocent until proven guilty to pre-trial/pre-arrest court sanctioned Assassination/execution. Even if you are only under investigation; you could be the victim of a "Court Sanctioned Assassination" as the final scene of this youtube video shows. A fellow Marine shot down in what can only be a cold-blooded, Court Sanctioned Assassination. The Cops weren't trying to arrest anyone, the Marine supposedly "may have had" evidence which pertained to an on-going investigation. I have yet to receive any replies from any elected of our "Elected Officials concerning the assassinated Marine, up to and including the President of the United States.

<< Warning Graphic Content >>

‪Lindy: "No Knock Raid" - a song about the drug war's deadliest tactic.‬‏ - YouTube

Contact the White House!

 

Tell Obama what you think and how you feel about the Federal Budget game our elected officials are playing! I did and the following is what I said:

 

If you cut all the pet projects, All expense accounts & gov jets. Bring the troops home, We should be done in the middle east by now. End the war on drugs. You said to treat it as a health problem and then up the budget for law enforcement to crack down on sick and disabled patients and eliminate their only access. So eliminate NIDA, they add nothig to the nation. They don't need a huge budget to lie about Cannabis, get real! The DEA can be put into border patrol and investigate smuggling rather than raiding dispensaries. REPEAL OBAMACARE! Force the GOP to end their tax breaks and other give aways to corporations! A 25% pay cut for all elected federal officials. Cancel the pension plan and let them draw SSI like the rest of us and see how they like trying to make ends meet on $900.00 a month! Get a more realistic understanding of what "We the People" are experiencing and you would get more support from the people that are about to vote you out of office!